One year ago today

This time a year ago I was sending David out for a pregnancy test. He went to Wal-Mart (so he could go through the self check-out ) and picked up a two pack of tests. By time he got home I had made Brendan go to bed and I started drinking water. I went into our bathroom and almost immediately the test was saying "pregnant"! I believe my reaction was something along the lines of "oh shit"! And as much as we were trying to keep it from Brendan apparently we were talking loud enough that he heard that night and just didn't say anything until we told him a week later.

I'd like to say that we were estatic from the moment we found out but I can say, at least for myself, that estatic was not the emotion I was feeling. Obviously Shane was not planned. I was less than a month away from graduation, I did not have a job lined up yet, and the last conversation David and I had about having kids was something along the lines of "we'll wait until you've been teaching at least a year." Guess someone else had different plans for us.

We've often debated in the last year what night we ended up pregnant - because there were so few opportunities. = ) I say it was the night that I ranted and raved about being stressed and getting no help before leaving for my part-time job only to come home to find he had cleaned the bedroom, made the bed and did a load of laundry. David swears it was a night that I molested him. Either way - it was my fault we ended up pregnant because I quit taking birth control.

Needless to say, even if we didn't realize it at that moment, it was the best day of our marriage and the end of the journey was well worth the initial disbelief and shock. Shane Anthony Alberico has been the pride and joy of his daddy's eye and David has admitted he didn't know what he was getting until the day he arrived. I'm not sure any of us can imagine what life would be like without him and none of us could have imagined how much fun he was going to be!

3 months

Wait ... wait ... wait ... you're posting 3 months after posting 4 months? Kimberly are you crazy? No ... just extremely behind! I found this post that I started typing at work and e-mailed to myself at home to post. This just tells you how far behind in e-mails I am!

So one of my many resourceful December mamas just “showed” us her print out of her blog. It looks amazing! And now I’m more motivated to write more on our blog. This could possibly be the only baby book that Shane will ever have because I’m just not good about keeping up with Baby books. I even bought just a First Year one this time around hoping that I’d be more diligent about keeping up … nope.

3 months. Can you believe it? Shane is 3 months old already! It makes me sad and happy all at the same time. Happy because he’s doing so well – sad because this is the last time I’ll probably ever get to experience the baby stages again (unless of course I discover that I have a rich relative somewhere!).

We’re still trudging along with breastfeeding (even if mom’s a dunce and spills bottles every now and again). Thankfully he’s had only minimal nipple confusion – which is generally corrected rather quickly. And he’s only rejected me one day. Shane generally nurses once before going to daycare, eats about 16-20 oz at daycare and then nurses several times again before bed. He certainly loves his food source and still gets excited when he sees it. = )

Shane is wearing size 2 diapers and 6 month clothing. While he can still fit into his 3 month clothing, some of them are to short – yet some of his 6 month clothing is to big. He’s just like mama … never fits perfectly into one size! I have a newborn diaper in my pump bag that I take out every once in a while just to remember how little his tush use to be.
Shane has decided he really REALLY loves to sit up. If you lay him down he gets a little upset with you. Prop him up on a pillow and he’s trying in earnest to pull himself up. I can only imagine that he’ll be doing it all on his own soon. Last night I was trying to figure out how long he could stay up without falling over … LOL … it wasn’t very long but he sure was happy trying. I bought him a Bumbo seat about a month ago and he didn’t seem to like it then but will tolerate it now. Last night daddy was able to wash dishes while mom was gone because he put Shane in his Bumbo. Yeah … freedom!

Shane still HATES tummy time at home. The gals at daycare assure me that he likes it and that they are getting tummy time in during the day. I certainly hope so because he’s not getting much at home. If I lay him on the pillow on my lap he’ll tolerate it for a few minutes but then immediately bursts into tears. Sunday we had pictures taken and the photo shoot was cut short after the photographer tried to get pictures of him on his tummy. This, of course, means he hasn’t figured out how to roll over yet. I’m placing money on the fact that he’ll roll from back to tummy first.

