Blue Eyes

I love Mallory's blue eyes and hope that they don't change. I'm pretty sure they will though considering both Jody and I have brown eyes so the likelihood that they'll stay blue is really slim. They haven't changed color yet so who knows, maybe they'll stay. Her hair looks like it's going to be a light reddish-brown so if her eyes do stay blue she'll be a knockout for sure!

The Magic of the Swaddle

Mallory has slept through the night two days in a row now and I couldn't be happier! She's been going down just after 9 pm and getting up around 6 am. Luckily both Jody and I prefer to go to sleep early so we get ready for bed as soon as she's down which means I've been getting a good seven hours of continuous sleep. Even before Mallory was born I wasn't getting that much sleep because I was so uncomfortable with the pregnancy so a good night's sleep was long overdue for me. When I woke up on Wednesday morning I almost didn't believe that I hadn't gotten up to feed her. I thought maybe I was just so tired that I didn't remember getting up. Once I realized that she hadn't woken up there was a brief moment of worry so I went and checked on her; she was snoring away!

I've only made one change to her sleeping routine and I think it's safe to say it was a great adjustment. A few weeks ago I switched her from the swaddle wrap to a sleep sack. I figured she was getting old enough that she might prefer having more freedom to move while sleeping. The swtich didn't cause her to get up more times than before so I kept putting her in the sleep sack. Then about a week ago, she started going from waking up once a night to waking up twice a night. So I started re-evaluating things and decided to try putting her back in the swaddle wrap. It worked the first night and again last night so I'll be sticking with the magic of the swaddle for as long as I can. If it ensures that I get a good night's sleep I'll swaddle her for the next 18 years!

13.1 Club

As most of you know, I'm an avid runner. Toward the later part of living down in southern California, I took my hobby of running to the next level and started participating in 5K/10K charity races. I have continued to do so and have probably competed in at least 30 races over the years. I don't run them with the intention to win any of the divisions, but I still get the competitive adrenaline as if though I was. Keeping myself involved in them also gives me more motivation to continue my hobby. About three years ago I stepped up my racing desire and began training for longer distances so I could participate in half marathons.

So far I've trained for three half marathons; funny thing is, I still have yet to cross the half marathon finish line. In the midst of training for those races, situations came up that prevented me from being able to fulfill my training. The first time was due to injury, the second time was due to sickness, and the third time was due to finding out we were pregnant and not wanting to risk anything in the first trimester. All valid reasons, but all reasons that killed it for me.

While pregnant with Mallory I was fortunate enough to continue my running but I decreased my mileage. I told myself that once Mallory was born I would recover and begin training for Shamrock Half Marathon in March 2011. It's one of my favorite courses to run and I'm really excited to cross my first half marathon finish line. I'm officially registered for the race as of today and I will officially start my training in January. If I get injured I'll push through the pain. If I get sick I'll just down a bunch of cold medicine. If I get pregnant...well, that won't happen and I've made sure of it. No more reasons for me to start training a fourth time for a half marathon and not cross the finish line. I'm committed to fulfilling my training this time so I can finally be part of the 13.1 club that I've worked so hard for.

Stickin' It Out

She's been playing with her tongue a lot more lately; I think it's adorable!

The Joy It Brings

Every year when Christmas time rolls around and I get out the decorations and start putting things in their places throughout the house, I'm always reminded at the joy it brings me. How could this time of year not want to make people smile. Everywhere you look no matter where you are, there's at least one fun thing to remind you it's Christmas: oversized wreaths on doors, bright lights hanging from houses, giant inflatable figures on lawns, goofy looking reindeer antlers or red bows accessorizing cars, snow on the ground (for some of us), Christmas music playing, the jingle of bells, the distinctive shape of the Christmas tree in windows, shopping bags in people's hands. There are many ways that you can be reminded of Christmas during the month of December and I love it.

For me, decorating the house usually takes about a week. Not because I have too many decorations but because I like to be creative and put new twists on things each year. I'll decorate a little here are there, and then let it sit while I think of what else I can add. Though I'm not the type of person who collects things to store, decorating for Christmas can be very costly if you don't use what you have. Thanks to the unlimited design ideas at our fingertips, it's easy to take the old and turn it into something new with small changes. Last year my colors where red, lime green and white. This year I used the same colors and added in purple and silver with lots of glitter. I'm keeping it pretty simple this year and I like it. I would like to get some decor for next year during the after Christmas sales. Next Christmas will be much more exciting when Mallory is older and walking around. I want her to love Christmas as much as I do and I can't wait for her to be involved in decorating with me.

