Happy Baby Yoga

On Monday, we celebrated all those dead presidents with Ajay being home from work and me taking a couple of hours for myself...yep, I went to a yoga class!

Normally, I would obsess over whether I knew which teacher was teaching, which of the five locations Yogaworks offers classes in, what level the class is, what style the class is, etc. But on President's Day, I just needed to go to a class, any class, and that's what I did.

I ended up at a Level 1-2 Hatha blend class. It was harder than some that I'd taken, easier than others. The teacher was awesome, and one that I hadn't had the pleasure of learning from in the past.

I moved my body...it heated up. I stretched it. I challenged it. I even sweat! We chanted, we did breathing exercises. We relaxed. And at the very end? Before our final corpse pose? She told us to feel free to relax in a Happy Baby pose. With that, everyone around me grabbed their feet while lying on their backs. Some rolled gently from side to side.

Huh? That's no Happy Baby! Don't these people have babies? For a true Happy Baby pose, your toes would have to be in your mouth, and preferably, you'd be naked. But my better judgement told me it would probably be best to just follow the pack rather than enlightening the pack. So I left my pants on, and my feet stayed out of my mouth.

Teeth, teeth, and more teeth!

At Alia's 6 month check up, Dr. O told us the top middle teeth were moving into position, and sure enough, 3 weeks later they popped through...this was a few days ago. And poor little Alia...she's been chomping up a storm on anything that passes by her...among her favorite things are fingers...mine, Ajay's, or Uncle Jim's. She's not too choosey, basically anyone that will put up with the pain of our little barracuda is a potential victim!

The other day I noticed Alia chomping away on her little index finger...only, it was off to the side of her bottom two teeth. I thought it was interesting that she wasn't chewing on the area where the two new teeth were breaking through on top. So I looked more closely...and sure enough, right next to her bottom two teeth was one more teeny tiny little tooth breaking through the surface. Poor thing! No wonder she's going mad! Teeth are popping through everywhere!

37 looms

This week, I've been feeling a little blah. My birthday is next week, and I can't help but notice that 40 is approaching. Yes, I mean in several years, but seriously, the 6 years Ajay and I have been together have flown by. I also have been doing some reflecting about things over the past days...

I started my blog over a year ago, and have used it to not only record the events of my life, my microcosm, but it also really reflects what I'm thinking about what I'm focusing on from day to day. And lately, I've noticed I haven't been writing much. Nope...no writer's block...just haven't had much to say. And why is that? I suppose I feel a little bit boring these days.

I notice that when I began my blog, it was post IVF, and it was the waiting game...did it take? and from there it was the excitement of being pregnant...and then the excitement of becoming a Mom and getting to meet this beautiful little funny human being...I believe it was Gwenyth Paltrow that said she experience post-partem-euphoria with her first baby and I can totally relate to that. In fact, look at my blog since she was born...all my focus is exactly where it should be...on my beautiful little girl. I record every little significant (and sometimes insignificant I admit) event. But where am I in all this? Have I had any thoughts of myself? And by this I don't mean to paint myself as a selfless do-gooder...I just mean I think I forgot about myself!

For example...I haven't been keeping up with world events...I don't watch the news anymore or even keep the Today show on in the background anymore since Alia was born (I don't allow her to watch TV). I don't have a whole lot of time to myself, and I typically choose to focus on the basics of being a housewife when Alia takes her 20 minute naps...dishes, throwing in laundry, folding laundry, showering, general housekeeping stuff. I wear one of three shirts every 3rd day...comfy, washable, and yes, a little tattered. Somewhere on that list at the bottom is putting my feet up, checking email, looking at online news, eating something...you get the idea. Not much is being invested in me right now.

So my body actually aches these days. I miss my three times a week yoga habit. I miss butt-kicking exercise that makes me see results. I hate that my exercise program I began last November lasted about 3 weeks. I just didn't have the energy to continue it. All of this coupled with my birthday approaching next week has me feeling, well, a little blah.

