Two Months Old

Five Weeks

Six Weeks

Seven Weeks

Eight Weeks

Weight: 14 lbs. (83rd percentile)

Height: 24.5 inches (96th percentile) (height and weight done July 10th at two month well-baby)

Diapers: We are exclusively cloth diapering. We took the plunge and started using cloth at nighttime. It is going really well! He is normally in his diaper for about 12 hours with no leaks! We use a pocket diaper with one mircofiber insert and one hemp insert. 

Eating: I just went back and reread this section from his one month post. It made me laugh - at least now that I am past that part of our story can I laugh. So when I last wrote his pediatrician told me that he did not have a tongue tie and that we both had yeast. Well, do I have a story for you... Shortly after writing Charlie's one month post, I had my six week check up. My appointment was suppose to be on Thursday June 19th. I woke up on Tuesday June 17th and felt like I should move it up to that day - I am not sure why other then the fact that the Lord was gently leading me. I called. They had a 3:00pm appointment. I took it. When we got to the appointment I mentioned what was going on with me. I did not even mention a tongue tie. When the midwife looked at me, she told me that I "had the worst nipples she had ever seen in her 22 years in the practice." That statement made me feel a little validated in my pain and frustration, especially since she hadn't even seen my nipples in the worse state. The midwife went to get the lactation consultant (the only one that Birth Care has). She confirmed that I did have a yeast infection. The LC and the midwife also asked to look in Charlie's mouth to make sure that nothing else was going on. Nearly as soon as the midwife looked in his mouth she confirmed that 1) he had yeast as well and 2) he was definitely tongue tied.  The LC agreed. 

I started to cry as soon as they confirmed it. I was overwhelmed to have an answer, but I did not want my baby boy going through the pain of being clipped. They both assured me he would be fine, and that it was better to get it done now then down the road when he could more than likely have speech issues from it. Let's just say it was a terrible experience, but mostly for me. Charlie cried when they were trying to lift his tongue, screamed when they clipped him, and then was completely fine as soon as I nursed him immediately after. Me on the other hand? Well let's just say that that they made me sit down and eat crackers as we were leaving because I was still shaking so badly.

After the clipping, I could immediately feel the difference. When we went home my only responsibility was to stretch his tongue before every feeding for a week - he didn't like that so much. It took him almost two weeks to learn how to use his "new" tongue, but now he is a pro at it. In fact he is such an effective nurser that he nursers for about 5 minutes a side, at the most. This quick nursing worried me at first, but he is more than fine in the weight department and it is really nice to be able to nurse him so quickly while out and about or in the middle of the night. 

The Lord answered my tear-full prayers that day. There are only two midwifes that know how to clip tongue ties as Birth Care, because I moved my appointment I had one of them. There is only one LC as Birth Care, because I moved my appointment she was there. I was the last appointment of the day, so they were able to clip Charlie right then and there, (because I moved my appointment). Then as we were checking out I overheard a conversation between our midwife and the secretary. Our midwife quoted us $25 for Charlie to be clipped. Apparently, the other midwife that clips tongues charges over $100. Let's just say I left Birth Care feeling like a HUGE rock had been lifted off of my shoulders.

And June, because I know that you are probably the only person reading this... I can almost completely say that Charlie would not be EBF if it weren't for you. Thank you for encouraging me and validating me during those first six weeks. I could not be more thankful for the role you play in my life. Like you kept telling me over and over, I am so thankful that I stuck with it. I'm sorry if I took up all your texts. I love you! 

Three weeks later, I am completely healed. The clip also helped Charlie not gulp as much air, which has caused much less projectile vomiting. (Another PTL for Charlie and my washing machine!) 

Sleeping: I feel silly about last month's post about Charlie's sleeping habits. I was a new mom who was unsure what she was doing and listening to others. Last month I wrote about how I was worried about spoiling Charlie by holding him too much. That is silly. I recently read an article that bullet points what life in the womb is like compared to life outside of the womb. No wonder our babies love to be close to us and held. Let's just say I threw the "am I spoiling him" thought out the window and have been doing what I feel is best. 

