Letters to Mason: Three Months

Our little Mason is three months old and he continues to grow and develop at what seems to us like the speed of light. We were always warned to cherish every second of every day and every opportunity with Mason because we'd blink and he'd be walking. I now realize that this is not only true, but as much as I'm happy and proud of Mason's development, I'm also saddened a bit by the realization that every day that passes might be the last time he does something.

The dust has settled in the Tezna household. The extra help has returned to their normal life (thank you Nana for your extended stay) and now we fall into a routine that is our family. Whereas normally we would be enrolling him in Day Care, Mason has the blessing of being cared for by my parents. Though we are no less crazy about him not being in our permanent care, life must continue and we must return to work so we can make money and continue to buy Mason Disney onesies (and perhaps pay our mortgage). 

Day by day, I miss not having time with Mason. I used to dread the arrival of Mondays because I didnt want to return to work and now I dread them because it means another 5 days of me coming home to a sleeping or (sleepy and cranky) Mason and basically no time for me to spend with him. I never thought this would be something I'd deal with. I never thought I'd struggle with not seeing my baby awake on a daily basis. I miss him so much I want to take him to work with me- but people may start to wonder if I do work and then I won't have a job and Mason will not have anymore Disney onesies. 

Mason has grown so much this month. I think this is the defining moment of transition between being an infant and being a baby. He is so strong, always wanting to sit up, or stand up. Started to pull on everything in front of him... Started grabbing toys and bringing them to his mouth (yum). Mason has also transitioned into  a bigger flow of bottle nipples and all of this just makes me realize that this little man is just developing, becoming stronger and more independent. 

He talks, he talks so much! He loves to laugh and cackle. I can usually get him to cackle by burying my head into the crook of his neck and make kissing sounds or make funny noises while holding him and looking at him straight in the eyes. we've seemed to have developed a special bond that he doesnt have with others... he will do /let me do certain things to him that will make him laugh out loud! 

Mason loves the minute he hears Mickey Mouse club house specially the "hot dog" song. he loves it and starts to move his feet and arms like crazy and squeal. (it's quite a sight). 

Dear Mason

Mommy and I are so incredibly proud of you for your accomplishments and development. It is so clear that you try so hard to do the things you do (sit up, talk, laugh, roll). We are so honored to have been chosen to be your parents. God has blessed us with an amazing bond that we share with you and to say that you have completed our family is an understatement. We dont know how we ever lived a day without you in it. Mommy cries everytime you leave the house to go to grandma's. We love you so much little man.

Letters to Mason: Two Months

Our little Mason is 2 months old! 

Mason has continued growing and surpassing all our major milestones. His personality is great and he is such a happy baby! For the past few weeks Mason has started sleeping a little longer at night, making it a little easier on us. He is still waking up at least 2 times between 12 and 6am but it sure beats having to be up every 2 hours all night long. All we know is that he will skip that middle feeding when he's ready. As far as we're concerned, we're not in any rush for him to stop, we know it's important for him to eat what he needs and that's what matters. 

Our life continues to change daily, or so it seems, and we continue to learn how to be more efficient at the many things we do daily mason-related... changing diapers, getting bottles ready, getting baby dressed, etc. It's funny how clumsy we were at first trying to change a diaper and now we've mastered the one handed diaper change. Or giving a bottle, watching it spill by the side of his mouth and not know what to do... It's nice to know that things get better and easier and that our little man fits in our life perfectly, or us in his ! 

Leave it to us to not make up our mind on what he could be for his first halloween; we celebrated Halloween Day by being Donald Duck but we did also sport a few others....

Mason is a great little baby who lets us do almost anything, we only torture him a little by playing dress up with a few outfits a day, but then again, he probably enjoys it as much as we do and we gotta get through all the clothes before he wears them out (he's currently in 6 month old clothes-its just a label)... he's our son after all. 

Mason-You are starting to put a lot of strength in your legs because every time we stand you up you push like you're going to take off running. You love tummy time and are also starting to gain a lot of strength in your arms preparing for full on planks!- the doctor says that we need to do tummy time 4 times a day...

I'm starting to speak to you only in spanish (most of the time anyway) in hopes that you'll be bilingual, but not to worry because Mita and Poyo speak to you only in spanish! 

We had our first round of shots this week and although it hurt us more than it hurt Mason, we all survived it. (it's for his own good, rinse, repeat). 

