Hey all! Just in case you didn't get the Facebook memo, I got a new email address and had to move my blog to a new address. You can find me, Chris and Emily at the Tyre Life:
http://tyrelife.blogspot.com/
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
2 weeks old!
Emily Jean is two weeks old today! The past 2 weeks have seriously flown by and I feel like she's grown so much! Everyone we run into thinks she's at least a month old. We went to the pediatrician today (btw, I love Dr. Stinson at DS Pediatrics, she is great!). Emily now weighs 8 lb 9 oz- she's up half a pound already, yay Emily :)
She is 20.5 inches now and is measuring in the 56-58 percentile for weight, length, head size, etc. She's pretty consistent. The nurse had to poke her poor little foot to get some blood samples and Emily did NOT enjoy that. Poor baby screamed her head off until the very end. I felt so bad for her. After it was over she went right back to sleep.
Her sleeping schedule is slowly getting better. Last night she slept from 10-2:15, was awake until about 4am, and slept until 8 when I woke up. Those 4 hour stretches are the best thing in the world, I actually feel rested when I have that much time. She eats for longer periods of time at night and eats more often during the day. When she's awake she is generally pretty happy. She gets fussy at times but it doesn't last very long. Chris and I are so lucky, I couldn't ask for a better baby!
A guy came by the house today to fix our AC (we had a leak). He set off the smoke detectors a few times and Roger chased him around barking and Emily slept through it all! She woke up once, but it was because she was hungry, not because the noise bothered her. I'm so glad she can sleep through everything, we don't have to tip toe around her during the day.
Here I am, 2 weeks PP. As of last Friday, I was down to 161, about 20 pounds less than I weighed at my last doctor's visit before Emily was born. I still have about 15 pounds to go. I don't fit into my old jeans yet, and barely fit into my maternity jeans from before summer! My hips and thighs have definitely grown and I'm afraid the hips won't be getting any smaller. Add one more complication to shopping for jeans, haha. I'm still in stretchy pants most days because all of my jeans are uncomfortable but I'm not upset or unhappy with my body, I think I look great considering I just had a baby :)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Emily's Birth Story
On October 7th, I woke up at 4am and started getting ready for our trip to the hospital. I made sure we had everything packed, Chris helped me carry it to the car, and we arrived at the hospital at 5:30am. We walked up to the front doors and all the lights were off. Weird. I was scheduled to be checking into L&D on the 2nd floor at 5:30. The doors were locked so we tried to wave someone down that was inside. A nurse came and opened the door, she told us that they had been testing the emergency power generator that morning and it was taking longer than expected to get the power back on.
Awesome.
We had to take the staff elevator and get to L&D the back way because nothing else was working! They got us checked in and settled in our room [Seton SW has amazing rooms! We never had to move to another room- labor, delivery, recovery and post delivery were all in the same place]
I had Chris take a picture of me before we got started.
It was early, but we were both so excited to finally meet this baby! At 6:30 they had me hooked up to 2 monitors for Emily's heartbeat and my contractions (turns out I was already having very mild contractions that I couldn't feel), a blood pressure cuff and an IV with saline and pitocin drip. I hated having the IV in, I couldn't move my left wrist. I hated the monitors strapped to my belly. The one on top that monitored contractions wasn't flat on the bottom and it was so uncomfortable having it poke right into my uterus. I also hated the blood pressure cuff later on when I was lying on my side- it started squeezing way too tight, to the point that my arm would go numb and my hand would cramp up into a fist. I had Chris massage it to get the blood moving, but he couldn't unclamp my fingers until the cuff let some pressure off. Annoying.
The contractions started to get stronger over the next few hours. At 10:30 I decided to ask for the epidural. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer because it took the anesthesiologist forever to get to my room. I think he showed up around 11:30.
While I was waiting, they had me sit on the edge of the bed so I was ready when he got there. They had me lean forward a little and Chris was sitting in front of me. The contractions were horrible towards the end, I squeezed on his shoulders so hard he almost passed out. I think I was cutting off blood supply to his head, oops. He stayed there through the contractions and talked to me while I got the epi.
The epi was NOT bad. I thought it was going to be this huge painful needle, but it felt like the shots you get at the dentist. It hurt and stung a little, but it was nothing compared to the contractions.
