Do babies, like puppies, grow into their feet?
Something to ponder.
I think about that because Little Man has really big feet. He's not super long (was 23 inches long at his two-month visit) but he's heavy (13lb 8oz at same appt.). I hope he'll be tall like his father, who is 6'2" and thinking he'll grow into his feet gives me hope.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Making this Blog Private
I'm planning on making Musings from a romantyk soul private early next week. If you want access, please send me an email. However, I plan to do most of my blogging at my new blog: Mom of One—and Done!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Starting a mommy blog
And not here on Blogger. I wanted to create a blog without any reference to my name and this one is "romantykrobyn". Plus I had a lot of references to my past relationship, my family (with names!) and other info. This blog is not very anonymous.
I may or may not keep this one up. I may post the same entries in both blogs. I'm not sure. But I wanted to share the link of my new blog with you guys (my 10 or so readers).
It's: Mom of One—and Done!
If you comment there, please don't mention my given name. I'm trying to use aliases for myself and my family—with the possible exception of Casey. Thus far he's "Wonder Dog".
Hope to see you there!
I may or may not keep this one up. I may post the same entries in both blogs. I'm not sure. But I wanted to share the link of my new blog with you guys (my 10 or so readers).
It's: Mom of One—and Done!
If you comment there, please don't mention my given name. I'm trying to use aliases for myself and my family—with the possible exception of Casey. Thus far he's "Wonder Dog".
Hope to see you there!
Starting my mom blog!
I've blogged before... on MySpace and on another blog site. But now that I'm a mom, I decided to remain somewhat anonymous—although I plan to provide a link to this blog on my original one so my readers can find me. And unlike my prior blog, which was a basic journal for me to get all my thoughts out, the primary focus of this one will be motherhood and how being a mom affects my marriage, my relationships and my career.
But here's a little background info—a timeline to becoming njsweetmom.
At age 36, I thought I'd never meet "Mr. Right." But I guess fate stepped in and I met Dude (more on his nickname another time). We had an instant connection and our relationship became serious within weeks. We were engaged a little over a year later and married in June of 2008—I was 38 and he was 37. Since we were "older" we decided to start a family right away.
I was convinced that I'd have trouble conceiving. Not sure why... perhaps because of my age? But luckily I found out I was pregnant the day after Thanksgiving in 2008. I had to take 4 pregnancy tests AND made my doctor run a blood test to confirm it. I was that afraid that I was NOT pregnant. But I was and I had a pretty smooth pregnancy.
Little Man was born on August 14, 2009. He was 8 days late and I had to be induced. He's a BIG boy... he was 9 lb at birth! I was all baby and I lost 27 of the 40 lb I'd gained during my pregnancy by one week after giving birth. I still have 15 more pounds to lose to get back to my "wedding weight" but that's another story. Now, at two months, Little Man weighs 13 lb 8 oz (as of last Wednesday, so he's probably more by now) and he's overall a very healthy little boy.
There are some minor medical issues he's dealing with—Torticollis and Positional Plagiocephaly—that I'll blog about later since this is my "first" post and I'd like to keep it pretty general. But Little Man is a happy (and hungry!) baby and I'm so glad to be a mom. I've always wanted to be a mom and finally, at age 39, I am!
However... Little Man will be our only child. I never thought I'd say that. While I somehow knew my first child would be a boy, I always hoped he'd have a little sister. But life throws curve balls. We're not in the best financial shape. We're older (when I was pregnant, I was referred to being "advanced maternal age") and, perhaps, wiser. It's in our best interests as a FAMILY to remain a family of three—plus dog.
We want to be able to live better than day-to-day. We want to be able to pay off our debts; save up to own a home; we want to be able to take family vacations; send our son to college; everything a parent hopes to do for a child. So we've decided that we're done. I'm a mom of one.
I'm sure that will have its challenges in the future. But, for now, I'm like any other first time mom—though perhaps a bit older than many—and am adjusting to taking care of a baby, dog, husband and trying to keep up with my job. Currently I work for my family's business and have a LOT of flexibility. So I'm bringing my son to work with me (dog too, he's been coming for years) and it's been a challenge thus far. Though I only started back this week... maybe it will get better? I guess I'll see.
So this is my new blog. Hopefully mommyhood will allow me to keep it up-to-date!
But here's a little background info—a timeline to becoming njsweetmom.
At age 36, I thought I'd never meet "Mr. Right." But I guess fate stepped in and I met Dude (more on his nickname another time). We had an instant connection and our relationship became serious within weeks. We were engaged a little over a year later and married in June of 2008—I was 38 and he was 37. Since we were "older" we decided to start a family right away.
I was convinced that I'd have trouble conceiving. Not sure why... perhaps because of my age? But luckily I found out I was pregnant the day after Thanksgiving in 2008. I had to take 4 pregnancy tests AND made my doctor run a blood test to confirm it. I was that afraid that I was NOT pregnant. But I was and I had a pretty smooth pregnancy.
