Monday, July 4, 2016
Old Habits
I had outgrown sleeping in. Pre-pregnancy, I was usually up by 8 on the weekends to go on runs or slept in until 9 am at most. Now with the baby and I live in three hour increments, I'm exhausted, but still can't force myself to sleep past 9:30 am even if I'm running on 4 hours of sleep. Like last night for example, I was until 4 am due to a certain screaming bundle and up again at 7 am for a feeding and back in bed at 8 am only to wake up at 9:30 am. It just feels lazy or wasteful to sleep during waking hours.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Captain's log: day 30 - One month!
One month is a different milestone than 4 weeks, right?
Our little peanut is one month old today! She's kicking butt at tummy time, has learned to use a bottle and a pacifier in the last week. She's got a pretty consistent schedule though I wouldn't call her a good sleeper, but we've gotten pretty good at deducing what's keeping her from sleeping.
My college friend Lynn stopped by to visit with her husband and their adorable daughter Penelope. They brought lunch and a belated shower gift.
It always seems like a luxury to have people over nowadays, but even better when it's another parent. I find I like discussing the trials and tribulations of being a new parent.
The quilt she made me is amaze-balls. I love it! Lynn is very talented!
Captain's log: day 29 - Goldilocks
Elise must have been Goldilocks in another life. She needs just the right amount of food in her for her to nap/sleep properly. Too little and her naps are too short. Too much and she cries for hours until she spits up everything. It doesn't help that the hubster insists that I feed her when he can't get her to settle down which leads to more overfeed spit up situations where I am usually the recipient of said spit up
We're working on learning her cues.
Friday, July 1, 2016
My Birth Story: Part 1
I figured I would throw this out there.
My birth story actually starts a little more than a week before Elise arrived. I had a regularly scheduled appointment for Monday and the doctor was going to do a cervix check to see how far along I was and to make sure Elise was in the right position of head down. Lo and behold, she was not. She was head up and after what happened over the next couple of days, I think she was head up the entire time!
I had no real set birth plan, but I was a little devastated that I was hearing the words C-section for my delivery. I had no visions of a medication free labor, more of a go as long as I can stand the pain and then get an epidural approach, but I did want to experience labor. All the studies that state vaginal is better for the baby didn't help either.
The doctor let me know my options. I could proceed and schedule the C-section or I could try a procedure called an external cephalic version where you manually try to turn the baby right side up. The risks of the procedure would all end in an emergency C-section if they were realized and the success rate was 50%. I was barely holding it together and near tears, so I said I needed to talk to my husband. I also realized that if the procedure was scheduled for that week than my mom and dad were both out of town and I wanted at least my mom here if something went wrong.
The hubster and I discussed it at home and decided we wanted to give it a shot. In hindsight, after receiving the bill for the version, we might not have done it, but then again, with my insurance, I was going to meet my high deductible anyway. I guess I didn't know how much I wanted a vaginal birth until then. Funny how things change... and change.
The version was scheduled for Wednesday, I had to fast for 8 hours beforehand and it was a 1 pm appointment. I was hungry! Overall, the version is pretty straightforward. They monitored the baby for about 30 minutes to make sure everything was ok in babyland. I got some meds to make my uterus relax. They lubed me up and the doctor just used her hands to manipulate the baby.
Let me add that prior to making the decision to proceed with the version, I had watched youtube videos of other versions. It didn't seem so bad, but I later found out that in the States, they don't give pain medication for the version, so I felt every push and turn. And it hurt. They got Elise about 80% of the way turned, but just couldn't get her to settle into my pelvis. The doctor wanted to try to go the other direction, but I was done. The version wasn't even the worst part. They had to monitor me and the baby for another hour before releasing me to ensure that the baby would not have an adverse reaction to the procedure. That wasn't going to happen. I was having contractions (the ones I couldn't feel) too often and they kept me for another 2 hours. That is 3 extra hours of not eating. I had not had anything to eat since 4:20 am and was not released from the hospital until 5:00 pm which had us fighting traffic to get home and to get food!
The good news was that the doctor was able to unset Elise's butt from my pelvis and that offered a little hope that she may turn on her own prior to the C-section which was scheduled for the following Thursday and I had a regular appointment on Wednesday. The days leading up to the Wednesday appointment, I swear Elise was moving in new places and I had hopes that she had moved, but at the same time, I didn't want her to move. It had taken some time and lots of tears to accept the C-section. It was major surgery and not what I had first envisioned, but it came down to getting Elise into this world as safely as possible. It was also nice knowing exactly when she was due and prior to that week, I had not felt any contractions.
On Wednesday, we confirmed that she had not moved one bit and was quite happy and content in her current position. Thursday was on! We had planned a semi-nice dinner out as a last hurrah as non-parents. It was kind of surreal and with the C-section the next day, it was kind of hard to enjoy it.
That was a long post for not including any part of the actual birth. Stay tuned for part 2 which I promise will end in a baby!
My birth story actually starts a little more than a week before Elise arrived. I had a regularly scheduled appointment for Monday and the doctor was going to do a cervix check to see how far along I was and to make sure Elise was in the right position of head down. Lo and behold, she was not. She was head up and after what happened over the next couple of days, I think she was head up the entire time!
