Friday, July 30, 2010
Videos!
We're going to try to take videos of Jack fairly regularly, for distant family and what not. Here are the first two!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
BF'ing update!
So we had our appointment with the health department this morning. We got to weigh Jackson, and he's put on 8oz in the past 5 days. Translation: He's getting more than enough nourishment, and is up to 10lb, 14oz. Ideally, babies get back to their birth weight at 2 weeks, so he's only 4oz shy of that goal, and the nurse at the health department was happy enough about it, so I'm much less nervous about it now.
Also, the nurse talked the lactation consultant into giving us a double-electric breast pump. Mission accomplished! While we were there, she had me test it out for size and comfort, and I pumped 2oz in 10 minutes. And a few hours later, I tried again, and pumped almost 4oz is 15 minutes. Hallelujah! Now I'll be sure that my kid is getting enough to eat. Damn, that feels good. Additionally, Dan will be able to get up with him in the middle of the night and let me sleep! So excited!
In other, yet still baby news... my other sister is pregnant! If you recall, my sister Alex had her son almost 4 weeks ago. Now her twin is pregnant! My sister Shauna is due early April, 2011. Yeah, she's only a couple of weeks along, but she and her husband are super excited, so they've already told everyone. Anyway, I'm also super excited. They'll be amazing parents. And OUR parents are about to have a heart attack from all the crazy baby stuff. :)
So today's been a pretty good day. Hopefully it'll continue for a while.
Jack is 15 days old, and eating well, thank god.
Also, the nurse talked the lactation consultant into giving us a double-electric breast pump. Mission accomplished! While we were there, she had me test it out for size and comfort, and I pumped 2oz in 10 minutes. And a few hours later, I tried again, and pumped almost 4oz is 15 minutes. Hallelujah! Now I'll be sure that my kid is getting enough to eat. Damn, that feels good. Additionally, Dan will be able to get up with him in the middle of the night and let me sleep! So excited!
In other, yet still baby news... my other sister is pregnant! If you recall, my sister Alex had her son almost 4 weeks ago. Now her twin is pregnant! My sister Shauna is due early April, 2011. Yeah, she's only a couple of weeks along, but she and her husband are super excited, so they've already told everyone. Anyway, I'm also super excited. They'll be amazing parents. And OUR parents are about to have a heart attack from all the crazy baby stuff. :)
So today's been a pretty good day. Hopefully it'll continue for a while.
Jack is 15 days old, and eating well, thank god.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
2 weeks old!
Well, technically, he's not 2 weeks old until 10:14pm tomorrow night, but close enough.
So it's been quite a roller coaster transitioning into parenthood. I'm ridiculously in love with Jackson, but I want to kill myself when I can't figure out why he's wailing at 3am. For the most part, I'm just madly in love with his adorable face. That whole thing about how you'll never realize your capacity for love until you have a child... totally true. I can't even explain the level of emotion this tiny little person brings out of me. I thought I loved his dad more than anything in the world, but he's narrowly beating Dan in that race. It's borderline obnoxious how melty my heart gets just looking at him.
But then there's those "I'm seriously going to kill myself" moments. It's been about an hour-long stretch every night since we've been home where there is just absolutely no consoling the kid. He's nursed forever, his diaper is clean, he's had a bath... nothing works. He started it up tonight and we swaddled him up real tight in one of those Sleep Halo Sack things, turned on the womb sounds machine, and put him in bed, and he was immediately out like a light. I'm praying we've figured out a solution. But I'm kicking myself for not being in bed too... so when he wakes up in a couple of hours, I'm gonna hate my life.