Little Man was born on August 14, 2009. He was 8 days late and I had to be induced. He's a BIG boy... he was 9 lb at birth! I was all baby and I lost 27 of the 40 lb I'd gained during my pregnancy by one week after giving birth. I still have 15 more pounds to lose to get back to my "wedding weight" but that's another story. Now, at two months, Little Man weighs 13 lb 8 oz (as of last Wednesday, so he's probably more by now) and he's overall a very healthy little boy.
There are some minor medical issues he's dealing with—Torticollis and Positional Plagiocephaly—that I'll blog about later since this is my "first" post and I'd like to keep it pretty general. But Little Man is a happy (and hungry!) baby and I'm so glad to be a mom. I've always wanted to be a mom and finally, at age 39, I am!
However... Little Man will be our only child. I never thought I'd say that. While I somehow knew my first child would be a boy, I always hoped he'd have a little sister. But life throws curve balls. We're not in the best financial shape. We're older (when I was pregnant, I was referred to being "advanced maternal age") and, perhaps, wiser. It's in our best interests as a FAMILY to remain a family of three—plus dog.
We want to be able to live better than day-to-day. We want to be able to pay off our debts; save up to own a home; we want to be able to take family vacations; send our son to college; everything a parent hopes to do for a child. So we've decided that we're done. I'm a mom of one.
I'm sure that will have its challenges in the future. But, for now, I'm like any other first time mom—though perhaps a bit older than many—and am adjusting to taking care of a baby, dog, husband and trying to keep up with my job. Currently I work for my family's business and have a LOT of flexibility. So I'm bringing my son to work with me (dog too, he's been coming for years) and it's been a challenge thus far. Though I only started back this week... maybe it will get better? I guess I'll see.
So this is my new blog. Hopefully mommyhood will allow me to keep it up-to-date!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Torticollis/Positional Plagiocephaly Update
McBaby had his first physical therapy session yesterday and the therapist (Mary) made me feel much better. She said the flat head (positional plagiocephaly) was relatively mild and that it was caught early enough to likely correct itself without a helmet. And his Torticollis (shortened neck muscle) isn't too bad, either.
Mary says she usually sees Tort babies around 4 months and it's harder to start a regimen and because Little Man is 2 months, we have a good head start. As for the Plagiocephaly... I need to keep putting him on his tummy and moving his position as much as possible.
We go to PT twice a week for the next 3 weeks and then down to once a week—provided that *I* fully understand how to stretch DS and correctly massage the muscle.
He has a 20 visit per year cap... so luckily it resets in January. The estimate for how long we'll go is 4 months.
DS still needs a hip (and testicular for his Hydrocele) ultrasound to make sure they're OK. Babies with Torticollis often have dislocated hips/issues. While external manipulation shows his hips are fine, both the pediatrician and the therapist wants confirmation.
He's going to a Kessler outpatient facility (if you followed Christopher Reeve's story, you'll know he went to rehab at their main location) and I feel pretty good that we have a handle on it.
Mary says she usually sees Tort babies around 4 months and it's harder to start a regimen and because Little Man is 2 months, we have a good head start. As for the Plagiocephaly... I need to keep putting him on his tummy and moving his position as much as possible.
We go to PT twice a week for the next 3 weeks and then down to once a week—provided that *I* fully understand how to stretch DS and correctly massage the muscle.
He has a 20 visit per year cap... so luckily it resets in January. The estimate for how long we'll go is 4 months.
DS still needs a hip (and testicular for his Hydrocele) ultrasound to make sure they're OK. Babies with Torticollis often have dislocated hips/issues. While external manipulation shows his hips are fine, both the pediatrician and the therapist wants confirmation.
He's going to a Kessler outpatient facility (if you followed Christopher Reeve's story, you'll know he went to rehab at their main location) and I feel pretty good that we have a handle on it.
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Good and The Not-So-Good
As I posted two days ago, McBaby (aka Little Man) is two months old. He went for his well baby visit at the pediatrician on Wednesday afternoon and while overall he's very healthy and doing very well for his age, there was some "not-so-good" news.
First with the good stuff. He's healthy. He's thriving.
At birth he weighed 9 lb and was 20.5 inches long.
Now he's 13 lb 8 oz and 23 inches long.
That's 90th percentile for weight and 50th for height. I asked if I should be concerned about the disparity (ie. weight) and was told at this age it's not an issue. He's not overly chubby, so I guess he's just SOLID. My coworker calls him "Bruiser" and I often do, too. He's just a strong baby.
He's meeting milestones. He smiles, he laughs, he's a happy baby, really. And he only cries when hungry, wet/messy diaper and when wants to be held. All normal and to be expected for two months.
But there was some "not-so-good" news, too. I'll start with the most minor one.
Little Man has an umbilical hernia, which apparently is very common in babies and most times close up by the time they turn 1. I was told not to be concerned about this.
