Paci's and Bottles - Eleanor's rating

Lots to say about this topic. Today we had two new breakthroughs in the Reinberg home. Eleanor never was much of a paci-lover which we kind of were ok with as we have heard horror stories from friends who have had to take pacis away from their kids when they are too old. So, we never really pushed the issue despite the fact that we have an enourmous bin of every brand, shape, size, and color of pacis purchased before Eleanor's birth. The only pacifier she seemed to be ok with was the ugly one that came from the hospital, exhibit A, the "soothie":They are ugly (though at least they make them in pink) and are huge and hard for her to hold in on her own but it was the only one that would "soothe" her without her making a face at us. We have tried the many different brands and opened way too many packages with no avail. So today, I said decided to do some investigating as to why she was so particular on her pacifiers and I realized how different the nipple shapes were.

The Aggie pacifier I so wanted her to like so she could wear in the fall at/watching football games (I know I am a dork) she once again spit out. I decided to put it in my mouth to see how it felt and realized her disliking it was perfectly valid. The shape was completely different and right where your tounge hits the tip of the nipple is where the molds I guess met becuase there is a sharp piece of silicone that scratches your tounge. I don't know about you but why wouldn't you want a smooth surface for your tongue to hit? Ellie knows her stuff and she is clearly a woman who knows what she wants and what she wants might just be the finer things. SO, I examined some of the other pacifiers and found that (without opening the package to waste another $5) many of them were shaped like the Aggie paci. Hopefully they weren't as poorly made though.

I then found that we had purchased the "Avent" pacifiers, the same brand as the bottles she likes. We also got one for free in one of our registry bags, SO I gave it a shot. We tried it right before Eleanor was going to go down for a nap and oh but did she love it more than her soothie! She hasn't let it leave her mouth which could be a bad thing but it might also be just the ticket to getting her to spread out her feedings from every 2 hours to every 3. So, for anyone who's baby is still stuck on the not so attractive soothie (that also can't be stuck on one of those cute ribbon paci holders that attaches to their shirt so it doesn't accidentally fall in the bottom of their car seat where they might also leave you a little treat that couldn't fit in their diaper), try the Avent pacifiers. They can be stuck on the ribbon, are easier for their little mouths to hold, and their nipples are shaped very similarly to the soothies and a bottle nipple. That is our thought on pacifiers. I might be writing in a year about how I never should have given her this as I am having to break her of the habit and pry it from her little fingers!

On another note...today my mom came to me with some literature on the dangerous effects of plastic. She has been feeling this way about plastic for a while and doesn't heat up/freeze food in tupperware anymore and has resorted to picking up a vintage piece of pyrex everytime we go to Canton to store leftovers in. She did some research on bottles and baby toys with plastic and found some dangerous potential side effects so decided to get us some glass bottles. I looked at these initially but worried about my one year old throwing her bottle and shattering it on the wall in a wild tantrum (thinking that she would inherit my temperment) so passed on registering for them.

After looking, there aren't too many brands who also make glass bottles. I found that Medela does which would be great to hook onto my pump however their nipples are too narrow thus possibly causing nipple confusion from the bottle to breast so says our Bradley Childbirth Instructor/Lactation Consultant. Evenflo makes glass bottles as well and were the least expensive... $5.99 for three 4 oz. bottles. Their nipples are VERY tiny though, so we bought them to store and reheat the milk in. We decided upon the Born Free which were a little more but also are good for colic/ear infection prevention and have the wide nipple for E to drink from. She loved her new bottle today - my only question is once we start defrosting the glass bottles from the freezer, will the glass crack from going from one extreme temperature to the other like Amanda's Iced Tea Pitcher did when she poured boiling water into it? There are so many things to learn with a baby!

Anyway, just thought I would share my findings from today. If anyone else has any input on glass bottles, feel free to share. We are excited for our first "earthy" baby endeavour - much easier than the cloth diaper thing...not ready to try that yet!

Eleanor 2 Months

Our sweet baby is already 2 months old, it is CRAZY! She has already had her shots and 2 month checkup and weighed in at 11lb 5 oz. and was 23 in. long. She is in the 75th percentile for both and is in the 50th percentile for her head size. She just keeps on growing and we keep on loving her more and more!

