Schedule of a Healthy 5 Month Old Kat (Baby)

My goodness! Welcome back! You've been gone too long. Don't do that again.

Soo Kat has been growing pretty well! She is so smart and is learning new things every day, but she has already established a little schedule for herself. Here's a sneak peek:

8:25 am - Kat usually doesn't wake up until 9-10am, but today she dared to be different. She cooed and kicked around for a bit until she decided I needed to get in on the fun. Kick kick mommy! Slap in face mommy! I sleepily try to cuddle her to get a few more minutes, and I think I almost have her. She turns on her side and strokes my face, ready to nap again awwww! ... Until she rakes her impossibly short, but sharp nails across my face and kicks harder. Wake the f$@k up mommy! I'm hungry!

8:33 am - Kat's first bottle. Damn, I'm just realizing I've been trying to get her to fink a 6oz when she wakes up, but I made her usual 5oz. She wasted .01 of an oz, so I guess she's good. While eating, she likes to surprise me with holding her own baba. But not enough so that I can go back to sleep... No sleep is over for this one. She delights herself by staring at cartoons. Stare- not watch, because I'm sure she's like wtf is this, but it's so COLORFUL!!

8:45 am - Pat Kat's back for a bit while she giggles at her Nonna. Pat, not burp, because Princess Kat refuses to let you tell her when to burp. She will do it right before you are about to burp her, or a second after you're about to cry in exhaustion. She just likes getting her back patted. 

9:03 am - Playtime! She has just discovered that toys are also meant for bashing against things, not just stuffing into her mouth! She sits up on her own in my lap to wave her arms around, and I try to contain my excitement of another milestone she just casually mastered. Today no drooping to the side. Princess Kat is having none of that sh*t. 

9:06 am- Playtime gets distracted because there are dinosaurs being born on TV. She is really fascinated. I need to get her out of this tv before it is too late. Mental note to take her to a museum, then pull out humongous Howard the Duck before I find some reading material. Wait- was that a yawn? And then a... Growl? Ok, Kat...

9:10 am- We read Adventure Time Righteous Rules for Being Awesome until Kat gets bored. How do you know when your baby is bored? What cues do you look for? I think it's when she snatched the book, screams AAAAAAHHHH! And stuffs it in her mouth. Wait Kat don't - tummy time it is then. 

9:53 am- After ball rolling and pincer gripping, Kat is out for a nap with her Pluto doll.  All babies are particular in how they get to sleep. Kat has to sing her sleepy song while she's nodding out. 

11:25- Kat doesn't let me know she's awake, but Carmen sees her staring. She's freshly awakened and looking very cute. It's time for early lunch. I think I'll treat her to strawberries and apples. 

11:30- Kat gets entertained by her Nonna while I set up her high chair and fruit. She eats it up while making her mm mmm sounds. When she's done she proceeds to munch on her chair. Then it's play time again and into the ball pit!

12:50 pm- We all know regular food isn't going to sustain her at this stage so now it's time for her baba. After getting her dressed (more like her giggling as she struggles to thwart my attempts to place some decent clothing on her) she gets a 5oz baba. Usually it's four but she missed an ounce this morning so she might want that :p. By the way, yes she's been getting her diaper changed all day. Didn't think you wanted to get that deep in. 

12:54 pm - Looks like feeding is turning into nap time! She's drinking with her eyes closed while also humming her sleepy sing.... And kicking me. What a beautiful multitasking bra- I mean baby! 

1:01 pm: Nope. She gracefully proceeds to throw up all over me. It is quite spectacular how she can project the milk. Apparently falling asleep while eating is a bad idea. I've told her this before. She thinks this is funny. She is just cracking up as I clean us up. Sigh. I'll just go ahead and burp- BELCH. Oh... Never mind then. At least she's not hungry. She's roaring in triumph as she attacks Pluto. She's found my eyes again and is cracking up. Aw! 

1:12 pm- "Quit eating his ear!" "Where's your paci... And your sock??"

"Baby giggle. BELCH."

"Let's go sleep"

1:15 pm- Kat gets into the sleep position. She stares at the cabinets and slaps me twice before closing her eyes. She coos and scoots closer to me to cuddle in, gently rubbing her hand on my face. Then she rakes her nails across my face. She's sort of asleep, but I see her peek once or twice before she's completely out. 