Two Months

Miss Mallory is two months old today. She's getting cuter with each day and her personality is starting to show more. We're pretty sure the colic has passed - thank God! - but she still is somewhat moody. She is however starting to smile and talk more, which I love. We're celebrating her two month birthday by venturing down to Sacramento to go to my work's holiday party. I'm sure she'll steal the spotlight!

Kicks

My mom came to visit today and brought Mallory some gifts, one being a pair of kicks that just so happened to match perfectly with her outfit. They're so cute on her. I love the look on her face in the first picture. She's not as photogenic as I was as a baby; at least not yet.

Happy Feet

My new running shoes came today and it was perfect timing because today was not a very good day so I was really looking forward to my run. Mallory had a 'tude today so I wasn't able to even make a dent in my to-do list. I tried to ignore it and keep going about my merry way in Marshall's but after trying everything I could to calm her down, I figured everyone else around me didn't need to listen to her screaming so we left and came home. I don't mind dealing with a cranky baby out in public but there's also a point where you just have to realize it's time to go home and today was one of those days. Unfortunately Marshall's was only the first stop on my to-do list so I felt like I got nothing done; fortunately I had a few shows on the DVR to watch since I was confined to my home.

During one of her naps I was able to do some Christmas decorating and run to the mailbox. When I opened our slot and saw the key to the bigger box when large packages come I got excited because I had a feeling it was my shoes. Sure enough. Put them on as soon as I got in the house and haven't taken them off yet. Went for a run when Jody got home to really test them out and they felt great; happy feet make for a good run.

This Time of the Year

I love the month of December; by far my favorite time of the year. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I remember a lot of traditions we did as a family during the holidays as I grew up and I cherish the great memories when I'm reminded of them. Now that Jody and I have our own family to start new traditions with, I can't help but want to bring in some of the traditions that I did as a child and create new memories together. Jody has told me more than once that one of the things he loves about me is my love for Christmas. He says that my excitement for the holiday not only makes him smile, but it also makes him like Christmas too.

One of the traditions I remember doing was getting the Christmas tree. We would always drive up into the mountains - usually Apple Hill - and cut our tree down. My parents even have video footage of one of our trips up where I was the one cutting down the tree while my parents stood by. It cracks me up every time I watch it. Now that it's Jody and I, it's easier to just get a pre-cut tree - usually from Home Depot - due to convenience and cost. Once Mallory is old enough to walk and understand a little bit more about the excitement of Christmas, we'll go cut our tree down. But for now the pre-cut ones work just fine. This year I wanted to try out a new place. The first lot had a horrible selection so we kept going; there was no way I was settling on our tree. Then I remembered Zittle Farm in Folsom so we gave it a shot. As soon as we got out of the car I could tell it was perfect. The trees were beautiful, very fresh, and smelled wonderful.

One tradition that I've altered is how the tree is decorated. Growing up the ornaments were ones that my mom had collected throughout the years. I love the nostalgia of it, but I can't stand when ornaments don't match. I need order and cohesion. Last year I did all green and red. This year I recycled some of those green and red but added in purple, white, and silver. Lots of shine and lots of glitter. Loving the result. And loving this time of the year!

Sold!

I received an early present from Santa yesterday and got a new car. I've wanted one for over a year but wanting and needing are different things. When we found out we were pregnant, trading in my car became more reasonable because a sports sedan is not so baby friendly. But we still wanted to wait to see just how expensive having a baby was going to be. It also gave me a chance to really narrow down what I wanted to get and do my homework.

Once I decided that I wanted to get the Ford Edge we decided to go to the local Ford dealership just to test the waters. It was a couple of months before Mallory arrived and the worst experience I've ever had. We got some punk kid who thought he was Mr. Somebody and yet couldn't even grasp the simple task of listening to us. It was a waste of three hours and we left feeling exhausted. Though I was excited about the prospect of getting a new car I was dreading going through the car negotiation process again. But I kept looking online all the time just waiting for a good deal to reveal itself.

Thursday evening I found one at the Carmax in Roseville that I was very interested in. Knowing that the Edge is really popular right now and they don't stay listed very long I knew I needed to go see it as soon as possible. So Friday afternoon Mallory and I drove over there to see what they could do for us. I had never been to Carmax before and had heard mixed reviews from people about their experience. As soon as I walked in the door and was greeted by John I had a good feeling it was going to be a good experience. Not only did he welcome me but he was very attentive to Mallory and throughout the process made sure to check that she was doing okay.

