Back to weekly updates... or at least bi-weekly for now. I am not really sure yet what I want these updates to look like, but as it is nearing evening time and we will have some visitors here soon I thought that I would go ahead and get something down.
Our little one is 2 weeks old today! She is perfect and we love her dearly and we feel so blessed to have spent this many days with her already. You have seen plenty of pictures of her in the past few posts, so I think that I will fill this post mostly with words.
Her stats: I am sure that I will not have the updated version of these every two weeks, but we have them this week! Lydia was 7 lbs 5 oz when she was born and 19 inches long. We took her into the pediatrician when she was 4 days old and she weight 6 lbs 13 oz, then on that following Thursday she has shot up to 7 lbs 3 oz. Yay for my milk coming in :) Yesterday we took her in for her two week checkup and she weighs 7 lbs, 6 oz and is 20 1/4 inches long. She measures 50th percentile in everything, even her head size. The doctor says that she looks great and she has no concerns about anything. Oh, and today her umbilical cord fell off. It is so nice to not have that to worry about any more, and it is nice to finally see her belly button!
Eating: I think that the biggest thing that has been different than what I thought so far is breast feeding. I was so excited to share this time with my baby, I love the idea of providing her with what she needs, and I think that the way that my body is able to support her perfectly in this way is truly amazing. However, nursing was hard, really hard, for the first few days. Until Lydia was 48 hours old she showed zero interest in eating. All she wanted to do was sleep. The nurses and lactation consultants weren't too concerned at first, but as her second day came to a close I think that we all became a little worried. From the beginning it has been physically painful for me and with her not interested at first the whole experience was very frustrating.
Once we got home and I relaxed a little bit more things got somewhat better. However, when we took her in for her first doctor's appointment and realized that she wasn't gaining weight very well I began to get nervous again. My milk had started to come in the Monday following her birth and the appointment was on Tuesday, so I think that a lot of it had to do with some unfortunate timing. But David and I left our first appointment feeling kind of paranoid and that night we woke our newborn baby up (I think this is probably always a mistake!) every 3 hours to try to get her to eat. It was awful. She wasn't hungry, I was sore and bleeding and we were both just so tired. That night was definitely the hardest by far. The next day I talked to my mom who wisely informed me to just relax, that our little one would eat when she was hungry and that we should just trust her a little bit more. The next night she slept for 6 hours straight! And then ate for an hour and a half straight.
Ever since then we have let her sleep when she wants to sleep, especially at night, and I have learned to be really patient with her while she eats. Unlike a lot of newborns she eats every 3-4 1/2 hours (sometimes she goes 5!) but when she eats she does it for long periods... anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. She is now gaining weight and dirtying diapers like a pro and things are becoming a lot less painful for me. I am enjoying the time that I get to spend with her so much more and I think that soon breastfeeding will feel like the beautiful thing that I know it is.
Sleeping: Can you spoil a 2 week old?? If so, I think we might have done it. We had so many visitors, especially in the first week. that Lydia rarely slept without someone holding her. Now this seems to be a daytime pattern for her. I am very, very thankful that she sleeps well at night! However, the day time is more challenging as she doesn't want to be set down... not in her boppy pillow, a swing or a bouncer seat. David and I just kind of take turns trying to put her to sleep after she nurses and we try to set her down as much as we can. She seems to have a few fussy times during the day when she needs to be held the entire time. Other than that we can usually hold her for 30 to 90 minutes after she is fed and then we can set her down to sleep until she is hungry again.
She rarely falls asleep while nursing which I know is a good thing for the future. But this means that after she eats she is a little bit fussy. She fights sleep a bit, but luckily she takes a pacifier, so usually after a feeding she is awake for a few minutes and is happy, then once she starts to cry we give her a pacifier, wrap her up and spend at least 30 minutes putting her to sleep. This process just takes a lot of patience, but it is pretty awesome to hold a sleeping baby in your arms so we aren't really complaining.
What she loves: She loves to sleep in your arms!!
What she hates: Diaper changes, getting dressed and undressed, bath time. Pretty much anything which makes her cold. She screams and screams during these times, but as soon as we pick her up afterward she is fine. I hope that this dramatic personality doesn't continue as she gets older :)
Cute things! Her sneezes and hiccups are absolutely adorable. She also flashes some pretty good open mouth smiles every now and then which melt my heart every time. Hopefully I can try to get a picture of it soon! Also, she is strikingly beautiful when she opens her eyes. Of course, this is mommy's biased opinion.
Postpartum Me: I am not going to lie... when I stood up for the first time after giving birth I was convinced that my body would never, ever be the same. It was scary how much everything hurt and how different everything looked. But even within 24 hours my body began to recover amazingly quickly. Now at 2 weeks postpartum I feel great!! There is definitely still pain (I take 6 ibuprofen a day) and breastfeeding presents my body with a whole new list of things to get used to. However, I can't tell you how good it feels to not have a ginormous belly, not have back and side pain, not be carrying an extra 30 pounds around. I get to sleep on my back, wear my wedding ring again and go for walks without worry about swollen feet! I feel better and better each day and it really is amazing how quickly I feel that I have bounced back. I know I am still recovering and I continue to take it easy for the majority of each day, but I already feel so much more like myself.
Also, nursing gives you a HUGE appetite. I love, love, love to eat again and it is so crazy to not feel nauseous anymore! I don't think I realized how nauseous I felt every single day that I was pregnant until I wasn't anymore. I love having an appetite, being able to eat anything that I want and not having to take a drug so that my food will stay down each day. As amazing as pregnancy is I can't say that I miss it one bit.
Well, I think that is all for now. If you have any suggestions about things I should include in the bi-weekly updates please leave a comment! What do you want to know about? What do you not want to hear about??
More pictures up soon. Now it is time to feed my baby, then it is time for some yummy lasagna!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Our First Christmas - a little late.
Merry Christmas!!!
I think we are starting to get into some sort of a routine around here. I confidently have enough time each day to shower and get one load of laundry finished and here in the last few days I have found myself with a little bit of leftover free time which has been nice. We have an ongoing to-do list which I just crossed a few items off of, so now with Lydia still sleeping I have a few minutes to tell you about our Christmas.
This year Christmas was very different. Usually we go up to NKY for 10 or more days in a row, have about 7 family Christmas gatherings (not an exaggeration) and we are around wonderful family and friends all hours of the day. This year we obviously had to change our plans since we had a tiny baby and David and I decided that it would be best to not travel with her until she is at least 2 weeks old. So during the days leading up to Christmas we were preoccupied with dirty diapers, pediatrician appointments and nursing schedules rather than wrapping presents and baking cookies. When Christmas Eve arrived it felt a little bit surreal and in some ways made me sad because it didn't really feel like Christmas.
However, that soon changed as David's side of our family began to arrive at our apartment, brunch in hand, to spend the day with us. First his mom, brothers, sister-in-law and our niece and nephew got here. We ate together, everyone passed Lydia around in her adorable Christmas dress, and Katie and I shared experiences of our first few days with a newborn (her son, Lincoln was born in April - such a cutie!).
