College

I've been reminiscing a lot about college lately; I just loved San Luis Obispo and miss the days of fun, friendship and spontaneity. I have also been thinking a lot about how I want Gracie to not only have the college experience (of course I would LOVE for her to go to my alma mater for obvious reasons!) where she chooses but I want her to have some financial help along the way. It can be a huge financial burden to take out loans and pay them years later. So, I have been thinking of ways I can prepare now so that it's easier for her in the future. The one thing I have started to do since her birth is put money away each month in a savings account for her.  But, I have a feeling this isn't going to be enough. I read an alarming article that I link to below about the huge costs of college in 2030 ( yeah, I know, that is crazy to think about but it will be here sooner or later). Here is the highlight of the story I want to get across:

What Will College Tuition Cost in 2030?

Congratulations! You are a new parent. It is time you are baptized into the world of diaper changes and midnight feedings. You also might want to brush up on your financial calculator skills.

Assuming junior is going to opt for a value education from a public school, you’ll want to know what the cost of college will be in 2030. According to the US Department of Education, the average annual cost of public school increased 6.5 percent each year over the last decade. That means that by 2030, annual public tuition will be $44,047. The total cost for a four-year degree will be more than $205,000.

 http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2012/07/25/how-much-will-you-need-to-send-your-child-to-college-in-2030

Basically... I better get to winning the lottery. Since that's probably not going to happen I was looking around and found these two options, super curious about what other parents think and if they are doing any other pro-active planning...

The Gift Plan and Gerber Life. Both of these look pretty valid from skimming through. I just want my money to grow the most amount but I'm still fairly conservative that I don't want to chance losing any either. So many decisions!

To sleep or not to sleep

I'm laying here in bed exhausted from work thinking about how I better get to sleep before I have to feed Gracie... And it's only 9 pm. I barely remember those days long past of getting ready to go out at about 9 pm! Forget partying... This momma just wants to know when she will get a full nights rest again. Seriously, one of my besties and I were talking about how frigging tired we are and how we just want to get into a deep sleep again. So, when does this happen for most babes? I had this illusion pre-Gracie that at around 8 months she would be sleeping through the night. What I have now realized is that she has night terrors, teething, snotty nose, fevers, and a whole other list of reasons why she wakes up throughout the night. Although I love that I can comfort her back to sleep by nursing or rocking her, I'm excited for the days of full sleep. As adamant as I am about breast feeding, I always am curious what she would do if I fed her formula. So many moms have told me about their kids sleeping through the night early on because of formula. I guess this is the price I pay for choosing breast milk. At least she sleeps in her own bed. A friend of mine was telling me she was at her wits end with co-sleeping for the last year with her daughter. She said she wakes up constantly to breast feed and she believes it's because she is right there next to her which wakes her baby up just from her being near. Positive thinking, right? Let's just all pray that by one year we are all snoozing in the Trunnell household. Speaking of snoozing... Goodnight all!

The beginning of the end.

All moms have their different way and plan to feed their newborn baby; mine was to breast feed for at least 6 months. Because I had no idea what my journey was going to be as a lactating mom, I decided to take it a month at a time. Although I don't judge those who don't haven't, it has become important to me as time has gone that Gracie have as much breast milk in the first year of her life as possible. The more I have read and thought about it, the more important it has become. This has not been the easiest goal to uphold for several reasons:

1: While on maternity leave it's very hard to squeeze in an extra feeding when they are eating all the time. 2: Pumping at work is a pain in the booty with dragging all the goods back and forth, worrying about cleaning and disinfecting the bottles and stuff constantly (boil, microwave in the special bag... What's best? How often?) 3: You get very burnt out taking time away from whatever else you are doing to sit for 20 minutes and have your boobs stretched, which isn't the most comfortable thing.