My biggest worry was how much they were going to offer me for my car. The Mazda wasn't in the best condition but it was still worth more than I owed on it. When he showed me what they were going to give me for it I was stoked; it was more than what I wanted and expected to get for it. I called Jody to tell him the good news. He was still a little reluctant but every question he had I had a good reply so I left him no reason to not go forward with the purchase. I got off the phone, turned to John and said with a huge smile, sold! The rest of the transaction was so simple I thought I was cheating the system. I got to Carmax at 2:00pm and left with my new ride at 5:00pm. Sure beat the last time we spent three hours at a dealership.

This is the first time in my life that I've had a car with such nice amenities and I'm in heaven. The only things that I originally wanted and had to compromise on were the panoramic sunroof and heated seats. But those aren't necessities and for the deal that I received for what I did get, I'm very happy. I've got tons of windows to roll down that can suffice as a sunroof and I'll just have to crank up the heater so the leather seats aren't so cold on my butt. Mallory loves her new ride as well. She was content as can be on the ride home. Now I want to drive anywhere just to be in it; anyone need a ride?!

Truly Thankful

Thanksgiving this year was nice and relaxing; exactly what I was hoping for. My dad, Sue, and sisters drove from Colorado to stay with us for the week. It was their first time meeting Mallory and it was really fun to see my dad as a grandpa. I think it's still surreal for him to think that he's a grandpa now, but I know he loves that he is. It was very helpful to have them here for the week so I was able to have some time to myself. Sue slid right into her grandma role and was loving on Mallory as well. I'm so thankful that my family loves having a new baby around.

So not only was I able to have others around to take over Mallory duty, I also didn't have to worry about preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Normally I love playing party planner and host, but I'm still getting used to being Mallory's mommy and didn't have the energy. Luckily Sue and Jamie took over and prepared a fabulous feast for us to enjoy. Jamie brought the famous Honey Baked Ham and Sue whipped up some very delicious sides. We definitely had plenty of food and had no problem devouring it.

Before chowing down on the Thanksgiving grub, my dad and I participated in Folsom's Turkey Trot run that morning. Though we didn't have to face any rain, we braved some really cold temperatures. Personally I love running when it's cold and couldn't have asked for better weather. I was really happy to have my dad running the race with me - his first time doing a race. We ended up getting separated pretty much as soon as we started. In previous years I've ran the 10K, but only had time to train my body to run the 5K this year. I was able to keep a 9:00 minute mile pace and finish in 27:55 - probably one of my personal bests for a 5K. My dad finished at a great pace and shocked even himself. I'm very proud of him and hope it's not his last race.

At the end of the day I was smiling to myself, recapping all of the recent things that have occurred in my life that I am truly thankful for. God has blessed me personally as well as Jody and I as a couple. Though Mallory is a tough baby, we still are very fortunate to have her in our lives. This might sound weird to some, but a part of me is glad I struggled a bit to get Mallory here because it makes me realize how much of a blessing children really are. I have been able to dodge layoffs and instead receive a promotion at a job I really love. I am healthy. I have a roof over my head. I have the best family and friends. These are just a few of the things that I am thankful for.

Smarty Pants

Though we've had it since receiving it at my baby shower, we pulled out the Baby Einstein Gym earlier this week for Mallory to have something else in the house to entertain her. We put it in her room since there's carpet up there so it's softer for her to lay on. It's also starting to get pretty crowded with baby items down in the family room and I don't feel like tripping over more things. She definitely loves the flashing lights and music and becomes fixed on them for awhile. She'll look around at the other items hanging from the bars but doesn't like them as much yet. It's fun to see her smile, talk and move around having a good old time. Unfortunately she's still young enough that she gets bored with it quickly, but the more we put her on it the more she likes it. I'm expecting based on the Einstein name of the product that our baby grows up to be a smarty pants; if not I'll be thoroughly disappointed and feel like I got jipped. :P

It's Never Too Early

The family arrived from Colorado yesterday afternoon and brought a box full of books with them. Rebekah wasted no time and started reading a couple of them to Mallory. Her face was adorable and it looked like she was listening intently. It's never too early to start learning.

Problem Solved

Fussy baby? Just turn on the vacuum and problem solved. She loves it.