As the afternoon went on we watched some football together, listened to Christmas music, made a gingerbread house and then opened some gifts. During the afternoon David's dad and step-mom also made the trip down to spend some time with us. Our tiny apartment was full to the brim and it was wonderful! It was so great to have everyone together and to be surrounded by the people that we love on Christmas Eve. It meant so much to us that all of them were willing to change their plans to come spend time with us.
Around 5 everyone started to head out and so David, Lydia and I settled in for a Christmas Eve night just the three of us. One of my favorite Christmas traditions with my side of the family is opening Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and then wearing them that night, so David and I decided we would keep that tradition going with our little family. He and I opened our pj's from my parents and then we dressed Lydia in her Christmas sleeper. Yay new pajamas! We spent that evening watching the Muppet Christmas Carol and staring at our beautiful baby girl.
On Christmas morning we slept in, put a pot roast in the crock pot and then took about 2 hours to open gifts from our parents and from one another. It is much more difficult to open presents with a newborn needing to be held and nursed! But it was so wonderful to not feel rushed at all. We stayed in our pj's all day, playing with our presents, baking cookies, and watching more Christmas movies.
The day after Christmas we were visited by my side of the family! My mom brought down some delicious pork tenderloin and asparagus and I baked potatoes and we all enjoyed a really yummy Christmas lunch while Lydia slept peacefully. Then it was time again for some photos.
I think we are starting to get into some sort of a routine around here. I confidently have enough time each day to shower and get one load of laundry finished and here in the last few days I have found myself with a little bit of leftover free time which has been nice. We have an ongoing to-do list which I just crossed a few items off of, so now with Lydia still sleeping I have a few minutes to tell you about our Christmas.
This year Christmas was very different. Usually we go up to NKY for 10 or more days in a row, have about 7 family Christmas gatherings (not an exaggeration) and we are around wonderful family and friends all hours of the day. This year we obviously had to change our plans since we had a tiny baby and David and I decided that it would be best to not travel with her until she is at least 2 weeks old. So during the days leading up to Christmas we were preoccupied with dirty diapers, pediatrician appointments and nursing schedules rather than wrapping presents and baking cookies. When Christmas Eve arrived it felt a little bit surreal and in some ways made me sad because it didn't really feel like Christmas.
However, that soon changed as David's side of our family began to arrive at our apartment, brunch in hand, to spend the day with us. First his mom, brothers, sister-in-law and our niece and nephew got here. We ate together, everyone passed Lydia around in her adorable Christmas dress, and Katie and I shared experiences of our first few days with a newborn (her son, Lincoln was born in April - such a cutie!).
As the afternoon went on we watched some football together, listened to Christmas music, made a gingerbread house and then opened some gifts. During the afternoon David's dad and step-mom also made the trip down to spend some time with us. Our tiny apartment was full to the brim and it was wonderful! It was so great to have everyone together and to be surrounded by the people that we love on Christmas Eve. It meant so much to us that all of them were willing to change their plans to come spend time with us.
Around 5 everyone started to head out and so David, Lydia and I settled in for a Christmas Eve night just the three of us. One of my favorite Christmas traditions with my side of the family is opening Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and then wearing them that night, so David and I decided we would keep that tradition going with our little family. He and I opened our pj's from my parents and then we dressed Lydia in her Christmas sleeper. Yay new pajamas! We spent that evening watching the Muppet Christmas Carol and staring at our beautiful baby girl.
On Christmas morning we slept in, put a pot roast in the crock pot and then took about 2 hours to open gifts from our parents and from one another. It is much more difficult to open presents with a newborn needing to be held and nursed! But it was so wonderful to not feel rushed at all. We stayed in our pj's all day, playing with our presents, baking cookies, and watching more Christmas movies.
Later that afternoon we decided that it was warm enough to all head out for a Christmas walk! Lydia did great... I was the one to wimp out. After about a block I needed to head back, but it was great to get a little fresh air.
Christmas Day this year was... relaxing. For the first time in a long time. It was definitely different and didn't exactly feel like Christmas has in the past. But we really, really enjoyed it and it was amazing to have a day just the three of us. We took advantage of it and also did a lot of this:
The day after Christmas we were visited by my side of the family! My mom brought down some delicious pork tenderloin and asparagus and I baked potatoes and we all enjoyed a really yummy Christmas lunch while Lydia slept peacefully. Then it was time again for some photos.
Look at these mittens!!
We did a lot of hanging out, passing around the baby and opening some gifts. One of my favorites was the "Super Sister" highlighter that my brother bought for me. Also, he got me the King's Speech, one of my favorite movies. He is such a good listener and really remembers what people say!! It makes him a very thoughtful gift giver, especially for a 9 year old boy. He is awesome.
My sister and I got him this Steelers hat. He looks so old here!
Lydia takes the best photos with Aunt Jen. They are both so beautiful.
As the evening wore on we gave our little girl a Christmas bath. She hated it, but we all loved holding her and smelling her afterward. There is nothing better than a clean, naked baby!
Reflecting back on this Christmas through memories and photos I am hit by the feeling that this Christmas was a lot more how it should be. We are so blessed, probably a bit spoiled, and we definitely got some awesome gifts (a Keurig which we LOVE, a digital picture frame, a new video camera, David got me a new CD and I got him a hat) - just look at our Christmas tree! It was more full than ever.
However, looking at the pictures that we took and thinking about how we spent our time it is so clear to me that this year especially the focus was not on the wrapped gifts under the tree, but instead on the gift of Jesus, the gift of family, and the gift of this perfect, beautiful baby girl.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
A Birth Story
It is so crazy to me that we have had our precious baby girl with us for 11 days already, and at the same time that she has only been with us for that long. In some ways these first days have flown by and then again I can't really remember what life was like before Lydia was in it.
So, this evening as she sleeps on the other couch and gives me use of both of my hands for just a little bit I am going to tell you about the day that she was born. It was a day that changed my life forever and I hope to describe it as best as I can both for you to read and for me to remember.
I went to bed on Thursday, December 15th (her due date) praying that she would be born on the 16th. I greatly enjoyed December 15th in and of itself because David and I got to relax together and get a lot of stuff done around the house, however as I fell asleep that night I found myself yearning so much for her to be here, not because I was impatient, but because I wanted as much time as possible with her before our semesters started up once again.
At 1:30 a.m. I woke up feeling strange. I shook David awake as I walked quickly to the bathroom. Yup, my water had broken. It wasn't a huge gush, or a trickle, but something in between and all of the sudden everything became so real! Only about 15% of women's water breaks before they have contractions, however I was somewhat expecting it to happen since it had been my mom's experience with all 3 of her children. So as I got a little cleaned up David called parents, packed the rest of our bags, showered and loaded up the car. We were checked into triage at the hospital by 2:30 and my contractions were already painful.
