I have struggled with keeping this blog public and cannot decide if I am going to make it private.....Or if I will continue to post without pictures and full names. I have switched most of my picture posting to instagram, but hate not having pictures on here. The Criminal Minds/Law & Order part of me cannot bring myself to do it. Sigh.
Unfortunately, time has absolutely flown by. In fact, I am writing your one month entry when you are almost 6 weeks old. Thank goodness I take notes on my iphone - otherwise I would not remember any details because you grow so fast!
Sleep: You are sleeping in 3-4 hour increments. In the last few days you will sleep anywhere from 5 hours to 8 hours. At first the long stretches made me nervous, but now I just appreciate them! You are the LOUDEST sleeper. Seriously. I don't know if anyone has a sleeping baby as loud as you. When I get to sleep I don't hear you unless you cry. Your father is not so lucky. Every noise you make wakes him up. On work nights he sleeps in one of the guest rooms so he is rested for work. You have crazy hands and a lovely "startle reflex" - is that what they call it? It's pretty funny to watch when you are napping, but at night you sleep in your wombie which I believe helps you rest. At first you slept and napped in the napper your grandma got you. We would carry it all around the house! I did not want you to get familiar with sleeping on such an incline that we switched back to the original plan of you sleeping in the bassinet on your pack & play. Now you sleep in the bassinet and nap in your swing or napper downstairs.
Clothes and Diapers: You still wear newborn clothes and we will occasionally put you in 0-3 month outfits like your game day onesies. You were in newborn diapers, but due to a horrible diaper rash we have been fighting we have moved you into size 1 diapers. For your first month you have been wearing the Pampers Swaddlers diapers.
Medical: You were a bit jaundice when we left the hospital so for the first few days at home you had a biliblanket. After two days and some blood work, the pediatrician said you were good to go. We also took you to the doctor for a very mild tongue tie and he felt there was no reason to snip it if feeding was getting better (it has stretched) and does not think you will have any speech problems in the future. I think you have a little bit of reflux because you have days where you spit up a ton, but you are a happy spitter and it does not appear to bother you. Your mother is crazy and was convinced that we had thrush so we got medicine as a precaution. As mentioned before you also got a horrible diaper rash around 2 weeks that we have been fighting which was crazy because we are constantly changing you ALL.THE.TIME.
Food: I am currently nursing you which was a bit difficult at first, but has gotten much better. I have started to use the pump with the hope that your mom and dad can go to the Iron Bowl game. As a result, we have begun to try to get you to take a bottle. The first time was crazy due to a lack of preparation on mom and dad's part, but on the second attempt your dad was able to feed you. You seem to prefer the Tommee Tippee bottles thus far. I was really against giving you a bottle before 4 weeks since nursing was going much better, but I know you will need to get ready for daycare. Ugh.
Stats: You weigh 10 lbs and 2 oz so clearly you are getting fed plenty! You have grown a little bit and are 21 inches long.
Events: Your aunt flew all the way from Germany to come meet you! She also used mom's ticket to go to the AU/uga game with your dad. AU had the craziest (and luckiest) catch and won the game! You and I watched the game at home with your grandparents and it is a miracle I did not drop you after the game winning catch.
Likes:
Mommy Milk
Being held by Dad
The Swing
The Napper - you love the napper and it helped out so much when you were attached to the biliblanket
Dislikes:
When your diaper gets dirty
Being hungry
Being gassy
Around two weeks we had newborn pictures taken. Your aunt was still in town from Germany so she came with us and was a huge help! It was quite an experience and the pictures turned out great. I may be bias, but you are such a beautiful baby! You have the cutest little cheeks and get compliments on your lips almost all the time. Comments have also been made on how alert you are and how much you keep your eyes open. We started doing some tummy time with you on your playmat because you love to bop your head around like crazy. Your dad, grandpa and myself swear that we have all seen you smile and you are starting to "coo" a bit more. Your furry sisters were not quite sure what to do with you. Miss Friski quickly adjusted (because she is our perfect child) and will often hop in my lap when I am holding or feeding you. Fendi Foo does not like the noises you make and is pretty much terrified of you. You are the most loved baby in our family of course and you are the first grandchild on both your mom and dad's side. We love you sweet girl and cannot wait to watch you grow up although the thought makes me cry which could be due to my hormones.
