Motherhood: Month 4

I missed his 2 month pic in the chair 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️. 

Quinn is 4 months old already! We’ve had many “firsts” these past two weeks. Quinn rolled over for the first time from his back to his belly…once. He hasn’t done it again 🙄. He rolls to his side often but hasn’t gotten completely over again yet. He had his first Halloween and went trick or treating with his cousins but he didn’t actually participate, of course. He just strolled along in his costume and eventually passed out 😂. He and I made our first solo shopping trip out of town. He was fine on the way up to the Highlands and most of the time shopping. He was hungry in Hobby Lobby so I feed him while pushing the cart, a difficult but manageable task. The really difficult part about shopping with an infant during the colder months is all the crap you have to bring with you: something on his feet, a blanket, diaper bag, beanie, etc. I put his booties on him that we just got on Amazon before we left the house. I bought them because his socks are always falling off and I thought they would stay on better. Wrong. I discovered one was missing when I picked up his blanket to remove him from his car seat to feed him. If I hadn’t been frazzled because there were nine million people around, I might have had the bright idea to look for it in the store. Instead I thought it must be in the car and checked later to discover that it indeed was not. I changed him when we got to Target and had a spare pair of socks, one of which he also lost while shopping. Luckily I noticed before we got too far away from it and was able to find it in one of the aisles. He was fine while shopping, didn’t fuss much at all but as soon as we got in the car to head home he started screaming and didn’t stop. I stopped at Dairy Queen in Moundsville because I was hungry and I thought maybe he was too so I tried feeding him. He was all smiles and coos and didn’t want milk at all. As soon as we got back in the car he started screaming again. That ride was the longest 44 minutes of my life. It’s really hard not to speed when you have a screaming baby in the car with you. He immediately calmed down when we got home and I picked him up and held him. Later that evening I noticed I was missing an earring 🤦🏻‍♀️. I am someone who almost always knows where 99% of the things in my house are and I absolutely hate losing anything. So I can confidently say that our shopping trip was not one of my favorite memories. I did happen to find my missing earring the next day on the floor so I don’t think I ever even made it out of the house with it on. If you’re keeping track, this trip amounted to a missing bootie (still missing), sock (recovered), earring (recovered), and a big portion of my sanity (the verdict is still out). For our next solo trip, which will be far in the future, I will take his carrier and “wear” him, and I hope that will help since he won’t have to spend so much time in his seat. I’m telling myself that was the problem and next time will go much smoother 😉. 

He enjoyed the walk that I “wore” him on. 

Celebrating his achievement 🙂. 

His first Halloween

I didn’t think you’d be able to see his feet 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️  

Trick or Treat!

Sitting like a big boy with Kate and Link 🙂. 

