CP Visit

Isla and I just returned to Bolton after a week long visit to Carleton Place. We had the chance to visit with Melody, Jon and Krista at Ronald McDonald House, as well as catch up with friends we hadn't seen in awhile! Melody is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia at CHEO, and Isla loves being able to hang with her cousin. 

We also enjoyed a little walk at the Mill of Kintail in Almonte. I wanted to show Isla where her Mom and Dad got married, and grab a little family photo in front of the outdoor chapel. Isla apparently found the sleigh ride a little too relaxing and fell asleep. I am not one to wake a sleeping baby, so we left her in her sled for the pics. We will have to go back when she is a bit older!

While at my parent's place in CP, Isla really perfected the wake-up smile. I absolutely LOVE going to get her in the morning and after naps (provided she actually slept for a decent amount of time), because I get to walk into her room and see this:

As you can see, I still have Isla swaddled tightly in her woombie. She is a sneaky little nugget, and sometimes is able to wiggle a hand out of the top, but for the most part, sleeps amazingly inside this thing. She is coming up to 4 months, and I am terrified of having to eventually part with this sleep sack. She sleeps really well, and as soon as she is zipped inside, her eyelids begin to droop and she gives a little yawn. I am going to stick with it as long as possible. She isn't rolling over while sleeping yet, so I think I am ok for a little bit. I did buy a larger size with arm holes so that I can transition her one arm at a time, but for now, I enjoy my fairly good sleeps!

Daily Activities

One of the most important things I have learned as a new mom, is the importance of getting out and about. I try to do something with Isla every single day- as I think we would both go insane if we stayed in the house for the entire time. 


We are pretty lucky, in that we have an Ontario Early Years Centre just up the street. Isla and I have been going to "You and Your Baby" for over a month now and have met a lot of other babies and moms. We just started going to "Infant Mother Goose", which is stories and songs, and it seems like it will be a great program. Isla wouldn't know as she slept through the majority of the first class. I just had to clap and sing along to a sleeping baby. I clapped very quietly. 


Starting after March break, I have enrolled Isla in her first set of swimming lessons. I am super excited for this, as the centre looks fantastic and if Isla has as much fun as she does in her little bathtub, it should be a great experience. The classes are in Brampton (not too far from Sean's school), so that means Sean has to leave work, drive home, pick us up, and drive right back. Not the best, but since it is for Isla, I am sure he is happy to do it! Plus, he will get to be part of the swim classes as well, and I know that he will absolutely love the chance to spend time with her in the water. 


Isla and I have also frequented many of the malls in the area. It is so handy that they all seem to have big family washrooms with good change tables and nursing rooms with comfy couches. When you look around at the people shopping on a weekday, it is 90% moms and their babies, so I guess this makes sense! Isla is a fantastic shopper in that she sleeps the entire time and allows me to make all of my purchases without worrying that she will begin screaming any minute. She even allows me to eat lunch while she snoozes, and often requires me jostling the stroller a little bit to wake her up and feed her before we leave. Can't get much better than that. 


When Isla was a few weeks old, I remember how scary it was to take her out in public on my own during the day. Of course, I managed to get her car seat stuck in the stroller that day while in the Shopper's Drug Mart parking lot, and began having a minor meltdown thinking I was going to have to walk around the drugstore for another hour until Sean was off work and could come and help us out. Luckily, I freed the car seat and got home without a baby meltdown, so the trip was a success. I guess we have come pretty far from that day, and now I can look back and laugh at myself and how much of a "newbie" I must have looked to passerbys. 


I have come to the point where I am completely relaxed taking her out, and actually enjoy the opportunity to show her new things out in her community. I am looking forward to when she is a bit older and can really benefit from playgroups and even going to the community library to read some stories. 


:)

3 Months Old!

Isla turned 3 months old yesterday- how crazy is that? This has been either the fastest 3 months or the slowest 3 months of my life- can't quite decide!


It seems that month 3 is bringing so much change. Possibly more change that I have noticed so far. Here is what I am loving about 3 months:


-Isla has started to recognize herself in the mirror and really enjoys smiling at herself when we play in front of the bathroom mirror. 


-Naps: we have them now! Real ones! In a bed! Without me! Really, this is possibly one of the greatest things we have achieved so far. Sure, they aren't incredibly long (an hour max so far), but I will take it. 


