Three months

Ashton is three months old today!

Yesterday, we went to Eves Park and had a picnic with Jesse and my Mom.  I had Ashton front-facing in a Snugli and as I was eating my beef chili wrap, Ashton was keenly following the wrap with his eyes.  By the time lunch was over, Ashton was squeaking in protest.  We walked for a little bit while Ashton scared away wildlife from his Snugli.

The Ukee poopie

Yesterday, Jesse and I took Ashton to Ukee for the first time since Jesse's mom passed away six days before the birth of the little guy.  We meant to get out sooner but the weather sucked.  And when the weather sucks here, it sucks even more to get there.  Jesse and I ate our usual lunch at Breakers in Tofino.  Their wraps are amazing.  I had the turkey & bacon wrap, which uses real turkey (not the deli meat turkey, but the kind of turkey that my Grandmother might cook up for the holidays).  Ashton polished off a full bottle before I even had a chance to finish lunch and then got antsy.  We executed a diaper change in the car and drove to Ukee.  We made a quick stop at the Ukee baby store as we were en route to the Wild Pacific trail where we were planning to walk with Ashton.  While I was purchasing some awesome shoes that were on sale for 9 dollars, a bomb dropped and the noise reverberated through the store.  The origin of the noise?  The child in the carseat.  Ashton looked completely shocked and Jesse said, "I think he pooped".  We put him in the car and were surrounded by the most unholy stench.  We drove to the house to change Ashton.  He was extremely pleased with himself and smiled the entire time.  When we got him out of the carseat, we saw a small stain on his pants.  No big deal, just a small diaper leak.  When we removed his pants, we saw it.  It was all the way down to the ankles.  As Jesse and I debated on how to remove the brown onesie (it was blue when I first put him in it) without messing up the babe, Ashton smiled more and more.  Eventually we removed the onesie to find that it was all the way to his chest.  When we removed the diaper, we found there was very little that was actually contained.  Ashton made finger-paint like drawings on the change mat with his feet while Jesse rinsed the diaper in the toilet and put it in the wet-bag (wet-bags are awesome) and I attempted to clean him.  Jesse says "What are we going to do with him?" and I said "I don't know.  All I know is that he's going to pee soon".  We decided to just put him in the sink, though Jesse would have preferred to take him outside and hose him off.  Ashton was very happy with his bath in the sink and the subsequent rinses.  He very joyously peed in the water as soon as we put him in.  Am I ever glad I pack an abundance of baby washcloths, not to mention baby clothes.  Anyway, he ate more when he was all changed and then threw up on himself and the floor.  I said "Ashton...we cannot take you anywhere!" and he stuck his tongue out at me in response.  We had a good night, had dinner with Neil and the cranky, tired (but will not nap) Ashton.  I can't really complain...he slept a continuous 12 hours the night before.  I took pictures:

Ashton and I have been getting out way more.  We have been going to this baby thing at the Health Unit where he hangs out and plays, we do songs and stuff and then ask questions and talk about baby things.  Last week a friend of mine came with me.  Her daughter is 6 months and weighs less than Ashton (he was double her birthweight when he was born though).  It's fun having Ashton around other babies.  He doesn't really respond much to them, but sometimes will smile.

Soon I hope to get back in to my music.  I was thinking about going back to the band with my trombone and just doing violin on my own until I figure out where I can go to resume my lessons here.  It would be cool if Ashton expressed an interest in music.  I like to teach.  Once I tried to teach Jesse how to play the piano.  

Jesse: How is that key C when you just said this one was C?

Me: *Explains*

Jesse: I don't understand...THEY CAN'T BOTH BE C.

We haven't had any lessons since.

Getting out more

Now that I have recovered from the birth of my child, I have been getting out more when Jesse is at work.  Ashton and I have been going to a group at public health that have 20 or so babies in it.  We went for the first time last week and while the other babies played and interacted on the mat, Ashton lay snoring on my lap, oblivious to the noise around him.  He was the youngest there and probably not the smallest.  When we arrived, he was screaming away.  It was rather cold outside so he was clothed in a MEC fleece onesie, jeans, his fleece-lined corduroy coat, a toque and his carseat bunting.  He stopped crying immediately when the layers were removed.  Funny that.  They always say to dress your baby the way that you would dress yourself.  I always have to remember that when the normal person is wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I am in jeans, a hoodie and thick socks.