And here's the wierd part. I've never been so generally happy or fulfilled. I am living my version of the dream. Raising my daughter with a loving and supportive and not to mention handsome and kind husband? What else is there? Maybe I have a case of the Mommy blahs (not blues...I don't feel depressed...just back-achey and old!)

And now, Alia's awake from her little bitty nap, so I must go...without conclusion or a quippy feel-better lesson to learn!

My new bedding

I finally found new bedding...I've been looking for just the right thing for so long now...I wanted something modern, yet maybe a bit Indian...something with a little pizazz, but also muted enough for a bedroom. I wanted something inviting, luxurious, yet washable (considering that Alia leaks)...
And finally, I found it. Only, rather than photographing my new bedding, I have been taking photo after photo of Alia while sleeping on the new bedding...so maybe you can tell what I have here, maybe you can't.

What a bad blogger I am!

Okay...I have not been blogging. I know. I've been thinking of blogging, but just haven't found the time lately. My Mom visited last week from the Midwest which kept me busy. Also, I just haven't been able to find the time like I used to. Where does it go? 

Well, for one thing, I have started a fairly constant daily routine with Alia. From the time she gets up in the morning until bath time before bed, I'm busy with her. I've read quite a lot of studies regarding the impact of television on baby's brains, so there is no television (read: babysitter) for Alia...at least before the age of 2, which is what studies suggest. By the way, if you're interested in the information I'm referring to, you can find it at the following sites:

http://www.aap.org/sections/media/ToddlersTV.htm

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1173446

http://www.raisesmartkid.com/articles/the-effects-of-tv-on-baby.html

http://www.babble.com/TV-before-2-baby-child-health-television-impact/

http://www.brainy-child.com/article.shtml

And no, I am not on a personal crusade to keep babies from television...I think it's totally up individual parents to do what works best for their family. Just passing along information for what it's worth...take it or leave it. 

Anyway, as I said, Alia's keeping me busy. We've been doing  a lot more activities with her over the past month. Among her favorite things to do is to go to the park at the top of our hill. I must say, it's a gorgeous public park, and Alia shrieks with glee every time we approach it. She loves the wind on her face, seeing other kids racing back and forth, taking nature walks on the trails...our girl just loves it. In fact, when we take her tonight, I'll make a point of taking some photos because it's just lovely up there.

What else does Alia love right now? Well, let's see...she has learned to make funny noises with her mouth. When I make raspberries on her belly? That noise? Well, Alia does it now with a sparkle in her eyes...as if inviting me to join in. And God knows she doesn't have to ask me twice! She has also mastered how to make little clucking noises with the tongue against the roof of her tiny little mouth. She sounds like a bushman clucking away in her crib, I swear! Oh, and did I mention yogurt??? My girl thinks yogurt is the best thing ever made ever EVER!!! About a month ago, I read that plain whole milk yogurt is an excellent first food for babies. Only, well, Alia hated it. She stuck out her tongue, she made yuck! noises...the whole nine yards. But then when I saw Yo Baby at Trader Joe's yesterday, I thought, well, what's a little sugary fruit mixed with yogurt? And that was all she wrote. Now Alia wants nothing but Yo Baby blueberry yogurt. I've never seen such excitement over yogurt...imagine what ice cream is going to be like for her!

So that, my friends, is what's new on this end of the continent!

Hurry up...no, wait!

So, since we're trying to do a natural cycle for my FET (frozen embryo transfer), Dr. H and I counted the days of my likely ovulation this month. And what did we find? That it's likely that I will ovulate the ONLY day that she and her partner will both be out of town. Ever. 

So, another month to wait and see if Alia will get a sibling this round. 

Frozen Embryo Transfer...Here We Come!!!

Since Alia was about 8 weeks old, I was ready to start trying to make a sibling for her. We sought out the advice of our fertility doctor, and she wanted me to wait six months from my delivery date to heal properly, and through two natural menstrual cycles. That way we can avoid a few drugs, and more than a few painful progesterone oil injections (2 per day, 1cc each, for 10 weeks...you do the math...that's a lot of pin holes). 

