Thoughts on Motherhood & Cameron's 3rd month update

I am one of those moms (or mums in English lingo)... You know the ones... who think their kid is the most advanced, and the absolute cutest... oh yes, and it doesn't stop there. I can't seem to think of anything to talk about aside from Cameron. Neil says I'm obsessed.... and what, tell me, is wrong with that :)

Motherhood really is fantastic. It's the most rewarding experience of my life thus far, and I can't imagine anything topping it,... perhaps another baby... okay, sorry, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Everyday with a newborn baby seems like a milestone.

Cameron is changing daily. I can see the wheels and cogs of his mind turning, slowly figuring out something new in his world each day.

Yesterday, August 24th, he laughed so hard. It was the cutest thing in the world. It was such a pure, heart melting moment. I was singing 'Humpty Dumpty' and his face lit up, and all the sudden he was dying laughing! This, of course, made me burst into laughter, which scared him straight back into his Mr. Serious face. HA! Everyday he gives me something that is so wonderful... it's indescribable, but each morning I wake him up and think what milestone will he reach today?!

Recently, I have been posed with lots of questions.... I've been on both sides, the one asking and the one answering. However, my 'advice' to most predicaments is to follow your instinct.

You will know this if you are a mother already, or if you are pregnant, but everyone wants to tell you 'what works' and 'how to get your baby to sleep through the night'... etc... But the reality is, every baby is different. And what works for me and Cameron might not work for you. I try to take people's advice, whether I've asked for it, or it has been volunteered, smile and nod, and say thank you very much, and either take it or leave it. At the end of the day, no one knows your baby like you do. And the saying, 'Mom knows best' is true.

Cam is 3 months old!! Whoop Whoop!

Stats: Weight- 13 lbs 9 oz, Height- 25 inches! My big man :)

Caught out in the rain

The English summertime is challenging. You have to be prepared for all weather conditions, at all times. One second it's clear blue skies and a cool 70 F, then the next moment, it's pouring down with rain and the temp has dropped to 50 F. Most Londoners are familiar with this truth, and they venture out fully equipped for all scenarios. I was one of those Londoners until recently. Rule #1: I never left home without my umbrella, Rule #2: 8 times out of 10 I had my rain jacket with me, and I'm sure there should be more rules, but that's all I got right now....

Anyway, on this particular gorgeous Monday, I decided to stroll Cameron to the Dr. office opposed to driving. Hey, this way, I get exercise, and the hospital is only a 15-20 min walk from my house, so nothing too outrageous. All is well until, what do you know, heavy down pour of rain. I had made it out of the house with a lot.... Cameron's diapers, wipes, change of clothes, hat, jacket, his medical book, a rain cover for the stroller... you see where I'm going with this... how could I have possibly forgotten anything??? Well, it wasn't the lack of umbrella or jacket that really bothered me..... It was absolutely pouring down, and so I thought, I'll get home much quicker if I jog. HA... jogging in a nursing bra should be illegal. I don't know if everyone is familiar with the makeup of the typical nursing bra. Well, it's all business, nothing fancy. Literally, a cloth over the necessities that snaps in and out of place, and that's it... No underwire, no padding, no dignity. And to think, running in one of these creations....not to mention the pain I was in, but I'm sure I scarred many people in route home.

Moral of this story: Never get stuck out in the rain in a nursing bra.

2 month update

Week 11: Time has flown by! Cameron is changing daily!

He had his 8 week check up July 20th. He weighed 12 lbs (51st percentile) and 24 inches long (91st percentile)! He also had his first round of immunizations. He wasn't a huge fan of the shots, but all went well.

Cam smiles all the time :) He wakes up smiling and goes to sleep smiling.... okay, the last part not so much... but all in all, he is a fantastic boy! Very chilled.... like his mom... HA... jk, more like his dad.

AUGUST 4th!!! HE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I really thought this day would never come. Cam slept from 8:45PM-5:30AM without waking... he woke at 5:30AM for a feed, then went right back to sleep until 8:30AM!!!!!!! Amazing!!!! Just under 9 hours in a row! WOW! Very exciting, considering I haven't gotten more than 4-5 hours in a row since May 21st :) I feel like a new woman! I only need 2 cups of tea in the morning, apposed to 6!

We are off to the Ruislip Aquadrome today to meet some of our buddies from the baby group!