Then there is storage of the milk, etc. with all of this said, I had made it to 8 months, but then I started to get lazy. I guess that is my breaking point because last week I started to only pump twice a day instead of three times. I can already tell my breast milk has adjusted to a little less. I also knew that once I started to cut back on feeding I would start my period ( a major downside to cutting back on pumping). I have mixed emotions about this. I'm a little excited since it means my life will start (only start) to be my own again. I will have more time during my day and not be so slammed trying to stuff in pumps. It also is nice because Gracie has begun to eat more regular food! (Which is a very exciting stage in itself. ) My other major emotion is sadness. It means it is the beginning of slowly stopping breast feeding; of my baby being a big girl soon. It's bittersweet but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Teething Necklace

Ok, since I'm in the teething zone with Gracie, any product that might help get us through a little easier, I'm all about it. So, my question is; does this amber teething necklace really work? I've heard mixed reviews, plus I'm freaked out about a choking hazard! Any feedback is appreciated...

Being Super Mom

I always have had high personal standards for myself and what I want out of life but being a new mom has put these standards on steroids. Add Pinterest, Facebook, the media and all my other amazing mommy friends and I'm in the high stress zone. I want to be the perfect mom to my daughter and give her every opportunity there is to have but this comes at a price. Time, money or stress on me especially since I'm working full time. I loved this blog that talks about this topic. Sometimes we need to take a step back and put it all into perspective. That it's OK if Gracie has some a store bought food; or that she had an occasional formula feeding. Personally, this has been the biggest challenge with being a mom. Letting go and realizing that as long as I provide her all the love, time and safety she needs, it's all going to be OK!

Punching Out Fear

Gracie had a fever again in the middle of the night last night. It was 100.2, not alarming but after last weekend, I was worried. I gave her Motrin and sent out a couple texts to my mom network. I wasn't sure if having another fever is normal so quickly after the last episode. Is the croup coming back? Is she not going to breathe again? Being a mom, but especially a new mom is so scary. There is a lot of fear when things go wrong because you second guess what you are doing and if you are doing all you can. A Facebook friend of mine wrote something this morning that cracked me up, and I will think of it every time Gracie gets sick. She said, "Sometimes you need to just punch fear in the face and tell it to shut-up." LOL. Seriously though, I love it. Sometimes fear can overwhelm me as a mom and what might happen. Sometimes you need to just stop fear from taking over your mind and just deal with what is and know that it will be ok.

I also got some great advice from my 'mommy network' last night and it goes as follows:
Take Gracie out in the cold air and rock her. The cool air will help with the cough.
Take her into the shower with me and rock her, the water and me rocking can be very soothing.
Rotate Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours. Because the body uses different organs to process each medicine, you can use them closer together to help keep the fever away.
Use a great product called Be Kool Pads on their forehead or neck to help with the fever as well.

I love my mom friends!! Here's to a great day since I punched fear and tiredness in the face already this morning... ;)

Pump, pump, pump it up!

I had no idea what exactly went into pumping while working full time before I was actually doing it. It's been a journey that has been rewarding but time consuming. From having to push for a better process at work to making sure it is my priority in my daily schedule, I am proud to say I have made it almost 8 months! I am very lucky in how flexible and understanding my job and managers are, but when you have meetings, projects and other things constantly going on in your day, it becomes hard to stop whatever you are doing and make it your priority. Here are some things that have kept me going and motivated. One great motivator was this blog all about what you are providing your baby each month that you breast feed; Timeline of a breasted baby. I knew I was providing great things to Gracie but I had no idea that I was giving her a wonderful foundation to her lifelong health. The second thing is that my body is doing very well after having a baby and I believe it's from breast feeding. (Although I still have a way to go!) I also love that I can still have that bonding time with her and that it is USUALLY easy to put her to bed at night with nursing. Also, just for an FYI, I tried two other pumps and nothing touches Medela in my opinion. It is way faster to pump with than other brands. Also, I was able to get my insurance to pay for the pump 100%, so if you are interested I'll explain. Oh, maybe that will be a future post instead!

Don't get me wrong, I don't judge other mothers who chose not to pump at all, or even for a shorter time. The one thing I have learned is every baby and mom are different, so each mother needs to decide what is right for her. So, for right now my new mission is to breast feed for one year. We'll see how it goes ...!

Almost forgot my favorite two products that have helped me pump...Hands-Free-Breastpump Bra, Lansinoh-Breastmilk-Storage-Bags.

