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The Trials and Tribulations of Teething

It's been awhile now since I posted my last blog.
I guess I didn't realize the amount of people that ACTUALLY read it.
And recently, I've had a few people comment about it publicly.
(insert warm fuzzy feeling here)

So, by golly, I'm going to try to seriously start keeping up with it!
Also, I'm going to try to not make every post about being a parent...
but that's kind of all I do now so bare with me!

Hudson is approaching his 7 month birthday on Saturday, and the poor little fella is cutting tooth number 2.
Those of you that have met and spent time around Hudson know that he is one of THE happiest babies on the planet.
So to the average person...you wouldn't even know he's "teething"
He still smiles and laughs at everyone and everything.
So I'm thankful for that.
However, on a typical day in our house, I get 2 1.5-2 hour naps out of him.
During the days that these devil teeth start breaking through his gums...
I FIGHT to get any nap, anywhere, for any length of time.
It's exhausting.

Today I got one 30 minute nap while laying down next to him and nursing him and one 1.25 hour nap when we got home from hanging out with our friends at about 3 in the afternoon!

Look at that little tooth!!!

Hopefully this second tooth comes in as quickly as the first and I only have 2-3 days of this.
I'm very lucky in the sense that he still sleeps rather well.
He may have one more nightly wake up than usual but is quick to calm down and fall back asleep.

To be honest...
I haven't really found anything that really helps the discomfort.
Heck...If I had some bones ripping up through my gums I'd want a lot more than some motrin and a cold piece of fruit to chew on!

If he starts to get really fussy, I give him Motrin.  But chewing on things is the only thing that really calms him down.




I haven't tried the amber teething necklaces yet...
there's something about putting my little boy in a beaded necklace that I just can't jump on board with quite yet.
(No offense to you boy mommas that use them!)
But, if his days get any worse...I'll definitely consider it.

I must say that the 6 month mark turned my world right side up.
I love watching his personality unfold and his interest in the world around him.
I love that he can play by himself with a couple of toys and lights up when he sees Reagan!
While there are plenty of bad days that come along with this parenting ordeal...
Even the smallest of good days or even hours make up for it.

Over Easter weekend, I watched one new mom go through a moment that was oh so familiar.
Her first night with her brand new baby, no husband home for a break, no family to take the baby while she showered, and a baby she LOVES so much.
At one point, it becomes overwhelming and you just have to cry.
The transition to motherhood is HARD.
I wish more people understood that, but it's one of those things you won't understand until it happens to you.
You go from sharing an hour or two with friends, some time with work, some time with your husband and your family, and the rest of that time to yourself...
To NEVER having that time to yourself.
It's even more difficult when you don't live close to family and your husband leaves for the night 6-8 times a month.
Who is there when you need just ONE 20 minute nap?
Who is there to cook dinner, let you shower, let you pee for heaven's sake!?
Sure, you can lay the baby down and let them cry...but easier said than done my friends.
The love you are going to have for that child will overwhelm you and hearing them cry will break your heart.
So, hey, if you see a mom, especially a new mom, and her baby is crying...
don't shoot her dirty looks and assume she doesn't know what she's doing.
Tell her she's a great mom and she's doing a great job.
We need to hear more of that.

Ferberizing Accomplished/FB Status Apology

Well...

I can officially say that Sleep Training Hudson was the best decision I've made thus far.

I sleep, Hudson sleeps, and I have one HAPPY baby throughout the day.

I would say it took that one night of "sleep training" to do the trick.

Ever since that first night, Hudson will talk to himself and MAYBE cry for a minute...then it's off to dreamland and this mom doesn't get up until the next morning between 7 and 8 AM.

HOORAY!!!!

Now, if we can just get him to stop doing this:

This is him during his nap right now.

