What a week

The past 10 days have been quite a ride. One that I'd like to not repeat oh how about ever.

Last Thursday after picking Logan up from daycare I started feeling not very good. Marty was helping out at a track meet and I texted him to tell him...and 30min later I called him to let him know that he needed to come home right away. If you read Marty's blog, you know that we were hit with a nasty stomach bug. Imagine the worst stomach bug ever and that's what we had. Marty followed suit a few hours after I started.

Friday we were both totally incapacitated. aAlthough the violent parts of the bug were over, We were both just wiped out. Luckily, Logan didn't get what we had and he was very chill on Friday and slept most of the day.

Saturday we were both feeling much better although neither one of us had an appetite. We still put on a swim clinic at TAC. Logan started a bit of a cough. One week at daycare and kid is already sick.

Sunday we both got our appetites back. Logan's cough got worse. He also seemed to have lost his voice as when he cried barely anything came out. It was the most pathetic thing ever. We called the doctor and they told us we could give him some children's tylenol for his discomfort, but other than that, just keep feeding him.

Monday he seemed worse. I worked from home and Marty and I took turns watching him. We ended up making an appointment for him, but again, there wasn't much that could be done for such a young baby. You could tell he was pretty miserable, and his weight was now down to the 27th percentile (he had been at the 50th percentile at his 2 month checkup).

Tuesday morning he seemed about the same, but I couldn't stay home from work again, so off to daycare it was. When I picked him up, though, he had really gone downhill. He was pale and his eyelids were red and he was just sort of listless. He was having trouble breathing and they said he wasn't eating well.

I called the doctor again, but it was after hours so I had to wait for someone to get back to me. When the doctor called, he said it sounded like RSV and we should go to the children's ER.

Off we went. They tested his snot (yup) and he did in fact have RSV, which is a super common respiratory virus. We all get it: kids, adults - it's everywhere. In babies, it can be very hard because their immune systems are so immature and their lungs are small. They gave him a breathing treatment but his oxygen saturation was still lower than what they would like, so they admitted him.

We were there from Tuesday evening to Thursday evening and as you might imagine, Marty and I were exhausted by the end of it. Logan is fine - they had him on oxygen and regular breathing treatments. It's what they call 'supportive care' as it's a virus and really you have to let it run it's course.

He still has a wicked cough but is much happier. Our biggest issue at this point is the coughing fits sometimes enact his gag reflex which causes a fountain of milk (pretty much everything he has drunk) to come back up. He lost more weight when I went to see the pediatrician on Friday. We're hoping he can keep most of it down so he can get back up to his normal weight.

Needless to say, I didn't end up doing the triathlon this morning I had planned on. Not only was I way tired, but my calf has been giving me problems and I really haven't been able to run for 2 weeks.

Here's hoping this next week is better.

Also, I still haven't seen The Hunger Games and I really, really want to.

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Maternity Leave

I started back to work on Monday. 13 weeks sure did fly by! At least on one hand - when I think back to Logan being newborn it seems so long ago, but I can't believe my maternity leave is already over. It wasn't so bad going back into the office; I layed low and went through my hundreds of email without anyone really bothering me. Yesterday was more of the same and today I'm off (I'm working Monday/Tuesday/Thursday).

I made Marty do the daycare drop-off on Monday, and it looks like he will do that most times as its just easier while I get ready for work. Last week I had to go there to give them diapers and stuff and I started tearing up then, which is when I knew I would be a basket case if I tried to drop him off first thing - I totally didn't think I would be like that! I guess you never know.

He was super tired after his first day at daycare and for the first time in 3 weeks woke up in the middle of the night. I imagine it will take some adjusting but the next night he was back to sleeping a ton which was great.

I've managed to slightly strain my calf. I guess there really is something to this post-pregnancy-nursing-hormone thing. I was just running easy! On a flat surface! Argh. Hopefully, I can still do the triathlon I'm signed up for in a week and a half.

