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Hunter: Week 31

11/26/2016

Sleep has been a little better this week, thankfully. He slept through the night more often, and I decided that unless he was banging his head into the crib or really crying, I would let him tough it out. This helped. Although he did bang his head into the side of the crib one night so I got up and moved him and then he was up for 1.5 hours. Everyday is a learning experience! Boy have I learned that what might work one day doesn't mean that it will work the next day or week. These have been an insightful seven months!

Hunter will grab onto everything, and he's reaching more now, too. I had him in his bumbo seat on the kitchen counter, and the bottle warmer was next to him. He leaned over, grabbed it, and starting dumping the water out of it. He wants to tough remotes, phones, and anything he can get his paws on. We have to be a lot more careful now!

He's also rolling a lot more, now, too. He's more content to play on his tummy and he'll roll and scootch to get where he wants to go (meaning where he sees a toy that he wants to play with). He hasn't really made any movements toward crawling yet. He's getting better at sitting, but he still can't do it himself yet.

Shamus is the nap whisperer. This kid will not really nap more than 10 minutes with me, but if Shamus puts him down, he will sleep anywhere from 1-2 hours. It's awesome. He really needs those naps; he gets super cranky if he doesn't have them!

I can see that he has a stubborn streak, too. On Friday night, he was so tired and fell asleep around 7. I took him up to his room, he woke up, and then it all went downhill from there. He would not fall back asleep no matter what I tried. Finally I gave up around 8 and we played with him for another half hour or so. Then when I tried to feed him again so that he could go to sleep for the night, he didn't want to eat. He wanted to play more. Finally I just kept rubbing his head, and he finally fell asleep. He will fight it so hard though.

It was Hunter's first Thanksgiving! Of course he didn't get to eat anything, but we did give him some sweet potato baby food, and he sat in his high chair while we all ate. He had fun playing with his cousins and being held by everyone. Next week he gets to go see Santa!

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Hunter: Week 30

11/18/2016

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I think this child might be trying to kill me! This sleep thing...or no sleeping to be more accurate....is brutal! Every night except one night last week he was up for about an hour in the middle of the night. And one other night he woke up at 4am, and once I finally got him back to sleep he slept until 7. But sleeping through the night is no longer a given. He also has stopped taking good naps...or even naps at all....at daycare. Daycare used to be his jam to sleep. I'm not really sure what's going on with him, but I really would love for it to stop. Yesterday he didn't nap at all at daycare, and then he slept from about 7-8:45pm, 9:30-1:30, 2:15-5:38, and then finally again from about 7-7:30. And guess what? He was a cranky little monster this morning, and I apologized in advance to Kathleen for his attitude. He really just needs to conk out!

In other news, he hates carrots but loves peaches. So much love for the peaches. I also switched him to peach apple oatmeal in the mornings, and he loves that, too. He got pears today, so we will see if he likes those. I imagine he will. He got his first sippy cup with water in it this week, too. He liked it, but he definitely had water all over him, too. The doctor said that he could have as much water in one day as he was months old. So 6 ounces for 6 months old. I feel like that's so much water! I actually haven't given him any since. His hair is still sticking up, but the longer and heavier it gets, the more it's starting to flop over, which makes me sad. It's so cute when it stands up!

On Sunday, we took Hunter to the zoo, and it was a lot of fun. He was in the stroller most of the time, but we did take him out and hold him to see the elephants, bears and a couple of other animals. I think he had a good time; he was pretty chill just checking things out. He did stick his tongue out for much of his time there, which was really funny. I'm not sure if was trying to smell better or if he just likes to stick his tongue out and blow raspberries. So cute! The animals weren't super cooperative of course, but it was fun nonetheless. I had to get a picture of him in front of the polar bear growth chart. Somewhere there's a picture of me as a little kid in front of that polar bear, so we have to continue the tradition!

Next week he will be 7 months, and it will be his first Thanksgiving...although he won't get to partake in any food. Next year!

Hunter has been "talking" a lot lately, which means there's a lot of squealing in our house. It's loud but it's pretty adorable. I guess everything (except for not sleeping) is pretty adorable to me! I must be a mom!

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Hunter: Week 29

11/11/2016

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Last week in the 20s! It's crazy how fast time flies!

This week has been soooo hard with sleep. Hunter has completely regressed and is waking up in the middle of the night, and I'm often up with him for 1.5-2.5 hours. Just trying to get him to go back to sleep. It's so incredibly frustrating, and I'm so tired. And I'm starting to battle a sore throat, which I know would be a lot better if I could just sleep through the night. Just look at his eyes, too. See how tired he looks?! He slept good on Monday night, and I accidentally had the volume off on the monitor. It was nice, but I know he slept well too because the screen will turn on if he makes a lot of noise, and it never did. So that was my last good night of sleep. After that, he would wake himself up when he was on his tummy and then would have a hard time falling back asleep. Or, he would have a hard time staying asleep when I put him back into his crib. Last night though, he was wide awake at 1am and was not interested in falling back asleep. Finally I fed him and that calmed him down enough where he slept another 4 hours. Kathleen said he hasn't been sleeping well at daycare either. So he's tired and cranky and I'm tired and cranky. Joy. I really hope he jumps out of this sleep regression very soon.