3:45 pm - This time I know she's awake. I hear her struggling after she loses her paci. She wakes up, stares at me, and gives the most heartwarming toothless grin ever. I let her play with Carmen a bit, but now it's time for her late afternoon feeding - pumpkin with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It will be her first time trying pumpkin, so I want to see if she will like it before I make this pumpkin, oat, greek yogurt, cinnamon combo I've been thinking about. Yes, my baby will be a gourmet baby!

4:15-5:27 pm- She kind of likes the pumpkin, but it's so thick she wants a bottle to wash it down. Finished 4oz before she got in the ball pit for some tummy time and played quietly. Once she got fussy, I knew it was time for one more nap. First she laid on me and pressed her face to my lips so I could keep kissing it.

5:35 pm- I have been blinded. All I heard was a triumphant roar then felt wetness as Kat tried to eat my eyes.  I take the crazy babe to the room and lay her down. Now it's time to lay down with the lay down. 

Nighty night

Close your eyes

Little stars will see you

Night is here

Baby dear

You must go to sleep too

6:30 pm- Literally. I can't believe I fell asleep. She woke up shortly after I did and wanted to play. Now she's letting loose a lot of gas on my lap. The pumpkin is catching up to her... 

7:15 pm- Late afternoon baba. She finishes 4 oz and burps while I'm patting her. Then she spits up. Yay! She bluntly reminds me that she likes to store milk in her cheeks so I have to pump them until it all spills out. This makes her laugh. It also makes her playful during her diaper change. At one point I have to hoist her little butt and legs into the air to wipe as she bicycle kicks and squeals. Once the diaper is sealed, she calms down and eats Pluto's ears. Another belch. 

7:55 pm - Of course before her hour is up, she finishes the bottle. She delights herself in playing in her ball pit, trying to crawl, and eating her mama's face. 

9:05 pm - It's late, but Kat is content to curl up and watch Kronk's New Groove in her mama's arms. Once I'm done taking out Carmen's hair, it will be bath, bottle, and bed. Or maybe bottle first. Depends on how she's feeling. 

10:00 pm- The bath water is running and I'm running out of time. Kat is trying to sleep in her Nonna's arms and I still need to feed her. Quick 5oz before the bath it is!

Ingredients To a Successful Kat Bath

- Johnson's Bedtime Bubble Bath

- All natural bar soap

- pink baby bath sling

- Gold bond lotion

- All natural baby oil

- Olive oil for her hair

- A fresh diaper

- A backup diaper

- warm pjs

Things Kat Likes to Do in Her Bath

- eat her sling

- eat bubbles

- eat water

- eat her fingers

- eat Mommy's fingers

- snatch wash cloth and eat it

- try and fail to catch and eat slippery soap

- splash Mommy with water

- kick water

- stare at water stream

- suddenly attempt to do tummy time 

10:45 pm- Princess Kat does not want to sleep. She wants to yell in delight, eat her blankets, and kick. I read her a Cam Jansen bedtime story, and she wants to talk to the story. I try to reason with her and try to get her to turn on her side and cuddle to sleep, she wants to stare at Carmen.

Rock a bye baby
On the tree-

SLAP

Fine. I'm thirsty. I get up, turn the light off, and go eat some Honey Mustard Triscuits and drink some ice water. I trip over Styrofoam. I come back to the room and lo and behold. Kat is on her side, sleeping peacefully on her satin pillow. Oh Kat. :)

She is done until the next morning. That's her 'schedule' of sorts. Trust me, it's definitely not the exact same everyday. She's hilarious and a handful, but I wouldn't have her any other way. 

What Happened After Birth

After I birthed my daughter, I pretty much was like, "Now what?" My mom went home and was told she didn't have to come in to work. KJ and I were exhausted, but I didn't want to miss any moment of our new baby. I adored her cries. I called her a little T Rex from the way they sounded, and I knew I would be able to pick them out of a crowd of babies. All of the nurses from the old shift came to see her. The postpartum nurse bathed the baby and cooed happily at her while scoring her Apgar test. My epidural was removed and I could walk again (because I really had to pee.) I was surprised that there was no pain in the bathroom really. Especially with all the horror stories out there. There was, however, so much blood I felt like my insides were the new Coliseum.

 

Staying in the hospital after birth is kind of relaxing, unless you get the room that looks like a prison. Kat even had an ankle monitor that went off if someone tried to take her past the safe points.  KJ was being a total diva because they were supposed to get us a suite. While he complained, I had my first attempt at pumping milk. I didn't really get any help or advice at all except 'put on this level for ten minutes every few hours.' Someone new would come into my room to check me out and see how well the baby is eating. Kat are less than an ounce and kept throwing up maternal fluid. On the big whiteboard was the name of my attending nurse and my pca who would bring me whatever I needed. It also recorded my pain level and what meds I could take (either Motrin or Tylenol).