It's just I love running and the weather has been so ridiculously nice. I can still do other things so I guess I'll have to be okay with getting in shape and not necessarily real triathlon shape for awhile. Since I'm back at work, I can take advantage of the gym on campus. Which I did yesterday. I'm sure I'm very weak in many places that could contribute to all these little niggles that keep cropping up.

And like father like son. Logan is already interested in tasty brews.

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few pics and video

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Training

I'm getting back into the swing of things as far as training is going. I did my first run 'workout' this morning since Marty is down in Florida and we have a group run every Thursday morning. Nothing great, but my heart rate was up and my legs were burning. Today I'm planning on getting out for a bike ride - its going to be 77 degrees and I can't miss out on that! I signed up for a race at the end of the month; an all women's triathlon: Girls Run the World here in Raleigh. There will not be any miracles taking place and I doubt I will be able to hold even a 7min mile for the 2mile run, but I am so excited to get out there and compete again.

How am I able to get this training in right now while Marty is running our camp in FL? Mom-in-law is in town helping me out. It's awesome to have time for myself again.

I am however, incredibly sad I'm not down in Florida with everyone at camp. This is the first time I've ever missed going to one in the past 7 years. Even though I have family down in St. Pete that offered to help, logistically it still seems like it would've been a nightmare with his eating schedule and all things that go with being 11 weeks old. Next year, though, we will make it happen.

Last week I was able to ride the trainer 2 days during the week while Kari came over and watched Logan. This was great because Marty got to keep working, Logan was happy, and Kari and I got to catch up. Even though we may have seen each other the day before, there are always multitudes of topics we can cover. So that was awesome.

We also made it to our first hockey game up here last week and had awesome tickets given to us from one of Marty's athletes. We had our first real babysitter come and watch Logan and she told us he was good. I hope he was so she'll come back :) It was a great game, too - the Canes shut out the Capitals. I really don't know much about hockey but was glad we were close enough so we could actually see the puck and goals and all that. It didn't hurt that our tickets were in the swanky section with comfy seats and free food and drinks.

And lastly, Team Victorious Secret will once again be vying for a top spot at Doughman in May.
Some of you may remember the debacle of last year's race where I flatted on both the front and rear tires while leading and ended up hitching a ride back to the race site. If you have a lot of time and want to read the entire story, you can click here. We had some stressful moments thinking we may not get in this year, but my fast typing skillz got us an entry.

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Sleep

I love my sleep. I love going to bed early and getting a solid 8+ hours.

When you get pregnant, you'll have a lot of people giving you advice. Some of it is very helpful and constructive, but a lot of it is frankly quite negative. From digs at sleeping to not being able to stay active...that was definitely one of the most annoying things I put up with while pregnant.

But I was very worried about my sleep! It's true that towards the end of pregnancy your sleep is bad - lots of waking up to pee and a general restlessness from being uncomfortable. It becomes a production to just rollover at night.

And then the baby gets here and the first 2-3 weeks are HARD. Particularly if you decide to breastfeed because it is all you. Sleeping 1-2 hours at a time is the norm and who can survive very long on that?

We started giving Logan a bottle right around 3 weeks and I started pumping to build up some inventory so others could give him this bottle. That was a huge lifesaver as I could go to bed and sleep for 4hrs or so straight and not have to worry about one of those night feedings.

We haven't tried any sleep techniques, although there are about 100 different variations and books. Luckily, he has progressively gotten better at sleeping longer as his belly has gotten bigger and he can hold more food.

After a few weeks, he was a consistent 3-4hr sleeper, and that grew to 5-6hrs, and we've now gotten more and more 6-7hrs at a time over the past 2 weeks. After the long chunk, he'll go back down for another 2-3hrs. He's also thrown in several 9hr sleeps, and then he wakes up with the driest mouth you can imagine and screaming for his milk.

Unfortunately for me, I can't go 9hrs at this point. If you know anything about breastfeeding then you know what I'm talking about. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. Prior to Dec 12 I wouldn't have known either. Hopefully, my body will adjust soon so if he does keep stretching those night hours I can go back to getting my own beloved 8hrs.

