Jeremy at 3 months

My baby boy turned 3 months old on the 13th of June and i'm VERY late on this update.. He turned 4 months old yesterday and i'm a proud momma.

As you can see, big BIG smiles. Always got a smile for you, no matter how sleepy. And, you don't need to do much to make this little man laugh.

He grabs stuff like a pro and ofcourse, everything he grabs goes straight into his mouth. It's amazing how fast babies grow especially those first few months. He's found his feet earlier this month and plays with them all the time. Still sleeps through the night (6hours) loves his baths and is generally a very happy baby :)

On to month 4!!!!

Jeremy at 2 months

Jeremy turned 2 months old on the 13th of May (which was a while ago).

On the day he turned 2 months, we had to go in to the doctors office to get him his vaccination shots. He was happy until the first shot.. he cried for a max of 3 mins when he was getting his shots. No fever, no fussiness. He's such a trooper, my little man!

He started smiling in his first month, but through his second, those smiles got bigger and bigger! Random things amused him.. like, the ceiling above his changing table and the mobiles over his head on the bouncer and swing. He would stare at the ceiling while getting his diaper changed and laugh his little head off. So every time he'd get fussy, i'd put him on his changing table and that would just change his mood in an instant!

He loves looking at himself in the little mirror above his swing. Cracks him up!

All in all, awesome month. He is such an amazing kid, can't say it enough! He gives me a 6 hour break through the night, for which i am very grateful! So much better than having to wake up every 2 hours through the 24 hours in a day!

At his 2 month check he was 5.8Kgs and 23.3 inches tall.

Jeremy at 1 month old

Jeremy was born on the thirteenth of March, two thousand and thirteen. On the 14th afternoon we were cleared to leave the hospital. We got him dressed, put him in his car seat... Set him up in the car and on the way home, i couldn't stop looking at him and checking on him every 2 seconds.We got home and i went straight to the bassinet and put him in there and then i was like .. what now?

I did my reading and prepping for baby. I read about schedules and knew what i needed to do, but for the first few days, my mind was a blank. I was so exhausted. Between sleeping only an hour and a half the night before the 12th, not being able to sleep well all through the 12th (labour) and having a baby to take care of the 13th onwards i was pretty tired. I couldn't even tell time.. i didn't want to think. Just wanted to admire my newborn.

Day 02 had elevated levels of Jaundice and we had to take him back to the hospital to get his levels checked again and he ended up getting admitted for the Bili light treatment. Levels came down when he was checked in the morning so we got to leave that evening. He's such a trooper. He soon passed his birth weight and is growing at a furious pace!

It's amazing watching a newborn learn how to use his eyes. Learning how to focus both eyes on the same thing was scary and hilarious all at the same time :)

We had a lot of smiles, except they were just "gas" smiles. It's kinda scary though, when he'd smile for a split second and then go back to a very serious face. Towards the end of month 1 we got our first REAL smile. He looked straight in my eyes and smiled his wide toothless smile. My heart melted and i won't lie, i got a little teary there!

He is such an amazing baby. He was very calm and relaxed. Gave Joe and me such an easy time! When he was around a month old, he weighed around 4.5 Kgs and was 22inches tall.

It was exhausting, but amazing! It's scary how fast a baby grows. You blink and they're already hitting milestones!

                  J at 4 days old

        

My L&D story

This is for the ladies who asked. Some of it might be tmi so if you aren't into details (and believe you me, this one is full of details), you might not want to go any further :)

Normally, I hate needles and being poked and having blood drawn (which you'd think a pregnant woman would be used to.. But nope!). My hopes for labour were to go as natural as possible. I wanted to be on my feet till I needed to push and I knew I would be terribly upset if I had to have a c section. Of course if the situation called for it and if the doc seriously recommended it, I'd go with it, but I wouldn't be happy about it a single bit. Well, I didn't have the c section but I know for a fact that if I got a lazy doctor, I would have gotten a c section.. I'm so grateful that I had a great doc!

In my 38th week of pregnancy, we'd started trying to start things off, get the ball rolling. Nothing too drastic.. Just a lot of walking. Nothing seemed to be happening and It felt like this baby was a little too comfortable and didn't want to come out.. All I'd had up to that point was Braxton hicks.. strong but not regular and I was so desperate to just have my baby already!. 

On the 12th of March between 12:30am and 1:30am Joe and I went for a long walk (which I think started things off) and got back home.. Tried to get some sleep but I was in pain and didn't manage to sleep until about 4am which sucked, because my water broke an hour and a half later. I remember waking up to the feeling of a gush of water and I jumped out of bed, completely stunned and it didn't occur to me to do something about it.. I just stood there while the water kept coming out! Ofcourse, after that the contractions started off and they got pretty strong. I woke joe up immediately and we called the hospital and they told us to take our time, eat, relax and then come in. I had a shower, got ready and we left for the hospital. 