Kat received visits from my godmother and my best friend, her godmother/aunt.

 

We sat in the prison room until night when the nurses switched over. KJ expressed his concern for the room as baby Kat slept on in her see through bin on top of a chest of drawers full of diapers, wipes, blankets, little bottles of formula, t shirts, nipples, and nose bulbs. The woman immediately found us a suite and moved us. Yep, it was the high life from then on. The suite was huge and gorgeous. There was a table with four chairs, a fridge and a microwave, and KJ had a nice chair bed. Kat was comfortably positioned between us, and I watched her as much as I could.

 

Now, there are a few things they give you for your own maintenance. First, there's a little bottle you have to rinse after you use the bathroom because you can't wipe yet. Then there's the mesh underwear that you line with a large folded may thing that you in turn line with two elephantine ultra absorbent pads. They check these to make sure you aren't hemorrhaging. Then there's these witch hazel wipes that are for if you get hemorrhoids, but it's for soothing everything really. There's a no rinse cleansing soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, towels and washcloths, and a couple of other toiletries you can use if you didn't bring any. For clothing, you put on a hospital gown in the front, then a little overcoat from the back. For food, you can call food service, but KJ brought me food a lot. The hospital food was disgusting EXCEPT for the pancakes.

 

Kat's first night at the hospital, the nurse told me the crust let in her hair was 'coochie juice' (yeah she went there) and that she was going to show me how to bathe a new born. This chick was so rough with my baby and combed a chunk of her hair out! It was the only time Kat has cried during a bath and it pissed me off, but she gave her a new Halloween hat that was the color of candy corn. The same woman damn near ripped my IV out, causing me to bleed heavily everywhere. Times like those were when I was grateful to have KJ and his lack of a filter. He got the nurse back down to me right away to fix me. Kat, meanwhile, awoke every three hours to eat, and I changed her diaper just as often.I chose to vaccinate her with the hepatitis shot. I was too terrified either way.  Parenthood was getting amazing, but in the back of my mind I wondered if KJ though I was hogging her. He slept like he worked on the chain gang all day, but when she cried I didn't give him a chance to react. I jumped up and grabbed her.

 

Day two and still no milk, no colostrum, no nothing. Every time I pumped, someone new came in. Doctor, nurse, research student, pca, room service, birth certificate woman, insurance people, and visitors. She received and passed a hearing and jaundice test and got her blood drawn for a series of tests that would check for any defects. My brothers came to visit, as did KJ's adoptive mom and my mom. My brothers brought pizza, my mom brought gifts including a stuffed toy, a card, some Halloween candy, and some sparkling juice in mini glass bottles. Kat was great at having her large eyes wide open and at holding her own head up! I also took my first shower which was as heavenly as it was painful.

 

That night, she  got professional photos taken and we purchased a slideshow that made me cry. I still did not get any milk until about 5 am the next day. I was so upset and stared at my little one while pumping. Colostrum finally came out and I fed her anything I could pump, no matter how little. Her attending pediatrician checked her out some more and the doctor checked me out. It was time to go home, but not without a few worries. For starters, Kat and I had blood incompatibilities, so she needed to be watched for jaundice. I asked for information and I kid you not, the nurse gave me a printout from Yahoo answers!! I was so scared as was KJ because there was the potential that my baby could get seriously ill. KJ packed went to get the car seat while I showered again and waited with the baby. When we were discharged, another pca taught us how to properly place her in her car seat. I was wheelchaired downstairs to pick up my prescriptions (birth control, Motrin, and colace) and we were able to leave. We just rode, relishing in our new feat. We stopped by KFC before we got more visitors at home after I set up the bassinet.

 

It wasn't as easy as placing the baby down to sleep and that's the end. I was so terrified that she would stop breathing that I eventually just held her all night. She's been sleeping with us ever since… Can't be too careful with my beautiful bundle. It comes with the territory, the constant concern over your child even though there's usually nothing wrong. It's okay though. Being a mom so far is amazing, and I will do anything in my power to make sure my little love bunny is safe.

 

By the way, yes, you still look about 6 months pregnant, but it will get back to normal in a couple of weeks. For realz.  

Katiana Cerise

I want to start this blog off with maybe something a little obvious for the theme, the reason why I've created a new blog in the first place. I've wrote many a (sometimes woeful) tale of pregnancy, and now that my daughter is born, I feel the need to tell her very first story. Probably my favorite story in the world.