Then there's the nursing conundrum. When my milk first came in, it was epic. I could manually pump 6 ounces in an hour and life was grand. But in the last few days, that's dropped off drastically. I can't pump hardly anything, so every couple of hours, I have to sit on the couch hoping he's getting enough directly from the source. Not being able to physically measure it scares me. I don't know if he's getting enough. Yeah, he's having the standard 8-12 diapers per day, but is he fully satiated after feeding? Ugh. We have an appointment with the health department on Tuesday where they'll weigh him to make sure he's gaining, so we'll know for sure. And if he's not, there's a good chance we'll have to move to formula. Dan and I talked about that last night, and that absolutely breaks my heart. Before I started breast feeding, I had the mentality of "if I can do it, awesome, if not, oh well", but now that I've been at it for a couple of weeks, and I know how hardcore Dan was about it because it's so much better for Jack, I seriously cried for like, an hour last night, worrying about having to switch to formula. Oye.
So all in all, I'm tremendously thankful that we're getting the chance to have this experience. As frustrating, and terrifying, and emotionally draining as it can be, I think that in the end, it'll totally be worth it.
I close with a most adorable picture of my 2-week old son.
Jack is 2 weeks old, and I might keep him around for a little while.
So it's been quite a roller coaster transitioning into parenthood. I'm ridiculously in love with Jackson, but I want to kill myself when I can't figure out why he's wailing at 3am. For the most part, I'm just madly in love with his adorable face. That whole thing about how you'll never realize your capacity for love until you have a child... totally true. I can't even explain the level of emotion this tiny little person brings out of me. I thought I loved his dad more than anything in the world, but he's narrowly beating Dan in that race. It's borderline obnoxious how melty my heart gets just looking at him.
But then there's those "I'm seriously going to kill myself" moments. It's been about an hour-long stretch every night since we've been home where there is just absolutely no consoling the kid. He's nursed forever, his diaper is clean, he's had a bath... nothing works. He started it up tonight and we swaddled him up real tight in one of those Sleep Halo Sack things, turned on the womb sounds machine, and put him in bed, and he was immediately out like a light. I'm praying we've figured out a solution. But I'm kicking myself for not being in bed too... so when he wakes up in a couple of hours, I'm gonna hate my life.
Then there's the nursing conundrum. When my milk first came in, it was epic. I could manually pump 6 ounces in an hour and life was grand. But in the last few days, that's dropped off drastically. I can't pump hardly anything, so every couple of hours, I have to sit on the couch hoping he's getting enough directly from the source. Not being able to physically measure it scares me. I don't know if he's getting enough. Yeah, he's having the standard 8-12 diapers per day, but is he fully satiated after feeding? Ugh. We have an appointment with the health department on Tuesday where they'll weigh him to make sure he's gaining, so we'll know for sure. And if he's not, there's a good chance we'll have to move to formula. Dan and I talked about that last night, and that absolutely breaks my heart. Before I started breast feeding, I had the mentality of "if I can do it, awesome, if not, oh well", but now that I've been at it for a couple of weeks, and I know how hardcore Dan was about it because it's so much better for Jack, I seriously cried for like, an hour last night, worrying about having to switch to formula. Oye.
So all in all, I'm tremendously thankful that we're getting the chance to have this experience. As frustrating, and terrifying, and emotionally draining as it can be, I think that in the end, it'll totally be worth it.
I close with a most adorable picture of my 2-week old son.
Jack is 2 weeks old, and I might keep him around for a little while.
Friday, July 16, 2010
The whole story...
I went in to start the induction process on Monday, July 12 at 6:00am. By the time I finally got checked in with admissions, and was in the elevator to Labor & Delivery, it was 6:15. We got all settled into our room and the nurses came in to hook me up to the IV and fetal monitor that would be by my side for the next 4 days. My OB showed up around 7:00am, and did a pelvic exam that ended in me peeing the bed... no, wait. He broke my water. Oh dear lord, this is really happening.
Pitocin was started at 7:30am, but I didn't start to actually feel any contractions until around 9:00am. I was still only 1cm dilated (since my OB appointment the previous Wednesday), and barely effaced.
The next time I was checked was 2:30pm. I had only moved to 2cm dilated, but I was 80% effaced. At this point, being quite the pain pansy, I was anxiously awaiting the epidural.
At 5:00pm, I was 3cm dilated, which was the high sign for the epidural to be placed. By the way, that kind of sucked. Trying to hold still through pretty painful contractions, while being poked in the spinal column by a giant needle is not my idea of a good time. It took about 15 minutes for the epidural to finally be in place, and another 15 minutes or so after that to be nearly pain-free.
