Here is a cute video of Hannah that I took at 2am in mid May, about a week before we stopped swaddling her. It's pretty cute. I had just finished feeding her and had put her back to bed. She was so cute and smily and awake that I had to take a video.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
No swaddle
I wrote this post on May 26th, when Hannah was just shy of 12 weeks old.
Lately Hannah has been breaking out of her swaddle. She loves it and sleeps really well when swaddled, but now she breaks out all the time and I think it is waking her up. She gets her hands out and gnaws on them and decides that she is hungry. Here is a pic of her today, after breaking out...
Obviously, not too happy. So tonight I decided to try putting her to sleep without a swaddle. I have her in a light sleep sack, with her arms free. I put her down, and at first she just played with her hands, and was really quiet. Then she screamed and flailed around for about 10 min, and passed out. So far so good. Now, as I sit her writing this, she is awake again, and playing with her hands, but not crying. Hopefully she will go back to sleep soon.
She was going to bed around 6pm, which was nice because Steve and I could actually have a baby-free dinner together. A month ago, Hannah would scream at our dinner time, and we were constantly eating cold food, eating separately, etc. So once she started going to sleep at 6, it was kind of nice. But then she'd wake up for her first night feeding around 11 or 12, after I'd only been asleep for an hour or so. Not good. So we pushed her bedtime back, and she is now going down about 8pm, give or take a half hour. And she is much calmer in the evenings, so dinner is still nice. This is also better because I am going back to work next week, and I'd like to see her once I get home, instead of having to put her right to bed. The only problem is, since we started putting her down at 8, she has started only sleeping 4 hours or so at a time, so she is still up at midnight. Oy vey. So now, without the swaddle, let's hope she sleeps longer!
Wish us luck! I'd like to get some decent sleep once I go back to work!
Lately Hannah has been breaking out of her swaddle. She loves it and sleeps really well when swaddled, but now she breaks out all the time and I think it is waking her up. She gets her hands out and gnaws on them and decides that she is hungry. Here is a pic of her today, after breaking out...
She was going to bed around 6pm, which was nice because Steve and I could actually have a baby-free dinner together. A month ago, Hannah would scream at our dinner time, and we were constantly eating cold food, eating separately, etc. So once she started going to sleep at 6, it was kind of nice. But then she'd wake up for her first night feeding around 11 or 12, after I'd only been asleep for an hour or so. Not good. So we pushed her bedtime back, and she is now going down about 8pm, give or take a half hour. And she is much calmer in the evenings, so dinner is still nice. This is also better because I am going back to work next week, and I'd like to see her once I get home, instead of having to put her right to bed. The only problem is, since we started putting her down at 8, she has started only sleeping 4 hours or so at a time, so she is still up at midnight. Oy vey. So now, without the swaddle, let's hope she sleeps longer!
Wish us luck! I'd like to get some decent sleep once I go back to work!
2 month update
Well I am posting this way after the fact again, so I will try not to forget anything!
The day Hannah turned 4 weeks old, we took her down to Hermosa to hang out with our cousins the Bertino's. It was a pretty successful outing. It was so nice to get out of the house and be out doing something! Hannah got to meet her cousins Finn and Sawyer which she loved. We watched Finn's baseball game, and had a yummy dinner.
The following week I had to have a tooth pulled, which was just lovely. I had a molar that i had already had two root canals on, and it cracked or something and got infected again, so I had it pulled. I thought it was going to be a bigger deal than it was. I wasn't in too much pain, and didn't have a problem still taking care of Hannah.
On April 11th we took her to the doctor again for her one month checkup. Really, she was 5 weeks old. She weighed 9lbs exactly and measured 21.5 inches. That means she grew 1 whole inch and over 1.5 lbs since her last doctor visit at 2 weeks. Our doctor is always amazed at how mellow Hannah is!
That same week we went to a infant massage class with Sarah and Kami. It was interesting, and I learned how to massage her belly for gas pains, and her legs/feet/arms/hands for relaxation.
The Burgwalds came to visit us and Hannah got to meet Shawn, Morgan, and her future boyfriend Oliver. I don't know why we didn't get any pictures! We had a nice morning hanging out with them.