It took a little while for it to completely work, but once it did I felt a million times better. My right side went numb pretty quickly and I was still feeling mild contractions on my left side. I finally got a couple of hours of pain free rest. Chris got a nap in and my mom stayed with me and talked to me for a while.
Initially I thought I would want only Chris and myself in the delivery room before, during and immediately after labor. My mom came and went all day and all I can say is thank goodness for my mother. It really helped to have her there for support. Chris did a great job, but I think my mom being there took a little pressure off of him feeling like he constantly had to be helping in some way. I'm glad he was able to rest, I'm sure it was stressful to watch me in pain and not be able to do anything about it.
Around 2:30 I started feeling contractions again on the left side. They started to get stronger and stronger and I asked if I could get more medicine for the pain. They checked me first and told me that Emily was ready! I was so relieved. The pain was her head pushing down in my hips.
They had me push twice to see if I made any progress and made me stop because she was coming out pretty quickly and my doctor wasn't on her way yet. They called her and she headed over from the office on Brodie. It was hard not to push while she was on her way, everything in me really wanted to.
They were afraid that Emily was going to come before the doctor got there so they had another doctor waiting outside of my room just in case we couldn't wait any longer. The nurses got ready (they looked like they were heading into a rainstorm, apparently my doctor is notorious for being a bit messy!) and Dr. Eduardo finally showed up at 3:35. She got ready, had me push, and asked if I wanted to feel Emily's head.
Craziest feeling ever. My eyes got huge and my mom and Chris started laughing at me. I knew there was a baby in there, but after feeling her head I KNEW there was a baby there! It was enough incentive to have me try my hardest to get her out. In between pushes, Dr. Eduardo rubbed Emily's head. It was the first thing she felt on the outside, and she still really likes her head to be rubbed. Washing her hair really calms her down :)
I pushed a couple more times (I only pushed for 10 minutes!), suddenly felt all the pain and pressure relieved, and they put her on my chest at 3:50pm.
I can't explain how it felt to hold her for the first time. It was incredible. I was so happy to finally meet her, relieved that the delivery was over, and thrilled that I was no longer pregnant! They cleaned her off a bit, let me look at her, then took her across the room to examine her. She weighed in at 8 lb, .05 oz and 20 inches long. I can't believe I was carrying that around!
When she came out, she had swallowed a lot of fluid and had the cord around her neck. She was breathing, but grunting for air. They had to give her a bath to get her screaming so they could get all of the fluid out of her lungs. They cleaned her up, patted her back and she went from a really pale white to a healthy pink color pretty quickly. After half an hour, they handed her back to me so I could feed her. It's such an amazing feeling to know that I have everything needed to sustain her tiny little body.
After a while, Chris got to hold her. She looks just like him. She's a tiny, soft, pink, female version of her daddy. She's got his eyes, his nose, his long feet and his hairline. Good thing I married a handsome man, Emily is beautiful! Chris' mom and sister were waiting outside and finally were able to come in to visit. Like I said earlier, I thought I wasn't going to want any visitors, but I really enjoyed having them there and watching them meet Emily for the first time.
Awesome.
We had to take the staff elevator and get to L&D the back way because nothing else was working! They got us checked in and settled in our room [Seton SW has amazing rooms! We never had to move to another room- labor, delivery, recovery and post delivery were all in the same place]
I had Chris take a picture of me before we got started.
It was early, but we were both so excited to finally meet this baby! At 6:30 they had me hooked up to 2 monitors for Emily's heartbeat and my contractions (turns out I was already having very mild contractions that I couldn't feel), a blood pressure cuff and an IV with saline and pitocin drip. I hated having the IV in, I couldn't move my left wrist. I hated the monitors strapped to my belly. The one on top that monitored contractions wasn't flat on the bottom and it was so uncomfortable having it poke right into my uterus. I also hated the blood pressure cuff later on when I was lying on my side- it started squeezing way too tight, to the point that my arm would go numb and my hand would cramp up into a fist. I had Chris massage it to get the blood moving, but he couldn't unclamp my fingers until the cuff let some pressure off. Annoying.
The contractions started to get stronger over the next few hours. At 10:30 I decided to ask for the epidural. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer because it took the anesthesiologist forever to get to my room. I think he showed up around 11:30.
