Stressful Day

Yesterday was a really stressful day. First, Summer didn't sleep well, she was waking up every 2 2 1/2 hours so I didn't get much sleep. Then we had the two week check up at 1:30, so the stress of getting everything ready, and getting to the appointment on time is always fun. At her appointment we found out that she was not 7 pounds 11 ounces when she was born, she was more likely 7 pounds 6 ounces. The hospital uses grams, so they did not calculate her weight correctly. As of yesterday she is up from her birth weight, I think 7 pounds, 8 ounces. She is also now 21 1/2 inches long, up from her birth of 18 1/2 inches long. She checked out just fine, but had to have another blood test, which consist of slicing her foot and milking it for blood. I could not hold her to do it, Kris had to, it was too painful for me (I was almost crying) and yet, she barely made a noise. Oh ya, also, her belly cord came off yesterday, I was changing her diaper and it just came off. I have no clue what you are suppose to do with it, do you keep it or just throw it away?
Anyway, after the doctor appointment, we picked up Terri and Kevin (meemee and papa) and went out to eat at the Outback. The food was great. Summer did good, she even had a bottle while we were at the table. I had to change her diaper, and the bathroom did not have a changing area, so I used the area between the sinks, good thing the diaper bag has a changing pad! Once we got home, Summer got her first bath! She actually liked it, she had a look of "this is new" on her face, but it was so cute and she smelled so yummy! I was in bed by 8:00 and luckily, slept better last night ;o)

Things I have learned ...

• Not everything goes as planned. I was scheduled to be induced on the 24th, but my water broke on the 13th.
• I was in the hospital 2 days with my c-section, and not once got into my hospital bag. I also did not pack a baby bag, and the nurses told me just to use their things. They had all the diapers, outfits, blankets, wipes, and I didn't have to use my own things. They also had a toothbrush and toothpaste, and soap in the shower, so I didn't need any of that. I also didn't need a nightgown or my own bathrobe. I am glad I didn't stress over getting that bag packed! Of course a vaginal delivery might be different.
• I didn't expect ot have the baby in my room all night, I thought they took them to the nursery, but no, I had Summer all night, and I am glad, we bonded :o)
• I thought I would be in a lot more pain, but I really never had any, I am glad!
• It is really boring to stay home all day, babies sleep too much :o)
• I had all the baby furniture, clothes, baby items in the nursery (upstairs) and slowly it is moving down into my room (the changing table, clothes, diapers, blankets, etc).
• It is hard to take a nap in the day. Everyone says to nap when the baby does, but even though I am exhausted, I have trouble sleeping during the day!
• I never knew how much love I could have for a baby. I am so protective of Summer, and so in love, it amazes me.

Love

Last night was a good night, Summer sleeps about 3-4 hours, so she only got up twice, and she went right back to sleep. We woke up around 7 this morning, and even got an hour nap! We gave her her first butt bath (I hadn't heard of this) where we sat her in the sink with a little water to wash the butt, and she hated it. I am wondering how the bath is going to go in a few weeks. I found a cute little dress in her size, so we put it on and took some cute pictures. Summer was up for a long time today, so maybe she will be nice and tired tonight. Who knew being a mom would be so awesome, I am just loving it.

7 Days Old

Last night Summer slept so good, she only got up twice, so I got a lot of rest, and today I feel great. I mailed out the birth announcements, so I feel like I have accomplished something. I took a shower and shaved my legs, I feel human now. I am so in love with Summer, have I mentioned that before? Well, here are some more photos of my sweet baby, and here is a video link I took this morning. Summer was in her crib, and just woke up and is cranky because she is hungry - I love it when she is hungry, she opens her mouth like a little bird or she sucks on her hands.

6 Days

6 days has past, and Summer is doing great, still absolutely beautiful. I still feel weird sitting at home, I feel like I am waiting for something to happen, I guess I have never been able to "stay" home before. I have been getting about 1-2 hours of sleep at a time, for about 3-4 hours total a night. I usually try to get a nap in during the day, but it is hard for me to sleep when she naps, I am not sure why, and I have no clue how I am not exhausted.
Have I mentioned how precious Summer is? I love when she is hungry and opens her mouth wide like a little bird, and I love giving her open kisses. She hates having her diaper changed, well the cold wipes, but stops crying as soon as it is over. She rarely ever cries, only when she is hungry and I am waiting on the bottle. She will take a pacifier, but doesn't need it to fall asleep. She makes the cutest noises when she sleeps too. She is asleep right now and I just can't help staring at her. I am so in love with her!

