Splitting Hairs

Perhaps it is the time of year...even though I've been out of school for 8 years now (whoa), I still always get that nervous stomach at back-to-school time. I think for everyone it brings a time when you want to start fresh and make some changes. I always remember when I was little doing our back to school shopping and getting a new wardrobe. I thought it was interesting that I've lately seen several people posting about haircuts. I think it's my back-to-school self, but I too had been lately pondering making a change. The biggest hurdle is that I'm a mom now...and I don't want mom hair. But isn't that what it is when you cut your hair after you have a kid? Even if it looks good, it's like, "Oh, she had to get a mom cut." Am I right??

Anywho...my long hair has been annoying me lately. It's so thick that it's like wearing a blanket on my head. Not so much fun in this exceptionally hot summer. And just in the past couple of days, Lainey has started grabbing a fistful of it (usually when she's in a gassy rage and so she's not very gentle). It's not like I do anything with it...I either wear it down or pull it all up. I've never been great at fixing hair. Plus, it takes like 10-15 minutes to dry my hair (and yes, blow drying is necessary...you don't want to see the frizzy wavy mess it looks like when it air dries!). That is some valuable extra sleep time in the morning people. Also, I have been thinking for awhile about donating it to Locks of Love if I cut enough off since it's not been colored or anything and is super healthy after nearly a year of prenatals.

So it sounds like I'm all convinced, right? Well, not completely. I know it's dumb but I'm a little afraid to cut my hair because I'm 30. I mean, I'm not getting any younger and I probably won't ever have long hair again after this if I cut it. So do I hang on to it as a symbol of my fleeting youth? (Again, scared of "mom hair".)

Help me out blog people. Should I cut it or not? If so, how much? Bangs? Bob? Suggestions please!! :)

Growing like a weed...

...but as pretty as a flower!



Lainey had her one month doctor's appointment this week. She now weighs 9 lbs, 4 oz and is 22.5" long! That is quite a lot of growth and the doctor was extremely impressed. Guess I can stop worrying that she's not getting enough food from breastfeeding. :) And I think we should get her a basketball soon considering she's in the 98 percentile for height! I knew she would be tall but yeesh! I just can't believe how much she is growing up right in front of me. Even this morning, I swear she's gotten bigger overnight. She has still exclusively been in newborn outfits but they are starting to get a little small (and her newborn pants are all totally too short...I think all her lengthening has been in her legs!). She's also still in newborn diapers which is a surprise. Guess we'll buy another box of those...

In other Lainey news, her umbilical stump fell off around 3 weeks and she got her first real bath last week (at 4 weeks...I wanted to be sure to give her belly button time to heal).



See that cute belly button?? :) She started out okay but then her Daddy was taking too long and she got cold.



She has also started practicing her smiles. She is so cute...she usually opens her mouth and then turns the corners up into a big gummy grin. I have been trying to capture it on camera:

Four Weeks Already!

I can't believe that four weeks ago right now, I was laboring away, waiting on the arrival of our sweet Lainey. I am just so amazed at how different our life is now! It has been challenging for sure but definitely a change for the better. :) We are slowly settling into things and figuring out this parenting business. Lainey has really been a great baby and is already growing and changing. She looks a lot more like her Daddy now (which makes him extremely pleased with himself) and she is starting to fill out and not be such a skinny little baby. She's still in newborn sizes (something I thought she would never wear!) but her legs are growing faster than anything else. She has footie pajamas that she loves and I think I'm going to have to cut the feet out of them soon! They still fit everywhere else but it's getting hard to shove her feet in them. :) She is also working hard on various expressions and Troy swears he's gotten a few little smiles out of her. I mostly get her serious old man face or her excited "oooh" face (especially when she's getting ready to eat). She is just such a cutie! I seem to be getting even less sleep lately though as her eating habits seem to be evolving. She used to eat every 3-4 hours for about 10-15 minutes and only on one side (the doctors said she's a "very efficient eater"). Now she wants to eat every 2 hours for 10-20 minutes and sometimes she even wants back on after being burped. This is making it extremely hard to get anything done in about the hour that I have between feedings now. I sure wish she would start eating more like 20 minutes every 4 hours but we'll see! Right now, when Lainey wants to eat, Lainey gets to eat.



In other news, I went shopping yesterday to try to find some "transitional" clothes. I tried on clothes all over the mall for hours with my Mom. What did I end up getting? A meternity top that was on clearance at Destination Maternity. I feel like I'm going backwards...

Happy Friday the 13th!

It's actually started out pretty well around here. Troy had to go to the bank this morning and worked remotely some so he hung out a little longer than usual which was nice. And after he left, Lainey fell asleep in her bouncy seat (and still is!) so I was able to shower, get dressed, start doing some laundry and lay out what needs to be packed for our quick trip to Goldsboro this weekend. Not too shabby!

Anywho...as I was packing and having my usual trouble lately of what to wear, I had to ask a couple of questions:
1) Why are nursing tanks and tops so fitted? With my post-pregnant flabby belly, I am not really feeling like wearing anything form-fitting. Also, my boobs are huge and these tops are all just super low cut tanks. So you can imagine it: my giant rack all out on display and then my soft belly pudged out just below that. Really nice.
2) Why don't the people who make maternity clothes go ahead and make them so they are also later conducive to nursing? This isn't something I thought about while pregnant but now all I feel comfortable in are my maternity tops but they all have to be pulled up from the bottom to nurse and this is kind of annoying.