They checked me again at 5:45, and I was only 4cm, 90% effaced, and the baby was at a 0 station. Hopefully, this meant that baby's head would help the dilation process.
Of course, that was wishful thinking. At 8:15pm, the nurse who had been with me most of the day came in to talk about a c-section. In the 2 and a half hours since the last check, I had made no progress, and since the baby was at a 0 station, his head was getting squeezed with every contraction. Apparently, my doctor thought it would end in a c-section the entire time, but was JUST NOW pushing for it. Awesome. You could have said something 10 hours ago, but whatever.
At 9:00pm, I was checked again, and I was still only around 4cm. So, no progress in a little over 3 hours. That was all she wrote... c-section was scheduled for 9:45pm.
Of course, I started freaking out. A c-sect was the one thing I didn't want to have to do. Surgery scares me, and this is a pretty invasive one. Dan and I had a mild freak-out, cry fest, and were able to talk ourselves down just in time to be wheeled in.
So they had me strapped to the table, and started the surgery. Apparently, it only took about 15 minutes to get the baby out, but it felt like I was there for hours. When they started pulling him out, his head was stuck in my pelvis so there was a doctor violently shaking and pushing on my upper abdomen. Holy crap. I can't quite explain the level of uncomfortableness this was.
They finally got him out, and everyone in the room started freaking out about how big he was. I had been measuring about 2 weeks ahead for quite some time, so the doctors suspected he would be a little bigger than normal.
Jackson Gabriel was born at 10:14pm, 21 inches long, 11 lb, 2.6 oz. Yeah, I grow them big apparently.
He had to spend a few days under the bili lights for mild jaundice, but we were able to come home yesterday afternoon. We're both doing really well (aside from no sleep for me last night), and so far, it's been amazing adjusting to having him home and trying to take care of him by ourselves.
He's amazing, and I can't wait to show him the world.
Pitocin was started at 7:30am, but I didn't start to actually feel any contractions until around 9:00am. I was still only 1cm dilated (since my OB appointment the previous Wednesday), and barely effaced.
The next time I was checked was 2:30pm. I had only moved to 2cm dilated, but I was 80% effaced. At this point, being quite the pain pansy, I was anxiously awaiting the epidural.
At 5:00pm, I was 3cm dilated, which was the high sign for the epidural to be placed. By the way, that kind of sucked. Trying to hold still through pretty painful contractions, while being poked in the spinal column by a giant needle is not my idea of a good time. It took about 15 minutes for the epidural to finally be in place, and another 15 minutes or so after that to be nearly pain-free.
They checked me again at 5:45, and I was only 4cm, 90% effaced, and the baby was at a 0 station. Hopefully, this meant that baby's head would help the dilation process.
Of course, that was wishful thinking. At 8:15pm, the nurse who had been with me most of the day came in to talk about a c-section. In the 2 and a half hours since the last check, I had made no progress, and since the baby was at a 0 station, his head was getting squeezed with every contraction. Apparently, my doctor thought it would end in a c-section the entire time, but was JUST NOW pushing for it. Awesome. You could have said something 10 hours ago, but whatever.
At 9:00pm, I was checked again, and I was still only around 4cm. So, no progress in a little over 3 hours. That was all she wrote... c-section was scheduled for 9:45pm.
Of course, I started freaking out. A c-sect was the one thing I didn't want to have to do. Surgery scares me, and this is a pretty invasive one. Dan and I had a mild freak-out, cry fest, and were able to talk ourselves down just in time to be wheeled in.
So they had me strapped to the table, and started the surgery. Apparently, it only took about 15 minutes to get the baby out, but it felt like I was there for hours. When they started pulling him out, his head was stuck in my pelvis so there was a doctor violently shaking and pushing on my upper abdomen. Holy crap. I can't quite explain the level of uncomfortableness this was.
