Aedan is 6 Weeks

On our way to 2 months!  Aedan is more alert, has better neck control and is smiling! 

He's eating and growing like crazy.  I don't know how much he weighs, but he's wearing some 3-6 month sleepers and looks pretty chunky in a lot of his 3 month clothes.  I can't believe how big he's getting!  He's growing so much faster than Brody, just another one of the differences we're going to see with these two. 

He's an amazing sleeper.  We are so lucky, as he averages 5-8 hours each night.  After the 8 hours nights, I feel great!  It's so nice.  Then a 5 hour night sneaks up on us...but I really can't complain. 

We haven't introduced any formula at this point but he's getting about 1 bottle of pumped milk each night to get him used to the bottle.  He's doing it pretty well with it, but still doesn't love his pacifier.

The past two weeks, Aedan had his first Halloween, met a few of my friends he hasn't seen yet, and spent his first few hours away from his parents.


Here's a photo recap since his 1 month checkup:

Aedan is 1 month old

Aedan is 1 month old today! Can you say, time flies when you're having fun? Or when you're too sleep-deprived to know what day it is...











Aedan's first month was actually a lot easier than Brody's.  It helps that I knew what to expect, what to worry about and was a lot more patient with breastfeeding.  It doesn't hurt that Aedan is sleeping better than Brody already.

He's a great sleeper.  Once we let him sleep on his own he started off with 3-4 hour stretches.  In the last week, he's slept 7 hours for 3 nights and 8 hours last night.  I am getting so spoiled!  Brody was a great sleeper and even he didn't sleep for 7 hours until 6-7 weeks old.  He's amazing.

Aedan weighs 10lbs 11.5oz and is almost 23 inches.  He always seems so much longer than they say he is, but I think it's just the way he's built.  His torso is very long.  He's in the 90th percentile for height, 75th for weight and 50-75th for his head.  Definitely a big kid, which is a huge relief that we're not constantly worrying about his size.  He's fitting best in size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes.  Some of them are getting tight though, so we may end up in 3-6 month clothes sooner than we did with Brody.

In the last week or so, Aedan has found his voice. He's practicing oohing and aahing. It's adorable. Much better than the grunting I normally hear from him. He has great facial expressions, that are practically identical to Brody's baby faces, so that's pretty cute. I'm enjoying him being awake more often during the day and we're using it to do some tummy-time. It can be kind of quiet when the baby sleeps all day!

Aedan gets out of the house fairly often, since I have a hard time staying home.  On the fun side, he's been to a few birthday parties and a pumpkin farm.  He's also been out shopping more times than I can count.  When my very tolerant husband started asking what I was going to Target for, again, I realized I probably go a little too much.  But there's always something you need, right?!?

Who Does Aedan Look Like?

My personal opinion? Newborns look nothing like what they'll look like as they get older. Brody looks so different from when he was a baby. So whenever anyone analyzes Aedan, saying, "oh he looks just like Jason!" or 'Wow, he really looks like you!" I just take it with a grain of salt, because who knows how he will look when he gets older. But, one thing is for certain...

He is definitely a spitting image of his brother. I didn't realize it at first, but now I totally think he is identical to Brody as a baby.  Which of course makes me think that they'll end up looking very similar as toddlers as well.




Aedan 5 days

Brody 3 days old

Aedan 5 days



Brody 4 days

Brody 3 weeks



Aedan 3 weeks



2 Week Check-Up

Today we had Aedan's 2 week check-up.  The most important part of the appointment was finding out if he gained his birthweight back.  We struggled with Brody gaining weight, so I've been worried constantly about how often he's eating and if he's growing.  But like the many differences between my two pregnancies, they are obviously different children and will have many differences.

The funny thing is, you'd think we've been through this before and we wouldn't have many questions for the pediatrician...yet, I had a list of them.  I don't think you ever become an expert at this!

First, he's at 9lbs 13oz.  Woohoo!  That's up 1 lb in less than two weeks (he went down to 8lbs 13.5oz at 4 days).  He's 22.5 inches long.  That's the same length as Brody at 2 weeks but more than a pound bigger than he was.  Aedan's going to be my little chunky monkey and I love it.  I don't know if giving up dairy helped him gain weight (he doesn't spit-up nearly what Brody did), but if it has, it's totally worth it.  Next, I plan to phase in small amounts of dairy and see if it affects him.  Also, I can stop waking him up in the middle of the night for feedings.  I'm so sick of hearing my alarm at 1am and then trying to convince a sleeping baby to eat, so I am very excited about that!