So here we are....Alia is 6 months old, and while in some ways I anxiously awaited the beginning of my next cycle (so we could move forward with our frozen embryo transfer), somewhere in the back of my mind, I kinda thought maybe we'd make the next baby the old fashioned way. But the news of the day is that we didn't this month. 

Feeling a little bit bummed out about that, I have to ask myself a few questions. Was it silly to think all these months of not using any birth control may be different than the two and a half years that we tried the last time, which resulted in my IVF success named Alia. For those of us in any way dialed in to the infertility networks, we've all heard of women who struggle for years with no success, then do IVF, have a baby and poof! like magic, she gets pregnant on her own the next time...of course by accident. So maybe I was silly to believe the voodoo. I mean, seriously, I'm almost 4 years older than when we began trying to conceive. That's not helpful.

So although we're simply navigating through the course we charted, and moving toward a new member of our family, I have to say that I hoped that the poof-magic would have happened for us. But in the end, I feel really fortunate that we have the methods and the means to move forward with the original plan, albeit my secret "backup" plan.  

High Chairs...who knew?

Okay, before Alia was born, I thought I had thought of everything. I thought I wouldn't need a thing for the first few years---I was prepared. But now I find myself realizing that the highchair I had chosen (well, actually a clamp-on seat that hooks directly onto your table) isn't the best for Alia or me. 

The reason I went with this one was that my sister in law had a similar one...it folded flat, was lightweight, and was simple to attach and unattach...hers was by Phil&Ted. I ordered that one...only the bracket that clamps on? It wasn't thick enough to grasp onto the kitchen island. So I returned it and selected the one from Chicco. Which barely, barely fits on, but it will only fit on one side of the island due to how it's constructed. And this one doesn't fold flat to travel with us. And it's difficult to get unattached (not their design flaw...just the way our island is constructed underneath). And finally, the back of the chair has padded tubular metal construction, but the padding is not soft enough (note in the picture I wedged a pillow between her and the back of the chair)...and considering it rests at the base of Alia's skull at her current size, and considering that my girl loves to thrust her entire weight backwards for fun these days, it seems a little dangerous.

So, here I am, on the quest for a minor major purchase. One of my friends has a daughter who is almost outgrowing her highchair...but not quite yet. So forget the hand-me-down option. And this same girlfriend told me if she had it to do again, she'd just buy one of those kid chairs that mounts onto an existing dining room chair. Okay, so maybe I'll look into that. 

So, I looked. I just couldn't seem to find anything like that that seemed like it would provide Alia with the support she currently needs. She's still a little wobbly. And not to mention, our dining table is glass. So inviting Alia to eat at the table would mean that I would have to start buying Windex by the gallon...do I really want that?

So then I started with the Boon chair...the elite version is $400. Yeah, don't think that's going to happen. Okay, then there's the non-stainless version for a mere $229. Okay, not so bad. But then I looked at the Land of Nod, where I've been really lucky before. They have quite a variety of nice looking chairs at a broad range of prices. Only, it began getting overwhelming. And finally I shut it down and stepped away from the computer. 

Geez...highchairs...who knew?

Alia is 6 months old

As always, I feel like the time is just flying. My itty bitty newborn infant is now 6 months old...half a year! At her 6 month pediatrician appointment, we learned that she is officially off the charts on height, weight and head circumference. She is 28.25 inches long and weighed 19 pounds, 14 oz. Furthermore, our doctor noted all sorts of things that Alia was excelling at...she hands her toys from one hand to the other. She sat up on my lap with little to no support for the duration of the appointment. Alia was also very vocal during the appointment...cooing and flirting with the doctor until she tried to look in her ears...then she decided this appointment wasn't that much fun. The doctor also told us that the "stranger anxiety" that I'm starting to witness is just Alia being a little bit ahead of schedule and that she's a smart cookie; she knows that we are her people, which means that other people aren't.