Baby Legs

I love that leg warmers are in style for babies and kids. I totally remember when I was a kid I loved leg warmers. So when a friend of mine turned me to Baby Legs online, I just had to get some. Luckily I found out that Goore's here in Sacramento carries them so I didn't have to wait for them to be shipped. I bought these adorable moo-cow ones for her newborn photos that she had taken last week. They're perfect for days like today where it was almost 80° so wearing pants wasn't necessary. And of course she looks freakin' adorable in them!

Relishing in the Awesomeness

Right now I am relishing in the awesomeness of this weekend. After dealing with a colicky baby this past week, we were blessed with a perfectly behaved Mallory the entire weekend starting on Friday. I was a little worried that Friday wasn't going to be a good day for her because she had to get her Hep B shot, but she was a trooper and only cried for a brief moment after the needle pricked her. After her appointment she let my mom and I go to Costco to get the things that we've been needing for the last couple of weeks while she took a nap. I think the shot made her tummy hurt a little though because she threw up her lunch while we were in Costco. Good thing for diaper bags to keep you prepared for situations like those.

Saturday Jody and I were able to break away for a date while my mom watched Mallory. We went to Fat's for lunch where I chowed down on my favorite dish, the Honey Walnut Prawns. Afterward we saw the movie Due Date which we both thought was pretty darn funny. I like Robert Downey Jr. as an actor, and anyone who doesn't think Zach Galifianakis is funny should be shot. I recommend it. Of course I had to call my mom after we ate to check in on Miss Mallory and make sure she was being good for her Mamaw, which she was. That and I couldn't help but think of her. When we returned home we took Leo for a walk up to the park by our house and I tested out the new Chicco carrier that we bought. She was snug as a bug in a rug and fell asleep almost immediately after we started walking. Super comfortable carrier by the way.

Today's awesomeness started in the middle of the night when Mallory went four and a half hours in-between feedings allowing me to sleep a continuous three hours. It may not happen again tonight, but at least I know she's capable of going that long so times like that will become more regular. I was able to get some cleaning around the house done this morning; that made me happy. Then we all went out as a family for lunch to Jack's before my mom left to go back home. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and sat on the patio. I got to go for a run this afternoon and even though the wind made it a little more difficult, I'm seeing my time improve.

I seriously couldn't have asked for the weekend to go any better!

One Month

Mallory is one month old today. She has her check up appointment this Friday and she's due to get her first round of immunization shots; not looking forward to that part. Though she's been a handful this first month, she's as cute as can be so it helps make the difficult times a tiny bit easier. We love our Miss Mallory!

The Demon Called Colic

You'll notice that I haven't been blogging as much as usual and even when I do, the posts have been somewhat short in length. Now obviously most would realize that once baby comes into the picture priorities shift and blogging gets put to the side sometimes. But that's not the only reason. No, the biggest reason why I haven't been blogging as much is because my baby has colic. Which means that for the most part I no longer have much free time. And when I do get breaks, I have to decide between all the other things that I've been having to put off and blogging isn't very high on the to-do list lately.

I remember when Mallory hit two weeks old, I felt as if those two weeks had been two years. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I probably cried more in those two weeks than I have all year combined. I was definitely not enjoying becoming a parent. I knew going in to parenthood it wasn't supposed to be easy, but I honestly didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was for Jody and I. We had more than one moment where we thought that something had to be wrong with Mallory and even contacted the doctor just to make sure one of those times. Then Mallory turned three weeks old and instead of the progress towards good days ahead that we saw, things got a little harder. That's when colic decided to rear its ugly head and possess our child. Do they have exorcists to get rid of the demon called colic? No? Well, they should.

There's no sugar-coating it, the past week has been taxing. When we first realized she had colic, I wondered if we were being punished for doing something wrong. Was me having to deal with a difficult labor and delivery and then the breast feeding trouble and then the hellish first two weeks not enough? Now we have colic to face? I know that God never gives us more than we can handle, but good grief. The majority of colicky babies are so until at least three months, sometimes up to four or six. Booooo.

