Baby’s Connections

When you think back, way back, what are the first memories of your friends? The first memory that comes to my mind is of my fist kindergarten friends.  Giggly twin girls Masha and Dasha that looked more alike than drops of water. Most of the teachers couldn’t recognize which one was Masha and which one was Dasha. I remember that the only difference was that Dasha had a cute little mole on the side of her cheek… or was it Masha… Then I also remember a skinny tall red headed boy whose name of Yura, but everybody called him a “Match” because he was incredibly skinny with a fiery hair.

So, since Oscar is growing up and becomes acutely aware of the people around him I wanted him to know that he is not the only baby on earth and that there is more of his kind than he thinks. I remembered that several times after pregnancy I was contacted by Birth to Three (Parenting Now!) organization and invited to visit Baby’s Connections. However, at that time we were too busy adjusting to the routine and going out with a newborn just to socialize seemed like an ordeal. Now, it’s a different story, Oscar is so much more manageable in terms of going out. If he is not tired, he will be looking around in fascination and be quiet not knowing how to take what is going on. In short, I decided to go to one of the Baby’s Connections meetings to see how he will react to others. Our first trip was a success, although, he was a bit tired, he was taken by other babies. I could see it in his face that he didn’t expect to meet anyone that behaved and looked similar to him. We were hanging out with 7-9 month old crowd since Oscar is deceivingly big for his age and already attempts to walk around (with your support of course). After that trip it was decided that we will come again. Our next visit Oscar found a friend, and it had to be a girl, a precious tiny 6month old cutie with big blue sparkling eyes and curly long eyelashes. It was so adorable to see how they seemed to make their way towards each other in a crowded room.  They were both salivating like crazy chewing on their hands, as soon as they reached each other they stretch their hands towards each other mouths although saying: “Here you go, you can munch on my hand while I chew on yours.” They started cooing and smiling having a great conversation. It was a shame that his little friend had to go home soon after, so we left as well. In our next visit Oscar acquainted with another little cutie pie and had a blast playing around. For anyone who has little ones and are in Eugene, I think it’s a great idea to come to Parenting Now for Baby’s Connections. Your little one will have a great time socializing with other babies and you will have fun finding out tons of useful information from other mothers.         

Teething and other fun stuff

Today we hit exciting four month mark. Oscar is a big and strong boy, growing faster than I could ever imagine. He is always on the move or so he wishes he could be. He is trying to roll, crawl, walk and jump… yes, all at the same time. I see we have trouble on our hands and need to make sure that our house is baby proof as soon as possible.  Oscar is more aware of the surroundings and other people around him which makes going out more fun for all three of us. And if a “stranger” holds him for a second, the whole world will be crushing down and it will never be the same. So, Tanya, you need to come visit us more often!!! Oscar is mesmerized by our furry friends and I have a feeling he can’t wait to get his little hands on them as soon as he can scoot himself fast enough. What I’m noticing more and more each day is that Oscar, not to my surprise, is a very talkative guy. Squeals of joy and throat gargling is his way to communicate now, and every day he invents and tries out new ear piercing sounds that my husband only can handle wearing both earplugs and headphones at the same time.    

Teething… we finally arrived to the dreaded teething period as well. Everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING goes in the mouth: hands, all the toys around, blankets, our fingers and NOTHING is quite satisfying. What’s worse is when you thought that your night routine was set, you and your little one finally started getting some sleep then the horrible teething would ruin that for you. As soon as Oscar turned three months his sleep during the day became pretty much non-existent while at night it would be constant rocking and singing. But as I mentioned before we don’t have a little guy on our hands, so my arms were sore from trying to continuously rock him to sleep, since he grew out of his swing already. And as soon as you think he is asleep his eyes will pop back open, and you’ll have to start all over again. So, desperate mama got a “promote healthy sleep book”, read it with a speed of the lightning, and some advice was very valid but in general our sleep problems continued. However, still desperate mama found an amazing cure that gave us both peace and healthy happy sleep back. The miraculous solution that I found was Camilia drops that soothed his pain within minutes and let him have a good sleep. I know that we still might be boxes of Camilia away from our first tooth. But, oh, how happy we all will be when that first tooth arrives!