While I was waiting, they had me sit on the edge of the bed so I was ready when he got there. They had me lean forward a little and Chris was sitting in front of me. The contractions were horrible towards the end, I squeezed on his shoulders so hard he almost passed out. I think I was cutting off blood supply to his head, oops. He stayed there through the contractions and talked to me while I got the epi.
The epi was NOT bad. I thought it was going to be this huge painful needle, but it felt like the shots you get at the dentist. It hurt and stung a little, but it was nothing compared to the contractions.
It took a little while for it to completely work, but once it did I felt a million times better. My right side went numb pretty quickly and I was still feeling mild contractions on my left side. I finally got a couple of hours of pain free rest. Chris got a nap in and my mom stayed with me and talked to me for a while.
Initially I thought I would want only Chris and myself in the delivery room before, during and immediately after labor. My mom came and went all day and all I can say is thank goodness for my mother. It really helped to have her there for support. Chris did a great job, but I think my mom being there took a little pressure off of him feeling like he constantly had to be helping in some way. I'm glad he was able to rest, I'm sure it was stressful to watch me in pain and not be able to do anything about it.
Around 2:30 I started feeling contractions again on the left side. They started to get stronger and stronger and I asked if I could get more medicine for the pain. They checked me first and told me that Emily was ready! I was so relieved. The pain was her head pushing down in my hips.They had me push twice to see if I made any progress and made me stop because she was coming out pretty quickly and my doctor wasn't on her way yet. They called her and she headed over from the office on Brodie. It was hard not to push while she was on her way, everything in me really wanted to.
They were afraid that Emily was going to come before the doctor got there so they had another doctor waiting outside of my room just in case we couldn't wait any longer. The nurses got ready (they looked like they were heading into a rainstorm, apparently my doctor is notorious for being a bit messy!) and Dr. Eduardo finally showed up at 3:35. She got ready, had me push, and asked if I wanted to feel Emily's head.
Craziest feeling ever. My eyes got huge and my mom and Chris started laughing at me. I knew there was a baby in there, but after feeling her head I KNEW there was a baby there! It was enough incentive to have me try my hardest to get her out. In between pushes, Dr. Eduardo rubbed Emily's head. It was the first thing she felt on the outside, and she still really likes her head to be rubbed. Washing her hair really calms her down :)
I pushed a couple more times (I only pushed for 10 minutes!), suddenly felt all the pain and pressure relieved, and they put her on my chest at 3:50pm.
I can't explain how it felt to hold her for the first time. It was incredible. I was so happy to finally meet her, relieved that the delivery was over, and thrilled that I was no longer pregnant! They cleaned her off a bit, let me look at her, then took her across the room to examine her. She weighed in at 8 lb, .05 oz and 20 inches long. I can't believe I was carrying that around!When she came out, she had swallowed a lot of fluid and had the cord around her neck. She was breathing, but grunting for air. They had to give her a bath to get her screaming so they could get all of the fluid out of her lungs. They cleaned her up, patted her back and she went from a really pale white to a healthy pink color pretty quickly. After half an hour, they handed her back to me so I could feed her. It's such an amazing feeling to know that I have everything needed to sustain her tiny little body.
After a while, Chris got to hold her. She looks just like him. She's a tiny, soft, pink, female version of her daddy. She's got his eyes, his nose, his long feet and his hairline. Good thing I married a handsome man, Emily is beautiful! Chris' mom and sister were waiting outside and finally were able to come in to visit. Like I said earlier, I thought I wasn't going to want any visitors, but I really enjoyed having them there and watching them meet Emily for the first time.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Overdue October
Happy October, friends! Fall is in the air and Emily is still in my belly.
I'm 4 days overdue today and having mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I'm happy that she wasn't a premie, I'm able to prepare for my trip to the hospital (instead of waking up in the middle of the night wondering if my water broke or my bladder gave up on me), and that I haven't had to deal with the contractions and labor part of this story. On the other hand, I cried for an hour yesterday afternoon because I felt like my body and my brain could not take one more second of being pregnant. It really is exhausting, I feel like my body knows it should not be pregnant anymore and is just shutting down on me. On top of that, I've been sick and the medicine I take (just Tylenol cold) makes me super drowsy.
I've given up on Emily coming on her own and I'm planning on seeing her sometime Thursday afternoon. I go to the hospital at 5:30am to be induced. My mom told me that she was induced as well, I guess the women in our family just have super comfy uteri and our children never want to leave. I've heard that contractions are stronger and more painful with induction, but I am trying not to think about that. I'm concentrating on the happy part at the end of those contractions.