Her second month of life brought so many more new and fun things. She showed us her smile right at one month old. She began to show it even more and now responds to our high pitch voices with a smile and sometimes a laugh. She loves to move and kick and raise her hands above her head...soon she will know to do that when we say, "How big is Eleanor!?"

Eleanor has really started to vocalize herself more and is getting much more consistent at giving her parents a good 6-7 hours of sleep each night. We hope she will be going to bed at 8 or 9 (rather than her current 10 or 11) and getting up at 6 by the time we go back to work...we will see! She still needs to be swaddled in order to fall asleep and stay that way. Because she is on a wedge though, she has unfortunately been found (and freaked her parents out) slid under her blanket with a covered face. Luckily the blanket is muslin and thin but STILL! She also need sto still be rocked to sleep in her Daddy's famous and very tiring way - holding her head in one hand and butt in the other holding her out in front of you with her feet at your stomach and basically doing baby bicep curls as you bounce her up and down. It works like a charm but is def. not the easiest thing.

When she isn't sleeping or eating, E is pretty much always in a good mood. She is such a joy to us to just sit and watch and talk to. When you talk to her, she will usually coo back. She continues to like car rides and usually falls asleep. If she is too tired or hungry though when we put her in, it can make for a noisy and not so fun ride home. Eleanor also LOVES taking baths now! She sits in her little sling and will sometimes splash but usually just lays there so relaxed with her warm wash cloth across her chest and loving that special time with Daddy. E has also graduated from the newborn clothes and diapers in her second month and is wearing 1's in diapers (Pampers are our favorite) and now is wearing 3 and some 3-6 month clothes! She is growing way too fast! She needs to slow this down so she is on track to still fit in the Christmas dress Mommy bought her! :) JK we love how much she is growing! We definitely have one healthy baby!

Eleanor, we love watching you grow and swear you look different every day! We can't wait to see what beauty and happiness you will continue to bring to our lives! We love you! Thank you for being such a wonderful and happy baby!

PS I wrote this a long time ago - don't know why it ever got posted!

One Year Already - Just Another Day in Paradise

Andy and I after not quite reinacting the wedding cake ritual from our reception (I wouldn't let him do this last year with my wedding dress on so he specifically requested that I let him this time and I for some reason consented)

What a year it has been! Andy and I celebrated our 1 year Anniversary today and never in a million years would I have thought our life would be like it is now. As we were probably being introduced at our wedding reception as Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Reinberg (it's around 10pm now), never would I have thought I would be blogging exactly a year later with my husband out of town and my two month old daughter looking at her feet and flailing around in her newborn lounger!

As I was saying...what a year it has been! Because we knew "Coaching School" would be the weekend of our anniversary (as it will be seemingly for the rest of our lives ha) we planned ahead and celebrated a few days early.

We had so much fun enjoying one another without our sweet new addition. I told Andy, it was the first time I felt like a young married couple since before we found out we were pregnant. I was glad to know we were still "young" at heart :)

We started off our date day with lunch at our favorite - Houston's. We enjoyed talking about our favorite parts of the wedding and honeymoon and then each month of our first year of marriage. I don't think we have really talked about "US" almost the entire year of marriage since we have been pretty much preparing for a baby the entire time! We had a lot to discuss and boy was it refreshing! Some of our favorite memories were:

- holding Andy's hand and praying after we had just been married and recieved communion, soaking in the moment (mine)/seeing me walk down the aisle (Andy)/ the super fun party that was our reception (both) (July)

- Getting to experience Andy's first time to witness God's wonder in the paradise of Hawaii - I will never forget how in awe and how excited he was for our week in Hawaii as we pulled up to the resort and saw the sunset with the top down on our convertible. (me)/ the cute liquor bottles we ordered on the plane and all that was Hawaii (both) (July)

- Putting our apartment together before Andy started two-a-days and enjoying all the fun new appliances and kitchen fun cooking meals together (August)

- finding out we were pregnant and telling our families (September)

