Teething Troubles

We have been getting quite educated on the world of teething babies lately, as Ryleigh's teething has been getting more severe.  She's drooling a lot and will usually have a meltdown by 6pm if she doesn't get a small dose of Tylenol by then.  It makes me so sad to see the pain in her face as she chews on her fingers and teethers.  I've been looking into everything to make my baby feel better and ease pain, since she's got a long road ahead for a whole mouth of teeth...

Here is a breakdown of the things we've tried and a word of caution against a product that you can find everywhere but it can be very dangerous!

Let's start off by talking about Hyland's teething tablets.  Many people use them.  They can be found at Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Buy Buy Baby, etc.  We tried them and they did seem to help ease Ryleigh's teething pain.  However, I've learned some scary things about them over the past few days.  They are 100% natural, so many people think they are fine to use and do not question the ingredients.  The important thing to remember is that just because something comes from nature does not mean that it can't hurt you.  Ever heard of poison berries?  Well Belladonna, an ingredient in Hyland's teething tablets, is a poison berry plant that is toxic in adults and children.  Hyland's has a mild warning on their label to not use more than directed and not to use for more than 7 days in a row--which should keep your child's levels safe. However, the FDA has been warning people against Hyland's tablets for over 3 years because they have been found to have differing levels of belladonna in each tablet therefore causing health issues in some children even when their parents use as directed.  Read more about that here.  To a protective momma, that's like playing Russian roulette!  This is what the box looks like for reference:

So now, let's talk about what we actually like:

 1.  Boon Pulp Silicone Feeder- I haven't actually done this yet, but since I love all Boon products I know this will be great for making breastmilk popsicles and putting some frozen baby food in.  I'm going to try the breastmilk this week so I'll update on how that goes!

2. Vulli Sophie the Giraffe So'Pure Vanilla Teether-  We really like this teether.  It's the smaller version of the more popular Sophie the Giraffe teether and the two things that we like about this smaller version are (1) price and (2) the hoops coming off of it.  This is half the price of the bigger version and the hoops make me feel more comfortable to have a younger baby putting into her/his mouth because they can't poke the back of their throat.  I've also noticed how it's helping Ryleigh develop her motor skills, gripping and bringing this to her mouth, which is a little bonus :)

3.  Bright Starts Chill & Teethe set- Found this one day while perusing the aisles of Walmart and it was a fantastic $2.99 purchase.  The shape of these is great for younger babies with smaller mouths.  Because these are frozen and cold, Ryleigh will not hold it herself so we have to hold them up to her mouth...

4.  Wubbanub- We have the elephant and also have this yellow duck.  Ryleigh loves them both.  I highly recommend a Wubbanub, or two, for your little one!


And lastly, we are trying a Baltic Amber teething necklace.  I ordered one from Hazelaid after being referred there by a friend with a little girl who seems to be doing better with teething since she started wearing hers.  Once ours arrives and we try it out for a little while I'll let you know what we think!  There's a lot of information to educate you and ease your fears on their site, like the fact that they are made with a safety clasp and they knot each individual bead to the necklace to avoid choking hazards.  I got the Amber-Lemon necklace, which is a 9 out of 10 on their scale for effectiveness [the lighter the bead the stronger it is].

 

Baby Item Reviews

Before Ryleigh was born, I posted about the items below being ones that we either bought or had on her registry.  I figured that I should update you all on our thoughts and opinions after using them over the past 11 weeks!  

 

1. The Fisher Price Rock & Play Sleeper worked perfectly for when Ryleigh was still sleeping in our room.  I originally wanted the Snugapuppy design because it's so cute, but when I went to the store to buy it they only had the My Little Lamb version.  Still really cute and gender neutral.  I'd say that I especially liked this for a winter baby, because the insert and head pillow are super soft and plush to keep little one warm at night :) I still use it as a place for her to lay in and rest while I get a shower, usually on the weekends because during the week I shower at night once she's in bed.

 

2.  Britax B-Agile and B-Safe travel system works great for us! The carseat is very safe and secure, and everything is just really easy to use.  Easy to fold, unfold, click in place, etc.  At first Ryleigh hated being put in the carseat, but now she tolerates it.  I think sometimes she even likes it because she's interested to see where we're going.  The stroller is so easy to use and rides very well.  Highly recommend!

