Month Two: This Too Shall Pass

Well, I'm beginning to think maybe my goal should be to post a monthly blog...lol. I know my one month post I told you guys I would try to post again before we hit the two month mark, and I started a new post just a week or so after that, but tried to include too much in it or something, because I just "finished" it right before starting this one.

This Too Shall Pass
"This too shall pass," is something we were told to remember when the not-so-fun experiences of parenthood showed their ugly face. This month, ironically enough, the situation was gas, and Squeak's inability to pass it on his own. After some research, I came to realize this is very common for babies at this stage, as their bodies are still developing and maturing, and some functions just don't work yet. In our case, there were also some factors that helped fuel our "gas monster."

The first few days after we got home, I just wrote off the gas as being from the 12 hour ride home from Minnesota. I knew to expect some aftermath from the trip from talking to some friends about traveling with an infant. However, several days had passed and my once happy, content little Squeaker was still miserable. His sleeping patterns were changing for the worse and our evenings were spent crying (both of us the first few nights).

To the Google Machine
I'm not sure how anyone was able to raise kids, or learn anything, prior to the google era. Well, actually I do, and often times I find myself wishing I lived in an era where you stayed close to home and spent time with your mother and grandmother, learning the tricks of the trade. I do my best to learn as much as I can from others who have been where I am, as not to miss out on the beauty of life experience and human contact. But I also take advantage of the technology advances and the google machine. This way I get the best of both eras!

What I've learned (from either the google machine or from friends):

• Babies normally get gassy around 4 weeks because their bodies are still developing and they're just not capable of passing the gas themselves. Several parents saw relief about the two month mark.
• Gassy babies will give false feeding signals because they're uncomfortable and they think food will fix their uncomfortable-ness.
• Breastfed babies will eat the same amount of food from 1-6 months.
• Overfeeding causes gas.
• Overtired babies don't sleep. They stay awake and just stare at you.

So yeah, not only did Squeak go on his first 12 hour road trip, but also during this trip there was a day he decided he should be eating about every 2 hours rather than our "normal" (I put that in quotes because there's nothing normal or routine with a 4 week old baby) schedule of 3 hour feedings. Every two hours seemed fairly inconvenient, so I reasoned that if I gave him more food each feeding, we could avoid that pesky 2 hour feeding schedule and get back to every three hours. And yes, I did know that Squeak would have growth spurts, but I clearly just ignored that fact in my moment of reasoning.

That half an ounce DID NOT make our days any easier. We had a gassy, overfed, overtired little gas monster on our hands. And probably most surprisingly to me was my inability to keep up supply-wise. Guess my body knew better than I did that he wasn't needing that much food. It was such a relief to knowing his intake wasn't going to be changing for quite some time.

Never had a gas monster of your own? Wondering what you do with one? Well, you'll want to start with a deep breath. Then get out the gas drops, gripe water, massage their tummy clockwise, pedal their legs. And don't forget to ask your mommy friends. Yes. Ask friends. The most useful advice we received for comforting Squeak was from a friend who told me her husband was able to push their daughter's knees into her stomach when she was gassy. We call this the "manual de-gassing" method. When you first do it, you may feel like you're hurting them and making them more uncomfortable, but seriously, once you get that first toot out, followed by several more, you feel like your gas monster's hero! I personally found it helpful to stop periodically, pick the little guy up, and remind him that I love him and explain the reason I was doing what I was doing was to help him and all would be good when we were through.

What to take from all of this:

• You don't need to have all the answers before becoming a parent. I'm proof you can be pretty clueless and still figure it out. And believe me, love will get you through pretty much everything, and for the rest of it, seek out your friends and utilize the google machine.
• This Too WILL Pass. Squeak is passing more and more of his own gas. And I give him high praise with every gas passed and diaper filled! Now if I would do my part and not devour three helpings of bierrock casserole in one sitting, we might actually kick this.

I know I know, I should be consoling him, not taking pictures,
but I wanted to capture the gas monster at least once for the memory books.

The weekend of October 11-13 we went on our first motorhome vacation as a family. We headed out to Hays for the Fall Nationals at RPM Speedway. We got to show Squeak off to several of our friends, and all the fresh air and the long days led up to our first 8+ hour night of sleep. Turns out racing wears Squeak out as much as it wears his parents out.

I'm so thankful Squeak likes the Snugli so much. He napped for 4-5 hours each evening while I watched nearly all the races (enough to get my fill.)

First trip to the Sand Dunes
We spent the weekend of Matt's birthday at the Little Sahara Sand Dunes in Waynoka, OK. We went with our usual group which included the Johnsons, Dauers, Davis', etc. My mom and oldest nephew Devin also came down for a couple days, and they picked up our Little Brother Trenton on the way.