 

Three month discoveries

We are three months today! Oscar keeps surprising us every day with new tricks he learns and how fast he grows.This month was full of discoveries more than ever, and I have to admit that I love seeing his progress. From a screaming sleepy always hungry newborn Oscar turned into hand chewing, bubble blowing and constantly drooling, giggling and cooing baby. He is more alert and curious about the surroundings. If he is awake he refuses to lay down and insists on standing up. Although he wobbles like a Humpty-Dumpty, I can feel that he is getting stronger each day. And no, for everyone concerned, it will not make him bow-legged. He loves talking and watching others communicate with him. His cries now have meaning and differ according to his complaint. Yes, the toes are discovered as well! His face was full of surprise and disbelief when he grabbed his big toe with his fingers in a bathtub. It was like "Wow, look at that cool thing! Mom, did you see that?" 

Oscar is holding his neck up with no problem and doesn't mind his tummy time unless he is very tired. He is still working on turning from tummy to his back. He can lift the legs and the side of his body but doesn't seem to want to actually make a turn. However, he can turn to the side from his back, which spells danger to me, ah, our child is growing up too fast. He absolutely loves the show Voice, and don't judge me! :) The flashing lights and music make him drop every toy in the world and just stare at the magic screen in amazement! Still cannot handle but a few minutes in the wrap but I'm not the one to back down on that, just keep putting him in even for just a minute a day.

Oh, grabbing! That's right, grabbing everything that crosses his sight: toys, blankets, and hair, my lucky husband doesn't have to experience that one. :) According to our Dr visit last week, Oscar is still in high 90%for weight and height... of course, I already knew that, since we started wearing some of the 6-12month clothes now. That's right he is only 3 months today, our sweet little big boy! 

Just like my mother

 It was one of those days when nothing could pacify our little Oscar; it could have been gas or a long outing, or might be just a lack of sleep that led him to be so frustrated and upset that no one or nothing was making him happy. On that day or it would be more accurate to say night I have realized that I am becoming a mother, my mother to be precise. I remember, as a child there was nothing more comforting and peaceful than my mother’s embrace. I close my eyes now and still can feel her warmth around me and the softness of her gentle hands caressing my forehead.  I knew that no matter how frustrated or upset I get she would always be there holding me close to her chest while I cry even if there was nothing to cry about. And at that moment I knew that nothing else mattered or existed outside of this embrace, I felt safe, incredibly loved and I never wanted to let go. So many years have passed but I still remember being wrapped in my mother’s arms, feeling the softness and smell of her skin, the gentle beating of her heart next to my ear, and an overwhelming feeling of peace. And I realized that no matter how loud Oscar screams, how frustrated or restless he gets, I will keep holding him close to me how my mother once was holding me. I will keep caressing his forehead how my mother once caressed mine, I will keep humming the same lullaby that my mother once hummed to me. I am becoming a sanctuary for my son as my mother has always been to me. And there is nothing more amazing than the realization that he will remember and treasure those moments next to me in the years to come. I am becoming my mother, and I couldn’t be more grateful for a beautiful role model I had in my life. I love you, mom! Thank you for always being there for me!  

 

 

It will get better… or so they say

I have always been a morning person but I have never thought that I would fall in love with mornings that deeply… morning is when all the character and personality of our little bundle of joy comes out. Smiles and laughter light up early morning hours brighter than the sunshine. Who would ever guess that just a couple of hours ago he was driving his daddy crazy by crying his eyes out because he couldn’t fall asleep. 

I love how sympathetic people are when you have a newborn; “congratulations” is immediately followed by “it will get better”. I want to reply “it’s not that bad”, I remember the first two weeks were the hardest. You are adjusting to being a new parent and a lack of sleep and at the same time overwhelmed by love and desire to satisfy that little being’s every wish. Our baby on the other hand is overwhelmed by the world around him and trying to adjust to all the changes his little body is going through. You and your little one are developing your own language with no words but cries, hugs, kisses and a check list. Yes! I figured it out, Oscar keeps a check list: if it’s not hunger, must be a dirty diaper, if not a dirty diaper, must be a burp or fart, if it’s not that then he is tired or bored. The amazing thing is that he doesn’t know what bothers him either.  

 And you have to move through check list fast otherwise he will work himself up and it will take forever to calm him down.  In this process I realized that parenting is a synonym to being creative. If some pacifying technique or a song worked this time it doesn’t mean it will work tomorrow. You have to keep changing, evolving, and perfecting your way of rocking, singing, moving, talking, and playing.

  

I have to admit that I am one of those lucky wives whose husband is always ready to take over when you feel that your patience and ability to continue is wearing off. Honestly, I don’t understand what those ladies in the birth class were talking about when saying that the relationship with your partner will suffer from having a baby. I feel it did the opposite for us. It brought us even closer together. We work as a team with love and support. We know that we can fully rely on each other and it makes our love and desire for one another grow in trifolds. It’s been two months we first met our baby boy… What? Already? And it IS getting better… there are hard and frustrating days and there are easy and exciting days, but there is no word to describe how incredible it is to be a family.  

