No! Mommy No!!

So today my little man got his first round of vaccines. His 2 month appointment was today and I had been warned of the shots. But I was really excited to find out how much he weighed and grew, he looks sooo much bigger than 2 months ago when he was born.

He got weighed in first... 10lbs 14oz!! He's gained 5 pounds in 2 months!! I guess I'll keep feeding him!

Then they measured his length... 22 inches! He's grown 2.75 inches in 2 months!

His weight is now in the 25th percentile- up 20 points since birth!
His length has slowed down he's in the 10-15th percentile.

Then came the shots. I made Craig go with me for this appointment. I held Ben's hand while Craig held mine. :) Ben started out okay, but when shot #2 (out of 5) came he was no longer happy. He started screaming which of course made me cringe!

But like everyone says they scream for a minute or so then calm right down. He even gave me the biggest grin when I leaned in to kiss him. Like to say see mom I'm a strong big boy!

I then took him to school to finish out the day, he passed out on the way there (the car usually does that to him) and when I left he was still passed out in his crib. He was great and I survived!

2 months!

Since my last post we have moved to part time cloth diapering. I went back to work last week and he started school and they will cloth diaper but since I'm still getting used to it, we are going to use disposables there.

1st week in school...


I've started to get the hang of the Moby Wrap. I really like the hug hold, and so does he... he falls asleep almost everytime!

Ben is now 8 weeks old, when he comes home from school we switch back to cloth, doesn't he look sooo cute in his Rumparooz cloth diaper I won!!

Just before I went back to work, Blaire and I met up for lunch and some shopping at the mall. Davis and Ben are getting sooo big!


Just to show you how much Ben has grown... this is Ben at 2 days old, while he was still in the hospital.

Now he's 2 months old (we'll find out just how much he weighs tomorrow)


He also hit a milestone last night! He slept from 11:30pm - 5:45am!! I feel so much more rested.

Here he is this morning when I dropped him off at school...

My first days in cloth

So before Ben was born we decided we would like to cloth diaper. It was for several reasons, I've always tried to be a good steward of the environment, like recycling, growing my own herbs, veggies, and fruits. But I also have to formula feed because of all the medication I'm on for Crohn's disease. So adding up the costs of everything it also made economical sense to cloth diaper. My sister-in-law, Katrina, cloth diapers and I began to learn about the modern cloth diaper while I was pregnant.

I decided I would like to use one size and waited for sales or free shipping at Kelly's Closet. I ordered a few bumGenius 3.0 to start my stash. A coworker also got me a few bumGenius 3.0 and a Bummis wetbag. Then I started to read about the Smartipants and liked the idea of the insert agitating out in the wash and the lower price. So I ordered 3 of those. While shopping at Target I ran into a GREAT deal on 2 Fuzzi Bunz size small diapers (they had been an internet return) and had to get them. Then for Christmas I got 2 Rumparooz from my sister-in-law. As the day approached that our little man was to arrive I bought some of my sister-in-laws bumGenius 3.0 diapers that she was no longer using. So I had a pretty good stash put together ready for him to arrive.


He arrived 3 weeks early on March 25th.

Since I bought mostly one size diapers, my little 5 pound 14 ounce guy was swallowed in the cloth so I decided once he reached the size 1 diapers in Pampers the cloth should fit him then.

The end of April, he finally graduated to the size 1 diapers and I tried one of the bumGenius diapers on him and it fit to my surprise.

So I ordered the Rockin Green detergent and waited for it to arrive so I could prep his diapers.

While I waited, I attended the #DiaperShops twitter party to celebrate 9 years. To my surprise I won 2 Rumparooz diapers!! So exciting!

Once the soap arrived I began prepping the diapers and inserts, I was excited to start cloth diapering. On Tuesday May 11th I had all my diapers prepped and ready to begin. Once he woke up for the day I changed him into cloth.

It went well, we had one leakage but I think it was user error on my part (I didn't put it on tight enough). I've also learned my newborn is a heavy wetter so I'm skipping past the newborn insert and using the regular one. My husband even automatically put on the cloth when changing him. On Wednesday I had a lunch date with one of my friends who just had a baby (Davis is exactly 1 week older than Ben). So it was going to be my first day out of the house with cloth, I packed 2 diapers and a Bummis wet bag. I changed him while we were out and had no problems. Actually got a chance to explain the cloth diapers to my friend. So far in my first week of cloth it has gone well, I have 23 diapers in my rotation and laundry isn't too bad. I have requested my husband install a diaper sprayer for the poopy ones (I know they say newborn poo can just be washed but it still just feels funny to me). The dunk and swish is just not my thing.

I'm looking forward to continuing my adventure in cloth diapering.

7 weeks...

WOW... I feel lazy (though I know I'm not), I've just been very busy with Ben that's why I haven't updated this blog in so long.


He is 7 weeks old. CRAZINESS! He is doing very well.
In the past 7 weeks, we have gone on lots of walks...


He met Davis, who is only 1 weeks older but many pounds heavier.


He was baptized...


He started wearing cloth diapers...


His daddy is ALMOST done with his crib. Just some staining needs to be done.

Benjamin Craig Neubauer

I made it to 37 weeks 1 day!