Summer is Great!

I think I have finally notified everyone, sorry it took so long. I am feeling better each day, I went to the grocery store today with my mom and we should have enough food for a week, and a lot of healthy food too! Here is another picture of my cutie, enjoy!

2 Days as a Mommie

We came home yesterday, and talk about scared. Luckily I am way more comfortable at home, even without all of the nurses and doctors to help out. I can't believe you can just have a new baby, and in two days you know everything you need to know, so they send you home. The first night home was actually refreshing, Summer sleeps in 4 hours increments, so I really got a lot of rest. I was (am) so worried she isn't eating enough, and I ended up starting her on formula as well as the breast. I am probably confusing her, so today I bought a breast pump, and will just give her breast milk in the bottle. That will make going back to work easier. Speaking of work, I can't believe I am going to be home for 6 weeks. I guess I do need to recover, because today I went to Target with my mom (who arrived today YAY) to get the breast pump and that short trip wore me out. I am afraid I am over doing it, but there is still so much left to do, yet when I take the ibuprofen, I really don't feel much pain. Well I need to keep this one short, mom just finished making dinner so I am going to eat, I am starving!

Pictures of Summer!

Happy Birthday Summer!

Friday, July 13th, 2007.

My last day of work, I made it (or so I thought). I woke up at 6:30 to my alarm, lay in bed for about 5 minutes, got up and went to the bathroom. I went pee and sat on the toilet for a second waiting to wake up. All of a sudden I heard a big gush hit the water. I knew it was my water, I had just went pee. I also knew Summer was still breach and I could not go into labor, and I was home alone. I put a pad on (I was still leaking water) and went and got my cell phone (I was shaking) and sat back on the toilet and called Kris. I told him my water broke, and he thought I was kidding. I finally convinced him and told him I would just meet him at the hospital (he was right across the street on base, I was about 15-20 minutes away with good traffic). I called labor and delivery and told them my water broke, they said come in and they would verify,and they were very patient about it. I didn't know what to take, I brushed my teeth, put my hair back in a pony tail, grabbed my "hospital" bag - it had three pairs of socks, a tooth brush, toothpaste, and my disability paperwork, and that was about it. I changed out my soaked pad with another, and grabbed a towel on the way out the door to the hospital.

As I was driving to the hospital (still shaking, I was so scared), I called work (it took me three tries to call my boss) and then I called my mom. I was scared to call her because she was suppose to be here for the birth and I knew she was going to miss it. She was actually ok, and excited. I then called Kris again, and told him just to meet me in labor and delivery.

I felt the first contraction as I arrived at the hospital but luckily it wasn't very intense. I got to the parking space and had soaked through another pad, got a little on my car seat, but I was able to hop out quickly so it mostly went on the ground. I used the towel to wrap around myself and went into the hospital. Luckily around 7:00-7:15, there wasn't many people there yet.

I got to labor and delivery, wearing a towel, and went into a room. I undressed, tried to stop the water (that was still leaking) and got in a bed. They put monitors on me and detected the heartbeat. The water was still leaking, I couldn't believe how much water there was. The doctor came in and did a exam, ouch she had to push hard, and determined I was dialed to about a 3. She got the old ultrasound machine and saw there was no water around Summer, so they didn't have to test to see if my water had broke (not to mention the bed was soaked). The doctor then did a visual exam, but there was so much water she could not see, but thought she could see the cord (which is very bad when the cord is coming out first). Maybe by this time I had one other contraction, still not bad.

So I was in the room around 7:30, and Summer was born at 8:11, so at this point things went real quick. The elevated the end of the bed to keep the cord from coming out, the anastecologist came in, I signed paperwork, they started an IV, and the next thing I knew, I was being wheeled into the operating room. Kris was there standing around somewhere, I had lost him at this point.