This month solid food went from a sometimes-treat to a daily event. At 6 months, we were allowed to add fruits to her diet...and while bananas were an instant hit, apricots....well....you be the judge!

This month Alia seems to be coming out of her shell more. She is easily bored and wants to see new things all the time. She loved our New Years trip to San Francisco, and enjoys our new morning routine of going to town for her bottle. Alia also is very clear in her communication; if she is unhappy, she lets us know with high-pitched whining. And if she's happy? Well, just make sure she's safe, because anything in range will be smacked about 1,000 times.

Alia is a spunky little girl...she loves to play and giggle and she definitely knows when she's being funny....she gets a twinkle in her eye that is just heartwarming. 

This month, I've relaxed a bit. I really feel like I've found my footing, and for the most part and much better able to take things in stride. I give both Alia and myself credit for this....she's become much more "durable" and I've learned to relax and roll with things. I think I've actually learned that all babies are different and no matter what this book or that article says, we're doing just fine.

So happy half-year birthday, Alia! My constant companion, my little entertainer, and world's biggest fan of winter squash!

You may already know this if you're my friend or relative, and maybe you've also picked up on this if you read my blog regularly...I'm Type-A. I like to be organized. I like to have answers. I like to do it the right way. I don't cut corners. I am not lazy...in fact, I have a hard time sitting still because there's so much I could be getting done. Type-A. That's me.

So when Alia started whining, I wanted answers. There must be answers somewhere, and in an effort to find those answers as to why my little Miss Whinypants has been so whiny, I broke out a book that I tried to finish before Alia was born...Babywise. Why is it her daytime naps are only a half an hour at a time? Is this why she's whiny? Chronic tiredness? And if she's so tired, why won't she sleep more during her naps? Is it because she sleeps 12 hours straight at night? And is it normal that she's still on a 3 hour cycle of eat-play-sleep? I figured maybe all the answers were in the book.

So I cracked it open. I flipped to the back of the book, and found that this book only focuses on baby behavior (and training) up to 10 weeks old. Oops...might've thought to finish the book awhile back...but in all fairness, I was tired!!! Anyway...near the back of the book, I thumbed through, looking for anything that might be helpful....and there it was...mention of a 6 month old. As I backed up to read what I had uncovered, to my dismay, the author mentions how much older babies, 6 months, will eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then nurse just before bedtime....HUH???? Dude, Alia eats 5.5 ounces every 2.5-3 hours. She has a mid-morning snack of veggies. She gets a touch of rice cereal in her bottles. But 3 meals??? at 6 months? Where did I go wrong. Then mister smartypants author goes on to say something about a couple of long naps, or perhaps a single long nap mid-day. Again, I'm thinking, does the author know any 6 month olds? Or is mine a total outlier on the bell curve?

Frustrated and feeling very alienated, I set the book down. And here I was so proud that Alia sleeps so well at night...maybe just a little fine tuning would be necessary to get her from 2 morning naps to 1, and ditto for the afternoon schedule. But now I see that everything is completely out of whack....she's not even close to meeting these goals.

I picked up the laptop and googled "6 month old feeding schedule"...about a million things came up. And the first one I clicked? It said that most 6 month olds still didn't quite have it in them to stay awake for more than 2 hours at a time, which basically meant that they still required multiple naps throughout the day. It also said that because naps were so frequent, they would be short in duration. The article then went on to say that at 6 months, most babies would be able to sleep the night, with the exception of 1-2 feedings in the night, but anymore than that would be more habit than nutritive requirement. Finally, it listed a typical feeding schedule for a 6 month old. There in black and white I saw 30-32oz of formula or breast milk throughout the day...starting at maybe 6:30AM. From there feeding every 3 hours with a vegetable snack in the mid-morning, and maybe a fruit snack in the evening.

Yep, I was back! Back to feeling great about Alia's sleeping straight through the night. Back to feeling confident about how long Alia was capable of staying up. Back to feeling good about how much she was eating and how often. Amazing what a little Google will getcha!