The Birth of Katiana Cerise

They say that every mother remembers her labor and birth story of each and every child. Now that I'm thinking back on it, I believe that's true. Almost every detail on how I felt and what I did is burned into my mind. You probably won't get all of them, but I can share most of them.

Monday, October 27th,  I was ready for my baby. She was officially full term at 39 weeks, and I wanted her so bad, I turned to the internet for help. What could I do to get these contractions started? The answer was simple: eat pineapples to soften the cervix and use acupressure between my thumb and forefinger to start contractions. I really wanted a Halloween baby, so I was tempted to wait just in case… but I couldn't I had to try whatever to meet my baby!

I sat on the couch, feeling foolish as I secretly massaged my hand and stuffed my face with pineapple. What happened next was either a coincidence or some freaky ish.

4am the next day, Tuesday October28th, I had my first set of terrible contractions. I could only imagine that they were the reason why women who get cramps cry and curl up and need chocolate! I never had menstrual cramps, but if these were what they felt like, I feel for all the women out there who deal with it. Anywho, I got those and I woke KJ up. He practiced the techniques we learned in our birth class a few weeks before, and I breathed through the pain. They were quite consistent, but probably like 10 minutes apart, so it wasn't exactly cause to worry. I sent KJ to work where he told his boss that he would leave in a hurry if I called him to. Yes, KJ had fantasies of doing 100 on the freeway to get me to the hospital.

I was alone with my little cousin who had her first baby a year before, and she coached me through a few things to do. She told me to take a warm bath to help with the pain and it did help a little. I made it through the day to get to my doctor's appointment at 3:30pm that was already scheduled. She checked me out and…. I wasn't dilated at all. But my cervix was completely softened. Yes, internet, thank you. I did things to start contractions, I did things to soften my cervix, but I forgot to do things for dilation. Hardy har har.

I made it through the night, but the next morning 4:50 am, Wednesday October 29, the contractions were worse.  I wanted to cry, but I didn't want to panic KJ. He told me to time the contractions and they were 1-5 minutes apart. Then they started to become inconsistent until it was time for KJ to go to work. I decided I had to go to the hospital. I called my doctor and she told me if the contractions were still at least 5 minutes apart for the next 30 minutes, to go to the hospital, but even if not and I'm still in pain, just come in anyway. While I waited and counted, hospital bags in tow, we rode to my sister's house, who was in the middle of a domestic dispute with the police around her house. As I talked to the police and waited for my sister to come out of the house, they laughed at me and said "Wow, you look like you need to sit down." It was getting worse. As soon as my sister was okay, we went to Hutzel Hospital, anxious, and with the butt warmer on blast.

We arrived and KJ parked as I was wheeled into the lobby. I didn't want to go to triage without him, so I waited as the lady made me a badge and asked me questions about the baby. KJ arrived to wheel me up the elevator after the flirting woman gave him a badge as well.

My mother works in the connecting hospital, and I text her to tell her I made it and was being examined. She completely abandoned work and arrived in her lab coat while the baby was hooked up to monitors and they tracked both her heartbeat and my contractions. They were irregular again, but the baby moved the sensors and turns out it wasn't recording all of my contractions correctly. They checked me for dilation. In one day, I jumped to 1 cm dilated! Still wasn't enough to be admitted, so they told me to walk around for two hours and come back. I sent KJ home to do something, and went to get some food from Wendy's. I tried to walk, but the contractions were almost crippling. I ended up sitting in the reflection room for a long time and got a little rest. Then I went back to the third floor to try to walk around, but I could barely stand, so I went back to triage.

I nervously waited for results. This was it. Either I'm admitted or I'm sent home. However, I would be damned if they thought I was going home. I would surely be sitting in that lobby until they decided to admit me. I was checked and… dilated to 4 cm! The woman congratulated me and stabbed me with a needle to put the IV in. Never have I had an IV in my hand, but it hurt terribly. Of course my mother, the IV perfectionist was upset about it. She arrived as soon as I told her I was being admitted. Totally left a patient to do so. I did text KJ that I was being admitted, and he got his time to shine as he sped on the freeway to reach me.

