Now that the baby is here, I've spent a lot of time reflecting back on my TTC journey. That definitely wasn't the most pleasant time in my life. From the insane highs on the months that I thought we might be successful, to the lowest of lows when we experienced a loss, it was a roller coaster all the way around. It's sometimes hard for me to wrap my head around all that happened and all of the effort that went into starting our family.
These days, I sometimes stare at the baby for hours on end. She's perfect, of course. And watching her grow and learn and really develop her personality is the absolute best part of life. We are so incredibly lucky to have our Bunny.
We've fielded the question, a lot, on when we'll have more children. It's a question that troubles me. I very much don't want our Bunny to be an only child. I grew up as an only child...and I thought it was awful. Still do, in fact. But I'm almost afraid to even start trying for another child. I have so many "what ifs." What if we have more losses? What if we have many, many more months of zero success, like before?
Don't get me wrong - we're not yet at the point of even trying. Bunny's only 5 months old - we want to enjoy the heck out of her for awhile longer before adding to our family. But, as you know, dear readers, my mind doesn't shut off easily, so I'm already spending time thinking about this.
Mamas who have been on the arduous TTC journey for multiple kids: how did you pep yourself up to start another trip on the TTC train? What was your experience like the 2nd (or 3rd, or 4th, or...) time around versus the first?
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
What's in a Name?
My persona at "How to Have a Baby" has been semi-anonymous. I've revealed my name and even linked back to my other blogs, but (up until now) I still post and comment as "Future Mommy."
But since Bunny is already here...I feel the need to undergo a transformation.
Therefore...Future Mommy is now Mama Bunny.
Future Daddy is now Papa Bunny.
And Future Baby is simply BUNNY!
I'll be changing the way my "name" displays as well as the intro piece over in the sidebar.
A great big thank you to the ladies who have been following this blog for nearly two years now...I look forward to continuing conversations with you in the future.
And a big thank you, as well, to the constant stream of visitors who find their way to How to Have a Baby from all over the internet. I hope that you are able to find useful information when you visit here, and plan to come back often in the future!
But since Bunny is already here...I feel the need to undergo a transformation.
Therefore...Future Mommy is now Mama Bunny.
Future Daddy is now Papa Bunny.
And Future Baby is simply BUNNY!
I'll be changing the way my "name" displays as well as the intro piece over in the sidebar.
A great big thank you to the ladies who have been following this blog for nearly two years now...I look forward to continuing conversations with you in the future.
And a big thank you, as well, to the constant stream of visitors who find their way to How to Have a Baby from all over the internet. I hope that you are able to find useful information when you visit here, and plan to come back often in the future!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Did You Miss Me?
Howdy, dear readers!
I've missed you all terribly, but once I decided that my work maternity leave needed to extend to my blogs, I was determined to stick it through.
So why did I go cold turkey on blogging for 3.5 months? That's easy. Because I needed and wanted to spend as much attention on baby girl as I could, both while I was still away from my full-time job on maternity leave, and also during the first few weeks that I learned to balance my new schedule once I returned to work.
And let me tell ya...it's been tough! The kiddo definitely keeps me on my toes. That...and she doesn't sleep. Seriously. Her limit is 3 hours. She slept for 5 hours once, about a month ago, and I actually woke her up because I was frightened that something was wrong...since she'd never slept so long before! She's doing absolutely wonderfully well. Growing like a weed! And, of course, is the most beautiful/smart/sweet/lovable child ever born.
Balancing work and baby is definitely a challenge. I am going to start referring to myself as a semi-single parent. The great news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that the baby doesn't have to go to daycare. The bad news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that when we're home with the baby, we're almost always home alone with the baby...as in, no back up if I'm trying to work on writing and the kiddo starts fussing...and keeps fussing for the rest of the night. And then during the one day a week that we're actually home together, I feel guilty wanting to work on writing...since it's our only day when the 3 of us have significant time together. So I'm still learning to balance. More on that later, over at 0 to Mom.