The last week of April and first week of May, I had to go to Moorpark College quite a bit. I had to get a physical and 2 TB tests, so I had to go there 4 days. I spent a lot of April getting my other requirements done too. A drug test, CPR certification, buying my uniform, etc. So the first week of May I turned everything in and I officially start school in August!
Steve went back east for business from May 1-6, which meant I was alone with Hannah. Tina was over to help a lot, which was great. We missed Steve, but we survived!
On May 5th, her 2 month birthday, I decided to put her to sleep in her crib, instead of the pack n play in our room. I figured since Steve was gone, if we had a rough night, at least it was just us and we wouldn't keep him up. Well it was successful! I put her in her crib, swaddled up, and she scream for a few minutes, but then went to sleep. I got up to feed her a couple of times, and each time she went right back to sleep! I thought I would be up listening to the monitor all night, but I actually slept, and just woke up when I heard her.
The next day, on May 6th I took Hannah to the doctor again for her 2 month check up. She weighed in at 10lbs 3oz and was 22 inches long. That means she gained 1lb 3oz and grew a 1/2 inch! She was in the 75% for height, and 33% for weight. Also, I had to fill out a developmental survey, of things that she can and can't do. She scored at a 4.5 month old level! So I said that she is a tall skinny genius! She also had her 2 month shots, which I forgot she was getting until we arrived. They gave here 3 shots - one in one leg, two in the other. She turned bright red and screeched and looked furious for about 2 minutes, and then was fine. It made me laugh because I have never seen her like that. Later that afternoon we went to lunch with mom, Tonya, Leslie and another friend of theirs. She slept all thru lunch from the trauma, so I actually got to enjoy a peaceful lunch with everyone!
Here are some pictures from Hannah's second month...
The day Hannah turned 4 weeks old, we took her down to Hermosa to hang out with our cousins the Bertino's. It was a pretty successful outing. It was so nice to get out of the house and be out doing something! Hannah got to meet her cousins Finn and Sawyer which she loved. We watched Finn's baseball game, and had a yummy dinner.
The following week I had to have a tooth pulled, which was just lovely. I had a molar that i had already had two root canals on, and it cracked or something and got infected again, so I had it pulled. I thought it was going to be a bigger deal than it was. I wasn't in too much pain, and didn't have a problem still taking care of Hannah.
On April 11th we took her to the doctor again for her one month checkup. Really, she was 5 weeks old. She weighed 9lbs exactly and measured 21.5 inches. That means she grew 1 whole inch and over 1.5 lbs since her last doctor visit at 2 weeks. Our doctor is always amazed at how mellow Hannah is!
That same week we went to a infant massage class with Sarah and Kami. It was interesting, and I learned how to massage her belly for gas pains, and her legs/feet/arms/hands for relaxation.
The Burgwalds came to visit us and Hannah got to meet Shawn, Morgan, and her future boyfriend Oliver. I don't know why we didn't get any pictures! We had a nice morning hanging out with them.
The last week of April and first week of May, I had to go to Moorpark College quite a bit. I had to get a physical and 2 TB tests, so I had to go there 4 days. I spent a lot of April getting my other requirements done too. A drug test, CPR certification, buying my uniform, etc. So the first week of May I turned everything in and I officially start school in August!
Steve went back east for business from May 1-6, which meant I was alone with Hannah. Tina was over to help a lot, which was great. We missed Steve, but we survived!
On May 5th, her 2 month birthday, I decided to put her to sleep in her crib, instead of the pack n play in our room. I figured since Steve was gone, if we had a rough night, at least it was just us and we wouldn't keep him up. Well it was successful! I put her in her crib, swaddled up, and she scream for a few minutes, but then went to sleep. I got up to feed her a couple of times, and each time she went right back to sleep! I thought I would be up listening to the monitor all night, but I actually slept, and just woke up when I heard her.
The next day, on May 6th I took Hannah to the doctor again for her 2 month check up. She weighed in at 10lbs 3oz and was 22 inches long. That means she gained 1lb 3oz and grew a 1/2 inch! She was in the 75% for height, and 33% for weight. Also, I had to fill out a developmental survey, of things that she can and can't do. She scored at a 4.5 month old level! So I said that she is a tall skinny genius! She also had her 2 month shots, which I forgot she was getting until we arrived. They gave here 3 shots - one in one leg, two in the other. She turned bright red and screeched and looked furious for about 2 minutes, and then was fine. It made me laugh because I have never seen her like that. Later that afternoon we went to lunch with mom, Tonya, Leslie and another friend of theirs. She slept all thru lunch from the trauma, so I actually got to enjoy a peaceful lunch with everyone!