A resident doctor came in to check my progress as a nurse asked me some questions. Then some craziness ensued. Apparently the doctor thought that I was dilated 9 centimeters, but she clearly saw that I wasn't in much pain. She didn't say anything to us but instead went to the computer to admit me back to labor and delivery (since my water had broken I would have been admitted no matter what), and I guess she went ahead and entered how far dilated I was even though she was going to have another check before allowing the nurses to take me back. But as she was still entering in some information 3 nurses came into my room with a bed on wheels, transferred me to it and started saying things like, "Is this your first baby? This is the way to do it!' And, "Wow, you are handling this so well!". I asked what was going on and one of the nurses told me that the doctor said I was 9 centimeters and to be honest I started freaking out a little bit. I wanted to have a baby, but not in the next hour! David made some rushed calls to our parents as he walked with me back to our labor and delivery room. When we entered there were, no kidding, 13 people in the room. It was overwhelming. Finally, the doctor came by to explain to me what was going on and she also had the chief resident doctor come in to check me again. I was relieved when he told me I was only 1 1/2 c.m. and after this pronouncement the room quickly cleared out until only my nurse was there. Needless to say, this was not a very good start to my hospital experience and I was glad that after that point only the chief resident doctor saw me until the shifts changed at 8.
Once we knew how much progress I had really made David and I made yet another call to the parents and settled in a bit. We knew we would be there for a while. I was disappointed to find out that since my water had broken I had to keep an IV in and thus I could not get out of bed. This posed a big change to our natural birthing plan. Even from the beginning my contractions hurt a lot in my back and all I wanted to do was stand up and sway or squat. None of these things are possible while sitting in bed so I began to get really nervous about trying to do all of it naturally without any sort of mobility available to me. We decided to try to breathe through the contractions for as long as I could while we thought more and more about the possibility of an epidural. My contractions were hard and long from the beginning. I breathed deep and tried to focus as I rocked back and forth through 2-3 minute contractions with only 30 seconds in between. After 3 hours I was shaking in between each one because I could barely get any rest so David and I decided to talk to the anesthesiologist. We decided that an epidural would be the best decision given all of the circumstances, so by 5:30 I had been given the epidural and was feeling its effects within a few minutes. The epidural itself was definitely strange and uncomfortable at times, but given how much it relieved the pain of he contractions (at least for a while) and how it helped me to relax, that small pain was well worth it.
Our parents arrived in shifts and I was so thankful to have my mom in the room after I had gotten the epidural. I had some blood pressure issues about 30 minutes after getting it which is pretty normal, but it was definitely scary to have 6 nurses, a doctor and the anesthesiologist rush in without much explanation, lay me down and give me an oxygen mask. I was feeling dizzy and sick and I was glad that my mom was there holding my hand telling me that the same thing had happened to her and everything would be alright. Within 5 minutes I was feeling better (they just had to increase the flow of my IV a bit) and the baby's heart rate and my blood pressure were back to normal.
From 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. everything was a little surreal. We could finally let our families come in for a bit and visit with them. I laid back in the bed and got a little bit of rest and enjoyed the effects of the epidural for sure. At 10 a.m. they checked me again and I had progressed to 4 centimeters! It was so relieving to know that my body was ready to do this on its own and that I wouldn't need any kind of induction methods to help it out. From 9-11 David and I decided to ask everyone to leave for a bit so that we could maybe try to sleep. We laid in bed and watched my contractions come and go on the monitor and our decisions for the epidural continued to be confirmed. My contractions were now lasting 4-5 minutes each but there was still only 30 seconds in between each one. They were strong and right on top of one another and I just don't think I could have handled it while sitting in bed.
Sleep eluded me as my contractions got more intense. I could fall asleep a little bit in between each one, but even with the epidural I was soon needing to breathe through the peak of each one. The nurses said they would check me again in 4 hours, but by 11 I felt like I was getting a lot closer. I called them in and sure enough I was 7 1/2 c.m. dilated. They said I was doing great and that I should just keep breathing and call them back in when I felt constant pressure. I focused hard for the next hour and a half, definitely uncomfortable during the peak of each contraction, and at 12:30 called them in again, please to find out that I was fully dilated! But the journey had only just begun.
At this point the epidural wasn't doing very much. The way that it works for most people is that it numbs certain pain receptors, the ones that are activated during a contraction. However, once the baby is down all of the way there is bone on bone pressure which cannot be numbed. So I was definitely feeling pain at this point and I was so thankful for David and our nurse who helped me through the next two hours. The nurse told me that even though I might feel like I was ready to push it would be better if I tried to relax and breathe through contraction for another 45 minutes. This would allow the baby to descent further down and let the contractions do the work since pushing can be really tiring. It was really difficult, but I did as she told me to do, squeezing David's hand and trying to focus on other things, taking one contraction at a time. Finally she said I was ready to start pushing.
I pushed for 38 minutes and it felt like I life time! I don't really know how to describe this part of the experience except that it was hard. It definitely hurt and there was tons of pressure, but the main memory that I have is that it was simply physically exhausting. I was so glad at this point that I had stayed in shape during my pregnancy because I really thing that muscle control and a disciplined body helped me so much during those 30 minutes. I also remember feeling like I wanted to fall asleep in between the pushes, and the nurse said that there actually is a hormone released (called the "sleepy hormone" that helps you to rest in between). As I got closer and closer they brought in a mirror so that I could see the progress I was making. I never thought that I would want this, but it actually helped motivate me and I pushed so much more effectively when I could actually see how close I was to meeting her.
The most bizarre part of the hospital experience was how quickly people came and went from my room when something was happening. One minute it was just me, David and the nurse working through each push and then the next there were 3 more nurses, a pediatrician, a doctor and a resident ready for our girl to be born! While she was crowning there was a lot of burning and pain but so much adrenaline too and before I knew it Lydia Grace was laying on my chest and I was so happy, relieved, and exhausted.
I held onto her and looked at her amazed as David cut the cord, and then the pediatrician had to take her. She had had a bowel movement before around the time that my water had broken so I couldn't keep her on me while they checked her out. Instead David followed her and pediatrician to a small room attached to our room where they checked to make sure nothing had gotten into her lungs. This was the hardest part for sure... my baby girl is crying in the other room and David is there with her while I am trying to deliver the placenta (this part was harder than I thought) and then I am being stitched up a bit. I am crying because Lydia's cry is so beautiful, and I am so happy she is here, but I am also in pain and just want someone to hold my hand.
Finally she gets brought back to me and David and I just stare and marvel at this newborn baby... our newborn baby.
Words really can't describe what I felt in those moments. I was so happy that she was finally here with us. I was so proud of my body for carrying her and then delivering her safely to me. I was so relieved that labor was over. I was so, so thankful to have a perfectly healthy baby girl.
And that is the story of how Lydia Grace came into our lives, changing them forever.
So, this evening as she sleeps on the other couch and gives me use of both of my hands for just a little bit I am going to tell you about the day that she was born. It was a day that changed my life forever and I hope to describe it as best as I can both for you to read and for me to remember.
I went to bed on Thursday, December 15th (her due date) praying that she would be born on the 16th. I greatly enjoyed December 15th in and of itself because David and I got to relax together and get a lot of stuff done around the house, however as I fell asleep that night I found myself yearning so much for her to be here, not because I was impatient, but because I wanted as much time as possible with her before our semesters started up once again.