Then we went through our list of questions/concerns:
1. Aedan has a cold.  Ick.  2 weeks old.  We've been monitoring his temp and he isn't running a fever.  The doc listened to his lungs and has no concerns.  Just need to keep up what we're doing (clearing his nose, humidifier, etc.), and we're pretty much experts at colds by now having Brody in daycare.  It does freak me out when Aedan starts gasping for air because he's so stuffed up, but we just have to keep doing what we're doing and wait it out.  Jason had a cold last week and managed to infect the whole household.  So aside from Aedan having a cold, Brody & I got it as well.  Not fun. 

2. Aedan's hearing.  Tuesday, we took him to the hospital to repeat the hearing test they do when he's first born.  His left ear failed on day 2, but since a lot of times this is due to fluid from birth, they just re-test to determine if it's an issue.  Happy to report that he passed with flying colors.

3. Aedan's eyes.  His right eye keeps turning inward, making him look cross-eyed at times.  The doc says this is totally normal for 2 weeks, but if it keeps up by 1 month we'll take a closer eye on it.

4. Umbilical cord.  It fell off last week, but still bleeds from time to time.  Again, it's apparently normal and said it actually looks really good.

Overall a good check-up!  We head back at 1 month, when he'll have to get more vaccines, poor guy.

Worn out from the appointment, napping in his carseat

First week down

Aedan's first week was eventful (you know - being born and everything), yet uneventful (sleep, eat, repeat) at the same time.  All in all though, it's going great.

Aedan:
We left the hospital at 27 hours old and he's been doing great ever since. He's a sleeper like his brother, forcing me to wake him at night to eat instead of waking on his own. A couple times he's woken to eat, around 3 1/2 hours after his last feeding. It's a pretty good span of time allowing me to get 2-3 hours of straight sleep at a time.







He dropped to 9lbs by the time we left the hospital (from 9.5) and then was down to 8lbs 13.5oz by 4 days old.  I'm constantly worried about the weight loss, since Brody was a slow gainer.  But the pediatrician didn't seem nearly as worried this time, since Aedan only lost about 7% of his weight, where as Brody lost more like 11% of his birth weight.  So, if doctor isn't worried, I'm trying not to worry.

So far, his interests include: eating, sleeping, peeing on his parents, and pooping on the changing table.  It's a very exciting life around here.

Brody:

Brody is very very excited to be a big brother.  He loves Aedan, which means he loves touching him, getting in his face and wants to hold him constantly.  Unfortunately, he doesn't understand how fragile babies are, so we have to keep close eye on him.  We already had a baseball incident in the house and luckily Aedan was okay. 

He is definitely a little more difficult these days, looking for attention (good and bad), so we're needing to pull out a little more patience than normal.  But it's completely understandable since he's used to having 100% of our attention and now has to share it.

Me:
I can honestly say, I don't feel like I gave birth 7 days ago.  I actually feel pretty good.  Sleep-deprived, but good.  My post-birth experience with Brody was less than stellar.  I had a lot more pain and had a few days I could do nothing but feed Brody.  I feel very very lucky that things are going better this time.  I had no idea how I would handle a two-year old and a baby when I could barely take care of myself.  Thank god I don't need to figure that out.  Jason has been super helpful in allowing me to still take it easy (I'm not up and running quite yet...), but hasn't had to take on all of the burden.  He only got a week off of work this time instead of 2 1/2, so I'm officially on my own anyway.

I also knew that I would need to ease into the transition of two kids, so we've taken it slow.  My first week home, Jason was also home and Brody was in daycare during the day.  For the next 3-4 weeks Brody will continue going to daycare, allowing bonding time with Aedan and Brody to still get his energy out.  I'm hoping by 4-5 weeks old, Aedan will be a little more predictable, allowing the three of us to get out and do more during the day.  I know Brody will miss going to daycare every day, but it will save us money, while hopefully I can keep him entertained at home as well.  (Anyone with suggestions of things to do during the day with little ones - send them my way!)  Luckily we have a good Children's museum and at least for awhile the weather nice enough to go to the zoo.  Keep your fingers crossed that Aedan starts sleeping through the night as early as Brody did!  (I hope I didn't just jinx myself...)