-Falling asleep on her own. Isla is now ok with being put in the bed and falling asleep on her own. In fact, she seems a little restless and agitated if you keep holding her. As soon as you put her in her bed (as long as she is tired and burped) she turns her head, sucks her soother, and nestles in for a good sleep. Last night I broke out the twilight turtle, thinking she may enjoy watching the stars as she fell asleep. She seemed amazed by them and couldnt stop looking around. When I put her in her bed, she continued to just talk and laugh away. As soon as I turned it off, she fell asleep immediately- so much for the stars soothing her to sleep :)


-Isla now spends more time awake, and will spend more time just being happy and talking away. Earlier it was eat, cry, sleep...there wasn't much time for playing or smiling. I really enjoy cuddling with her in the morning. This seems to be when she is the most happy. 


- Smiling when she wakes up. When she was smaller, it seemed any time she woke up, she did so with some pretty loud cries. Now she will wake up and begin "talking" away. When I go in to get her, she gives out some pretty sweet smiles. She also seems more content to hang out in her bassinet on her own. 


-Bath time. Isla absolutely loves the bath. She really enjoys kicking and splashing away. Usually, she is pretty entertained as her dad gives her some pretty fun baths. I usually hear the squeals of excitement all the way downstairs.


We did our three month pics yesterday, and she even started to show a few smiles in front of the camera. Here is her a few days after bringing her home from the hospital:

And here she is at 3 months old- blowing bubbles :)

3 Month Old Sleep Regression/ Growth Spurt

Two steps forward, one step back...


Something like that!


We have recently hit the milestone where Isla is able to fall asleep on her own in the crib. After feeding, burping and a few minutes of hugs and cuddles, I can put Isla in her bed and she will turn her head to the side, cozy into the plush blanket, and fall asleep. 


Doesn't that sound amazing?


It totally was for one day! Although we are still working on this milestone, it seems we have also managed to hit a growth spurt at the same time. I guess you can't win them all!


Isla went from sleeping from about 8 or 9pm to 4 or 5am, with a quick feed and back to sleep until 8:30am....to...fussing and eating every hour or two! aaah! My growing hate of the Sleep Sheep has not helped matters, where she is waking instantly as soon as the stupid sheep stops emitting it's calming rain sound (does anyone actually use the other sounds??? The "whale" setting totally freaks me out)


I know that it is just a phase, and she is growing and therefore needs more food and a little more attention, but it is definitely frustrating :( 


Let's hope she grows quickly and gets back to "normal" soon. 


On a brighter note, she LOVED going to visit dad at his work yesterday. She did incredibly well at school, and although appeared very wide-eyed when placed in front of a room of 30 kindergarten students, she was a model baby. I was pretty proud of her :)

Sisters

I wanted to take a minute to comment on something pretty special- sisters. Krista joked that my next blog post would be about my wonderful sister, well, here it is!


I can't imagine not having a sister in my life- who would have had me for sleep overs in her trundle bed, or searched for cabbage patch kids in our garden with me? 


My sister is one pretty amazing person. Lately she has been faced with a pretty enormous and incredibly scary situation. Her little girl suddenly became very ill and she has just picked up and moved her life to the hospital in an instant. I am sure not everyone can handle this stressful situation like she has. Every time I talk to her I still hear happiness and positivity- there is no doubt that this has rubbed off on Melody and this is why she is doing so well. She has taken this situation and faced it head on. 


Needless to say, I am pretty proud of my sister and still look up to her everyday! I hope that I can be half the amazing mother that she has turned out to be.


Loves :)

Cuteness

Last night we began our sleep routine same as any other night. I got the bath ready, then came downstairs to pump at 7:30. Sean took Isla up and gave her the bath and got her into her pj's. I could literally hear the squeals of joy from Isla the whole time, so apparently Sean is WAY more fun at giving baths than I am! 


After the bath, I put Isla in her woombie swaddler and give her a night feed. Then it is lights out. Sort of. That is what I hope for. 


Last night was definitely not!


By the time Isla finished her last feed and was ready to settle down, it was 8pm. She seemed pretty asleep for about 10 minutes and then POP, her eyes flew wide open and she was ready to look around and play. Sean always jokes that she looks like a little meercat when she does this- wide eyes, head straight up in the air, and looking everywhere around the room. Well, as frustrating as this was, it was incredibly cute and so hard not to laugh and play with her. She did start flashing the smiles as well, and when that happens I am done for. 


I did start to get pretty frustrated when the clock was now saying 9:20pm, so with a little more milk, and some persistence, she was asleep and in her bed at 9:30pm. 


