Better late than never!

Yes, I know we are a day late, but so be it. Here are Baby Girl's one week old pictures. I stole this idea from two other blogs ( I hope they don't mind!).

I should have the birth story and hospital stay up tomorrow.

But for now:





And here are the new shoes daddy bought me to go running with mommy. They're Wee.boks.

The Hospital Stay

What would begin as uneventful, would turn out not to be so.

We tried to nurse right after she was born, and every so often after that. Babies do not acquire their suck swallow reflex until about 37 weeks gestation. So we were two weeks shy of that. But, we kept trying. And everything a baby does burns calories, especially breastfeeding. Because of this, we gave her some formula. We started the formula 14 hours after birth. She was taking about 15 ml's every three hours. (30 ML's is an ounce). She was weighed at midnite, and her weight had dropped to 5 lbs 10 oz. Not good. Especially since she had been eating formula. The pediatrician came in the next morning, and was obviously concerned about the weight drop. So, we were told she would be weighed again at noon. If she had not gained 1/2 oz, she would need to go to the NICU. Well, when she weighed again, she had dropped another 2 oz. She was now at 5 lbs 8 oz. We were told they would contact the pedi and let us know. Well, they came at 3 pm Saturday to take her to the NICU. This was extremely hard. DH had gone to walk some friends out, and I could not get a hold of him, and these people do not wait. I felt absolutely terrible 1. that she was gone, 2. that I could not get him to tell him to come back.

We are told that we can go down to the NICU at any time, we just can not stay. We opt to go to feeding time, so that we can "feed" her. She has to have a tube put in through her nose down into her stomach to be fed. The tube coming out of the nose has an attachment that hooks on to a "bottle" that high calorie formula is put into, and drains down into her stomach. Walking into the NICU for the first time, simply broke us down. You never realize how much something like that is going to affect you until it happens. It makes me tear up now as I write this. After her first feeding we go back to the room, and sit. We finally come to the conclusion that this is best for her, and that is what is important. They feed them every three hours on a schedule with no deviations. There is no holding, touching, or playing with them. They are only held during feeding time. This helps reduce the number of calories they are burning in order to help them gain weight.

They weigh her again, and it is 5, 9. She has done well with the tube feedings overnight, so they decide to try the bottle feeding once again. At 6 that night, the lactation lady comes to meet with us in there and show us the supplemental nursing system. We weigh her just before this, and she is down again, this time to 5, 6. DH and I decide, no breast feeding attempts until we can get the weight issue under control. I am still pumping and we are giving her everything that comes out, but we are supplementing with formula. She is given strict instructions that she must take no less than 35 ml's a feeding, but we are to offer her 45. Most feedings go well, with her taking between 40 and 45. She is only given 20 - 25 mins to do this. If after that time frame, she is not finished, she has to wait until the next feeding. This may sound mean, but they burn so much energy trying to feed, prolonging the time doesn't help matters.

She does great with her feedings and we are discharged on Monday at a weight of 5, 7.7. As you can tell from the picture posted earlier, she was just as happy as we were to be leaving the hospital.

Birth Story

I had to go back and read what I wrote last Thursday (the morning before going into labor that evening). Quite entertaining to think of all the plans I had.

So I get home from work that evening, still having mild cramping every 10 - 12 mins apart. No big deal. I eat leftovers from our wonderful dinner the night before about 5:30. It was fish and crab cakes. About 6:30, I started having diarrhea. And lots of it. I decided in between bathroom trips we better go ahead and go get the remaining items needed to pack our bags for the hospital, just in case. I thought the stomach upset had come from the leftovers (yes, still in denial at this point). We get almost to the store, and I am not feeling well again. my parents house is nearby, so we decide to take a detour over there, so I can use the bathroom and feel better. I am starting to feel nauseous at this point as well (yes, I am still blaming it on the leftovers). At my parents, I start to feel a lot of pressure down there. It seems to be more on the pubic bone than anything. I just assume baby girl had moved into a different position.

