Lost Highway

I am a huge Bon Jovi fan. Today I picked up their new album, Lost Highway. I love it! like there was ever any doubt. As I've mentioned before, I've not really gotten into country music, so I was a little apprehensive about this "Nashville inspired album" from BJ, but I'm really impressed. I really like the song with Leanne Rimes. I also picked up the remastered Bon Jovi album (from 1984!) to help round out my BJ collection. Trent seems to like Bon Jovi, also. He stopped crying when the CD started to play and just kinda kicked his legs to make his bouncy seat bounce. I also bought my very first country CD - Carrie Underwood. See?? who says a leopard can't change its spots?? What's funny is that Brian loves country, but he does not like Carrie's song "Before he cheats" which is the reason why I bought the album. Go figure! Maybe he'll like the rest of the album. And on another music related note, who would believe that Brian has never heard of Tesla?? WTF? I'm gonna slip "Bust a nut" into his car CD player while he's not looking.

I'm syncing them to my iPod so I can rock out at the gym :-)

In other news, only a few more days till Daz, Mel, and Louise get here for a quick weekend visit from England. Daz and I have been best mates for almost 25 years, and with the addition of Mel it's like having a brother and sister.

OUCH!

I've thrown my back out! :-(
It was stupid. I was wrestling Trent's car seat into the car and I kind of felt a sharp pain in my lower back. I just ignored it, which was STUPID, and when I got home I did a work out on the trampoline, which is completely idiotic when you just hurt your back, but you know how when you get whiplash you don't feel it until the next day? well I didn't really feel bad and my work out was fine... but about 5 hours later I could barely move, and then the next day (Thursday) I could barely walk!
Imagine having to take care of a baby when you can't walk and you can't pick him up because it causes you to almost pass out with pain! Thankfully, I have some good meds left over from my surgery.
I've been putting a heat pack on it, sitting in my massaging chair, and taking it easy for the last 2 days. Brian has taken time off from work to help me out with Trent, which is fortunate because if he weren't able to, the kid would likely starve.
Today (Friday) it feels marginally better, but I still can't get around too well. Hopefully it will get better by tomorrow so I can enjoy my evening down town.

Weekend review

This weekend was pretty fun. On Thursday evening, Erin gathered a group to go listen to Andi and Brian at NXNW. Trent was the perfect little baby, he wasn't phased by the loud music at all, and was so content to be passed around the group and cuddled by all his honorary aunts and uncles.

Trent and I went to the outlet mall in Round Rock on Friday, and he was so good. He endured 2 hours of me trying on clothes, though I only bought 2 tank tops from Banana Republic because it's hard to predict what my body is going to do over the next several months. Plus, now that I'm back to normal size it's like I just went shopping and bought a whole new wardrobe! I bought Trent a couple of cute outfits too. Friday evening we went to Mama Fu's to see Brian play. About an hour in, he started to fuss so we headed home.

On Saturday evening, Brian stayed home with Trent while I went to Mike's 40th birthday party. It was a backyard bbq at his parents' house, and we had so much fun. I saw a bunch of old friends from a previous lifetime. Many of them I had not seen in almost 10 years! It was so great to catch up with everyone.

On Sunday, Trent and I went to the mall. I had intended to take advantage of tax free shopping weekend and buy myself some clothes, and I found the perfect pair of shorts for me, but sadly, I didn't buy them because, again, I'm not sure what size I'm going to end up. The shorts I bought only 2 weeks ago are already falling off me.

I spent some time working out on our trampolene yesterday. Surprisingly, trampolining is really great exercise. Brian helped me come up with some new moves to work different muscle groups, and I also incorporated some kung fu moves into my trampolene work out. I am certain these moves will help me with balance and speed so that when I do return to my Kung Fu classes, I won't be too far out of shape.

Today, Monday, I took Trent to the gym with me and put him in the kids room while I worked out. It was hard to leave him with a complete stranger, and I felt a little over protective when all the other kids in the room immediately ran over to check him out. I wanted to say "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" to all the kids, but instead I just bit my tongue, took a deep breath, and walked away. I can't shield him from germs and other kids forever, so this was a big step for me. Only 2 more weeks until he goes to daycare. I am sure I'm going to be a complete mess when I drop him off and leave him for the first time.

Clean bill of health & the stretch mark fairy

Not that I had any doubts, but it's nice to hear from the doctor that you're medically cleared to resume all pre-pregnancy/birth activities. All of the hard work that I put into keeping my body in shape during pregnancy have really paid off. Today I weigh the same as I did before I got pregnant! Only 6 weeks after giving birth and a gain of 38lbs. Today also marks my return to my work out routine (YAY!).

I went to the gym this morning and did a 10 minute warm up on the cross trainer, followed by a chest/arms/abs weight work out, and then 20 more minutes on the cross trainer. I did notice a slight decrease in my cardiovascular ability, and also a slight loss of strength, which is expected given that it's been 8 weeks since I worked out. It's funny to think that I was in better shape when I was hugely pregnant than I am now. But I am certain that in a couple of weeks I will have regained my former fitness level. The ab work out was interesting. I have lost the most strength there. Not surprisingly since my abdomen has been stretched to the max over the past 10 months, then endured major surgery, but it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating.

I am absolutely convinced that my pregnancy workout routine is largely responsible for the fast return to "normal". I'm also happy to report that I do not have even one stretch mark! The Stretch Mark Fairy might have tried to find me, but I foiled her by moving house! HA! take that! Actually, I attribute the lack of stretch marks to drinking plenty of water during pregnancy, and genetics.