Here are some pictures from Hannah's second month...
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Hannah's first month
I am very late in posting this, so unfortunately I have probably forgotten a lot of things, but I will try to post all that I remember.
After coming home from the hospital, Steve took the first week off of work to help me out. And my mom and his mom were here quite a bit to help out. That whole first month was pretty much a blur. Not from lack of sleep, just from being so busy with Hannah. I was going really stir crazy by the end! I basically fed her, changed her, and put her to sleep, over and over again. And cried because I was just so in love with her. I didn't have any post-partum depression, but I was very emotional in a happy sappy way.
We went to her first doctor's appt on March 10th, when she was actually due. She was 5 days old. She measured in at 20.25 inches long, and was down to 7lbs, 4 oz. But we weren't surprised, since it took 4-5 days for my milk to come in, so she had only been getting real milk for about a day. Other than her weight, she was the picture of health and our doctor kept saying how great we were all doing.
Next visit to the doctor was at 12 days old, and she was up to 20.5 inches long, and 7 lbs, 9 oz. I had to wake her up every 2-3 hours to feed her, since she had been born, in order to make sure she was eating enough. I asked the doctor at this visit if I could stop that, and she said that I should keep going, since she wasn't back up to her birth weight yet. I think I did that for another couple of nights, and then I stopped, because I just knew that she was going to be just fine, and I didn't think she needed to be woken up, since she didn't sleep much longer than 2-3 hours anyway.
At 2 weeks old, we gave her her first bottle of pumped breast milk. She took it no problem. We had been told that she may not want it, and that I may have to leave the room or even the house. But she didn't care, and hasn't since, as long as she is getting fed. I even gave her a bottle myself, early on, and she didn't seem to mind. So that gave me some freedom to run errands and leave the house for awhile, which was great.
We didn't do too much else that month, since we couldn't take her in public places. We went on lots of walks around the neighborhood and had lots of family and friends visit.
Finally, when she was one day shy of 4 weeks old, I met my friend Pam at the mall with her little girl who is a few months older than Hannah. We had lunch, and Hannah slept, and then we walked around the mall a bit. Of course Hannah woke up after lunch and I basically spent the rest of the time in the public nursing rooms that the mall has. But at least we got out!
Here are some pictures from Hannah's first month...
After coming home from the hospital, Steve took the first week off of work to help me out. And my mom and his mom were here quite a bit to help out. That whole first month was pretty much a blur. Not from lack of sleep, just from being so busy with Hannah. I was going really stir crazy by the end! I basically fed her, changed her, and put her to sleep, over and over again. And cried because I was just so in love with her. I didn't have any post-partum depression, but I was very emotional in a happy sappy way.
We went to her first doctor's appt on March 10th, when she was actually due. She was 5 days old. She measured in at 20.25 inches long, and was down to 7lbs, 4 oz. But we weren't surprised, since it took 4-5 days for my milk to come in, so she had only been getting real milk for about a day. Other than her weight, she was the picture of health and our doctor kept saying how great we were all doing.
Next visit to the doctor was at 12 days old, and she was up to 20.5 inches long, and 7 lbs, 9 oz. I had to wake her up every 2-3 hours to feed her, since she had been born, in order to make sure she was eating enough. I asked the doctor at this visit if I could stop that, and she said that I should keep going, since she wasn't back up to her birth weight yet. I think I did that for another couple of nights, and then I stopped, because I just knew that she was going to be just fine, and I didn't think she needed to be woken up, since she didn't sleep much longer than 2-3 hours anyway.
At 2 weeks old, we gave her her first bottle of pumped breast milk. She took it no problem. We had been told that she may not want it, and that I may have to leave the room or even the house. But she didn't care, and hasn't since, as long as she is getting fed. I even gave her a bottle myself, early on, and she didn't seem to mind. So that gave me some freedom to run errands and leave the house for awhile, which was great.
We didn't do too much else that month, since we couldn't take her in public places. We went on lots of walks around the neighborhood and had lots of family and friends visit.