(I know his outfit makes him look like a jail bird)

Check out those chubby feet

Don't freak out! Either Ethan or myself creep in on him and lower his blanket from his face once he has fallen into his slumber.  You have to admit that it's pretty darn cute though!  I just love him to the core.  It's seriously the strangest thing...falling in love with your child.  I never thought I could feel that sort of love.  It's definitely made me reflect on my parent's love for me as I've grown.  You grow up thinking your parents are out to get you, that they don't know what's really best for you, and that they secretly only had you to do their daily chores...at least that was my excuse/complaint every time I had to unload the dishwasher or pick up the dogs poop!  I'm sure that my parents look at me and my sisters in the same loving way that I look at Hudson every day, and that kind of  love is the most ultimate of gifts.  And while we may briefly forget that love when they're screaming or keeping us up at night...it always comes flooding back.

People ask me from time to time if I ever got the baby blues or post partum depression.  I was an emotional roller coaster after having Hudson.  I was overwhelmed to say the least.  The hardest adjustment I had was realizing I had nothing ready and a cluttered house when family got here.  I was not ready for the amount of people in my home on that short of notice.  I shouldn't have cared...they were there to help!  I'm a very independent person...I like being alone most of the time.  So asking for help with the house was embarrassing for me.  So aside from that brief breakdown, the only times I ever cried were when I would look at Hudson, or talk about him and a wave of that love rushed over me.  It's unreal.

On another note, good things are happening at this base again.  Starting this week, people are going to be brought back up on PRP.  Luckily, lately, due to the men/women sent from FE and Minot, Ethan is on a pretty normal schedule.  No more month long back to back alerts!  I would also like to take this moment to apologize to any spouse that was offended by my FB status referring to the people shoveling my driveway as "troublemakers"  I was/am thankful for each and every one of your husbands/wives.  At that exact moment, a very good friend of ours was doing the shoveling and I was only poking fun at that particular individual.  I realized, after the fact, that for some of those that are down, this situation is very real and my status may have come off extremely rude.  I had no malicious intent in my statement. I do, however, wish that people had the courage to confront me about it.  I am not a mean/scary person to talk to, not to mention they would have had the pleasure of seeing my "OMG, I feel like an idiot" face...

I've always been SO terrible about the content and the manner in which it is read on social media

*FACEPALM*

On a SUPER good note...10 days to Colorado!!!

Ferberizing: Night 1

Little H finally hit that 4 month sleep regression everyone warns you about.
He went from getting up every 3-4 hours to waking up anywhere between 11 and 1am and REFUSING to sleep in his crib.
I'd have to transfer him from his crib to his swing and then return to the room between 4 and 5 for a feed.

In a previous post I thought I could be super woman and refuse to ever let me guy "cry it out"
But it's kind of impossible to be super mom when you are exhausted and your little one is grumpy due to a not great night of sleep himself.
Not to mention, we have so many trips coming up in the next year, that I couldn't imagine trying to soothe him to sleep while on vacation, without his swing.  The new environments are going to be hard enough on him.
We leave for Colorado the middle of next month to see my family and see Jim Gaffigan live!!!
We leave for Louisiana mid May to see Ethan's family and my best friend Jenny.
And we return to Colorado in August to see my Uncle from Spain, and Hudson's new baby GIRL cousin.  I'm so excited for a baby girl!

So, after researching a lot of different sleep training methods, I chose Ferber's "controlled crying method".  I was reading another mom's interpretation of the method and it really made sense to me.  She compared all of our babies sleep crutches to things that they will love later in life that may not be so good for them.  Just like our babies like to be nursed to sleep, they may like to have ice cream for breakfast.  Are you going to give your child ice cream just so they won't cry?  Even though you know it isn't good for them?  For some reason that made a lot of sense to me.

The reason this one appealed to me most was:

1) it's success rate

2) not abandoning him to cry alone all night

3) being able to remind my stinker that I do love him and I'm just trying to help him

So I figured I would keep you updated on the process of "Ferberizing" the little man.