They finally got him out, and everyone in the room started freaking out about how big he was. I had been measuring about 2 weeks ahead for quite some time, so the doctors suspected he would be a little bigger than normal.
Jackson Gabriel was born at 10:14pm, 21 inches long, 11 lb, 2.6 oz. Yeah, I grow them big apparently.
He had to spend a few days under the bili lights for mild jaundice, but we were able to come home yesterday afternoon. We're both doing really well (aside from no sleep for me last night), and so far, it's been amazing adjusting to having him home and trying to take care of him by ourselves.
He's amazing, and I can't wait to show him the world.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
O.M.G.
I'm going to the hospital in 8 hours to start the induction process.
I was fine until like, 20 minutes ago. Now I'm mildly freaking out.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get SOME sleep... tomorrow might be a busy day.
I was fine until like, 20 minutes ago. Now I'm mildly freaking out.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get SOME sleep... tomorrow might be a busy day.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Oh man.
It's 1am on Friday, July 9. I'm officially 39 weeks pregnant, and having my baby on Monday.
Oh my god!
This is our last weekend together, alone. That makes me kind of sad. Which makes me feel like a bad mom. Haha. This November, we will have been together for 4 years, which I guess is long enough without babies, but dang. Those 4 years have gone ridiculously fast. I think I still haven't wrapped my brain around the fact that I'm married to this amazing person, let alone having his child. It all seems so surreal. Or maybe it feels like it was always supposed to happen, so it's never been all that life-altering. I don't know.
In other Dan news: He's been amazing this entire time. There were a lot of times where I'm not sure he took my whining seriously, since I'm PRETTY whiny, but for the most part, he's been awesome. The last couple of days, he's kind of been hovering over me with "you okay? do we need to go to the hospital?" It's super cute. I love him.
I can't wait for Monday to be over. I almost said "I can't wait for Monday", but I think I might eat those words when the pain of labor kicks in.
To be gross for a minute, I think I've been losing my mucous plug all day. Which doesn't really mean anything because it can reform, but it gives me hope that I'm dilating further. Hopefully I'm further along than 1cm on Monday and things progress relatively quickly.
In other news, my parents will be here Sunday afternoon. That means we only have 2 days left of just us. Woah... typing that sentence made me teary. Our whole world is about to change... I hope we're ready.
I'm 39 weeks pregnant, and trying not to lose my breath.
Oh my god!
This is our last weekend together, alone. That makes me kind of sad. Which makes me feel like a bad mom. Haha. This November, we will have been together for 4 years, which I guess is long enough without babies, but dang. Those 4 years have gone ridiculously fast. I think I still haven't wrapped my brain around the fact that I'm married to this amazing person, let alone having his child. It all seems so surreal. Or maybe it feels like it was always supposed to happen, so it's never been all that life-altering. I don't know.
In other Dan news: He's been amazing this entire time. There were a lot of times where I'm not sure he took my whining seriously, since I'm PRETTY whiny, but for the most part, he's been awesome. The last couple of days, he's kind of been hovering over me with "you okay? do we need to go to the hospital?" It's super cute. I love him.
I can't wait for Monday to be over. I almost said "I can't wait for Monday", but I think I might eat those words when the pain of labor kicks in.
To be gross for a minute, I think I've been losing my mucous plug all day. Which doesn't really mean anything because it can reform, but it gives me hope that I'm dilating further. Hopefully I'm further along than 1cm on Monday and things progress relatively quickly.
In other news, my parents will be here Sunday afternoon. That means we only have 2 days left of just us. Woah... typing that sentence made me teary. Our whole world is about to change... I hope we're ready.
I'm 39 weeks pregnant, and trying not to lose my breath.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
38-ish week appointment
Had another doctor's appointment this morning. Did the pee-in-a-cup thing, got my blood pressure checked. The nurse gave me a gift from Enfamil, because every formula company says "breastfeeding is best, but we would really appreciate it if you gave your kid our manufactured food". Anywhoooo...