Finally, when she was one day shy of 4 weeks old, I met my friend Pam at the mall with her little girl who is a few months older than Hannah. We had lunch, and Hannah slept, and then we walked around the mall a bit. Of course Hannah woke up after lunch and I basically spent the rest of the time in the public nursing rooms that the mall has. But at least we got out!
Here are some pictures from Hannah's first month...
Thursday, May 26, 2011
It's a Girl!! Hannah's Birth Story
Well, if you read my last post, and notice the date, I was in labor while I was posting, I just didn't know it yet!
After I posted that blog, my back continued to hurt really bad, so I alternated a heating pad and an ice pack. But nothing really seemed to help. It was coming in waves, but it was only in my back. Finally around 9:30 or 10pm, Steve and I just decided to get into bed, since I was so miserable. We watched some TV, and since our alarm clock is under the TV, I was watching the clock too. 10:13pm - back pain. 10:20pm - back pain. 10:33pm - back pain. We figured I was probably in early labor, so Steve went to sleep, and I tried to do the same. Of course I couldn't, so I got up and took a shower. By the time I was finishing my shower, by "back pains" were every 3-5 minutes. So I went out into the living room and called the hospital, and the nurse said that I should come in. So I blow dried my hair, pausing for my "back pains" and then woke up Steve. It was only about 11:30pm, and he was like, "Are you sure?!" Needless to say he was groggy after only an hour of sleep, and I was praying that I wasn't having a false alarm. I definitely didn't feel like I was having contractions, but the waves of back pain weren't letting up, so I wasn't sure. So we packed up the rest of our stuff, and off we went.
We got to the hospital, and had to go in thru the ER. Steve dropped me off, then went to park. I went in to the ER and said that I thought I was in labor. I was still calm and not in a ton of pain, but they were still about 3-4 minutes apart. It's amazing how everyone in the ER drops everything to help the pregnant lady. The security guard looked panicked, all the the other patients stared, and the woman checking me in asked me if I was still ok about every 20 seconds. They got me checked in, called up to labor and delivery, and brought out the wheelchair. Then off Steve and I went.
When I got to L&D, I think I was the only one there. The nurses had me get into a gown, and then got me in bed and hooked me up to a monitor. I was definitely having contractions, and was glad that I didn't cry wolf and drag Steve out of bed for nothing. My contractions were every 3-4 minutes, so I am glad we left the house when we did. And I had been 3cm dilated at my appt that morning, and was now about 4cm. I had wanted to labor at home, but the contractions went from 10 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart so quickly, I thought I better get going! The next hour or so was filled with lots of questions and people coming in and out. I had to give my medical history, answer questions about how I wanted my labor to go, and had blood drawn. I told them I didn't want an epidural, because I was going to try to wait it out. That lasted until abut 3am, when I called the nurses and said I wanted an epidural. Lol. I tried, but it just got to be too much. So about 3:30am, the anesthesiologist came in and got that started. It wasn't as bad as I thought. And about 15 minutes later, I was a happy camper. I think at that point I was about 4-5 cm.
After that, the nurses left us alone and told us to get some sleep. Steve passed out for a couple of hours, and I just laid in the dark, listening to Sarah McLachlan on my iPhone. I used to fall asleep to her music in college when the dorm was loud, so it has always relaxed me. I didn't sleep, but I rested. With the epidural, I didn't feel any pain. I did feel my water break, but I wasn't positive that that was what it was until the nurses checked me later on. It was just like a "pop", and no fliud leaked out or anything. When the nurse came to check me at 6am, I think I was about 6cm dilated, which was slower than they had expected. But they said they'd let me wait it out a couple more hours before they gave me Pitocin. Oh, and they had called my OB when we got to the hospital, and she hadn't called back yet. But the nurses said that she would probably come in even though it was the weekend and she wasn't the on call doctor.
At this point, we called our parents and I sent a text out to some of my good friends/family and let everyone know what was going on. We figured that there wasn't much point in calling our families at midnight, but we didn't want to let too much more time go by without letting them all know. So they all got up and started getting ready to join us at the hospital. I think they showed up about 8am? I can't remember, which is why I should have written this blog 2 months ago! Anyway, the next time the nurses checked me was about 8 or 9am, and by this time, I had progressed to 9cm, so I was almost good to go! The nurse also said that my water had definitely broken, and the baby was moving down, and she could feel it's head. At this point she told us that the baby had a ton of hair, which was so cool, and made it so real!