In the operating room there were about 10 different doctors and nurses doing this and that. We didn't have a camera, but luckily Kris had someone bring him one from work (shew). I received a spinal block, it took a few pokes, but I was really surprised that it did not hurt. I was laying down, my knees were at my chest and my chin was to my chest, and this is when I did actually feel a stronger contraction. Once the spinal block was in, I had an air mask on my face, I was lying out, they were swabbing my stomach, and I was afraid I wasn't all the way numb. I even told the anastesiologst I wasn't numb yet, and he said they had already started cutting, so I said ok never mind I guess I am numb :o)

Kris was sitting next to me, I was squeezing two of his fingers, and some nurse with a mask kept telling me how good I was doing. They kept telling me to take deep breaths, and I asked Kris, "am I taking a deep breath?" because I couldn't tell. Once they were all cut, they said I would feel pressure, and oh ya it almost took my breath out, and I bet I tensed up, but it was over quick. I guess the baby came out because Kris said "do you hear that?" and I said, "no, do I hear what?" and then I heard it, and I said, "I heard that!". I was really cool. I was still being operated on, wishing they were done and this was over, and they were cleaning Summer off. Her apgars were either 8/9 or 9/8 - so I knew she was ok. Kris went and took some pictures of her, but only pictures of her cleaned.They took her to the nursery and Kris left with her, I guess I was all sewed up, I ended up having internal stitches and external glue, Kris said they used a torch somehow.

It seemed to me like it took forever for them to sew me up. I did get to see a glimpse of her, but I couldn't see much, she was wrapped in a blanket and she had a hat on her head. I also did not know what she weighed yet. Then ... I started shaking. They said the hormones and the drugs were doing it. I would have felt ok if it wasn't for the shaking. I was taken to the recovery room and was still shaking, they gave me some demoral. While in recovery, my blood pressure was still going up, which was making me scared. I shouldn't have looked ...

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I was wheeled into my room. Kris was already in the room with the baby. It was about 10:00, so I was in recovery a while I guess. I still didn't know what she weighted, but finally in the room, I was able to see the tag on the bassinet, she was 7 pounds, 11 ounces, 18.5 inches long, and technically she was 12 days early.

I spend the most of Friday recovering, all the drugs and I was druggy. Kris held her and just stared at her most of the day. He ended up taking over 60 pictures before he left . We were both taking pictures with our sidekicks and emailing everyone. My blood pressure was up all day on the 13th, and I had to take a pill, but it finally went back to normal. Two days later, I am home, feeling great, walking around, and my mom arrives tomorrow to help for the month YAY!

Breastfeeding has been an interesting challenge. All she wanted to do was sleep, and she had issues latching on, but the nurses said she had enough to keep her full for a while. Just today has she really latched on, but I have formula too just incase, and ended up giving her about 4 ounces between today and yesterday just to make sure she wasn't starving. She did end up losing 7 or 9 ounces, which they said is fine, so I am not worried. I try to breastfeed every 4 hours, but I have to wake her up to do it.

I will post pictures as soon as I sort through the 60 and find good ones, and as soon as Kris puts them on the computer! Sorry so long, I bet I forgot something important!

37 Weeks and Counting

I made it another week, Summer is still breach, my blood pressure is still high, but I guess it could be worse. I saw the doctor again this morning, everything looks good and everything is still on as planned, I will be induced on the 24th, either vaginally (if they can turn her) or with a c-section (if she is stubborn). I have to quit working a week earlier than normal so I can relax to help my blood pressure, which makes me sad, I like working, but I will do what I have to do. This picture was taken on the 4th of July with Killer, he just loves to pose (not!)

Breach Turning

Well I went in to see if the doctor could turn Summer today. After getting naked, putting on a robe, getting an IV, giving blood, getting a shot to relax my uterus and waiting over an hour, the doctor comes in and gives it his best three shots to turn her stubborn butt but ... nope, she wasn't having any of it.

It was not the most painful thing I have ever done, but there were some times when his damn thumb was jabbing me and I was like ouch ouch ouch and tensing my stomach, which I am sure did not help anything.

So the plan now is to come back on July 24th (the day before my due date) and get an epidural and try again. If she finally turns, I will be induced and hopefully deliver. If she does not turn, I will be prepped for a c-section.

I must admit, I was (am) really surprised how opposed to c-sections the doctor is. I am glad, I think too many doctors are just ready to go into major surgery. I am also happy to have a date, it is nice knowing when your baby will arrive.