teefers!

ever since I can remember, I've been terrified of losing my teeth. chipping a tooth, cracking a tooth, accidentally pulling it out, getting floss permanently stuck between two of them, you name it- if it was tooth related, I was losing sleep over it. I also read that if you have frequent dreams about losing teeth, then it meant you were hiding or lying about something. I did a thorough inventory and could find no lies to speak of- the tooth nightmares continued.

all that to say, I've  been pretty adamant about my tooth care. I had braces in elementary school, had my wisdom teeth pulled in high school, got new retainers a few years ago when my teeth started shifting, and never missed my twice yearly cleanings. but the year I was pregnant was a little tough on my teeth, in more ways than one.

First, we switched dentists and I committed the cardinal sin of not ensuring they were in our network before we went. they weren't, and that resulted in an $800 bill because the husband needed some work done. obviously, that left a bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended), and I didn't exactly want to rush back to that dentist. my next appointment should have been in January '13, but I was 9 months pregnant and without a dentist, and trust me, I wasn't going to find one now. So I lagged and gaggled and let it go by and finally got a new dentist this July- one year after my last appointment. It felt long to me, but after talking to an old coworker who hadn't gone in 6 years I still felt pretty good.

WRONG!

I don't know if I just found the most thorough dentist on the planet, if my dentist for the past 5 years was horrible, or if Little Wood stripped me of every ounce of tooth calcium she could muster, but in the last month, I've had to get FIVE (5) FILLINGS! One of them was so bad, the dentist was afraid I might need a root canal. Alas, no pain has warranted that.

I walked out of my initial appointment feeling so dirty! What the heck? 5 fillings? And he needs to watch 3 more "just in case?" What was my previous dentist doing? Sight seeing? Needless to say, I was pretty pissed. These are my one set of pearly whites and they are in shambles!

The one "pro" is that my dentist is pretty suave and I get to have my teeth nursed back to health in a massage chair while I watch TV. but STILL!

Little Wood, you were totally worth it, but couldn't you have left me in a little better shape?

Olivia Dell: 4 Months

 

Height/Weight: we went to Olivia's 4 month appointment today and the doctor was shocked/excited to share that she is in the 95th percentile for height, at 25 3/4 inches! obviously, she gets that from dear old dad, not my shortie self. She is in the 50th percentile for weight, at 13 pounds, 3 ounces. but of course, she feels so much heavier to me! and finally, her head circumference is in the 75th percentile, and i'm still not sure what that really means.

Feeding: Olivia goes between having 4 and 5 bottles a day now. she still wakes up 1x during the night/early morning and GUZZLES her bottle like she hasn't eaten in days. i was getting really impatient these last few weeks because she seemed to be regressing and taken forever to finish a bottle. so i bought medium flow nipples and HOLY COW she can eat that thing in 7 minutes! the only problem is, she isn't quite used to it yet and gets a sizable amount down the front of her face. and sometimes she gets barfy because she won't burp and ends up spitting up. oh well. i can already tell she's getting used to it and i have my life back.

Clothing: i'm so excited for summer and Olivia fitting into bigger clothes! i think i put the last newborn onesie away, and she's now solidly into 3-6 months in most brands. i love putting her in dresses or tank tops with bloomers. she still wears 0-3 in Carter's, but has also grown out of Gerber 0-3. time for some more shopping!

Sleep: as i mentioned before, she's still waking up 1x during the night, and usually fusses a few times as well if her paci falls out. we are trying to wean her from swaddling, but after a horrible night of no sleep for anyone, we put her back in- 1 arm out. she seems to like it, and i'm no longer concerned with weaning her for now. she can roll over, but is strong enough to turn her head. her naps are more consistent, and i'm glad because that's when i get most of my work done during the day! she is now sleeping in her own crib every night and it's wonderful! we all get better sleep now!

Milestones: Olivia has mastered rolling from back to tummy, and can even get her arm out from under herself pretty quickly. she LOVES to stand, stand, stand and would do it all day if i let her. she is SO happy if she can stand up and look around. she also recognizes herself in the mirror, and has daily conversations with herself while blowing raspberries.