We go for walks with the stroller every day.  That thing is a good workout, especially up hills.  Yesterday, we walked to the mall and back for about an hour and a half.  Sometimes we walk to work to meet Jesse when he's off.  Sometimes if I am really ambitious and drive Jesse to work at quarter to six, I walk towards work and he walks towards home and we meet somewhere in the middle.

Saturday was immunization day for Ashton.  I was really upset and very much not looking forward to going.  Of course, I realize that these vaccinations are very important but my main fears involved looking into my boy's eyes and seeing him in pain.  I ended up breastfeeding him the whole time, which is said to help.  After every shot, he pulled off and yelped.  The last one was awful...his face turned red and he just screamed.  It wasn't as bad as I had expected though.  Afterwards, we went for a walk.  When we got home, he got really really cranky and screamed inconsolably.  Eventually he fell asleep and crashed for the afternoon and evening.  That night, he slept for 10 hours straight (though he probably sucked his fist for the first 2 or so).

So the cloth diapers are working really well.  Turned out he probably would have fit them earlier but I was putting them on too loosely, which is why he was leaking.  I love them and the cleaning of them and scraping them off in the toilet isn't even that gross (I get really squeamish around poo normally).  It's become routine.  Jesse reminds me that he'll be on solids in a couple months.  It's true what people say about how things gross you out less when you have a kid.  We have been using disposables at night because he sleeps for 8 hours in a stretch and have been finding that the cloth doesn't really hold up as well at night because he is a pretty heavy wetter.  When he's a bit bigger, I might double stuff the diaper but right now, he's so little and the diaper is on the absolute smallest size.  But it's fine, what we're doing totally works for me right now.  Each to their own and whatever one can handle.  I have never done so much laundry in my life.  I don't know what I would do without a washing machine.  If I don't write about something else, I will need to change the name of this blog to something involving diapers and baby poo.  I am just totally excited about these diapers is all...they are so high tech.

My mom and I went to the baby fair in September and I entered every draw possible.  I just won my 2nd prize from that last night, which is a sp

a package.  I'm pretty excited about this because now that I have Ashton, I wander around the house in yoga pants and hoodie.  I pretty much don't wear makeup and my hair is typically in a ponytail since he loves to get this big fistful of hair and pull on it.  The first prize that I won from the baby fair is a pair of Baby Legs, which I love.  It is hard to find time for yourself when you have a baby but over the last few weeks, I have really adapted to his schedule.  We've been doing bedtime at the same time, which gives Jesse and I time to wind down and maybe even watch a movie.  Then Jesse gets up at 5 and Ashton gets me up at 7.  His morning nap is huge so everything I need to do, I can do when he's sleeping

.  Usually afternoon is his awake time and we read stories and play in his gym or bouncer or whatever.  Then it's cranky time and this is usually the best time to go grocery shopping or for a stroller ride.  I'm excited for the snow to be melting off the sidewalks so we can go for more walks.

I cannot believe all the 2008 babies!  3 of my friends had babies in 08 and I even had a new cousin born about 3 months before Ashton.  A couple days ago, Mom and I went for lunch with 2 of my aunts and my cousin.  It was so cute to see the boys together.  They were smiling at each other and it was very cute.

A picture of my boy from Christmas morning.  Totally slept through the entire thing (mostly).

I am enjoying motherhood so much!  Baby Ashton is smiling now and just seems so happy all the time (except for when we are trying to put him to bed).  His new thing is to roll over from tummy to back, which is really exciting.  He loves being in his little gym, except when he tries to eat the crinkle leaves and the leaves don't produce milk.  Then he gets ornery.  Yesterday I took this picture of him in his carseat because he had been smiling in his carseat (which he almost never does).  And I was singing to him and looking at him and suddenly it dawned on me that my 7-week-old baby boy had grown.  When you spend every minute with someone, you don't notice their growth as much as you would if you were away from them for awhile. 