 

3.  Ryleigh LOVES her Fisher-Price Kick N Play Piano gym.  She will wail her arms around and talk to herself in the mirror.  Not to mention she kicks the heck out of the piano keys.  I don't know if she even realizes that the kicking is what makes the music play, since it's non-stop from the time you lay her down.

 

4. Fisher-Price Monkey Bouncer has been a necessity so far.  When we are not feeding or cuddling with her, she's usually found in this thing.  It's still one of the only bouncers that I've seen that has an activity bar that actually lights up and provides interest and stimulation.  It's very comfortable for her to sit in and nap in, and the activity bar can detach for when she just wants to hang out instead of play.  She loves to sit in this and talk to the blue ladybug.  Simple pleasures :)

 

5.  I am really liking my Built Go-Go Diaper Tote.  I'm amazed at everything that I can fit into this thing.  It's a great size and has tons of pockets on the inside as well as the outside.

 

6.  Motorola Video Monitor.  Must have.  Ours works great so far, was extremely easy to set up, and I can't imagine not having the video aspect.  It's so helpful when she fusses, cries, coughs, etc. to be able to see her and know if she's ok or if I need to go check on her.  Especially as she grows and starts rolling over, I know we will love having this monitor even more than we already do.

 

7.  Graco Playard with Newborn Napper/Changer We haven't really used this all that much yet, but we have it set up in our living room.  Ryleigh has slept a little bit in the newborn napper, but it's only been for tiny little cat naps while I wash dishes or something like that.  I will say that this was the most difficult item to put together, and I don't think it would be the best option for a pack & play that you were going to be travelling with a lot.  But, for what we will use it for, I think we will really like it.

 

8.  Graco Sweet Slumber sound machine has been great so far! We leave its nightlight function on all night long and leave the instrumental/classical music playing.  Ryleigh seems very soothed by it, and it's not bad for us to hear either since it comes through the sound on the monitor!

 

9.  I'm a huge fan of Boon products--the quality, colors, clean lines...With me exclusively pumping, this Boon Orb bottle warmer has been vital.  Extremely easy to use and works quickly.  It works amazingly for Medela 4oz bottles and works well for Avent 9oz bottles.  I haven't been able to get it to heat Dr. Brown's bottles correctly yet.  I' m looking forward to using it for baby food also once Ryleigh is older. 

 

10.  Summer Infant Contoured Changing Pad.  Not a whole lot to say here, but it's a necessity and I like the design of this one. 

 

 

Overall, I have been really happy with everything we've chosen.  I can't even explain how happy it makes me to see how much Ryleigh enjoys some of these as well. 

 

Sorry I haven't been posting as frequently lately...we've just been busy enjoying our new little family, and transitioning into our new "normal" with work and daycare schedules. 

 

Have a great weekend :)

 

 



 

TWO months!

RYLEIGH'S 2 MONTH STATS:

Weight:  11lbs 6.5oz
Height:  23 3/4 inches
Head:  ** I didn't catch what they said

EATING
No issues here!  She's a pig, and often times a slob when she eats, haha.  Ryleigh's now up to eating about 4oz of breastmilk every 3 hours.  We officially have rolls on those little thighs and wrists, and quite the double chin!  I am very happy with myself that I met my first goal of giving her breastmilk for my entire maternity leave.  I'm back at work now--had my first two partial days this past Thursday and Friday so next week is officially back to my normal work schedule.  On a normal work day I'm going to need to pump twice, around 10 and 3.  Since I have a shared office that may get a little off schedule sometimes, but my new breastfeeding goal is just to give it to her as long as we can.  I'd love to be able to do it for at least 6 months, or even through the end of the year when she will be about 10 months, but I will just have to see if that's feasible with working.  I try not to set any strict expectations for myself because I don't want to feel terrible if I can't live up to them.  I've got a good stock pile of breastmilk in the freezer that will get us over a month extra once I do actually stop pumping.  I have gotten to the point where my body has "figured out" my needed supply, so I can pump around midnight and then skip my normal 3am session and I end up with double the milk when I wake up and pump.  I've been doing this a few times in the last week, but it still makes me a little nervous to do it every day because I don't want my supply to decrease.  Ryleigh isn't sleeping through the night yet, but me being able to go back to sleep after changing & feeding her in the middle of the night is a lot nicer than having to stay up for another 45 minutes and pump, especially now that I'll be back at work and can't nap during the day [darn!!]