Next is the Hydrocele he was born with. It hasn't gotten smaller since he was around two weeks old and the pediatrician wants Little Man to have a testicular ultrasound to make sure it IS a Hydrocele and not a hernia and also to make sure all is OK. If this doesn't recede on its own, he'll need to see a Pediatric Urologist and could possibly need surgery. I've known about this issue since his birth.
Fine. But I'm having problems finding a facility that's IN-NETWORK for my insurance that does this on babies. If I go in-network, it's covered at 100%. Otherwise we pay out of pocket since we have a $5000 family deductible. So I'm doing some research and trying to find a place to get this done. I do know of a Pediatric Urologist, however, if he does need to see one.
Lastly are two related issues. My son has a something called Torticollis (a condition in which a tight or shortened muscle on one side of the neck causes the head to tilt to one side) and also positional plagiocephaly, or flat head, which is due to babies spending so much time on their backs. It's also most common in infants who have Torticollis.
Since a small percent of babies born with torticollis will also have other problems such as hip dislocation, Little Man is also getting a hip ultrasound at the same time he's having the testicular one.
Basically McBaby needs physical therapy to correct the Torticollis. And hopefully the PT will strengthen his neck muscles and that, along with MUCH more tummy time, will correct the positional plagiocephaly. I'm praying for that... I don't want him to need to wear a helmet or, worse, have a permanently misshapen head! But my pediatrician said we caught both conditions early enough and I hope she's right.
I'd been having terrible guilt about the flat head until I read that it's related to the Torticollis, which I had no control over. But I had a bit of a breakdown yesterday. I literally SOBBED in the shower. Part of it was due to my son's issues and the rest was due to lack of sleep—as he also got his shots and did NOT sleep on Wednesday night (thus nor did I).
Motherhood is SO hard. And while I knew it would be, the reality is somewhat overwhelming. And I often get comments like "get used to it" re: the lack of sleep. But I'm sorry, I don't function well on the limited sleep and it's taking its toll.
But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I absolutely adore my little boy and am so grateful he's here and—despite his "not-so-good" issues—is healthy.
First with the good stuff. He's healthy. He's thriving.
At birth he weighed 9 lb and was 20.5 inches long.
Now he's 13 lb 8 oz and 23 inches long.
That's 90th percentile for weight and 50th for height. I asked if I should be concerned about the disparity (ie. weight) and was told at this age it's not an issue. He's not overly chubby, so I guess he's just SOLID. My coworker calls him "Bruiser" and I often do, too. He's just a strong baby.
He's meeting milestones. He smiles, he laughs, he's a happy baby, really. And he only cries when hungry, wet/messy diaper and when wants to be held. All normal and to be expected for two months.
But there was some "not-so-good" news, too. I'll start with the most minor one.
Little Man has an umbilical hernia, which apparently is very common in babies and most times close up by the time they turn 1. I was told not to be concerned about this.
Next is the Hydrocele he was born with. It hasn't gotten smaller since he was around two weeks old and the pediatrician wants Little Man to have a testicular ultrasound to make sure it IS a Hydrocele and not a hernia and also to make sure all is OK. If this doesn't recede on its own, he'll need to see a Pediatric Urologist and could possibly need surgery. I've known about this issue since his birth.
Fine. But I'm having problems finding a facility that's IN-NETWORK for my insurance that does this on babies. If I go in-network, it's covered at 100%. Otherwise we pay out of pocket since we have a $5000 family deductible. So I'm doing some research and trying to find a place to get this done. I do know of a Pediatric Urologist, however, if he does need to see one.
Lastly are two related issues. My son has a something called Torticollis (a condition in which a tight or shortened muscle on one side of the neck causes the head to tilt to one side) and also positional plagiocephaly, or flat head, which is due to babies spending so much time on their backs. It's also most common in infants who have Torticollis.
Since a small percent of babies born with torticollis will also have other problems such as hip dislocation, Little Man is also getting a hip ultrasound at the same time he's having the testicular one.
Basically McBaby needs physical therapy to correct the Torticollis. And hopefully the PT will strengthen his neck muscles and that, along with MUCH more tummy time, will correct the positional plagiocephaly. I'm praying for that... I don't want him to need to wear a helmet or, worse, have a permanently misshapen head! But my pediatrician said we caught both conditions early enough and I hope she's right.
I'd been having terrible guilt about the flat head until I read that it's related to the Torticollis, which I had no control over. But I had a bit of a breakdown yesterday. I literally SOBBED in the shower. Part of it was due to my son's issues and the rest was due to lack of sleep—as he also got his shots and did NOT sleep on Wednesday night (thus nor did I).
Motherhood is SO hard. And while I knew it would be, the reality is somewhat overwhelming. And I often get comments like "get used to it" re: the lack of sleep. But I'm sorry, I don't function well on the limited sleep and it's taking its toll.
But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I absolutely adore my little boy and am so grateful he's here and—despite his "not-so-good" issues—is healthy.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Two Month Photo
Blog to follow... it's been soooo long since I've been here! But here's a photo of McBaby from this morning. His two month pediatrician appointment is this afternoon. I'll post a true blog after that—with his stats.
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