Charlie has been sleeping better throughout the day. He still loves to be held for naps and I'm okay with that. I will either wear him for a nap or hold him until he falls asleep and then lay him down. He also has started to fall asleep by himself lately. When I noticed he is getting tired, I will lay him down with his nuk and see what happens. I try and make sure that he gets at least one long (2 hour) nap a day. If I am home, I swaddle him and lay him down. He takes great naps in his swaddle. 

He is doing fantastic at nighttime. I normally feed him at 8:00pm and he is asleep by 9. He then sleeps until around 3am, eats quick, and then sleeps until 7:30am. However, he has slept through the night 4 different times. Just last night he slept from 9-7. That was nice, but I still woke up to check on him multiple times :) 

He is still sleeping in our room in a bassinet. We plan on keeping him in there until he is more constantly sleeping through the night. Which I (am afraid) will be soon. 

New Skills: This month Charlie has started using his vocal chords. He goos and gaas all the time and it is the most entertaining and adorable thing ever. I could, and do, spend pretty much all day talking back and forth with him. He is also much more aware of his surroundings. He responds with smiles (almost giggles) and pouty lips. 

He Loves: Bath time, reading, being held, talking, sucking on his fingers and nuk, being kissed by his mommy ;) 

He Doesn't Like: Charlie is such an easy going baby; There isn't much he doesn't like. However, if he gets too tired before bed he will let you know it! That is really the only time he will scream. Oh and he hates having bogeys taken out of his nose with the suction ball. Theo hates when I do it to him too. Lately, I have just been using a tissue.

Misc.: Charlie had his first big time boo-boo this month. Without going into too much detail, he was sleeping on a couch up at the cabin and got stepped on the face by one of my nephews. Everyone is okay, but it was really scary. It was really hard for me because not only did my little babe get hurt, but it was also the first time in my life that I realized that for the rest of his life Charlie is going to get hurt, physically and emotionally, and there is nothing I can do about it except pray. I know it sounds silly, but that was an overwhelming feeling/realization. 

Exciting Things We Did:

Celebrated Daddy's first Fathers Day

First Fourth of July

Started working at the family business

First cabin trip (Charlie with one of his name sakes.)

Nap time with cousin Anja!

I know everyone says it, but I can't believe how fast time is going. I dread that my baby is growing up so fast, but I am in love with watching him learn and grow. I can't believe how quickly he changes! 

Charlie's Birth Story

Warning - this post is very long!

My baby is 2 months old. I have wanted to write this down for the past 8 weeks. The greatest day of my life. The day that I cherish more than any other day. The day that I wish I could relive. The day I became a mama. I don’t want to forget that day. Already my memory is hazy, and I think of May 7th often. So here we are 8 weeks later, and I am going to tell Charlie’s birth story. 

The beginning of my labor was very putsy-putsy, therefore so is the beginning of the story...

Wednesday, May 7th. My due date. I woke up at 6:00am, or maybe I was woken up by what I thought were Braxton-Hicks contractions. I could tell that they were regular so I downloaded an app and begun timing them. They were about a minute long and just about every 9 minutes. I called my husband at 7:00 and told him that I was having regular Braxton-Hicks so it could be something, but it probably was nothing because they felt the exact same as they have since I first got them 8 weeks pregnant. Regardless, I told him he might just want to check his phone a little more frequently throughout the day. Ty continued about his day and I decided to go about mine. I decided that the best thing to do was to sleep and drink water, so that is what I did. My minute long contractions every 9ish minutes lasted until around 8:30. They then spread out to about every 20 minutes. At 9:00 I was sick of having BH contractions and was sure that it wasn’t real labor so I took my dog and went for a walk. If it was real labor then a walk would speed things up, if it wasn’t then hopefully they would go away. After our walk my contractions stopped - for 78 minutes and 11 seconds. At 10:00am they started up again. Still not painful. Still a minute long. The only difference was that this time they were all over the place - they ranged from 10-30 minutes apart. During this time I did what any sensible person would do and googled “what do real contractions feel like?” To my disappointment everything that was being described was not like I was experiencing. I had do pain on my sides or back, just tummy tightenings. From 2:00-5:00pm my contractions became even more strange. There would be anywhere from 4-27 minutes in-between contractions. My husband came home from work around 4:30. He was as giggly as a school-girl. He thought for sure today was the day. Me on the other hand? I was certain it was not. I felt bad because I was sure that I was only going to disappoint him. Finally, a little after 5:00 my contractions started to become a little more consistent and a little more painful (emphasize a little). 