The plans for this trip changed several times. We finally decided Wednesday afternoon that the three of us would go together and we would leave later that evening. Squeak hadn't napped hardly at all that morning, almost like he knew mom was going to need 4-5 hours of uninterrupted time to get everything ready to go for a 4 day / 5 night vacation. Dad was outside rigging up the rig. Matt had to work down in that area of Oklahoma on Thursday and Friday, so to avoid both of us having to drive, he decided he could load the RZR in the bed of the truck, and then put the truck on the trailer behind the motorhome (see below). There was only a brief moment in time that felt like an eternity where I held on to the car seat extra tight and saw my life flash before my eyes. But a stop for gas, redistribution of about 200-250lbs and reducing our speed made the trip a success.

The Rig

We enjoyed our first weekend away in the motorhome so much we decided to load up and go to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes in Waynoka, OK just a few days later. More long days and lots of fresh air got us a couple more nights of 8+ hours of sleep. Gets me thinking maybe we should go back to sleeping in the rock-and-play at home, too. Hmmm. Lol.
Here Squeak is telling dad, "See, I'm big enough to ride!"
(This momma knows he will be big enough to ride before she knows it.)

The Stats
Squeak had his 2-month doctor appointment last week. He weighed in at 11 lbs. 14.5 ounces and measured 22"2 long (I honestly don't have a clue what the 2 is...centimeters?!?) These numbers put him in the 75th percentile in weight and 25th percentile in height. Most importantly, he's growing along the curve and the doctor says he's a healthy little man. Music to a momma's ears! We pray for continued growth and good health!

Being a Mom
So I suppose I could take a little time to share my feelings on my transition into motherhood. I could start and summarize the whole experience with the cliche "It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done." But two other observations I've noticed here lately are:

1. I cook. Nearly every meal. And I kind of enjoy it.
2. I do dishes. Every day (at least once). I can't say I enjoy this, but it does feel good to go to bed with a clean kitchen every night.

And because of this new role as a mother, I'm sure I'm forgetting some important detail about our second month, but this momma is ready to hit the "publish" button for the second time for this post, and go get my favorite little boy who is stirring from his nap...MEAL TIME! :)

Thanks for checking in on us.

We really appreciate all the support we receive from our family and friends!

Jet Lag

Last weekend we made our first trip to Minnesota. (*This was September 19-23, but it was last weekend at the time I started this post.) As I had been told, Hayden traveled well, sleeping the majority of the way.

Oops!
I guess I'll have to quit giving Matt a hard time about doing stuff like this (at least for a little while)!

Minnesota
We pulled in to the farm (my parents) a little after 8pm on Friday. We got Hayden out of the truck and inside, and the fight for who got to hold him began. :-) It wasn't much of a fight since it had apparently been discussed beforehand that Grandpa would be first since he hadn't seen him yet. It was when Grandpa was taking too long to get Hayden out of his car seat that Grandma barked at him to either take his turn or she was going to. And that was the last I would hold my son (well, except the mid-night/early morning feedings) until Monday.

Saturday morning was spent getting pretty for pictures. It wasn't too hard to do since we're all so good-looking anyway...and also because I forgot my make-up and hair products at home, so showering and blow drying my hair was about the extent of what could be done.  We got some GREAT pics, but since they're Christmas card pics you'll have to wait. ;-)

Family started rolling in shortly after pics and the rest of the day was spent showing off/sharing Squeak and visiting. Cody & Kayla came over in the afternoon and we exchanged shower gifts and they met Hayden. As you may recall from my previous post, I accidently booked my shower right on top of Kayla's. At dusk, everyone gathered around the campfire for a fireworks display using up what was left from the 4th of July. I watched a couple, and then took advantage of all the awake family members to take care of Squeak and snuck off to the house to turn in early. 8:30pm. Yes. It. Was. Amazing. I got 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep! I felt like I could conquer the world when I got up.

Cousins, William and Hayden – 3 months apart
(William is the son of my cousin Phil, and his wife Angie)

Kayla meeting Hayden for the first time. She and Cody are expecting a little girl in November.
We're so excited for them!

Baby Shower
My aunts threw Squeak and I a very nice shower on Sunday afternoon. It was the perfect size gathering, allowing me to catch up with some very important people in my life. I was reminded how sweet of people I was surrounded by growing up, and they were all so welcoming of Hayden. I think I underestimated the pride I would feel when "showing off" Squeak.

My wonderful aunts who hosted our Minnesota shower.

Thank you to everyone who attended, or sent their congrats in some manner! Also...I have to make mention of the scrumptious fruit pizza Aunt Teri made. I was so bummed when I went back for seconds and there weren't any. :-(

So this is where I was going to write about "The Week After," but since I'm just now "finishing" this post on Squeak's two month birthday, I guess I'll just include it in my two month post.