Last night, I told Chris I planned on taking Wednesday off work. It's my last day to relax before I'm a mom and my entire life changes. He said he didn't know why I needed the day off since I was about to get 6 weeks off. I wish he wouldn't look at this as a 6 week vacation. I'm already physically and mentally exhausted. I think I deserve one day to rest. The next 6 weeks are going to be great, but they are probably going to be the hardest 6 weeks of my life. I've never had a baby before, this is all brand new to me and sort of a huge deal. I know I can do it, but I still have my moments and need to be reassured during those times.
Men just don't understand how hard it is, they never will! At the wedding I went to this weekend, I overheard the groom's brother in law tell someone "if men were the ones who had to be pregnant and give birth, the human species would be extinct." Amen.
I will give Chris some credit- he did go to the store last night to buy ice cream, he even shared it with me and scooped it for me. It's the small things. Sometimes he drives me crazy, but I love him more than anything and really would do anything to make him happy. I have already seen what a fantastic dad he is, and I know couldn't have chosen a more perfect person to raise my children with.
It's also really sweet to see how excited he is about Emily's arrival. He is taking off work Thursday and Friday, and maybe Monday to help out for those first few days. I'm sure I will need all the help I can get.
In baby development news, I believe she has completely run out of room. Some of her kicks and movements hurt and my belly button is almost an outie (I thought it would never happen!). The stretch marks have gotten worse but I really could care less about those at this point. I am happy knowing that she is fully grown and completely cute and fat by now.
I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon. I would say I'm hoping for some progress, but I really don't expect there to be any. I'm happy with Thursday. October 7th was my dad's birthday so it will be special to have Emily share that with him.
I'm 4 days overdue today and having mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I'm happy that she wasn't a premie, I'm able to prepare for my trip to the hospital (instead of waking up in the middle of the night wondering if my water broke or my bladder gave up on me), and that I haven't had to deal with the contractions and labor part of this story. On the other hand, I cried for an hour yesterday afternoon because I felt like my body and my brain could not take one more second of being pregnant. It really is exhausting, I feel like my body knows it should not be pregnant anymore and is just shutting down on me. On top of that, I've been sick and the medicine I take (just Tylenol cold) makes me super drowsy.I've given up on Emily coming on her own and I'm planning on seeing her sometime Thursday afternoon. I go to the hospital at 5:30am to be induced. My mom told me that she was induced as well, I guess the women in our family just have super comfy uteri and our children never want to leave. I've heard that contractions are stronger and more painful with induction, but I am trying not to think about that. I'm concentrating on the happy part at the end of those contractions.
Last night, I told Chris I planned on taking Wednesday off work. It's my last day to relax before I'm a mom and my entire life changes. He said he didn't know why I needed the day off since I was about to get 6 weeks off. I wish he wouldn't look at this as a 6 week vacation. I'm already physically and mentally exhausted. I think I deserve one day to rest. The next 6 weeks are going to be great, but they are probably going to be the hardest 6 weeks of my life. I've never had a baby before, this is all brand new to me and sort of a huge deal. I know I can do it, but I still have my moments and need to be reassured during those times.
Men just don't understand how hard it is, they never will! At the wedding I went to this weekend, I overheard the groom's brother in law tell someone "if men were the ones who had to be pregnant and give birth, the human species would be extinct." Amen.
I will give Chris some credit- he did go to the store last night to buy ice cream, he even shared it with me and scooped it for me. It's the small things. Sometimes he drives me crazy, but I love him more than anything and really would do anything to make him happy. I have already seen what a fantastic dad he is, and I know couldn't have chosen a more perfect person to raise my children with.
It's also really sweet to see how excited he is about Emily's arrival. He is taking off work Thursday and Friday, and maybe Monday to help out for those first few days. I'm sure I will need all the help I can get.
In baby development news, I believe she has completely run out of room. Some of her kicks and movements hurt and my belly button is almost an outie (I thought it would never happen!). The stretch marks have gotten worse but I really could care less about those at this point. I am happy knowing that she is fully grown and completely cute and fat by now.
I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon. I would say I'm hoping for some progress, but I really don't expect there to be any. I'm happy with Thursday. October 7th was my dad's birthday so it will be special to have Emily share that with him.
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