Before and After

BEFORE BABY



AFTER BABY

Starting solids 101

We've been feeding Nathan cereal for just over a week now and we gave him some banana last night.

Lessons learned so far.






1. Don't give baby his first ever bite of fruit an hour before bedtime.... sugar rush!
2. Make sure baby has his own spoon or he will endlessly try to grab yours.
3. Don't stop to take pictures or baby will move onto eating foot and lose interest in food.

On being pregnant

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that Nathan was once in my belly. That a human being literally grew inside my body! Some women hate being pregnant, some are indifferent and I fall into the third category – I loved it.

I was lucky to have a fairly easy pregnancy. Of course I could have gone without the first trimester – I was tired, dizzy and nauseous all the time. Living in NYC, I was used to walking everywhere and suddenly I couldn’t go a few blocks without having to stop and rest, or put my head between my legs. And the worst part is that nobody knew I was pregnant so I had to pretend I felt fine.

The second trimester was fun. I was starting to actually look pregnant (instead of just looking like I had finished the biggest meal of my life) but I felt great. The morning sickness was gone and I could actually talk to people about the pregnancy because we announced it to friends and family at 14 weeks. And the bigger my belly got, the more I loved being pregnant. Let’s face it, people are nice to pregnant women! I always got a seat on the subway. People told me I was glowing. And I got to buy a whole new wardrobe to fit my ever growing belly :) And the absolute best part… you start to feel the baby move around. Tiny little flutters that at first make you think “Maybe that was the baby?” turned into tiny jabs and kicks and you know “There is someone in there!!”

The third trimester was crazy. I was getting ENORMOUS! I had to pee all the time. I could barely get out of bed. I could never get comfortable. But it was so surreal and there were so many “If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry” moments that I look back at now and still laugh. I remember staring at my belly, not able to remember what I had once looked like without it. I would tell Will “I can’t imagine not having this gigantic belly!” But now I can’t really remember what it felt like to have it all that time.

There was one night where I got sad that my pregnancy was coming to an end. I remember thinking how strange it would be to no longer feel “Flipper” inside my belly. We had spent every single moment together for the past 40 weeks and I was going to miss resting my hand on my belly feeling him move around, selfishly enjoying that I had him all to myself. But Will very quickly pointed out “If you love feeling him move around inside your belly so much, just wait until you can see him and hold him!” And of course, he was right.

While I loved being pregnant, all good things come to an end and this end was so rewarding. Seeing Nathan for the first time and holding him was by far better than any of my favorite pregnant moments. And being able to have a glass of wine at night is great too!

Bon appetit

Nathan had his very first bite of real food last night! Well... if you consider watery, baby rice cereal real food. I dipped my finger in the bowl and took a taste, it pretty much tastes like cold, watery oatmeal. I wasn't too impressed.

I'm not sure Nathan was a big fan either because most of it just got pushed back out of his mouth, accompanied with a look of disgust. After 5 months of only nursing or bottle feeding, he also seemed confused as to why Mommy kept trying to shove a weird stick in his mouth over and over.



But once he gets comfortable with the spoon in his mouth and understands how to move the food around and swallow it, we can move onto the fun stuff like bananas and avocado!

In honor of Labor Day, a recap of my labor

Friday, April 9th
My due date comes and goes. My doctor tells me to enjoy the weekend but to plan on coming in Tuesday night to be induced.

Sunday, April 11th
7:00 pm - Walking, sex, spicy food.... hoping one of the old wives tales will work

11:00 pm - Go to bed

11:25 pm - Something worked, my water breaks and wakes me up

11:26 pm - I go into panic mode!

Monday, April 12th
12:00 am - Talk to the on call doctor at the hospital, she tells me to come in so I can be checked

12:30 am - Will and I head to the 24 hour pharmacy at the corner to buy sanitary pads as I am officially a leaking faucet.

12:35 am - 24 hour pharmacy is closed! Yellow caution tape, nobody allowed in. (Still to this day have no idea what happened in there but of course it happened the one time we needed to take advantage of the 24 hour aspect!)

12:40 am - I head home, unable to keep a straight face as I am basically peeing my pants in public, continuously. Will heads to the next closest pharmacy, 3 blocks away

12:50 am - Will calls to tell me "There are a million different kinds, what do I get?" I reply "The biggest, fattest ones you can find - look for words like Overnight, Heavy and Maximum"



2:00 am - We leave our apartment for the last time as a couple and catch a cab and head to the hospital 12 blocks away

2:30 am - Admitted into hospital - start to feel slight contractions

4:00 am - OH MY GOD, WORST PAIN I HAVE EVER FELT IN MY ENTIRE LIFE, ASK TO BE CHECKED


4:10 am - Only 1 cm?!?! Do I want an epidural? YES!!!!

THE NEXT 3 HOURS - WAIT FOR EPIDURAL. PAIN IS SO BAD - WHY DO WOMEN CHOOSE TO DO THIS DRUG FREE?!?! LET'S JUST CANCEL THE BABY AND CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF - NOT SURE HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS I CAN TAKE - NURSES KEEP TELLING ME THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST IS ON HIS WAY - HE'S NEVER COMING, OH MY GOD, HE'S NEVER COMING, KILL ME. KILL ME NOW

7:00 am - Anesthesia comes, epidural is administered

7:01 am - Happy as a clam

THE NEXT 11 HOURS, I WATCH TV, TEXT MY BROTHER AND SISTERS, TALK TO MY PARENTS ON THE PHONE. LIFE IS GOOD.

2:30 pm - Grandparents arrive, come up and say hi before heading to the waiting room to await the birth of their granddaughter or grandson

5:30 pm - Time to push.... This is crazy, I can't believe I'm pushing a baby out! Oh my god, I can't push anymore.

6:01 pm - Welcome Nathan Bradley!

Another day, another bottle

Appreciating the simple things in life

Nothing makes Nathan laugh more than when Will raises him up in the air, high above his head. Or blowing a raspberry on his bare belly. I know I can always snap him out of a crying fit just by singing I'm a Little Teapot. And when we walk over to his crib in the morning and he sees us for the first time, he always greets us with a big, gummy smile, even on Monday mornings.

Babies truly enjoy the simple things in life and one of the best gifts they offer us is being able to see the world through their eyes. They don't care how much money we have. Or what neighborhood we live in. Or how fancy their toys are.

Case in point - our apartment is filled with more toys than I'd like to admit, yet Nathan's favorite "toys" these days are:

1. Crinkly tissue paper
2. His toes