12 weeks already!

Wow! Today is the last day of my "maternity" leave. I put the word maternity in quotes because that isn't really what it is . . . it's short term disability and I only got paid a percentage of my salary for six weeks (would have only been four if I hadnt had a c-section) and then the other six weeks I used ALL of my sick, vacation and personal time. I can't believe how fast these 12 weeks have gone by. I can't believe how different Liam is . . . he's a fun, little baby now. Not a scary "breakable" infant! He grasps my fingers, yells really loud just to hear himself, holds on while being carried with his strong head up and away from my shoulder. He laughs and smiles. Oh, does he smile. His favorite place to be is on the changing station getting his diaper changed. No matter how mad he was before he just laughs and coos when you get him up there. Why cant we go back to work week 2, 3, 4 and then have more time at the end when they are so fun! Obviously I am kidding . . . who would watch a 2 week old! ;)

I am excited to return to work tomorrow. Obviously I am not excited to not be with Liam all day long, but it is good for both of us! I love my job. I have been at the Economic Development Commission for over six years. I love what I do and I miss my work. I miss my co-workers and I miss being a part of the community. I am ready to dive back in and do a kick ass job! The family atmosphere at the EDC makes it the perfect environment for a new family! The best part of all is Grammy is going to be watching Liam . . . at our house. We are all so blessed! It has been such perfect timing that my mom retired at the end of last school year. She and I have had such a great time together during my leave and now she will be helping us out so much! I would be feeling very differently today if Liam were starting daycare tomorrow (but I know that would be OK too), but he won't be doing that for several months and for that I am grateful. Thanks Mom!!

Tomorrow we start a new chapter in our lives . . . that of working mom!

Getting some Z's!

Liam has slept seven hours straight the past three nights! I would say that three nights in a row means this is a new schedule. YIPPEE!! Just in time for my return to work. People say we are lucky and believe me . . . I know we are lucky! But I also think that we have worked really hard to get Liam on a schedule! We both read Babywise two times before he was born and several times since. I consult Erin on a regular basis and we don't mess around with his schedule! He eats every three hours, then has awake time until he fusses just a little (about one to one and a half hours), then he goes down in his crib awake. He "talks" to his mobile and we go in about 10 times to put the pacifier in his mouth and then he soothes himself to sleep. Sometimes in the early evening we put him in there and he cries for about 10 - 20 minutes (this is not fun). And at his last scheduled feeding around 9:00 pm we turn off the tv and every light . . . nighttime! We don't talk and he usually takes his bottle with his eyes closed. Then we let him go . . . 7 hours! I stick with the schedule while I am out and about during the day and he does so good. After his bottle he falls asleep in his carseat after a little while of looking around. I know that all babies are different, but I say to my pregnant friends out there . . . sleep training from the beginning is worth a try. What do you have to lose!? (Except sleep if you don't!)

This weekend we have to decide what pictures we are going to order from our photoshoot with Abby Liga. How will we decide?! If you haven't seen them yet, check them out . . .

http://shop.ligaphotography.com/portraits/dinsmore-family Password: dinsmore

It's finally Fall in Orlando!

It was finally chilly this weekend. We took full advantage . . . we ate lunch outside with friends, went to a Pumpkin Patch, made chili, and dressed Liam in footed pajamas!! It's the little things!

"There is NOTHING wrong with this baby . . . "

. . . That's what my mom says all the time while playing with Liam. He'll look right at you and flash you this big ole' smile and you can't help but think it. But then we remember that just 2 short months ago he had some head trauma and a couple of seizures. And then you go to the neurologist and the developmental specialist and they say they are concerned about this or that. And your mind starts going crazy.

Today I joined "Team Grammy" and I agree . . . There is NOTHING wrong with this baby!!

We went to the neurologist today (more on him later) for a follow up to our appointment one month ago. One month ago they told us that they were concerned that his head was growing too fast. Not that his head was too big, but that it was too big compared to how big it was when we left the hospital. Ok. What does that mean (you always have to ask this)? It meant that there was possible swelling. And if there is (you have to ask this too)? That would mean that they would have to do surgery to relieve it. So I have been thinking about this for one month. BUT Brian wouldn't believe it. You see, no one could measure his head and get the same measurement so we didnt have much confidence in the process. Today we returned to have the same doctor, in the same office measure his head one month later. And . . .

"There is nothing here that alarms me!" said the neurologist. Not sure why I put an exclamation point because Dr. Personality did not say this with any type of feeling! I cant stand this doctor. He met with us in the NICU. Sat us down and scared us to death. He talked in circles and was so doom and gloom. He's a childrens neurologist. He only works with children. How can he be so cold and matter of fact?! He wants to see us again in January and if there is no change then he will "release us from his care" and that will be behind us!! Yay!! I will sleep good tonight! (well, as good as you can sleep when you have a feeding every 3 hours!)

Two month appointment

Liam had his two month appointment at the pediatrician last Friday. Poor little guy got four shots. He cried so hard. So did I!! He was pretty out of sorts for the next two days. Here are his stats . . .

Weight . . . 13 lbs, 7 oz . . . 90%
Height . . . 23 1/4 in . . . 55%
Head Circ . . . 16 1/8 . . . 70%

He's not overweight. He's undertall!! He's our cute lil butterball!

Tomorrow Liam goes back to the neurologist. Last time we were there they were concerned that his head was growing a little too fast which would indicate swelling. So basically we are going back to have his head measured again and compared to when we were there one month ago. We brought this up with the pediatrician on Friday and she wasn't concerned so we aren't letting ourselves be either.

