Three Months Old

Currently: 
13lbs
23 iches

Likes: 
Sleeping on my chest
Drooling
Baby Einstein Jumper
Pulling blankets over your face and then off

Dislikes: 
Itchy skin due to eczema
Naps

Sleep: 
You still don't like sleeping during the day, unless we're in the car or if I'm walking around. You like to eat every 3 hours at night, sometimes you'll go 4 hours!




Best Moments: 
Starting to hold up your giant head!!!
Standing up

Worst Moments:
Battling cradle cap and eczema
Scratching your head, making it bleed

Favourite Pictures:

Privacy?

All pregnancies, labours, and deliveries are different, furthermore a woman's view on said things can also vary. Personally, I'm a somewhat private person on Facebook. I will share photos and little updates, but I don't post every last detail of my day. My initial plan was to announce my pregnancy near the very end in a joking way, but that didn't work out. So, I came up with a new plan to just embrace my pregnancy and take pictures of my magically growing belly and I'm happy that I chose to do that. However, I knew that I wasn't going to notify the Facebook world when I was in labour, although I did post a hint when my water broke ("Well, that was gross..."). Maybe I'm a weirdo, but labour was a pretty personal experience for me. I didn't want to be bombarded with comments/messages let alone be on Facebook. Actually, I was texting a friend when my labour started and I completely forgot to reply when the contractions started to kick my ass. I put my phone in my housecoat pocket and it stayed there until my sister retrieved it to take a photo of Baby T shortly after his birth.

Also, I told the people that watched me give birth that I didn't want anyone to post anything on Facebook. They were more than welcome to take photos, but couldn't share them until I had officially announced his birth (which I did 4.5 hours later). I also kept his name a secret, but that was for slightly different reasons... which may be turned into a blog post. Anyways, I had a short list of people that I wanted my mom or sister to text once he was born, but that was it. Elisha, my best friend in Regina, was top of the list!

So, what would you consider to be over share? Personally, I think notifying Facebook about your contractions, water breaking, and intense labour is over share. For me, that was a super private experience that I didn't want people to know about. In the end, I'm so glad I did it this way. I was bombarded with "congratulations" and such afterwards, but I didn't feel overwhelmed. I got to enjoy my labour and delivery without having Facebook or any social media on my mind and it was refreshing. Although, I did post an update a day later about my labour&delivery and why I was still in the hospital (and yes, some people actually asked me that).

Boy Vs Girl

I was dead-set on wanting a girl. I would only look through the girl sections in baby stores and only picked out a name for a girl. I always referred to my unborn babe as "she" and never "it". I was never a fan of pink, so I imagined having this beautiful baby dressed in different shades of purple and lots of bows. I envisioned a beautiful cherry oak crib with purple flowery bedding. She would be a mini-me!

One thing about pregnancy that I enjoyed was that the dreams I had were bizarre, but this one was just crazy. I was around 12 or 13 weeks along when I had a dream that everything was blue and I mean literally everything. I don't really remember if there was substance to the dream or not, all I remember is waking up and thinking "ugh, I'm having a boy..." but I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind and continued visualizing my little baby girl in her purple room and all of her cute purple tutus and polka-dot bows in her hair. There was nothing else I could do until my 19 week ultrasound, but I was content.

Finally the day arrived, July 10th. My appointment was in the afternoon, but I was wide awake at 7am. I was so anxious, I just wanted to find out for sure. I picked my momma up from work and off we went. I hated sitting in those uncomfortable chairs waiting for my name to be called, it was worse than lying awake at 7am. Eventually I heard it, "Michelle Johnson? Follow me." I was on the table impatiently waiting for her to apply the warm gel and get to it! Within seconds I saw my baby's gender. I said outloud "oh my god, it's a boy!" and she quickly said "No, no that was the umbilical cord" which I knew was bullshit. The rest of his ultrasound went well, he was measuring average, had a strong heartbeat, good kidneys, and so on... my son. I kept repeating it in my head every time she said "it".

I immediately called my dad to tell him the news, but he was out grocery shopping so I told my sister. I said it for the first time out loud... "I'm having a boy..." and tears started streaming down my face. Why am I crying? Am I disappointed? Sad? Nope. I was happy. Scared, but happy. A baby is a blessing, but I was scared about raising a boy without the dad. I don't know anything about boys, how am I going to raise him? How will he learn to aim his pee? So silly, but it's the little things that you don't really think about. Of course, I knew it wasn't "official", but I received an email from my midwife the following day at 2:06 pm confirming what I already knew... "IT'S A BOY!"

It took some time for me to reroute my thinking and the best way to do that, in my opinion, was finding a name. My sister came over and we started looking up names (thanks google!). I can't really explain it, but I knew I wanted a 'T' name. We tried a few different websites, but nothing was popping out. I've always had an obsession with Finland, so we looked up 'T' Finish names and found Taavvi. I really liked it, but it just didn't sit right. I knew it would be constantly misspelled and mispronounced, so we moved on. My sister went to a different website and scrolled down to the 'Ty' names. That's when things started rolling for me. There it was, the last name on the page... Tyrus. I said it out loud a few times and it felt right, it rolled off the tongue perfectly, and it stuck. That would be his name, I just knew it! Plus, I wanted to name him after my brother and Tyrus James just sounds so good together! My future basketball player.

