It's been a long time since I have posted. I've been putting it off for awhile. The problem is I'm not quite sure where to begin. There's so much to say, it took me over a week to complete this post. Since my last post we've seen 9 feet of snow and record cold. We've seen the return of spring (finally!). Hope has traveled on a plane and finally experienced warm weather. She's gone from newborn to infant, slept through the night, and eaten solid foods, amongst other milestones. She's met and visited with so many people. I've struggled to recover from pregnancy and childbirth to train for the Boston Marathon during one of the most brutal winters on record. That's just the tip of the iceberg...
This was Hope at the time of my last post.
This is Hope today:
As you can see, she's growing up. She's still a peanut and at 5.5 months. At 12lbs, she's still wearing 3 month clothing, but she's healthy and happy, a good eater and a good sleeper. She's a joy. Can you tell?
Here she is the first time she wore it:
And now:
Life with Miss Hope is a blast. She makes me smile a hundred times a day. We have settled into a wonderful little routine and I can no longer imagine life without her. So here are a couple of everyday pictures:
Hanging with Sanders
Go Patriots!
In February, we celebrated national heart month. For obvious reasons, this is a big deal to us. We wore red or hearts for most of the month.
To say this winter was harsh is an understatement. February was especially hard. If I could pick anytime to be home with a newborn/infant, it would not be winter, but this of course, was out of our control. It was a struggle to get out. Either bundling Hope up, or racing to get Sanders an early morning walk before Hope woke up and Chris went to work, when it was literally 0 degrees out. For about 5 weeks straight, boots were the only shoes we wore. There was a point where there was so much snow, that you couldn't see to pull out of the driveway. I was afraid to drive, so I stayed home - this is so not me. We had 10 weekends where it snowed - last weekend was the first time it didn't. But we managed, and we survived, and even got out, thanks to my ring sling and a coat that is two sizes too big. Here are some pictures, though none do it justice.
After blizzard #1 on the bike path
Baby snow angel
After the third blizzard
Sleepy after battling the cold
There have been so many milestones since January.
Right after the holidays, little miss started to sleep through the night. First it was 8 hours, then 9, then 10, and sometimes even 12. For a while, she was going to bed around 10 and getting up at 6 to eat then going right back to sleep. Eventually she started dropping that 6AM feed and then started pushing bedtime a little earlier each night. Now she goes to bed reliably at 7:30-8 and sleeps until about 6. For the last week, she has been waking in the middle of the night several times crying. We think it is probably teething. I know we are lucky, especially since she is small. I also have learned to not get used to this schedule as it is constantly evolving.
Jan 4
Jan 8
Another milestone was when she started to have better head and neck control. This made her much less resistant to tummy time, but she still doesn't love it. Now she's not only doing tummy time, but also rolling reliably from her tummy to back. Because she has better head and neck control, she can sit in her high chair now!
In March, Hope got to go on a plane for the first time when we flew to Florida. She did great - she held court with all the other passengers and charmed them, then promptly fell asleep. I couldn't believe how much stuff we had to take!
While we were in Florida, we noticed she was ready to start eating solids. Each time I'd eat, she'd follow my spoon from plate to mouth then smack her lips. So far we have dabbled in oatmeal, avocado, sweet potato, peas, and banana. Avocado was her favorite, peas not so much.
On St. Patrick's Day, she turned 5 months old. We celebrated by dressing our little Irish lass in green!
Most recently, Hope has been working on sitting up. I took this picture last week. Can you tell how proud she is of herself?
Over the past few months, she has had visitors and met new people. Here are just a few of her visitors and new friends!
Meeting Deniz's mom Sibel
We had a lot of fun in Florida. Hope loved the warm weather and we loved taking her out without bundling her up. She enjoyed the beach, had her first dip in the ocean and the gulf. She also got to see her first Red Sox game and visit Mary Jane, Chris' step-grandmother. Here are some photos.