Firsts: i wasn't as good as keeping track of firsts this month, because we were so busy! this last month, Olivia had her first night in her own crib, first time to Pasadena, first visit with her great Aunt, Uncle, and cousin Wood, and first trip to the pool! She also met Rocket, Grandma and Grandpa Jalowiec's wiener dog for the first time (and for that matter, her first dog in general!).

First night in her own crib

First time in at the pool!

Great Uncle Jon & Aunt Celeste

Swimming!

First time meeting Rocket

I'm so excited that summer is here and for Olivia to see so many new things! i know her fun age is going to make this warm time of year even better!

big shots, little baby

Olivia had her 2 month checkup about a week ago and had a great appointment. she is growing exponentially and is hitting all of her developmental milestones. i KNOW i was dreading it more than her, because i knew she would be getting a slew of immunizations.

i know baby's first shots can be a hot topic among moms these days: delayed versus no immunizations, etc. but i'm not a doctor and can't pretend to know what's best for my wee babe, so i take the Dr's advice and get her her shots on time. it's not that i believe everything the medical community says, but there just aren't enough studies out there to disprove the relevance and importance of immunizations to convince me otherwise. plus, i would never forgive myself if my LW contracted something she could have avoided, or her lack of being immunized caused an illness for another child. but that's just my opinion.

it may also be because there was recently a story of a girl in Orange who contracted Meningitis because she wasn't immunized. she had to have ALL FOUR OF HER LIMBS AMPUTATED. not only that, the infection got to her face and she had to be treated in the burn unit. i don't think there's any further need for convincing, at least not for me.

anyways, here she is, unaware of what's to come:

they eased her into her shots with an oral vaccine. notice the lack of interest she is displaying:

awww, so many shots for such a little baby:

her war wounds.

obviously, she had a good cry when all was said and done. the nurse was awesome and administered them SUPER fast so by the time she started crying for the first one, the other 2 were done. amazingly enough, i didn't cry! but i still felt horrible for my baby. i was expecting the ride home and the afternoon to be filled with a lethargic, cranky baby, but LW was a dream! however, later that night was another story. we went over to a friend's house for dinner and ended up having to leave early because she was so worked up. once we got home and stripped her down to her Huggies, we realized she was overheated. it had been a really hot day and of course, she already wasn't feeling herself. so i gave her a cool bath, she slept well, and was back to my wee babe the next morning! i guess those shots weren't so horrible after all ;)

Sugar Momma

ahh, the dreaded glucose tolerance test. it's every pregnant woman's nightmare. somehow, medicine hasn't advanced enough to do away with a test that requires a preggo to fast for 12 hours, then consume a crapload of sugar in 5 minutes, and get 3 blood draws over the course of 2 hours ( i can't imagine how fasting that long is good for baby!). luckily, i didn't have to do the 3 hour test or tack on another blood draw and an even more concentrated glucose drink. blech!

i was most afraid of the fasting portion of the test because i get HUNGRY and feel like i have to eat NOW. i scheduled the test for 8 in the morning and was hoping that it would be early enough that i wouldn't feel like i would die of hunger. i had cereal as late as i could the night before and it paid off. i got to the lab a little early and they took my first blood draw. then they handed over the goods: 10 ounces of Lemon Lime glucose drink in 75 mg.

mmmmm.... it looked deceivingly like sprite and actually didn't taste too different. just much more sugary. i downed it in 3 minutes and was on my way to the waiting room. i brought my iPad and ensured i had a movie on it to help pass the time. so i spent most of it watching the very appropriate Hunger Games!

i could definitely identify with Katniss and being hungry. although i must say that the glucose drink did a good job of coating my stomach so i felt pretty good. i didn't feel tired, jittery, or the wee babe go out of control on a sugar high at all- all things i've heard other people say.  the only downer was on my 2nd blood draw when the lab tech couldn't get a vein and jabbed me 3 times (quite painfully i might add) before resorting to taking blood from a vein in my hand.

after i finished, i treated myself to a egg sandwich at the Corner Bakery (hello protein! it never sounded so good) and went home to an amazing nap. unfortunately, i woke up with a huge bruise :(

i have about 2 surface veins total in my arms and since they didn't want to keep poking those they had to dig around for a new one. eww.

i think i'll find out next week if i passed and i'm praying i do! this is my last hoo-ray of the 2nd Trimester. after this week, hello 3rd Trimester!