I read a ton of books while on maternity leave - about the only thing I could really accomplish during the kiddo's 10 minute naps. (No, I'm not kidding. During the day, her naps typically only last 10-20 minutes.) The book blog, unfortunately, is behind by 30 books right now. ACK! So, until I get up-to-date, mosey on over to Read and Release and check out my old reviews (there's a ton of them!) and I'll let you know when the new ones are up.
We've been asked about a million times so far when we'll be having more kids...and although the answer to that is "not yet," I will be continuing to writing about the TTC journey over at How to Have a Baby. Even after 3 months on hiatus, that blog has enormous search engine popularity for phrasing related to family planning and so I will be continuing to post both on my own experience as well as general factoid-ish articles. And speaking of family planning, please tell me that while I've been on hiatus, some stupid unemployed and unmarried woman didn't actually have in vitro and add 8 babies to her family that already had 6 kids. I guess I'll save that rant for another post.
On the "keeping my sanity" front, I have finally begun the process of truly dealing with my father's death. I simply couldn't begin dealing with it in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. And then once the baby was here and wasn't well...and when I got sick (learn all about my mastitis in a post later this week at HTHAB)...and then when my in-laws were here for 3 weeks...and then when I was down after having all 4 wisdom teeth out...and then when more family was here throughout Christmas...and then when I first went back to work...
Basically, I completely comparmentalized my life for about 6 months just to keep my head glued on. On an interesting note, one of the ways that I've chosen to deal with Dad's death is to make him the focus of the speech I've recently used to win club and area level competitions in Toastmasters. It's not a sob-story speech - don't worry, I don't do that. But it deals with the topic of sharing memories - learning more about your friends and family through their special memories, and sharing your own remembrances with others. I only briefly mention his Alzheimer's-related memory loss, but instead choose to honor him by sharing one of my favorite memories in the speech. I've submitted a volunteer profile to get more involved in the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association this year, as a part of their speaker's bureau as well as in helping to plan the DFW area's 6 memory walks later in 2009. I also successfully nominated the Alzheimer's Association to be the recipient of donations during one of 12 monthly dress-down days at my company. Miss you, Daddy.
And...that's the update in a nutshell from my world! I look forward to catching back up with all of you, my dear readers, over the next few weeks as I ramp back up on blogging both at Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as my other blogs! In addition...I'll be announcing two new blogs where you can check me out shortly! One is a cookbook blog that I'm working on with my husband and his aunt, and another is the long-awaited Obama blog! Stay tuned!
Tiffany
(simultaneously posted to 0toMom, Breakfast at Tiffany's and How to Have a Baby.)
I've missed you all terribly, but once I decided that my work maternity leave needed to extend to my blogs, I was determined to stick it through.
So why did I go cold turkey on blogging for 3.5 months? That's easy. Because I needed and wanted to spend as much attention on baby girl as I could, both while I was still away from my full-time job on maternity leave, and also during the first few weeks that I learned to balance my new schedule once I returned to work.
And let me tell ya...it's been tough! The kiddo definitely keeps me on my toes. That...and she doesn't sleep. Seriously. Her limit is 3 hours. She slept for 5 hours once, about a month ago, and I actually woke her up because I was frightened that something was wrong...since she'd never slept so long before! She's doing absolutely wonderfully well. Growing like a weed! And, of course, is the most beautiful/smart/sweet/lovable child ever born.
Balancing work and baby is definitely a challenge. I am going to start referring to myself as a semi-single parent. The great news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that the baby doesn't have to go to daycare. The bad news about my husband and I working opposite shifts is that when we're home with the baby, we're almost always home alone with the baby...as in, no back up if I'm trying to work on writing and the kiddo starts fussing...and keeps fussing for the rest of the night. And then during the one day a week that we're actually home together, I feel guilty wanting to work on writing...since it's our only day when the 3 of us have significant time together. So I'm still learning to balance. More on that later, over at 0 to Mom.
I read a ton of books while on maternity leave - about the only thing I could really accomplish during the kiddo's 10 minute naps. (No, I'm not kidding. During the day, her naps typically only last 10-20 minutes.) The book blog, unfortunately, is behind by 30 books right now. ACK! So, until I get up-to-date, mosey on over to Read and Release and check out my old reviews (there's a ton of them!) and I'll let you know when the new ones are up.
