2 Weeks Old

Nursing: Cash loves to nurse and he is quite the little piglet. He has even developed this adorable little nursing blister in the middle of his upper lip. During the day Cash pretty much nurses every 1-2 hours then toward the evening he slows down a bit and nurses every 2-3 hours. At night it really varies from every hour to every 3 hours sometimes. We are still working on our routine, but I’m hoping that we get it down soon.

Cloth Diapering: I love cloth diapering! It is so easy! I can’t even imagine using disposable and the amount of garbage we would have. We change Cash every 2-3 hours and his diaper is always soaked! He is a pee machine! Nick’s parents bought Cash an adorable teal sleeper with little whales on it and on the pocket it says “Little Squirt” thus we have given him the nickname “little squirt” or “squirt” because it is just so appropriate! I did have to re-lanolize my wool covers because I didn’t use enough lanolin the first two times. I’m still trying to figure out the right amount of lanolin to use, but I know I’ll get it down soon.

Nick and I also decided to use cloth wipes instead of disposable wipes. It’s scary what is in disposable wipes when you research it a little! My dear friend, Natalie, bought us two packs of Blueberry bamboo and organic cotton wipes and we absolutely love them! We also received some OsoCozycotton flannel wipes that had great reviews on Amazon, but I don’t like to use them for cloth wipes in our wipes warmer. The picture on Amazon shows pastel stitching on the edges but they arrived with red, purple and green stitching on the edges. Pretty, but the color bleeds when the wipes sit in our warmer! So disappointing! Instead, I use these in our diaper bag when we go out. I may use them as washcloths during bath time as well.

Sleep: Cash sleeps pretty well for our first 3-hour stretch most nights but the second half of the night is tough. He doesn’t cry he just fusses and wants to nurse himself to sleep. Last night I didn’t sleep more than 2 hours combined because he was just fussing and nursing was the only thing that would sooth him. Needless to say my nipples are so soar now! Cash sleeps great during the day so I’m thinking that he may have his days and nights confused. I’m really hoping that Cash starts sleeping better at night soon! I’m pretty much a zombie mama most days.

Likes/Dislikes: We are still figuring out what Cash likes and doesn’t like. He still loves skin-to-skin contact and being held. Every morning Nick holds Cash and he loves his time with his daddy! He has recently been trying to smile and giggle too! It is just so precious! While he still doesn’t like diaper changes he does love to soil a brand new diaper! Our son is one healthy pooper!

Cash definitely lets us know what he is unhappy! He does not like to put down! This is partially my fault because he really hasn’t been out of someone’s arms since he was born. Another dislike is the car seat. He does ok when he is in the car seat if the truck is moving but the second we stop to wants O-U-T OUT! While he can handle a couple hours in the car seat on and off he does reach his breaking point and even the driving doesn’t soothe him. Hopefully this gets better soon too!

Activities: We left the house twice this week! Cash’s first official outing was a trip to the LIVE office. He did great in the car seat and everyone at the office thought he was so beautiful! I must admit that I agree with them- he certainly is a beautiful baby! We also went to Home Depot and then out to our house in Athol to drop some material off for our contractor, Sam. Cash and I waited in the car while Nick went into Home Depot. After we left our house in Athol we decided that we could go to the store too. In hindsight this was a mistake because out little man had just had his fill of the car! He started crying when we were about 10 minutes from the store and then I had a let down and my boobs were killing me! I nursed in the parking lot while Nick ran into the store. Cash was happy until he had to go back in the car seat. Poor little guy was just ready to be home.

Our second outing was similar to the first. He did great for the first part, but was unhappy after a couple hours. Nick and I had a small claims court date to attend so my mom sat in the car and rocked Cash while we attended our hearing. Luckily the defendants didn’t show up so we won by default and were back out in the car within the hour. I had horrible anxiety leaving him for the first time but he didn’t even notice that I was gone! After we left the courthouse I wanted to get some little sleeper gowns at Kohls to make nighttime diaper changes easier. Nick waited in the car while my mom and I ran into Kohls. I got a call from Nick about 10 minutes later that Cash was fussing and was ready to nurse. My mom and I quickly checked out and ran to the car so Cash could nurse. Again, he was happy when he was nursing but then when he had to go back into his car seat he was fit to be tied! He cried half the way home and the only thing that helped sooth him was mama singing Christmas songs to him! He definitely gets his love of Christmas songs from his mama!