Brian just took Nana to the airport. She is on her way back to Milwaukee. What a great visit we had. We will miss Nana and Papa and look forward to visiting them in Milwaukee when Liam is a little older!!

It's Tummy Time!

Liam has had an eventful day! First, Abby Liga our awesome wedding photographer came over at 9:30 this morning for a family photo shoot. Remember a long time ago I posted that I had booked Amy Smith to take Liam's newborn pictures? Well, Amy's photo shoots and photos are very expensive (and worth every penny!) and although Abby is expensive too, because we used her for our wedding she waved the session fee as an "anniversary gift." So I cancelled Amy (I will use her another time) and booked Abby. I booked her for a newborn session the week after Liam was born. BUT Liam was in the hospital the week after he was born so I cancelled that and made it two weeks later. Two weeks later was when I thought I was going to die from the pain of breast feeding and I couldnt picture getting the house and the family ready for a photo shoot, so I cancelled and rescheduled once again. All the sudden I realized that we don't have a new-newborn anymore and those beautiful, scrunched up photos weren't going to happen. I called Abby and asked her if she thought we should wait and do pictures when he is sitting up. She assured me that she would get some great shots and we would be happy we had them.

Picking out clothes for the family, getting the house photo ready, getting ready the day of (with unpredictable hair) and all that good stuff is very stressful! We pulled it together! We had a good time. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time picking an outfit for Liam because he wore a diaper or a blanket the entire time. It was great to see Abby again. She always makes us feel so comfortable. She said she was getting some good shots. I can't wait to see what they look like! Thankfully we waited until the end of the shoot to do the "no diaper shot." Liam peed on Brian the second he picked him up to pose. That pretty much wrapped things up!

Next we had an appointment with the developmental specialist. She asked us a lot of questions and then did several tests. These included trying to get him to track black and white flash cards. Hold his head up on his own. And lie on his tummy and lift his head. He doesn't do the tummy thing very well. Could it be the fact that when she weighed him today he was 13 lbs 5 oz . . . in the 90th percentile for weight. He also measured 23 in . . . the 50th percentile. He's a little chunker! So, she told us that we need to do a lot of tummy time with him to strengthen those muscles. I don't think anything she said or anything he did or didn't do there was alarming. All babies develop at different speeds and it is too hard to tell anything when they are two months old. We go back again in six months. I am happy that we continue to have these follow up appoinments with the neurologist and developmental specialist. It will be really nice when he is older.

Tomorrow we go to the pediatrician for two month shots. Yay! I am not excited that he has to have shots but I am excited that we won't have to worry about taking him out in public or have him around friends' kids anymore! I'll post how that goes and his official weight and height after that appointment tomorrow.

Let's do some tummy time . . .

Liam meets Nana and Papa . . .

Brian's parents are visiting from Milwaukee. They arrived last Sunday and drove down south on Monday to pick his grandmother (Oma) up. She had a short visit until they took her back on Wednesday, but it was so great to get some pictures of her with Liam. She loved feeding him his bottle* and holding him. Brian's stepdad, Kevin (Papa), leaves tomorrow and then his mom (Nana) is here until next Tuesday. They are so helpful with Liam . . . it's nice that they can get to know him!

* You might have noticed in some of my Facebook pictures that a lot of people are feeding Liam a bottle. It's true . . . I had to stop breast feeding. What an experience that was. I was having a lot of problems that were very painful including constant clogged milk ducts. I think that because I had to pump every two hours for the first week of Liam's life and my supply and demand was not regulated by a baby but instead a pump . . . I just produced too much. I tried day after day to continue. I tried feeding on one side, pumping on the other, then supplementing with some formula. Once I finished all this we had about one hour until it all started again. I couldn't believe how demanding and painful breast feeding was . . . woman don't talk about it very much! Girlfriends need to share with each other. I was literally sick, on the couch for a couple of days and I was crying every time I had to feed him. On top of that, he seemed to prefer the bottle. Finally, mom and Brian had an intervention with me and told me that it would be better for everyone if I stopped. So I called the pediatrician to ask about formula and I called the OB/GYN to ask how to shut this down. The nurse said that she wasn't going to lie, that it was going to be very painful, but that the best thing would be to go cold turkey. So I hung up the phone and realized that I had just breast fed Liam for the last time. I cried and cried. For the next two days I experienced a tremendous amount of emotional and physical pain. I mean, this was more painful than the c-section! I used frozen compresses, tight sports bras, pain pills, cabbage leaves . . . you name it, I did it. It took 2 days for the really bad pain to go away and a weak to feel somewhat normal again. After that I was a new woman!! I was pain free, could get more sleep, get help from others, leave the house, go on a date . . . Wow! I had planned to breast feed for a long time. I had planned to pump at work. It was going to be difficult but I was going to do it. Well, it didnt work out for us and that is OK! Liam is happy. I am happy. He loves his bottle. AND he loves that Daddy can be a part of it all.

I'm back!!

The post below was started 8 weeks ago while we were still in the hospital. It took me forever to finish it. I didn't want to move on with any other blogging until I got it posted. I think it is important for us to remember the sequence of events that were Liam's birth! From now on I promise to post cute stories and even cute pictures of our son, Liam Robert Dinsmore! This pregnancy blog is now a Mommy's blog! Stay tuned . . .

Disclaimer . . . I don't feel like rereading the post below right now. Beware of tons of mistakes! It will take me another 2 months to proofread it!