So my parents, and Steve's parents, and Mark and my cousin Lin all visited for awhile, until the nurse kicked them out so I could rest. I think it was about this time that I found out that my doctor couldn't make it in to deliver Hannah. So it would be the on call doctor, who came in to introduce himself. He was nice enough, but I was bummed my doctor couldn't be there, because I just love her. I think Steve thought I was going to lose it, but at that point, there wasn't much I could do about it, and I was progressing so well that I wasn't really worried about anything.
So at about noon, our nurse came in and said that I was fully dilated and ready to push. The crazy thing is, it was just Steve, her, and me. I guess I envisioned a whole room of people! Steve definitely didn't know that he would end up so involved. He and I both thought he would just be standing up by my head, encouraging me. Turns out, he had one leg, the nurse had the other, and he totally helped me by counting and talking me thru it. I gave him an out when we first began, but he said he was ok and was really great the entire time. I had no idea that pushing would be so hard. I figured it out pretty quickly, so they were able to keep my epidural going, so I didn't really have any pain. But I never imagined it would take so much effort. It was truly exhausting. The nurse offered to have a mirror up, which I loved. Some people don't want to see what is going on, but I found it encouraging. I think it helped me to push longer because sometimes I could tell I was making progress. So anyway, this went on for about an hour or so, and then the on call doctor came in and checked on me. My nurse told him we were ready for him, and he gowned up and came in for the rest of the birth. First thing he told me was that I needed an episiotomy because the baby was stuck behind some ligament that wasn't stretching enough. I really had wanted to avoid this, but gave in because he seemed to think that was the only thing holding me up. Sure enough, 2-3 pushes later, Hannah was born! She was officially born at 1:37pm, and she was 20 inches long, and 7 lbs, 15 oz.
I remember they immediately put her on my chest and I kept asking "what is it?" as I tried to check out her nether region. Finally the doctor said "it's a girl!" and then I was crying and Steve was crying, and Hannah started crying. It was the best feeling to know that I was able to give birth to her and that she was healthy and finally here!
Next the doctor stitched me up, and Steve went with Hannah and the nurses to get her weighed and cleaned up a bit. About 20 minutes after she was born, I had her back and was able to begin nursing, which was awesome. She latched right on, and was a champ from the start. After a little while, the nurses took her, with Steve, down to the nursery for a real bath. I am kinda bummed I missed all that, but Steve got lots of pictures and videos. They put her under a heat lamp, and she was all sprawled out, enjoying the heat. It was really cute. By the time they were done, I was being moved to my post-partum room. I got to finally eat some food (Steve's dad brought be pad thai yum yum!) and digest the day. It was so surreal to be in that room, just me, Steve, and Hannah.
The grandparents all came back to see her, and then we were alone. We basically nursed, slept, chatted and repeated. Steve stayed overnight with me, but we did send Hannah to the nursery at night. I kind of didn't want to, but everyone encouraged me to, so I could rest, which I did. The nurses just brought her back to me to feed her every 3 hours.
I had a pretty easy recovery, even in the hospital. I was up an about pretty quickly, and I was sore of course, but not as bad as I had imagined. Nursing was difficult and I was pretty sore from that, but we got thru it.
The day after she was born, we had a steady stream of visitors from about noon to 8pm. I was exhausted, but it was nice to see everyone. We got lots of lovely gifts - all girly stuff! Clothes, toys, etc. So fun.
I was able to go home on Monday, which was surreal. My doctor came by to check me, and got to meet Hannah. She made her a cute little bow for her hat, and seemed genuinely sad that she had missed her birth. She better be there for the next one! Once we got home, I think we just sat and stared at her for awhile. I was soooo happy to be home, and to be able to take a real shower.
I have to say, I don't remember our first night, or the first month really. I know I slept a decent amount, surprisingly, but I basically fed her, changed her, and put her back to bed, around the clock. No surprise. It's funny how quickly you forget!
So that is Hannah's birth story! Now I have to catch up on the rest of her first 3 months!!