- celebrating my birthday morning sick and barely even being able to have a bite of the delicious "Sprinkles" cupcake Andy and my parents had gotten for me to celebrate with (October)

- our first Thanksgiving together with Andy's parents and getting to go see A&M play their hearts out against tu (unfortunately not btho this year) in the former students section, 1st deck, 50 yard line for FREE (November)

- First Christmas with my parents, finding our we were having a girl, Andy's bday celebration with Randy Rogers, Jack, and Billy Bob's, and deciding on our baby's name - Eleanor Ann (December)

- Putting our baby's crib together and a non-alcoholic New Years (January)

- Registering for sweet baby girl, continuing to watch her grow and enjoy the winter weather with more than one snow in Dallas! (February)

- Spring Break and Andy stripping and finishing the most beautiful piece of furniture in Eleanor's room - he did such an amazing job! (March)

- Deciding to move apartments only a month before Eleanor was scheduled to arrive (April)
- Maternity leave and being able to get the apartment somewhat put together/not have to teach and more importantly seeing Andy's face when Eleanor came out and the beautiful tears of joy come from his eyes - I will never forget it (me)/watching the miracle of life unfold before his eyes and hearing Eleanor cry for the first time (Andy) (May)

- Enjoying our first daughter and learning how to live as a family of three (June)

- Buying our first car and introducing Eleanor to all of our family and friends/celebrating our first anniversary together (July)


After lunch, we ran some errands and planned to head back to the apartment for the rest of the evening. We got the recipe from Plantation House http://www.theplantationhouse.com/, our FAVORITE restaurant in Maui, for their famous Mai Tais and enjoyed them by the pool at our apartment.

Us at the Plantation House

Mai Tai in Maui vs. Mai Tai in Dallas - amazing how the body/scenery can change so much in a year!

After drinnks by the pool we had a wonderful sushi dinner, my first time to have raw fish again since before Eleanor was in my tummy :). Then we enjoyed our wedding cake again and the same champagne we drank on our wedding night followed by a three hour dance fest on our living room floor. Andy moved the coffee table and made a play list of some faves and we danced barefoot until 2 in the morning! So much for getting sleep while Eleanor was being watched but we sure had fun!


The next morning we slept in and made the most amazing french toast we ever tasted! We made it with that wonderful sweet Challah bread - it was SO YUMMY! To go along with it we had bacon, eggs, and fresh squeezed OJ in our mimosas. Andy of course couldn't have his breakfast complete without a bloody mary - I of course passed as I think tomato juice is repulsive!


We joined Eleanor at my parents' house later that afternoon and couldn't have asked for a better anniversary! Though we weren't in paradise in Hawaii celebrating, persay, we were in our own state of paradise, just like the song says:

It's just another day in paradise

Well, there's no place that

I'd rather be

Well, it's two hearts

And one dream

I wouldn't trade it for anything

And I ask the Lord every night

For just another day in paradise

Fingerprints of God

"I can see the fingerprints of God, when I look at you! I can see the fingerprints of God, and I know it's true, you're a masterpiece that all creation quietly applauds, oh I can see the fingerprints of God!"

Stephen Curtis Chapman says it well - I never thought much about the song until God blessed us with little Eleanor! What a joy she brings to us and how amazing it is that God created her and entrusted her care with us! My favorite thing is when she wakes up from her morning nap around 9 or 10. She is definitely smiling for more than just gas now and is always in such a great mood. She will shine her little smile and try to talk to you, what a gift!

Even more so does she bring such happiness when we get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time, last night I prayed in desperation that God would give her tummy some peace and let her sleep at least four hours through the night (and us). We have been going barely two hours at a time and feel like walking zombies not to mention does poor Andy have to deal with my short temper and poor Eleanor is obviously restless with her tummy aches. God knew we needed it and what did He do but give us 6 hours of sleep last night! She slept from 12am - 6am and THEN from 7:30 - 10! WOW! Unless her medicine is just suddenly deciding to kick in, I attribute all of this success to the foam wedge we had her sleep on that apparently elevated her enough to not be effected by the reflux. Let's see if it works the same tonight!