And...we're back

I have a lot of catching up to do...clearly.  Summers are always busy for us, but add in exhaustion from pregnancy, potty training and baby-prep left me with zero time to blog.  But, I'm back and planning to pick it up more regularly, especially since we'll have a sweet little baby to show off soon enough!

First update will be a pregnancy update, then I'm going to post on some of our summertime adventures as well as a Brody update.  He is of course the whole reason I started this blog!

29-37 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Only up about 26 lbs (actually lost weight in between 36-37 weeks), while I'm excited about the slower weight gain, I know I started with a little extra cushion this time, so it will still be work to get back in shape afterwards.

Maternity clothes: Thank goodness for our summer dress-code.  A perk of being at a satellite location for work is that they allowed us to wear jeans all summer. I took full advantage of the less-dressy atmosphere.  Now that Labor Day is over, I am back to dresses and dress pants. 

Sleep: No longer sleeping through the night, but even worse, I wake up and can't fall back asleep.  This makes for several exhausting nights a week and I'm not the smartest at work anymore, but the end is almost near.

Best moment this week: Even though the second pregnancy has proven to be more difficult, the best thing about it is watching how excited Brody is about his little brother.  He loves to play in the nursery, reading about having a new baby and just yesterday practicing holding his doll with the boppy pillow.  He constantly gives Aedan hugs & kisses through my belly.  It's the sweetest thing in the world.

Food cravings: I've come full-circle and am back to food aversions.  I've even gone as far to make myself a separate dinner because I can't imagine eating what Jay & Brody are eating, even though they're typical meals in our house.

Labor Signs: Nothing yet.  Random contractions, but nothing worth thinking about.  I imagine he'll take his sweet time like his big brother.

What I miss: Regular clothes, picking up Brody without paying for it later (same goes for sitting on the floor with him).  Wine.  Oh how I miss wine...

What I am looking forward to: Brody being a big brother. And 4 weeks of maternity leave with just me and a baby. 

Milestones: Well, I'm term, which means he can come "any day now" (don't hold your breath!).  Other awesome milestones I hit in the last 2 months: swollen ankles (even Jason noticed), stopped wearing my wedding rings (sad!!), Aedan turned head-down and seems to be staying there and I may have dropped - but the jury is still out on that one.

Differences between 1&2: Every pregnancy is different, which has been very true for me.  I believe that some symptoms are different because of the time of year (heat of summer causing some of the swelling) and some are just different.  The good news is that even though this pregnancy has come with a lot more aches and pains, Aedan appears to be just as healthy as his big brother.  And that's all I can ask for.

Then I'll leave you with a few pictures of my growing belly...

Almost 37weeks

35 weeks

34 weeks

25 Week Check-In

How far along? 25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Looks like I'm up 14 total as of my last dr appointment.
Maternity clothes: Lovin' my new Brewers maternity shirt.  Though, they only make one, so every pregnant woman at the ballpark is always wearing the same thing.  But it will come in handy during the next bazillion games we have tickets to this summer.
Sleep: Some nights sleep is better than others. 
Best moment this week: Celebrating Jason's birthday this weekend with friends.  I actually didn't mind being the only one there not drinking!  Luckily the ladies are pretty good at staying sober since the boys were having a lot of fun. 
Food cravings: Due to a book I was reading this week, I've been craving fried chicken for a few days.  Totally random.
Gender: Boy oh boy.
Labor Signs: Nope
What I miss: Caffeine.  Not that I've given it up (haha!), but I definitely cut down.  Unfortunately I have a very bad habit of using it as a crutch when I lack sleep or go through stressful-times at work.  But my crutch is gone, and now I'm just tired...
What I am looking forward to: meeting my little boy.  I know I have a long time still, and I want him to bake as long as possible.  But watching Brody grow more and more every day into a hilarious little two-year-old makes me so excited to see what Aedan is going to be like.
Milestones: No major milestones, but I'm getting closer to 3rd trimester.  I can't believe how quickly 2nd tri flew by!
Differences between 1&2:  I'm not sure if this is one of those situations where you forget a lot of details of pregnancy after a few years, but Aedan seems a lot more active than Brody was.  Brody was pretty active in utero, but Aedan moves a ton.  I feel him moving a lot during the day and first thing when I wake up, and even in the middle of the night when I wake up.  He doesn't wake me up with his movements, but whenever I'm up in the middle of the night, it seems he is too.  That may be a bad sign though...