After I posted that blog, my back continued to hurt really bad, so I alternated a heating pad and an ice pack. But nothing really seemed to help. It was coming in waves, but it was only in my back. Finally around 9:30 or 10pm, Steve and I just decided to get into bed, since I was so miserable. We watched some TV, and since our alarm clock is under the TV, I was watching the clock too. 10:13pm - back pain. 10:20pm - back pain. 10:33pm - back pain. We figured I was probably in early labor, so Steve went to sleep, and I tried to do the same. Of course I couldn't, so I got up and took a shower. By the time I was finishing my shower, by "back pains" were every 3-5 minutes. So I went out into the living room and called the hospital, and the nurse said that I should come in. So I blow dried my hair, pausing for my "back pains" and then woke up Steve. It was only about 11:30pm, and he was like, "Are you sure?!" Needless to say he was groggy after only an hour of sleep, and I was praying that I wasn't having a false alarm. I definitely didn't feel like I was having contractions, but the waves of back pain weren't letting up, so I wasn't sure. So we packed up the rest of our stuff, and off we went.
We got to the hospital, and had to go in thru the ER. Steve dropped me off, then went to park. I went in to the ER and said that I thought I was in labor. I was still calm and not in a ton of pain, but they were still about 3-4 minutes apart. It's amazing how everyone in the ER drops everything to help the pregnant lady. The security guard looked panicked, all the the other patients stared, and the woman checking me in asked me if I was still ok about every 20 seconds. They got me checked in, called up to labor and delivery, and brought out the wheelchair. Then off Steve and I went.
When I got to L&D, I think I was the only one there. The nurses had me get into a gown, and then got me in bed and hooked me up to a monitor. I was definitely having contractions, and was glad that I didn't cry wolf and drag Steve out of bed for nothing. My contractions were every 3-4 minutes, so I am glad we left the house when we did. And I had been 3cm dilated at my appt that morning, and was now about 4cm. I had wanted to labor at home, but the contractions went from 10 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart so quickly, I thought I better get going! The next hour or so was filled with lots of questions and people coming in and out. I had to give my medical history, answer questions about how I wanted my labor to go, and had blood drawn. I told them I didn't want an epidural, because I was going to try to wait it out. That lasted until abut 3am, when I called the nurses and said I wanted an epidural. Lol. I tried, but it just got to be too much. So about 3:30am, the anesthesiologist came in and got that started. It wasn't as bad as I thought. And about 15 minutes later, I was a happy camper. I think at that point I was about 4-5 cm.
After that, the nurses left us alone and told us to get some sleep. Steve passed out for a couple of hours, and I just laid in the dark, listening to Sarah McLachlan on my iPhone. I used to fall asleep to her music in college when the dorm was loud, so it has always relaxed me. I didn't sleep, but I rested. With the epidural, I didn't feel any pain. I did feel my water break, but I wasn't positive that that was what it was until the nurses checked me later on. It was just like a "pop", and no fliud leaked out or anything. When the nurse came to check me at 6am, I think I was about 6cm dilated, which was slower than they had expected. But they said they'd let me wait it out a couple more hours before they gave me Pitocin. Oh, and they had called my OB when we got to the hospital, and she hadn't called back yet. But the nurses said that she would probably come in even though it was the weekend and she wasn't the on call doctor.
At this point, we called our parents and I sent a text out to some of my good friends/family and let everyone know what was going on. We figured that there wasn't much point in calling our families at midnight, but we didn't want to let too much more time go by without letting them all know. So they all got up and started getting ready to join us at the hospital. I think they showed up about 8am? I can't remember, which is why I should have written this blog 2 months ago! Anyway, the next time the nurses checked me was about 8 or 9am, and by this time, I had progressed to 9cm, so I was almost good to go! The nurse also said that my water had definitely broken, and the baby was moving down, and she could feel it's head. At this point she told us that the baby had a ton of hair, which was so cool, and made it so real!
So my parents, and Steve's parents, and Mark and my cousin Lin all visited for awhile, until the nurse kicked them out so I could rest. I think it was about this time that I found out that my doctor couldn't make it in to deliver Hannah. So it would be the on call doctor, who came in to introduce himself. He was nice enough, but I was bummed my doctor couldn't be there, because I just love her. I think Steve thought I was going to lose it, but at that point, there wasn't much I could do about it, and I was progressing so well that I wasn't really worried about anything.