We got there at 7am. It took a while to get me hooked up and at 9am I was 2cms dilated with contractions 6mins apart and the baby was still high so they sent us for a one hour walk which helped us progress to 3cms and 80% effacement when they checked again at 11am. At that point, they said my blood pressure was borderline high every time they checked and were worried it would be pre-e so they stuck in the needle for an IV "just in case". They also said they were worried I wasn't progressing as expected, contractions weren't regular and they said I just might need to be put on pitocin, and that's where my dreams of an all natural labour and delivery crashed. But of course, had to go with the flow.. I'd prepared myself for something like this.

So at 12 we moved out of triage with all the screaming women and into a great room with a great view. Contractions were happening and I thought i was dealing pretty well.. The nurse came in and told us that they were putting me on pitocin (because the contractions weren't regular) I'd have 2 at a time, one immediately after the first and then a break. So they started pitocin at 12:15 at the lowest possible level - 2 and pulled the dose up to 4 a half hour later. At this point, my blood pressure was normal.

Now, I'd read about pitocin and knew something about it making contractions worse than what they are naturally and when asked about the epidural (which I initially thought I'd try without) I tried to stay strong. Well, that didn't last long. Lol. Luckily for me, they told me the doc that did the epidurals had just finished a procedure and was going to be available in a bit and asked again if I wanted it, I said 'heck yeah!'

So we got the epi in at 2:15 and it was the best feeling ever! Felt high for the first few minutes or so and I shivered for a while. I didn't feel the contraction pain, but LOTS of pressure.. And I could still move my legs consciously.

After an hour of monitoring the baby's heart rate and the contractions, the nurse came in and told me the baby didn't seem to be handling either the pitocin or the contractions very well. His heart rate was high. So they shut down the pitocin at 3:15 and switched it back on a half hour later.. their idea was to slowly increase the dose and hopefully the baby would just get used to it. They also had me change positions which seemed to help.

Now the epidural was still working, but not as effectively (or maybe after that intense pain, having the relief made a BIG difference.. which i'd gotten used to). The pressure seems to be getting ridiculously intense and I totally forgot about the epi top up button. So I laboured like this till 7pm when they checked again and I was at 6 or 7 and was 90% effaced. The nurse reminded me about the top up button and I went the next few hours pressing the button every 15 mins (doesn't work before the 15 mins since the last top up so you don't overdose on the medication). It helped dull the pain a lot. At 9:15 I was at 8cms. That's when they realized I had a fever. This changed things because they were worried about infections. They waited 2 hours to see if it went down, but it didn't so I had 3 Tylenol tablets and tons of ice chips and cold wet tissue on my head and neck, trying to get the temperature down.

At 12am on the 13th of march, I was at 9cms and an hour later the nurse said my temperature was dropping and we could start pushing in another hour. At 2am after another check, my contractions were so intense but still irregular so the doc wanted to wait yet another hour before pushing to see if they get a little more regular (which they didn't). So at 3:15am we started pushing anyway. Took a bit to get the hang of things but I when I got it, we did some effective pushing. But with the contractions being as irregular as they were, I'd push hard and the baby would come closer to crowning and when there was a break from contractions, he would slowly slip back in and all the hard work would hardly matter.. But we powered through and kept pushing. Eventually, the baby did start crowning and they said I needed an episiotomy. Got it at 4:30 and my baby boy, Jeremy Was born at 4:35!

He was silent till Joe cut the cord and almost immediately, we got to hear that tiny little voice that we'd been waiting SO long to hear.. *sigh* Tears :')

Joe was the first to hold him. Then I got to hold him and admire him (which was slightly hard with the distraction of being stitched up!) I felt every single stitch. Yep, thats how weak the epi was for me!

Not much went as I'd hoped and I had a very eventful labour.. way too much happening. But many people told me to keep an open mind and at our prenatal class, I heard the most important thing a pregnant woman should know about labour and delivery - That no two labours are the same and how well it goes for you totally depends on how you work with what you are dealt.

And at the end of it, you're  left with the aftermath of giving birth (which normally isn't much from what I hear for natural births, but it wasn't as smooth for me) , but more importantly, the reason you went through all that pain - a gorgeous baby!

I thought all newborn babies looked like potatoes but the second I saw Jeremy, after he was pulled out, I was so amazed at how gorgeous he was! All i could say was 'omg, he's beautiful!!'.. Beautiful memories!!

Meet Jeremy

It's been twenty three days today since we first met our beautiful little baby boy, and the most amazing twenty three days at that.

