Baby Bit is Here!!

Please join in our excitement as we welcome Jackson Miles into our family. Jackson was born at home on February 7th at 4:55 am weighing in at 9 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 20.5 inches long. Both his Mamas are utterly in love.

Do we stay or do we go?

We have debating a lot about do we spend these last couple weeks at home resting or do we take advantage of this time and spend as much of it as we can out doing things. Every time we go out somewhere we catch ourselves looking around wondering if it will be the last time we are there for a while. We’ve been keeping pretty busy doing stuff with friends, having dinners for two at restaurants, and just taking advantage of the freedom of being able to easily go out. Along with the fun though we have also tried to stay on task with finishing up our to do list.

Speaking of which, we did an infant CPR class over the weekend. I was surprised at how jarring it was to push down so hard on a little baby’s chest (even if it was just a doll). I can’t imagine ever having to do that to a real infant, it almost makes me sick thinking about it. At least no we feel prepared that if something does happen we have the tools in our back pocket to do something about it.

The rest of the week is full of fun friend activities. We’re having a bunch of people over tomorrow to watch LOST, a friend’s birthday happy hour and a baby shower this weekend. All of these things help distract from the number of days we are away from our due date. I hope we don’t regret not spending more time at home and just resting.

Percentages

It seems like eons ago and just yesterday that we got the call from the RE's office telling us of Bit's existence. Now here we are impatiently waiting for his/her arrival. It's weird how this part of pregnancy is filled with so many conflicting feelings like excitement vs. terror.

As each day passes and Bit's appearance in the world comes closer, the excitement percentage seems to go down as the terror percentage rises. I think that's why Amy and I are doing so well at getting our to do list done. It's something we have control over, something that we know and can manage. Bit's birth is something that is beyond our control and experience, it's scary to have to just go along for the ride rather than be the driver. I think that might be one of many lingering scars left over from our struggles TTC. Almost everything was so regimented. How much Follistim we inject, what our levels are, when we trigger, how many DPO we are. All of these things are concrete and certain. To go from that to this free floating unanswerable place is a bit jarring.

Everyone keeps saying that part of the reason sleeping for me has become nonexistent is because it's my body's way of prepping for the sleepless nights with a baby. I guess I should look at these terror feelings as preparation as well. Something I should embrace rather than try and fight. Maybe doing this will help change out the percentages and I'll get back more of the excitement.

Babies and Dogs Class

Last week I attended a Babies and Dogs class. There was some interesting information I thought I would share with you fine people.

1. Your dog knows you're pregnant
Campbell has not shown any change in behavior so I'm a bit skeptical of this one. I have heard of animals being clingier, but Cam just cares that he is getting food. They also said that dogs don't really associate the difference between people/dogs and that they will just think of your baby as a new member of the pack and because of this it's important that before baby comes home that you establish yourself as the pack leader.

2. Dogs go through a pattern of aggression
When dogs get mad they all go through the same pattern before you get to biting stage. First the curl their lip, then they growl, then they open mouth slap (have their mouth open and bop the other person or animal in the face and then finally they bite.) Dogs rarely ever go directly to biting. They said you should be aware of the lip curl and growl stage so that you can end a situation before it gets bad. Also, you shouldn't reprimand the dog for doing these signs because you want them to warn you.

This is helpful to me because when Cam has a bone Fern (the cat) will always come up to him and sniff what he's got. This basically pisses Cam off and he curls his lip and growls at her. Before class my instinct was to reprimand Campbell for being aggressive with Fern but I was taught that we should reprimand Fern and remove her from the situation because Campbell isn't doing anything wrong and that we was actually being good for sending out warnings.

3. Territory
Food:
We've always fed Campbell after we've eaten to mimic in the wild that the alpha dog eats first. But we've always been feeding him in the same spot. The recommended changing up the time and place you feed your dog to reinforce that you are in control of their food. We'll this has totally thrown Campbell for a loop. Each night we put his food bowl down somewhere int he house for him to eat dinner. Each night he goes back to the spot where he used to always eat dinner looking at us like we are weird. He eventually will go eat his food but always checks back to his old spot.

Sleep:
Same thing with the sleep as with food. You should move the dogs sleeping spot around so that they don't get territorial over a certain spot in the house. The funny thing is I always thought Cam associated us saying "Go to your house" with his dog bed. But when we moved his bed to the other side of our bedroom and told him to go to his house he ran to the spot where his dog bed usually is.

3. Before baby comes
Start prepping your animals for the changes that will start to happen in your house. If you have a baby swing or bouncy chair leave it out in the living room and sometimes turn it on so your pets get used to the sound and the motion. Leave a diaper out so your dog can get used to the smell and use the baby lotions and washed you have bought so the smells will become normal in your home.

4. Introduction:
They basically said to make it as big of a non event as possible. For those having a baby out of the home they suggested the partner coming home with a piece of clothing the baby has worn or a rag/blanket that the baby has been wiped down with. Before coming home your significant other needs to come home with this material. If you have a bigger dog walk in with the item in your pocket and for a smaller dog stuff it in your sock. Then walk in as you normally do, don't draw attention to the item just walk around so the dog will associate this new scent with you.

When you do get home show the dog the baby and just kind of go on with your routine. The key is to make the baby coming into the home a non-event.

Basically all the stuff learned in class was instruction on how to make the dog see you as the master so that when baby enters the home they behave the way you want them to.

Bit's Nursery

Here's Bit's nursery. The bizzare contraption above the crib is a tent to keep our cats out. They've tried many times in multiple ways to take a nap inside but it's worked like a charm and they've been denied each and every time. The circles on the wall are stickers that we can remove and put up again if we ever move. Only a couple more small additions and we're done!!