Leah - 8 Months

Eye Color: Hazel/Brown

Clothes:  12M

Diapers:  3

Milestones:  Getting around via pivots and scooting. It's the strangest thing to watch her move across the room in a short amount of time, yet she isn't "crawling".  She has figured out how to roll from her back, to belly, and then get to sitting position. She is not a fan of laying down, so she was quite pleased with herself when she figured this out! She is starting to try and pull up, but hasn't succeeded just yet.

Best Moment(s) This Month: SO close to crawling! First Christmas :)

Loves:

Bottles & Solid Food

Sitting up and playing with toys

Playing with her big brother
Bouncing on the floor - haha

Favorite Toys: Anything that she can chew on. Or anything her brother has - haha

Hates: hates it when I wipe snot off of her face, change her clothes, when she eats all of the solid food and it's over :)

Food:  She eats 6oz, every 3-4 hours.  She eats solids 2 times a day and LOVES them!

Looking Forward To: STILL dreaming of when she will sleep through the night. This girl is wearing us out.

Leah - 7 Months

Eye Color: Hazel/Brown

Clothes:  9M-12M
Baby girl loves to eat! She weighs 20lbs, 12 oz.

Diapers:  3

Milestones:  Sitting unassisted.  Eating solids. Responds to her name. Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach. When standing, supports weight on legs and bounces. Transfers toys from one hand to another. Can hold her bottle herself now.  Trying to pull up and scoot around, but not quite there yet.

Best Moment(s) This Month: She sits up by herself!

Loves:

Bottles & Solid Food

Sitting up and playing with toys

Playing with her big brother
Jumping

Favorite Toys: Loves to bounce in her jumperoo. She loves to chew on Sophie the giraffe.

Hates: Not a fan of changing clothes right now, but other than that she's pretty easy going!

Food:  She eats 5-6oz, every 3-4 hours.  She eats solids 1-2 times a day and LOVES them! Hated the mac and cheese, but has loved everything else we've tried.

Looking Forward To: Thanksgiving, and Christmas :) and dreaming of the day she starts sleeping through the night!

Halloween - 2017

I love Halloween! This year we had Cinderella (and her carriage) and a dinosaur! This was the first year that we let Grant choose his own costume. I was pretty surprised when he chose a dinosaur! I figured he'd choose one of the PJ Masks or Paw Patrol.

We only got a couple pictures of Grant. He was a blur most of the day/night. He was running around non stop growling like a dinosaur.  The fact that we were able to get one decent picture was a miracle.

Leah isn't mobile yet, so she was easier :)

My husband decided to get creative and turn our Radio Flyer wagon into Cinderella's carriage. This worked out great since Leah is only 6 months and has to be pushed around.

I think she was laughing at Grant here. She thinks he is hilarious!

Love this shot! My husband takes the best pictures.

Her smiles make up for all of the exhaustion :)

I love this picture.  The look Leah is giving her big brother cracks me up. I can totally see them in about 12 years and her being annoyed and exasperated with him - haha.

Leah - 6 Months

Eye Color: Dark Blue/Grey

Clothes:  9M-12M
Baby girl loves to eat! She weighed 19lbs, 12.5 oz at her 6 month checkup, which puts her in the 95th percentile for weight, while she was only in the 34th percentile for height lol

Diapers:  3

Milestones:  Sitting unassisted.  Eating solids. Responds to her name. Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach. When standing, supports weight on legs and bounces. Transfers toys from one hand to another. Can hold her bottle herself for a little while.

Best Moment(s) This Month: She sits up by herself!

Loves:

Bottles & Solid Food

Sitting up and playing with toys

Playing with her big brother
When we talk to her - she smiles SO BIG when we talk to her
Jumping in her jumperoo

Favorite Toys: Loves to bounce in her jumperoo. She loves to chew on Sophie the giraffe.

Hates: Not a fan of changing clothes right now, but other than that she's pretty easy going!

Food:  She eats 5-6oz, every 3-4 hours.  She eats solids 1-2 times a day and LOVES them! Hated the mac and cheese, but has loved everything else we've tried.

Looking Forward To: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas :)

Leah - 5 Months

Eye Color: Dark Blue/Grey

Clothes:  6M-9M

Diapers:  3
 
Milestones:  Laughing!! Almost sitting unassisted.  Eating solids.