I was having an internal emotional struggle leading up to and going through the motions of his bedtime routine.  I was NOT looking forward to hearing my little one cry for help.  Some of the testimonies I was reading had their babies crying for upwards of two hours their first night!
I switched up his bedtime routine so that he would not fall asleep during his last feed for the night.

So, it went something like this:

turn on the fan for some noise

new diaper

jammies

lavender lotion massage

nurse

read his favorite book

put to bed calm but awake

I gave him a kiss goodnight, apologized for what was about to take place, and left the room.

Ferber's method involves timed increments of letting your baby cry while trying to learn to soothe themselves.  We started with 3 minutes, then 5, then 8.  By some grace of God, we never had to let him cry for 8 minutes last night!

I only had to go in once during his first stretch.  He literally fell asleep within 4-5 minutes of crying and slept until around 12:30 which was our worst stretch.

I laid in bed listening to the saddest of cries while watching the monitor.  I thought that we were going to be in it for the long haul.  This was the only time during the night that I had to go in at the 5 minute cry interval.  Let me tell you...one sleep training minute is equivalent to one treadmill minute...it never seems to come quick enough!  And I'm so thankful for a husband that supports me in every decision I make and helps me get through it without giving up.

He woke up again around 4:30.  I let him cry, went in at the 3 minute mark, and what do ya know...asleep again before the next 5 minutes were up.  He then woke up at 7:30 for the morning and greeted us with the biggest of smiles.  It was almost like he was saying "Thank You, Mom!"  At that point, I knew I was making the right decision.

Here's a sweet picture of him this morning reading eating the paper!

So, even though he still had multiple night wakings, I'm so very thankful that he is getting down this whole falling asleep alone thing.  I'm really shocked at our outcome from last night and I only hope that it improves.

We are currently following the same method for his naps and he is currently asleep in his crib for his first nap.  I think naps are going to be a little more difficult.  It took him about half an hour to fall asleep.  There was only about 6-10 minutes of crying, but a lot of laying awake and fidgeting.

What method did you use to help your baby sleep?  Share your success' and failures!
All babies are different, and what works for Hudson may not work for another.  I know that after going through this, I could never judge a mother about how she gets her child to sleep.  In the end, we are all doing what is best for us and our babies, and that is giving them a good nights sleep!

My Favorite Things...

I thought, 

with the AWESOME number of friends having babies,

I would share some of the items I really loved using for H's first couple months.

Aden + Anais Swaddles

Whether you get just the swaddle blankets, or the easy swaddles these blankets are the best!  I prefer to swaddle H in the easy swaddles at night because it's much harder for him to wiggle out of, and I'm not swaddling master.  But once I started swaddling him he slept so much better!  Not to mention these blankets can be used for anything and you don't have to worry about baby overheating.  The stroller blankets are really great as well...H might be attached to his.

A Swing of any Variety 

(preferably one that plugs into an outlet...no dead batteries)

Our swing has made naps a breeze for H.  While I hope that he will eventually take his naps in the crib, this thing puts him out in seconds, and comes in handy when he is having a really rough night in the crib.

ZIP up sleep jammies

(or sleep sacks)

Imagine trying to button up a squirming monkey, while drunk, in the dark...
That's kind of what it feels like during those late night diaper changes.
The sleep sacks are nice because you just pull it up, and pull it down.  I did find that they would ride up his legs as the night went on...which would annoy me in my sleep.  But it never seemed to bother him.  Not to mention they made my little boy look a little girly.

White Noise

Whether you buy an actual sound machine or stick to something as simple as a fan, these really help keep them asleep.  Right now we're just using a fan.  I'd like to get a sound machine that plugs into the wall so he can have a full night of the rain, heart beat, etc sounds instead of the 30 minutes that the sound sheep provides.

Video Monitor

We use the WiFi Baby monitor.  It is compatible with our phones and iPad.  I was shocked at how much noise H made in his sleep!  He used to make a sound that sounded exactly like a dolphin.  Anyways, the video makes it easier to tell if the little one is actually awake or not.  No pointless walks down the hall!