Anyway, all of this is very good for my state of mind. I feel great. One of my big fears was not returning back to normal, and also losing myself and becoming only "Trent's mum", but I feel just like I did before, only now I have one more person to love.

Trent's Road Trip

This weekend we took Trent to Houston to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa. This was his first road trip. We set off around 11am, right after we fed and calmed Trent down. He was a complete angel most of the way there, only crying for about 2 minutes 15 minutes away from our destination.
Grandma and Grandpa were very happy to see us, and especially Trent. Grandpa had spent many hours cleaning up Brian's old crib so that Trent would have a place to sleep at their house and it looked awesome. He'd also been to Babies R Us and picked up a few toys for Trent, as well as a hairbrush. The hairbrush amused me to no end because Grandpa kept trying to get Trent's spikes to lay down, which seemed to be an exercise in futility - though he did give him an awesome comb-over!
While we were in Houston, Grandma and Grandpa spent time with Trent while Brian and I went out for a lovely Italian dinner, complete with wine (which I've missed so much) and my favourite Italian dessert, Tiramisu. mmmmmm!
On Sunday, Brian and I got to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I'd been dying to see, while Grandma and Grandpa watched Trent again. He was such a good baby all weekend. Very minimal amounts of crying, it seems that his medication is really helping him to feel better.
On the way home, he fussed about half way home, so I sat in the back seat with him and fed him a bottle while Brian drove, which seemed to be very successful.
All in all, we were very proud of Trent's behaviour on the trip and couldn't have asked for a better first road trip with him.

A big thank you to the Grandparents for giving us a few hours of freedom!

Colic and frayed nerves

Over the past couple of weeks, my patience has been tested to its outermost limits. There's an ambiguous condition referred to as Colic -- unexplained bouts of crying that seem to last forever and render the baby inconsolable -- this "condition" affects one in 5 babies. I guess I can't live a charmed life forever. Trent is the one in five, it seems. During the day he has mild bouts of crying but is usually consolable, but around 4pm and usually until around 8pm, he just can't be pacified. I've researched all over the Web for information on how to cope with a colicky baby. Many experts recommend that you eliminate any possible physical reasons for the baby to cry, then put him down in his crib and just let him cry. Sounds reasonable, right? but it's harder than you think! Your instinct is to try to fix the problem when your little one is crying. To employ this method goes against all of my motherly instincts. Oh stop gasping! yes, I have motherly instincts as evidenced by my extremely spoiled, yet extremely obedient cats.
Anyway, after discussing Trent's symptoms with the doctor, she prescribed an antispasmodic drug called Levsin. Bri and I were hesitant to fill the prescription because Trent's already on one prescription for acid reflux and we just don't want our kid full of chemicals, so we've been trying other methods -- gripe water, mylicon, swaddling, the swing, cuddling, etc. None of these things seemed to work. Eventually the crying would stop, but not until he'd tired himself out. Finally, Sunday evening, we came to the conclusion that our discomfort with so many prescriptions was not worth sacrificing Trent's comfort and our own sanity.
Yesterday I filled the prescription, administered it with his next feeding, and amazingly, he seemed to cry less. In fact, he barely cried at all yesterday. And when he did, it was for obvious reasons, such as dirty nappy, hungry, tired, wants cuddling. There seemed to be less crying after feedings, too and he didn't pull his legs up and scream like he has in the past. It's very early to tell if this is the medication working or just a nice coincidence, but the signs are encouraging.

The good news is that colic seems to resolve at around 3 months of age, so we only have 2 more months of this (ACK!!!)

I'm "That Lady"

You know her. The very one that I complained about not even 2 months ago while out having dinner with friends. The one who sits in a crowded restaurant with her screaming baby and doesn't take him outside or to the bathroom to figure out what's wrong so she doesn't disturb all the other diners around her.

Brian and I took The Kid down to The Grove at Southpark Meadows to see Brian Lee play. We had a great time and Trent was so well behaved. Barbie, Scott, and Michelle were there and we were all very impressed with how mellow Trent was being. After the concert we arranged to go to dinner with Mike and Tara. On the way to the restaurant Trent threw a massive wobbler in the car and nothing I could do would make him happy. He seemed to calm down by the time we got to the restaurant, though. I had lost my appetite at that point so I just ordered a water and planned to nibble off of Brian's plate. Before we could even order, Trent started wailing like someone was trying to slowly torture him. I took him to the Bathroom and tried to calm him down. Changed his nappy, sang to him, told him what a good boy he is. He seemed to calm down. So I took him back out. The minute my arse touched the booth seat, he started again. I frantically tried to pacify him, but nothing worked. I could see the looks from those around us. The same look that I gave someone else less than 2 months ago. The look that says "lady, you're disturbing everyone. Shove a sock in that screaming kid's mouth!". I was completely mortified. Completely.
I once again headed for the bathroom. This time I called Brian from the bathroom and told him to get his food to go. Thankfully, Mike and Tara are very close friends and extremely understanding. And off we went, back home with our screaming kid. I couldn't eat at all because my stomach was completely in knots.

Of course, it's not Trent's fault. He doesn't know any better. It's our fault for being over ambitious. We over stimulated him and it was foolish of us to think that he could handle it at such an early age. So lesson learned. But now I have a whole new perspective on that mom who can't stop her baby from crying in a restaurant. I'll be a little more sympathetic from now on.