Back to Work.. ugh!

September came here faster than I had hoped.. and with September comes work. On the 9th of September I am going back to work at one of my 2 jobs. It is only twice a week, so that isnt too bad.. but I really thought I would be more prepared to go back. I am going to be away from Abby from 9am-9:30pm on Wednesdays and I dont know how I am going to do it!! Don't get me wrong.. I LOVE my job. I teach Kindermusik classes to children 0-7 years old and love every second of it. All I do is play with babies all day! Abby has even been in classes since she was 2 1/2 weeks old. I just will miss her terribly. She will be in good hands though.. my mom will be watching her. I am hoping I will get over this anxiety I feel and enjoy the time I am going to have off.. a ME day.. Before I was excited about the idea... and now that she's here I want every day to be an US day..!

I'm going to miss you terribly my little pumpkin bum!!

Spoke too soon..!

Week 9

Thought things would be a bit easier by now, especially after a great week 8.. but.. I guess it was just a bit of a break. Abby had her shots this week. Poor little girl.. and didn't seem to be feeling well for a couple days, which is, apparently normal. But since then.. she isn't pooping a lot anymore!! The pediatrician said that its normal.. but it has been every other day since..! And she seems to be so much more fussy and trying to all the time.. and is in obvious pain!! So.. whats a girl to do? I feel so helpless.. so this week has been the hardest so far I think. She does still smile and goes through happy spurts, but I know a bad one is coming soon after and I wish there was something I could do. I find it hard to believe a lot of babies do this, but if they do, poor parents! Its so hard to watch! AND.. I never thought I'd be so obsessed with her poop!!!!

She has been busy all week visiting people while this has gone on though, and I'm glad she was feeling ok for most of the them!

I also have not been able to blog at all this week because we have been so busy, but now she has tuckered herself out while playing!

So.. until the next time she passes out...!

Reflection

Since I've been back from my trip I'm finding that I have more time than I did before. This is because she is actually napping during the day!! The naps are usually only about 20 minutes, but it is better than nothing. She is a very active baby who wants to take in every bit of the world! I have noticed a lot of changes in the last week in her behaviour. She has started to smile!! And I can't get enough of her big grin! I think she has finally started to adapt to the world around her and is beginning to realize its not half bad and that there is a lot of love around her. I know it has only been 2 months, but it seems like an eternity for me. Looking back, it all went by so fast and I almost forget how she was when she was a baby!

• Week 1 - Eat, sleep, poop, repeat.
• 7lbs 13oz 18 1/2 inches


• Week 2 - Cry, eat, poop, refuse to sleep, repeat
• 8lbs 4 oz 19 inches


• Week 3 - Cry, eat, poop, refuse to sleep during the day, but slept better at night


• Week 4 - Cry even more.. when will it stop?!!
• 9lbs 6 oz 20 1/2 inches
  
• Week 5 - SWING HEAVEN!! Daytime naps are possible! Happier baby!


• Week 6- Sleeping for 5 hours at a time at night.. god bless my child! Rolled over!
• 10lbs 8 oz 21 inches


• Week 7 - She smiles :) and what a beautiful smile it is!


• Week 8 - My new baby has arrived.. and all she does is smile, and only cries when shes hungry or wants some loving :)
• 11lbs 8 oz 22 1/2 inches

A long first couple of weeks.. especially recovering from a Csection. It has been a big challenge for me.. and many times I have thought I wouldn't be able to do it.. but here I am today. Happier than I've ever been in my life.

I can't wait to see what Abby will bring to my life in Week 9!

Our First Road Trip!

I haven't had a chance to blog at all really.. and time is flying by faster than I'd like it to! My little girl is already 8 weeks old now! And thanks to our little road trip, has travelled quite a bit! We started off travelling about 5 hours North to my Dad's summer home on the lake. I grew up spending my summers on this lake and couldn't wait to watch Abby start that same experience!

She was a pretty big grouch for most of the time, so we stayed in the house for a lot of the days, but on the days that she was good, she took naps on the dock listening to the sound of the waves!

After a nice 5 day visit with Grandpa, we decided to head east for 3 hours and go visit her Uncle Aaron. She was so good on the first 5 hour drive, but a bit upset for this one. She obviously didn't know we were going to go see her favorite Uncle! Once we got there, she was all smiles!
He was able to come and see her when she was 4 weeks old, but she had gained about 2lbs and 2 inches since then and was so much more active. It was really nice to relax and spend so much time with him and to see how he was with Abby! I think he loves her more than I do, if that is even possible!

After a nice 4 day visit, we decided it was time to head on home. Right before we did, we snuck in one last-minute picture just before he had to go off to work. Abby wanted to wear his hat!