At 1:30 a.m. I woke up feeling strange. I shook David awake as I walked quickly to the bathroom. Yup, my water had broken. It wasn't a huge gush, or a trickle, but something in between and all of the sudden everything became so real! Only about 15% of women's water breaks before they have contractions, however I was somewhat expecting it to happen since it had been my mom's experience with all 3 of her children. So as I got a little cleaned up David called parents, packed the rest of our bags, showered and loaded up the car. We were checked into triage at the hospital by 2:30 and my contractions were already painful.
A resident doctor came in to check my progress as a nurse asked me some questions. Then some craziness ensued. Apparently the doctor thought that I was dilated 9 centimeters, but she clearly saw that I wasn't in much pain. She didn't say anything to us but instead went to the computer to admit me back to labor and delivery (since my water had broken I would have been admitted no matter what), and I guess she went ahead and entered how far dilated I was even though she was going to have another check before allowing the nurses to take me back. But as she was still entering in some information 3 nurses came into my room with a bed on wheels, transferred me to it and started saying things like, "Is this your first baby? This is the way to do it!' And, "Wow, you are handling this so well!". I asked what was going on and one of the nurses told me that the doctor said I was 9 centimeters and to be honest I started freaking out a little bit. I wanted to have a baby, but not in the next hour! David made some rushed calls to our parents as he walked with me back to our labor and delivery room. When we entered there were, no kidding, 13 people in the room. It was overwhelming. Finally, the doctor came by to explain to me what was going on and she also had the chief resident doctor come in to check me again. I was relieved when he told me I was only 1 1/2 c.m. and after this pronouncement the room quickly cleared out until only my nurse was there. Needless to say, this was not a very good start to my hospital experience and I was glad that after that point only the chief resident doctor saw me until the shifts changed at 8.
Once we knew how much progress I had really made David and I made yet another call to the parents and settled in a bit. We knew we would be there for a while. I was disappointed to find out that since my water had broken I had to keep an IV in and thus I could not get out of bed. This posed a big change to our natural birthing plan. Even from the beginning my contractions hurt a lot in my back and all I wanted to do was stand up and sway or squat. None of these things are possible while sitting in bed so I began to get really nervous about trying to do all of it naturally without any sort of mobility available to me. We decided to try to breathe through the contractions for as long as I could while we thought more and more about the possibility of an epidural. My contractions were hard and long from the beginning. I breathed deep and tried to focus as I rocked back and forth through 2-3 minute contractions with only 30 seconds in between. After 3 hours I was shaking in between each one because I could barely get any rest so David and I decided to talk to the anesthesiologist. We decided that an epidural would be the best decision given all of the circumstances, so by 5:30 I had been given the epidural and was feeling its effects within a few minutes. The epidural itself was definitely strange and uncomfortable at times, but given how much it relieved the pain of he contractions (at least for a while) and how it helped me to relax, that small pain was well worth it.
Our parents arrived in shifts and I was so thankful to have my mom in the room after I had gotten the epidural. I had some blood pressure issues about 30 minutes after getting it which is pretty normal, but it was definitely scary to have 6 nurses, a doctor and the anesthesiologist rush in without much explanation, lay me down and give me an oxygen mask. I was feeling dizzy and sick and I was glad that my mom was there holding my hand telling me that the same thing had happened to her and everything would be alright. Within 5 minutes I was feeling better (they just had to increase the flow of my IV a bit) and the baby's heart rate and my blood pressure were back to normal.
From 6 a.m. until 9 a.m. everything was a little surreal. We could finally let our families come in for a bit and visit with them. I laid back in the bed and got a little bit of rest and enjoyed the effects of the epidural for sure. At 10 a.m. they checked me again and I had progressed to 4 centimeters! It was so relieving to know that my body was ready to do this on its own and that I wouldn't need any kind of induction methods to help it out. From 9-11 David and I decided to ask everyone to leave for a bit so that we could maybe try to sleep. We laid in bed and watched my contractions come and go on the monitor and our decisions for the epidural continued to be confirmed. My contractions were now lasting 4-5 minutes each but there was still only 30 seconds in between each one. They were strong and right on top of one another and I just don't think I could have handled it while sitting in bed.
Sleep eluded me as my contractions got more intense. I could fall asleep a little bit in between each one, but even with the epidural I was soon needing to breathe through the peak of each one. The nurses said they would check me again in 4 hours, but by 11 I felt like I was getting a lot closer. I called them in and sure enough I was 7 1/2 c.m. dilated. They said I was doing great and that I should just keep breathing and call them back in when I felt constant pressure. I focused hard for the next hour and a half, definitely uncomfortable during the peak of each contraction, and at 12:30 called them in again, please to find out that I was fully dilated! But the journey had only just begun.
At this point the epidural wasn't doing very much. The way that it works for most people is that it numbs certain pain receptors, the ones that are activated during a contraction. However, once the baby is down all of the way there is bone on bone pressure which cannot be numbed. So I was definitely feeling pain at this point and I was so thankful for David and our nurse who helped me through the next two hours. The nurse told me that even though I might feel like I was ready to push it would be better if I tried to relax and breathe through contraction for another 45 minutes. This would allow the baby to descent further down and let the contractions do the work since pushing can be really tiring. It was really difficult, but I did as she told me to do, squeezing David's hand and trying to focus on other things, taking one contraction at a time. Finally she said I was ready to start pushing.
I pushed for 38 minutes and it felt like I life time! I don't really know how to describe this part of the experience except that it was hard. It definitely hurt and there was tons of pressure, but the main memory that I have is that it was simply physically exhausting. I was so glad at this point that I had stayed in shape during my pregnancy because I really thing that muscle control and a disciplined body helped me so much during those 30 minutes. I also remember feeling like I wanted to fall asleep in between the pushes, and the nurse said that there actually is a hormone released (called the "sleepy hormone" that helps you to rest in between). As I got closer and closer they brought in a mirror so that I could see the progress I was making. I never thought that I would want this, but it actually helped motivate me and I pushed so much more effectively when I could actually see how close I was to meeting her.
The most bizarre part of the hospital experience was how quickly people came and went from my room when something was happening. One minute it was just me, David and the nurse working through each push and then the next there were 3 more nurses, a pediatrician, a doctor and a resident ready for our girl to be born! While she was crowning there was a lot of burning and pain but so much adrenaline too and before I knew it Lydia Grace was laying on my chest and I was so happy, relieved, and exhausted.
I held onto her and looked at her amazed as David cut the cord, and then the pediatrician had to take her. She had had a bowel movement before around the time that my water had broken so I couldn't keep her on me while they checked her out. Instead David followed her and pediatrician to a small room attached to our room where they checked to make sure nothing had gotten into her lungs. This was the hardest part for sure... my baby girl is crying in the other room and David is there with her while I am trying to deliver the placenta (this part was harder than I thought) and then I am being stitched up a bit. I am crying because Lydia's cry is so beautiful, and I am so happy she is here, but I am also in pain and just want someone to hold my hand.
Finally she gets brought back to me and David and I just stare and marvel at this newborn baby... our newborn baby.