Our neighbors Greg, Kristi and Kailey came over on Friday night to meet our little Cash. I could tell they were in love! Kailey told us she would baby sit anytime we wanted. I know we will take her up on her offer!

My friend Laura (Tiny Toes Little Nose) and her son Liam were in town from Utah for a visit while her hubby was in Europe so they got to meet Cash as well! Laura is pregnant with their second boy so I got to see her adorable pregnant belly…makes me miss my belly and being pregnant!

Health: We have one healthy boy on our hands! Our midwife came to our house for his 9-day check-up and he weighed 6 pounds and 5 ounces. She was very impressed with his weight gain! Like I said, my son loves to nurse! Cash also lifted his head all the time! He is really strong and can lift his head completely off my shoulder or chest-it’s the side-to-side control that he is still working on. Unfortunately, our little man still gets the hiccups everyday much to daddy’s dismay. He also has a little baby acne on his face.

Best Moment: Cash has been trying to smile a lot this week and it is so adorable! He also lets out the most adorable giggling noise in his sleep! Nick and I can’t wait for that first smile that sticks and for him to start laughing. We know he will be one happy boy because he has so much love from his family and our friends! 

1 Week Old

Nursing: Cash latched right on when we first tried to nurse at the birthing center. It was so amazing how he just knew exactly what to do! The first two days I nursed him as often as he wanted but I made sure it was at least every 2 hours. I really wanted to do everything that I could to help my milk come in. Saturday night around 8:30 my breasts were rock hard and hurt so badly! I had no idea what was going on so I texted my friend, Monika, and she told me that I probably had a let down and needed to nurse. Thank goodness for the advice from my nursing mommy friends! I nursed him and felt some relief! My nipples were soar for the first 3-4 days but I just kept applying some Mother Love nipple cream after nursing and powered through! Now they don’t hurt and I feel like we have this nursing thing down! I absolutely love nursing our little man.

Cloth Diapering: We used Grovia bio soaker disposable liners for the 3 days of meconium poops and then switched to the organic cotton workhorse newborn diapers with the Disana wool covers. I am so glad that I bought the newborn diapers since Cash is too small for the one-size diapers. The wool covers are really big on him but they work if I fold the waist down.

We had a very funny cloth diapering moment this week when my mom offered to wash our first load of dirty cloth diapers. Somehow my mom accidentally threw one of the disposable bio soaker liners in with the cloth diapers and it got washed right along with them. Needless to say it exploded and made a huge mess in the washer! She had to use a shop vac to get everything out of the washer. We were laughing so hard we almost cried…it was like a scene out of a movie.

Sleep: Nick and I hardly slept the first night because we were so worried that Cash would stop breathing or something would happen. The second night was really rough because I was trying to wake him every 2 hours to nurse and he was so hard to wake up. It took me an hour to wake him to nurse and then almost 2 hours to get him back down and by that point I needed to nurse him again! I don’t think I slept more than an hour combined! After that I decided to go 3 hours between night time nursing sessions and it was way better! I also stopped trying to make Cash sleep on his back after the second night. He sleeps way better tummy to tummy on my chest. I decided follow my body and my baby’s lead instead of trying to follow everything that you read. Cash loves to sleep sideways on my chest with his bottom up in the air-just the way he always was positioned in my belly!

Likes /Dislikes: Cash loves any and all skin-to-skin contact. Nick and I take our shirts off as much as possible and strip him down to his diaper and just hold him against our chests. Cash is such a good baby and really never cries with the exception of diaper change time. He gets super fussy and cries until we are finished “torturing” him.

Activities: We have been snuggled up in the house and haven’t left once! Nick and I have been so incredibly blessed with amazing support from both our families! Nick’s sister, Shanna, even flew over for Cash’s birth! Nick’s parents and sister filled our refrigerator with tons of organic fruits and veggies for us and came out every night to make us dinner. My mom has been helping out with laundry, changing sheets and holding little Cash so I can take a bath. It has been so nice to have a house full of family!

Our marriage counselors, Bill and Sue, came out to see Cash as well. Sue is also a lactation specialist so she watched me nurse to make sure Cash was latching properly.