He is still sleeping on his belly quite a bit, and if you don't have a toy for him to play with in front of his face while he's on his back, he'll usually flip onto his belly. He's still not great about getting back over though. He likes to squeal a lot, which is really cute. He also really wants to sit up, but he just doesn't have the strength and coordination yet. He'll get there!

This week we tried carrot baby food that I made, and apparently he made a face, his whole body shook and he gagged himself to get it out of his mouth. Dramatic, no? He did this at daycare, and I'm sad that I missed it. I'm beginning to wonder if he doesn't like carrots and squash or if he doesn't like the food that I make. I bought a bunch of baby food because in the holiday rush, I won't have time to make him a bunch of stuff that he doesn't want to eat anyway.

He's still nursing/getting bottles of breast milk and then he gets rice cereal (he likes the banana apple flavor) in the morning and then baby food in the afternoon. At daycare, he gets three 6-ounce bottles, and then I nurse him in the morning and twice in the evening/night. Usually he doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night but he's been doing that more often lately it seems.

It truly is a bummer to work five days and only get to spend good time with him on the weekends. I feel bad for parents who have to do this every week. I'm really thankful that starting again the end of December I will get him more often. It's tough!

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Hunter: Week 28

11/3/2016

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I was reading back on when I was 28 weeks pregnant to see what was going on. It was the start of my third trimester, and it was in February. I had just had an appointment where I got to see the baby (and his huge head), and I found out I had to be induced. It's crazy that now here we are with Hunter 28 weeks old. It's fun to go back and look at the ultrasound picture and see Hunter in there. Plus, that was the time when I felt him punch me and saw him do it all at the same time.

And he's just as active now! He is rolling like crazy...he doesn't usually stay on his back for long, but he still hasn't discovered that he can move across the room if he keeps rolling. He's not so great at getting back onto his belly yet. In fact, it's getting harder to do these weekly pictures because he doesn't want to lie in one spot. Also, if you lean him again something, like our pillows, he's constantly trying to sit up. I think once he gets those muscles built up, he will be sitting for sure. He wants to do it so badly! I'm also trying to put him in the bumbo or the high chair more often so he's used to sitting up. He still giggles a lot when the dogs come near him.

He's getting really good at holding onto things. Like my neck skin when I'm holding him. Or my hair. Nothing is really off limits anymore. He also reaches out for his toys and likes to hold onto them and bang them against his legs...and then cry or fuss when he lets go and they go flying away. I also saw him transfer a toy from one hand to another, which apparently is a milestone.

Still no teeth for this one, but he does have his hands in his mouth quite a bit and loves to drool. He has been sticking his pointy little tongue out a lot this week, too. It's cute. He's been eating baby food and still loves his rice cereal with the green apple and banana flavor. I've increased the quantity of that in the mornings and he gobbles it up. I made butternut squash baby food, and he wants nothing to do with it. But Kathleen gave him a package of sweet potato baby food, and he loved that. He ate the whole container. He also loved the banana baby food. I made carrot baby food, so that will be up next. I don't think there's a problem with this kid eating. He wants all the food all the time.

We didn't take Hunter trick or treating this year, but we did get him a lion costume and took him over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He also went to the Halloween party at daycare on Sunday although we didn't stay long because I had to go to a Broncos game. So he kind of celebrated, but he sure made a cute lion!

This was his first full week of daycare/me working. It's sad for me, but I don't think he cares too much. I'm sure it's more fun playing with his friends than hanging out with boring me all day. At least I know it's temporary and then I'll get him back!

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Me and Him

We have been trying to conceive (TTC) since July 2012, and it's been a long road. After 4 unsuccessful IUIs (artificial inseminations) and countless heartache, we have decided to move forward with in vitro fertilization (IVF). Even though it's insanely expensive, it has the highest chance for success (75%) and it's our best hope. One of the most frustrating things about our infertility is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with either of us (that they can test). Oftentimes IVF also is diagnostic, so along with hoping for a happy, healthy baby, we are hoping for some answers. This is our journey, and we appreciate any prayers along they way.

I'm writing this so I can look back and reflect and also because I want a place to let it all loose. I don't expect many to read it but at least I can get thoughts, feelings, and experiences out of my mind and onto "paper." Hopefully there's a positive outcome and I can look back and say remember when we had to deal with all that crap...

We also want to give hope to others who are dealing with infertility. We know what you're going through, and it sucks. Try to keep hope in your heart. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Update: We had our miracle baby! Hunter, born April 22, 2016, is the light of our lives!