It is a park surrounded by lakes/ponds, and we're going for a stroll, then off to the cafe for tea and cakes! I love maternity leave!

ooxx

So, I had a baby...

Wow... I can't believe it has been 7 weeks since Cameron came into our world. Whew. In some respects, it feels like he's been with us for ages, and then sometimes it feels like it's only been a week.

Here's a brief recap on the past 2 months in the life of Leigh-Anne O'Brien:

Labor and the Birth:

Hellacious. I don't usually swear, however, to be fair, my experience merits a lot stronger phrase than that.

Contractions started on Tuesday night, May 17th. Went into the hospital, they sent me home because I was only 2 cm dilated (the goal is to get to 10cm). The contractions continued throughout Wednesday, coming about every 10 mins, but they were bearable. It wasn't until Wednesday night, around 1 am, that I thought, these are getting ridiculously painful, coming every 5-7 mins, it's time. We head to the hospital, I am examined, and the nurse says I'm 8cm!!! "WOW"... I am thinking at this stage! I hadn't had any pain relief at this point, and I was thinking, 'I can do this, Baby is on it's way'. Continued to labor for about 4-5 hours, the midwife told me to start pushing... I'm pushing, nothing is happening.. So the midwife decides to examine me again to see what's up... "Um... I'm so sorry to tell you this, but you're only 2 cm".... WHAT?!?!?! The nurse I saw when we first arrived misdiagnosed me. Awesome. So, as you can imagine, this COMPLETELY shattered my 'zen'...... and that's the point when I said, bring on the meds! I wanted to try gas and air (kinda like laughing gas) before I tried the 'hard' stuff :) I continued to labor (contractions every 5 mins, and extremely painful) until Friday morning around 4 am.... I had reached my wits end at this point... BEGGING them to give me an epidural and the induce me (I was still only at 2 cm after 3 days!!!!!) Finally, they agreed to induce and start me on a drip to speed up my labor. Epidural in, and working like a charm for a couple hours, then I started to feel the pain again... oh, that's right, epidural fell out. Fantastic. The Dr. put another one in (where was Dr. LeFevre when I needed her???). The Dr. came to assess me, because at this point I was considered 'high risk'..you think??? And the Doc asked who last changed my catheter... oh, that's right, it hadn't been changed in a day, meaning I hadn't peed in almost 2 days.... sweet. Cameron's head was blocking my bladder, in turn, causing my kidneys to back up. Seriously. So, at this point, 4 DAYS after contractions/labor started, they decide to give me a C-sect... about bloody time. C-sect goes okay, Cameron is born Saturday, May 21st at 2:34am! 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long! He wasn't phased at all by the surgery, however my body wasn't as resilient. My body temp dropped down to about 92 F.... so they had to put me under an inflatable heat blanket....

whew,.... it has taken me quite awhile to come to terms with all that occurred. But, the most important thing, the end result, Cameron is with us now, happy and healthy :)

Week 1: Complete mayhem. No one can prepare you for the chaos. Our world was upside down, and there was a little person in our house, staring at us, staring back at him. HA!

Week 2-5: Rough... there is no way to prepare for the sleep deprivation. I am nursing, and Cameron was feeding anywhere between every 30mins to 2 hours being the longest spell between feeds. Whew... I was a zombie.

We took Cameron to the American embassy and he is officially a British and American citizen! Lucky dude.

Week 6: Starting to feel a bit of relief. As Cameron grows, so does his stomach :) He is now going about 3-4 hours between feeds at night... sometimes still every 1-2 hours during the day.

Week 7: We are holding our breath... there is a glimpse of a routine. Cameron is now taking regular naps during the day, allowing me to have a cup of tea :) (I know, so British) AND he sleeps from about 7:30pm-7:00am, only waking about twice in between!!!! Don't get me wrong, 2 months ago, I wouldn't consider 4-5 hours a good night sleep, but at the moment, I feel like a new woman! HA!

Neil and I are having the best time with Cam. He is starting to develop a personality. He smiles and he has laughed a couple times. Morning time is his favorite, and mine, because he is in the best mood!

I can't wait for everyone back home to meet our little fella. We are planning a trip home at the end of September, and plan to stay a couple of weeks! WAHOOO!!!