Every Wednesday we get together with my family for dinner. However, as we were getting ready to leave I started to feel nauseous, but I was positive I was not in labor so off to dinner we went. On our way to dinner, really only 2 minutes down the road, I started to have second thoughts. Then we hit a bump in the road right during a contraction. It hurt. I didn’t feel well. I surely wasn’t in labor, but with the help of my husband we decided to go home. We called my family and informed them that I was not feeling well and would not be at dinner. We didn’t mention that I was having contractions because I honestly still thought it wasn’t going to turn into anything. We got home around 6:00pm. My contractions were still lasting a minute long, but were now more consistently 8ish minutes apart. (Neither my husband, nor I remember what we did for dinner, although I must have had some broccoli. All we remember is that he was working on something in the basement and I was trying to pass time by researching false labor on the internet.) It was shortly after we got home that the contractions started to hurt more as well. Still not painful. I was still happy as a lark in-between contractions. I just had to sway and lean on something during them. Seriously though, I wasn’t in labor. I had no bloody show, my water hadn’t broken, and my back felt great. Those darn BH contractions were just getting me ready for the real deal that would maybe come someday soon. 

At 7:00pm I was really sick of having contractions so I called our Bradley Method instructor and ask for her opinion on what to do. She told me to try showering and that it should either speed things up or slow things down. At 7:14 I got in the shower. As soon as the water hit my skin I went into active labor. Luckily Ty was up stairs with me. He timed contractions for me and offered encouraging words. Thanks to the contractions the shower took me an hour long. My contractions started as being one minute long and 5 minutes apart. By the end of the shower they were still one minute long, but only 2.5 minutes apart. It was during the shower that I thought I may perhaps be in labor, but only maybe. Shortly after 8:00pm we called Birth Care and let them know that I was having consistent contractions. The mid-wife on call encouraged to maybe stay at home a little longer, but to ultimately to do what we thought was best. I was still happy and talking in-between contractions so we decided we would stay at home a while longer. While I had been in the shower Ty had begun packing the last minute items in our bags. After we got off the phone with the midwife I decided I would try to lay down and rest in bed for a while. WRONG IDEA. Cue strong contractions, serious nausea, and uncontrollable shakes. Never ever fight a contraction. I only had to fight half of one to know that it hurts one gazillion times more. During that moment of fighting against my body and not letting it work, I felt why women take drugs. I vowed in that moment to never fight another one. After the next contraction I knew we had to leave now. (May I just mention that it was also after this contraction that I noticed the extremely worried and concerned look on my puppy’s face as he tried to snuggle my hand.) Although right after that contraction I wasn’t sure we should go yet. However, the next one helped convince me. Ty finished packing the car and I slowly made my way downstairs - definitely not happily talking in-between contractions anymore. As we were leaving our house I remember saying “I’m not sure we should go in yet” and “I think I need to push” within a few seconds of each other. (Looking back now that urge to push was just Charlie moving lower.) Luckily, I have a fantastic husband who calmly reassured me that we would always come home if we went in to early, and that we weren’t going to be hurting anything. Meanwhile, in his head, my feel-like-pushing comment was freaking him out a little. (He always said it would be fun to deliver in the car.) 

The car ride to the birthing center seem like a blur. I do not really remember anything other then the two times Ty had to brake a little harder than I liked. All I remember is not wanting to get out of the car once we got there. However, as I slowly made my way in (I am not sure if Ty was helping me or getting things out of the car.). From the time I got out of the car until I was in bed (I literally just had to walk there which was not far at all) I had four contractions. They were coming strong and fast. During this short, but killer walk I used four different Bradley positions - ones I thought I would never do. By the time I got in the bed and was checked I was 7cm dilated! It was only then that I realized that I was going to see my baby soon. From the time I fought the one contraction at home until I began pushing, I believe I was in transition. I was confused and not sure of anything, extremely nauseous, and shaking. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get in the jacuzzi (something I always wanted to do), but the midwife decided she would go ahead and fill it for me awhile. As soon as it was full my husband and I decided to get in. Let me tell you - best decision! My contractions were still strong and fast, but being in the water with Tyler behind me made it so easy to relax. We labored in the jacuzzi for over an hour, Ty coaching me through breathing and offer encouraging words the whole time. Our midwife let us labor alone, only coming when called or when it was time to get Charlie’s heart-rate. Our midwife, Dana McDonald was fantastic. Seriously, the best! She was so chill and encouraging! 

