TJ: Seven Weeks

Because I decided to live more in the moment versus documenting everything, I have fall behind in writing here.  TJ is now seven weeks old.  I return to work next Wednesday.  Wednesday.  I remember when I could say x amount of weeks but time can sure move quickly around here with 2 kids.  Now back to TJ.  Oh what a joy he is.  My only complaint is he doesn't nap during the day.  Still.  To make up for it the past few weeks he started sleeping 6 hours each night and now for the past 2 nights he has slept 8 hours in between feedings.  He'll fall asleep around 7-8pm and get up anywhere between 3-4am.  Boy that makes up for trying to figure out what the heck to do with him all day long. 


He's still pretty laid back and he smiles now.  Smiles.  At me.  When he sees me.  Oh! and he talks!  All of the time.  This is when things really start falling into place.  His personality really shines through.  I gotta say.  I like it a lot. =)


I'll write more official likes/dislikes at his 2 month posting but we did take him in for his 6 weeks checkup this week at 7 weeks.  Here is where we are...


Latest Stats:
     Weight:  13lbs 11oz (97%)
     Length: 23 inches (75%)
     Head: 40 cm (75%)


So he grew 2.25 inches and gained 4 lbs in 4 weeks.  That's my boy!

TJ: One Month

I can't believe TJ is already a month old.  Man, the time flies!  TJ's personality is starting to develop.  He's even smiling when we kiss his chubby cheeks.  Did I mention he's chubbing up a bit?  It's adorable.  He is also starting to "talk" too.  Mostly when he's completely bored, which happens a lot.  I mean, what do you do with a 4-5 week old that cannot hold his head up, see super duper far, and cannot hold toys?  Apparently shop.  The boy loves being in his stroller looking at everything, which means he is momma's instant shopping partner.  He is also not really sleeping a lot during the day either.  I thought all newborns slept a lot?  I guess it is a myth.  And since he's always awake during the day, he is also really bored.  A lot.  I have been pretty creative with keeping him busy and not bored.  So far it has been working ok.  Well, except for the idea of giving him baths to cure boredom.  That is a VERY bad idea.  I really do think he thinks I am trying to kill/drown him and then eat him.  I kind of smell him after we're done cause he smells so nice.  His hair too is so fuzzy.  So fuzzy.  He's starting to get that 80 year old balding man look.  (see pictures below)

All in all we are doing pretty well.  He's sleeping a good 4-6 hours at night.  That doesn't mean we are still sleeping a lot.  He must have a lot of tummy issues cause he grunts all of the time.  I've read a lot about it online and it's common...we just have to ride it out.  How much is a night nurse? =)

TJ is very different than Libby was as a baby.  One way they are the same is with having marathon feedings.  This baby can eat more food than I thought was humanly possible.  I realize he is growing and growing fast but good grief.  Sometimes he will eat every hour on the hour and scream bloody murder if you try to stretch him to even two hours between feedings.  Usually he goes 2.5-3 hours and has 4.5 oz to eat but lately he is wanting at least 6.5 in the morning every 3-4 hours and then has 4.5-5 every 2-3.  It's insane!

Well, here is a brief summary of everything that is all about TJ:

• Eating - around 40oz per day.  Usually has 8-10 bottles per day and eats between 3.5-6.75oz each feeding.
• Sleep - some days he'll sleep all day and night and sometimes he won't sleep at all during the day and will sleep at night.  The best we have had is 6 hours at night but usually he sleeps from 7:30pm-12am and then 4am-8am.
• Diapers - I thought changing boy diapers would be harder than girls but it isn't.  It is just different.  We are going through about 8-10 per day with at least 1-2 dirty ones.
• Attitude - TJ is pretty laid back.  He really only gets upset when he is hungry or gassy.  He loves to look around now and I think he is going to be pretty sociable. 
• Likes - looking around...specifically fans, speakers, blinds, windows, cuddling, positioning himself right underneath your head on your chest so he can feel your heartbeat and skin.
• Dislikes - baths (thinks we are trying to kill him), getting his diaper changed

So now for the regular installment of the milestones from What To Expect The First Year:

By one month, your baby...should be able to:

• lift head briefly when on stomach on a flat surface - check!
• focus on a face - check! so fun!

...will probably be able to:

• respond to a bell in some way, such as startling, crying or quieting - check!

...may possibly be able to:

• lift head 45 degrees when on stomach - check!
• vocalize in ways other than crying (e.g., cooing) - check!
• smile in response to your smile - getting closer...he did this once but hasn't repeated it yet so I won't count it.

...may be able to:

• lift head 90 degrees when on stomach - I am not ready to call this yet.  He's pretty wobbly.
• hold head steady when upright - nope!
• bring both hands together - nope!
• smile spontaneously - check!  So, so, SO adorable!