I had no real set birth plan, but I was a little devastated that I was hearing the words C-section for my delivery. I had no visions of a medication free labor, more of a go as long as I can stand the pain and then get an epidural approach, but I did want to experience labor. All the studies that state vaginal is better for the baby didn't help either.
The doctor let me know my options. I could proceed and schedule the C-section or I could try a procedure called an external cephalic version where you manually try to turn the baby right side up. The risks of the procedure would all end in an emergency C-section if they were realized and the success rate was 50%. I was barely holding it together and near tears, so I said I needed to talk to my husband. I also realized that if the procedure was scheduled for that week than my mom and dad were both out of town and I wanted at least my mom here if something went wrong.
The hubster and I discussed it at home and decided we wanted to give it a shot. In hindsight, after receiving the bill for the version, we might not have done it, but then again, with my insurance, I was going to meet my high deductible anyway. I guess I didn't know how much I wanted a vaginal birth until then. Funny how things change... and change.
The version was scheduled for Wednesday, I had to fast for 8 hours beforehand and it was a 1 pm appointment. I was hungry! Overall, the version is pretty straightforward. They monitored the baby for about 30 minutes to make sure everything was ok in babyland. I got some meds to make my uterus relax. They lubed me up and the doctor just used her hands to manipulate the baby.
Let me add that prior to making the decision to proceed with the version, I had watched youtube videos of other versions. It didn't seem so bad, but I later found out that in the States, they don't give pain medication for the version, so I felt every push and turn. And it hurt. They got Elise about 80% of the way turned, but just couldn't get her to settle into my pelvis. The doctor wanted to try to go the other direction, but I was done. The version wasn't even the worst part. They had to monitor me and the baby for another hour before releasing me to ensure that the baby would not have an adverse reaction to the procedure. That wasn't going to happen. I was having contractions (the ones I couldn't feel) too often and they kept me for another 2 hours. That is 3 extra hours of not eating. I had not had anything to eat since 4:20 am and was not released from the hospital until 5:00 pm which had us fighting traffic to get home and to get food!
The good news was that the doctor was able to unset Elise's butt from my pelvis and that offered a little hope that she may turn on her own prior to the C-section which was scheduled for the following Thursday and I had a regular appointment on Wednesday. The days leading up to the Wednesday appointment, I swear Elise was moving in new places and I had hopes that she had moved, but at the same time, I didn't want her to move. It had taken some time and lots of tears to accept the C-section. It was major surgery and not what I had first envisioned, but it came down to getting Elise into this world as safely as possible. It was also nice knowing exactly when she was due and prior to that week, I had not felt any contractions.
On Wednesday, we confirmed that she had not moved one bit and was quite happy and content in her current position. Thursday was on! We had planned a semi-nice dinner out as a last hurrah as non-parents. It was kind of surreal and with the C-section the next day, it was kind of hard to enjoy it.
That was a long post for not including any part of the actual birth. Stay tuned for part 2 which I promise will end in a baby!
Maternity Wardrobe
Let's start off saying that I hate maternity clothes. I hate how everything is either an empire waist or ruched. I knew very early on that I didn't want to waste money on strictly maternity clothes and wanted clothes that I could potentially wear after I gave birth. I also knew that some maternity clothes could not be avoided (i.e. pants). So here is a list clothes that I bought while pregnant.
Of the items listed, only 4 are specifically maternity (i.e. contain panels or extra length). Even the Splendid tank top could be worn as a regular tank top although long. Most of the items I simply sized up. I usually like things fitted (not tight, but fit well to my body), but I think these items I will still wear. I'm finding that many of the items are working well for me postpartum before I lose all the baby weight especially the shorts now that it's summer and HOT in Poway.
I wasn't really keeping track of the number of items I was buying, but I really didn't think it would tally to 18! That seems like a high number, but consider how much I would have spent and what I would have bought over the course of 10 months if I weren't pregnant, I think I did exercise restraint.
- Splendid Maternity Tank
- Paige Maternity Jeans - Verdugo Ultra Skinny in Nottingham
- Paige Maternity Jeans - Verdugo Ultra Skinny in Black Shadow
- H&M Basic Tank Top
- J. Crew Factory red sleeveless shell
- Free People Pearls V-Neck T-Shirt
- Vince Camuto Short Sleeve High/Low hem blouse
- Splendid Maternity Leggings
- Rebecca Minkoff Raven Striped Dress
- Kohls Black Maxi
- Kohls Black Striped Maxi
- Gray T-shirt
- White Thermal
- Free People Sweater
- Anthropologie Ballet Sweater
- Grey Sweater Tunic
- ASOS white denim maternity shorts
- Vince Camuto Organza High/Low hem dress
- Ascis Everysport Shorts
- Adidas Running Shorts
Of the items listed, only 4 are specifically maternity (i.e. contain panels or extra length). Even the Splendid tank top could be worn as a regular tank top although long. Most of the items I simply sized up. I usually like things fitted (not tight, but fit well to my body), but I think these items I will still wear. I'm finding that many of the items are working well for me postpartum before I lose all the baby weight especially the shorts now that it's summer and HOT in Poway.
I wasn't really keeping track of the number of items I was buying, but I really didn't think it would tally to 18! That seems like a high number, but consider how much I would have spent and what I would have bought over the course of 10 months if I weren't pregnant, I think I did exercise restraint.
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