   

Oscar's Birth Day

Welcome friends and family to our new blog page. We decided to create a blog of our family to share our news, fun moments of our life as new parents, and mainly to tell you how our little boy grows and discovers the world around him.
I guess it would be appropriate to begin with a birth story since Oscar is the reason for us creating a blog in the first place. On December 9^th 2011 during a routine checkup I’ve heard the words “You are pregnant” when I least expected.  Tears ran down my cheeks and poor nurse couldn’t understand if it were tears of joy or sadness, but I couldn’t have been happier at that moment. On the way home I was thinking of all the creative ways to announce that news to Nick but chose to simply show the notice from the doctor that stated that we were already 7 weeks pregnant. Pregnancy couldn’t have been easier: no morning sickness, no hormonal shifts; our life didn’t seem any different than before the pregnancy.  The only reminder was that my belly kept growing and we anxiously were looking forward to every visit to our midwife to see how our little one is growing.

 Nick predicted that it was a boy; however, I wasn’t sure but was able to recognized our little man on the screen during an ultrasound check up before the technician could utter the words ”It’s a boy!” Time flew by and here we were awaiting arrival of our fist child any minute… but he wouldn’t come. I climbed nine sets of stairs at the hospital, went on a rigorous hike thinking I will go into labor for sure but no sign of little Oscar. And here we are one week overdue at the doctor’s office for a routine ultrasound, little did we know that our new life as first time parents is about to begin. I tell you what, you don’t want your ultrasound technician get quite in the middle of an appointment, it’s not a good sing. And so she did, while checking his heart she stopped and listened to it again and again and then said that she would run to the doctor to make sure that we don’t need to go to the hospital. What?! Hospital? This whole time we planned Birth Center birth, everything went perfect, what happened now? After she came back we were directed to the hospital with the words “It might be a baby day for you guys”. The reality of what was happening around us didn’t settle in yet. Hospital, 5^th floor, three nurses rushing around hooking me up to the monitor, fetal doctor bringing in his own monitor to watch the baby, all we can hear is that heart rate is too low… what does it mean? C-section? Our midwife arrives on the scene with a sad face explaining that baby behaves well, no sign of distress but somehow shows a  very low heart rate baseline. However, none of the doctors know what might be causing it. As the monitor hooked on, it turns out that I’m in labor but don’t feel the contractions. We are given our private room and decided to be induced. More doctors are called in to evaluate Oscar’s condition. At this point they say 50/50 % chance of C-section, everything depends on how he will react to contractions when they become stronger. Twenty seven hours, balloon induction, and massive amount of pain later it was decided to proceed with dreaded pitocin. At this point, pain is off the charts and I have no idea how I can endure any longer especially since nobody knows how much longer… I agree to epidural. Yes, we wanted it naturally and with no involvement, but as so many of us know life rarely goes as planned, so bring on epidural and let the pain subside. At that instance all of those horrible birth stories that involve epidural and pitocin ran though my mind. But there was no other option; I just wanted my baby to be out safely whatever it takes. As soon as the large dose of epidural enters my body and I feel the numbness spreading throughout I hear that Oscar’s heart beat drastically slowed down as well. Everybody started moving fast around me, trying to find a heart beat, administer more drugs to correct my blood pressure, at the same time doctor keeps explaining me over and over that he might have to stop epidural if Oscar doesn’t respond soon. But lo and behold, my pressure went up and brought Oscar’s heart beat back up. There was nothing more soothing at that moment than to hear that strong fast heart beat.  In about three hours I feel like I need to push and here the fun begins, with each push his heart rate drops and I can read nurses faces that it’s not good, I’m trying to get him out just to make sure he is ok, he will be ok when he is here next to me, I just know it. In about 45 minutes we heard a nice loud cry and he got quiet as soon as his head touched my chest and he heard our voices. 

The only way I can describe what I felt is overwhelming peace, I didn’t care about the cuts or pains, I just want to hold him here next to me, comfort him and tell him that we are here and it will be ok. The chaos and worries were over; he was here with us health and happy lifting up his neck to take a better look at his parents. Due to the history during labor we were ordered a bunch of tests and had an extended stay at the hospital. But now at almost 7weeks old, our healthy baby boy is 12lb 8oz and 23 and ½” long. It was a couple of days full of stress, chaos, worries and happiness but I know that I could have never done it without my wonderful husband who is the most supportive and caring person I know. This incredible experience brought us together even closer which I even couldn’t imagine being possible. We are enjoying our little family and discovering our son’s personality every day.