Some favorite pictures I took recently.  He's just too darn cute!

(look at those adorable feet!!)

Birth Announcement

We tried to send this out to as many people as we could, but here is the official birth announcement for Mr. TJ.

Giraffe Love

08.29.10 STL Zoo
Originally uploaded by Holly Mroczkowski.

Libby and I went to the zoo on Sunday and had a great time. Libby has developed a deep love for the giraffes and I was lucky to get her to pose with one. This is by far one of my favorite pictures of her now.

TJ: 2 Weeks!

So apparently having two kiddos is going to make it twice as hard to find time to post anything on here.  TJ is two weeks old today.  I can't believe it...I keep trying to just soak all of this in so it doesn't go as quickly but that doesn't seem to be helping.  I remember how fast Libby changed at this stage so I am spending lots of time just staring at TJ and burning all of his actions to memory.  

The last two weeks have been really awesome.  Really, really awesome.  Libby is adapting better than Jim or I had expected.  She LOVES her little brother and LOVES telling everyone she is a big sister.  There haven't really been any issues with her (yet) and we're trying really hard to make sure her life doesn't change too drastically.  I think it, sadly, helped that I couldn't do much with her at the end of the pregnancy.  Now when I do anything with her it is like a big Christmas present to her.  

TJ is really changing too.  He's already trying to hold his head up and is the most alert, noisy baby I have ever seen.  I mean, seriously, don't newborns sleep all of the time?  Not ours!  Yesterday, for example, he stayed up from around 10:30/11:00AM until almost 4PM when he downed his bottle and then fell fast asleep.  I would be tired too after being up that long if I was his age!  He's a very, VERY good eater and an even better burper (as my Mom found out =)).  Lets just say you don't ever have to doubt when the little man has gas and burps!  We are even getting some sleep.  We've had the occasional night where he sleeps 5-6 hours at a time so everyone in the house doesn't look like a zombie.  

At birth TJ weighed 8lbs 15oz and by the time we took him home he had lost a few ounces and was at 8lbs 10oz.  When we took him in for his one week checkup last week he was already up to 9lbs 1oz.  Today we had his 2 week checkup and he is at 9lbs 11oz.  I can't believe he's almost 10lbs already! 

We haven't really taken him out of the house yet...being home bound is starting to drive me a little crazy.  I do have the pleasure of dropping and picking Libby up from daycare now so that helps me from going a little stir crazy.  We'll start taking him out of the house when he is about a month old and I just cannot wait.  As alert as he is he's going to love looking around at the fuzzy objects around him.  Well, come on, I know he can't see that well yet. =)  I do think he needs more stimulation though...yesterday he fixated on a speaker in the house for like 15 minutes.  It must have looked at him funny because he wouldn't stop staring at it.  I cannot wait to take him out in the sun if the weather will cooperate and go for a few walks!

Well, that's about it for now...or at least all I can think of.  If someone could figure out how to slow the weeks down, let me know because I really want this experience to go slower this time around!

Introducing Thomas James "TJ" Mroczkowski

I would like to introduce the newest addition to the Ski clan: Thomas James "TJ" Mroczkowski.  He was born Wednesday morning (08.11.10) at 8:33AM CST weighing in at almost 9lbs - 8lbs, 15oz exactly - and is 21 inches long.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from over the past few days.  I'll write more next week when I am not learning how to handle 2 kiddos at once. =)  Until then, you can see all of the pictures here.  Here are some of my favorite!

And of course, I would like to report that his big sister is simply great at being a big sister too!

Reflections

I have rewritten this at least 4 times. I'm having a lot of difficulty expressing myself and reflecting my time over this pregnancy. Maybe because it is, dare I say, our last planned pregnancy. While it is getting incredibly uncomfortable being this large, I am also sad to see this phase of my life end. This, of course, does not mean end to the Ski Babies. We, if we decide to have more babies, will adopt. It is just that my body cannot physically handle any more pregnancy after the complications of having Libby and TJ. They are our little miracles and we are grateful to have them, and I am very happy to have experienced two pregnancies. So as I go down memory lane, keep in mind that I am a 38.5 week, emotional pregnant lady and only have 5 days left of this pregnancy.