We still have good moments, but never an entire good day. A friend of mine turned me to Dr. Harvey Karp's book The Happiest Baby On The Block where I learned about The 5 S's. We use all of them when Mallory has her episodes and honestly, they help big time. Not all of the time, but most times we are able to console her even if it is only for a brief moment. She definitely wants to be held a lot more often which has made my to-do list a little harder to get to. My arms are getting a good workout though, that's for sure. Feeding her can be a chore and sometimes lasts for up to an hour because she gets so worked up that we have to pause multiple times so she stops choking down air. She'll start screaming out of nowhere as if though someone just pinched her even if we're in the middle of having a fun time. As a mom, it's heartbreaking to hear my little girl crying so furiously and there's nothing that I can do to make it stop. Researchers say that colic isn't painful for babies but it sure looks like she's in pain sometimes.

Thankfully Jody and I have had each others help this past month, but starting tomorrow he goes back to work and I'm on my own. No more being relieved in the morning so I can go sleep for a few hours. No more having someone to watch her while I go take a shower and get ready to feel like a normal person. No more being able to go run a couple errands while he supervises. No more taking turns dealing with the colicky moments. But hey, I knew this moment would come. I know I'll get the hang of things and have a routine soon enough. I'm sure that I'll have my days of pure frustration and shed some tears alongside Mallory, but now that I've had a week to get a taste of the demon called colic, I no longer dread each day. One day at a time.

Moby Wrap

We went grocery shopping to pick up a few things yesterday and I was wishing I had brought my Moby Wrap because Mallory didn't want to be in her car seat so I had to walk around with her unable to use both of my hands. So this morning when she wanted to be held and I needed to do some things around the house, I gave it a try. The verdict: I'm loving my Moby Wrap and the ability to have my hands free!

Love Her...

...especially when she's sleeping...or just not crying in general.

Happy Halloween

Mallory's 'costume' wasn't exactly what I had originally thought in my head, but I didn't have a lot of free time to shop around. There was a cuter sleeper that I found at Babies 'R Us that was a black kitty cat, but by the time I got there to get it they were out of her size. So I settled for the batty somewhat jailbird looking one. Not my favorite but at least it was only $6. Next year Mallory will be much more fun to dress up anyway so I'll make sure to go all out then.
We went over to Bayside's Trunk or Treat with Steven, Jamie, and Kaylee. It was quite an event with carnival games, face painting, musical entertainment, food, bounce houses galore, and over 50 cars set up as candy stations to pass out to all of the trick or treaters. Definitely a spread that as a kid would be so much fun. Mallory slept the whole time until we were five minutes from home and then became hysterical in the car. We only had a handful of trick or treaters come by our house so now I have a huge bowl of delicious chocolate that I'd rather not have in the house. I was hoping to get some family photos tonight since we still don't have any with the three of us together, but Mallory wasn't in the mood. Even the photos that I was able to capture I had to be sneaky about. Oh well; we still had a great time.

Happy Halloween!

Milestones

Though it has only been 18 days since Mallory's arrival, we've hit some milestones that put a huge smile on my face and I just had to share.

Milestone 1: Mallory is no longer constipated! When we realized that we were going to have to supplement with formula, we chose Enfamil ProSobee because it's more gentle on newborn tummy's. It was going fine until all of the sudden she wasn't having as many bowel movements. We could tell that she was fighting to push them out but nothing was happening. She went from having 3-5 a day to 0-1 and because of it she was super cranky. Though it was trying on us to have a constantly fussy baby, we couldn't blame her. Pooping is important. So after researching that soy-based formulas can actually cause constipation we switched to Gerber Good Start Gentle Plus a couple of days ago. Sure enough, she's back to pooping like normal and not nearly as fussy.

Milestone 2: Mallory no longer dislikes Jody! I'm still able to console her quicker than he can, but I think that's just because I'm mom. But the fact that he can hold and watch her without me in the room again without screaming her head off is awesome because now I can be relieved again. I don't think it was necessarily that she disliked him though; I think it was because she wasn't feeling good and so she just wanted her mommy. I know when I was a kid and wasn't feeling good all I wanted was my mom. Just the presence of mom makes you feel better.

Milestone 3: I could be jumping the gun on this one, but I'm still really excited about it - Mallory slept for more than three hours last night only waking up twice to be fed! Now I know that doesn't mean it's going to happen again tonight, but the fact that I was able to get more than two hours of sleep in a row was awesome. Both sleeping sessions were in her Travel Crib without me having to transfer her over to the swing so I'm also happy about that. Pretty soon we're going to need to shift her to her real crib so the less we have to use the swing at night, the easier that transition will be.