On Tuesday March 23rd we went to our weekly ultrasound and fluids dropped significantly and the doctor decided it was time for me to be induced. He called my OB and I was told the hospital would call that afternoon to schedule my induction.Not knowing I wouldn't be back to work I had brought lunch and a few things so I left the appointment, went back to work to inform them and gather my things.
I got home and Craig got the carseat installed, he has an appointment next week for inspection. Since our little man was coming 3 weeks early, we had a few things to get done around the house. The hospital called around 5 to say check in at 8pm. So we went to dinner at Outback (Longhorn would've been better but it was too far away). I got steak and then we walked around the mall to kill some time until we had to check in.
8pm rolled around and I checked in and got settled into the Labor and Delivery room. They started the cervicil at 9:40. At 11:40 I was able to get up, walk around, eat some food (McDonald's from the hospital). Then I was back in bed at midnight. I barely slept all night, I had several hours of contractions starting at 2:30am. They started the pitocin at 5am. I held out on the epidural until noon. I was having some bad back labor and big contractions that I finally gave in.
My doctor stopped by several times, I was making little progress. Night rolled around, at around midnight 1am for some reason the epidural stopped working and the pain got unbearable in my back. They installed the new epidural. That worked until about 5 am and it to began wearing off so the anesthesiologist started pushing stronger meds thru the epidural, it would work for a couple of hours then wear off. I must say thru all of this my nurses were the sweetest. 7am rolled around and shift change happened and our nurse Brittnay was very disappointed he didn't show up during her shift (I was too, it had been 33 hours so far). When she left I was 6cm.

The new shift came in and at 8:30 baby was getting stressed, they checked me and I was 8-9cm so they called my OB she came and checked and said let's give it another hour, see if he progresses and go from there. At 9:30 a flood of nurses came in, baby wasn't doing well. Mind you the manual epidural was wearing off, I was in a lot of pain. Dr Sun (my OB) came running over and checked me and my cervix was swelling and baby needed to come out. So they booked an OR and I was having a C section.
By 10:02 on March 25 Benjamin Craig Neubauer was born. He was healthy. They brought him to us so I could hold him, I started to feel pain and I was knocked out and Craig went with the baby to the nursery.

I woke up in recovery, Craig came by to tell me Ben is good but they are monitoring his lungs. Ben weighed 5lbs 14oz and was 19.5 inches long.

Craig called our family and went back to baby. He came back just as I was ready to go to our room. He walked with me back to the room then went back to check on Ben. His blood sugar had dropped so they fed him formula and were monitoring him for a couple of hours.

Ben was released from the special nursery around 1pm. And Craig brought him to our room so I could hold him and I fed him part of a bottle. Then they took him to the nursery for a check up. Craig decided to run home for a shower and pick up a few things. I got a quick nap. Benjamin is beautiful and so far very mild tempered.

I'm looking forward to everything ahead. I forgive him for the 36 hours of labor.

Getting a little overwhelmed...

So baby's due date is about 45 days away but with the way things are looking right now there's a good chance he will be here sooner than that! Good thing we found his pediatrician this week!! My fluid levels are still on the low-normal side they did go up a point from last week but since I was drinking almost a gallon of water a day I will be monitored very closely, if it had been low because of dehydration it probably would've gone up more than that. So it's looking like weekly ultrasounds and non stress tests. Everytime I go to one of those appointments it makes me nervous that they could say, "OK we're checking you into the hospital and you are having this baby" probably more so the ultrasound than the non stress test but either way still makes me nervous. Next week is 34 weeks which seems like the magic number for the doctors so after next week he should be pretty ready for the real world if he was to come early.

BUT the question becomes... are we ready for him in the real world?! When we thought there were almost 2 months left we knew we had enough time to get everything done... but with him looming maybe several weeks early the pressure is on! On top of all that I am also on restricted activity to try to keep him baking as long as possible. So this weekend I hope to get some baby laundry done. Get a few bottles, maybe at least one thing of formula and a pack of diapers. So that we can get thru at least the first week. This weekend I've got to finish sewing the mattress for his cradle and get some sheets for it. I'm also going to pack my hospital bag so just in case we need it sooner than later. Once I have all that done I think I will feel better.

On to fun stuff... this past weekend was my baby shower in Orlando! I had so much fun seeing my family and friends! Thank you to Becki and Emily for hosting it! Baby got all kinds of cool gifts. He now has 3 strollers- a jogging, a stroller for the carseat to sit in, and an umbrella stroller. He's got some adorable clothes, bottles warmers, coolers, pack n plays (one for the house and one for travel), a baby monitor, he can now ride in both cars (we got the extra base of the carseat), a mobile for his crib, pacifiers, a boppy, a grocery/high chair cover, burp cloths, blankets, and I got a bottle of wine to help calm me. It was great to get together with everyone, I wish I could've spent more time talking to everyone. He will be here soon enough to enjoy all the love our family and friends have for him! Now I just have to figure out where all this stuff is going in our house!

Getting restless

I'm getting restless... the house is not ready for baby... I know I have around 8 weeks left but, really that's not that far away. I guess all we REALLY NEED right now are some bottles, formula (since I can't breastfeed), diapers, and a stroller and he will be good for a while. We already have the carseat (mandatory to leave the hospital) and a cradle. But some how there are over 100 items on the registries. That's just crazy! Babies need sooo much stuff.
Sleep is a luxury these days. I can't remember the last night I slept all night. It's amazing how the body preps you for a baby.
So I know this is going to sound crazy- I'm running the Run for the Pines 5k next weekend in Orlando. I will probably jog 10+ minute miles and walk the water stations but it will be funny to watch this 33 week pregnant woman finish the 5k. Half marathon while 15 weeks pregnant and then a 5k almost 20 weeks later. Oh how I love to run!
Next week is my baby shower in Orlando, I'm really looking forward to seeing all my friends and family. Though it will be a long drive down and most likely solo.
Before I leave for Orlando though, we have an ultrasound on Tuesday, a tour of the hospital, and a doctor's appointment on Thursday. So we get another peek at him!!