Eleanor is ONE MONTH OLD!

A dear family friend informed us via a gift for Eleanor that the name "Eleanor" is of Greek origin and means "Light." What a perfect name for her without us even knowing as she has been such a beautiful light to us on this, her first MONTH of life! I never knew that a sweet little baby could make me smile, laugh, and cry so much. We can't get enough of her! We have found ourselves with the longest to-do list ever and never wanting to complete it. Every second Ellie is awake I can't let myself do anything but look and smile at her. We would hate to miss one of her many smiles or cute facial expressions and she is definitely beginning to shine those more and more each day! It is beginning to become a trend to see that beautiful smile every morning after her first "daybreak" feeding.

Eleanor is growing so much every day. It is amazing to see her ability to lift and turn her head when she is on her stomach or when we hold her sitting up. She has the strongest arms and legs and loves to stretch and move them around all the time! Surely priming herself to be an awesome swimmer! She has already enjoyed the Baby bjorn and refuses to lay her head on my chest and loves holding it up and looking around. She loves her rainforest and kicks and coos away talking to the butterflies and animals. She also will rotate spending time in the boppy, her swing, and her bouncy chair to give mom and dad a chance to get things done.

One of little E's signature traits that are coming out are her sneezes - she will get the whole room's attention when she sneezes because not only do they come in at least threes like her mother but she also makes a noise like she is bothered by it right before they come on and then ends the fit with a smile. Eleanor only has one little birth mark and it is in the weirdest spot - on her toe! She has a little red spot on the bottom of her toe and crazy enough - so does her Pop Pop! Eleanor loves to eat - she is ready to suck the chest of whoever is holding her every 2 hours on the dot, unless of course she is sleeping. She has gone from 10pm to 5am without waking up but has also gone to bed at 10, woken up at 12, 2, 4, and 6 as well so we can't quite say she "sleeps through the night" yet!

Little E has met SO MANY people in her first month. Aside from Andy's and my immediate family members, Ellie has met many of our friends and close family friends along with all of her future friends. This past year, at least 8 -10 of our close friends have had babies! Eleanor can't wait to have so many play dates and it has been so fun taking pictures of her and her infant friends who are literally days and months older/younger than her!

Another special event this month was Eleanor's baptism! What a blessing to have our immediate family all together and one of Eleanor's sets of great-grandparents in attendance. We also had the joy of celebrating with other extended family members and close friends. We are so thankful for Eleanor's loving godparents, Wyatt and Jenna Wentrcek and can't wait to meet their little one when he/she arrives in November!

We cherish every moment with our sweet little especially since we will both be going back to work in August. We can't believe we have already spent a whole month with her and hope the next 11 don't fly by too fast! Everyone is telling us she will be walking before we know it but hope that especially these summer months will go by slowly and we will get to enjoy every second we spend with her!

Our Sweet Eleanor's First Three Weeks

We have so enjoyed our first three weeks with Eleanor and can't believe she will be ONE MONTH OLD on June 18th! Here are some of ourr faves of her. If you haven't met her, please call, we would love for you to meet her!

Week 1 Shots of Eleanor...

Playing on the floor with Marmi

Only a couple of days old - her first bath and not too happy!

After Daddy gave her her first bath - now she is cozy and snuggly!

Her favorite outfit to sleep in!

Week 2 Pics....

Eleanor's first road trip and time to the lake house. She loved "shadebathing" in her swimsuit!

Ellie sleeping in one of her favorite spots - her car seat, on the way to the lake.

This one is one of my faves!

Napping at the Doctor's office

Week 3....

Fr. Alfonse baptizing our sweet little.

All dunked and oiled and full of the Holy Spirit!

Tired after her long day. Thank you Marmi for my rosary bracelet...I am using it as an "arm cuff" since my wrist is still a little a small.

The onesee says it all...

Mommy loves her Happy Girl

Eleanor's Birth Story

So my internet has been down and we finally got it back so before I forget it, I thought I should record how our sweet little Eleanor came to earth! I had my 41 week and 2 days checkup on Monday, May 17th. I went in hoping to at least have a "favorable cervix" if I couldn't be dilated like most all my pregnant friends reported after each Dr.'s visit. To my surprise, I was effaced 50% and was dilated to a 1! Not very much progress in some people's eyes but to me that was VERY exciting news because it made the chances of a mandate of a c-section go down astronomically which was SO exciting to me!