All About Mom:
- I am pretty much thirsty all the time.
- Dropped 29 lbs within the first two weeks. So the baby weight plus some (I had some to lose before getting pregnant) has been lost, but my body definitely does not look like it did pre baby. I am pretty sure the extra weight being lost is from my muscles going away so I cannot wait to work out again. I try and take you on walks when I can, but the cold weather scares me. #paranoidfirsttimemom
- The first two weeks were very sleep deprived, but it got much better.
- Soreness from delivery is still evident, but I can tell that my body is recovering.
- My blood pressure was high when we left the hospital so I am on BP medicine until I have my follow up appointment around 6 weeks. I have never had high BP and it was fine during pregnancy so hopefully it will return to normal at the appointment. I am pretty sure it's a symptom from the trauma that labor and delivery caused - he he.
- I am cold all the time - even when it's 73 degrees in my house. I hope that goes away when my hormones adjust.
- So very glad to enjoy sushi and sub sandwiches again!
12.04.2013
11.14.2013
The Friend Baby Shower
As you can tell from the photo one of the hosts in particular is very creative - my mom is her biggest fan! The decorations were awesome - vintage like and mostly homemade. They went with the orange and blue color scheme for Auburn which was appropriate since it was game day. The diaper cake was so adorable with little Tiger toys for the baby. There is also a station where each guest decorated a onesie and I got to guess who decorated which outfit - loved this! One of my favorite things from the shower was the book where each person gave advice on becoming a mother. Each person signed a picture frame that is currently in the nursery. The food was wonderful and it was gluten-free. No, I don't have an allergy but wheat kills - seriously go read Wheat Belly.
Our friends were very generous and the baby received so many gifts that she needed. She also received quite a few presents from the guests that could not attend which was so thoughtful. After the shower one of my friends (my twin) took some maternity pictures and we were attacked by mosquitoes. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I am SO thankful for all of my friends!!! Baby E cannot wait to meet her aunties!
The ladies at work threw a surprise shower for me, but I didn't get any pictures - oops.
11.12.2013
My "Natural" Labor & Delivery
Disclaimer: I did not get too graphic with the story, but it may not be something you want to read.
Where do I even begin? Five days postpartum and I am finally feeling up to writing about the day our daughter entered the world (this post has taken FOREVER to write and publish)! Hopefully I will not forget too many details - maybe that will be good if you are reading this and have no idea about child birth. I would not want to traumatize anyone!
Baby E graced us with her presence on Friday, October 25th, but I'll start at the beginning of that week. Early Sunday morning I began to lose the mucous plug. One of my due dates (the one from my second doctor) had her arriving on Monday, October 21 so it seemed like things were moving along. Monday came and went without a baby. On Tuesday I had my weekly doctor's appointment, but had not dilated anymore than the 1 cm the week before. For Wednesday and Thursday I was able to work from home because it was our staff retreat. Staff retreat is held at one of our camps and as you can imagine, I was heartbroken not to be attending since I love the outdoors (insert sarcasm). I was also convinced that I would be having the baby that Wednesday. Wednesday came and went with no sign of labor starting.
Early Thursday morning I awoke to contractions and experienced what is called "the bloody show." I started timing the contractions and tried to rest before calling the doctor's office when they opened. J went to work, but came home early morning to accompany me to the doctor where we discovered that I still had not dilated past 1 cm. We were sent home with instructions to walk and we could go to hospital when the pain was so bad that I could not walk or talk. The rest of the day was spent in pain and trying to relax (I think I was able to nap for an hour). We went to bed that evening and I tried to sleep, but with no pain relief and strong contractions it was useless. However, I was still able to talk and walk around so I did not want to go to the hospital and be sent home for not progressing. Around 2 AM I finally decided to shower and wake up J because I was tired of being in pain and thought that if I was sent home at least I could ask for an ambien so I could try to get some sleep before delivering. I was terrified of having very little sleep for two days and having to deliver a baby.