Health: Our midwife came out for our first home visit when Cash was 2 days old and he weighed 5 pounds and 13 ounces – only a slight weight loss from his birth. She came out when he was 5 days old and Cash weighed 6 pounds and 1 ounce – back up to his birth weight! His respiratory system checked out great and he never had any jaundice. Our little man is super healthy and happy!

Cash’s cord fell off on Tuesday night and we were so excited! We took his clothes off to change his diaper and the cord was stuck to his tummy right next to his belly button! He has an adorable little “innie” belly button!

The only negative health issue is that Cash gets the hiccups everyday. This really upsets daddy more than Cash though!

Best Moment: It is so hard to pick a “best” moment when every single moment with our son is so amazing! I love all the snuggle time that we are sharing and I love watching Nick hold his son and cuddle and talk to him. I can’t even explain the feeling of overwhelming love when I watch Nick bonding with his baby. Nick said he keeps looking for an imperfection but he can’t find one because our little Cash is just so perfect!

My Sweet Little Peanut

Hello My Name Is.....

Hello My Name Is…

It’s a good thing that Nick and I have decided on a name because I think our little Cash will be joining us sooner than expected!

Nick and I were sitting on the couch this evening when all of a sudden I felt like I was going to throw up. Yuck! I went to the bathroom and my body decided on the back door route instead. I was still feeling sick after so I decided to lie down on the bed so Nick could rub my back and my water broke! I think my exact words were “Whoa what was that?! Did my water just break?” To which Nick responded, “I think so, unless you just peed.” Pretty hilarious! Now our midwife said they hope labor starts within 48 hours and that we have our baby within 72 hours! I can’t believe that our little son will be here so soon! I can’t wait to meet him!

37 Weeks

How Far Along? 37 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 15 pounds. I’m beginning to think that I may not gain much more. It seems like my weight goes up and down throughout the week but is hanging out between 14-16 pounds.

Have You Started to Show? This week Nick thinks my belly looks more like a watermelon than a basketball.

Stretch Marks? None, but my skin has been itching me a lot more this week

Belly Button? OUT and really wide. I can’t wait for it to go back in!

Maternity Clothes? Nothing new. I have been wearing one of Nick’s North Face jackets instead of my own and that seems to be working really well as a maternity coat!

Symptoms: I had a rough week this week. Friday night I went to sleep not feeling too great and woke up around midnight with a really upset tummy. I proceeded to dry heave until 1:30 AM when I finally threw up. It was really awful! I was talking with my mom the next morning telling her about my rough night and we somehow got on the subject of how she went into labor. My mom told me she woke up the morning I was born, spotted a tiny bit, went into labor and then had me that evening. As soon as I got off the phone I went to the bathroom and spotted! Crazy! I was a little concerned so I went into the bedroom where Nick was still sleeping and said, “Honey, I hate to wake you up but I just spotted a little bit.” Nick jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom and said, “Ok, what do we need to do?!” I called my midwife and she said it could be as simple as a hormone change or our little boy could be getting ready to come. Needless to say that kick started us into high gear! We spent the weekend washing his clothes and blankets, lanolizing his wool diaper covers and getting everything ready for his arrival. I didn’t go into labor and I haven’t had any more spotting but I have been super nauseous. Crazy how a little scare makes it so real. He could be here any day now! 

Movement? Our little man still moves around like crazy! His favorite spot for his foot is my right rib. Whenever I lay down his little foot goes right up in my rib. He has also been making this fluttering movement this week. I have no clue what he’s doing but it feels so funny!

Sleep? I have decent nights and some bad nights like Saturday. Taking Saturday out of the equation, I actually slept better this week than most.

Exercise? I missed my yoga again this week because Nick and I had to go out to get some paint at our Athol house. I was bummed but I just have to tell myself that it’s ok that I’ve slowed down a bit.

Food Cravings: Smoothies! I have been making orange, pineapple, banana, smoothies with coconut oil, plain yogurt and vanilla protein. Yummy! I also like the super green smoothies from Pilgrims Market. Applesauce has also made an appearance this week.

Food Aversions: Chicken. Yuck, even thinking about chicken makes me nauseous.