Best Moment(s) This Month: She laughed!! Grant was talking to her while I was washing bottles and I heard her start laughing. I was able to catch it on camera :)

Loves:

Bottles

Sitting up (Loves the Sit Me Up!)

Looking at her brother
When we talk to her - she smiles SO BIG when we talk to her

Favorite Toys: She's starting to bat and grab the toys on her little activity gym, but that's the only interest in toys so far.

Hates: She doesn't really HATE much of anything. She's such an easy baby.  If she is full and well rested, she is a happy camper for the most part.  Lately she does get bored and doesn't like it when we leave her alone. She likes a lot of attention and face to face talking right now.

Food:  She eats 4oz, every 2-3 hours.  She started on solids last week.

Looking Forward To: Sitting completely unassisted. Crawling. Babbling. Her Halloween costume :)

Leah - 4 Months

 

Eye Color: Dark Blue/Grey

Clothes:  6M-9M

Diapers: 3 (this girl is blowing through the diaper sizes!)
 
Milestones:   She is starting to hold herself up better. We use the Sit-Me-Up a lot and she LOVES it!

Best Moment(s) This Month: Happy smiles! She's had a couple of nights where she only woke up once too and that was really nice :)

Loves:

Naps & Cuddles

Bottles

Sitting up (Loves the Sit Me Up!)

Looking at her brother
When we talk to her - she smiles SO BIG when we talk to her

Favorite Toys: She's starting to bat and grab the toys on her little activity gym, but that's the only interest in toys so far.

Hates: She doesn't really HATE much of anything. She's such an easy baby.  If she is full and well rested, she is a happy camper for the most part.  Lately she does get bored and doesn't like it when we leave her alone. She likes a lot of attention and face to face talking right now.

Food:  She eats 4oz, every 2-3 hours.  I tried baby food and cereal, but she's not interested yet.  Maybe in a few weeks :)

Looking Forward To: I'm really looking forward to hearing her laugh and her to be able to sit unassisted.

Leah - 3 Months

Eye Color: Dark Blue/Grey

Clothes:  6M

Diapers: 2
 
Milestones:   Lots of smiles!! Holding herself up better lately.  She started "talking" a lot too, which is fun.

Best Moment(s) This Month:  How happy she is :)

Loves:

Naps

Bottles

Sitting up (Loves the Sit Me Up!)

Looking at her brother
When we talk to her

Favorite Toys: She's starting to bat and grab the toys on her little activity gym, but that's the only interest in toys so far.

Hates:

Taking a bath

Diaper changes

Food:  She eats 4oz, every 2 hours.  I am ready for her to start spacing it out. This girl loves her bottles, just like her brother did. She's starting to really plump up too - haha. I make some fatty milk apparently, because my babies really put on the weight!

Looking Forward To: Sitting up, laughing, so many things to look forward to!

Leah - 2 Months

Eye Color: Dark Blue/Grey

Clothes:  3M

Diapers: 1
 
Milestones:  She started social smiling!! I LOVE it when they start smiling! She smiles so easily too.

Best Moment(s) This Month:  We've had a couple of nights where she only wakes up once. She's even had a few 7 hour sleep stretches!  And the SMILES!

Loves:

Sleeping

Eating

Being Swaddled

Rocking

Looking at our faces
Her Pacifier!

Favorite Toys: She's started to like the Mamaroo swing. Grant hated it, so I'm happy that it's getting some use.  She can't grab toys yet, but she does like to look at black and white patterns.

Hates:

Taking a bath

Diaper changes

Food:  She eats 3oz, every 2 hours.  I am ready for her to start spacing it out. I tried feeding her 4oz every bottle to see if she'd go longer, but it just ended up making her eat a ton more and spit up. 

Looking Forward To: She isn't cooing much yet so I am looking forward to hearing her "talk" and play with Grant.  He loves to "tickle" her and talk to her and even lays down next to her on her play mat. It's the cutest!

Leah - 1 Month

Exactly 1 Month Old :)

Leah is 2 months old today, but I'm going to do 2 separate posts to break down how things have changed :)

5 days old

Age: 1 Month

Weight:  11 lbs - this girl loves to eat as much as her brother did. She was already over her birth weight by her 2 week appointment.

Eye Color: Dark Blue/Grey

Clothes:  NB

Diapers: NB
 
Milestones:  She has decent head control at this point, but no real milestones yet.

Best Moment(s) This Month:  She sleeps pretty darn good!