Apart from one little squeal at 3am (which just required a soother popped in), she slept soundly until 6:20am. What an amazing thing! Sean is feeding her now, I am pumping as I type, and then she will head back to sleep for a few more hours. 


What a great start to surely a fantastic weekend with my little family. 

Milk Factory

Sometimes this is exactly what I feel like! 


Isla and I stopped our breastfeeding experience somewhere around 5 weeks. After 5 weeks of pure and complete pain, I called it quits! I didn't make this switch lightly- and it really bothered me to do so, but in the end, I can honestly say we are both WAY happier. 


It started with cracked nipples and the standard engorgement that came with a new baby and the beginning of milk production. It then turned in to thrush, which was absolutely awful and required 10 days of dying ourselves purple with gentian violet. Once the thrush cleared, my nipples just kept getting way worse. 


We had help- good help. Our midwives were there in the beginning to assist, and I even had a lactation consultant come to our house. Isla ate a ton. She really did. She was just a very ferocious eater with a shallow latch, which made breastfeeding incredibly painful. I got to the point where there was no skin left on my nipples, and I would cringe in pain when she latched on, and then have to pull her off a few minutes later so that I could breathe. She was so peaceful and cute while she was sleeping, and I began to actually dread her waking up because I knew the pain that would bring. 


So 5 weeks in, I cracked. I was miserable (Sean can attest to that), Isla was incredibly fussy and we were just not happy. I decided that I would pump as much as I could, and then offer it to her in a bottle. Well, that was a hit. She was over the moon as she could chug milk incredibly fast. Isla was finally a completely happy camper, and hasn't looked back since. 


It had been such a hard decision to back in the breastfeeding. All throughout my pregnancy, I just assumed this is what I would do. To stop meant I would ultimately fail, and that was probably the hardest part. Looking back on it now, stopping was the best choice I made. Isla ultimately ended up with a happier mom, and now when she wakes up, she sees a smiling face instead of a sad one!


So how long can this exclusive pumping last? My goal is to make it until she begins solids. So 5 or 6 months I guess. She will be turning 3 months next week, so I think this goal is very possible. As long as my milk supply keeps up (I sometimes miss pumps if we are out and about), and she doesn't all of a sudden start eating WAY more than she does now, we should be ok. She is getting way easier to handle in terms of being able to be on her own, and with my pumpease bra, I am the ultimate multi-tasker. We are talking bottle feed, change baby diaper and clothes, text and email, and pump all at the same time. I can get so much done from one little spot on the carpet!


As Isla begins solids, we will eventually wean out the milk. I really want to go camping etc this summer, and I really dont envision myself out in a canoe in the middle of the lake, trying to pump. I am able to freeze a fair amount of milk now (in fact I am sending Sean out to buy us a small chest freezer this weekend as it has slowly taken over our fridge freezer), so that may be able to work in my favour come the summer when I taper it off. 

For now, I am thrilled that I am able to give Isla the best gift I possibly can, a big, genuine smile everyday and a ton of love :)

Sleepy Head

I wish I could say that this was the case everyday, and that this was a nick name we had coined for Isla from early on...but sadly, it is not. I am sure that every parent goes through it, although I have seen and heard of these mythical babies that just sleep as soon as you put them in the crib day or not, without so much as a peep. I will keep believing, however, that they do not exist. 


From day one, Isla was a baby that HATED to be put down. She hated lying on her back, she hated being left in the swing and she definitely hated to have her diaper and clothes changed. For the first two weeks of her life, we slept with her on our chests. My mom (God bless her), stayed with us for the first week and a half. We literally took turns sleeping with her 'round the clock. Sean had to go back to work, so we let him get a few extra hours, but my mom and I would switch in the middle of the night. I would breastfeed and my mom would sleep, then my mom would wake up, sit on the couch with Isla, and I would sleep....and so the rotation went. 


I remember crying to my mom in that first week saying "What are we going to do?? At this rate, Isla will be 10 years old and still sleeping on top of us!". She assured me that wouldn't be the case, and that Isla just needed to be held and be with us. Thankfully, she was right. Eventually we were able to transition her to sleep with us in the bed, and now she is able to sleep on her own in the bassinet beside our bed. She is a pretty good sleeper at night (although last night was an exception as she has grown out of her newborn woombie and was able to get a hand free...that hand seemed to have a mind of it's own and kept poking her in the eye. This meant hours of me trying to push the hand back in... ) and generally gets to sleep in her bassinet anywhere between 8 and 9. She will wake up to eat around 4 or 5, and then go back to sleep until about 8. I really can't complain about that as she is only 12 weeks old today. I am just waiting for the sleep regression though, and feel that it is looming- she is becoming more antsy around 1-2 am, and not really responding to my go back to sleep pleas as often. 