J packed up the car and we headed to the hospital. Much to my surprise, we discovered that I was dilated to 6 CM - Yup, I had labored naturally at home up to 6 CM (you push around 10). I was relieved because that meant we could stay at the hospital and I was totally impressed because I have little tolerance for pain. We completed some paperwork and headed to our labor and deliver room. In the room I was hooked up to some machine to monitor the contractions/baby activity. The first nurse had me wear an oxygen mask - the baby was okay, but "not as active as she would like to see". The on call doctor (she happened to be the only doctor in my OB/GYN practice who I did not meet) arrived and I had dilated to 8 CM. Keep in mind, I still had not received any pain medication. The doctor started feeling on my stomach for the baby and announced that she thought the baby could be around 9 lbs. HA! Excellent news to hear before delivery. Especially since I had yet to get any pain relief! Around 35 weeks our baby was predicted to be around 7 lbs, but no ultra sound or doctor can give you an exact weight until the baby arrives. The doctor began to play out different scenarios about if the baby was that big and if her shoulders get stuck on the way out....Basically thinking of the worst case scenarios which freaked out J, but as the doctor said, it was "her job to be prepared for the worst case scenarios."Yes it is. I do not need the doctor freaking out during labor.
The anesthesiologist arrived and I finally received my epidural at 8 CM dilated. It somewhat helped relieve the back pain and the pain of contractions around my stomach. At this point we were told to prepare to deliver (if everything progressed) in the next hour. It was around 5 AM so J called my parents who needed to board the dog before heading our way. A midwife came in to break my water and that is when we discovered that I needed more pain medication. Apparently for the dilation checks and the water breaking I was told that I would feel pressure, but should not feel anything else. Low and behold I could feel it all. I had such bad pain in my hips, side and back. The doctor had the nurse call the anesthesiologist back to check the epidural and administer more medicine.
During this whole process, there was a natural childbirth going on next door. Talk about traumatizing. The screaming and noises that J, myself, nurse and doctor could hear were unnerving. There was also some crazy screaming in the hallway going on. We think a poor nurse was getting yelled at by one of the ladies in labor.
After getting more medicine for the epidural my dilation stalled and I was stuck at 8 CM. Anyone who knows me is aware that I did not want pitocin unless absolutely necessary. After two hours and zero progress, we agreed to start some pitocin. Sigh. I hated the thought of trying to "jump start" a natural process, but it worked. Finally, I we were able to push. It took me a few attempts before I actually got the hang of a successful push. I'd push 3 times each for 10 seconds. My adorable husband could not watch (we knew this going into it - I also did not want him down in that area) so he sat by my head feeding me ice chips and apparently managing the text messages that were coming in from the lucky few who knew we were at the hospital. I pushed for about an hour and a half. Miserable. Aside from being able to feel it all, the worst part was that my legs were cramping from the position I was in so between pushes I had to bring my legs down.
Baby E arrived on October 25, 2013 at 11:57 AM weighing 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20.5" long. She had a large head (so we were told - 34.5 cm) with some lovely brown hair. They placed her on my chest and I remember saying "Hi baby! I don't know what to do with her.....Why is she blue?" Still a magical moment for us, but that's definitely when I thought "I have no idea what I am doing." They got her to cry and starting sucking out all the things that needed to be cleared out. I was able to have her on my chest for a few minutes before they took her to clean and warm up her little body. Her first APGAR score was an 8 and the second one was a 9. We are so blessed that she is a healthy baby!
They put her on my chest briefly then took her to be cleaned up and checked over. Daddy J did watch the doctor pull her out, cut the cord and did not faint. While Baby E was being attended to, I was still being worked on. My feet were in the stirrups and I wanted to die. Actually, I am not sure what I wanted to do. I think my body was going through shock over the trauma of labor and delivery. I felt SO weird. After trying to hold Baby E for a few minutes I had J take her because my body felt so unreliable (weird description I know). My legs were still cramping from being in the stirrups, but I had to hold the pose while the midwife and doctor stitched me up. Cheers for stitches from a natural second degree tear! I asked if they could numb the area because I could feel them working on me which is when the doctor realized the nurses had moved my "push button" for the epidural and it had not been given it back to me. J started pushing that button like crazy, but I'm pretty sure it was too late or maybe that is why my body started feeling all weird. I felt like I had zero control over my movements and that my body would start twitching or shaking if I moved - not sure if this actually happened, but this is what I felt was happening.