So at about noon, our nurse came in and said that I was fully dilated and ready to push. The crazy thing is, it was just Steve, her, and me. I guess I envisioned a whole room of people! Steve definitely didn't know that he would end up so involved. He and I both thought he would just be standing up by my head, encouraging me. Turns out, he had one leg, the nurse had the other, and he totally helped me by counting and talking me thru it. I gave him an out when we first began, but he said he was ok and was really great the entire time. I had no idea that pushing would be so hard. I figured it out pretty quickly, so they were able to keep my epidural going, so I didn't really have any pain. But I never imagined it would take so much effort. It was truly exhausting. The nurse offered to have a mirror up, which I loved. Some people don't want to see what is going on, but I found it encouraging. I think it helped me to push longer because sometimes I could tell I was making progress. So anyway, this went on for about an hour or so, and then the on call doctor came in and checked on me. My nurse told him we were ready for him, and he gowned up and came in for the rest of the birth. First thing he told me was that I needed an episiotomy because the baby was stuck behind some ligament that wasn't stretching enough. I really had wanted to avoid this, but gave in because he seemed to think that was the only thing holding me up. Sure enough, 2-3 pushes later, Hannah was born! She was officially born at 1:37pm, and she was 20 inches long, and 7 lbs, 15 oz.
I remember they immediately put her on my chest and I kept asking "what is it?" as I tried to check out her nether region. Finally the doctor said "it's a girl!" and then I was crying and Steve was crying, and Hannah started crying. It was the best feeling to know that I was able to give birth to her and that she was healthy and finally here!
Next the doctor stitched me up, and Steve went with Hannah and the nurses to get her weighed and cleaned up a bit. About 20 minutes after she was born, I had her back and was able to begin nursing, which was awesome. She latched right on, and was a champ from the start. After a little while, the nurses took her, with Steve, down to the nursery for a real bath. I am kinda bummed I missed all that, but Steve got lots of pictures and videos. They put her under a heat lamp, and she was all sprawled out, enjoying the heat. It was really cute. By the time they were done, I was being moved to my post-partum room. I got to finally eat some food (Steve's dad brought be pad thai yum yum!) and digest the day. It was so surreal to be in that room, just me, Steve, and Hannah.
The grandparents all came back to see her, and then we were alone. We basically nursed, slept, chatted and repeated. Steve stayed overnight with me, but we did send Hannah to the nursery at night. I kind of didn't want to, but everyone encouraged me to, so I could rest, which I did. The nurses just brought her back to me to feed her every 3 hours.
I had a pretty easy recovery, even in the hospital. I was up an about pretty quickly, and I was sore of course, but not as bad as I had imagined. Nursing was difficult and I was pretty sore from that, but we got thru it.
The day after she was born, we had a steady stream of visitors from about noon to 8pm. I was exhausted, but it was nice to see everyone. We got lots of lovely gifts - all girly stuff! Clothes, toys, etc. So fun.
I was able to go home on Monday, which was surreal. My doctor came by to check me, and got to meet Hannah. She made her a cute little bow for her hat, and seemed genuinely sad that she had missed her birth. She better be there for the next one! Once we got home, I think we just sat and stared at her for awhile. I was soooo happy to be home, and to be able to take a real shower.
I have to say, I don't remember our first night, or the first month really. I know I slept a decent amount, surprisingly, but I basically fed her, changed her, and put her back to bed, around the clock. No surprise. It's funny how quickly you forget!
So that is Hannah's birth story! Now I have to catch up on the rest of her first 3 months!!
Friday, March 4, 2011
39 Weeks
***Disclaimer***
Stop reading if you don't want gory pregnancy details.
Today I am 39 weeks, 1 day pregnant. Went to the doc this morning, and even she can't believe that I am still pregnant. She really thought I'd have this baby by now! She checked me again today and I am now a "good" 3cm and 80% effaced. We made an appt for next Friday, and again, she says no way will I be there. But just in case. She asked if I wanted to be induced, but I opted against it. The baby's heartbeat is great, I am hanging in there, and there is just no reason to mess with mother nature. But if by some miracle I make it to my appt next Friday, then we will be scheduling an induction for the following Monday or Tuesday (around the 14th). But I can't imagine that being the case.