As if that experience wasn’t enjoyable enough (NOT 🤪), he had his 4 month checkup today that included 4 vaccines (3 shots and 1 oral) and I had a very eventful trip to the dentist for a filling (a cavity courtesy of pregnancy. Yay.) His appointment wasn’t too bad, actually. He gained almost three pounds and 2 1/2 inches in 2 months. Dr. Gary commented about how well he is growing, especially considering we were so concerned with his growth in the beginning. His appointment was right around his nap time so he fell asleep while waiting for the nurse to bring his vaccines in, which made her feel extra bad about having to administer them. He screamed at the initial stick but he calmed down pretty quickly. Poor baby. His pouty lip face is the saddest thing you’ve ever seen. His appointment was nothing compared to mine though. I went for my dental cleaning a couple of weeks ago and then booked my appointment for the filling today. At the time of scheduling I was asked if I preferred to have the doctor do my filling or if I would be okay with seeing a dental student. She said if I saw the student, I could get the filling faster, the doctor would inspect the work done, and that the student had been there practicing for quite a while and her work was good. She said there would be a new student in after today and she couldn’t attest to that person’s work. I told her that would be fine but when I got there today, the student doctor wasn’t a woman. That should be been my first clue that today wasn’t going to go as planned. No one ever said but from the outcome of this story, I’m going to assume the new person has arrived and I was his unlucky guinea pig. The entire visit was just a shit show all around and Murphy’s law was in effect. It started off okay, the normal numbing shot that I typically dread wasn’t half bad. That might’ve been the best part 😂. I just kind of stared up at the ceiling trying not to make eye contact because it’s weird and also not focus on what my tongue is doing because then you can’t help but wonder if it’s in a weird position and then move it in the way. I also had to try to concentrate on my breathing so that I didn’t feel the need to swallow every five seconds. The assistant stuck the spit sucker a little too deep into the back of the mouth a few times and it’s lucky for her that I don’t have a more sensitive gag reflex. She also kept coughing and later told me that she has a chest cold, something no one wants to hear coming from a person who is sticking their hands so close to your face🤦🏻‍♀️. After that I couldn’t help but think about whether or not they sanitize the handles on the overhead light that they pull down toward your mouth. The doctor worked in my mouth and then used his contaminated hands to move the light away. He also flipped the little cover on his headlamp thing to change from orange light to bright white light several times. I maybe wouldn’t care if I didn’t have a 4 month old infant that I would like to avoid bringing illnesses home to (Oh who am I kidding, I would care either way 🤷🏻‍♀️). Let’s hope I’m just helping build his immune system and don’t make him seriously ill! Anyway, after an hour and twenty minutes, the experienced doctor came in to check the student doctor’s work and said that there was a void in the filling and it would need to be redone 😩🤬. He started to fix it himself when I told him the numbness was wearing off and I could feel the drill so he numbed me again. In the meantime, another dental assistant had a family emergency and had to leave. Although unavoidable, this left them short-staffed and only added to the experienced doctor’s plate. After two hours my tooth was finally filled correctly but the fun didn’t stop there. He told me my gum will be sore because they had to clamp it so many times but if I have tooth pain to let him know. When I went to leave, the office manager was upset and telling him she was quitting. It was awkward AF. I was 2 hours past my normal pump time at that point so I just left. It’s a good thing I don’t have problems with leaking, the silver lining to this saga. Someone less patient (*ahem*my husband*ahem) would’ve made their day much worse but I stayed calm, even when I wanted to blast the assistant who kept coming in and routing around in drawers for things, being a huge distraction, while the student doctor was working in my mouth. I asked the assistant working with me what the other was looking for when the student went to get the other doctor and she said, “Oh she’s just setting things up for the next patient.” Ummm that’s not okay. That’s not good practice if that’s commonplace. I plan to leave some feedback in one way or another. I’ll have lots of feedback if I get a bill for this debacle, for sure!

He’s growing so much he’s as big as Hulk! 😉

Onto another topic, I recently had bloodwork done for our annual insurance requirement and was told I have high cholesterol 🤦🏻‍♀️. Ugh. Because I’m breast feeding I refused medicine and decided instead to try to improve it through diet. I don’t have a genetic predisposition so it may have been pregnancy related and still hanging around. Do you know what has saturated fat and high cholesterol? Everything that tastes good, that’s what. Blah. 🧀🍔🍟🍪🍩🍰

I was worried that Quinn would have 4 month sleep regression and there’s still time so I’m not counting him out yet, but Sophie has proven to be a worse offender lately. She had graduated to the chair in the living room most nights, only snuggling up with us in our bed if there was a storm and she was scared. Now she’s in our bed almost every night. Not just in our bed but in the middle of us, her butt in someone’s face or her legs pushing against someone’s back 😠. She’s also like a typical toddler who has been dethroned as the baby and has regressed to lots of attention seeking, constantly being everywhere I don’t want her to be. She’s in the way when I’m in the kitchen or in Quinn’s face when I’m trying to sit with him on the couch or wanting outside and then back in and then out again every five minutes. She’s driving me nuts. Lucky for her she’s adorable and I can’t stay mad at her for long. 

She’s so precious....when she’s sleeping 🤪. 

Interrupting Mommy. 

Yep, that’s Sansa’s ear in her mouth 🙄. 

Sometimes there just aren’t any words 🤦🏻‍♀️. 

I know I’ve done nothing but complain this entire entry but it’s not ALL bad. Quinn is a happy baby and his smile is contagious. He’s babbling and cooing all the time, making lots of new sounds. He only gets up once during the night . He would maybe even sleep through but I have to get up to pump anyway and I haven’t been brave enough to leave him sleep because I worry he’ll get up as soon as I’m done and ready to lay back down. To top it all off, I got sick last week and had to stay home from a work a trip I was scheduled to be away on. I talked to a lactation consultant who said that my body will produce antibodies to any illness I get and when Quinn drinks my milk, he gets them and that makes him less likely to catch it. That must be true because he hasn’t gotten anything other than a stuffy nose. I’m glad I didn’t make him sick, that would’ve really kicked my Mom Guilt into overdrive! 

Wish me luck that the next couple of weeks will go by more smoothly! 😉🤞🏻