http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3uiCRr3dGE
Last weekend our little family took its very first road trip together! On Friday, we fed Jude his last feeding of the day (at around 7:30), did a quick version of his bedtime routine, and took off to Shawn's Nan's house - approximately three hours away. Jude did great for the trip - the only time we heard a peep out of him was when we were driving through the mountains. I think his ears were hurting a bit as they were popping. Once at Nan's, we put Jude to sleep in a Pack & Play and visited with Shawn's Mom, sister, and Grandmother. Jude's been sleeping in his own crib for at least a month now, so we weren't sure how he would do with sleeping in the same room as his parents. He actually slept like a rock when we climbed into bed, though he woke up at 3:00am - a habit he decided to continue for the rest of the trip.
The next morning we all got ready, ate a delicious breakfast made only as a Gramma can make, and took off for Ohio. It was about a six hour drive (including a stop to eat lunch), and Jude did relatively well. We had to stretch two of his feedings longer than three hours...and he let us know he wasn't pleased. Still - he only cried when we first got into the car and when he was hungry. Not too shabby!
As I'm sure you can imagine - life has been hectic for Shawn and I lately. He's an amazing husband and we have a solid marriage, but a good majority of our conversations lately have been business - when did Jude eat last? what's going on at work? what's your schedule like tomorrow? when do you want to grocery shop? do you need me to do the laundry today?- I'm sure you've been there, too. We've always loved taking road trips together, but this trip seemed especially sweet. It was wonderful to sit and just talk. Neither of us had to be anywhere, neither of us was distracted by a fussy infant, and we were able to just talk. We talked about Jude of course, about work, about dreams, about fears, about memories...and I dare say that I love that man more today than the day we were married. I'm forever grateful that we were friends before we were ever attracted to each other - and I was reminded on our road trip what a great friend I have in Shawn.
Alright - enough of the gushing. We got in on Saturday evening and Jude got to meet his Aunt Aubrey, Uncle Jason, and cousins. That night, Jude once again woke up at 3:00am. Actually, I think he woke up several times that night. We now know that he was gearing up for a growth spurt. He wasn't hungry - just getting ready to be! Sunday morning was...yes...SuperBowl Day! Shawn held Jude in bed before we got ready for church and watched the pre-game coverage. It was early and his excitement might not evident - but Shawn was REALLY looking forward to the game:
Jude fussed a little at church, but Shawn took care of him and got him to sleep with relative ease. (Getting Jude to sleep is never easy...but we count a few screams and angry kicks as relatively easy). Right now, church is one of the most difficult things for me. Shawn's obviously busy on Sundays, so I'm pretty much by myself in the care of Jude. That's not a big deal - except that our pediatrician doesn't want us to put him in the nursery until cold/flu season is over (he says mid-March, I'm thinking beginning of March). So I keep Jude with me in service. In order to sit with Shawn during the sermon, we sit in the front, allowing for a quick entrance and exit for Shawn from the stage. Since Jude cries every single time he sleeps, he inevitably starts wailing at some point. I know it's probably only my paranoia, but I feel like every eye in the room zooms in on me and my crying baby. Whether they're thinking I'm a bad Mom, Jude's a cute baby, that I should just put him in the nursery, or just wondering what that noise was...I worry that I cause a huge distraction. And then I worry that I cause a huge distraction when I have to get up and leave because Jude's crying has gotten too loud. All of that to say that it was nice to let Shawn take care of Jude. He actually got Jude to sleep without having to leave, but he let Jude cry a bit more than I had been. It made me realize that I might be a more worried about what people think than I ought. Perhaps it's okay if Jude cries for a minute or so in the service.
Anyway- so after church came a plethora of pre-game preparations! And then...it was game time! Shawn's entire family are Steelers fans, and they were all super excited. Well, except for Austin who is a Browns fan. He abstained from wearing any Steeler paraphernalia in protest.
Emily, Adrianna, Austin (holding Jude), Noah, and Caleb getting ready for the game.
The family cooked massive amounts of food and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with everyone. Shawn's Mom got plenty of smiles out of Jude, and he looked like he was having a ball!
Shawn, Jude, and Heather preparing for kick-off.
...and Jude by the end of the first quarter. He unfortunately wasn't able to stay up for the whole game, but he enjoyed watching the Steelers play for a little bit, anyway. We got up on Monday morning and took off for home. We took Shawn's Nan back home with us (well...we took her to her home, which is on the way back to Winston-Salem). I know Shawn really loved having some bonus time with his Grandmother, and I enjoyed getting to spend more time with her as well. On both ends of the trip we got to see snow - beautiful snow! Us North Carolinians only see a few flakes each season, so I was beyond excited to see the white stuff!
I mentioned Jude's growth spurt, which seemed to have lasted about a week. Those days of going twelve hours between feedings have vanished. However - it's always fun to see him growing right before our eyes when he goes through those spurts. His little legs look like they got almost twice as long! I'm really hoping he gets his Daddy's height, so I was encouraged to see him getting longer. Because he was sleeping for so long, I had also spent some time worrying about he weight and if he was getting enough food. He's a small baby (25th percentile at his last appointment), and I worried about any drop off in weight. Seeing him go through this growth spurt helped me realized that if he's hungry - he'll let us know! He's sleeping longer with each passing night, so I'm hoping that he'll soon return to sleeping straight through until 7:30 in the morning.
So Jude has officially experienced his first SuperBowl AND he's officially seen his first snow. It was a big weekend for the kid!
As one mama of a small baby to another, try not to worry too much! Your pediatrician will let you know when you need to be concerned. And as long as it's not a sharp drop-off on the charts, I doubt they will get too worried.
ReplyDeleteMiles has stabilized around the 30th percentile. He managed to double his birthweight by 6 months plus an extra half pound. Sometimes I wonder how much he would weigh now if we hadn't gone through that whole mini-pill disaster.
But anyway, I just wanted to say try not to worry, even though I know it's difficult not to! I'm guessing you don't go back to the doctor until 4 months. Do you go in for unscheduled weight checks? Sometimes doing that will help put your mind at ease!