SLEEPING
We have transitioned to the crib at night!  It has gone overall very well.  Ryleigh still wakes up every 3.5-4hrs to eat and get a diaper change.  There have been a couple times when she slept for a stretch of 5 hours.  She loves being able to stretch out in her crib, and since I know she would bust out of a blanketed swaddle in all of 2.5 seconds, we have bought some sleep sacks for nighttime.  The type that are SwaddleSacks or WrapSacks are perfect [Halo and Summer brands].  I like the design of the Halo ones a little better, but I wish they had a horizontal bottom zipper like the Summer ones do.  The Summer ones are okay and the bottom zipper is great, but I do not love how they have snaps at the neck instead of looking more like a tank top.


ACTIVITY
Ryleigh is staying awake for longer spans of time during the day, and will stay awake for a couple hours at a time.  She loves her bouncy seat [with and without activity bar] and her kick&play mat.  She's doing great with her neck control, and she's getting some strong little legs too!  She loves her Wubbanubs, Ella the Elephant and her new little duck that she got for Easter from Grandma.  She loves watching TV, especially baseball [seriously-she LOVES it!] and shows with bright colors.  We have watched a couple episodes of the Sofia the First cartoon and she would smile and kick her legs so I'm guessing that could be a favorite :)  She will also hold baby blabber conversations with us, and will respond with blabber sometimes when people make comments to her.

DIAPERING
Pampers are still a favorite for us, but now that she's got some plump to those thighs she's been able to wear other brands too.  We also like the Luvs Extra Absorbant and Honest Company. 

CLOTHES
I've found that the Circo brand from Target runs a little big, so she can actually still fit into some Circo newborn size onesies.  Ryleigh is wearing 0-3 month or 3 month in pretty much everything.  She is so long that she is actually starting to out-grow some 0-3 month size footed sleepers already.

SPECIAL FIRSTS
--In the last month, Ryleigh has attended her first church service.  She did very well once we took her out of the Baby Bjorn.  She usually loves being in that thing, but she just wanted to be held by her Daddy and slept through the rest of the service :)
--She went on her first boat ride on the pontoon! She didn't know how she felt about it.
--She got her first big round of shots, and while there were tears she calmed down afterwards pretty quickly
--She has gone to daycare for the first time, and had fun with her cousins and the other kids there.
--She has celebrated her first Easter, and had her first encounter with a mall Easter Bunny [slept through it though, haha...]

That's all I can remember for now...this momma is about to go make some dinner!

Life with a Newborn

We have survived the first month!  We feel truly blessed that Ryleigh is such a happy and healthy little girl.

We have been taking everything day by day and just cherishing every moment.  I love every little face, random movements, and all of her many noises that she makes.  There is no better feeling than cuddling with her and having her snuggle up to me.  I love looking at every little detail of her face and seeing bits of Jake and me there.  We can tell the difference in her hungry cries, her "I just want someone to hold me" cries, and her "I really hate my carseat!!" cries.

RYLEIGH'S 1 MONTH STATS:

Weight:  8lbs 8oz
Height:  21 3/4 inches
Head:  ** I can't remember but I think they said 14.1 inches?