Labour started on the 12th morning (3 days before our official due date) at 5:30am when my water broke and 23 hours later we welcomed little Jeremy Ashish George into the world. He was born at 4:35am on March 13th 2013 at 3.5 Kgs, 21 inches long and came out with a head full of jet black hair :)

Our first time holding him was beautiful.. Watching him watch us... And he is a very talkative baby, has the cutest little voice :)

We were discharged from the hospital on the 14th evening but had to go back to check on his jaundice levels the next day. Unfortunately, it went up so he was admitted.. Poor baby had to spent about 12 hours under the light.. his jaundice went down and he was discharged the next evening. Since then, he's passed his birth weight and is doing great :)

He is as amazing as he is cute and were head over heels in love with him. 23 days jus flew by and I've enjoyed them so much even through the exhaustion.. Of course it helps that I have the greatest husband on earth :)

I now totally get what people meant when they said 'enjoy your sleep while you can' :)

Almost there!

We're almost at the end! 38 weeks down, 2 to go.

I was hoping the little guy would want to make an early appearance (considering 37 weeks onwards, you're considered full term and baby's just putting on weight then onwards).

All i can report for now is Braxton hicks which are getting more frequent and slightly more intense (not painful yet). Doctors appointments are weekly now and he says everything looks good, but i was hoping next week to check for dilation and effacement (i'd be really disappointed if i haven't progressed at all).

Baby's doing great. Just chilling.. surprisingly active, for the amount of space he has in there.. Of course, those little kicks and punches are pretty painful these days.. I'm getting beat up from the inside. But i've gotta say, after he is born, i'm going to miss the kicks, punches and hiccups and watching my belly move around and shift shapes.

I'm pretty anxious to have him in my arms and having baby stuff lying around the house isn't helping! Ahhh, hopefully, this week.

Hospital bag all ready and sitting right by my bed in case I think of something else that needs to go in.

Hopefully i'll have big news next week!

2013. So far, so good.

It's the new year! I'm pretty ecstatic! This one's going to be super special :)

Last year was a long year. We had SO much happen in just a year.. Started off not so great, but we got past it and the rest of the year went pretty smooth. We had a great year in Chennai, India. A beautiful peaceful home, great jobs that we enjoyed and great friends, an anniversary celebration that i will remember for the rest of my life.. then the big move, to the other side of the world, finding out we're expecting our little guy and 7 amazing months of being pregnant - hearing his heartbeat, feeling the little guy kick for the first time, the hiccups, feeling him grow over time and just being so amazed at him and what he's gone through so far... so incredibly proud of him already! Falling deeper in love with my amazing husband, getting to spend so much time with him (now that i'm working from home).

2012 went out well. We had a great Christmas and New Years. Spent some time with some amazing families, had some good food and we brought the New year in at Church (after an amazing international dessert buffet, Mmmm!)

The new year started off nice and quiet, peaceful.. with lots of snow. Then came my 26th birthday and we had a nice small celebration at home [just the two of us] and i got the awesomest birthday gift ever - A Nikon D3200! Waiting for my little JayBug to get here. He's going to be the perfect model!

Tomorrow we sign up at the hospital and we have a ton to do before the baby gets here. So i'm expecting the next 2 months to be CRAZY!

I'm SO looking forward to seeing our little JayBug for the first time, smelling his head and kissing him and enjoying being his mommy. Sigh. March, you seriously need to speed it up! So yeah, LOTS to look forward to in 2013 and we couldn't be happier. My new years resolution is to treasure each and every minute of this year.

I hope you guys have a great 2013 too! You owe it to yourselves - you survived the end of the world :)

ANNOUNCEMENT *Drum Roll*

After i created this blog, i'd been itching to say something about what i'd been going through for a while now, but decided not to because Joe and I decided to keep the secret for as long as we could hold onto it..which wasn't too long. We broke the news finally mid december and the news is.. We're expecting!

That's right.. We have our little JayBug on the way and we're as excited as we're nervous. Found out at 5 weeks and we're in our 28th week now. In our last ultrasound at 18 weeks, we found out we're having a boy!

This is a picture of two ultrasounds. The one on the left was in the 12th week and the one on the right in the 18th week. And the next pic is the bump weeks 19-27.

It's been a very typical pregnancy so far. I've had my share of discomforts.. I'd been terribly nauseous and threw up multiple times every day from week 6-17 which was the worst. Then the aches and pains related to the big belly, trouble breathing, tough time sleeping or getting hardly any sleep because of the terrible pain from having my organs all squished up and so much more! But honestly, if i had it extremely smooth, i would have worried more. And i have an amazing husband who's been there for me through it all. The nausea, all the back rubs and massages... No matter what time i needed them.. I love my man!