Words really can't describe what I felt in those moments. I was so happy that she was finally here with us. I was so proud of my body for carrying her and then delivering her safely to me. I was so relieved that labor was over. I was so, so thankful to have a perfectly healthy baby girl.
And that is the story of how Lydia Grace came into our lives, changing them forever.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Happy Birthday Lydia!
Lydia Grace Harrison. Born on December 16th, 2011 at 1:48 p.m. 7 pounds, 5 oz., 19 inches long and perfect. We are all doing wonderfully and enjoying our first days and hours of being a family of three!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
40 weeks!
This officially will be my last pregnancy update! It is so crazy how the time has flown, that today is my due date, and that this journey is quickly coming to an end. It has truly been a wonderful day. I thought that it would be difficult to see my due date come and go without having our baby girl making any signs of that she is ready to be born, but I have actually enjoyed a day with just David and I at home doing absolutely nothing. We have nested a bit (done laundry, dishes, given the dog a bath, etc.) but other than that we have sat on the couch together reading, watched Love Actually, cooked eggs and toast, and we are about to bake brownies for dinner! David and I rarely have restful days together and I am so thankful that we get to have at least one before our bundle of joy arrives. So here it goes... the last weekly update :)
How far along? 40 weeks
Updates on baby: So today I got a little bit upset when I went to check out Baby Center and The Bump. Rather than having a 40 week update on baby they had things like "Newborn" and "Your baby's birthday is today!". I guess I understand, but don't they know that plenty of women do not have their baby on or before their due date? It made me a bit impatient. But at the same time, I guess I get it because at this point just picture a newborn... that is what is in my belly :)
Labor signs: I have felt some definite contractions but they are never that painful and they never last for long or become regular. She continues to drop lower and lower (when she kicks now her feet are right around my belly button!), but other than that no other signs that labor is imminent.
Symptoms/Body Changes: So at 38 weeks I did not have one stretch mark on my belly, and now every morning there are new ones sprouting out from my belly button. This has been pretty frustrating because I was so close! But I know that I have young skin, that they won't be as obvious as they are now and that in a way they are a "badge of honor". I was just really hoping I would go my whole pregnancy without them. The stretch marks are a visible sign of what I have been feeling; that my belly is just being stretched so thin! It is really tender at this point, and it hurts to the touch right out in front. There is one consistent sore spot to the right of my belly button that is really sore and in general my belly is just giving me a lot more pain. Another symptom which really just popped up last night and today is that I guess as Lydia drops she is starting to hit some specific nerve and sometimes when she movies it sends really intense shooting pains down my legs. It is really painful and last night after a full day of walking and shopping it brought me to tears at one point. Today I have tried to lay down more and the pains go away, but there have been multiple times when I am standing up doing laundry or putting on makeup and then all of the sudden there is a big jolt. Ouch! Maybe this is some kind of sign... like that she wants out??
Movement: She continues to move a lot. I feel like she must be running out of room but then every evening and morning, and sometimes in the middle of the night, she just starts her kicks and rolls. I love feeling her so close and real, but it also makes me a bit impatient, and as I just talked about it is starting to get legitimately painful.
Exercise: Ever since my topology exam has been over I have been walking a bunch! I took two 30-40 minute walks on Monday and Tuesday, and walked yesterday with a friend for an hour and ten minutes (about 3.5 miles)! Because of the shooting pains I decided to give it a little break today. I have also been good about stretching each night before I go to bed.
Cravings/Aversions: I was craving some good mexican food last night so David and I celebrated the end of the semester with a nice dinner at Abuelos. It was SO yummy! No real cravings or aversions have set in though... I can't wait to have room in my stomach to be able to put food because my appetite has somewhat returned and I finally look forward to eating most days.
Getting ready for baby: We are pretty much all ready at this point. Dishes are clean, laundry is done, the floors are mopped and vacuumed, the dog is clean, the bathroom is clorox-ed, the living room and bedrooms are all dusted and windex-ed. Seriously, it is clean in this apartment. It is very strange not knowing when baby will come because it makes it a little hard to prepare, especially with going grocery shopping and cooking. But I feel really comfortable that we have everything in our house that we could possibly need if she came now, and I know that once she is here if we run out of milk or face wash there are plenty of people who would go and get some for us if we needed it.
Also, David and I are finished with our semesters!!!! So we are really, really ready for baby now.
What I miss: A normally proportioned and functioning body...I am looking forward to not carrying around a full newborn in my belly.
What I am looking forward to: Meeting Lydia Grace!! Also, tomorrow we have a doctor appointment and I am looking forward to knowing if I have made any more progress since last Friday.
In a way I am also kind of dreading this appointment since I know my doctor will bring up inducing labor. David and I have decided that we want to stand firm until 41 weeks; that not a day before December 22nd do we want to induce labor. However, at that point we feel comfortable following the doctor's advice to go ahead and try to get things going if they haven't started up already. Waiting until 41 weeks poses no risks to baby whatsoever and we really want to be patient since we know that this random "due date" is just an estimate. But after 41 weeks the chance of a still birth rises slightly and there are other risks, like her skull could start to harden and she could get kind of big. I really hope that my body just kicks it in gear in the next few days and we don't have to make any of these decisions in the end, but if it does come down to it we just want our daughter to be healthy.
Anyway, just pray with us that she will come soon! We are waiting patiently and we know that she will have the birthday she was always meant to have.
And now for comparisons: week 20, 30 and 40.
Thank you so much for following me along this journey!! I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible when things start to happen. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and soon you will see some way cuter pictures of a way cuter girl up here.
How far along? 40 weeks
Updates on baby: So today I got a little bit upset when I went to check out Baby Center and The Bump. Rather than having a 40 week update on baby they had things like "Newborn" and "Your baby's birthday is today!". I guess I understand, but don't they know that plenty of women do not have their baby on or before their due date? It made me a bit impatient. But at the same time, I guess I get it because at this point just picture a newborn... that is what is in my belly :)
Labor signs: I have felt some definite contractions but they are never that painful and they never last for long or become regular. She continues to drop lower and lower (when she kicks now her feet are right around my belly button!), but other than that no other signs that labor is imminent.
Symptoms/Body Changes: So at 38 weeks I did not have one stretch mark on my belly, and now every morning there are new ones sprouting out from my belly button. This has been pretty frustrating because I was so close! But I know that I have young skin, that they won't be as obvious as they are now and that in a way they are a "badge of honor". I was just really hoping I would go my whole pregnancy without them. The stretch marks are a visible sign of what I have been feeling; that my belly is just being stretched so thin! It is really tender at this point, and it hurts to the touch right out in front. There is one consistent sore spot to the right of my belly button that is really sore and in general my belly is just giving me a lot more pain. Another symptom which really just popped up last night and today is that I guess as Lydia drops she is starting to hit some specific nerve and sometimes when she movies it sends really intense shooting pains down my legs. It is really painful and last night after a full day of walking and shopping it brought me to tears at one point. Today I have tried to lay down more and the pains go away, but there have been multiple times when I am standing up doing laundry or putting on makeup and then all of the sudden there is a big jolt. Ouch! Maybe this is some kind of sign... like that she wants out??
