Doing Something a Little Different

Now that I have a child, my time to create content is limited. I have a handful of half-written blog posts, a full-page list of post ideas, and two filmed videos yet to be edited (from 3 months ago). I want to produce intentional, valuable content for you all, but that is not going to happen in the pre-planned, structured process I've done before. At least not any time soon. So I've decided to be a bit more off-the-cuff with my blog and write journal style for a while. Enjoy!

The week started great. My friend, Marcelia, came to hang out at my house on Sunday. It was fun to sit on the floor and play with Logan while catching up and having drinks. Logan is such an easy little boy. He is content to play, entertain you with his gibberish and laughter and watch tv (no, I don't love his tv time, but the tv is always on in our house, so no getting around it).

We didn't do anything special for Labor Day this year. I enjoyed time with Logan while Doug helped his sister and brother-in-law with some projects at their new house... right next door! We are super excited to have them as our neighbors and can't wait to be able to send Logan over to Aunt Mandie's when we need a break.

While it is always nice to start the week with an extra day off, it made for a hectic four days of work. My boss decided to retire finally, and now I am adjusting to a new leader. My new boss is very different from my former one. I want to impress, but I also need to learn their communication style, personality, and priorities. Right now, I’m having to check myself before I wreck myself, as the saying goes. These next few weeks are going to be long, tiring, and filled with anxiety. Note to self: pick up more cider beer.

On top of being a short work week, I also had my yearly physical and blood work. My cholesterol had been on the higher side since Logan was born. I had blood work completed back in March and was cautioned by my doctor if my cholesterol was still high, he would recommend medication. Thankfully, my cholesterol was more acceptable, and my HDL (the good cholesterol) was excellent!

BUT, my fasting glucose came back elevated, in the prediabetes range. Because I had gestational diabetes while I was pregnant and diabetes runs in my family, my doctor wanted me to get a hemoglobin study (just more blood work) to check my A1C. This test measured my average sugar levels over the last three months.

I was pretty sure my test would come back in the prediabetes range, but, woot!, woot! my A1C was perfect, with no signs of prediabetes or diabetes. So, for now, we will repeat blood work in six months.

The week ended with Mr. Logan deciding he didn't want to sleep through the night, something he does every few days or so. We are never quite sure what causes his night wakings: teething, room temperature (his room is above our garage and runs either too warm or too cold and rarely just right, we have a space heater and a ceiling fan to assist with getting it close to comfortable), digestive issues, hunger, nightmares. It's always a guessing game. Most nights, I guess correctly.

But Friday night, he did NOT want to go to bed, and it took Doug and I a few times switching off before he finally fell asleep and stayed asleep. Saturday night, he went down around 7:45 pm and then was awake again around 9 pm. After a few tries to get him back to sleep, to no avail, I decided to let him play on the floor in his room. We sang songs, practiced pull-to-stand, read a few books, and by 11 pm, I was exhausted to wanted to sleep. We tried putting him in our bed, something we have done a handful of times out of desperation, but after thirty minutes of him laying there fussing and crying and kicking us, Doug and I were at our limit.

I finally gave in and pulled out a bag of frozen breastmilk and a bottle. We had nixed the bedtime bottle the week before, and Logan hadn't received any bottles in over a week. I was hesitant to give him a bottle again because I didn't want him to regress. But, of course, that did the trick. Whether he was hungry because it had been five hours since dinner and usually he was asleep at that time, or the sucking sensation provided comfort for him to relax to sleep, who knows?! But I hope it was a one-off thing.

Fingers crossed this week will be less chaotic and easy. I am looking forward to making a batch of gluten-free, dairy-free apple cider donuts and purchasing a couple of oversized flannel shirts to get me in the mood for Fall.

I hope your week was not as rough as mine, but if it was, I'm sending good vibes your way for a productive, stress-free week. What are you looking forward to this week? Any fun autumn traditions you want to share?