The nurses and doctors finally finished and we were left with a baby. Thankfully I was given percocets that worked fantastically - finally some pain relief! J went to grab my parents so they could meet the baby and discover her name. From the hospital we were able to facetime with my sister and BIL in Germany and J went to call his family. I also called and facetimed with a few of our friends and my DJ came by to see us and bring a lovely gift of whiskey and champagne. The hospital was quite busy with deliveries so we had to stay in our labor and delivery room for a while until a postpartum room was available.
We had hardly told anyone that we were in labor and I am SO glad that we were able to have that time to ourselves. I have no idea if my epidural worked because someone asked me how long it took to get the feeling back in my legs and my response was "um I always had feeling in my legs." Are you only supposed to feel pressure with an epidural or do you feel the pain? Did I get it too late? Maybe I had the "natural" delivery I never wanted! I was super impressed that I lasted as long as I did without medication and no sleep, but next time I may try to get to the hospital a bit earlier. Looking back I have decided that my labor was like 80% natural and lasted 32 hours - it makes me sound tough.
On Sunday we were discharged and sent home with our gorgeous little girl. It still does not feel real to me. Like I have a baby. I am a mom. But don't you worry your pretty little head Baby E - because I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom!
Where do I even begin? Five days postpartum and I am finally feeling up to writing about the day our daughter entered the world (this post has taken FOREVER to write and publish)! Hopefully I will not forget too many details - maybe that will be good if you are reading this and have no idea about child birth. I would not want to traumatize anyone!
Baby E graced us with her presence on Friday, October 25th, but I'll start at the beginning of that week. Early Sunday morning I began to lose the mucous plug. One of my due dates (the one from my second doctor) had her arriving on Monday, October 21 so it seemed like things were moving along. Monday came and went without a baby. On Tuesday I had my weekly doctor's appointment, but had not dilated anymore than the 1 cm the week before. For Wednesday and Thursday I was able to work from home because it was our staff retreat. Staff retreat is held at one of our camps and as you can imagine, I was heartbroken not to be attending since I love the outdoors (insert sarcasm). I was also convinced that I would be having the baby that Wednesday. Wednesday came and went with no sign of labor starting.
Early Thursday morning I awoke to contractions and experienced what is called "the bloody show." I started timing the contractions and tried to rest before calling the doctor's office when they opened. J went to work, but came home early morning to accompany me to the doctor where we discovered that I still had not dilated past 1 cm. We were sent home with instructions to walk and we could go to hospital when the pain was so bad that I could not walk or talk. The rest of the day was spent in pain and trying to relax (I think I was able to nap for an hour). We went to bed that evening and I tried to sleep, but with no pain relief and strong contractions it was useless. However, I was still able to talk and walk around so I did not want to go to the hospital and be sent home for not progressing. Around 2 AM I finally decided to shower and wake up J because I was tired of being in pain and thought that if I was sent home at least I could ask for an ambien so I could try to get some sleep before delivering. I was terrified of having very little sleep for two days and having to deliver a baby.
J packed up the car and we headed to the hospital. Much to my surprise, we discovered that I was dilated to 6 CM - Yup, I had labored naturally at home up to 6 CM (you push around 10). I was relieved because that meant we could stay at the hospital and I was totally impressed because I have little tolerance for pain. We completed some paperwork and headed to our labor and deliver room. In the room I was hooked up to some machine to monitor the contractions/baby activity. The first nurse had me wear an oxygen mask - the baby was okay, but "not as active as she would like to see". The on call doctor (she happened to be the only doctor in my OB/GYN practice who I did not meet) arrived and I had dilated to 8 CM. Keep in mind, I still had not received any pain medication. The doctor started feeling on my stomach for the baby and announced that she thought the baby could be around 9 lbs. HA! Excellent news to hear before delivery. Especially since I had yet to get any pain relief! Around 35 weeks our baby was predicted to be around 7 lbs, but no ultra sound or doctor can give you an exact weight until the baby arrives. The doctor began to play out different scenarios about if the baby was that big and if her shoulders get stuck on the way out....Basically thinking of the worst case scenarios which freaked out J, but as the doctor said, it was "her job to be prepared for the worst case scenarios."Yes it is. I do not need the doctor freaking out during labor.