The nurse asked if I have had any cramping or anything, and I told her about the menstrual-like back cramps I've had for the past 4 days or so, and she says "hopefully you'll be a little dilated today!" Yeah, I'm not holding my breath. I've been locked up tight since they started the internal exams, so we'll see.
So the doctor finally came in after making us wait for 10 minutes with my ass hanging out and the weird paper sheet over my goods. Checked the baby's heartbeat after taking almost a full minute to find it, which of course made me almost poop, but it was a good 132.
"Okay, put your feet in the stirrups," which is always fun since I can't see my feet, especially while laying flat on my back. But I finally got that worked out and he got all up in my area. Oh, ouch. Why does it hurt today?!?
"Oh, you're a little dilated!"
OMG! "Can you tell how much?"
"About 1cm"
"SWEEEETTT!"
So we asked him what their policy is on induction because we really don't want to go beyond 41 weeks because of the risk of the placenta dying and all that fun nonsense. He says, "oh you won't go that long!" and pulled out a calendar.
"Hhmm... you're due the 16th?"
"yep!"
"Well, how about Friday?"
"wait... THIS Friday!?"
"yep"
OOOOMMMMGGGGG! "Uhhm... I don't know. I'm worried about going TOO early because of the risk of c-section"
"well, how about Monday?"
OOOOMMMMGGGGG! "uuhhhhhhh.... okay."
"Okay, be here at 6am Monday!"
HOLY !#%!#)_*!#$%^*&^
So umm... I'm gonna have a baby on Monday (hopefully).
It's been about an hour and a half since this revelation, and my adrenaline still hasn't calmed down. I texted my sister, and my BFF... I can't wait to call my parents this evening.
In baby news not related to me... well, related by blood, but not my actual kid... shut up:
My sister had her baby last Friday. Khai Jayden was a whopping 9lb, 14oz. Good grief! But he's damn adorable. It just sucks that we won't meet him until at least Christmas.
Alright... I need to go poop now, thanks to all the excitement.
I'm 38 weeks, 5 days pregnant, and having a baby in 5 days!?!?
The nurse asked if I have had any cramping or anything, and I told her about the menstrual-like back cramps I've had for the past 4 days or so, and she says "hopefully you'll be a little dilated today!" Yeah, I'm not holding my breath. I've been locked up tight since they started the internal exams, so we'll see.
So the doctor finally came in after making us wait for 10 minutes with my ass hanging out and the weird paper sheet over my goods. Checked the baby's heartbeat after taking almost a full minute to find it, which of course made me almost poop, but it was a good 132.
"Okay, put your feet in the stirrups," which is always fun since I can't see my feet, especially while laying flat on my back. But I finally got that worked out and he got all up in my area. Oh, ouch. Why does it hurt today?!?
"Oh, you're a little dilated!"
OMG! "Can you tell how much?"
"About 1cm"
"SWEEEETTT!"
So we asked him what their policy is on induction because we really don't want to go beyond 41 weeks because of the risk of the placenta dying and all that fun nonsense. He says, "oh you won't go that long!" and pulled out a calendar.
"Hhmm... you're due the 16th?"
"yep!"
"Well, how about Friday?"
"wait... THIS Friday!?"
"yep"
OOOOMMMMGGGGG! "Uhhm... I don't know. I'm worried about going TOO early because of the risk of c-section"
"well, how about Monday?"
OOOOMMMMGGGGG! "uuhhhhhhh.... okay."
"Okay, be here at 6am Monday!"
HOLY !#%!#)_*!#$%^*&^
So umm... I'm gonna have a baby on Monday (hopefully).
It's been about an hour and a half since this revelation, and my adrenaline still hasn't calmed down. I texted my sister, and my BFF... I can't wait to call my parents this evening.
In baby news not related to me... well, related by blood, but not my actual kid... shut up:
My sister had her baby last Friday. Khai Jayden was a whopping 9lb, 14oz. Good grief! But he's damn adorable. It just sucks that we won't meet him until at least Christmas.
Alright... I need to go poop now, thanks to all the excitement.
I'm 38 weeks, 5 days pregnant, and having a baby in 5 days!?!?
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