23 Weeks

Instead of a bump picture, I'm posting our preview pic from our family pictures.  Amanda took a few maternity pictures, so once she gets them edited and sent over - I'll post more.

How far along? 23 weeks - time flies when you're having fun!

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure - didn't weigh myself this week. Can you tell I care a lot less about it this time around??  Honestly, I've barely eaten dinner twice this week and haven't had time for snacks at work because we're so busy - that I can't imagine I've gained much non-baby weight.

Maternity clothes: Ordered a swimsuit online and I look like a blimp.  So I need to find a new one in the next couple of days before we leave for our weekend at a waterpark!

Sleep: When Brody doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night, or when the dogs don't bark because we have our windows open and they heard some random noise - then I actually am sleeping okay.  But that might be because I'm so exhaused for all reasons mentioned above!

Best moment this week: Family pictures.  I never did maternity pictures with Brody and even though that wasn't the purpose of the pictures this week - it was nice to get a couple of Brody laying on my bump.  And in extra cuteness, when Mandi asked Brody to kiss my belly, he wanted to lift up my shirt or "open it" as he said.  Apparently kissing his baby brother through my shirt wasn't good enough for him. 
Food cravings: Still eating pop-tarts a lot this week. And thinking about heading back for a doughnut soon...something about sweet breakfast treats really get me craving I guess!

Gender: Boy oh boy.

Labor Signs: Nope

What I miss: So many things.  Really could have used a nice glass of wine last night...

What I am looking forward to: Spending my birthday weekend with my favorite 2.5 boys.

Milestones: Nothing major this week - Jason felt Aedan kick again which I love.  I was sitting across his lap with my big belly against his stomach and Aedan gave him a swift kick.  Clearly Jason was invading his space.

Differences between 1&2:  I never felt overwhelmed by the thought of having Brody.  Scared of labor - yes.  But I always knew that we were ready for a baby and would be a great family.  With Aedan, I'm not scared of physically delivering him, but instead about actually being a mom of 2.  Somedays Brody is a handful by himself, I am overwhelmed by the idea of dealing with a newborn on top of it!  I know it will be perfectly fine, but you know - overly emotional pregnant women can get worked up by this stuff!

Drumroll please...

It's a BOY!

How we found out:

Overall, this pregnancy has been more stressful on me than the last.  On top of that/because of that, I haven't felt as connected to this baby has with Brody.  One night, during my exhaustion, I decided to start looking up places that do elective ultrasounds.  During my first pregnancy, I thought paying for an extra ultrasound was the dumbest thing ever.  Obviously this time around, I realized the value in doing one...

I did some research and made an appointment at the only place in our area that I could find.  They specifically do a gender determination ultrasound anytime after 16 weeks.  I scheduled ours for 16 weeks, 1 day.  I was really excited to find a way to connect with the baby, and on top of it, bring Brody with to see the baby.

We were lucky to get great pictures at the ultrasound and they were really nice and patient in getting him to the right position.  We even got several 3D pictures.  He was stubborn at first, but we got him in the right position eventually.  Originaly we were worried that we would be told the wrong gender and find out something different at the 20 week anatomy scan.  Then, we got a 3D shot of the "goods."  There is no denying it, it's a boy! 

Brody was very facinated at first, mostly watching what she was doing with the wand.  Kind of like, the "what are you doing to my mommy?"  Then he looked at the baby on the TV screen for a little bit while Jason pointed out his head, hands, etc.  He was mildly interested, but then had more fun running around the room.  This is exactly why we let him come to this ultrasound instead of one at the doctor's office.  These places are set up to accomodate other children and are understanding if he wants to run around the room.  It was a great experience.