Happy or Moody? Up and down. I’m super excited for our son to be here but I was really stressed when I though he was coming this past weekend! I just wasn’t quite ready so that ramped up the anxiety for me. I feel way more prepared now though.

Miss Anything? Sunny side up eggs and coffee (of course). We went to breakfast with our good friends and neighbors, Greg and Kristi, at Garnet Café and I had the beans and eggs. It sounds weird but it was so good! It would have been amazing with sunny side up eggs instead of scrambled.

Nursery Progress: I have all his diapers, clothes, blankets, sheets etc. washed and ready. The only bummer is that the Burt’s Bees bunting I bought lost two snaps when I washed it! I returned it to Target and now I need to order another one but I’m afraid it won’t arrive before he makes his grand entrance into this world! Our pictures from art.com also arrived this week and I love them but every single one had a crease on it! I called art.com and they are expediting new photos to me. Great customer service! We also bought a Simple Human trash can for our cloth diapers. I looked at specific diaper pails but decided that a stainless garbage can would work just fine. So the nursery is semi-ready. It’s not picture perfect yet but it will do just fine if our little man comes early.

Best Moment This Week: Lanolizing my Disana wool diaper covers. I felt like a total hippie but it was actually really fun! I’m so excited to cloth diaper!

Looking Forward to: A more peaceful, calm week. Now that we are more prepared I think I will be able to just enjoy these last few weeks.

36 Weeks

How Far Along? 36 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 16 pounds! Thank you Thanksgiving!

Have You Started to Show? Nick loves to tell people that it just like a basketball as he rubs my belly. It’s pretty cute!

Stretch Marks? None! I’m so close to the end that I’m really hoping that I don’t get any.

Belly Button? Out. Ugh, I can’t wait for it to go back in!

Maternity Clothes? Nothing new this week. I don’t think I’ll be buying any more maternity clothes for this pregnancy.

Symptoms: I’ve had some right hip pain and surprisingly my heartburn has returned a little this week too.

Movement? I can tell our little man is getting cramped. He moves like crazy and my stomach looks totally lopsided and funny when he does. Sometimes it even hurts a little bit. He really is strong!

Sleep? I’ve slept better this week. I still get up 4 to 5 times a night to go to the bathroom but at least I’m able to go back to sleep.

Exercise? I skipped yoga this week because it was Nick’s 35th birthday and my dad surprised us and took us out to dinner at Bonsai Bistro. We love Bonsai Bistro and had a great time.

Food Cravings: Thanksgiving food. We had Thanksgiving at our house and have been eating leftovers like crazy. I especially love to make turkey sandwiches with cream cheese and gravy! Yummy!!

Food Aversions: Just chicken. I normally eat some of Nick’s Kung Pow chicken at Bonsai Bistro but it didn’t sound good at all this time.

Happy or Moody? Pretty happy, but I would say I’ve been a little more stressed out than normal this week. I started thinking about everything I need to do before our son arrives and it totally overwhelmed me! Nick saw how stressed I was and spent a few days helping me get things ready. I am so lucky to have the sweetest husband ever!

Miss Anything? I was really missing red wine and Baileys with coffee this Thanksgiving!

Nursery Progress: We finally ordered some pictures for the nursery! Our friends Mike and Doreen recommended a website called art.com for photos and we found some really great pictures! Nick and I don’t care for the typical nursery photos so we chose some really cool vintage car and motorcycle pictures to hang above the crib and some nature photos to hang above the dresser. I can’t wait for them to arrive! We also started pre-washing our cloth diapers. I found an eco-friendly laundry soap from Eco Sprout that had really great reviews for cloth diapers. It’s great so far, but the true test happen when we use it with dirty diapers.

Best Moment This Week: Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving and it was so great to have our family over and enjoy a nice meal together. My mom came over on Wednesday and we did all the prep work for the next day. This made it so much more enjoyable on Thanksgiving Day. We also put up our Christmas tree the morning after Thanksgiving! I love decorating the Christmas tree! The only thing that would have made it better is a mug of coffee with Baileys! Our little doggies even joined in with their Christmas sweaters! It was a great morning in the Morelli house!

Looking Forward to: The rest of my amazon order to arrive. I ordered a few more last minute items that I think we’ll need and I’m really excited for them to get here.