1. Zantac is a wonderful thing. Brenden is doing much better – now he only cries at normal baby things – like dirty diapers and not wanting to be put down.
2. My mom made the coolest nursing cover up thing – it even has a pocket!
3. The cover up thing has given me the freedom to take B out in public for longer stretches. There was a time when I thought I would never be able to leave the house for more than an hour. That really limits your options.
4. Nordstrom’s at the Galleria has a great family room for feeding. So does the Cedar Hill mall – and most Dillard’s have really nice seats in the women’s room, too. I think I’m going to know about all the rooms at my local public places, like I did the bathrooms while I was pregnant. You could name a store and I would know where their women’s room is!
5. Sitting in the nursing room at church is a weird experience. It’s usually empty, so I’m experiencing corporate worship all alone. And a lot of people don’t realize that the “mirrors” are actually windows, so I see lots of people fixing their hair.
6. Brenden has started smiling for real, and he even laughs in his sleep. However, his default look is still very serious.
7. He’s looking more and more like his dad – down to the default serious face. Especially when they are both asleep.
8. Tonight I’m going to women’s bible study and Andy is going to the men’s, so B gets to experience the nursery for the first time. I’m trying to remember all the little things that annoyed me while I was working in the nursery so I don’t do them.
9. He’s still not sleeping through the night – I think we’re a long way off from that. But he only usually wakes up once in the middle of the night, which is nice. I’ve started watching a lot of the Food Network at 3 in the morning.
10. The boy is LONG – he’s wearing 3-6 month outfits already, just because the other ones are too short! We couldn’t button the 0-3 onesies anymore. And it seems he’s about to go through another growth spurt since he’s eating so often.
11. He really wants to roll over onto his stomach, but he hates tummy time. This could get interesting!
12. I’ve been trying to go through his toys and see what he likes, but nothing has sparked his interest. He’s more interested in the curtains or the changing table. Go figure.

On Saturday, Brenden becomes one month old – I can’t believe he’s already a month! Here’s some things we’ve learned over the past 29 days…

1. Babies can make something come out of every orifice at the same time. None of it is good.
2. You can go to bed one night, and wake up to a totally different looking little guy the next morning, even though you’ve been up with him every 2-3 hours.
3. Baby cries do sound different depending on what they need.
4. Dr. Ezzo of Babywise fame lied to us. I’m not happy with him.
5. Sometimes, all he needs is to be put down and left alone to ponder the essence of the universe. Other times, he needs to be picked up and snuggled. Most of the time, you have to figure out which one is which on your own.
6. If he doesn’t get good, long, sleep, you are going to have a very bad day.
7. Baths are so much more fun when the water is warm and there’s no sponges involved.
8. It is ok to need a break and to take one when you can. I’m not meant to be at his beck and call 24-7 – that’s not healthy for either one of us!
9. On the other hand, figuring out what he needs, and taking care of it, is strangely satisfying, even when there isn’t any immediate feedback.
10. Brenden is on the verge of smiling for real – I keep trying to get him to look at me and smile, but we’re just not there yet.

So, we’ve been doing this parent thing for over a week and a half now, so I thought I’d take a moment to write about what I think. Tonight is also the first night that Andy is going back to work, so I’m flying solo. My observations may be totally different tomorrow. 🙂

1. Labor isn’t as magical as the movies make it out to be or as scary as other people tell you it is going to be. In fact, it’s hours and hours of little decisions and repetitive tasks that lead up to the big moment. I was in shock that it was all over once I saw him for the first time!

2. Watching your sweet husband who loves you so well love on your kiddo with the same intensity is very attractive. Men, learn to care for babies. Your current or future wives will be very appreciative. I highly recommend a tour of duty in the church nursery.

3. Little personalities do come through from the womb. He’s as laid back now as he was before he was born. He’s also a bit of an introvert – too many people at once causes a meltdown.

4. I still don’t think that this little tiny person came out of my body. I think we just went to the hospital and picked out a good one and brought him home.

5. Even when they don’t know what they’re doing, baby smiles are precious!

6. Umbilical cords are weird.

7. Breastfeeding is an amazing invention by God, but it requires you to totally rethink the way you look at your schedule. All of a sudden, you have a standing hour long appointment every three hours, and no one else is going to be able to take your place.

8. I still have moments where I look around and think, “where are his parents?”, and then it hits me – I’m not babysitting this one!

9. Before we found out we were pregnant, we were actually starting to pursue adoption. I remember one day about a week before we found out, seeing a baby picture of Andy and thinking that the one thing I was going to miss through this process was seeing what a child of Andy’s would look like. God’s sense of humor never ceases to amaze me – a child of Andy’s looks just like Andy. Just like the picture I was looking at!

10. I cannot get enough of his feet! I just want to mess with his toes all the time, and it makes me sad to put socks on him.

11. Brenden looks really good in green.

12. He’s already changing and growing – he’s working on a double chin and chubby legs. I think he’s going to be a chunky monkey!

13. Most newborns love to be tightly swaddled, with their hands basically pinned to their sides. Brenden likes the swaddling, but he has to have his hands near his face, and works them loose out of even the tightest blankets. He’s a little Houdini.

14. I have never been so hungry or thirsty in my life – breastfeeding wears you out! My friend Brittney warned me about the thirst, but I didn’t realize how bad it would be until I woke up my first night home and thought someone had filled my mouth with sand. 🙂

15. I love snuggling with him when he’s tired – that doesn’t happen that often, but it’s such a special moment when he’ll snuggle.