Loves:

Sleeping

Eating

Being Swaddled

Rocking

Looking at our faces

Favorite Toys: Not a fan of anything at this point and she'd rather be held than left to herself on a play mat or bouncer.

Hates:

Taking a bath

Diaper changes

Food:  I only nursed her for about a week before I called it quits and started pumping. After successfully pumping for Grant for a year, I much preferred it to the pain of breastfeeding.  I salute all of the mamas who power through bleeding, cracked nipples.  I wasn't strong enough.  She eats 3oz, every 2 hours.

Looking Forward To: seeing her personality come out and seeing her interact with Grant.

4 days old

Leah Brooke's Birth

After not showing any labor progression, my doctor decided to induce labor.  We headed to the hospital and we got started on Pitocin.  I powered through the contractions as long as I could and ended up getting an epidural around 4cm.  During the time the nurse was in and out of my room since she was assigned to two different patients in labor. I'm not sure if they were shorthanded or what, but she kept disappearing for long periods of time. After about and hour I started feeling a lot of pressure during contractions and I paged the nurse.  She had been gone a while since I had only been 4cm at the last check.  When she came to check on me, I was fully dilated!

We were all pretty shocked that I dilated so quickly.  She paged the doctor and told me that I could start pushing soon. The doctor came in and checked me out and said the baby still hadn't moved down even though I was fully dilated.  He said I would be pushing hours again (like I did with Grant) if we started pushing at this point and suggested that we let the contractions work the baby down for a while.

He came back later (I forget how long we did this) and said that the baby had moved down and we could start pushing.  It was at this point that we realized that she moved down so quickly into the birth canal that she didn't rotate completely. So instead of being sunny side up like Grant, she was actually transverse and facing my SIDE!

The doctor attempted to turn her during contractions and he let me push for a while hoping she'd turn.  It became apparent that something was wrong though because with every contraction her heartrate would drop from 140s to as long as 40 and would take forever to come back up. At one point both the doctor and nurse looked terrified and wouldn't answer me when I asked if she was okay.  By this time I was so freaked out every time I had a contraction and I was constantly staring at the baby's heartrate.  I had to wear an oxygen mask and they kept having me turn on my sides to get her heartrate back up each time and I even had to stop pushing so give the baby a break.  It was terrifying.

Eventually my doctor told me that he thought it was safest to do a C-section.  I had been adamant that I did not want a C-section going into this pregnancy with this doctor. I wanted early intervention to turn the baby so she would just slide out and we wouldn't have a difficult labor like I did with Grant. Unfortunately, Leah had another plan for me :) We immediately started prepping for a C-section (side note: it is crazy how quickly they get you in there) and not long after Leah was delivered at 4:20pm (on 4/20/17).  She was 7lbs 12oz, so she was bigger than her brother by almost 1.5lbs!

The doctor couldn't find what was causing her distress (he thought the cord was around her neck, but found that it wasn't once she was delivered), but we were happy that she was fine and low blood pressure, but they were able to get it back up fairly quickly.  Once I felt awake again, I was even able to nurse Leah.

 

All in all it wasn't what I had planned, and the recovery was worse than I imagined, but we are so thankful that we had a safe delivery. 

38 weeks - Baby #2

How far along: 38 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: around 38 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Yep. 

Stretch Marks: Not yet

Sleep:  Sleep has been rough since I stopped taking my Diclegis. I am pretty sure I have restless leg at night, and I wake myself up from it.

Best moment this week: CCC Sale complete! I sold a ton of Grant's clothes that he grew out of (I'd been holding on to all of his baby clothes in case we had a boy) and I got a few cute outfits for Leah.

Movement: Some days I have a ton and other days she's more subdued. She's had the hiccups for a while today already.

Food cravings: Sweets. Mexican. Craved a steak over the weekend -  haha.

Anything making you queasy: Eh, I stopped taking my Diclegis and I've been okay. Little spells of nausea, but I don't actually get sick.

Have you started to show yet:  Yep.  I'm huge. 

Gender prediction:  It's a girl! Leah Brooke.

Labor signs:  At my appointment last week I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  I have Braxton hicks contractions almost constantly and I have been really crampy.

Belly Button:  It's completely flat now.

Wedding Rings:  Off.

Happy or Moody:  Seriously moody. I'm awful at work.