I decide I better call the nurse and ask her opinion. She suggests coming in to be checked due to the pressure. So, just after 8:00 pm we leave for the hospital. On the way there, at 8:18, I have my first real contraction. OMG!! I could not get comfortable. Little did I know it was only going to get worse. These were NOTHING compared to the mild cramps I had been having the last 24 hours. I start timing contractions, b/c they do not seem that far apart. Well, 3 mins to be exact. We get to the hospital, and you would think a woman in labor, would be rushed off the L & D floor. Whatever! You have to fill out your name, ss #, give them the insurance card. And yes, I did pre-register. One of the ladies made the comment, "you didn't pre-register". She is lucky I was in so much pain. Then another woman found my file. Good thing. So, they call the L & D floor, and tell them I am on my way up.

We get up there, and there are about 10 nurses standing around. Not one, ask to help me. I speak up and tell them I think I am in labor and need to be checked. (Apparently still in denial). I am leaking fluid like a mad woman at this point. The nurse then tells me to clean myself down there, pee a little in the toilet, and then the rest in a cup. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I politely ask her, did she expect me to get all the fluid off of me before attempting to pee in this little cup? She said no. Good thing. It is now 8:45 pm, and my water had broken, but I am only a fingertip dilated. From all of our labor classes and internet info, I am thinking we are in for a long night. Don't first baby's take 14 - 16 hours? Isn't the longest laboring time between 0 and 3 cm's? I told the nurse I was nauseous feeling and she gives DH two of those little puke trays. Well, I have never puked so much. In between puking, DH has to combine trays to give me something else to puke in. It was all over me, him, and the bed.

At this point I want an epidural STAT! But they say you should wait until at least 5 cm to make sure it doesn't slow or stop labor progression. I had to wait until we could get all the info into the computer. The lady who checked me was warning me not to push even if I felt the urge. They get me into a room, start antibiotics and fluids. She gave me a stad.iol for the pain. What a joke that was. Before you can have an epidural, you have to get one bag of fluids in. By the time we got the epidu.ral, I was already 8 cms. By 12:30 am or so, I was fully dilated and ready to go.

Since we were trying to get the 2nd bag of antibiotics in before delivery, and the fact that I had had an epi.dural, we decided to labor down for a little while and see if baby girl would come down a little further and reduce the number of pushes. I was all for that. At this point, I really didn't care, I was feeling very little. My DH videoed the entire thing, and I am laughing while I am pushing. How do they expect you to push when you can feel anything? Its kind of like, you just pull your legs back, grunt, squeeze, and hope something happens. We started pushing about 2:30 a.m. and baby girl was born at 3:06. It was the oddest feeling when they pulled her out.

Daddy stopped taping for long enough to cut the cord. I was thinking he was going to be squeamish and maybe pass out, but he was a super trooper!

Since this is so long, I will detail our hospital stay next time. It includes a 2 day stint in the NICU.

Finally Home!

We got to come home today. I am working on the birth story and all that goes along with it. But for now, I will leave you with a picture from our ride home.

Baby Girl is Here!!!!

Ivy Makayla arrived at 3:06 a.m. on June 20. She weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs 7 oz and 18 inches long. Will post pictures later.

How much longer?

I certainly hope this weeks pictures work. The weight was 161 lbs and 41 1/4 inches. Yes, I now feel like a huge (insert whatever large object you wish) at this point. Bending over is impossible. Baby girl's behind is in the way of most everything I try to do. It even affects the way I attempt to sleep at night. When I lay on that side, I can feel more pressure on my ribs, b/c I am putting more pressure on her, and it moves her over. Very uncomfortable. I am sure she is thinking the same thing.





We went to dinner last night with my mom and dad and sister and her husband. We talked some about my mom going into labor. I was the first of two. By the time my mom got to the hospital with me, she was already 7 cm, and I was here in 2 hours. And I have always been in a hurry since then. My sister was a different story. My sister took 14 hours. And has been on her own time schedule ever since. Funny how that works. I am hoping for something in between the two. I think the two hours would scare DH a little much. But I also don't want to be in labor in the hospital for 14 hours either. So of course after all the labor talk, I dream about going into labor.