Milestone 4: We were successfully able to go grocery shopping yesterday! We were really hesitant to try a challenge so big so early in Mallory's life, but we sucked it up and decided it was at least worth a shot. I will say that I don't think we've ever grocery shopped so quickly before, and we did it without Mallory throwing a fit. We had two shopping carts; put Mallory in her car seat in one and the food in the other. There was a couple of times where if Jody stopped pushing Mallory's cart for too long she would wake up and start to get fussy so he just made sure to keep walking around with her while I focused on getting the items on our list. Talk about perfect timing though because as soon as we got home she was ready to be fed and she made sure to let out a big cry so we knew. It's nice to know that we're starting to get the hang of timing to be able to run important errands together as a family because having one person stay home all the time isn't convenient. Besides, I'll have to do it once Jody goes back to work so we might as well get the hang of it now.

Milestone 5: This next milestone is one for me - I've already lost 20 lbs! Today I decided to test out going to the gym to see what kind of workout my post-surgery body could handle. Of course I couldn't not be there without stepping onto the scale because I'm way too curious. I knew that I had lost weight but when I saw that it was 20 lbs I was stoked. The eight more pounds that I need to lose to get to my pre-pregnancy weight should be easy now that I'm back in the gym and getting stronger each day. And once I get clearance to run I might even lose more than eight pounds which would be even awesomer. So to celebrate my achievement I bought myself a new sweater at the Gap Outlet today.

It's nice to see milestones such as these occur. Especially on the harder days when things feel like impossibilities. I think it's important to celebrate the little and big milestones throughout this parenthood journey because they remind us to be thankful for the blessing that Mallory is in our life.

AKA

Hi, my name is Mallory, aka Sourpuss.

Baby Steps

Mallory is two weeks old today. She had her check up with Dr. Randall on Thursday and is now up to 8.2 lbs. Doc says that she's healthy and very cute so he recommended that we keep her. I can agree to that except for when she's being a little pill; then I wouldn't mind maybe trading her in for a baby that is more calm (of course I'm kidding...sometimes). Sometimes I wish we had the ability to put her in the nursery like when we were at the hospital. But this is just a part of what comes with having kids and it's good for us to go through not just the easy times but the hard times too.

I love my little girl and she is such a joy in our lives, but the past two weeks have definitely been hard. She may be a cutie but she's super high maintenance. The very first night home from the hospital was one I'll never forget - pure hell. We were so baffled as to why she wouldn't stop crying that in our sleep deprived state we almost decided to go back to the hospital. We finally figured out that she was starving because my breast milk still hadn't come in all the way so Jody made a 3am trip to Winco to pick up some formula, which she gulped down. Unfortunately I'm not one of the lucky moms able to produce more breast milk than they know what to do with so we still have to supplement with formula. This has been a struggle that I haven't taken lightly because I am a huge proponent to breast feeding and was really looking forward to it. And though I'm still able to breast feed half of the time, I wanted it to be 100% of the time. I know there's nothing I can do about it, but I still get bitter every now and then.

In Mallory's first week, she was extremely needy and wanted to be held all the time. We even had trouble putting her down in her bassinet at night so most times she ended up sleeping on my chest just so I could get some sleep. When she does sleep she's pretty loud so with every little noise I would jump thinking she was going to start crying. Now that we're on week two, she's sleeping in the bassinet at night but only for a couple hours at the most. Then I'll transfer her to the swing where she's content until she's hungry for her next feeding. I'm also getting used to her noises so I can sleep through most of it. However, now we have a new problem: she prefers me over Jody, big time. It breaks my heart a little every time he goes to pick her up and she won't stop being fussy. I can barely go to the bathroom without her having a tantrum. It's weird and came out of nowhere and I hope it goes away soon because I need him to be able to relieve me.

She's become more impatient (I wonder where she got that from!) especially when she's hungry. She'll go from quiet and sleepy to crying and angry in no time. If her paci doesn't console her then I'll sit and mock her with a fake cry. I know she's too young right now to soothe herself so we give in to her cries, but as soon as she's old enough she'll have to learn the hard way. Crying doesn't bother me unless I have no sleep under my belt. Besides, newborn cries are somewhat cute.

We are starting to see some improvement which has been nice. As first time parents not knowing what to expect, it can be challenging when you feel like the easy times will never come. She sleeps for longer periods at a time so now I'm only getting up every 2-2.5 hours at night instead of every hour. During the day she'll even sleep for up to three hours. Except for when she's gassy, she's pretty chill when she's awake. It seems that she's starting to like her changing table more; she'll just lie there kicking her feet around. We've learned the best time to change her is after she's eaten. Unless you have cold hands she usually won't fuss anymore. She loves her car seat and going on walks and car rides. I'm sure we'll be using the car ride trick to console her in the future. I had to give her a mini bath the other day after she spit up all over herself and she didn't cry at all. Big improvement from her first bathing session.