Moby/baby wearing contraption of some variety
Mostly because hauling those darn car seats is tiring!!! I wore Hudson in the grocery store, the mall, and parties.  It was great at his first party in Colorado at 3 weeks old.  Ethan and I were both a bit nervous about people wanting to pass our little one around at an outdoor party on his due date.  Sticking him in the moby wrap put him right to sleep and allowed a look but don't touch approach to all the guests.  Maybe I was being over protective of him that night but we had just driven 12 hours, it was flu season, and we were going to drive another 12 back to montana.  We were the ones bringing him home and I'm not sure I would have been able to deal with a sick 3 week old as a new mother.  The wrap also made grocery shopping easy...no room taken up by a bulky car seat=more food for me!

I'll add more as I think of them, but these were/are life savers.

4 is the Magic Number

Or I guess around 3.75

Hudson is going to be 4 months old on Sunday

Holy cliche moment of "this is going way too fast"

BUT...

at this stage in his life I have realized that I am not an infant person.

Now, don't go thinking I'm a terrible mom and hated my baby for the first 3 months of his life.

I loved him beyond words.

I cried when he cried, I hurt when he hurt, I never wanted him out of my sight.

But the smiles and the laughs that my little booger is spitting out at me make this whole parenting thing so much more rewarding and so much more FUN!

I feel like I've figured out how my baby's little brain ticks.

Which has made my life so much easier and less stressful.

He sleeps in his crib.

Not like a champ by any means.

When the tears start rolling a quick insertion of the paci or some food do just the trick.

As I'm writing this blog, he's in bed at...that's right 7:30.

All fresh, clean, massaged, and relaxed.

If only I were put to bed that way every night...Ethan

As for my previous posts about sleep.

My only advice for new moms is Screw the Professionals.

They tell you not to nurse your baby to sleep, not to rock them to sleep, not to put them to sleep with a paci, not to, not to, not to....

Well, if you listen to them (many of them contradicting one another) you are just going to have an overtired, frustrated, beyond the point of sleep baby.

And that just makes even his/her awake time no fun!

Do whatever it takes to get them to nap/sleep.

And in due time, they will grow and need less of these "crutches" to help themselves sleep.

Everything takes time and multiple attempts before they get it right.

Don't stress.

I thought I'd also share my New Year's Resolution? with you all.

I have noticed an article floating around Facebook about Moms bullying Moms.

I'd kind of like to extend that to just women in general.

For some reason we were almost predisposed to a world of competition between our own kind.

It's really silly when you think of it.

We judge one mom for working, for being a SAHM, for formula feeding, etc.

We judge other women on their looks, their jobs, their husbands jobs, etc.

It makes for a really miserable world.

And I was/am guilty for it.

So I'm cutting the bull shit.

I want to open myself up to the possibility of new friendships.

I want to hear, learn, and understand, with an open mind, the different parenting techniques we all have.

I don't want to look back and think that my words could have hurt someone else.

I don't want to be the source of or a part of any drama.

Because I don't want my children to be led by that type of example.

2014 is all about the love.

Hudson's Nursery

I figured I would post some pictures of Hudson's nursery.

I am not completely finished...

I DID think I still had 3 weeks to get it ready.

Oops.

Anyways, here they are!

Enjoy.

Crib by Babyletto, Trees bought on Zulily.com, Side table from Ikea, Video Monitor by WiFi Baby (GREAT!)

Bedding by Skip, Hop (Mod Dot)

Wall Art from Target

Handmade bunting

Glider from Walmart.com

Owl from Ross :)

Dresser from Ikea

Sorry for the not so great quality.

If you have questions about any other items in the room, please ask!

Some things I still plan on doing are:

Adding a wooden hand painted sign that says "Hudson's Cabin" in the birch wood trees above the crib

Building a shelving/crate box type system for above the changing table

And possibly replacing the ottoman pouf for one of better quality

But it'll do for now