Right now, Isla truly dislikes the nap. She fights it with every inch of her body. For the time being I usually cuddle her, and she falls asleep (sometimes with a few tears) in my arms. At one point the swing was a Godsend, and she would sleep in there. I think she has caught onto my trick though and knows that the swing brings sleep- so now she just screams when she is put into it. Smart cookie. I have started to trick her in other ways, such as going for walks, shopping and taking the really long way home from wherever we are!  That is working for me right now, so I am going with it. 


Everyone says that nap time and a sleep schedule will fall into place around 4-5 months...so I guess for now I will just relax and enjoy the snuggles while they last!  


How could I not, with this cute little face...

Introducing Isla Elizabeth Mazurkiewicz!

Let me take this chance to head back to one of the most incredible days of my life: Wednesday November 9, 2011. 
Both Sean and I are teachers, and had been pretty lucky to be working at the same school. Yes, it can definitely be a lot to work together all day and still live together happily at night, but we are used to it after two years in Qatar, and to be honest, didnt end up seeing each other overly often at work anyway- plus, he's a pretty cool guy, so it makes it pretty easy. Anyway, I had been off officially on maternity leave since the Friday before. I originally was going to work up until the Friday after my due date (November 10, 2011)- good thing I didn't decide to do that!
I woke up at about 6:30am and was pretty sure something was happening. Definitely had lost the mucous plug. So after Sean woke up, I assured him that he should go to work as it could still be a few days until anything happened. I decided then to go and make myself comfy on the couch and watch some Breakfast Television as my stomach was feeling a bit off and a tad crampy. Shortly after, I realized that I was definitely leaking!
A quick call to our midwife Emily, and she advised to definitely call Sean and get him to come home from work (he teaches about 30 minutes away), and then make our way to the hospital. She would meet us there. 
A call to Sean at the school to say "game-on" and I quickly started gathering the bags I had packed, and the things I hadn't but would obviously need like make-up and head bands :) After he made it back, we topped up the cats with a bunch of food (who knows how long we would be!) and began to venture into the city. It was about 9:30 or so now, so traffic was still pretty busy on the highway. 
By the time we got checked in and set up in labour and delivery, it was 10:50 (one of the last times that I remember). Sean went to Tim Hortons to grab me a muffin, and I began to focus a little more on the fact that contractions were getting pretty strong and way closer together! Things began moving very quickly, and Emily assured us that this was going to happen today and most likely by late afternoon. Sean updated both sets of parents, who were very excited to hear. 
Well things began to move even quicker and at this point, Emily made the call to Barb, our other midwife, to come to the hospital asap. She even went out to notify a nurse that I may begin to push soon (they require two people to be present at the birth- so this was in case Barb didn't make it in time). Luckily, she did! As soon as Barb came, it was as if I had the clear green light to "go", and the rest flew by. Isla was born at 1:32pm with a completely natural delivery. 
Did I plan to go with a "natural" birth? Yes, I definitely did- although not having been through this before, I was quite open to an epidural if the pain ever became too much. The contractions were definitely painful, and I remember saying to Sean at one point "this hurts", but it actually didn't even cross my mind during the entire birth to ask for any pain medication. Once the contractions kicked in, I just seemed to go with it and my body knew what to do. Now, I was pretty lucky in that I was only in the delivery room for about 2 and a half hours, and had absolutely no tearing (Isla had a small head thank goodness!), but I am so incredibly happy that it worked out this way. 
I can honestly say that the entire experience, from working with our fantastic midwives to giving birth to Isla, was absolutely amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat and am actually very excited to do so. We had contemplated home birth when we were living only minutes from the hospital, but after moving out of town where the closest hospital was 40 minutes away, decided against it. Knowing what I do now about how smoothly the birth went (and how quickly....next time we better be on the ball about getting to the hospital asap), I will reconsider a home birth for our next. 
So here she is: 

Isla Elizabeth Mazurkiewicz

Born Wednesday November 9, 2011 at 1:32pm

6lbs, 13 ounces