My 100th Post!

Unfortunately this post is not bringing your humorous stories of my hardships as a mother, or news of the latest milestones Emerson has met.  Our poor little man is the sickest I've seen him, which is just terrible for parents to have to watch. He has endured 5 ear infections, alternating ears, has overcome innumerable head colds, survived a bout with a croup-like cough, and has even thrown up on 2 separate occasions. But this time, a full-blown stomach bug has hit, and he has been the saddest little boy over the past 24 hours.

It all started yesterday morning when I took him to Stroller Strides and he kept refusing his banana and oatmeal. This was an immediate red flag, as he NEVER turns down food. After accepting his water, he started to whimper, and then we noticed he was wet and covered in half-digested fruit from his dinner the night before. Poor man vomited a big one. Good things you can hose off a BOB.

Then he seemed ok for the morning until he chugged his water once again, after which he threw up on me and the bathroom floor. We were successful with some applesauce after that and when I limited his water intake. He took a nap after his snack and seemed to be a little lethargic, but not too bad. Then we played with his new ball in the back yard, he had some more applesauce, and we ran some errands successfully. Then he fell asleep for a second nap and it was all over.

After he woke up for dinner, he refused food, refused to drink the Pedialyte I had purchased, (serves me right, having never allowed him to drink juice, he just wanted water but needed the nutrients), and laid in Child's Pose on the couch moaning and whimpering, watching Disney Jr. He doesn't sit still for 2 minutes, much less 2 hours. He doesn't cuddle, much less refuse to be apart from me for even a second. It was so sad, yet so sweet to get some much needed down time to relax with my growing boy.

Then we pushed him over the edge by trying to meet up with his dad for a quick trip to a shoe store. Upon getting him in his PJs and in the car, he made it about 4 miles and threw up all the oatmeal I had managed to get him to snack on plus the electrolytes from his forced sips of Pedialyte. So we washed out the car seat and placed it next to the washed-out BOB and called it an evening after his 3rd bath of the day.

Luckily he slept well and I slept horribly with the hopes of waking to a vibrant (albeit hungry) little boy. Instead we woke to a 100 degree fever and more refusals of food and drink. But I managed to parcel out little liquid and eventually a little food over the course of the morning. After more naps, moans, and many hours of PBS Kids, I still sat under the whimpering 17-month old as he drooled all over the couch and me.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel, after getting a much needed mom break of a massage and hair cut, and getting a lot of help from grammy, his high 102 degree fever finally broke and we got a little piece of our rambunctious son back.  He enjoyed the remainder of a banana, more applesauce, a handful of crackers, water and Pedialyte MIXED, and even begged for a bite of his dad's chicken sausage. He is definitely not 100%, but I put him down with much higher hopes for a better tomorrow. At least we didn't have to deal with pulling him from daycare and taking a day off to be with him since we are on break!

So now I realize how lucky we are for such a healthy baby boy, and how I have finally been inducted into to true circle of parenting that includes being vomited on, cleaning vomit out of 4 outfits, a car seat, a stroller, and a bathroom, and washing my hands with antibacterial soap about 100 times praying this doesn't transfer to the rest of us on my last weekend of Spring Break.

Winding down on the couch (this pose lasted nearly all day)

Milestone Monday

Today I will focus not just on the major events of the past week, but all the mini milestones that make me full of wonder!

• Emerson now tracks us as we walk around the room.
• He will turn towards us when he hears our voices.
• He is starting to relax his hands when he is sleeping or resting so that they are not always clenched in fists.
• He also is beginning to grab toys and other objects, besides my hair, shirt, or necklaces.
• He coos and responds when we are talking to him as if he believes to be communicating like us.
• He sleeps between 4-6 hours for his "long stretch" at night!
• He eats in under 30 minutes total sometimes! :)

And for the bigger events- Emerson experienced his first New Year (as many of you probably saw) and then the real treat--his first hike!

A little about that hike... Many of you have probably heard the story of my first date with Kyle. We hiked Telegraph Trail on South Mountain, for which I gussied up and got ready as if we were going to a fancy restaurant (at least I didn't wear a dress and flip flops). It was 94*. I was not in any shape to be hiking up the steeper incline, and we had to stop at least 10 times for me to catch my breath and bearings. Well, Kyle didn't judge me, I guess, but he sure does taunt me about it now and again.

This hike was like a bad flashback to that moment. I was out of breath. I got dizzy near the top. And I sweat more than anyone should in 70*. However, I had a 12-pound baby strapped to my belly. And I only stopped twice. I am darn proud I didn't fall! Granddad was nice enough to help with my confidence by carrying Emerson DOWN the mountain, though.