I was assessing my plan for being an environmentally friendly mother.  I have spent upwards of $300 on cloth diapers.  He doesn't fit them yet (skinny little legs) but we're getting close.  Going to try them again tomorrow.  The ones I've got are genius because they are one size and you can adjust them as your baby grows.  Not proud to say he's in disposables at the moment.  I could have/should have gotten newborn cloth ones but was a little overwhelmed as a new mom with the whole diaper thing.  Of course, now I'm an old pro.  Other parents have said things to me about cloth diapers like "They are so bad for the environment because you have to wash them" but I think they are trying to justify the fact that they don't use them.  Not everyone needs to use cloth, though they are definitely the greener choice in my opinion.  Yes, you have to wash cloth diapers after disposing of the waste in the toilet, which does use a lot of water.  But you can save energy by line drying them.  The cloth is the better of two evils as disposables contain chemicals and the production alone is polluting.  Not to mention the fact that they go into the landfills.  This says it all.  I got on this rant when thinking about all the waste that baby stuff produces.  Today I was thinking even about bottles with liners.  They say that the liners make the baby less gassy but it just seems like such a waste to me.  I am breastfeeding anyway so the bottles I use are the medela ones that fit on my pump.  I'm not saying that I am Ms. Environment.  I just think that making a difference is a good thing.  Yes, I use disposable wipes at times (sometimes I use cloths, depending).  Right now, I am using disposable diapers (not for long, I'm thinking he's almost into the cloth now).  But I think that even if someone uses cloth diapers sometimes, it's something!  There are people who only do it at home during the day and that is definitely a start!  You can get liners these days for cloth diapers for when you go out and don't want to deal with a huge mess.  You just throw the liners down the toilet.  End rant.

On a completely different subject, we have our lovely weather.  It has been rather snowy and nasty, which involves more rocks and debris on the highways.  Anyway, the other day I heard a ping sound indicative of a rock hitting the windshield.  I didn't see anything though so I figured it was nothing.  Two days ago, we noticed a 4 inch crack coming up from the bottom of the windshield.  I researched it with ICBC and found out that I was covered and would have to pay my deductible to replace the windshield.  Yesterday, Jesse turned on the defrost and the little crack became massive, all the way across the window.  The car is currently having a new windshield installed, which is costing $200.  Did you know that the black part at the bottom of the windshield is the weakest part?  I found that out when I took the car in.  Auto glass shops make a killing at this time of year.

2008 in review

Around New Years, I always hear people say things like "I hope next year is better" or "This year was awful, next year will be a new start".  We all hope the each year is better than the last but honestly 2008 was pretty good.  It had ups and downs but mostly was pretty good.  Here is how I spent my 2008:

January: Celebrated the New Year with friends.

March: I found out I was pregnant.  Jesse was in the shower when I took the test.  I screamed very loud, I think it freaked him out.  It was difficult to keep it a secret and though I told close friends and family, I agonized a lot.  I found out I was due on November 18th.

May: I was showing.  I celebrated my birthday with friends and had dinner in Victoria.  I met Jesse's Dad's siblings for the first time ever at his Grandpa's birthday party.  They all live far away, which is why I didn't meet them before.  I thought that was pretty cool.

June: We had the 20 week ultrasound.  The baby was not cooperating enough to let us know what it was.

We bought a 2008 Nissan Versa Sedan.  I adore it.  It's shiny.

July: Enter the second annual baseball extravaganza.  On July 1st, Jesse and I drove down to Seattle.  We parked at Qwest field and walked downtown.  It hurt a lot for me to walk so much, which was funny because I used to walk home from work all the time (up large hills...took an hour) and then go for walks in the evening, used to go to the gym sometimes too.  We went to the Seattle aquarium, where I thought Jesse would explode.  They had amazing saltwater exhibits and Jesse, who is a saltwater tank enthusiast (we have one) was very impressed.  I was also amazed.  The photo on the left is from the Seattle aquarium.  

For the second year in a row, we went to see the Blue Jays play the Mariners.  Last year, we went back and went to the FIFA World Juniors for soccer in Victoria.  This year, there were no such shenanigans.  Anyway, the game was awesome even though they lost.  We were seated 14 rows up too!!

We went camping on Hornby and at Englishman river falls.  The ocean at Hornby is the best place to swim.  Me and my large belly liked to keep cool in the ocean.  

At the end of July, I stopped working and went on medical leave.  My job consists of sitting in a chair all day, paperwork stacked high on my desk, entering things in the computer, scribbling on paper in red pen, talking on the phone.  My back was in so much pain.  I was MASSIVE.  I tried everything to stay at work.  I tried different chairs, stools, footrests but every day when I got home, I lay down and couldn't move.  At the same time, I found out I had gestational diabetes.  It was not a huge issue.  I pricked my finger a few times a day and put the blood on a test strip.  I ended up with a large red ominous biohazard box in my bathroom.  The major change in my lifestyle was my largely fruit based diet.  I drank one liter of fruit juice a day, made fruit smoothies, ate a lot of fruit.  I once ate a half a pineapple one day.  With gestational diabetes, my fruit habits drove my blood sugar to enormous heights.  I had to severely limit the fruit intake.  Other than that, I had no issues.  