So here's the gory pregnancy part. This entire week I've been losing my mucus plug, so that is progress. Then yesterday I thought my water broke in the morning, but then nothing else happened. Now tonight I am sitting here wondering the same thing. And my back is absolutely killing me. (Although I did do a bit of housework today that might have hurt my back.) So I am sitting on the heating pad and waiting it out. It's just so hard not knowing what your body is doing! Everyone says that I will just know, so I guess I am not? Ugh. We'll see!
Stop reading if you don't want gory pregnancy details.
Today I am 39 weeks, 1 day pregnant. Went to the doc this morning, and even she can't believe that I am still pregnant. She really thought I'd have this baby by now! She checked me again today and I am now a "good" 3cm and 80% effaced. We made an appt for next Friday, and again, she says no way will I be there. But just in case. She asked if I wanted to be induced, but I opted against it. The baby's heartbeat is great, I am hanging in there, and there is just no reason to mess with mother nature. But if by some miracle I make it to my appt next Friday, then we will be scheduling an induction for the following Monday or Tuesday (around the 14th). But I can't imagine that being the case.
So here's the gory pregnancy part. This entire week I've been losing my mucus plug, so that is progress. Then yesterday I thought my water broke in the morning, but then nothing else happened. Now tonight I am sitting here wondering the same thing. And my back is absolutely killing me. (Although I did do a bit of housework today that might have hurt my back.) So I am sitting on the heating pad and waiting it out. It's just so hard not knowing what your body is doing! Everyone says that I will just know, so I guess I am not? Ugh. We'll see!
Monday, February 28, 2011
38 week update - Last one?!
How pregnant am I?: 38 weeks, 4 days
Weight gain so far: 43 pounds. Wish it weren't so many, but nothing I can do now! I have been eating pretty healthy, although I could have exercised more. But I am sure I will lose it all. It is what it is!
Belly Button: Sort of an outtie. Not very attractive, with my scars from my laparoscopy and my piercing.
Clothing options: Yoga pants and a nursing tank. Or a long sleeve shirt. That's about all I wear. If I leave the house, I manage to put on jeans sometimes. But I can't wear bras anymore, because my belly pushes my boobs up to my chin, lol. So I have been living in a nursing tank. And I can only wear flip flops or Uggs, and even those are getting tight. Thank goodness I am almost done!
Boobs: Huge. Although they seem bigger because my belly pushes them up. Lol.
Now about the real star of the show: This kid is officially a watermelon, the last fruit of my pregnancy! And boy, does my belly look like it has a watermelon in it. It could be as big as 7 lbs at this point (or 8 or 9 according to my doc!) and about 19 to 22 inches in length. That's a big thing to carry in your belly! It's a wonder I have no stretch marks yet! The baby is pretty much ready to go. Lungs should be developed, it's losing the vernix that was protecting its skin, and it should be a "normal" color now, since it should have plenty of fat and chub! Basically, it can come out and play now! Hear that baby?!? Come out!
Pregnancy "symptoms": Swelling of my feet, which is pretty bad. I still waddle. I feel like someone's head is slamming into my cervix, which is probably exactly what is happening. I have heartburn a lot now, and I feel really sorry for people who have this on a regular basis. It's awful! And my back hurts quite often. But I am hanging in there. The biggest new symptom, is that for the past 24 hours, I have finally been having contractions, and I am losing my mucous plug (TMI sorry!). But it's great, because it means I am getting close!
Cravings: Water, pineapple, fruit, sweets. Exercise. I want to run, hike, bike, ANYTHING!
What I've bought so far: What haven't I bought? How about what I want to buy....clothes that are pink or blue! I want gender specific clothes like you wouldn't believe!
Best moment this week: Seeing Shawn and Morgan and Oliver, and knowing that Steve and I will have what they have soon. Oliver is so amazing and so cute and sweet. And they are such great parents, and a true team. I can't wait to have what they have. :)
What I miss: Snuggling with Steve, sleeping thru the night, not feeling like it is such a chore just to move! Exercise!
What I am excited for this week: Could this be the week? I am hoping so, that's why I finally caught up on blogging. Baby come out and play!
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