What else. Laughing. We get lots and lots of silent laughs but we’ve only gotten out loud laughs once on March 10. It was one night after work and I was sitting on the couch with him facing me. I was talking to him in funny voices and he just burst out laughing. We were able to get him to do it several more times that night but not since. I can’t wait for the day when I can make him laugh without even touching him!

Big bubby Brendan continues to be a big help with his little brother. He likes to pick out Shane’s outfit for the day and get him dressed in the mornings. One Saturday morning I woke up to find the two of them sitting on the couch watching cartoons. I reminded him that the day would come when he wouldn’t want to be woken up so darn early to watch cartoons! He just rolled his eyes and said he’d just lock his door (which I’m sure he probably will).

Easter and 4 month checkup

What a day! I'm sitting here listening to the rain outside and am I ever glad that Shane was a boy which means I do not have to deal with Easter dresses and bonnets. I feel so sorry for those mothers who purchased beautiful Easter dresses and then had to cover them up with jackets today.

Shane is almost 4 months old. On Friday, David and I took him in for his 4 month checkup and our little boy is growing so quickly. Shane is now up to 14 lbs 9 oz and is 25 1/8 inches long. I'm guessing we probably could have squeaked another 1/8 inch out of him but he was ticked off and wouldn't straighten his legs out. He is 50% for weight and 60% for height. Maybe one of these days he'll be as tall as Dad ... or maybe he won't ... but for now he's just our average little guy.

We still have an ear infection. He was diagnosed with the 1st one on March 20. Doc said he thought this was a new one but couldn't be sure. We go back in a month to have his ears checked again. If they are still red then we'll take him to big brother's ENT and talk about having tubes put in. Brendan was 18 months old when he had his first set ... but Shane is showing signs that he will probably be following in Brendan's footsteps just a little earlier. I know he's not been himself the last 3 weeks.

Easter - the most exciting part about Easter was for mom - not Shane. I had a basket made for Brendan when he was 3 months old. I kept saying that I needed to get a basket for Shane but couldn't find the place that made Brendan's. One night I did a search on the internet and found the place that had simply moved locations. I took some pictures of Brendan's basket and went in - only to find out they were no longer painting that type of basket. The gal working said, however, that the person who worked there had worked there 10 years ago and could probably do it for us. So I e-mailed the pictures over and sure enough - they are VERY similar! Only if you studied the two baskets for a little while would you note the differences (Brendan and I couldn't help but do this). This morning seeing those two baskets side by side really made my day. Edit: Someone asked where I bought the baskets - they are from a place called HappiNames up in Overland Park, KS. www.happinameskc.com

We spent the day over at Grandma & Grandpa Alberico's house. Shane is so close to rolling over that I was sure he was going to show off for everyone. But no ... he just wouldn't go that last few inches to completely roll over. He will get from his back to his side and today he finally got one leg almost all the way over but did make it all the way. I'm going to be devastated if he rolls over for the first time at daycare ... but I cannot wait for that moment to come! Last weekend we thought we were close and even had the video camera ready. Instead of getting the big moment we have almost 45 minutes of footage of Shane rolling from back to side. He certainly is taking his sweet time!

Grandma Linda was quite impressed today with Shane's verbal skills. At one point Shane was letting everyone know how unhappy he was. He just jibber jabbers away and sometimes it sounds like he's telling you exactly what he thinks and he's just not happy! Other times he sounds so sad when he's talking. My favorite is when he tries really hard to form his mouth around the words. We have decided that he has certainly taken after big brother and mom in the talking arena.

This weekend has been a little hard on Shane. Between an ear infection and his 3 vaccination shots on Friday, he's spent a great deal of time sleeping. Yesterday he slept for almost 5 hours - with a few 15 minute nursing periods thrown in. Today he slept for a good hour or so in mom and Grandma's arms. He let us know he wasn't to happy about us switching his sleeping position from mom to Grandma but he settled in with a little coaxing. I wish I would have had my camcorder after he woke up. He was talking away for Grandma and Grandpa.