Movement: She continues to move a lot. I feel like she must be running out of room but then every evening and morning, and sometimes in the middle of the night, she just starts her kicks and rolls. I love feeling her so close and real, but it also makes me a bit impatient, and as I just talked about it is starting to get legitimately painful.
Exercise: Ever since my topology exam has been over I have been walking a bunch! I took two 30-40 minute walks on Monday and Tuesday, and walked yesterday with a friend for an hour and ten minutes (about 3.5 miles)! Because of the shooting pains I decided to give it a little break today. I have also been good about stretching each night before I go to bed.
Cravings/Aversions: I was craving some good mexican food last night so David and I celebrated the end of the semester with a nice dinner at Abuelos. It was SO yummy! No real cravings or aversions have set in though... I can't wait to have room in my stomach to be able to put food because my appetite has somewhat returned and I finally look forward to eating most days.
Getting ready for baby: We are pretty much all ready at this point. Dishes are clean, laundry is done, the floors are mopped and vacuumed, the dog is clean, the bathroom is clorox-ed, the living room and bedrooms are all dusted and windex-ed. Seriously, it is clean in this apartment. It is very strange not knowing when baby will come because it makes it a little hard to prepare, especially with going grocery shopping and cooking. But I feel really comfortable that we have everything in our house that we could possibly need if she came now, and I know that once she is here if we run out of milk or face wash there are plenty of people who would go and get some for us if we needed it.
Also, David and I are finished with our semesters!!!! So we are really, really ready for baby now.
What I miss: A normally proportioned and functioning body...I am looking forward to not carrying around a full newborn in my belly.
What I am looking forward to: Meeting Lydia Grace!! Also, tomorrow we have a doctor appointment and I am looking forward to knowing if I have made any more progress since last Friday.
In a way I am also kind of dreading this appointment since I know my doctor will bring up inducing labor. David and I have decided that we want to stand firm until 41 weeks; that not a day before December 22nd do we want to induce labor. However, at that point we feel comfortable following the doctor's advice to go ahead and try to get things going if they haven't started up already. Waiting until 41 weeks poses no risks to baby whatsoever and we really want to be patient since we know that this random "due date" is just an estimate. But after 41 weeks the chance of a still birth rises slightly and there are other risks, like her skull could start to harden and she could get kind of big. I really hope that my body just kicks it in gear in the next few days and we don't have to make any of these decisions in the end, but if it does come down to it we just want our daughter to be healthy.
Anyway, just pray with us that she will come soon! We are waiting patiently and we know that she will have the birthday she was always meant to have.
And now for comparisons: week 20, 30 and 40.
Thank you so much for following me along this journey!! I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible when things start to happen. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and soon you will see some way cuter pictures of a way cuter girl up here.
Cleansing Breath
In our natural birthing class they taught David and I this thing called a cleansing breath. The idea is that after each contraction you take a really deep breath and then exhale that contraction away. You never have to do it again. It may have been hard, there may be more coming but that one is over.
Today David and I both take a cleansing breath for the end of both of our semesters. I finished my last exam on Monday and he finished his yesterday afternoon. I am not really sure that it has hit him yet (he was up before 6 this morning, probably with a little leftover text anxiety), but I bet that as the day moves forward and we do nothing but watch Christmas movies, clean up our house a bit and get tiny last minute baby preparations together he will start to feel the relief too.
I don't only feel relief about the semester being over, although that emotion is currently at the forefront. When I think about it I feel extreme thankfulness that our semester is over. As you can read about here, I kind of freaked out a little bit when I found out that I was pregnant. We were in no way planning on having a baby while both of us were in graduate school, especially considering the intensity of our programs. Having a family has always been a dream of ours but we thought it would be most wise to wait until (at least) one of us had a job and other little things like a health insurance plan. Also, we always planned to wait until I could stay home for at least the first 3 months of the baby's life. This is always what I have pictured, desired, and thought was right. Even now I have the feeling that I will want to work part time when my kids get a little bit older, but leaving a newborn baby for any amount of time still makes me feel a little sick.
But from the time that I found out I was pregnant we knew that the right decision was for both of us to go ahead and finish school. This baby will change our life, but she doesn't have to stop our life. With our calendars in front of us and our practicality glasses on it was decided; we would finish up the Spring 2011 semester as best as we could given this world-rocking news, we would both work full time throughout the summer to try to save as much money as possible, we would both start and finish the Fall 2011 semester even though my due date was the Thursday of finals week, and then we would start and finish our Spring 2012 semesters with a 3-week-or-less old baby. Looking back I have no idea how we made this decision. We prayed about it a little bit, but I really believe that in the moment God was with us making the right decision clear.
However, as we ventured through our now "perfect" improvised plan there were so many moments when I had doubt. Getting sick every single day for 4 weeks during the end of the spring semester was one of the lowest points that I have ever been though. Working full time this summer at a research job where I thought about symmetrically constrained compositions all day tended to feel a bit meaningless when I began to feel a new life move about inside of me. And the fall semester.. oh the fall semester... was so, so hard. It was hard to walk back into the math department in August clearly pregnant and so out of place. It was hard to make my new hormone-affected brain focus during lectures and toward the end it was physically challenging to sit through 2 lectures in a row. It was hard to keep my frustrations and emotions in check while teaching freshmen calculus students. It was hard to all of the sudden not be able to be the student that I always had been - the one who does well on homework assignments and exams, who even in graduate school can keep up with the best of them. It was difficult to feel pride in what I was doing when I handed in half-completed homework assignments simply because I could not keep myself awake the night before or get myself up that morning to finish them. I questioned so many times what I was doing, what we were doing, what God was thinking giving us this baby now.
And now it is December 15th, my due date, and we are here on the other side. Finals finished, homeworks handed in, awaiting a beautiful baby girl that neither of us can now imagine our lives without. We never, ever could have planned it better ourselves (seriously, I don't think you can plan to have a baby within a 3 week window in general). God has been so faithful, in the big picture and in the tiny details and now I am full of so much joy and appreciation that we didn't go with our own plan because in so many ways there is no perfect time to have a baby; no comfortable phase in life to bring on the responsibility of a brand new life.
What seemed to impossible and what was so difficult is now such a huge blessing and just knowing that we would never have met this baby, our little Lydia Grace, if we had ultimately had control over our plans makes me so grateful that we are not in control. It was about two weeks ago when I was having one of my doubt moments and was crying to David about how poorly I felt I was doing at school. My pride and self-esteem have been hit so hard throughout my entire pregnancy... it has made me vulnerable and weak in ways that I have never experienced before and one of these ways was definitely in my school work. School was always a place where I received positive feedback and reassuring encouragement on my progress and on my purpose. It was something I loved, and I was good at it. This combination is always nice to have in your life, but this past semester took the affirmation away. Instead of making me feel smart or adequate it pushed me to my limits and I really had to fight through each day knowing that I was doing something that I wasn't sure was right for me. During my slight meltdown David looked at me and gave me the perspective that I hung on for the last two weeks and spoke words that still bring me to tears today. He said that when our little girl is born and I am holding her brand new body in my arms I won't question once what I have been doing these last 9 months. If nothing else, I have been supporting her, allowing God to craft her inside of me and preparing to deliver her into this world. I will be so proud of what I have done, of what we have done and what we have made together.