Lots of love to y'all

ooxx LA

Sweet smiles in the morning :)

More videos of Cameron

Cameron enjoying his playgym

This is how my garden grows

39 Weeks

Fitpregnancy.com 39 Weeks:

You're in the home stretch! After nine months of growth and development, your baby is ready to be born, or nearly so. At week 39, your baby is fully developed and anywhere from 17-23 inches long and weighs 6-10 pounds. Your baby is adding neural connections and growing hair and still gaining weight. Researchers have theorized that when babies are ready to be born, they send a chemical signal of androgens to the placenta, which increases the production of estrogen and leads to labor. If so, it's proof of the old saying that "only a baby knows when it's ready to be born."

Okay... so needless to say, I'm over it. I've crept into this strange phase of denial. It's a similar feeling I had right before the 12 week scan. I had convinced myself that there was no baby inside, and was just in a foul mood for having to go through with the scan. I don't know if this is some strange defense mechanism of mine, but it's not so pleasant. It's slightly different now, I see my belly, I feel the baby moving inside, so I realize it's in there; however, I feel like the day will never come when I get to meet the little one. Kinda like in middle school, when I was certain I would die before I got my first kiss... I couldn't possibly imagine it EVER happening. And of course, it did, and that's a whole different traumatic story... :)

So, project divert my mind continues: I've done everything I could possibly think of to prepare for this babe... all the shopping, all the organizing, I've given our garden a complete spring/summer make-over, now, I literally just wait... and wait... and unfortunately, patience is not a virtue of mine.

38 Weeks

Ashley in London Towne!!!!

April 19th-28th went by like a whirlwind. I can't believe that it has come and gone already. My bff Ashley came to see me in all my preggers glory, oh, and do a bit of sightseeing too! We had an absolute blast! Here are some highlights from her time in the UK.

Wednesday, April 20th: Ash & I headed up town for some sightseeing.

The tall building under construction is called 'The Shard' and when it's completed, it will be the tallest building in Europe. The egg shaped building to the left is City Hall. And of course, the Thames River.

Tower Bridge

View of the City from Tower Bridge. Modern buildings juxtaposed with the ancient Tower of London. The building in the center that looks like a space ship is known as 'The Gherkin' (or pickel)... I think it looks more like a space ship, and Ashley thought it resembled a Faberge egg.

Tower of London

Thursday, April 21st: We were off to Windsor Castle!

When we first arrived the Union Jack flag was flying, which means the Queen is not there.

However, a couple minutes later, they raised Her Majesty's flag! She arrived while Ash & I were there, AND, we found out it was her 85th birthday! So, basically, we celebrated the Queen's birthday with her, at her house... don't worry about it!

One of my favorite English traditions: Cream tea and scones. Although Ashley & I didn't stop there... we got the works... Yummy!

Friday, April 22nd: Neil was off work, so he chaffered Ash & I up town for some more sights.

Our first stop: Primrose Hill. It is literally a park with a big hill in the middle that overlooks the City. Everyone takes picnics and makes a day of it. You can't beat this spot on a sunny day! (Ashley lucked out, it was glorious and sunny almost everyday while she was here! 80F!!!)

Regent's Park

Cool sculpture in town

Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and the London Eye (ferris wheel) in the background

St. Paul's Cathedral

View of St. Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

The gates of Buckingham Palace

Touristy, yes, but we had to do it! Abbey Road crossing from the Beatles album!

Sunday, April 24th: Easter service at Westminster Abbey and lunch at Babylon roof top gardens, off High Street Kensington. The service was chilling. Being in that environment on such a special occasion was indescribable. Not to mention the fact that we were there just a few days before the Royal Wedding!! Neil dropped us off about an hour and a bit before the service was to start, and we got prime time seats!

Entertaining our guest :)

Tuesday, April 26th: Ash & I headed up town again to see Phantom of the Opera! Neither of us had ever seen the show performed on stage, and it was incredible! The music and singing was beautiful. Afterwards, we met up with Kathleen for dinner in SOHO.

Me & Bump on the Tube

Her Majesty's Royal Theatre on Haymarket, Piccadilly

Where we saw Phantom of the Opera

Ash & Kathleen at the site of one of Mozart's houses

It is now the back stage door for the Jersey Boys show

Wednesday, April 27th: Ashley's last day.... a day for SHOPPING!! We hit up Carnaby Street, with all it's cute boutiques, Oxford Street, TOPSHOP (a must), and then last but not least, the infamous Harrods.

Harrod's