The next few hours I sat, unable to eat anything but ice chips, in a labor and delivery room. I tried to stomach the pain as long as I could as I was introduced to many nurses and other hospital staff. Then they all proceeded to poke and prod me every hour or so to check on my dilation. I bumped up to 5cm dilated soon enough and was told to walk around to get things moving. My mother, my sisters, my little cousin, and my aunt/uncle and her/his fiancé all took turns to visit me while I ignored most of my breathing techniques and instead squeezed a stress ball or asked KJ to squeeze my hand as hard as he could to take my mind off of the pain. Medicine they gave me through my IV caused my hands to swell and my breathing to become irregular, but they swore up and down my breathing was fine.

Since I was taking forever to make progress in dilation, they decided they would break my water for me and give me some Pitocin, which would pump up my contractions… then I was given the choice of an epidural. I totally took it!

Epidurals are scary. Something goes into your spine area and we all know how dangerous that can be. One little mistake could possibly leave you paralyzed, but I was told this was the pain management option that wouldn't affect my baby. Everyone was asked to leave the room. Then I sat, hunched over and stared fearfully into the nurses eyes while she coached my breathing. The man behind me did the procedure quickly - inserting a needle into my back and inserting the epidural. After that experience was over, the pain of my contractions eased. I no longer had to curse around my mom.

Events from there got a little hazy. Of all the luck, my epidural wore off on the right side of my body and it was so painful I almost begged for another does of something, which they gave, but didn't really work. The half contractions shook me so much and so painfully, I started to get dizzy. I remember telling everyone I couldn't breathe and begging for them to wheel me outside. I remember crying because I couldn't breathe (it made my sister cry, and KJ said he almost cried). My mom said screw them and gave me an inhaler. They put a weak ass breathing mask on my face which induced my claustrophobia and I yelled for them to take it off. I groggily asked for water even though I wasn't supposed to have it, but KJ and my mom gave it to me anyway. I even weakly asked my mom for help. Yeah…  I was a little dramatic!

Soon many of my visitors left with the exception of my mom and of course KJ. As I got rest, they also slept in their chairs, KJ waking only to squeeze my hand when I needed it. I ridiculously told the nurse there were baseballs in my butt and they told me it was time to push and it was the baby. I almost told them off. A male resident came and inspected me, and I was up to 9 cm dilated, yet there was still a little cervix or something in the way so I couldn't push yet. When I finally could, I gave up the first go round. By this time, I was severely shaking with each contraction. Another doctor came in and painfully shoved his fingers up there which I tried to get him to go away but he refused which eventually angered KJ and he sort of told the doctor off.  I guess he eased up, but either way, back to my pushing. I was told to push  at every contraction now. I tried so hard and it hurt so much. My mom and KJ held my legs, but my legs are strong so I sort of kicked them out of the way. KJ brought up the idea to let me use these handle bars which helped tremendously.

Pushing is freaking frustrating. They are all telling you 'you can do it' and are rooting for you, when all you want to do is tell them to FUCK OFF. I started saying I couldn't push anymore, but KJ said I almost had it and he saw the head. I was a little more determined this time and my mom fed me ice chips between each push. KJ kept coaching me but I still just couldn't give that last push.  I wanted to get it over with and begged for them to just snatch her out, but KJ reminded me of those horrible forceps things they would use. I really didn't care at that point. Sometimes, to encourage the mom, they  try to have her touch the baby's head as she's coming out. The doctor said it so nicely and politely and I screamed NO!!!!! My second to last contraction, I screamed as I pushed as hard as I could. I didn't want a break. The next one I screamed so loud and pushed, I felt the whole head pop out (so painful!) and the rest of the body felt weird, wet, and warm as it slid out. It was over. I wanted to pass out. But I also wanted to see my baby.

KJ who was adamant about not cutting the cord actually did it. She came out crying, with a head full of hair, and open eyes! He held her and cooed while they stitched me up which took forever. My mom even got to hold her. I kept trying to look over at them, but I couldn't move while they were stitching me. It was finally my turn as they asked if I wanted to do skin to skin. DUH!

I held my soft, velvet skinned baby for the first time and I wanted to cry. She was so darn beautiful and perfect. 7lbs. 9oz. 20 inches long. Born at 6:27 am Thursday October 30th, 2014. We were both born on Thursdays. I loved my little angel so much as we stared at each other curiously. Her large obsidian orbs, a little swollen from the eye drops they gave her, glancing into mine as I cuddled her and loved her as I did when I first found out I was pregnant. It's odd to stare at a newborn and think that she was literally developed inside of you. This whole human being with ten fingers and ten toes who can make sounds, who has a heartbeat, who will grow up and have their own children some day… Katiana Cerise… she started off as small as a poppy seed.