4 Month Dr. Appointment

i had my 16 week appointment today and joined the packed waiting room with a little apprehension.

let me just take this moment to pontificate on waiting room etiquette. if it's otherwise completely quiet (and packed, i might add) then you shouldn't carry on a rather loud conversation with your neighbor. it's weird and annoying. and when someone is taken in to see the Dr. before you are, you should keep all your comments to yourself. and finally, when that person leaves the office and you are still in the waiting room yapping to your friend, you shouldn't sigh loudly, trying to make a point.  maybe you should have been a little more conscientious about your waiting room habits.  i'm just saying.

back to my appointment. since my last 12 week visit, i was expecting to start showing and maybe even feel Little Wood start moving. but my bod's just pudged a little and still no action in utero. i wasn't super worried. but i'm in a weird place, my morning sickness having subsided and still not feeling very pregnant. all that to say i could tell i would have a little bit of high blood pressure when going to the doctor, as i looked forward to hearing the heartbeat again.  it's not uncommon for me to experience this on a usual visit to the doctor, as i've been told i have "White Coat Syndrome" and tend to get nervous before appointments. i even have my own blood pressure cuff for home because a previous doctor thought i had a real issue at the age of 25 and made me take it at home. anyways, i digress.

after a quick pee in cup and 15 minutes of waiting, i got to spend my 6 minutes with the doctor.  and yay! we got to hear the heartbeat! it was still super fast and the doctor predicted a boy. we should be so lucky. and the good news is we will find out on the 19th for my ultrasound!  i'm so glad the hubby got to come again today and that he will make it for the ultrasound.

doctor, doctor, give me the news

i'd read that it was common practice for doctors not to see you for your first appointment until 8 weeks, but i was still a little bummed when my doctor did just that. i had to wait almost 3 weeks! in the meantime, did i act pregnant? how was i supposed to know what i was and wasn't supposed to eat? it seemed like it took forever for my appointment to arrive.

i didn't really have a ton of expectations for my first appointment, having never been to one, but i was still a little surprised at how uneventful it was. i'm so glad Dave was able to meet me, but felt bad when the dr. suggested i have a Pap smear! oops! sorry Dave, i bet you didn't plan to see that at my appointment! luckily he had a magazine to keep him company, even though it was still awkward for me. though i'm sure it won't nearly be as awkward as shoving a baby out my va-jayjay in February.

anyways, after the obligatory pee in a cup and the goody bag with some sweet pamphlets, i was nearly on my way. since i was only 8 weeks, the dr. couldn't find a heartbeat with the doppler, which didn't worry me.  then i was off to the lab to get poked and blood drawn and i was done! i walked away thinking, "am i really pregnant? no one told me so..." it was kind of weird.

i had my first ultrasound the next Wednesday which absolutely TERRIFIED me.  not because i was scared of the results but because i knew i would have to drink a TON of water and hold if for a prolonged period of time. if you know me, you know that if i have to pee, i have to go NOW. there is no holding it.  imagine my dread when i got to the office and they were running behind! i had to go a little, otherwise i was going to go a lot in the waiting room chair. it took the edge off but was still awful. then i got to see Little Wood and even heard the heartbeat for a smidge of a second! and i forgot how bad i had to go.  it was worth it.

my only other appointment was my 12 week and Dave and I both got to hear the heartbeat :) it was pretty awesome, and quite a weird feeling to know there really IS a baby in there. i'm really looking forward to feeling LW move around in there. sometimes it's hard to wait so long in between appointments when i'm not showing and can't feel much. i've heard i'm not far off now, and hope i will actually know it's the wee babe when it happens!