We've been asked about a million times so far when we'll be having more kids...and although the answer to that is "not yet," I will be continuing to writing about the TTC journey over at How to Have a Baby. Even after 3 months on hiatus, that blog has enormous search engine popularity for phrasing related to family planning and so I will be continuing to post both on my own experience as well as general factoid-ish articles. And speaking of family planning, please tell me that while I've been on hiatus, some stupid unemployed and unmarried woman didn't actually have in vitro and add 8 babies to her family that already had 6 kids. I guess I'll save that rant for another post.
On the "keeping my sanity" front, I have finally begun the process of truly dealing with my father's death. I simply couldn't begin dealing with it in the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy. And then once the baby was here and wasn't well...and when I got sick (learn all about my mastitis in a post later this week at HTHAB)...and then when my in-laws were here for 3 weeks...and then when I was down after having all 4 wisdom teeth out...and then when more family was here throughout Christmas...and then when I first went back to work...
Basically, I completely comparmentalized my life for about 6 months just to keep my head glued on. On an interesting note, one of the ways that I've chosen to deal with Dad's death is to make him the focus of the speech I've recently used to win club and area level competitions in Toastmasters. It's not a sob-story speech - don't worry, I don't do that. But it deals with the topic of sharing memories - learning more about your friends and family through their special memories, and sharing your own remembrances with others. I only briefly mention his Alzheimer's-related memory loss, but instead choose to honor him by sharing one of my favorite memories in the speech. I've submitted a volunteer profile to get more involved in the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association this year, as a part of their speaker's bureau as well as in helping to plan the DFW area's 6 memory walks later in 2009. I also successfully nominated the Alzheimer's Association to be the recipient of donations during one of 12 monthly dress-down days at my company. Miss you, Daddy.
And...that's the update in a nutshell from my world! I look forward to catching back up with all of you, my dear readers, over the next few weeks as I ramp back up on blogging both at Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as my other blogs! In addition...I'll be announcing two new blogs where you can check me out shortly! One is a cookbook blog that I'm working on with my husband and his aunt, and another is the long-awaited Obama blog! Stay tuned!
Tiffany
(simultaneously posted to 0toMom, Breakfast at Tiffany's and How to Have a Baby.)
Monday, November 3, 2008
Bunny, Day 25
I can't believe that the little one is almost 4 weeks old!
I commented to her daddy last night that I can already tell the difference between the sturdy baby she's becoming and the frail little thing she was at birth!
Over the past week, we've learned a few important lessons.
Hope everyone is well!
Love,
~FM~
I commented to her daddy last night that I can already tell the difference between the sturdy baby she's becoming and the frail little thing she was at birth!
Over the past week, we've learned a few important lessons.
- Side feeding works wonders! She latches on easier and mom is comfier.
- Mom has to STAY AWAKE during side feedings so she can transfer baby to her crib afterwards and baby doesn't end up spending all night in mommy and daddy's bed!
- A little baby can pee an awfully big puddle. Yipes.
- It really is possible to poop, pee, puke and sneeze all at the same time without exploding. I've seen her do it!
- Spit up that comes up curdled means that it's already hit her stomach and mixed with acid. This happens, it seems, when she isn't burped enough.
- Spit up that comes up as smooth milk means that she's eaten too much and it doesn't get a chance to hit her stomach because her stomach is full. She's a beast sometimes and just eats and eats and eats and eats.
- Swaddlers are the best inventions ever and thank you to Chris' coworker for passing a few along to us!
- Pacifiers are evil. I wasn't even going to try them (despite the fact that we were given like a dozen) but after a particularly hard crying spell, I decided to try. She hates 'em. No milk, no suck.
- Tummy time is hard to achieve. She doesn't like being on her tummy. Back, ok. Side, ok. Tummy = screaming.
- Reasoning with an infant is, um, silly. But I still try!
Hope everyone is well!
Love,
~FM~
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