I am going to have to remember that not every post needs pictures! I'm generally pretty good about taking lots of pictures - it's getting them from the camera to the computer that's more difficult. In fact, we found a memory card from my old camera that had pictures from 2002 that were never loaded onto the computer (or maybe they were but were lost in a hard drive crash). They were of Brendan when he was 3 years old. After seeing them it didn't seem possible that he's now 10 years old ... but then again it doesn't seem possible that Shane should be 4 months old either.

EDIT: I bought the cutest darn thing for Shane from a guy I work with - a Radio Flyer Classic Roadster - for $15.00! David was changing Shane for bed when we got hom on Easter and couldn't resist letting him try it out! I also bought the Radio Flyer tricycle for $12.00 ... we won't be trying that out anytime soon that's for sure! As you can see ... Shane is to little for the Roadster but I can only imagine it won't be long before he'll be tearing up and down the hallway on it!

Meeting the Family / RSV

The Alberico/Orahood family made a trip to Lamar to celebrate Great Grandma Rector’s 72nd Birthday and to introduce Shane to our crazy family. We left Saturday afternoon and spent the night in the local Super 8. Saturday we visited Great Granny Orahood and Sunday we met the Rector family. Shane got to visit with his closest 2nd cousin – Ethan Troy Hamilton who is 5 months older – and met 3 of the 5 great-Aunts (the token great-Uncle was MIA) and many, many of the 2nd cousins.

Shane did really well Saturday night during his first stay in a hotel and even made it through most of the visit at the farm. However, about noon he started sounding really bad and wasn’t nursing like he normally does. I thought at first it could just be that he was completely out of his element. We quickly realized with his croupy cough that he wasn’t feeling well and we cut our visit short and headed home. Let me tell you – the 2 hour trip home was extremely long because the closer we got to KC the worse he sounded.

We stopped at Children’s Mercy South’s urgent care and waited, and waited, and … until finally we were seen by a pediatrician. The doctor said it sounded like Shane had RSV and the nurses were going to suction his sinus passages and test the mucus. Let me tell you … I had heard of RSV … and just the mention of it set my emotions into turmoil. Then the nurses came in and held Shane down to suction him. My heart just broke for him. Sure enough – Shane had RSV. The doc released us with the warning that he would probably end up hospitalized but maybe not considering he was breastfed. She gave us strict instructions to follow-up with his pediatrician the next day. Frankly, she scared the crap out of David and I and neither of us slept much that night just waiting for the shoe to drop and Shane to take a nose dive for the worse.

Monday morning we dropped Brendan off at school and took Shane over to Johnson County Pediatrics … where we waited, and … you get the point about doctor’s offices right? Dr. Bush took a listen to Shane, they tested his oxygen levels and gave us the news that Shane was doing well and that he was healthy enough that we would not be making a trip to the hospital. He told us not to suction Shane’s nasal passages – which was the complete opposite of what the pediatrician the night before had said. He signed over the papers and off we went. Shane actually seemed to be doing better that day.

Tuesday I decided I was going to keep Shane home from daycare for the week. I’d stay home with him through Wednesday and David would stay home Thursday and Friday. Tuesday was a decent day – Shane slept a lot … but he wasn’t laboring in his breathing. That was … until about 4:30. By 6:00, he was sounding pretty bad. David and I kept taking turns watching his chest, counting the number of times he breathed. Finally about 8:00 we decided we were going to take him back into urgent care. I packed a bag for Shane (the doc said if we came back to pack a bag because we’d probably be staying), packed a bag for Brendan and dropped him off at Pop’s house. David and I drove the 25 minutes to Children’s Mercy South while I was in the back seat trying to count Shane’s breathing in the dark. We pulled into the parking lot … woke Shane up … and he seemed to be breathing a little easier. We actually started to pull away when that mommy instinct kicked me in the butt and told me to go inside – what’s the worst they could tell us … he’s fine?