Overall, we've been taking baby steps towards things getting easier and building somewhat of a routine. Our new routine isn't one I particularly care for seeing as I'm used to getting most things done before noon and momentarily our days don't really start until then, but it's definitely not about what I want right now. Jody goes back to work in a couple of weeks and the routine we currently have will change again; should be interesting. As far as my recovery goes, I'm doing well for only being two weeks out. I've been reducing my Norco pills over the past few days and as of today am only taking the Ibuprofen. I'm still pretty sore but I hate taking Norco because it makes me constipated, so I'd rather be in a little bit of pain from the soreness. Of course I have been pushing the limits of what I should be doing because I can't stand just sitting around. That and I figure if I continue to move around and exercise my muscles, I'll get stronger faster. I just make sure to listen to my body and when I feel pain I'll sit and relax for a bit. I already know that I'll be in the gym sooner than the doctor mentioned, but I won't run until I get clearance. It's all about the baby steps.

Bath Time

After talking about it for the past couple of days, we finally gave Mallory her first bath since the one she got while in the hospital. We meant to do it yesterday but as first-time parents, we're starting to realize that even though we may want to do things, sometimes it just doesn't happen that way. Our schedule is no longer what we want; Mallory now rules our schedule. And even though I'm used to being in control of schedules, I'm letting go and understanding that if I just go with it I'll be less stressed out in the end.

After skimming over the snippet on bath time in my What to Expect the First Year book I gathered all the items we would need, set up the Froggy Bath, and Jody and I worked together to get our little girl clean. We had prepared ourselves to endure her crying knowing that she most likely wouldn't be a happy camper. We tried to console her with her paci in the beginning, but she wasn't having any of it. Surprisingly she didn't belt out that high pitch cry when babies are super mad but she did cry through the majority of her bathing session. As soon as she was wrapped up in her towel though, her crying stopped.

Off to her changing pad where she got a fresh diaper and clean clothes. Once I was confident that she had completely calmed down, she was fed. I told her that it was her treat for enduring such a hardship. If she only knew that having someone pamper you was something that she would look forward to when she got older. I'm sure over time she'll get used to it and not hate it so much, but for now bath time is a little too dramatic to enjoy for Miss Mallory.

Tuckered Out

After my shower yesterday, I came downstairs to this...

Hey, we gotta get those naps in whenever we can now!

Around the Neighborhood

I broke out the Barbie Ferrari and took Mallory on her first walk around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. It felt so good to get out of the house even if it was only to stroll my own minimal neighborhood streets. Being cooped up in the hospital for almost five days and then confined to remaining downstairs at home because I'm supposed to limit how often I climb stairs can drive any person nuts. I also didn't want to go too far just in case Mallory decided a walk wasn't her idea of fun. However, before we even got out the door, she was content as could be resting snugly in her stroller.

My community is one big circle with four parallel streets in between so there wasn't a whole lot of excitement for me, but I was so focused on how much Mallory was enjoying the walk that I didn't care about the lack of scenery. Seeing how happy she was made me want to go explore the neighborhood next to us, but the pain from my surgery kicked in and reminded me that I need to take it slow; I mean it has only been one week. But I definitely plan on making walks a regular part of our routine knowing that we can strive for greater distances each time.

Mallory Quinn

After 41 weeks - a day before 42 weeks - Mallory Quinn was born. Her original due date was October 4, but instead she was born on October 10. Though I was frustrated that she was late and I had to be pregnant for longer, I think it's really cool that she was born on 10/10/10. I delivered at Mercy Folsom and couldn't be happier with the way that I was treated while there.

I had been dealing with inconsistent contractions a couple weeks prior to her arrival. They weren't painful enough to make me stop in my tracks, but they definitely didn't feel good. And each day they got more intense and more regular. My goal was to wait until I couldn't stand them any longer before we made the trip to the hospital because I really didn't want to have to get turned away a bunch of times. The night of Friday, October 8 I barely got any sleep because my contractions were so powerful. I didn't even need to time them because they were pretty much constant. When Jody woke up Saturday morning I told him that we would definitely be making a trip to the hospital sometime that day, but again I wanted to wait as long as I could stand the pain. I took a shower and got pretty because I knew it could be the last time I felt that way for a little while; and I wanted to make sure I looked good. We went for a walk, cleaned and organized some last minute things, dropped off our rental from Blockbuster, grabbed some lunch at Rubios, and then headed for the hospital. Jody and I both still laugh at how nonchalant we were about getting to the hospital; definitely not like the panicked scenes from the movies.