I am so thankful, joyful, peaceful and blessed. Now that we are on this side of the semester I am truly amazed at God's perfect timing and at his faithfulness even when things seem impossible. I am thankful that I am not ultimately in control and that my limited perspective is not the one that I have to rely on to make decisions and plans. I know that going forward things won't be easy for a while, but I know that they will work out and with the Lord's strength and the help of our wonderful family and friends we will once again make it through.
So come on, Lydia Grace! Your daddy and I are so ready for you; in our schedules, our minds and our hearts.
Today David and I both take a cleansing breath for the end of both of our semesters. I finished my last exam on Monday and he finished his yesterday afternoon. I am not really sure that it has hit him yet (he was up before 6 this morning, probably with a little leftover text anxiety), but I bet that as the day moves forward and we do nothing but watch Christmas movies, clean up our house a bit and get tiny last minute baby preparations together he will start to feel the relief too.
I don't only feel relief about the semester being over, although that emotion is currently at the forefront. When I think about it I feel extreme thankfulness that our semester is over. As you can read about here, I kind of freaked out a little bit when I found out that I was pregnant. We were in no way planning on having a baby while both of us were in graduate school, especially considering the intensity of our programs. Having a family has always been a dream of ours but we thought it would be most wise to wait until (at least) one of us had a job and other little things like a health insurance plan. Also, we always planned to wait until I could stay home for at least the first 3 months of the baby's life. This is always what I have pictured, desired, and thought was right. Even now I have the feeling that I will want to work part time when my kids get a little bit older, but leaving a newborn baby for any amount of time still makes me feel a little sick.
But from the time that I found out I was pregnant we knew that the right decision was for both of us to go ahead and finish school. This baby will change our life, but she doesn't have to stop our life. With our calendars in front of us and our practicality glasses on it was decided; we would finish up the Spring 2011 semester as best as we could given this world-rocking news, we would both work full time throughout the summer to try to save as much money as possible, we would both start and finish the Fall 2011 semester even though my due date was the Thursday of finals week, and then we would start and finish our Spring 2012 semesters with a 3-week-or-less old baby. Looking back I have no idea how we made this decision. We prayed about it a little bit, but I really believe that in the moment God was with us making the right decision clear.
However, as we ventured through our now "perfect" improvised plan there were so many moments when I had doubt. Getting sick every single day for 4 weeks during the end of the spring semester was one of the lowest points that I have ever been though. Working full time this summer at a research job where I thought about symmetrically constrained compositions all day tended to feel a bit meaningless when I began to feel a new life move about inside of me. And the fall semester.. oh the fall semester... was so, so hard. It was hard to walk back into the math department in August clearly pregnant and so out of place. It was hard to make my new hormone-affected brain focus during lectures and toward the end it was physically challenging to sit through 2 lectures in a row. It was hard to keep my frustrations and emotions in check while teaching freshmen calculus students. It was hard to all of the sudden not be able to be the student that I always had been - the one who does well on homework assignments and exams, who even in graduate school can keep up with the best of them. It was difficult to feel pride in what I was doing when I handed in half-completed homework assignments simply because I could not keep myself awake the night before or get myself up that morning to finish them. I questioned so many times what I was doing, what we were doing, what God was thinking giving us this baby now.
And now it is December 15th, my due date, and we are here on the other side. Finals finished, homeworks handed in, awaiting a beautiful baby girl that neither of us can now imagine our lives without. We never, ever could have planned it better ourselves (seriously, I don't think you can plan to have a baby within a 3 week window in general). God has been so faithful, in the big picture and in the tiny details and now I am full of so much joy and appreciation that we didn't go with our own plan because in so many ways there is no perfect time to have a baby; no comfortable phase in life to bring on the responsibility of a brand new life.
What seemed to impossible and what was so difficult is now such a huge blessing and just knowing that we would never have met this baby, our little Lydia Grace, if we had ultimately had control over our plans makes me so grateful that we are not in control. It was about two weeks ago when I was having one of my doubt moments and was crying to David about how poorly I felt I was doing at school. My pride and self-esteem have been hit so hard throughout my entire pregnancy... it has made me vulnerable and weak in ways that I have never experienced before and one of these ways was definitely in my school work. School was always a place where I received positive feedback and reassuring encouragement on my progress and on my purpose. It was something I loved, and I was good at it. This combination is always nice to have in your life, but this past semester took the affirmation away. Instead of making me feel smart or adequate it pushed me to my limits and I really had to fight through each day knowing that I was doing something that I wasn't sure was right for me. During my slight meltdown David looked at me and gave me the perspective that I hung on for the last two weeks and spoke words that still bring me to tears today. He said that when our little girl is born and I am holding her brand new body in my arms I won't question once what I have been doing these last 9 months. If nothing else, I have been supporting her, allowing God to craft her inside of me and preparing to deliver her into this world. I will be so proud of what I have done, of what we have done and what we have made together.
I am so thankful, joyful, peaceful and blessed. Now that we are on this side of the semester I am truly amazed at God's perfect timing and at his faithfulness even when things seem impossible. I am thankful that I am not ultimately in control and that my limited perspective is not the one that I have to rely on to make decisions and plans. I know that going forward things won't be easy for a while, but I know that they will work out and with the Lord's strength and the help of our wonderful family and friends we will once again make it through.
So come on, Lydia Grace! Your daddy and I are so ready for you; in our schedules, our minds and our hearts.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
I just made a labor and delivery playlist (who knows if I will actually use it, but I was updating my iPod anyway so I thought I would go for it). It is 14.6 hours long... that should be good right?
Also, you should listen to an awesome song here. It makes me cry every time and I am sure that once Lydia is here it will mean even more.
I am up to random things today... walking, laundry, painting my toenails and starting an album all about our baby girl's adventure (I plan on including my weekly pictures, maternity shots, and the delivery and newborn pictures). I also might start writing in her baby book a little bit so that I will have motivation to keep up with it! Also, I am reading The Help and laying on the couch with my puppy.
It is a strange day for sure. School is done and I don't think that it has hit me quite yet. Maybe later today I will try to reflect a little bit on finishing yet another semester, and this semester in particular. But for now I think I will continue to do some random, brainless things.
Also, you should listen to an awesome song here. It makes me cry every time and I am sure that once Lydia is here it will mean even more.
I am up to random things today... walking, laundry, painting my toenails and starting an album all about our baby girl's adventure (I plan on including my weekly pictures, maternity shots, and the delivery and newborn pictures). I also might start writing in her baby book a little bit so that I will have motivation to keep up with it! Also, I am reading The Help and laying on the couch with my puppy.
It is a strange day for sure. School is done and I don't think that it has hit me quite yet. Maybe later today I will try to reflect a little bit on finishing yet another semester, and this semester in particular. But for now I think I will continue to do some random, brainless things.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Excited and Distracted
I have an exam in 13 hours and I am so nervous about it... it is in the infamous Topology class that I gripe about all the time and in so many ways I am not prepared. I am trying to trust at this point that the 20+ hours a week that I put in throughout the semester on the homework assignments will have prepared me for the cumulative final because when I look back over all that we have done it is so overwhelming!