I'm sure once we've got this down he'll start teething or something and I'll be back to getting up every couple of hours ;)

Unfortunately, he doesn't have as good a hold on the day naps; sometimes he'll nap for a couple of hours and sometimes not at all. Some days he seems to nap all the time. Maybe this will be one of those things daycare helps us out with.

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Logan Update

Logan had his 2 month check-up on Monday. He's 12lbs 2oz and 23 inches long, putting him at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. His head circumference is at the 90th percentile, though. Kid's already got a big head. I guess we should stop telling him he's the cutest baby ever. Har dee har har.

He's got a wicked case of cradle cap, which should go away between now and several months. You gotta love all this weird baby stuff they get. To treat it, you can rub olive oil on his head and then use a soft brush or comb to help loosen the flakes. You never know what he will like (this) or not like (baths), but yeah, he absolutely loves getting his little (big?) head massaged. He almost always goes comatose when I'm doing it. He even likes getting his hair washed after. Go figure.

We're getting lots of cooing and smiles now. It's absolutely adorable.

Here's a picture of him in his Valentine's Day outfit. Tassie is always close by.

Here's another when he was awake and wiggling all over the place in his bouncy seat.



And we've been taking monthly pictures with a big stuffed animal (UNC Ram - from my sister who went there and is a big fan. Any of you who don't like this could've gotten us something different!)

Here he is as a newborn (not quite 1 week). I forgot how orange (jaundice) he was! You can see my mom's hand trying to hold him up.



And here he is at 1 month, still needing a bit of help to stay put. He wasn't particularly happy when we were taking his picture here.



And now at 2 months. Look ma! I can do this myself now!

Overall, he's a very good baby, at least as far I can tell since I have pretty much nothing to compare him to. When he gets fussy, it's usually because he's hungry. Thankfully, he was never colicky, and getting bounced on the stability ball is pure gold. My dad says it's because I ran with him so much when I was pregnant and he likes that motion ;) For the past several weeks he's been in a routine of sleeping a 4hr stretch (breastmilk) or 5hr stretch (formula) at night, then waking up. I'll feed him again and then he'll go back down for another 2-3hrs. We've had a few 6-7hrs stretches over the past 2 weeks so hopefully that is some foreshadowing because it was heavenly! As my sister-in-law said, they don't typically go backwards so at least the nights of 2-3hrs should be pretty much done.

He's also holding his head up much better now so I've been able to get him in the Baby Bjorn with him facing out which he seems to like MUCH better than turned toward me not being able to see anything.

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Keepin' it real

I have 1 month until I go back to work -- it seems like a looming deadline but I know it will be good to get out of the house and feel like a contributing member of society again. I'm going back 3 days a week, too, so that should provide some balance while also not feeling like I never get to see Logan. This past Thursday I went in for the end of our staff meeting so everyone could meet him. While my boss was holding him, he pooped his diaper really loud. Kids have the greatest timing.

I was feeling really great running recently, but then all of the sudden my right knee started hurting so I'm backing off and taking some time to make sure it's okay. I'm sure it is and maybe has to do with off biomechanics or possibly my hips being in a different alignment right now. Logan and I made it to Masters practice again yesterday morning. Fast Friday is very hard with my current fitness, but things are improving. On Tuesday I did 5x200s alternating swim and pull and I was back in the 2:40 range, as opposed to the 3:05+ range I was in just 3 weeks ago when I first got back into the pool.

We went back to the Lovgren's to watch the Superbowl and cheer on the Giants. We bought Logan an Eli Manning onesie and he looked very cute in his little outfit. My grandpa was a sportscaster for the Giants so my family has always cheered for them - he even has his own wikipedia page!

Working really hard to lift his head.

Tomorrow Logan will be 2 months old! And on Monday he goes in for his 2 month checkup where unfortunately he'll be getting several shots.

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