And, it's been easy to overlook all the pain and discomfort (so far) because there's so much more to be excited about. I started feeling the little guy mid 17 weeks and that was one of the most amazing days of my life. It was the day I had to go in for my first OB appointment and i was sitting waiting for the bus and i felt a few little pops in my belly and i did wonder if that could be him. Later that evening, Joe took me out for a movie and i felt the same thing over and over again and i just knew it was my little JayBug. Best feeling ever! And then when I started feeling his hiccups, i'd wake up to these little twitches in my belly and it was amazing.. just knowing he was alright. My favourite thing to do of late, is sit back and watch the belly jump around and imagine the tiny little feet and hands and fingers.. the beautiful eyes.. the little belly. Sigh. He's already so perfect!

In about 11 weeks i get to hold the little guy, admire him, love him and enjoy being his mommy. March can't come soon enough!

Reality Television

It's no secret. Reality television has been pushed as far as it could possible have been and now they're going overboard!

Ever watched the series called 'Cheapskates' ? It's about people who cut as many corners as possible to save a few pennies. I do understand that some people have it hard sometimes and may need to make some cuts, but these people really can surprise you! I watched a few episodes. From the lady who is a 'millionaire' but goes dumpster diving for food and dessert and roams a small 'forest' for leaves and berries that she can cook for her family's sunday lunch (and at the end, she gifts her boyfriend a vaccum cleaner that she picked out of the garbage). To another lady that washes clothes in her bath water and the guy who flushes only one day in a week buys clothes and saves the tag so he can return them later on. Gross.

Then there's the series that i just saw called 'Couples Therapy' where a few couples (celebrities) are trying to fix their marriages (or relationships). I managed to watch about 10 minutes.. I really don't get it. The guy decides to (or has to) plan a little romantic date for him and his wife and he choses to take her for a horse ride in the afternoon and she's annoyed because he didn't tell her that they'd be in the sun and didn't tell her to get sun tan or a hat and they call the date off and they're frustrated and she's emotional.. And another couple, all the woman wants the man to do is to give up alcohol and he refuses. If alcohol was not doing your marriage any good, would you not give it up to save your marriage? Seriously! Immaturity.

I've only been married for 2 years and 9 months (been with my man for a little over 7 years so far)... and i'm not saying i know everything, but i've seen some dysfunctional relationships and what i've learnt from that is, theres no other way than to be mature and to be an adult. Easier said that done, i know. But I live a simple life and i love it. No drama here.

Apparantly 'Honey Boo Boo Child' is out with a show now. Doesn't the family understand that people are laughing at them. I feel bad for them. Sure they're richer now, but they're being humiliated. And don't even get me started on 'The Real Housewives' series.

It's amazing what people would do for money!

Though, there are some reality shows that i do find interesting. Like 'Wife Swap', 'Mystery Diagnosis'... And of course, shows like 'Extreme Makeover : Home Edition' where  a deserving family get million dollar home and the builders go all out!

There are also these series that follow a family through their everyday lives - 'Jon and Kate plus 8' and '19 kids and counting'.

It's kinda weird.. I'd started following a channel on youtube called 'It's Judy's Life' basically because i followed her beauty channel and noticed she was pregnant.. So to follow her pregnancy and see the baby when she was finally born, i followed her for a month. And now i'm noticing the amount of vloggers on youtube that post clips from their everyday life and the amount of views they get which means people (including me) take time out of their lives to listen to what time they woke up, what they ate, what they did through the afternoon and what they're doing for dinner (with loads of boring conversation in between). Seriously, how bored are we!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving and i've never thought about putting into words what i'm thankful for, but here i go!

(It's 3 am but off the top of my head..)

What i'm most thankful for is my amazing man. We are two very normal people with an amazing connection. He is my rock, and has been ever since we met - the 20th of August 2005. He's given me the most amazing memories i'll ever have (and we still have SO much more of life to go through).
He's the talker and i'm the listener. One thing most people don't know about him is he has an amazing country voice, makes me melt. He tells me he loves me everyday and i get a million bear hugs and kisses everyday... I might have to ask for them sometimes, but i never go a day without them! (I'm a big hug person). He's given me the biggest gift in life!

Ofcourse, My Family.... My sister, an amazing person and generally my best friend. Wasn't this way when we were kids (man we fought). But she's always stuck up for all her younger siblings and if someone ever picked on us, she'd "Give 'em HELL!". My little brothers, who don't call/mail as often as they should, but i forgive them, because i love them little monkeys. And my parents for bringing me into this world.

Our life in Chennai. Lived there for 2 years and I loved most of it. Met some amazing people, had a great job (got to work along side some awesome people). But life goes on.. New opportunities open up. We moved on to the next step.

The year off (technically - i work from home now). We moved to Canada recently and it's been amazing so far. I'm as far away from stress as possible and totally loving it.

The amazing people i've met along the way and gotten to know, i'm thankful for them all!

And, Life.. in general. It's not perfect, but it's beautiful!!