I think I need to make a trip to Target and get some new clothes.

Okay, okay...here are some more pictures

Trying out some tummy time (we're not fans just yet):



Before we realized how tired we were:



I love her little sleeping poses...she does this one a lot. :)

Long time, no post

I am still around people! And doing much better, thanks. :) Thankfully I got over the mastitis of last week and now we are working on getting my left nipple to heal from the bad cracking (sorry...you just have to deal with these kind of details from a breastfeeding mommy!). It is still pretty painful so I went to see the lactation consultant at my pediatrician's office today. She is so nice and actually lives in my neighborhood. She was really helpful and said we're doing great (I admitted that we hadn't been but I have been diligent lately about researching proper latch and working towards that at each feeding). So hopefully things will get all cleared up on that front soon (the prescription-strength nipple cream she is starting me on should also help).

Anywho...let's not talk about the boobs for a minute, shall we?

Last weekend I took Lainey on her first road trip. I wondered if I was stupid, crazy or both but it actually turned out really great. My sister came up Thursday evening and then us three girls drove to Jamestown Friday morning to my parents' house. Then we all loaded up (in two cars...there was no way all of us plus the pack 'n play were going to fit in one vehicle) and headed to Georgetown, SC to my grandmother's house. It proved to be a bit more eventful than I would have liked when we hit a monstrous storm a little more than halfway there. It rained so hard most people had to pull off the highway or slow down and put their hazards on (we did both eventually). It was also so loud that it woke up my blissful traveler (have I mentioned that Lainey loves the carseat and that it works better than Ambian and a cocktail on her?). Then she of course needed to eat and be changed. That was interesting because it all had to be done in the car in a Hardees parking lot. But it all worked out and we arrived safely to find nearly my Mom's whole side of the family waiting at my grandmother's to meet Lainey. Needless to say, she was a hit and they all said how cute she was. She even scored some more baby gifts (she is so spoiled!).

The next day, we drove to Charleston for my cousin's engagement party. That was also a lot of fun but it was again interesting and challenging having to constantly go upstairs to nurse or change her. We're getting there.

Here is a (really bad) picture of 4 generations, spanning in age from just over 2 weeks to very nearly 91 years old:

Case of the Mondays

This week did not start off so hot. All of our company left on Sunday and we were finally alone with the baby. This was nice but a little intimidating. Plus Troy was going back to work on Monday so it would just be Lainey and me. I knew this was nothing I couldn't handle and she really is a great baby but still. My "baby blues" also kicked in at this time so I found myself uncontrollably weepy due to my hormones. I was encouraged when Monday actually started off okay. Troy stayed long enough in the morning so I could get a shower and get dressed. Then Lainey napped in her swing. She was mostly awake the rest of the day and just hung out and looked around and was generally good. However, I started to not feel so hot as the day went on. I was tired and feeling run down and my left boob hurt. Not to be too graphic, but Lainey had done a number on that nipple with her "efficient eating" (that's what the pediatrician said because she feeds for about 10 minutes on one side per feeding and that's about every 3 hours). So I had been putting lanolin cream on it to try to help it heal. Then I realized late in the day that my left breast was really sore and hot to the touch. I remember saying to Troy on the phone, "I just really hope I don't have mastitis or something." Well, somewhere around 6-7 that evening, I was pretty sure that's exactly what I did have. I looked it up online and I had about half of the symptoms (swollen, red in one area, hot to the touch). I had also read about my friend Meredith's misadventure with mastitis (although poor Meredith had it much worse than the usual case). By this point, I was at the end of my rope and was so exhausted and upset. Troy had come home from work only to immediately leave to help our friend Rob pick up a piece of furniture. I texted him, desperate for him to come home and thankfully he was on his way. But I felt bad...he came home to me feeling awful and not even wanting to take care of our baby. I think it scared him a little bit that I just thinking about feeding her made me cry. That night continued to just get worse. The fever and flu-like symptoms kicked in and I had an awful night. Thankfully Lainey slept well and only woke up once in the night to eat and then went right back down.

So Monday was pretty awful for my first day home alone with the baby. Tuesday was so much better. My Mom came in the morning and took me to the doctor and they got me on some antibiotics. Then she took us to Lainey's 2 week appointment where the doctor said she is perfect and we totally agreed. :) Lainey now weighs 7 lbs, 12 oz (2 oz more than her birth weight!) and the doctor was really impressed. She also has great muscle tone and is already strong and holding her head up pretty well. All in all she's just a great baby and we are so lucky. We are also lucky to have such great friends and family. After our appointments my Mom bought some groceries for us and helped clean up the house while I took a nap. She even got dinner ready before she left to go back home. I can't even begin to say how helpful she has been over the past two weeks!

So...things are starting to look up and we're all getting a little better at the Benton household to adjusting to our new life. Lainey is so cute and sweet that it's hard not to be encouraged to just move forward for her sake. And Troy has been wonderful and helpful and a perfect Dad. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and I will leave you with these adorable images so as not to completely depress everyone. :)