There are two ways that we could have went home.. one way was about 6 hours, but a lot of travelling through forest and small highways, and another that was 7 1/2 hours on two large highways. We chose the long route.. and thank goodness! About 2 hours in my car started shaking so I took the next exit and when I was on a side road I heard a loud pop! I walked around my car didn't see anything strange, so I GPSd the closest Canadian Tire and drove on backroads to get there. Thank goodness Abby was asleep! They looked over the car for 30 minutes and said nothing was wrong.. so I asked them just to take another look because I was travelling pretty far..! After another half hour they said that I would be safe to drive, so we got in the car and started on the highway. As soon as I got on the highway the whole car was shaking again!!! It was a 6 lane highway and I was smack dab in the middle! I got off on the next exit and promptly called them back to say I was bringing back the car. THEN they found that I had BLOWN MY TIRE! You'd think doing a safety check they would check the tires first..! The actual tube inside hadn't blown but was about to.. so thank goodness I went back! $500.00 later and very tired we found ourselves with a 6 hour journey ahead of us and it was 6pm! Good friends of mine live in Ottawa, about 30 minutes away, so I asked them if they wanted a visitor and I was just going to stay in a hotel for the night. They asked us to stay over night, and that turned into 3 great days of visiting! They had a baby 2 days after Abby was born and her name is Maddison!

Abby and Maddison had a lot of fun together! They met two weeks before this, but had both grown so much since! It was great seeing them interact! Abby couldn't take her eyes off Maddison..! I can't wait to see them grow up together!

After a nice trip, we decided it was time to hit the road and go home. It took us 7 hours to get home with only one stop to eat and cuddle for a bit! She was so good on the drive and got some much needed Zzz's. I can't wait to get back out on the road and travel with her again!

Until the next adventure..!

On the road again..!

So.. its been a while.. I have been busy and am finally getting organized back at my own place! I'm fitting in showers, cleaning.. and sometimes even eating!! And every day that its not raining I have gone for a walk with Abby and she seems to love it!! I think she really is comfortable in her car seat (which is part of the stroller) so I'm hoping it will stay that way when I'm driving!!

My Dad is back down for the weekend from his summer cottage so we are going to drive up and visit him. It is only a 15 minute drive, so I figure thats a safe testing distance. Then tomorrow its off on a 45 minute drive to meet her new friend Maddison! She was born a little over 24 hours after Abby was, and I can't wait for them to meet!! After that.. a week later.. I am going to really push my driving limits..! I am going to drive about 5 hours to my Dad's summer cottage..! I have no idea how I am going to manage, but if I can do 5 hours, I figure I can do anything!

Well..! My time here is being cut short by my once sleeping beauty.. hopefully I will get a chance to write a bit sooner!!

Growing fast!

So.. my little girl is officially 3 weeks old..! Time is flying by a lot faster than I thought it could..

She was 7lbs 13 when she was born and is now a whopping 9lbs 5!!!

She has also outgrown 4 of her outfits so far and very close to a couple more.. and the newborn diapers are too tight on her.. :( I wish she would just stop growing and stay small forever!

For the past couple of days she hasnt been sleeping during the day and I am still recovering from a c section, so it is harder for me to bounce her around and carry her. Just when I was going to give in and just accept that I was stuck with a cranky baby in the day, something wonderful happened! My brothers best friend came by with a swing!!

GOD BLESS SWINGS!!

I can't begin to describe how great it is!! She loves being rocked and it has different settings of sounds.. and she just drifts peacefully off to sleep..! That is why I am able to actually write this blog right now! I hope that it continues like this, but even if it doesn't.. I'll take whatever silence I can get!

Anyways.. hopefully I will be able to catch up tomorrow with the pregnancy blog and the labour blog etc.. BUT my brother (Abby's godfather) is coming down tomorrow and I only see him about 3 times a year.. so hopefully she naps enough before he comes so I get a chance to write!

AND.. for the past 3 weeks I have been staying with my mom at her place because my place is an upper level apartment and it would have been hard with the surgery.. but tomorrow.. I'm moving back..! So.. big day tomorrow.. wish me luck!

The Start of Something New

I have decided to start this blog to track the new path my life has taken me on. About 10 months ago I found out I was pregnant and now find myself the mother of a beautiful little girl named Abigail. She will be 3 weeks old tomorrow, so I already have some catching up to do!
The pregnancy was not something planned, so I find myself constantly facing obsticles and challenges I never imagined myself facing.. and gaining more respect for all the single moms out there every day that passes.

I won't have time to go over the past 10 months right now, as she is going to wake up any second.. so I will have to have some blogs dedicated to bringing everything up to date! All I can say right now is so far, every day has given me a new challenge to face and strengthen me as a person and a mother and I am learning a lot about life and myself.