Weekly Wisdom:  I'm driving myself crazy looking for labor signs, even though I'm a second time mom! I know that I'll know without a doubt that I am in labor (it HURTS!), but I'm still overanalyzing every little ache and pain and wondering if it's the beginning. I'm sure I'm just prolonging it by stressing.

Milestones: We have reached full term. I'm almost 39 weeks (which is when I had my son), so she can come any day now!

Looking forward to: LABOR! I'm so ready to have her. I have to admit that I'm not miserable like I was with Grant. I was super swollen and felt terrible toward the end with Grant.  This time, I feel pretty good! I get out of breath easily and I'm uncomfortable, but it's not unbearable.  I'm really thankful for that.  I really, really hated how swollen I was with baby #1.

36 Weeks - Baby #2

How far along: 36 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: around 32 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Yep. 

Stretch Marks: Not yet

Sleep:  I'm waking up A LOT to go to the bathroom. At least 5 times, sometimes closer to 10 times.

Best moment this week: The sign I ordered for the hospital door came in :) It's adorable! I'm not posting a picture until Leah arrives though.

Movement: She seriously feels huge in my stomach.  She was moving a lot last night and was really high into my ribs. I much prefer her to hang out low.

Food cravings: Mexican food! I want nachos every day. Salsarita's is my new fav -

still the same. I seriously want to eat nachos every single day. I'm also still loving éclairs as often as I can get one.

Anything making you queasy: Nothing in particular. Just have nausea if I skip my Diclegis. I've tried skipping it a few times and the nausea really comes back strong. I'm not throwing up though when I skip a few days.

Have you started to show yet:  Yep.  I'm huge. It totally looks like there's a basketball in there. I'm carrying far out front this time. I am LOVING how I am carrying with #2.  No swelling, minimal weight gain in my face, etc.  Even my maternity shirts are too short for me now though.

Gender prediction:  It's a girl! Leah Brooke.

Labor signs:  At my appointment last week I as 1/4 of a centimeter dilated (so nothing haha). Some cramps, but nothing to make me think labor is imminent. I'm thinking she will be close to 40 weeks. 

Belly Button:  It's completely flat now.

Wedding Rings:  Off. I could probably get away with wearing it some days since I'm barely swelling, but it's just easier not to have to worry about keeping up with it if my fingers start swelling.

Happy or Moody:  Seriously moody. I'm awful at work.

Weekly Wisdom:  Pack your bags early! You never know what will happen in the 3rd trimester.

Milestones: The room is 100% done. Her closet and drawers are stocked full of clothes. I have the hospital bag packed for me and baby and the hospital door sign is ready to go. I washed all of the car seat parts and will install it this week. I got confirmation last week that she is head down (yay!) Now just to cross my fingers and hope she isn't posterior once she drops during labor.

Looking forward to: Finished up with work so that I can comfortably go into labor and maternity leave with no work stress. We are in the middle of our financial audit and I REALLY need to get that finished before labor starts.

32 Weeks - Baby #2

How far along: 32 weeks, 0 days

Total weight gain: around 27 lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Yep. 

Stretch Marks: Not yet

Sleep:  It's pretty bad right now. I wake up 4+ times to go to the bathroom and I have an awful cold. I cough and have a hard time breathing at night.

Best moment this week: We took maternity pictures! I LOVE how they came out.

Here are my favorites:

 

 



Movement: So much! This girl feels HUGE.  I honestly don't know how in the world she can get any bigger because it feels like she's going to crawl through my stomach when she moves now. It's really crazy how the placenta location makes such a big difference. I barely felt Grant at 9 months and she feels like a giant at 7 months. It blows my mind I have 11 weeks to go.

Food cravings: Mexican food! I want nachos every day. Salsarita's is my new fav haha 

Anything making you queasy: Nothing in particular. Just have nausea if I skip my Diclegis.

Have you started to show yet:  Yep.  I'm huge. 

Gender prediction:  It's a girl! Leah Brooke.

Labor signs:  still having some Braxton Hicks when I walk fast, but that's it. Nothing consistent yet. 

Belly Button:  It's completely flat now.

Wedding Rings:  Off :( 

Happy or Moody:  Ugh so moody.

Weekly Wisdom:  Nothing wise this week haha

Milestones: Maternity pictures are done and Leah's room is almost finished. We have a TON of clothes that are all washed and put away so I feel pretty ready. 

Looking forward to: Finding out if she's head down and sunny side up.  I'm REALLY hoping we don't have a repeat of Grant's labor.