Mason: 

Mami and I love you so uncontrollably much. We are so blessed to have you in our life; you have completed us! You are getting big and so smart! You know who we are and you love laughing with us when we change your diaper, after we feed you and just about anytime you're happy. You've started to imitate the shape of our lips and mouth when we make crazy sounds, or when we talk and sing to you. You specially love to hear "itsy bitsy spider, the wheels on the bus, and old mcdonald." (all of which mami had to teach daddy how to sing properly). 

You adapt so well to our crazy ramblings, we take you with us everywhere and though sometimes you tell us when its enough, for the most part, you let us just do our thing and  you love it! 

You continue to be showered with love from Nana, Grandpa, Poyo and Mita! they come to see you a lot and you love spending time with them and letting them be crazy in love with you. 

Papi and Mami love you with all our heart! 

Approaching that 2nd Month thoughts

We are rounding out week 7 since Mason was born and I started to wonder how we made it this far? I know that this is literally just the beginning but it has been a crazy and awesome beginning that I'm still in awe as to how we actually survived it and not just survived, but learned a TON and adapted.

Our little pepe, Mason who we adoringly have nicknamed  a million things (little buddy, little man, little pez, pepe, chiquiturri) has been growing so fast is hard to believe. He is in the 14 pound range of weight at 2 months (not even) and the pediatrician says that his weight is awesome and that we should be proud. I am relieved; our measure of success in the beginning as parents is that he is alive and gaining weight- guess we got those two down.

We finally got used to being consistently sleep deprived, I actually look forward to my night time ramblings with our little bud because they're sweet and its just me and him and I know they will eventually end and I'll never have that moment again, when he's that small and needs me that much. Our bodies are amazing and they adapt to almost anything and incredibly enough, you don't need 8 hours, I got to the point where 4 is good and survivable and not at all that hard to accomplish. Once we got over the crankiness caused by lack of sleep we  I realized that all is as it should and that parenting is about putting that little babe in front of your needs and what better way to learn that quickly than by giving up some of those needs you once felt were so necessary and devote yourself to the little one who needs it most.

It has gotten exponentially better than say, week 1. We actually get some rest through the night and have officially moved out of his room and back to ours. We use the monitor through the night and come to his room when we hear him. Mason does not cry much, I mean that in the best way possible. He cries for a little bit if he really needs something and we cant quite figure it out; but his needs are met and he's happy. This makes our job as parents easier but no less nerve wrecking as we're still learning and we want to make sure he has all he needs at this point in his new life. 

We never imagined we could love someone so much. I usually leave work and run home to be able to see him before we put him to bed. My time with him when I get home is usually dedicated to reading him a quick story, bath time and a bottle. I want to establish a pattern for him and hopefully create a habit where he knows that daddy comes home and he's going to read me a story. I just want to take in all these little moments and stay in the present while still looking forward to the future and those sweet memories we'll be making as a family. I'm so proud of Tiff for the amazing mom that she has become and for being insanely crazy about making sure Mason is happy and wanting to protect him against the world. 

The best thing that has happened lately is Mason smiling at us and very purposefully too. Life is about these moments for us lately and I couldnt be happier. There is not a single thing in the world I'd rather be doing in this very moment. 

Cant believe he is almost 2 months old! 

Letters to Mason: One Month

I have been writing this post all month, trying to compile bits and pieces of Mason's first month and what has become of our life in the last month.

It's a funny thing what you hear prior to the birth of your first child. All the "get your sleep now's, your life is about to change, etc, etc" are actually true, but it's still annoying to hear it over and over again as if the more you hear it the more prepared you'll be. Nothing can prepare us for the first month of our son's life. Not countless hours of college induced "all nighters" or "busy season" at work.

Our first night back from the hospital was a mess, it was terrible, we had not slept in over 24 hours because the nurses at the hospital kept coming in all night  because Mason had an elevated bilirubin result which meant they were not only drawing his blood all night which broke our heart but also had to be put on phototherapy. I know this is fairly "common" when it comes to post birth treatments but I cant imagine what the parents of sick children go through. I digress- our first night, Mason started crying because he wanted food, naturally. Tiff was still recovering from everything including learning to nurse which meant she was not in any condition to feed Mason, plus her milk had not come in all the way to be able to pump. End of the day, Mason was screaming until 2am, there were many tears and finally the little man ate and fell asleep. Thanks to Nana, Tiff's mom, I got some much needed sleep and woke up around 4am refreshed.