It causes a momentary "Oh Sh**" moment. But let me backup some. I had been having more cramps since about 3 that afternoon. That evening before bed, I told my sweet DH, the gates-o-fluid had seemed to open, and that was just gross. I don't think there is anything I hate more than not being dry down there. I am sure a lot of people are the same way. So anyways, I go to bed, it is a restless night again. On what seemed to be the 5th trip to the bathroom, lots of mucous has made its appearance. This is about 3 this morning. I immediately think, ok, cramps, fluid, mucous, I better get my crap together NOW. I can only HOPE that baby girls thinks this is funny and all a game, b/c we are NOT ready for her to get here quite yet. So, I have now decided that tonight when I get home from work, the preparations begin. Don't ask me how they are going, b/c I will probably say, I haven't done anything yet. Oh well. One day we will pack a bag. It may just be before we are leaving to go to the hospital.

And I have decided if my water for some reason decides to break in public, I am going to think "Woohoo, lets get this show on the road!". If it does happen, ask me later if I was mortified. Probably. But we can all hope can't we?

Doctor's appt

This was a much better visit than the last one. I wish the NP could deliver my baby. She is so much sweeter than those men dr's. I just don't like them. They have no bedside manner at all.

Baby girl measured correctly at 35 weeks. Mommy gained an astronomical 7 lbs in 2 weeks. My motto is "if your going to do something, do it 150%!" Well I certainly managed that one. And in big news, I am 90% effaced and baby girls head is 3/4 of an inch away. So in the doctors words, she is really low. She was not concerned about the mucous, as is her opinion, it is not an indicator of labor. It just happens as the cervis is getting ready, which as seen above is certainly happening to mine.

She said I need to try and eat as fresh as foods as possible to limit swelling. Which means lunch time will become interesting seeing as how I always eat a frozen dinner.

Last but not least, the peeing in a cup has become quite comical to me. Baby girls head is in my way of being able to wipe with my right hand. So, I "tought" myself to do it with the left. I am by no means ambidextorous, so this was fun. But then throw a cup in there, and it all goes down the tube (unfortunate for me, not literally). I am guessing baby girl has things pressed and aiming backwards on me at this point. Now that I think about it, I probably should have gone in from the back to try and catch the urine. Things you never contemplate (and thought you never would) become increasingly difficult if not impossible. SO for the next week, we will be practicing peeing in a cup. I know you all are jealous.

My next appt is with the unfun doctor in a week. I am hoping that by seeing him the most, he will not deliver my baby. We will see how that works out.

How much is water and baby?

So this week I managed to gain 2.8 lbs. Where did it go? Some of it seems to be in my feet. By the end of the work day, my feet are swollen and stiff at the ankles. And I put them up on a box while I am sitting. Ugh.



Weight: 156.6 and 40 1/2 inches.

At breakfast the other day, my sister was telling me about someone a little smaller than me weighed 180 at the end of her pregnancy, and I just looked at my sister and said "I will never get there, I would have to gain another 25 lbs". Well, sister, I am well on my way at this point.

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Baby Shower

First, check out Farah's great news! I am so excited for her and her family!

I had a wonderful Family baby shower on Sunday. It was at an ice cream parlor. Great idea huh? We got lots of great things from everyone. Diapers, outfits, socks, burp cloths, crocs, bottles, pacifiers, wipes, wipes, and more wipes (those are for daddy to clean up that meconium poop). We played some games, the nursery rhyme game (I did VERY poorly), the memory game (did awesome) and the "you can't say the word baby" game. I think I was the first one out and not saying baby. It is hard when her name is "Baby Girl". My nephew and niece had a wonderful time playing together. My 2nd cousin, who is now 5 mths old, was just as cute as he could be.

My grandmother was quick to point out that I finally looked like my pictures. She always thought I was sticking my belly out, but now she realizes, it is just big. I think it hides well under clothes. Many people have said how small I look.

