Because every girl needs a tutu:)

My sister is getting married in October and Sophia is in the wedding. From the start of planning, I've said that I want Sophie to wear a tutu. I started searching on Etsy and would have purchased on there, but then I realized how easy it is to do it yourself. Here is a pic of my first attempt.

The one thing I would do different is make the tulle pieces longer. It's a bit short, but then she doesn't really stand so that's not a big deal. I think I am going to add to this one, but adding more (longer) strips and intersperse them with the shorter ones.

The real question is what will she wear on top? Most of the tutus sold on Etsy are just the tutu and a head band. I thought about a leotard, but can't find any that snap for easy diaper changes. I wanted something a bit more dressy than a onsie, though. Still searching if anyone has any ideas!!

Placental Encapsulation

It never fails to amaze me the things that people are comfortable sharing with strangers. Ok, well maybe that's an odd statement for me to make, since I've talked openly on here about the goings on of my girly parts time and again. However...we were at a neighborhood block party on Saturday night. This woman looked at me and said of Sophie "oh, are those breastfed legs?" I said yes, to which I got a thumbs up.

Apparently, she took this as a sign to open her mouth and let it all come out. She asked how long I was planning to breastfeed, and I said to 12 months. Her response was "oh, you should let her go as long as she wants." I saw where the conversation was heading and knew I had to nip it in the bud, fast. So I was honest. "We had Sophie through IVF. We have 2 frozen embryos. We want to use them asap. I can't take the IVF meds while bfing." Thankfully, that shut her up.

blah, blah, blah...lots more useless info that I didn't care about...then she started talking about placental encapsulation. I made the mistake of telling her I'd never heard of that. She gave me the full scoop. Basically, she sent her placenta from her 2nd child home with a friend who dehydrated it. She would have done it at her house but the smell was too much. The dehydrated placenta was then crushed and put into capsules...which she then took to prevent PPD. And, since her daughter was such a large baby at birth, her placenta was HUGE.

That, my friends, was wayyyyyyyy T.M.I.

EDITED:

I started feeling bad after I posted this yesterday. I generally am very open to different ideas, and I really started feeling like a closed-minded biotch for sounding so negative about this process. I was not trying to knock the benefits of this technique. I was more or less just dumbfounded that someone would share that with a stranger that had not asked about it. And the descriptives about the smell and the size...it was just too much for me. Then, I got the following comment from Laura. Hopefully she won't mind if I post it here...hopefully it will encourage anyone who might be interested (or just curious) to look into this further. Thanks, Laura:)


Actually, placenta pills are an amazing medicine for postpartum recovery. There is no taste and you just swallow it as you would any other vitamin or herb capsule. The placenta is an endocrine organ which regulates hormones throughout pregnancy. When you give birth your hormone levels plummet (if you've ever suffered PMS you know the havoc fluctuating hormone levels can wreak. If you've had any form of PPD/Blues then you'll know how that interferes with your best mothering). Lucky for us, our bodies tailor a medicine to bring those hormone levels back up until the hypothalamus "realizes" it has to get back to work--two weeks later! It also supplies iron and we don't even know what other goodness is in there! For nursing mothers, milk often comes in strong within hours of taking the first dose. Energy levels are boosted and lochia (postpartum blood) often ends sooner. If that doesn't sound like a great advantage to being able to bond with and care for your new baby....... I am one of many Placenta Encapsulation Specialists trained by PlacentaBenefits(.info) to provide this service to new mothers. I urge anyone to get educated on the subject of placentophagy--it may seem weird to you but that's because it's not very common right now. Hey, you can't honestly say it's any worse than sinking your teeth into the flesh of an animal you've never met! At least you know where your placenta came from ; )

A good (??) Friday

Three important things happened yesterday.

1) Sophie's PT appointment went really well!!! At her last visit her tilt was measuring 2-3 degrees, and yesterday it measured 1-2 degrees! I expected a good report, but hearing it from PT really made my day:) As usual, we are to continue with the stretches we've been doing, and the new excercise she gave us is to help her in her "pull to stand." Thankfully, the only hard part is getting her IN to the position. Once there, it's fine and she doesn't resist. We DO have to watch that she is doing her transition to lying down and to sitting up the right way. I've been instructed to correct her if she tries to sit by scooting into it.