The following weeks consisted of us learning our baby. Nothing could have prepared us for Mason but at the same time, we were as prepared as we could. I can honestly say that there were no emergency runs to baby r us EXCEPT for our bottling system. We had to completely switch over to Tommee Tippees because our previous bottling system sucked!

In the first month I returned to work, we survived the first week sans dad and I only missed my family about 100% of the time. On the upside though, we are working hard on getting Mason on a schedule and he's doing great. We are increasing his eating a bit and with this, his sleep is slowly but surely getting not only stronger but longer- we now moved from getting 2-3 hours to 3-4 and that is a great piece of success in our early parenting experience.


Mason continues to progress beyond the average milestones, he's already following objects, responding to us, smiling, and doing a million other things on a daily basis that reminds us of how little time we'll have with him in each stage of his life until he's already moving on to the next one. We are loving being parents and finally having Mason with us. We are excited for him to sleep through the night and to start interacting with us a little more. We started reading to Mason a few times a week, I bought finger puppet books which he's starting to look at and follow as I read along. Mason loves mirrors, the fan in the ceiling and the Disney Junior songs and channel. Did I also mention we love baths?

New Spin

As I had previously mentioned, this blog will now be more about Mason's life and our life in general. my goal is to capture life as we live it with minimal filters.

Birth Story and Video 9.5.14

I want to share this video that Video Scrapbooks created for us. It was a product of much love and affection and means the world to us that we'll be able to share this with Mason one day.

Thank you Erin for your patience and dedication to this video.
https://www.facebook.com/ErinSellersVideoScrapbooks

Birth Story:
This is the happenings of September 5, 2014 when Mason Alexander Tezna, joined the world.

Tiff was scheduled for induction on September 4th 2014 using a Cook's Catheter to help her dilate further. We arrived at the Birthing Inn, nurse baskets on hand, around 7:00pm. We checked in to one of the rooms, completed the necessary forms and waited for Julie, one of the midwives on call that evening to come and assess our situation. Since this was planned, we had taken the time to go to dinner, prepare ourselves mentally for what was about to happen even though the entire time we ate, we had this lingering thought in our minds, Mason could be here tonight. 

When Julie arrived, she checked Tiffany and realized that she had dilated to 4cm and was 70% effaced on her own. Since this is essentially what the Cooks Catheter was meant to do for her, Julie recommended we head home, sleep in our own bed and come back bright and early for pitocin drip. 

This threw us for a bit of a loop because we didn't envision going back home without Mason. I quickly packed the car, and took Tiff home to rest. 

Early in the morning, we had barely slept as we only had the morning ahead on our minds, we headed to Dunkin Donuts to grab some donuts for the nurses since we had already brought our basket the night prior. We ate a hearty breakfast as recommended and headed straight back to the birthing Inn. Once again, we check in, fill out the forms needed and get settled, this is it- I thought quietly. 

Tiff's mom was already on her way to help be a support person on site in case Tiff needed it- we wanted to make sure she wasn't alone at any given point. 

Time seemed to pass painfully slow, like that weekend trip at your older aunt's house who has no games or a backyard. 

Around 1pm, Wendy, the midwive who for all intense and purposes would be delivering Mason came in periodically to check in on Tiff, assessing her cervix and upping her dose of pitocin, hour by hour with the hopes of continuous and strong contractions to help 1. dilate further, 2. continue effacement process and 3. help push mason down the birthing canal. Even though I had read all the books and process of labor that I had purchased or been given, there was much more to it than I realized. By this point, Tiff had dilated to 5cm and was 100% effaced, this in a way was great progress. 

At 2pm, Wendy broke Tiff's water and upped her pitocin. Contractions were getting consistently stronger. At that point, Tiffs dad had arrived and was providing some good support, brought food, etc. It was around this time that contractions were getting strong enough where Tiff was in pain- queue in the epidural. 

Again, not sure what I was expecting would be happening next, at 3pm, not much progress had occurred, Tiff was no longer feeling the contractions and we were basically just sitting around. Time continued to pass, nurses changed, family inquired, I wondered when we'd meet our little boy. 

At 8pm, Wendy checked dilation once again and Tiff had gone from 5 to almost 10cm. This was amazing progress and even better knowing that within the hour, Tiff would start pushing. 

Around 9 the pushing began- this was not something I was fully prepared for, first of all, I didnt know how involved I'd be in the process. Second, I was not expecting for Wendy to have another patient delivering and pushing at the same time. In a way, this became a race, against the mother in room 164. 