After the news set in I realized the most exciting thing was that I could now start shopping... and so it began!

They Don't Tell You Everything

I never planned on having kids. In fact, I used to tell anyone and everyone that I would be the best aunty ever, but didn't want to be a mom. Clearly, things changed. I figured I could handle pregnancy, many women do it and it didn't seem too difficult. I have a few friends that recently had babies, so I figured I'd be able to get a good grasp on what I was in for... boy was I wrong! No one tells you things straight up anymore. I'm sick of that sugar coating shit. I want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I thought I'd have this beautiful growing bump and the pregnancy glow. I thought I'd have the best 40 weeks of my life (or in my case, one day shy of 39 weeks). I was under the impression that pregnant women have the best sleep, especially if you're not working. I was told to take advantage of any and all napping opportunities and figured it was because the sleep was so good. I knew that pregnancy was uncomfortable near the end and that I'd have a waddle and have to pee a lot... that's about all I was prepared for, kind of.

Now, I know all pregnancies are different, but come on! I didn't know that I'd have to pee all of the time in my first trimester. I'm talking middle of the night and sometimes TWICE a night! I figured that would only happen towards the end of the pregnancy. I also didn't know that you only really sleep during your second trimester, and boy was that the best time of my life! Instead of feeling beautiful, I felt fat for half of my pregnancy. That pregnancy glow everyone talks about? Yeah, never happened for me.

13 weeks - 24 weeks

My belly didn't really "pop" until I was 20 weeks along and that's when people started asking about my pregnancy, they also commented on how exhausted I must be (I'm assuming because I always looked tired).

I also didn't realize how exhausted I would be towards the end. Making my bed felt like I ran a marathon and taking a shower was like a triathlon. especially when I shaved my legs! And all of that napping? Apparently it's because sleeping for long periods of time becomes a thing of the past. I would have to wake up every time I needed to roll over and I might as well get up and pee during that time, too.

35 weeks

Lastly, the two things people don't fully warn you about pregnancy are the creepy veins due to increased blood flow and pregnancy brain. I actually ended up taking a few pictures of my crazy veins. The ones I hated the most were the ones in my hands. The ones on my belly were kind of cool. Now, pregnancy brain is not so cool. The worst thing I did during my pregnancy was lock my keys in the car. Yes, it's something that many people do, but I didn't even leave my car. I got out to buy something from someone and brainlessly locked the doors and it slowly closed shut. Not cool!


I also didn't enjoy the swollen feet, but I was lucky to only have that happen a few times! It's a damn good thing pregnancy is totally worth it in the end, I sure love my baby!

What's Exhaustion?!

I went to a girls night lastnight with a few other momma's and had a blast! I drank tequila (my favourite), a little vodka, and ate a lot of delicious food! It was so very needed, but it sure takes a lot of preparation to go out and have a few drinks.

Firstly, I had to research drinking alcohol while breast feeding. I ended up finding this awesome chart* that breaks down the timeline of alcohol in the bloodstream by the amount of drinks consumed and your weight. I didn't read that 1.5 ounces is considered one drink, so I think I gave myself a little more time than necessary, but that's never a bad thing.

Secondly, I had to make sure I had plenty of boobie milk in the freezer (over 40 ounces, more than enough). I also pumped a fresh bottle before leaving, but neglected to bring my pump to the party (thankfully Janene brought hers!!!). I also read that drinking can lower milk production, so I've been taking Fenukgreek religiously, especially when I know I'm going to be drinking.

Lastly, I had to find a babysitter for Baby T... oh wait, I live with my momma so really, all I had to do was smile pretty and give her the babe. I did have to bribe her a little, but she's pretty easy. A bottle of coke and she was happy.

Thankfully it was a casual party, so I could wear my comfortable leggings. Throw on some makeup, brush my hair, and now I'm all ready for the party! I guess that wasn't too much preparation, but the boobie stuff takes a lot of time.

In the end, I came home with a good buzz and silly memories running through my head. I thawed babe some milk, warmed up the bottle, and to bed we went! I remember alcohol induced sleep, it was heavy and wonderful... it's not the same when you're a mom with a 10 week old baby.

How did the rest of my night go, you ask? Well, I gave him a bottle and then had to wrestle him to sleep, that took me an hour. Then, he jolted me awake two hours later at 4:30am demanding more milk, so I went to the kitchen, warmed him a bottle, and slumped back to our room. He guzzled down the bottle, I rocked him back to sleep, and then drifted off to dreamland myself, only to be rudely awoken at 6:00am by his restlessness. I had my alarm set for 7:00am, but apparently he couldn't wait.

Now, there I was with only 3.5 hours of sleep, warming up another bottle and running around trying to get ourselves organized because we had to drive to Nanaimo to visit my best friend, who was visiting from Regina. I thought I'd be able to manage this day, but I really learned what exhaustion truly means by the very end. It was 7:00pm, I was just passing the Shawnigan turn-off on the Malahat and Tyrus decided to wake up and scream. I pulled over to see if he just wanted his soother, but he didn't. I considered feeding him, but it was starting to snow and I wasn't going to risk it, so he screamed for the next half an hour. I had no patiences left. I was done, totally and completely done.

Thankfully, we both survived and I still love him to pieces. I'm not sure if I'll do that ever again...




*Alcohol Consumption Chart