It doesn't help that I am also terribly distracted. This weekend has been so weird and even though my semester has been challenging and pushed me to my limits I am thankful that I have stayed so busy because now that an end to this pregnancy is in sight and I have a few moments to think about it I am so anxious and impatient! Mostly, I am just excited. I find myself daydreaming about seeing Lydia for the first time. What will she look like? Will she have hair? How will it feel to hold her?
On Friday I had my 39 week check-up and I was surprised to find out that I had actually made some labor progress... I am 1 cm dilated! Not that that really means much, or anything, because lots of women can be 1 cm for weeks.. months even. But I hadn't really been feeling contractions or anything so it was just nice to find out that my body has been preparing for this whole labor thing even if it is just a bit. However, since finding this out I am all of the sudden ready to have this baby girl! Also, since then I have definitely felt a few contractions, a few have even awoken me during the night, but nothing has been too strong or stayed regular. There have been a few other signs of early labor too, but all of them are not suitable to write about for the world to hear :) I love that is is coming so soon, but all of the sudden this weekend it all became so real and now it is difficult to focus on much else.
So that is where I am... sitting, waiting, trying to convince myself that compactness in Hausdorff spaces is really important to think about right now (and clearly failing since I am typing this out). Maybe clearing my mind a bit though will help me focus.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! I officially feel like a ticking time bomb, but in a really, really good way.
It doesn't help that I am also terribly distracted. This weekend has been so weird and even though my semester has been challenging and pushed me to my limits I am thankful that I have stayed so busy because now that an end to this pregnancy is in sight and I have a few moments to think about it I am so anxious and impatient! Mostly, I am just excited. I find myself daydreaming about seeing Lydia for the first time. What will she look like? Will she have hair? How will it feel to hold her?
On Friday I had my 39 week check-up and I was surprised to find out that I had actually made some labor progress... I am 1 cm dilated! Not that that really means much, or anything, because lots of women can be 1 cm for weeks.. months even. But I hadn't really been feeling contractions or anything so it was just nice to find out that my body has been preparing for this whole labor thing even if it is just a bit. However, since finding this out I am all of the sudden ready to have this baby girl! Also, since then I have definitely felt a few contractions, a few have even awoken me during the night, but nothing has been too strong or stayed regular. There have been a few other signs of early labor too, but all of them are not suitable to write about for the world to hear :) I love that is is coming so soon, but all of the sudden this weekend it all became so real and now it is difficult to focus on much else.
So that is where I am... sitting, waiting, trying to convince myself that compactness in Hausdorff spaces is really important to think about right now (and clearly failing since I am typing this out). Maybe clearing my mind a bit though will help me focus.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! I officially feel like a ticking time bomb, but in a really, really good way.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
39!
It is so strange starting this weekly update knowing that it very well could be my last one. Maybe that is just hopeful thinking, but for some reason I feel like little Lydia might make her arrival before December 15th. Maybe it is because I don't understand how I could possibly get any bigger or because I don't want to think about having to walk up stairs, put on my boots or try to shave my legs for more than one more week. I am getting... uncomfortable. I was feeling great until yesterday and now all of the sudden I just hurt. I feel like I need to lay down most of the time and my belly just feels so heavy! The pain isn't constant, but what I can physically do in a day is becoming very limited very quickly. Maybe this means the end is near.
How far along? 39 weeks.
Updates on Baby: (Thanks to WhatToExpect) Coming down to the wire, your baby weighs around seven to eight pounds and measures 19 to 21 inches. Those measurements won't change much from now on, but her brain is still growing at an astonishing rate, a pace that will continue for the first three years of life. Her pink skin has now turned whitish (even babies who'll eventually have darker skin appear whitish now — they haven't yet developed pigment). Her head may have dropped into your pelvis by now, which makes your breathing easier but walking harder.
Labor signs: She continues to drop slowly I think, and today I am pretty sure I had some contractions. Nothing regular or sharp at all yet, but there are definite cramps which I am assuming has to do with labor at this point.
Symptoms/Body Changes: Because she is sitting lower I have to go to the bathroom all the time... it is so ridiculous. My swelling is still mild, as well as my heartburn. Mainly my body is just sore; my lower back hurts and my legs are starting to get achy by the end of the day. A few times she has rolled onto a specific nerve which sends shooting pains down my legs... ouch! Other than that nothing is really new... my belly is just huge.
Exercise: I wake up in the morning, get showered, dressed, put on my own shoes. Then David drives us to school and I walk 10 minutes to my office, I walk up and down about 20 flights of stairs each day, I walk to another building to teach, then I walk back to the car. I also sit up during class which requires some serious back and ab strength at this point. We come home and I lay on my side on the couch. After that if I am lucky I walk Rooney for 20ish minutes and if I am really feeling good I stand up to do the dishes. At 39 weeks pregnant, that is a workout!
I should try to stretch more this next week... and once my topology exam is over on Monday it is on! I will be walking as much as I can to try and induce labor :)
Movement: Bittersweet everytime. I love feeling her move, but I just want her here. And it is very painful when she moves at this point. Sometimes she will move kind of slowly so it doesn't hurt too bad and I will just feel her tiny knees and legs and it hits me for a brief second that she is a real baby... that she is a tiny one of me, of us. It is amazing. But again, these moments are almost just teasers at this point because I just want to hold her and see her beautiful face. I am starting to feel impatient for the first time in my pregnancy which is good because in general I am not very patient and at this point she will be arriving soon.
Cravings/Aversions: Food just tastes really, really good lately. But I don't feel as though I am craving anything in particular. I drink mass amounts of water in a day... and I definitely consume a lot more milk and other dairy products than I ever did before being pregnant. I had a peppermint mocha today and it was AWESOME, so now I might start craving those.
What I miss: I want to paint my toenails... but I can't. So strange.
What I am looking forward to: Meeting this little girl!!!! And being finished with the semester.
And below, a comparison of weeks 19, 29 and 39. I remember feeling so big the day that this 19 week pictures was taken. Now I look at it and think, "How was I ever so skinny???". I think that once I get back down to my normal size I will appreciate it so much more now.
I hope that you have a fantastic evening. As my due date gets closer keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I am getting a little nervous about this whole labor and delivery part, but to be honest I don't feel like I can think about all of that right now. Perhaps I will reflect and prepare a bit more once school is finally finished, and perhaps I won't and it will be better that way. Just pray for our little girl to stay perfectly healthy! We would greatly appreciate it.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
I couldn't resist.
So far David and I haven't bought Lydia anything... well I guess I bought her one cream-colored onsie one time for like 3 bucks. We knew we wanted to get her Christmas PJ's as her one Christmas present this year, and when we were in Walmart this morning picking up some things we just couldn't help but buy this newborn Christmas dress too! They are both so cute and I can't wait for her to wear them on Christmas and for her newborn pictures. Little baby girl clothes are just too cute... even the ones at Walmart.
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