So in we go to find out he is really struggling to breath (apparently we weren’t counting right). Another round of suctioning and more waiting and up to Floor 3 we went. We were admitted sometime around midnight. Thankfully we had a terrific nurse and the hospitalist on call was more forthcoming with information about what was going to happen and how Shane was doing.

Shane and I spent the next 2 days at Children’s Mercy battling the crud called RSV. Wednesday they had to deep suction him twice and nasally more times than I can remember. He was sleeping a great deal of the time and was eating only intermittently. I had foolishly packed a bag for Shane and did not even bring a hair brush for myself. I’m sure those nurses were wondering about my attire – sweat pants and a t-shirt one day, and the same sweat pants and a green polo the next. LOL … David tried to pack me a bag … but even with a list … he’s still a man. Thankfully Children’s Mercy was well prepared for the late night flight of the parents to their doorsteps. At 5:00 in the morning when I stumbled out my door to their nurses station they were eager to supply what was needed and even suggested what else I might need.

By Thursday morning we were getting the green light to leave. That morning a volunteer came around to deliver a bear donated by Wal-Mart to the hospital to Shane and the first thing out of my mouth was – has this bear been in the hospital long? They kept warning us about secondary infections that he could pick up and the first “outside” item besides people had been this bear! They reassured me that they had just opened them this morning from their plastic packages.

Thursday afternoon as we were walking out of the hospital I was saying a little prayer for all of the other children who were still stuck inside and for the parents who had to watch their children go through their battles. I know that RSV was such a mild thing compared to what other parents are battling and I was thankful that was the case. Honestly – I learned a lot about myself in those 2 days couped up in room 330. 1st and foremost – I’m a very weak person when it comes to my children. I’d lay down my life for them … because I’d surely die having to watch them suffer.

Don’t cry over spilled milk

I honestly believe this statement was not meant to be for those of us who are breastfeeding because honestly, breast milk is treated like liquid gold in my house and what happened in my household almost brought me to my knees!

Last night after I got done pumping I was unhooking the hoses and accidentally dropped the bottle … thankfully the lid was still intact and I only spilled maybe an ounce or less. Not to detrimental … but devastating none-the-less.

Fast forward to this morning … I had a GREAT pump session and I was so excited that it’s Friday and I can start freezing for later use. I entrusted the full bottle to Brendan’s care and was very adamant about not spilling, blah blah blah! My lovely 10 year old did a great job transporting the goods only to have mom come in behind him 20 minutes later to wreck it all! I was filling the 5th bottle to go to daycare with Shane and forgot to screw the cap on. When I picked it up to put it in the diaper bag I spilled it … all 4 oz of the sweet stuff down the drain. Thankfully I had a great pump session or I would have been reduced to a bumbling mess on the kitchen floor because I would not have had that 5th bottle to send – even if it’s only a partial bottle.

Now … the question you might ask is … does Shane really eat 5 – 4 oz bottles a day? No … he usually only eats 4. BUT I always send that extra bottle “just in case”!

Why is it that this thing that is suppose to be part of life is so damn difficult? I won’t lie … it’s been a lot easier for me than many of my fellow December mommies but each of us has struggled with this thing called breastfeeding in some way or another. Some have had difficulty with latch … others with amounts … some couldn’t produce at all … some have babies who won’t get off the boob … others who are rejecting it … you get the point right?

So my question is this. WHY is it that new mothers have to endure this hell that is suppose to be such a natural thing? I mean we’re already hormonally imbalanced and then nature throws in this monkey wrench? Honestly, I’ve stressed more over being able to feed my child than any other aspect of his care. YES, yes, yes … I could formula feed … he would be just fine … it’s “practically the same as breastmilk” … ya-da, ya-da, ya-da! BUT … if it’s such a natural thing … why is it so damn difficult?