Hi all! Andy has been mentioning that I haven’t posted in a while, so I thought I’d take a minute to say hello. I couldn’t think of anything really interesting to post about, so I’ll just give you a list of the weird things I’ve noticed during this pregnancy. Feel free to add others, all you moms out there….

1. I seriously think people think my eyes are now around my belly button. I’ve never been one of those voluptuous women who have men looking at their chests instead of faces, so this is a totally new experience! I feel I should wear a sign down around the belly that says “don’t worry, it’s not going to explode.”
2. Feet swelling is the weirdest feeling.
3. Until about a week ago, the general public would just look at me and grin. Now, for some reason, they all have the desire to ask questions about how far along I am, whether I’m having a boy or a girl, etc. I wonder if I finally crossed the “is she chubby or pregnant” line over into “holy cow, she’s going to give birth any minute” category that is making people more bold.
4. I tried to ride a stationary bike at the gym yesterday instead of walking on the treadmill. That was an interesting experience. Think about trying to waddle on a bike. Not pretty.
5. Swimming pools are the greatest invention. Ever. All pregnant women should be given access to one as a prescription as soon as they find out they are pregnant.
6. I haven’t gone into full on nesting mode, but I have moments. They’re kind of scary!
7. The phrase “barefoot and pregnant” actually sort of makes sense now. I now dread having to put any type of shoe or sock on my feet – it takes way too long.
8. Brenden has really bad hiccups – poor guy. I wonder if he’ll continue to struggle with them once he’s born. It’s not like you can scare a newborn and expect good results!
9. I am a notorious over-packer, especially in situations where I’m going into the unknown. You should see all the stuff I keep trying to add to the overnight bag for the hospital. I think we’re going to need a sherpa by the time I’m done. Does that count as nesting?
10. We have less than three weeks to go before we stop being just a couple and become parents. I have moments where I’m beside myself excited and can’t wait to meet him, and others where I want to look around and go, “WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?” Being afraid and excited at the same time is almost as weird a feeling as swelling feet.

Now that I’m “retired”, I’ll try to post a little more often. For now, I need to go be productive and finish out some thank you notes that have been sitting around for a while now!
Much love,
Jenny

So, everyone immediately asks us “how did you find out?” when we tell them about BabyBox being on the way. And my response of “at the chiropractor” usually makes them look at me funny, so I thought I’d share the whole thing.

Background story: Andy and I decided this fall that adoption was the path for us. So I stopped keeping track of all the details of my cycle, like what day I was on and when I would ovulate. Before then, if you asked me on any given day what day I was on, I could give you down to the hour what was going on. November was the very first month that I had no clue what was going on because I purposefully put it out of my head.

So, when a month came and went, I didn’t really have an idea what day I was on. Andy had asked me if I was late, and I said “probably – but I’m sure it’s just stress. I’ll test next week if I haven’t started.”

Anyway, on with the story: I had gone the week before to start treatment at Parker chiropractic college because I have screwed up my neck somehow. We went over the full medical history including all the infertility stuff, and he said to come back in on Wednesday to start treatment. Well, wednesday he called, and the lab was closed for the rest of the week. I think they were doing testing for new students. So we recheduled for Monday.

Saturday was my yearly ornament exchange, and the ornament I nearly ended up with was a “baby’s first christmas” one – which I wasn’t too bothered by, but a few of my family members nearly had a heart attack. I was thinking it would be more useful next Christmas, since we were adopting, you see. My mother in law stole it from me so I didn’t have to keep it.

Monday I went in to the Chiro, Jeb – he cracks me up. He sounds like a surfer and thought my heel pain was “awesome”. He said that we needed to do some xrays to check out my neck and lower back before we started treatment, but that we needed to do a preg test first if I hadn’t started my cycle recently. He asked the date of my last period, and I had to sit and think for a minute.

“The 29th?”

“Of November?”

“No, of October.”

He took me to the lab to pee in a cup. The entire time I’m all nonchalant, thinking that this is sort of silly because there’s NO WAY I could be pregnant. We’re adopting, you see! God has closed that door!

After doing the deed, which is always awkward, (They give you really big cups! What do they think I am, a horse?) I went back to the little room to wait. Jeb came by and said we needed to go do xrays, so I assumed the test was negative. As we went down the hallway, he said we needed to stop by and pick up my paperwork at the lab. As we pick it up, he hands it to me and says, “Wanna see the results?”

I looked at the paperwork, and in big, highlighted letters, it said:

Positive.

WHA?

A full minute of silence follows as I try to wrap my head around what positive means. Positively not pregnant? Positive you can go do xrays?

“OH CRAP THAT SAYS POSITIVE!”

Jeb starts laughing. The nurse starts laughing. She asks if I want to see the test. I’m trying (unsuccessfully) to explain that there’s NO WAY that can be positive because we’ve been doing this for two years and what the heck? She hands me a test that is as positive as it can be.

Then the hugging starts. I still don’t know the nurse’s name, but she was really nice. She said they tried for four years before they got pregnant, and I think I made Jeb’s year. How often does a chiro get to give that kind of news?

I drove home about to burst and walked into an empty house. Andy had gone grocery shopping and was being all responsible and stuff. I’ll have to let him tell that side of the story from his point of view.