EATING
Our little piglet is a great eater, and she's now up to eating about 3oz of breastmilk every 2.5-3 hours.  There are almost some rolls on her little chicken legs!  If you follow me on instagram, then you know that I am exclusively pumping.  I tried for about a week and a half to breastfeed and we were having big problems with getting her to latch properly.  We were having to supplement with formula, and I could see that she would get so frustrated when she was really hungry and it took her so much more effort to breastfeed than eat from the formula bottle.  I was in so much pain, so one day I finally just decided I would try pumping.  It went well and I would get enough for anywhere between 2 and 4 bottles each pumping session.  At first, I was pumping around every 6-8hours since I would get plenty for her to eat from each session.  However, I remembered being told that when you pump, you need to pump every time that the baby would eat so that you keep up your supply.  Even though I was getting enough, I was really worried that my body would think that was all I needed and once she got older I would not be able to produce enough milk for her.  So, now I'm pumping every 3.5-4 hours, and trying to be very disciplined with that schedule.  The worst is at night, when I can feed and change Ryleigh so quickly and she's back to sleep within about 20 minutes, but I have to keep myself up and pump.  Between pumping and washing all the pump parts, I end up staying awake an extra 45 minutes. No fun.  But, I really want to breastfeed her as long as I can, and it's my goal to at least do it the entire time I'm on maternity leave [8wks].  Once I'm back to work, I don't know if these night time pumping sessions are going to work.  Right now I can barely make it through the day if I don't get in at least one 45 minute nap.  So, for now I'm trying to freeze and bag as much breastmilk as I can.  I have at least one pumping session a day where I can freeze the milk because I already have enough in the refrigerator.

SLEEPING
Sleeping is also going very well right now.  We thank our lucky stars that she's a good sleeper, especially at night.  She will sleep for about 3-4 hours straight before waking up hungry.  During the day, she's on about a 3 hour schedule for sleeping, waking up to eat and change diaper, and then back to sleep.  She stays awake an extra 20-30 minutes once or twice a day, so we play in her bouncy seat or work on tummy time and building those neck muscles!  We've been doing tummy time with her on my chest instead of on the floor because her umbilical cord took 3 weeks to fall off, and I didn't want her to be uncomfortable on the floor.

DIAPERING
From our diaper shower, we've got a stock pile of all different sizes and brands of diapers!  We have figured out that Pampers Swaddlers in newborn size are the best fitting diapers for her right now.  She can also wear Luvs Extra Absorbent, but the legs are a little loose.  The swaddle design works the best for her skinny little legs.  She was having major blow-outs when we had her wearing Huggies, and the Honest Company newborn size diapers are just really big.  They seem like they might be good once she grows into them, though.   

CLOTHES
She's just starting to grow out of some of her newborn clothes.  She can still wear newborn size onesies although they are starting to get snug around her buddha belly.  Newborn pants still fit. She's too long to wear the newborn footed sleepers.  Most of her 0-3month sleepers fit but a couple brands are a little big.  0-3 month onesies are still big, and she can wear the pants but they're a little long.

FAVORITES
--Ryleigh loves country music.  That's all I listened to while pregnant, and of course Jake is a big fan.  It's really funny to watch how she can be fussy and if we play some music she will instantly get quite and calm.
--She also loves the instrumental/classical songs on her sound machine, which I turn on while feeding her in the middle of the night.  Her favorite song is Rock-a-by Baby, and whenever it comes on she will pause and just listen to it before going back to eating her bottle.
--She's just starting to take a paci [Tommee Tippee 0-3 month size] sometimes, but is also just as content to suck on her thumb or fingers.
--She hates almost everything about bath time, but she really loves getting her head rubbed when we wash her hair.  She also loves getting out of the bathtub and being wrapped up in her hooded towels.

That's all for now!  These posts are going to be long, but are mostly for me to document all of this information for myself to look back on later.  Sorry if they bore you! haha

Ryleigh's Birth Story :)

Well, it's been a while since my last post because we have been busy with a newborn!  We made it to 38 weeks and 4 days, and Ryleigh Marie was born on Friday, February 14th!

We had a huge [by Southern standards] snow & ice storm that week, and my office was closed Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I slept in a little, woke up around 9:30am, and was hanging out with the dogs while eating my breakfast and relaxing.  I felt just sort of "off" all morning.  I thought maybe the Braxton Hicks contractions were throwing me off, or maybe since I just woke up I didn't eat enough and my stomach still felt empty.

