jgundacker20ahs-blog

[jgundacker20ahs-blog]

toddler (years 1-2)

It’s only been two years but Maeve feels so grown up! She’s starting to form sentences now, not always grammatically correct, but we’ll get there! She’s also taken her first steps but lets me carry her in the bjorn if she’s particularly tired. She has certainly been testing me as she attempts to escape from her crib most nights. She clings to her favorite stuffed dog at most hours of the day and gets fussy when she misplaces him. She can also get quite fussy when I deviate from routine. I try my hardest to keep her on a schedule, but things don’t always go as planned. I’m not so sure my two-year-old has learned that lesson yet, but I’m hoping she’ll understand soon.

I’ve had to baby-proof most of the house, putting baby locks on cabinets and stoppers in wall sockets. I never really realized the dangers a young toddler faces in a seemingly safe home. When she was much younger, I didn’t have to worry about her rummaging through cabinets or hitting her head on low tables because she was always in my arms, or lying down, immobile. Ever since she has learned to walk, most mundane things pose at least a slight threat to the unknowing toddler. I’ve also tried to keep her away from technology. When I do, it’s typically programming aimed at toddlers, but in Spanish. I’ve been speaking to Maeve in Spanish and English so that she is exposed to both languages and can grow up bilingual. I certainly don’t have perfect Spanish, but it’s important to me that my daughter could one day live abroad or travel the globe with the skill of knowing a second language. It’s weird to think that my tiny toddler will one day be making choices for herself, but for now, it’s routine, routine, routine.

maeve eats oranges now! she loves fruit!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12bOzUpKt2zizgOSptLejQVPUfRV7TNl8/view?usp=sharing 

above is a link to a video of me speaking spanish with maeve

-jane

[jgundacker20ahs-blog]

infancy (years 0-1)

Maeve is here! This first year with her hasn’t been what I initially anticipated. I was diagnosed with Postpartum Depression (PPD). It has been hard for me to feel a strong emotional connection to my daughter, as I struggle with occasionally extreme feelings of sadness and anxiety. The doctor told me that a history of mental illness can be a risk factor for PPD, along with traumatic or stressful events surrounding the pregnancy and birth. I would like to believe that it’s just an effect of the huge drop in estrogen and progesterone combined with the lack of sleep, and that I will get better later. Research suggests that seeking treatment from a doctor and other mental health professionals aids in lowering the severity of symptoms. 

This first year has been very difficult for me as a parent. I want to do what is best for my child, but my PPD is making it difficult for me to seek or form an emotional bond with her. I worry that this may impact Maeve’s development. If I’m not spending time with her and ensuring that she is exposed to as much as possible in this critical period of development, she may lose abilities. Infants have more neurons than they need, and following birth, neural pathways that aren’t being used are pruned, similar to the pruning of plants. It is vital that I spend as much time as I can with Maeve so that she develops a healthy relationship in her life.

While PPD has been hard to deal with, this year has been filled with so many exciting firsts! Maeve may not be speaking in prose, but she has mumbled the occasional “doggie” or “kitty”. By six months, I finally had her on a sleep schedule and she’s been sleeping through the night. She hasn’t walked yet, but she’s a speed demon when she’s crawling across the floor. We used to play “Peek-a-boo” all the time, but ever since her object permanence developed, she’s caught on to the fact that I’m just ducking beneath the table for a moment. She has been a little wary around strangers, and I’m trying to ease her stranger anxiety by exposing her to as many new people as possible. Since she’s able to support her head all on her own, I have transitioned from feeding her bottles to baby food purees. I find them unsettling at times, but she seems to enjoy it. As my PPD symptoms are more manageable and Maeve is becoming slightly more independent, I look toward the next years with optimism.

PPD articles: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/postpartum-depression-facts/index.shtml

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/children-suffer-when-mothers-have-postpartum-depression

before we transitioned to more solid foods and I was still bottle feeding

baby burrito all snug and swaddled. 

-jane

[jgundacker20ahs-blog]

pregnancy and prenatal development

Hello, world!

My name is Jane and I am currently “pregnant” with my first child, a girl, named Maeve Apple Gundacker. Avoiding teratogens has been fairly easy for me, seeing that I’m too young to partake in the consumption of drugs and/or alcohol. It’s nice to know that my boring life of following the rules will aid me in this pregnancy since I won’t have to stop using drugs if I was using them, and Maeve won’t be born addicted to drugs. The link below is to a troubling article I found detailing the long term consequences drug use can have on a baby in-utero. 

https://lagunatreatment.com/support-for-women/newborn-health-effect/

It has been very exciting for me as a first time mom to learn all about how my baby is getting along and how big she is getting. It’s crazy to me that medicine is so advanced that she could be born at just 24 weeks! I’m glad that I’ve made it past that mark and am eagerly anticipating her arrival on February 3rd! I want to meet her, but I also want to make sure that her lungs are fully developed by the time she is born. Recently, I have been able to feel Maeve move around. The doctor says that she could even be hiccuping. 

As Maeve’s due date approaches, I have spent more time reflecting on her origin. It’s funny to think that she came from a turkey baster. Artificial insemination can be so expensive, but I wanted to make sure that I knew the father. My good friend was generous enough to support me in my journey to become a mother, and here we are! I know that most children are raised in two-parent households, but I am confident in myself and my love for my child that everything will turn out alright. I have attached links to articles detailing the living situation of children around the US and the costly process of artificial reproductive technologies (ART). 

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-192.html

https://www.parents.com/getting-pregnant/infertility/treatments/artificial-insemination-procedures-costs-and-success-rates/

I am preparing for life with a baby, and I am so excited to meet my daughter as soon as she is born!

-jane