I figured the doc would want to see me in a couple of days to schedule induction later in the week, perfect timing so Andy's parents could make it in town to meet her that weekend. To my surprise, Dr. Behan looked at his calendar and said why don't you check into the hospital tonight? Even though I was almost 2 weeks overdue I was of course thrown off guard and thought, this is not apart of my plan!? I called Andy at school to make sure he could get a sub and Mom, Mary and I rushed home to finish hanging some last minute pictures and to make sure there wasn't going to be any wet clothes left in the laundry for the next couple days and that our bags really were packed and ready. That was all I had time for though because as soon as I had everything laid out on the bed and took a shower, Andy was home and all we had time to do was load up and grab some Corner Bakery on our way to the hospital.

Me and Eleanor on our way to the hospital


We checked into Presby Dallas at 7 and were greeted by our first nurse, LeAnn who was awesome. She first hooked me up to the baby monitors (monitoring my contractions and her heartbeat), put a saline lock in my right hand (after trying first on my left hand and making a bruise so bad it lasted for two weeks!) gave me cervadil ( a cervix ripening drug) and reminded me that my temp and blood pressure would be checked every hour. Andy and I dove into our tomato soup/salad, and sandwich and watched a pay per view movie on the hospital's dime...well probably mine now that I think about it...I stuffed my face when LeAnn reinfoced the bad news we had been hearing so long about L&D - NO FOOD OR DRINK after midnight.

At about 2:30 I woke up with contractions that kept me from sleeping. They were still pretty irregular but were getting stronger and uncomfortable but definitely manageable. I am pretty sure I wrote a blog post and then before I knew it, the clock turned to 6am and LeAnn came in to let me brush my teeth and then take me down o my L&D room.


I was wheeled down and met another nurse who was only going to take care of us for about 45 more min. She hooked me up to fluids and then went to call my doc to get orders to start "pit" or pitocin. I walked around the room because I knew I would be confined to the bed for many hours to come. Much to Andy's and my dismay, whether I got an epidural or not, because I was on pitocin, I had to be monitored at all time which mean I had to be in the bed at all time. This was VERY against all we had practiced in our 8 week long Bradley Natural Childbirth classes. Everything we had learned to manage pain without intervention (drugs) revolved around walkin/moving around/getting in different positions. Most of which I could NOT do laying in the bed. I started to halfway freak out, tat there would be no way I could do this naturally and halfway stay calm because I knew this would just have to continue to go along with God's plan and I could have no control.





This is me hooked up to IVs and you can see the baby monitor cords hooked around my neck...if you needed to use the restoom this was all that had to go along with you!



When our new nurse, Kylie, came in at 7 to start her shift, she brought us GREAT news! We went over our birth plan with her (which she was super open to) though it had already been altered since I was unable to go into labor on my own. She did, however,take note that I really wanted to TRY and go without an epidural s she thought of another option. She let me sit in a ROCKING CHAIR next to the bed so I could still be hooked up to the monitors but would not be confined to the bed that I was so paranoid about AND so that I could move. This rocking chair was my best friend. The movement really helped to get through contractions which were gradually getting more intense and closer together as Kylie continued to up the pitocin. Eleanor's heartrate was doing great and stayed so as the pitocin continued to increase.

This is me in my beloved Rocking Chair nursing some ice chips between contractions.



I started the pitocin at 7:45. At that time, the cervadil had made me efface pretty much to 100% and I was about 2 cm. dilated. I rocked in my little chair with Andy coaching me on my breathing and doing anything I needed him to. He was so amazingly supportive and sweet. He even rubbed my feet. At one point I remember him letting me lean my head into his chest and for some reason I felt the urge to bite his arm...he had a bit of a battle wound from the birth as well I guess :). At 12:45 I was so tired. I could hardly keep my eyes open between contractions. I had no idea how tiring contractions could be! I remember just thinking, can you please stop the contractions so I can take an hour nap, then I would be ready to continue ha. The contractions were very painful but definitely not unbearable, I was just SO TIRED. SO, Andy and I decided the best way for me to ger rest would be to get the epidural. I was 4cm at this point.This is me after the epi...the anesthesiologist told me if he wasn't my "bff" in 10 min, that I would need to call him back in to re-do the epi.