I will post some pictures later, b/c I just can't get it to work right now.

In other baby news, she is not here (which is a VERY VERY VERY good thing). I almost had a mild panic attack on Sunday morning, when I realized how unprepared we are at this point. I have had cramping (which I guess is normal, I don't know considering I have never given birth before) and more stuff exiting my body. Yes, I know that is exactly what you wanted to know.

You know all the books tell you that discharge will increase during the course of the pregnancy, blah, blah , blah. Well, apparently I was holding out for something special. Flashback to Saturday. Yes, since then, oh goodness gracious. I told my mom you just never know what you are going to get, and she reminds me there is a lot more to come. FANTASTIC!! This is the part I have been looking forward too. Other than the swelling, and the hip hurting.

I have had to stop walking in the afternoons, b/c by then my feet are so swollen, my shoes don't fit. Well, I realized this morning, that they have just gotten bigger overall. My shoes are tight in the mornings. I went from a 7-7 1/2 to about an 8 1/2 at this point. Ridiculous.

Hold on, this is going to be a long one...

...We have done so many things in the last 3 days, it has been crazy. Plus, I have a shower today, so I wanted to post about the other stuff before todays shower.

I had a shower at work on Thursday. It was wonderful. I got bibs, onesies, socks, washcloths, the cutest baby book (with animals just like the baby's room), a tummy mat, a bag, all kinds of stuff. As a group, they also gave us a pack in play. So, baby girl now has somewhere to sleep when she gets here. (We will discuss that in a minute.) Here are a couple of pictures.





Thursday night we had breastfeeding class. It was good. We learned a couple of different holds, and about the proper latch. I had no idea that the nipple goes into the baby's mouth about the same distance as to the second joint on you finger. Crazy huh? Was I the only one who did not know that? I thought it would choke them, but I guess not. That apparently is the only way to get proper sucking.

Yesterday, we had our Child.birth prep class. It was supposed to last 9 to 5, but how thrilled were we when we got out about 3:45. I think we learned a lot during that class. She also gave us a nice size book to go through as well. As if we did not have enough to do in our spare time now. There is apparently one female doctor in my area who has an 85% rate of no episiot.omies. She works very hard with the woman during labor to avoid them at all cost. Do I think it is too late to switch doctors now? No, b/c i really don't like the ones I have seen yet. I despise the thought of some of those doctors delivering my baby. Well, at least at that point I can yell at them and have an excuse!

After the class, we went to wal.mart. Again, this may be TMI, but it is my blog. There will probably be a lot of that on here in the future. Go to the bathroom, and there was mucous on the tp. I almost freaked out. We had JUST left childbirth class, and I could not for the life of me, remember what this meant, except for the fact it happens close to labor (I was thinking a couple of days). Not really where I want to be at this point. So, I "calmy" come out and tell my DH. Boy is he good, he does not panic one bit. I am really not sure if he believed me or not. But he is fine, asks me other questions if I am having any other symptoms, and acts like it is no big deal. So, what else does a panicing (sp?) do? I call my mother. She has the same thought I had, this is WAY to early, we are NOT ready for baby girl to be here yet. Her suggestion is to call the nurse. Nurse calls back and says it can happen anywhere from a day to a few weeks before. She has only had one case where it was within a day of labor. Ok, I am feeling much better about the few weeks. That I can handle. So, we go on about our business. We get in the car, and I immediately pick up the child.birth book. It gives a timeline of a few hours to a week. WHAT!!!?????!!! Are you kidding me? Can I not get an answer that is consistent? Oh yeah, this is child.birth, nothing is consistent. I guess we will see what happens.

You maybe wondering have a done anything since then to get ready "just in case". ANd the answer would be no. Are you kidding me? I am going to pretend it did not happen, and be more shocked than ever when that time really does come. I have to much work left to do, before she gets here. We do not have a mattress. We have not washed any clothes. For heavens sakes, we don't even have a car seat yet. And I have not packed a bag for the hospital. And that is just the short list.