After being in the jacuzzi for a while I got very nauseous and became sick. Luckily, I made it into a bowl. (Full on transition, folks.) Finally, after being in the tub for about 45 minutes I had a little bloody show. Shortly after that I began to feel the urge to push/ poop. Dana came in to check me, but I was only 8 or 9 cm, not quite complete. The next 20 minutes were probably the most uncomfortable part of the whole labor and delivery - I did not feel like I was working with my body anymore. I really wanted to push, but knew I probably shouldn’t if I wasn’t complete. I tried some different positions in the tub, but could not find anything that I liked. I also thought for sure that I was going to poop, and I did not want to poop in the tub, so we moved into the bathroom and I labored on the toilet for awhile. The toilet was not fun. I could not get comfortable and I really just wanted to push. After about 10 minutes on the toilet, I decided to get back on the bed. Before I was actually in labor, I always wanted to delivery in a jacuzzi in the squat position. For some reason, when I was actually in labor, that is not what I did at all. I did not want to get back in the jacuzzi because the water was pretty yucky looking. I tried one contraction in the squat position (on my way back to the bed) and for some reason I did not like it (not sure why, maybe I was just concentrating on getting into the bed). 

When I finally got back into the bed Dana checked me again and thank the Lord I was complete and could begin pushing. I ended up pushing in traditional style (last position I ever thought I would deliver in) with Tyler behind me (we both really wanted Tyler to catch Charlie, but in the moment I need him behind me). My contractions continued one after the other during pushing. For the first two contractions, I was still figuring out how to push - I would take about 4 or 5 breathes during the contraction. By the third contraction I started to figure it out and pushing became more successful and relieving. Finally, after a few contractions my water finally broke - right on Dana and flowed back to Tyler. In the moment I was not thinking about how long I was going to be pushing for, but I remember Ty looking at the clock and saying that he had 30 minutes to come on his due date. Dana promptly said that there was not doubt in her mind that he would be here by then. I couldn’t believe that I was less than 30 minutes from meeting my baby! After one contraction Dana took my hand and let me feel his hairy little head. She also let me look with a mirror. I wish I could have looked and touched him more, but my contractions were coming too fast to really take much in. One contraction and his head was half out. Another and his whole head and arm were out. In between contractions he decided to turn his whole head and arm (ouch!). One more contraction and I heard my baby cry and felt him on my chest! In total, I only pushed for 20 minutes. Thinking about that moment still gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes!  

Charlie was healthy and perfect and beautiful. The next hour or so was a blur. All I remember is staring at my beautiful baby boy. At some time, that I do not remember, Ty got up and took pictures (thank goodness!). After they checked him temp and heartrate, they left our new little family alone to take it all in. I will forever cherish those first moments together. It was perfect. Just the three of us. After about an hour they took Charlie to do measurements (only a few feet away where I could watch everything). He was 7lbs 9.5oz, 20 1/4” long. After that Tyler held him skin to skin while they took care of me. They continued to monitor us for the required 4 hours (that turned into 5) and we left at 5:00 am. 

Charlie’s birthday was the best day of my life. My whole life I was afraid of delivering a baby - I believed the lie that society tells us. However, L&D was anything but that lie. It was beautiful and it was what my body is suppose to do. I know that whoever is reading this will probably not believe this, but it really was not that painful. Right after delivering him I was relieved, yes, but I also was ready to do it again three days later (and I tore badly). 

May 7, 2014 was the most beautiful day. I am so blessed that the Lord blessed me with being a mama to my Charles. 

So much hair!

Beautiful big eyes

Getting ready to leave