We called the anesthesiologist in and the epi wasn't too bad at all. He did however have to "redo it" after the first time because he only numbed one side. The worst part were the 6 or so contractions I had that I had to sit still through. Luckily Kylie was right there to help me breathe through them. They kicked Andy out which I was at first a little upset about but he came back quickly. I got the epidural at about 1 and was a 6 at 1:30. In only an hr. and a half (once my body relaxed on the epidural) I went from a 6 to a 9. I was able to sleep and rest and watch the crazy contractions on paper but not really feel them at all. I told the anesthesiologist that he really WAS my bff. Around that time, Mom, Dad, Mary, and Kelsey arrived to hang out and wait for little Ellie to come out! They rotated coming in and visiting with me/Andy while I dozed in and out of sleep. Also at spome point after the epi, Dr. Behan came and broke my water.



Check out the conractions on the right side of the sheet! SO GLAD I wasn't feeling those!


I made it to a 10 by 3:30 but was told I needed to "labor down" meaning that the nurse turned me on different sides and put my legs in the stirrups in various ways to try and get the baby to turn and come down like she was supposed to. I was fully dilated but she wasn't completely ready to come out as she wasn't stationed all the way down in my pelvis yet. My brother in law, Matt, arrived around 4:30 which I know was so special to Andy to have him there. He also hung out with my sisters in the waiting room. At 5:30, Kylie was ready for me to "practice push." When we tried it, I couldn't feel anything so I asked them to turn the epi off.




Mommy and Daddy ready to meet their little one - about to start pushing!

I continued pushing every time I was told I was having a contraction and would put on the oxygen mask and eat ice chips every time I got a break. Pretty soon, I was telling the nurse when the contraction was coming and could definitely feel MUCH more. This caused me to get super nauseas and I eventually threw up. Of course I had no food to throw up so the gagging is never fun but I did hope the nurses didn't notice that what was coming up was orange tinged from the gatorade I made Andy sneak me when they weren't in the room!

After 2 hours, I was completely wiped out! I was starting to cry and think I couldn't do it anymore. Dr. Behan finally came in and thank goodness had our best interests in mind knowing we really were hoping NOT to have a c-secion. Becuase of that, he reccommended using the "vacuum" to pull out Eleanor. He said it would help but that I still had to push. I don't remember much of the chain of events or how long it took once he got in there but shortly after, mypush finally produced results and I saw the most amazing look on my husband's face. It looked about the same if not more full of love and joy than our wedding day. We didn't have a mirror up so I didn't get to see Eleanor come out but I got to see Andy's face overcome with the biggest smile and floods of tears. I will never forget that moment EVER! Eleanor Ann Reinberg was finally here at 7:44pm on May 18th, 2010!

Once Eleanor came out, it didn't take too long for her to cry and then she was carried over to the little baby heater where the NICU staff suctioned her like crazy. There was some "mec" in my amniotic fluid which worried them that she could have swallowed or breathed it in. The nurses did hold her up for me to see and I can't explain how amazing it felt to finally see the face of the sweet little being that had been kicking and hiccuping inside of me for 9 months. Luckily she was fine and after a few minutes that seemed like hours, I got to hold her! They laid her on my chest and I was in pure bliss! Andy got to hold her as did her "Marmi" who also experienced her birth and did a wonderful job taking pictures as soon as she yelled her first cry!

We are so glad our Eleanor is finally here! As soon as the family all left to get a late dinner, Eleanor and I had her first feeding experience which was also amazing. She latched on perfectly and "was a great sucker" as the nurse said. Though things didn't go as planned initially, we really don't even think about it anymore as having her here, healthy and happy is all we could ask for. We thank God for all the wnder and joy she has brought to our family!