The anesthesiologist arrived and I finally received my epidural at 8 CM dilated. It somewhat helped relieve the back pain and the pain of contractions around my stomach. At this point we were told to prepare to deliver (if everything progressed) in the next hour. It was around 5 AM so J called my parents who needed to board the dog before heading our way. A midwife came in to break my water and that is when we discovered that I needed more pain medication. Apparently for the dilation checks and the water breaking I was told that I would feel pressure, but should not feel anything else. Low and behold I could feel it all. I had such bad pain in my hips, side and back. The doctor had the nurse call the anesthesiologist back to check the epidural and administer more medicine.
During this whole process, there was a natural childbirth going on next door. Talk about traumatizing. The screaming and noises that J, myself, nurse and doctor could hear were unnerving. There was also some crazy screaming in the hallway going on. We think a poor nurse was getting yelled at by one of the ladies in labor.
After getting more medicine for the epidural my dilation stalled and I was stuck at 8 CM. Anyone who knows me is aware that I did not want pitocin unless absolutely necessary. After two hours and zero progress, we agreed to start some pitocin. Sigh. I hated the thought of trying to "jump start" a natural process, but it worked. Finally, I we were able to push. It took me a few attempts before I actually got the hang of a successful push. I'd push 3 times each for 10 seconds. My adorable husband could not watch (we knew this going into it - I also did not want him down in that area) so he sat by my head feeding me ice chips and apparently managing the text messages that were coming in from the lucky few who knew we were at the hospital. I pushed for about an hour and a half. Miserable. Aside from being able to feel it all, the worst part was that my legs were cramping from the position I was in so between pushes I had to bring my legs down.
Baby E arrived on October 25, 2013 at 11:57 AM weighing 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20.5" long. She had a large head (so we were told - 34.5 cm) with some lovely brown hair. They placed her on my chest and I remember saying "Hi baby! I don't know what to do with her.....Why is she blue?" Still a magical moment for us, but that's definitely when I thought "I have no idea what I am doing." They got her to cry and starting sucking out all the things that needed to be cleared out. I was able to have her on my chest for a few minutes before they took her to clean and warm up her little body. Her first APGAR score was an 8 and the second one was a 9. We are so blessed that she is a healthy baby!
They put her on my chest briefly then took her to be cleaned up and checked over. Daddy J did watch the doctor pull her out, cut the cord and did not faint. While Baby E was being attended to, I was still being worked on. My feet were in the stirrups and I wanted to die. Actually, I am not sure what I wanted to do. I think my body was going through shock over the trauma of labor and delivery. I felt SO weird. After trying to hold Baby E for a few minutes I had J take her because my body felt so unreliable (weird description I know). My legs were still cramping from being in the stirrups, but I had to hold the pose while the midwife and doctor stitched me up. Cheers for stitches from a natural second degree tear! I asked if they could numb the area because I could feel them working on me which is when the doctor realized the nurses had moved my "push button" for the epidural and it had not been given it back to me. J started pushing that button like crazy, but I'm pretty sure it was too late or maybe that is why my body started feeling all weird. I felt like I had zero control over my movements and that my body would start twitching or shaking if I moved - not sure if this actually happened, but this is what I felt was happening.
The nurses and doctors finally finished and we were left with a baby. Thankfully I was given percocets that worked fantastically - finally some pain relief! J went to grab my parents so they could meet the baby and discover her name. From the hospital we were able to facetime with my sister and BIL in Germany and J went to call his family. I also called and facetimed with a few of our friends and my DJ came by to see us and bring a lovely gift of whiskey and champagne. The hospital was quite busy with deliveries so we had to stay in our labor and delivery room for a while until a postpartum room was available.
We had hardly told anyone that we were in labor and I am SO glad that we were able to have that time to ourselves. I have no idea if my epidural worked because someone asked me how long it took to get the feeling back in my legs and my response was "um I always had feeling in my legs." Are you only supposed to feel pressure with an epidural or do you feel the pain? Did I get it too late? Maybe I had the "natural" delivery I never wanted! I was super impressed that I lasted as long as I did without medication and no sleep, but next time I may try to get to the hospital a bit earlier. Looking back I have decided that my labor was like 80% natural and lasted 32 hours - it makes me sound tough.
On Sunday we were discharged and sent home with our gorgeous little girl. It still does not feel real to me. Like I have a baby. I am a mom. But don't you worry your pretty little head Baby E - because I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom!
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