Also, I asked her about Sophie's amazing flexibility. As I thought, it is a product of wearing the harness for so long. Basically, she is most comfortable with her hips spread far apart. It's not "natural" for her to sit with her legs close together. We're supposed to correct it anytime we see it by just moving her legs closer together. If that doesn't work, there are shorts called "hip helpers" that should help to correct this (or at least encourage her to sit the way she needs to sit). PT said that uncorrected, this can lead to MORE hip problems in the future. Ugh.

On the upside, Sophia's look to the right is perfect, she's transferring objects from one hand to the other really well, and she's using her right hand alot more.

2) Sophie is trying to STAND on her own!!! Holy crap! We looked down on Friday night and there she was...I took a video, but of course it is taking HOURS to upload so here is a still shot.

3) This new development is where the ?? in my title came from. My period started. yuck.blah. ick. I figured out that I haven't had one in over 18 months. I must say, it was nice while it lasted. Trying to look at this positively, now I can start monitoring my cycles and see how on (or off) track they actually are, post pregnancy.

More later today about a convo I had last night with a woman who had NO boundaries....

time for updates

I am such a slacker. Or I've just been so busy. I don't know, but I obviously haven't been blogging. So, here are the updates for the last few weeks (which have FLOWN by, btw).
Peeing at night
I took Sarah's advice and bought Luv's. While I DO like the diapers, they are NOT containing the night time peeing. And, since I didn't tell Dan about the money back guarentee, he threw the package away so I don't have the UPC code. It was better for about a week, and now we're back to the peeing lol. It's not like I'm expecting miracles. If one leaks after an entire night of sleep, I'm not frustrated by that. But at times, she is peeing through them 1.5-4 hours later. For a diaper (like Pampers) that is supposed to provide protection for 12 hours, it's frustrating. And the sheet protectors don't help much since she's such a wiggle worm. I generally use 2 at a time, to cover more of the crib, but inevitably, she'll pee where there ISN'T a sheet saver!

Torticollis
Her last PT appt was 3 weeks ago. At that time, her tilt was measuring 2-3 (it started at 5 degrees) so progress is being made. At the last appt, PT showed us a new excercise to help with her sitting from a lying position and then lying from a sitting position. I've been working on that with her and she's now doing it on her own! I REALLY think she's shown ALOT of improvement with the tilt since the last appt. Usually, I'm always a bit anxious for PT b/c I'm afraid she won't have made any improvement. Her next appt is this Friday though, and I'm excited to see if the degree of tilt is any better. I think it is:)

Crawling
For several weeks, she could only crawl backwards. Over the last several days though, she's started to take off forwards. She is fast, too! I'll look at her and then look back 30 seconds later and she is in a completely different spot! We've started child-proofing the electrical outlets. This weekend, I think it's time to lower the crib mattress as well. She's starting to pull up on the sides.

Standing
She loves to stand, and can do so for several seconds without any help from us, except that our hands are there "just in case."

Hair
It's getting so shaggy! I think we are going to cave and cut it, at least the bangs.

Food
She still prefers purees to anything else. It's our fault I think. We haven't been great at increasing the Stage of food. She still mostly gets breast milk. I'm going to try a banana and a peach in the next few days. The actually food, not the puree. She needs to work on feeding herself. She'll eat a puff, but it's obviously not her favorite. I figure she might do better with something that has more flavor. She's feeding herself 1 bottle a day!

Infection
She had a diaper rash of some sort that was causing little blisters that would pop really easily. Not your typical red rash. She went to pedi b/c they were afraid it might be strep, but thankfully not. However, pedi didn't really know what it was either. She gave us a script for some ointment which took care of it almost immediately, so it was bacterial I guess. She was never in pain from it, thankfully.

I think that about covers it. I'll post pics tomorrow. She's still the sweetest little thing ever, and I still consider myself the luckiest girl in the world to have her. I think it's time for a sibling:)

recent purchases

I usually gloat to people about how we really haven't bought anything for Sophie yet (aside from the essentials). Most of what she uses (toys, clothes, etc) are either gifts or hand-me-downs (love those!)