Sleep Deprivation Makes Me Evil

It never fails, whenever I have had zero sleep, my evil side comes out. Last night Gracie woke up every two hours, and then wanted to play at 4:10 in the morning. Ugh... so tired. I just wanted to say to her, "Baby girl, mommy has to work all day. Just come to bed with me and nap for another hour or two so mommy isn't so cranky." Yeah right! Instead, I took her to bed with me and she wanted to play and roll off my bed. I put her back in her crib and 'attempted' to get some more shut eye. Never fails though; my husband came to say goodbye to me and I snapped at him. So sad. I can't help it, it's the lack of sleep I swear! I can't believe I didn't take more advantage of my freedom of sleep in my 20's! Here's to a long day...

Technology Rocks

I seriously doubt I would have made it as a mom 100 years ago. I know that sounds silly but I LOVE all the modern technology we have today that helps me be a better, calmer mom. My prime example is video baby monitors. Which one (if any) do you use as a mom? Some moms go without but I love being able to see my baby at the touch of a button. One friend of mine shared her newest baby monitor purchase, check this link out. It's worth every penny. Why? Because no one tells you how much your house's electrical interferes with the signal or how nice it would be to move the camera angle. This bad boy also gives room temperate, a two way radio, and can add up to 4 additional cameras for more rooms. This is so happening before baby #2. This is the type of thing I wished I had known before I registered for and received another monitor...Motorola Baby Monitor. Is it sad that this is the type of gift I dream about now? Ha! I'm sure there are other great ones out there but I'm digging this one...

The Airplane

During pregnancy you fantasize a lot about your future baby and what it's going to be like. One image I had was air planing food to my babe. What no one tells you is that doing this teaches them to also vibrate their lips and spit said food all over you. Fantasy over. Love my silly kid; she thinks its so funny.

The Creep, I Mean Croup

OK, so last night was the hardest and scariest night as a mom yet. People always tell you about 'Mom Instinct' and during a lot of my pregnancy I worried I wouldn't have it, or wouldn't be maternal or know what to do with my new baby. Yes, I worried about everything and it may be silly, but it's what I did. I'm so glad that I do in fact have this mom instinct because it was on high alert last night. After hours of her wheezing and coughing and crying and snot flying, I finally realized things weren't normal. I of course sent out my 911 texts to fellow moms and scoured the Internet. I attempted to check her temperature because I knew she felt way too hot.  The forehead one we just paid extra money for was NOT working. (See here:Exergen-Temporal-Thermometer I did the armpit one as well and that one still didn't seem to be right. I gave her Tylenol anyways at her dosage (I can never remember it so I found this site to help me gage it... (Acetaminophen Dosage Chart) and that seemed to calm her enough that we both got some sleep. At 2:30 am she woke again and really seemed to be struggling to breathe. Each time she tried to cry, she made a choking sound like there was something stuck in her throat. I found this great video that helped me identify if I was exaggerating over this breathing and coughing thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbn1Zw5CTbA. Gracie looked and sounded just like this! Here is also a great website of info I was reading earlier in the night:Decoding Baby's Cough. This was a great resource on all things cough related to your baby; difficult-noisy-or-labored-breathing. So glad I finally decided to go to the ER. They got us checked in, gave her a nebulizer to help her to have immediate relief of her swollen throat. They also gave her Tylenol for her temperature (102) and a steroid shot for long term relief. They gave us great recommendations for getting a cool mist humidifier, which we planned on getting anyways. We got this one like this at Costco and it's the bomb: warm-mist-vs-cool-mist-humidifiers. So, the best part of the who croup/ creep story is that I got home this morning after the ER, went to the bathroom and looked at the non-working thermometer and realized both my husband and I didn't take the plastic cap off the end... OMG. No wonder it was only reading 95 degrees on my baby. Yikes. Gracie, I promise to be better at this in the future!

Here goes nothing...

Well, I've finally decided to start one of my bucket list to-do's; a blog. I never knew when I was going to create one or what I would talk about, but when a friend mentioned the name, 'Love and Gracie', I just knew that was it. I'm not a great writer and I definitely am very far behind on the learning curve of being a new mom, but I wanted to get my experiences and stories out there to share with other moms, to laugh at my self, and to have something for my daughter to look back on one day and read. How cool would it be if it helped her when she is a new mommy? So, here it all is; the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between as I experience the ultimate love and Gracie.