Over the next couple of hours, that feeling didn't go away, and I decided maybe a shower would help.  I was also planning to make a trip to Walmart afterwards to get some dog food and other necessities.  By the time I got out of the shower, I was feeling really crampy and decided I just wanted to lay down and take a nap.  I woke up around 1:15 and when I didn't feel much better I just stayed in bed and watched TV.  Well, by 2pm these pains were coming much more frequently and I thought maybe I should take out my phone and use my Contraction Tracker app.  I still wasn't sure if this was labor, but I wanted to start timing to see if maybe this was contractions.  They were all over the place, 4 minutes then 8 minutes then 2 minutes then 11 minutes then 6 minutes...Which threw me off because in child birth class they made me think that contractions would be at more regular intervals.  I watched TV and tracked them until a little after 3pm and I decided I needed to call my doctor's office.  I spoke to the on-call nurse [offices were closed because of the storm] and she said it sounded like the beginnings of labor and to keep tracking for another hour and call her back if there were any changes or if they were more consistent and frequent.  As we hung up the phone she said "Well honey, it's Valentine's day AND a full moon tonight, and you know we believe in those types of things! I think you may be having this baby before the end of the weekend."  Over the next hour I kept tracking and they were still at all different intervals, but those intervals were all 6 minutes or less.  I called Jake around 4 and told him to try to finish up working, make sure everything was ready for work tomorrow, and come home because we might need to go to the hospital.  He finished up quickly and got home around 5pm.  At this point I was finally mostly convinced I was having real contractions [you have to understand that I didn't want to be that first time mom who shows up at the hospital for false alarms that are just gas pains, and I really didn't think she would come that early].  Jake showered and we were going to quick install the car seat, which was on our to-do list for the weekend and we hadn't gotten to it yet, but by the time he got out of the shower the contractions were more frequent and getting much more painful.  We quick finished packing Jake's and the baby's hospital bags, got my bag, and grabbed the uninstalled car seat to head to the hospital.  We knew that all the security guards at the hospital were certified to install car seats so they could help Jake if he needed it before we came home.

Still tracking, the contractions finally became regular intervals of 3 minutes apart while we were on our way up the interstate to the hospital.  I was in a lot of pain by this point...there may have been some yelling, cursing [which I kept apologizing to Jake for because I felt like I shouldn't be cursing because our baby was causing the pain...haha!] and hitting the inside of the car door.  My sweet, sweet husband was trying to help me and told me to remember the breathing techniques from child birth class....to which I told him "I love you and I know you don't want to see me in pain, but please stop now!" We made it to the hospital in about 35 minutes.  I don't want to know how fast Jake was driving because it's a 40 minute drive without road construction delays or traffic.  We were headed there during rush hour on a Friday....

We got to the hospital at 6:35pm and I could barely walk or stand during contractions.  I kept telling people I was in labor and just wanted an epidural.  We were standing at the nurses station checking in at the maternity ward, and I just remember being aggravated because I had pre-registered and I didn't understand why the girl kept asking me all of these questions like my name, birth date, social security number, address, etc.  After what seemed like an eternity they got me into a room, took a urine sample, and started hooking up the contraction and fetal heart rate monitors to my belly.  I kept asking for an epidural, and once the nurse saw that I was having real contractions she checked to see how dilated I was, to which we found out I was already at 9cm.  That was the first total shock moment for everyone because we realized this baby was going to be born soon...At some point the OB showed up--not my normal doctor but a different one from my practice whom I had met before and I remember being relieved that it was her because I liked her a lot.  They broke my water since it still hadn't.  I am forever grateful to the wonderful anesthesiologist because I was told it was up to his discretion for whether or not he would give me the epidural since my urine test results weren't back yet.  Bless that man because he said he understood that sometimes we just needed to do these things, and he turned me on my side while I was laying down and gave me the epidural.  That took about 15 minutes to totally kick in.  The baby wasn't handling the epidural well and her heart rate started to drop.  The gave me an oxygen mask because it was the quickest way to get her more oxygen, and they had me turn to the side.  Those tricks seemed to work because her heart rate went back up to normal.  They checked me and I was 10cm so we were ready to start pushing.  The next contraction came and I pushed three times, and then baby's heart rate started dropping again.  We agreed to let them use the vaccuum to try to help her out quicker, and got ready to push for the next contraction.  They tried the vaccuum but it popped off right away, and while I was pushing 3 more times my nurse asked me to try to get a forth push because the baby would be out.  I did, and she was!