Well...I recently started subscribing to babysteals.com. They send an e-mail each day of one item that is significantly reduced in cost. I caved, and got this high chair cover. Let me say that I NEVER expected to be the mom that uses one of these. I never really saw the point. I just felt like we could brush crumbs off, give it a little wipe-down and we'd be good to go. About 3 weeks ago though, Sophie changed my mind. We were out to lunch, I put her in a high chair, turned around and the next thing I knew she was sucking on the seat belt of the high chair. YUCK YUCK YUCK. So, I started searching for one that I liked, that I didn't feel looked too bulky or obnoxious. Wouldn't you know, this one popped up on babysteals.com.
http://www.amazon.com/Babe-Ease-Clean-Diner-Highchair/dp/B002UD6BH6 With shipping, it was only $20:) I've only used it once but so far so good. I did feel a little weird putting it on at the restaurant. I assume people thought I was neurotic but oh well. The cover even has little loops to hang toys on.

Then, I decided Sophie needed a taggie toy. I really wanted to make her a taggie blanket but just don't have the time. So, I found this on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Taggies-E00906-Grabby-Elephant-Toy/dp/B000H8ESQC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1281561876&sr=1-1

Of course, it was only $18...so to get free shipping I had to spend another 6 dollars. So, I added on a baby cell phone, because Sophia has taken a liking to our cell phones. It isn't listed on Amazon anymore so I don't have the link. Wouldn't you know...that brought the total to 24.65, and I needed to spend $25 total for the free shipping.

I thought and thought of what I could get that I could rationalize that she "needs." I couldn't come up with anything, except this...http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Sesame-Street-Sounds-Remote/dp/B000LT1D56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1281562553&sr=8-1. It is BY FAR her favorite toy now. They eyes blink and each button has a sound. It's very cute, and not annoying:)

Turns out, what I thought she would like best (the taggie toy) is her least favorite. And wouldn't you know it, the tag she likes best on it is the actual TAG (oh and also the little hair sprouts on the elephants head:)

I'm so bad. I had started drafting this last week and didn't get time to finish...so here are the abbreviated 8 month stats:)

Sophia is officially 8 months old, as of Thursday! Her unofficial stats...

1) red hair and blue eyes ( I keep saying this b/c one is sure to change colors at some point??!!)

2) Her hair is getting a bit shaggy and I'd love to give her a little trim, but I won't.
2) size 3 diapers

3) 6,9, 12 month clothes

4) she is starting to wave, although her arm movements are just wide arm strokes through the air:) She also waves in her sleep.

5) She loves the "wee,wee, wee" part of "This little piggy went to market".

6) She's been drooling for about a week, so I assume a 3rd tooth is on the horizon, although I can't feel or see anything.

7) Separation anxiety has kicked in, at least separation from me. Dan finds it curious that she has starting sitting in the hallway outside of the bathroom while I get ready in the morning. I told him it's the only way to keep her from crying!

8) She's a very distractable eater while breastfeeding. If she hears ANYTHING, she is up and looking around. It's a bit frustrating, but cute all at the same time. TMI, but she also likes to play with the bow on my bra while feeding. Again, cute.

9) Her new favorite toy is her Sesame Street remote control (more about that in a later post).

10) As Dan says, she "moonwalks" backwards. She can't go forward, so always ends up backed into a wall.

11) She can spin on her belly to get to the direction she needs.

12) She still prefers Stage 1 foods. So far, of the Stage 2 foods, she prefers the ham.

13) She ate her first Puff last night. I've been trying for awhile, but last night she finally figured it out.

14) We try the sippy cup daily, but she chews on it more than anything.

15) SHe's definately getting longer. I tried to measure her last night and I'm thinking she's about 27 inches, which is 2 inches longer than at her 6 month appt.

16) She pays no attention when I read to her, but she definately likes to play with the pages.

17) Boxes are just as fun as the toys that came in them:)

8 months!!

This is what happened when I tried to measure her with my sewing ruler:) BTW, that ruler is 24 inches