Yes … I’m adding a picture for this one. Yes … that would be my breast. For those of you who are offended I’m sorry but as I’ve chanted for the last 9 weeks – it’s just a freakin boob! Because the picture is a little hard to distinguish let me tell you the thinking behind this picture. Shane was nursing one night with his hands folded, as if in prayer. I jokingly said he was praying to God that the good stuff continue and that the boobies remain his only form of nourishment. Brendan snapped the picture for me and wa-la … it’s here for this special posting!

2 month checkup

1/17/09 - 4 weeks

2/7/09 - 7 weeks

As you can see, Shane is growing like crazy! I still find myself thinking he's so tiny - and really he is - but he has grown so much in the last 8 weeks. But, as all of the moms out there know, our children are always little in our eyes. I had a conversation with Brendan yesterday that to me he should still be the size of Shane and it's hard for me to realize that he's 10. I almost made myself cry because we were talking about how when Shane is 10, Brendan will be away at college. Why must they grow so fast?

Yesterday was Shane's 2 month checkup. He now weighs 12 pounds even and is 23 inches long - which puts him in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. He discovered another baby in the mirror ... but was only briefly interested.

Shane was far to busy being entertained by his big brother who came along for moral support to play with the baby in the mirror.

Yesterday Shane got the first of many rounds of shots and he seemed to handle them a lot better than mommy did. I forget just how stressful it is to have to be involved in the shot process ... you know it's for the best but it's never fun to actually allow someone to inflict pain on your child. We had to wait a little longer in the room than I'd hoped and Shane was hungry and fussy. Then add on the pain from the 3 shots and he was one mad little guy. Poor big brother was ready for lunch and mom was just ready for a nap! We stuck around a little longer at the doctor's office to nurse and calm down Shane. Thankfully Shane zonked out in the car and slept through lunch which meant Brendan and I were able to have a nice lunch where I could focus on him alone - I think he was ready for some one-on-one mom time.This afternoon Shane was playing on the floor with his floor mat. We've had little success with Shane keeping himself entertained on it so today I folded a towel in thirds and made a small pillow for him - he liked that! He also liked the monkey hanging from the tree and he held quite a conversation with him.

Then the monkey must have said something to tick him off because playmat time was quickly over! Bad monkey!

Joining the "cool" crowd!

Well ... I am finally joining the cool crowd and creating another realm to brag about my two boys! Honestly, I can't believe that it has taken me this long to jump on board ... but you know ... life happens right? However, after searching my computer for pictures to put on this page I quickly discovered that I need to spend more productive time while being at the computer - I have not uploaded pictures in a LONG time! I feel like the camera commercial where the people from the pictures are worried about being deleted. I hate to admit I almost miss the old film cameras where you could have a picture in hand after having the film developed ... but perhaps that's showing my age?

To bring everyone up to speed:

Brendan was born over 10 years ago last month ... and it feels like only yesterday that I learned that I was pregnant with him! I had been dreaming of having another child from the moment he was born but had conceded that he would be an only child. So imagine my surprise when I found out I was pregnant in April 2008! Shocked would be an understatement ... but it was quickly changed to joy for mom and dad ... big brother took a little longer to get on board but not much. Brendan was with me the day we had our first ultrasound to determine how far along I was. The smile on his face when he heard the heartbeat was priceless.

Shane Anthony Alberico was born December 16, 2008 at 6:46 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 6.4 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Shane was greeted not only by mom and dad upon his arrival but by big brother as well. To say that Brendan took to being a big brother instantly would have been an understatement.

Big brother was the first to get to hold him!

The past 8 weeks almost seem like a blur. I absolutely cannot believe that I have not only a healthy 10 year old son ... but also a healthy 8 week old one as well. I wonder often what it was that I did to deserve just a blessing and thank God nightly for giving me this gift. I often joke that you should be very careful what you pray for - I prayed for 5 years that God would give me another child by the time I was 30 and then let up on the prayer as life seemed to be taking me down a different path. God really does have a sense of humor - he let me be pregnant before I was 30 even if I'd forgotten about those prayers from before.

Shane - 12/22/08 - 6 days old