August: Jesse and I went to Victoria for our 3d ultrasound.  This time he wanted to make it known that he was a boy.  Over lunch, we discussed names and did not have much success.  Jesse didn't like mine and I didn't like his choices.  When we got back, we went on a baby name site and each made lists.  A few names matched and we decided the baby would be Ashton or Blake.

September: It was our 2nd anniversary.  We went to the Keg and then to the hospital where I spent a few hours in the maternity ward.  I will forever remember that anniversary.  But no, apparently not in early labour.

October: Where is the baby? 

November: We regrettably lost Jesse's mom six days before the birth of our son.  I know she would have been a really great grandma.  She was so excited for us.

Gave birth to Ashton.

December: I say it again, my kid is amazing.  Watching him grow every day is the best thing in the world.

Ashton

It's been awhile since I have written.  I gave birth to my son, Ashton on November 19th.  And I was antsy when I blogged twelve days earlier on the 7th.  This is what transpired:

November 15: I was scheduled for a non-stress test at the hospital in the morning.  I had been told by the doctor that if the baby was stressed, I would be induced at this point.  The baby was not stressed and everything was going well.

November 18:

7:45am: Jesse and I arrived at the hospital for our scheduled induction.  We were hooked up to the non-stress test.  The baby was happy, perhaps too happy to emerge on his 

own.  The doctor arrived a little later and placed a strip with something called cervadil up against my cervix.  The nurse reassured me that I would likely go into labour within the next couple days.  I was anxious.  I was told to come in to the hospital at the same time in the morning on the 19th if nothing had happened.  We went back to my parents and slept (since we live an hour away and my parents live right by the hospital, it seemed like the best place to go)

3:30pm: My contractions were killing me.  I couldn't handle the pain anymore after a couple hours so went to the hospital.  They gave me morphine and sent me home.  We arrived at my parents' with me laughing hysterically.

10:30pm: Jesse and I were playing card games.  I started getting contractions again.  I was screaming.  Whoever said contractions felt like menstrual cramps has obviously never been through it.  We went back to the hospital and found out that I was 3cm dialated.  They wanted to give me morphine and send me home.  I told them I couldn't do this again.  They observed that the baby was facing front instead of towards my back and decided to keep me.  I went into labour at 11:30pm, had a shower in the birthing room and had some morphine.  I slept between the contractions and woke up in awful pain every 3-5 minutes.  It was bizarre.

7:30am: This chapter of the birth is hazy.  I had doctors and nurses around me.  I had an IV, was denied more morphine and given laughing ga

s instead.  The gas did not help with the pain but I huffed it because it helped me breathe.  They eventually took it away when the tank was empty but I ended up getting it back at some point.  They got me in all sorts of positions to turn my baby.  They kept telling me that I was only 9.5 cm dialated.  I was in the worst pain of my life.  I came into this wanting to have a natural epidural-free vaginal birth but at that point, I just wanted my baby out.  At one point, they gave me oxygen.  I was huffing laughing gas and then I had an oxygen mask in my face.  I eventually questioned the oxygen and was told that my baby's heart rate was dropping.  Eventually they forced me to have an epidural and they said if things weren't going well, I would have a c-section.  I figured that if I had to have an epidural, they may as well just do the section now.  I was all about the quickest way out.  But they insisted we try more.  So I had the epidural and didn't feel a thing.  The contractions became less painful and more annoying at the same time after the epidural.  I could just feel the pressure and it was harder to push.  Eventually they had an obstetrician come in and examine me.  She found that my baby was positioned in a weird way still and he was gigantic.  I was moved

 to the operating room and was given a spinal.  The spinal was actually pretty neat and my whole body was numb.  It was such a relief!  I was prepped for the surgery and Jesse came in.  I remember talking the whole time. 

November 19, 1:51 pm: I heard a baby crying and the nurse came past with a newborn baby resembling a three month old in size with a full head of hair.  I fell in love as soon as they placed him on me.  His name is Ashton and he weighed 10lbs 7oz at birth.

Now a month later, Jesse and I have the most amazing baby ever.  He's just started smiling already and it's not just gas!  He reacts to us.  He sleeps at night for up to 6 and a half 

hours.  He has always been amazing with nursing.  I could go on and on.  Motherhood is the most amazing thing in the world.