How lucky am I?

This is what I came home to inside the fridge:




Inside the box was a fudge brownie covered in chocolate. One word: Delicious!

Whose ankles are those?

When I went for my massage whenever that was last time, the lady said my ankles looked swollen. So, being the numbers person that I am, I measured them. 21.5 cm. So, every now and then I would measure them again, to make sure they weren't swelling. Well, last night, no measuring was needed to see that they had. One had grown to 24 cm and the other 23.5. I had a roll of water retained skin hanging over my sock. Sad thing is, how did I not notice it earlier. This was just was before bed that I noticed it. Now in my ankles defense, I did have chick.fil.a. for dinner. Baby girl and I loved it! I am hoping that was the cause. The bad thing is, they did not go back to normal size overnight. The one is still more swollen than the other. And I even slept with my feet elevated (strict instructions by the husband).

My dear child is sitting so funny right now, I have a lump that sticks out up top, and then one over to the left side. She is obviously laying sideways, not just because of the lump over there, but because that is the only side that feels any action. I wonder if she will be one of those babies that favors sleeping with their bums stuck up in the air.

Time for pictures now, and not just of me! Yeah!

But first, me. This weeks weight, 153.8 (I am hoping some is water) and 40 1/2 inches. I have to confess my tape measure is only 40 inches long, so the extra is +or- some depending on how good I am at measuring. Not enough to care though.





And here are pictures of the animals we hung in baby girls room. We had to paint to paint these the right colors.

Misc stuff

... To people in my real life, please don't ever mention these things to me. If I want to talk about it, I will. Thanks and love to you all!

I had my appt on Monday. That morning it seemed baby girl had not been moving very much at all. Before, she had particular times, when I knew she would be awake. Well, apprarently, she did not like that schedule. I even had my decaf cappachino to try and get her to move some more. No help. So I get to the office. And the first thing the doctor says, "She is measuring small. About 31 weeks." Cue freak out on my part. Then we listen to the heartbeat. 140 bpm. She has always been around 155 - 160. And considering she had had caffeine a couple of hours before, you would have thought it would have been higher. So, everything together sent me into a downward tailspin. I had many questions I wanted to ask, but couldn't b/c I just wanted to get out of there before I started crying. The dr kept telling me everything was fine, and just b/c one appt was off, doesn't mean anything. And all dr's measure differently. So, I just have been paying close attention to her lately and wondering what she is doing.

We had our "Caring for b.aby" class Monday night. It was fine. Lots of little snip its about a lot of info. Not too much detail on any one subject. DH changed his "first" diaper. He did better than me, b/c I ripped the tap off of it. (In my defense, the diaper had been used approx 1 gazillion times before I got to it.)

We have our breast.feeding class tomorrow. DH is VERY excited about this one. (not really) I found this sentence on one of my weekly update sites: "Just be prepared for the complete and total stranger manhandling your boobie in the hospital." Excuse me? I guess they have to help, but can't they do it with words, not actions.

I have had another revelation. Scary, I know. A month or so ago, I was worried about how in the world I would be awake enough to feed baby girl in the middle of the night. I would be so tired just getting up to go to the bathroom. Well, not so much anymore. It seems routine now and I could function pretty well between trips. I wish there was a way to calcualte how much actual sleep time a pregnant women gets the last couple of months. Between the bathroom, rolling over, and just trying to get comfortable in general, I bet it is not much. ALthough I am very aware it is going to get worse.

TMI - Stop reading now if you want to.

At every appt, they make you pee in a cup. Well, I have already said my arms appear to be shortening. Sometimes when you go, it doesn't always come out straight. The last two times I have been to the office, it seems to want to run backwards out of me. Do you know how hard that makes it to catch. Espcially when you can't see anything b/c of the belly in front of you. Frustrating to say the least.

In other pee stories - It is very annoying to think how bad you have to go to the bathroom, and you may be able to squeeze out a few drops. But then, 10 mins later, you are back in there again.