We checked in around 12:30pm and got set up in our room. When I was checked by the nurse I still was only 1.5cm but my blood pressure was high and my contractions were only two minutes apart so they wanted to keep me. Within two hours I had dilated to 3cm so they deemed me fit to stay until Mallory arrived. I called my mom and told her to hit the road to make sure she was at the hospital in time. An hour later I received my epidural and was relieved from the piercing pain. I don't know how people do it without one. When the doctor came in to check me a few hours later I was dilated to 6cm and cruising right along. Though she had initially told me that she expected I would be delivering Mallory no later than that night, it was now looking like she would be a 10/10/10 baby. Unfortunately this was when my labor started slowing down so they had to give me pitocin. Finally around 6:30am on Sunday morning I was ready to start pushing. By then I had been up for more than 30 hours and was so exhausted but I was determined to get her outta there. Almost five hours of pushing later the doctor concluded that we were going to have to explore other options of getting her out, especially since when they broke my water earlier there was meconium in it. My two options were vacuum and c-section. I really, really didn't want to have a c-section so we started with the vacuum option. Vacuum wasn't successful either so c-section it was. Of course I broke down and started crying. I had gone through 23 hours of labor and five hours of pushing for nothing. I felt so defeated. But I also realized that we needed to get her delivered safely and had run out of time.

My mom had to go to the waiting room with the rest of the family to wait, Jody was given his scrubs attire, and I was wheeled into the OR. Everything happened so quickly that I don't remember a whole lot, but I do remember feeling anxious. As soon as I heard her cry I too started crying. They didn't show her to me right away because the respiratory therapist had to get the meconium out of her lungs and make sure she was breathing okay. Before they took her back to our room to get cleaned up I got to see her and give her some kisses. She was beautiful and I couldn't wait to hold her. Once Jody left to go with Mallory I then was overcome with nausea. I got sick a couple of times while the doctors were putting me back together and was overcome with the shakes so badly that when I got back to my room where Jody and Mallory were I couldn't hold my little girl until it stopped an hour later. But once she was in my arms it felt like the world around me froze and all I could do was stare at her adoringly. All of the pain, exhaustion, and frustration was washed away. Finally the little girl that had been tumbling around in my tummy for all those weeks was real and it was awesome.

Mallory Quinn Jenkins was born October 10, 2010 at 11:51am, 7.7lbs, 19in. Welcome to the Jenkins family beautiful little girl. You will be loved and spoiled like crazy.

No Pain, No Gain

Well, I really was hoping that I wouldn't be sitting here blogging about the fact that today marks 40 weeks and I'm still pregnant. I was so wrong when I thought that I would go into labor early. It's crazy though because I honestly thought my intuition that I wouldn't make it to my due date was believable. Kind of makes me question my own intuition; hmmmm.

Today's doctor appointment did however go a little better in the progress report: I'm still only 1.5 cm dilated but I'm 70% effaced and once I'm completely effaced then dilation will most likely happen quickly. The doctor was optimistic that I'll go into labor sometime this week. It's not exactly the news I was anticipating but at least it's progress, so I'll give myself a 'C+' this time. The '+' is for the fact that I'm still continuing to lose weight so I'm happy about that. I have been doing a ton of walking ever since I stopped running; sometimes going three times a day. And even though walking still aggravates my sciatic every single time, I will continue to push forward with all these walking sessions because my contractions have been much stronger lately and walking really gets them going. More contractions, the quicker Mallory gets out; no pain, no gain!

On this evening's walk Jody asked me if I had to guess when I think she's going to be here based on what the doctor said, what day would I say. There was a part of me that didn't want to play that game because I was so wrong before and it left me feeling disappointed. On the other hand, I can't help but think about it anyway so I gave him an answer. I am now guessing that the lucky day will be Thursday, October 7. His prediction was the same, even going as far to say that it will be sometime in the morning. Let's hope that this time the hunch is more accurate and I'm not blogging about being 41 weeks pregnant next Monday.