The nurse who was a great cheerleader, gave Tiff the goal of pushing Mason out by 10:20pm. Around then, 164 had delivered, it was then that Tiff shifted into 5th gear with what I can only imagine the adrenaline only a mother possesses at this time and births Mason ten minutes later, at 10:30pm. 

Mason was quickly put on her chest and the world seemed right, it seemed enough. I cant explain nor remember the thoughts or words I had at that moment, I just knew that I was where I needed to be. 

Tiff had a lot of bleeding, she lost a lot of blood and was not in good shape, as the doctors hurried to get her in a good place, I took Mason into my arms and started talking to him. Our brave little guy remained calmed for all 15 hours of labor, his heart rate never dropped. He was a perfect player. 

As our family trickled in, they quickly admired the newest member of our family and before knew it we were in our room, gasping for air every time Mason learned to take one of his. 

Welcome to the world my sweet boy.

Week 37-38

What Fruit are you? Honeydew Melonish

Due date:  9.11.14

How far along:  37-38 Weeks!

Next appointment:  this week...

Gender:   boy 

Exercise: baby come out dance...as recommended by youTube...

Stretch marks: sure

Swelling: maybe this week we've noticed some 

Maternity clothes:  even maternity clothes are looking small over the bump.  

Belly button:  Mason has officially kicked it out.

Sleep: it goes in waves; more or less, no sleep or very little.  

Food cravings:  So officially the cravings have kind of kicked in this week, taco bell, Chinese food, eggs... (Tiffany has never liked chinese food and rarely eats eggs... I love both of those things, so this must be my child).

Symptoms:  nestie

Movement:  full on, he's now moving so much that we think he's re arranging Tiff's stomach at times... 

What I She misses:  being able to just take some cold meds if she has a cold...

What I She's loving:  feeling a few good contractions here and there; knowing that its almost time. 

What I She's looking forward to:  putting all the clothes we have on baby and starting to finally use all these toys  necessary baby items we've been buying with Mason:)

Best moment this week: We are so close to the end that every week we think its it; the time for us to rush to the hospital, get things started, etc. We have linked so much to this event (nesting, contractions, etc) to thinking this.is.it. But as we come to find out, he's our son; therefore, he'll come out when he wants to and not a minute earlier. So there. we wait. 

News: Milestones:  Words of wisdom:  

I've decided to turn this blog into a collage of Mason's life and our future in general. I'm going to try and update this as much as possible to document his life as I figured he's going to be the generation who will look back in 20 years and know exactly what happened at any given point in time. My job is to fill in as much as possible. 

We also decided to use cloth diapers. I made this decision about two weeks ago after doing extensive research and (yes I know) getting ready for the adjustment and extra work. I wont put my reasons on here as to why I decided this was a good idea for us. It took a little convincing for Tiff to catch on, but once she saw my reasoning she was happy- and the fact that she is amazing at just letting me try things out!
Tiff and I were thinking our moms were going to freak out (because they used cloth on us back in the 80s ) but they were more than happy to support us. -Mason, be ready, you have a great, supportive, loving family waiting for you!

Mason's Room- Complete

The Theme for the nursery is Pixar's Toy Story. It's not completely that though, its an inspired theme. The clouds are hand painted, there are two different sizes and they're spaced out perfectly in between. 

This Crib is a convertible crib, the mobile and blanket are Monsters Incorporated.

Dresser, changing pad (monsters Inc) and diaper holder. Two pieces of wall art and a TV for well us. 

Bookshelve, the top two black, white and gray Mickey and Minnie were bought when we first found out we were pregnant. The top has the new books Mason received from friends and family and assorted toys. 

Comfortable, sleepable glider with ottoman, knitted blanket (Nana's gift) 

Crib up close

Shelves with a few Toy Story toys for much later

Week 32-35

It's been a busy couple of weeks so I'm combining weeks. 

What Fruit are you? Honeydew Melonish

Due date:  9.11.14

How far along:  35-Weeks!

Next appointment:  1 more two week appointment and then we're weekly til the end. 

Gender:   boy 

Exercise: lots of walking....

Stretch marks: inevitably... it's a great battle, you gotta have scars...

Swelling: Not really... 

Maternity clothes:  if it's not a dress with the extra fabric in the belly, or spandex or just lose, she's not wearing it.  

Belly button:  its funny, if Mason moves around where the belly button is, it comes out a little more, otherwise its flat. 

Sleep: well its been a combination of not sleeping due to PUPPs, or due to belly in the way, overall, no not much sleep. 

Food cravings:  Not much in the way of sweets, mostly just craving individual meals here and there...