When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I would still run the Boston marathon this year. I had no idea exactly how much of a challenge this would be. Between having an infant and Mother Nature, it was almost impossible at times. In Feb, when I should have been ramping up mileage, my training stalled out because there was just nowhere to run by myself, let alone with a jogger. Even if there had been a place to run with the BOB, it was way too cold to take an infant out in for more then a few minutes. I joined a gym for the first time in 5 or 6 years, just to have a place to run. With the weather the way it was, it was more important than ever to have company, and I'm so glad to have a wealth of running friends who all support each other a when running gets hard. Another challenge was getting in long runs, though I am happy to report I got them all in. Like I said, having company was so important, but I couldn't go at 'normal' long run time when all my friends were going, nor could I keep up. I would not have gotten through it without my friend Kate, who also had to go at non-traditional times. Here we are at the 30k of the Boston marathon on Valentine's Day, when we ran back and forth on the Newton Hills several times as the 3rd blizzard was just getting going. I don't know if I could have pushed through this run or several other runs that would have been equally excruciating without company, but were actually fun running with Kate.
I decided to throw myself in the snow - running snow angel!
After everything Children's hospital has done for my family, I chose to join the Miles for Miracles Team to run in honor of Hope and all her doctors / nurses / and every one else who contributed to saving her life. So many of you have already donated and I'm so grateful! In two weeks, when I toe the line, it will be in their colorful singlet. I have met and surpassed my original goal, and have changed that goal several times. I hope when it is all said and done, to have raised $4000, maybe $5000. If you'd like to donate for my run in Hope's honor, here's a link to my page:
Http://fundraise.childrenshospital.org/go to/MollyCrellin
Last week, we went out to the start for our final long run. Here I am at the start line in my singlet. The weather was fittingly terrible, but we had a blast!
Somerville Road Runners group shot
Our jubilant crew with the fireman at the Newton firehouse.
My training was not what I'd typically do when training for a marathon, but it was adequate. I feel good as I settle into the taper. I was able to recover from having Hope, survive the winter, and hopefully have a good day at Boston. What will a good day be? I have no time goal - just looking to enjoy the day and all the emotions sure to come with it.
Hope is doing wonderfully. Yesterday we visited with her cardiologist, Dr Friedman, whom I just love. He was so pleased with her health and couldn't get over how big and healthy she looked. The last time he saw her, it was just before Christmas. He performed an echocardiogram and the results were mostly good. He checked the repairs and all look great. Her heart is functioning in the way it should. The only slight issue he could see had to do with one of the pulmonary arteries, which is narrower than a normal artery. This is not something new, but could affect her lung function and then, eventually, the development of her lungs. So we will go in to the hospital in the next few months for a lung scan to see how they are functioning. If the function is lower than he would like, she will be scheduled for a catheterization, which will require a one night stay at hotel Children's, but should be a pretty straightforward, easy procedure.
Her health otherwise has been excellent. She has not had any colds or other illnesses, which her cardio was very impressed with. She has beautiful color. She is growing appropriately, though is still pretty small for her age. At our last pediatrician appointment, we were given permission to stop fortifying her milk, which made me really happy. It was a pain to have to put a tablespoon of formula in every time we fed her, now she is just getting straight breastmilk. I'm hanging in there with regards to pumping, though I had a big dip in my supply last week because on top of training for a marathon, I tried to drop from 5 pumping sessions to 4. This caused me to come in about 20oz less for the week, which is a little more than 3 bottles. The good news is I added that dropped pump back in and I've watched my supply slowly come back up. However, Hope started taking more in early March and since then, I haven't quite kept up. I have a stash from when she was sleeping, but it will only last so long. I will continue to pump as long as it is worth it and would love to make it to September when I go back to work, but I feel pretty pleased that I will make it 6 months as it hasn't been easy. I'm guessing as she begins to eat more and more solids, she will take less and less milk and it will eventually even out.
Developmentally, she's doing amazing. Her Early Intervention Occupational Therapist says she is a rockstar. She started out behind on gross motor, but is catching up beautifully. She easily rolls from front to back and is working hard on rolling back to front. She's did it a couple times in Florida and hasn't since. She sits well with support. She babbles and coos, and recently has started shrieking with joy.
Up until a week and a half ago, she was a great sleeper. We suspect she's teething now, so it's been a rough 10 or so nights. Last night we were up from 2-4, most of which she spent screaming. I ended up feeding her, which she doesn't usually need in the middle of the night, and after she ate, she played herself to sleep.
We have been busy. While I miss school, especially the kids and my co-workers, I love being home with Hope. We go to several mom's groups and I feel like I'm making friends with other moms with kids the same age. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I'm trying to get us outside at least once a day.
So that's the update. Hope reminds me every single day how blessed we are. I plan to update more as we close in on marathon Monday, so stay posted!
First Easter basket
Hope and her bunny collection
Easter Sunday best!
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