Monday, July 25, 2011

You've come a long way, baby!

Check out my little guy 1 year ago...




















And 8 months ago (24 weeks gestation)


















And now!  My, my how he has grown.

On July 25th, 2010, Reid was a wee 5 day old embryo.  He and his sibling were implanted back in my uterus and the prayers continued just as they had all through our infertility and IVF journey.  We certainly prayed that both embryos would survive and that we would be blessed with twins.  I found out very early that I was indeed pregnant and my HCG levels (pregnancy hormone) were very high which indicated twins...but after the initial screening the levels didn't double like they should have.  After my first ultrasound we figured out that I was pregnant with twins but one did not make it very long and while one baby's levels were rising, the other was fading...thus the conflicting HCG levels.  I grieved for the little one that we would never know and swung from the rafters about the one we would.  I didn't have long to grieve because I had to take care and celebrate my pregnancy and have been caught up in the joy that is Reid ever since.  However, today I am a little sad not knowing which of the two embryos above is Reid.  I guess it is just knowing what that little embryo can become...

On the lighter note that I intended to write about...Reid will be 16 weeks tomorrow!  He is the most adorable and smiley little thing.  My favorite word to describe him is delightful.  He truly is.  We went to the pediatric GI doctor today to discuss his acid reflux.  Result: He has acid reflux, yep we knew that.  :)  We are going to up his dosage of Prevacid and see how he does.  We really liked his doctor and now have established the relationship to monitor his acid reflux and the crazy noises that come out of babies that have reflux.  The other cool thing is that we got his stats!

Reid is:
*16 lbs. 10oz.
*26.5 inches long.

Additionally, he is:
*loving to sit up!  Reid goes from a laying down position, grabs our hands and pulls up to a stand.  He loves it!
*sleeping through the night most nights. (Lord, please don't take this away now that I wrote it...please.)
*napping every 90 minutes during the day.  He just dropped his evening nap and goes to bed at 9pm.
*napping for 45 minutes most naps and usually one 1.5 hour nap during the day.
*looking red headed one minute and blonde the next!
*wearing mainly 6 month clothing.  In Janie and Jack he wears 3-6 but not for long!
*wearing size 2 diapers but not for much longer.
*doing well with physical therapy and still goes 2x per week for his torticollis.
*drinking 7.5 oz. of formula 5 times per day.
*dancing like Lord of the Dance several times per day (video to come)!
*kicking so hard in the crib that I had to put his bumper back in so he would quit injuring his foot by banging it against the hard surface.
*loving his cousins both older and younger.
*super interested in faces.  Since I'm home with him (and Mike too when he is not traveling), he gets tons of face time.  He even gets super ticked when you are not right in his face visiting about all the world has to offer.
*talking up a storm.
*giggling several times a day.
*crying less.
*ready to start eating some "real food"!  Rice cereal soon!
*not ready to sleep without a swaddle.  His arms just bonk him all night without it.  Who am I kidding?  The kid can't sleep without it yet.
*must have his pacifier to relax...favorite is the "binkie".
*maybe just a little spoiled!!!

Happy 1 year anniversary,* kiddo.  I plan for us to be attached at the hip for many, many years to come!  :)

*I just had a good giggle about the title of what type of anniversary we are celebrating here!  Happy 1 year, taken from my body, birds and the bees in a petri-dish, grown for 5 days, and returned to your home for the next 9 months anniversary!  Hey, the journey makes him even more delightful and miraculous!  :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I'm older than 31...

Let me preface by saying Reid is doing some super cute things...he is a true joy and delight every day.  He has a cheeky grin that will melt any heart and complete strangers even marvel at him.  There is just something sweet and good that he exudes.  I have pictures and video that I need to upload - he is so darn cute.  Instead of the post I'm about to write, I should be documenting all the cool stuff he is doing.  But he deserves more time than what what I have to write right now...

OK, then there is his momma.  The lady that went to bed with wet hair on Monday night to wake up Tuesday "clean" so there was no need for another shower yesterday during the day...nor was there time.  Thus, I walked around the house all day with crinkle-wet-hair-then-bed hair and of course no make-up.  Throw in a little drool and spit up on my shoulder and there you have me.  OH!  Wait, I totally forgot that I pulled my bob hair back in a ponytail by afternoon so it looked like a rat tail.  I can't stand small ponytails.  Like when you go to the gym and someone has hair too short to be pulled back so they have to keep messing with it and it looks awful?  That was me.  Anyhoo, Reid was out of formula so I had to run out to Wal-Mart yesterday evening.  I caught a glimpse of myself as I was getting out of my car and literally thought, "what the hell happened to me?".  I need something.  Maybe to go back on Retin-A for these crow's feet.  I don't know but I sure looked older than 31.  And I know I felt older.  I used to think I never felt a day over 25 no matter how much older I get.  Until yesterday.

Then when I got home from Wal-Mart, Reid spit up an entire meal on a freshly showered and shaved Mike.  I don't have to write down how the rest of the evening went from there...but it didn't help an already haggard woman!

I'm determined to get ready today and present myself in a half-way respectable way.  I think I'll swing Reid by the hospital and show him off to my former co-workers.

Speaking of people who look older than they are, I heard the new Britney Spears song, "I Wanna Go" in its entirety yesterday.  It's Bravo's summer theme song so I had heard the chorus. (So it's probably not new by the time I heard it...)  She sounds like a chipmunk!  It's just weird.  But catchy, so I sang it all day yesterday in a chipmunk voice to Reid.  He liked it!  :)

I was thinking about how this blog used to be all about important things like struggling with infertility, marriage, Reid updates, etc.  Let this post just slide under the radar.  I ordered some new workout CDs, am making a hair appointment and have a dermatologist appointment on the 25th (I'm getting Botox and lip injections...just kidding...my super glamorous 6 month skin cancer check).  But I am going to get some damned Retin-A for this saggy face!  I wonder if she can zap my undereye circles.

Carry on.  If you actually read this, I apologize...