17 Weeks

How far along? 17 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 2lbs
Maternity clothes? Need.to.shop.
Sleep: Yes please!  Took naps both days this weekend and it was amazing.  I felt so much better those days when I got the extra sleep.
Best moment this week: Will post about that later...
Food cravings: Nothing exciting.
Gender: TBD - but, stay tuned...
Labor Signs: No.
What I miss: My normal jeans!  I hate maternity jeans.  No matter which ones I buy, they always end up falling down and I'm constantly adjusting them.
What I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery, as well as Brody's big-boy room. 
Milestones: It was a good week.
Differences between 1 & 2:  Honestly this entire pregnancy has been much different than the first one.  That was definitely to be expected, but somethings have surprised me (and made me mad...).  First, one of the best differences, I felt this baby much sooner than with Brody.  There is nothing more reassuring than that flutter of movement, or rolling feeling that just reminds you that there's a little baby in there!  Some of the not-so-great differences: significantly more headaches (migraines completely went away with Brody - not so lucky this time!), more morning sickness and heartburn already!  The thing that surprised me the most is that I've already started having some backaches.  I'm not that big!  It comes with the territory I guess.  I'm just looking forward to the weather warming up again so we can do more walking outside and keep my muscles in shape a little better.

16 Weeks

How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 2lbs
Maternity clothes? All the time.  Though I definitely need to do more shopping.  Being pregnant at two different times of the year means I need to go shopping...so my wardrobe is a little limited these days.
Sleep: Still exhausted all the time and really hoping it gets better soon.
Best moment this week: Another good checkup & hearing the baby's heartbeat.
Food cravings: Nothing in particular.  Fattening foods sound good to me a lot lately, but I'm trying to be smarter about my food habits this time around.
Gender: TBD - but, stay tuned...
Labor Signs: No.
What I miss: Sometimes after a stressful day...a glass of wine.  But, that's one that I can get over missing.
What I am looking forward to: Getting more energy.  And finding out if it's a boy or girl!
Milestones: Feeling the baby.  I've been feeling movement for a few weeks, but it's been really nice to remember that there's a little one in there!
Differences between 1 & 2:  This is probably obvious to those who read the blog.  But I haven't been tracking this pregnancy or as involved in it as I was with Brody.  It's obviously just the beginning of many differences with a second child, but I can't already help feeling guilty.  It's been a little more difficult for me to connect with this baby than I did with Brody.  All I had to worry about with Brody was him and Jason.  I could focus on taking care of myself and thinking about the baby.  Now, taking care of a 2 year old, while pregnant doesn't give me that luxury.  I know it's typical, but definitely a difference from last time.

Why it's so much harder the second time

If I'm going to be honest (which I really try to do on this blog, but sometimes am not as blunt as I could be), this pregnancy is 10x harder for me than the first.

For starters, this little man...

...is definitely going through an interesting phase right now. I use the word interesting, because even though I want to use a much harsher word at this point in our lives, I know it's not really that bad. But, let's face it, I'm stubborn and can be sassy. Jason? Well he's definitely stubborn, and strong-willed. So the fact that our sweet adorable little son would be stubborn? Strong-willed? Shouldn't be a surprise!!

Brody is at a stage where he can verbalize what he wants, but isn't old enough to understand that sometimes you just don't get what you want. This ensues with a lot of arguments about what to eat, how late he can stay up, whether or not he can watch tv...etc. Then there is the utter defiance when he doesn't get what he wants. He doesn't know how to show frusteration, so there is a lot of screaming in our faces and every once and awhile, hitting.

All of this is hard enough for any parent to deal with (it's just a phase though, right?!?), then add pregnancy stress, nausea and exhaustion on top of it? It definitely doesn't help.

Which brings me to how my second child is treating me (not that I can blame a baby in utero). But my nausea has been much worse with this little one and the exhaustion is probably the same, but much harder to manage with a two-year old to take care of.

Then...if all of this didn't make it a more difficult pregnancy...

I started a new job (same company, new position). Yes, this was a very good thing for me and my career. It was totally the right thing, and I am very excited/happy about it. But good stress is still stress. Learning something new, taking on a young (experience-wise) team and trying to improve things requires a lot of time and effort.

Then on top of everything else, Jason is going through a lot of turnover at his work, which with his lovely title of VP, makes him responsible for picking up the slack. Which makes him just as tired and stressed at the end of the day as I am (well I've got the baby-making thing tiring me out, so maybe he's not quite as tired as I am...)

Of course add all of this up and I realize that I haven't focused on baby#2 very much. When you're pregnant with your first, it's all you can think about and so much of your focus. So when I realize I'm already 16 weeks pregnant and time is flying by, I feel bad that I am not as connected to this baby as I was to Brody.

Things were so much easier the first time around. Don't even remind me how much harder having two children to look after is going to be!!

Pregnancy #2 is going to be very different