Finding Out
We decided in spring of 2009 that we wanted to have another baby. In fact that is all I talked about with my loving, patient husband. Unfortunately we also wanted to put our house up for sale. For those that have never had their house up for sale while having a small child, it is an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. We exhausted ourselves keeping the house clean and did many a nap time in the car so that Libby could still sleep while we were doing open houses or our limited house showings. This, unfortunately, stressed me out where we didn't have much luck trying for our newest babe. Months went by and it was discouraging me. We were able to become pregnant on month one with Libby so this was foreign to me and I thought me being almost 3 years older was hurting our chances. In July we finally found a buyer and he wanted to act quickly. Luckily we found a house and people that wanted to move out quickly too so by August we were in our new house. December 6th we found out we were pregnant and were obviously thrilled. Of course my OCD didn't make that enjoyment last long as I fretted that the test was a false positive and then proceeded to buy every pregnancy test in the store over the next week. After a few more weeks I became comfortable that there definitely was a baby in there and then became the natural worries that come along with pregnancies as we waited for our first ultrasound. First, though we had to decide how to handle our Dr situation.

Changing Doctors
Our OB with Libby was...how can I put this nicely...was not the best. Yeah, ok. That'll work. She had an old school mentality and handled pregnant women with absolutely no complications easily. However, I wasn't one of those patients as my blood pressure tends to go a wee bit high during pregnancies. So we had to make a decision on whether to switch Drs or not. Actually, it wasn't a question of "if" but "who" should we go to. We had switched health insurance companies since Libby was born and I was hoping that would help me pick a Dr I hadn't seen before and one closer to home. Luckily I found one 15 minutes away from our new house and interviewed them via the phone. I spent a good 20-30 minutes asking detailed questions on how they would have handled my first pregnancy and what their approach would be with the second given my history. Honestly, I was waiting to see if they thought I was a crazy person or if they treated me like I was an intelligent woman. When they did the latter I knew I had found my new OB. It was the best decision I could have ever made as they have made this experience so much better and I feel so much more confident that this baby is going to be healthy. It's great being able to trust your doctors.

Two steps forward, two steps back
This pregnancy was very different than with Libby. With her I had complications in the beginning with some spotting and then my blood pressure issues began to show up about the half way point. The benefit of a second pregnancy is you can use the information of the first to engage in a sort of defensive dance against the complications from the first. I have never been stuck with a needle to do blood tests so many times in my life. I even had to become best friends with a huge orange tub that I had to pee in for 24 hours - twice. Lets just say I was willing to do whatever they told me to do. It was working too. I was making it without swelling or blood pressure issues. My weight was staying decent (for me) and I just knew everything was going to be smoother this time. Unfortunately we began seeing a trend that my blood pressure was creeping up around week 28. Instead of waiting to see what happened, my OB ordered a whole menu of blood tests, had me do my second 24 urine test (hello BFF Big Orange!), and had me go to a perinatal unit to begin a series of twice a week appointments that I am still going to. Now I had not one but TWO Doctors helping me carry this baby to term.

Perinatal Unit
I have never been to, nor heard of, a perinatal unit. The staff there couldn't believe I hadn't been to one with my first baby given that when I delivered Libby my blood pressure was in the 200s over 100s. I got tired of trying to find a way to nicely explain my situation the first time and just stuck to my standard "my Dr and I didn't really agree on my condition." The first time I went to the perinatal unit I was terrified. I didn't know what to expect. I knew it was what was best for me and our baby boy but I was still nervous. What were they going to do? Was I going to be on medications? Would they believe me? That was a constant fear. Because nothing was ever documented with my first showing how truly bad my blood pressure was getting, it was my word against the previous Doctor. Luckily these Drs all listened to me and treated me like I wasn't insane. And so began my many, many trips to the perinatal unit. I have my last appointment on Monday and I am actually going to miss some of the nurses there. They are so kind. Yes, I realize it is their job to make you feel at ease but they do it so effortlessly. There is one nurse, Mimi, especially that I have bonded with. We swap stories about our kiddos since my oldest is similar to hers when she was younger, and she's always giving me advice on things to keep her active. I really owe these wonderful nurses a big thanks because I believe they have helped me make it this far in my pregnancy. I honestly think I could make it to 40 weeks, if my OB wanted me to, thanks to them and their constant care.

Nerves
I thought I would be nervous about the prospect of having two kids and having to juggle them both at the same time. I'm honestly not. The only thing I am nervous about is the epidural. Honestly. That giant needle haunts me at night. Once I get past that point I am going to relax a lot. Even with complications, it is still on my mind.  For example, on Monday my amniotic fluid levels were very low. They warned me that I could deliver in the next day or so if the levels didn't go back up. All I could think about was how my baby may not be ok and that epidural needle. Even in a potential crisis that thing still scares me!

Next Chapter
Although I am not sleeping very well I do day dream a lot. I dream about holding my baby boy and hugging my little girl at the same time. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I wonder what he is going to look like. Will I finally get one that looks even remotely like me or is Jim going to have another clone like Libby was? How big is he going to be? Will he have hair? I will only have to wait 5 more days to find out. I cannot wait to start this next chapter of our life with our newest baby.