Symptoms:  bloated, PUPPsy, hungry, tired

Movement:  We've got movement established, I will sometimes just put my hand over and he'll kick it, or he'll move a la alien and its all very cool.

What I She misses:  Her body, her mind, her energy, lunch meat, turkey

What I She's loving:  single digit count down, getting Mason's room all ready, knowing that we're almost there.

What I She's looking forward to:  Meeting our son

Best moment this week: Over the past few weeks we have been going 100 miles an hour with getting ready for Mason's arrival. We found this awesome little consignment shop in Reston, near lake Anne and we got to buy a few awesome things that are normally extremely expensive for nearly nothing. We also had the baby shower which was awesome and a huge success, our mother's & Cassy did a great job, Tiff's mom had some great ideas and it was overall a great party. 

 

 

News: Milestones:  Words of wisdom:  

We are at the final stage of the third trimester; it's been a long road and we're starting to see us in a new light. We keep hearing great advice from people and honestly, the best thing I get from all the advice is that we'll try our hardest to be prepared, but we are not going to be fully prepared... We are going to take it one day at a time and no, I will not get sleep now because one can't simply store up oversleeping and use it when you don't have sleep.

We are excited to start trying out being parents and yes, going crazy a bit while we learn to do things for the first time. We have some great friends who have recently given birth and we learn. We read and we learn, but ultimately, no amount of reading or watching or anything will get us ready to handle everything. So my dear son Mason, let me get this apology out of the way now... sorry bud, we're going to make mistakes. You'll survive and so will we. 

Things that scare us:

trying out breastfeeding and its woes...

to swaddle or not to swaddle

binkies? 

over holding, wearing baby, sleep patterns...

31 weeks

What Fruit are you? Coconut

Due date:  9.11.14

How far along:  31-Weeks!

Next appointment:  two weeks from now... 

Gender:   boy 

Exercise: more or less, we do a lot of walking.

Stretch marks:yes 

Swelling: Not really... 

Maternity clothes:  what other type are there? 

Belly button:  its reached a flat state of being...

Sleep: other than waking up due to this PUPPs to scratch, not much. 

Food cravings:  well... we're down to no sugar, little carbs and lots of water. 

Symptoms:  not much really...

Movement:  Mason is one active little boy and we're hiccuping. 

What I She misses:  Energy

What I She's loving:  The end! :)

What I She's looking forward to:  The End :)

Best moment this week: We got to see Mason on a 3D ultrasound. He was actually really calm which the tech said meant he might be a calm baby! God Bless his soul if he's right. Seriously though, it was amazing, Mason was sticking out his tongue at one point and open and closing his mouth. He' has fat on his face and cheeks now and he's pretty plump. It's really amazing and exciting. 

News: Milestones:  Words of wisdom: I sit here thinking about the journey behind us and the journey ahead of us and I'm reminded of the amazing miracle that Mason is in our lives. From one side, I have seen Tiff overcome a plethora of fears (needles, sickness, etc). It's changed how I look at life and of course, I know this will be nothing compared to how much we'll both change once Mason is here. 

Your mom is beautiful

This is your mommy in her second trimester:

week 29

What Fruit are you? Acorn Squash baby is between 15.2 to 16.7 inches and weighs 2.5-3.8 lbs

Due date:  9.11.14

How far along:  29 Weeks!

Next appointment:  We are on a 2 week appointment basis

Gender:  Mason is a boy 

Exercise: walking counts so yes. 

Stretch marks: starting to make its way out...

Swelling: Feet last week while walking 10+ miles a day...

Maternity clothes:  yes and a few specialty ones:

Belly button:  Still in...

Sleep: pretty good, feeling more rested...

Food cravings:  Apple Sauce this week!

Symptoms:  feet hurting, achy back

Movement:  Baby is moving left and right and up and down. 

What I She misses:  not seeing a doctor all the time, being concerned about her body. 

What I She's loving:  the third trimester, it feels really surreal that we're so far in this journey.

What I She's looking forward to:  Baby Moon that we're taking soon. 

Best moment this week: Wrapping up the details of our baby moon. We are excited to get away and get some massages and enjoy some relaxation. 

News: Milestones:  Words of wisdom: Third trimester is here and it's a clear milestone for us. We are excited that we are in the final phase and that pretty soon we'll meet Mason. 

Mason:

We bought you a bassinet because your grandmother said that we needed to have you in our room the first few months. This one rocks and plays "womb" sounds...