Here are some pictures and a video for you:

Ready to go!

Resting Up Top! And cooling down

Hiking up with grandad

A view of the valley

Feeling a Part of the Elite

I used to feel like I was out of the loop. Everyone I knew was pregnant or had a little one. I didn't know what to ask about because I wasn't sure who was on the edge or who wanted to share their personal stories of all the "behind the scenes" symptoms of pregnancy. However, once I learned of my pregnancy, I got to join this exclusive club of women who know the reality about what it's like to be pregnant. Since then, I have been "privileged" to learn about a number of the fun things that people don't want to explain to women before pregnancy, most likely because NO ONE WOULD EVER GET PREGNANT if people really talked bluntly about it. Or maybe I wouldn't have been so naive.

I didn't want to believe that I had been living in any sort of utopian world of the joys of pregnancy because I have been surrounded by pregnant women for the past four or five years of my life. But I STILL didn't know about all the things that I was in for until I was in the middle of them.All the books say "Well, no one will tell you about this until you read this book", so screw that, I'm going to give it to you for free throughout this blog, not just this post, and I have a very hard time holding it back.

For one, and I know this is where some of you should probably stop reading, having a child, as we all know, means hours of eating and pooping as part of the daily routine. You count how many times your kid has pood in a day. You begin to post status updates on Twitter and Facebook that revolve around the "health" of your baby based on (gasp!) fecal matter. You brag about potty training, and we ALL know someone who has actually taken a picture of the first time her kid pood in the toilet. I had already vowed not to be that mommy. Well, guess what, I already take back every eye roll because I am about to share something. It isn't that life gets filled with food and poo after the baby. This type of daily record begins IN PREGNANCY!

"What do you mean?" you say. Well, as a pregnant woman, a small victory every day is having a regular bowl movement. A week that is constipation-free is a true reason to celebrate! Jenny McCarthy actually did a great job in her book Belly Laughs treating the subject of constipation with dignity. But I have actually had days where I was grateful for a good, old-fashioned BM, one that didn't involve praying and some geriatric-style Metamusil and prune juice.

With as much fruit as I have been consuming, you'd think this wouldn't be a true issue for me. But as I had a couple of uncomfortable days over the course of this pregnancy (understated for your protection), I know that it must be one of those inevitable side-effects of pregnancy that no one wants to talk about. 
Until I just unloaded that load of s@*# on you, you poor and unassuming reader.

I guess the moral of this story is that we shouldn't assume anything, and we should be nice to those women who post about their babies' diaper contents. After all, they are probably just happy it is no longer just about their bathroom issues. I am sure that I am going to be relieved when it is all over. Pun intended.

As a reward for making it through this, a picture for you.

19 weeks from the deck in Dillon, Colorado with the lake and Breckenridge in the background.

A Pain in the... Back?

I do feel like a bit of a whiner. I mean, I haven't gotten that big yet, and still every day I have to mention to Kyle how uncomfortable I am. I am sure by this point I have officially overtaken him on the "annoying" scale. I have to thank him today for his patience, his understanding, and his constant indulgence of my wants and needs.

Officially, we have been married for 10 months. For 6 of those months (nearly) I've been pregnant. Overall, I've been happy and healthy. Overall, Kyle has been awesome. So, I guess this  is just my little shout out to him to show my appreciation.

Getting back to business, I have officially (even according to my pregnancy app) hit the "you no longer have your natural center of gravity" stage. Being back at work for these past 3 weeks, I realized that if I used to get back pains from sitting too long in a huddled position grading papers before, this activity could really become hazardous to my health now.  I have some fallout already. Each morning (and in the middle of the night at least once), I need to move one of the supporting pillows that lay alongside me, swing my legs around to hang off the bed, and then roll myself from my side to a seated position, where I will sit and whimper for a second until all my muscles and organs have resettled in their upright position, and then I waddle to the bathroom (to pee) to get ready. I look like I just got off a 10-hour mule ride up and down the canyon walls of Yosemite. I then grip my belly and try to hold it up in the hopes that I have a little relief.

It may be time to buy one of those belly-support belts!

Anyway, with this routine, I can no longer deny my pregnancy (besides the fact that it is visually obvious), and live in my protective little bubble where I can deny that there will be an ending to it all. It is truly paradoxical that I can't wait for it to be over, but at the same time I don't want to face the ending yet. It is too damn scary!

Thus, I have become a bit of a whiner, and now you, not just Kyle, have to listen to me. I told you I wasn't going to hold anything back. Except maybe my back.

I sure could use another prenatal massage at this point! This time, no calzones.

Add a few inches to this picture, taken a month ago at 22 weeks!