Ryleigh Marie was born at 8:14pm on Valentine's day :)  Jake and I were both in such shock that she had arrived so quickly, and we were both just in awe looking at her.  It was so surreal.  They laid her on my belly to clean her off and we were both holding her, then Jake went over with the nurses to weigh, measure, and be with her while they were doing all of their testing and getting her under the heat lamp.  Her temperature was low, and kept hovering at 97 degrees, so she got an extra long stay under the heat lamps until her temp was finally up to 98 degrees.  Jake stayed with her for that and then they brought her over to me to do skin-to-skin on my chest.  All we could do was kiss her and stare at her, and couldn't believe that she was finally here!

  

38 Weeks :)

How far along?  38 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: +30.5 lbs  

Maternity clothes? Yes.  

Sleep: I'm getting in about 2-3 hours straight before I have to get up to turn over, go to the bathroom, eat a snack, or let the dogs out.  I guess it's preparing me for nights with a newborn though!

Best baby moment this week:  I was worried that my appointment would get cancelled again for snow, and I was very happy that my doctor was able to squeeze me in on Tuesday morning!  It was very good to be able to check in and hear Ryleigh's heartbeat again.  The storm has also had our office closed the past two days and tomorrow, and I have to admit that the extra relaxation and being able to stay in comfy clothes all day has been really nice. 

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything?  Sleeping through the night.  Moving quickly.   
 

Movement: Still pretty consistent, lots of feet poking around.

Food cravings: Cereal, and Milk! I've gone through almost an entire gallon of milk in the past 2 days...Also sloppy joe's, so I made them last night for dinner and they were oh-so-good!!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really

Have you started to show yet: oh yes

Gender: girl

Labor Signs: Stronger Braxton Hicks and some other signs of changes...Still no real labor signs though.

Belly Button in or out?  Half & half

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time:  I would say mostly just extremely tired!

Looking forward to:  The arrival of our little girl! And hopefully that's not before our last class this Saturday--Infant CPR :)  Figured that Jake and I could both use a refresher, since we learned it back in high school.  That's our last class, and my "goal" for this pregnancy was to make it to at least 39 weeks [my family has a history of premies] so although I am a little nervous to experience childbirth, I'm getting excited and ready!

37 Weeks....Baby is Full Term!

 

This past weekend Jake and I had maternity pictures taken by the very talented Griffin Poulter Photography [GPP facebook page] and I must admit I'm a little obsessed with them.  I was so nervous going into Saturday of how they would turn out--would the lighting in our nursery come out right, would the room be too small to get good shots, would the weather hold out since it was calling for rain, would I feel pretty or feel like a blimp?  I could not be happier with not only the final product, but also with our whole experience!  Griffin was very thorough, making sure to get all of the shots that we wanted [from posing/style ideas found on pinterest] as well as making some suggestions of her own.  Looking at these pictures makes me so excited to welcome our little girl :)

How far along?  37 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: +29 lbs 

Maternity clothes? Yes. 

Sleep: I'm getting in about 2-3 hours straight before I have to get up to turn over, go to the bathroom, eat a snack, or let the dogs out.  I guess it's preparing me for nights with a newborn though!

Best baby moment this week:  Seeing our maternity pictures! 

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything?  Sleeping through the night.  Moving quickly.  
 

Movement: Little baby feet in my ribs...rolling around in there...

Food cravings: Granny Smith apples w/peanut butter! Lots of fruit.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really

Have you started to show yet: oh yes

Gender: girl- Ryleigh Marie :)

Labor Signs: Found out at my appointment this week that some changes are already happening...which doesn't necessarily mean I'm about to go into labor, but hopefully this will make the labor process a little quicker/easier when it does happen...Definitely a reality check though!  I can't believe that my due date is less than 3 weeks away.....

Belly Button in or out?  Half & half?

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Happy/tired.  

Looking forward to:  Continuing to get things settled around the house...also starting to pack my hospital bag and we need to install the car seat...just in case!