Sleepy Baby

So I finally got GV to sleep in his playpen without waking up.  The past few days he's been waking up almost as soon as I put him down to sleep. While I love that his favorite place to sleep is in my arms, I'm doing my back in from holding him. So I ordered a mei tai from BabyHawk. Now I'm chomping at the bit to get it.  I knew there were instructions here to make your own but considering that it's taken me 6 weeks and I'm no where near even at least half way done crocheting GV's blanket.  I think pulling out the sewing machine and going to the store for fabric would be just too much.

GV is doing fantastic.  His one month checkup was on Tuesday (5 weeks). He's now 24" tall - 98%tile, 11 lbs 14 oz - 90%tile and his head is 15.5" - 69%tile. He got his HepB shot too. That needle was huge! He did not enjoy it at all and let everyone know with a big wail. But he calmed down real quick with a big hug from me and some comforting words from Kevin. The ped noticed some stiffness in his neck when turning his head to the right, which is why he's more prone to look/rest his head to the left rather than right. She said it wasn't a big deal but we have to do a chin to shoulder stretch and an ear to shoulder stretch. He does not like the ear to shoulder stretch.

In other news, this is my first post from my new MBP! That's right, I got a Ma.cBook Pr.o! So exciting! It's my new mom gift. It was between that and a ip.hone 4. But since I'm not an early adopter type of Mac fan I went with the MBP.

Also some more exciting news: Kevin got a job offer! It's only a verbal offer but the letter is on it's way (hopefully!). Yes it means we're moving. Out of state. I don't want to jinx ourselves though so I'll write more about it on Monday since we should get the letter then.

One Month

Dear GV,

Today you are one month old. Wow! How did we get here? You are such a special baby. Your daddy and I love you so very much. You were worth the wait.

You've had a great and busy month.

• You started in the NICU but did so well that you came out in less than 24 hours. 
• When you came home both Dave and Les were infatuated with you. Dave watched over you and Les was unhappy with us anytime you fretted or cried.  
• You got your first bottle from Daddy at 4 days.  Mom & Nina went out during your 2pm feeding so Dad took care of you.
• Even though we had a rocky start to breastfeeding, you became a champion and it only took you 6 days to get back up to birth weight. 
• Your first road trip (to Florida for Chicken's wedding) was at 6 days. You were a great traveller!
• You met Chicklet for the first time at 8 days! She gave you a big hug!
• You rolled over at 9 days! All by yourself. Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Nina and I were all there watching you do it.
• Your first party was at 10 days. Chicken & J's rehearsal dinner. You slept through the whole thing.
• Your second party was at 11 days. Chicken & J's wedding.  You and I had our first mother-son dance. I cried because I was so happy.
• First beach visit at 12 days. We only spent about 5 minutes there because you and your mommy got really hot.
• Second road trip at 13 days. Back home. Also, you pooped on your mommy. So much poop that it came out of your diaper. Ugh!
• Grandma and Grandpa arrived for their visit when you were 17 days old. Nina missed you so much that she came too.
• Your first 4th of July at 19 days. Grandma was so excited you had three(!) outfits to wear that day. You lost your umbilical cord today.
• You met your Uncle E at 20 days. You also went out to eat for the first time. You did great! Also you pooped on your Dad while he was feeding you. Ha! Ha!
• Because your ped was on vacation when you hit 2 weeks you didn't go for your 2 week checkup till you were 3 weeks old. You rocked the scale at 10lbs 1oz. Someone is a great nurser!
• That day you finally started using your gpants. Mommy wanted to get a picture of the g on your bum, but you didn't want to. So you rolled over. Again and again. About 6 or 7 times. 
• Your first bath was at 22 days. You liked it at first but then wanted to be dry again. Like now. We took way too long to pat you dry.
• Our first day on our own was at 29 days. Nina had gone home long ago, Grandma & Grandpa has left a few days earlier and Daddy went back to work. We had a great day and were very excited when Daddy came home for lunch and at the end of the day.

You are such a good baby. You only get upset when you're hungry.  Much like your dad. Also you don't like having your diaper changed at night. We're hoping that having a wipes warmer will make this a much more pleasant experience. You don't like being hot but you love being outdoors. You don't like being strapped into your car seat but love being swung while in your car seat. During the day you like to be awake after feedings for about an hour or so and then you're ready for a nap. You get the hiccups, a lot. "They" say they don't bug you, but they bug me. You don't like pacifiers. You have 8 and you don't like any of them. I think it's because you don't see the point of them.

Daddy and I love you so much. You are the best part of us.

Love,
Mommy
xxx

The Day Between

So I've been holding onto this post for the past week.  There are so many things that I want to write about but between all the stuff happening, my innate laziness and all our visitors this post is taking forever to finish.  So I will hit publish at the end of this moment of silence and we'll see what happens.

• First, GV is a fantastic baby.  According to sources he looks exactly like me.  He has Kevin's ears though. Pointy Spock ears.  He also has Kevin's wrinkled forehead.  But he has my eyes and nose.
• The gdiapers are going okay.  We used the tiny gpants once we got home from the hospital but then switched to disposables on the way down to Florida and while in Florida. Then it was just easier to stay on them (myMom bought a huge box that we still haven't gone through yet) but finally decided to save them for trips out and about since it's easier.  Now we're using size small little gpants. A couple of leaks and but at least we haven't had poo leaks like we've had with the the 'sposies.
• Breastfeeding is going great. I have a post coming about it.
• We had our first ped appt the day after we came home from the hospital and GV was doing great.  He has a blocked tear duct on his right eye.  He weighed in at 8lbs 6 oz.  She thought it was the lowest he'd get. She also wants us to time feedings during the day to about 2-2.5 hours apart and feedings at night to 4 hours apart.  We often had to wake him up for his day feedings and magically we had to wake him up a couple of times for his night feedings.
• Our second ped appt was at 6 days (Monday).  She wanted us to come in on Tuesday but because we were going down to Florida we had to do Monday.  GV was up to 8lbs 10oz. His birth weight! Also we got prescribed something for his eye. Putting that in was painful, not for GV, for us.
• The trip down to Florida (Monday-Tuesday) went well.  Originally Wiki was going to fly back down to Florida on the Saturday but she didn't so that she could drive down with us.  We had to stop every two and a half hours to feed GV but he did well. We stopped in SC overnight and Kevin had a job interview that morning. It went well (we think) but we're not sure what's going to come of it. Right now there's not actually a position, but they're interested in Kevin. We got to Florida around 1am.  After a quick feeding GV got to spend some time with his grandparents.
• I had my first tear filled meltdown when we started the drive down to Florida. Everytime we got into the car I was really freaked out about how GV's chin would rest on his chest. I thought for sure he would stop breathing and worse I would be sitting right next to him and not know till it was too late.  I tried explaining my concern to Kevin and Wiki but the weren't as concerned as I was and so I burst into tears before we even got out of RVA. But I texted Chicken and she had the same fears I did so she told me to use receiving blankets to prop up his head.  I could breathe after doing that.
• I seriously thought there was going to be a throw down between myDad, myMom & Wiki over who would hold GV first after feedings.

Okay fretting. More later.

Hello My Son, part two

When GV was born he didn't give out that lusty cry (he was making noise though).  They cleaned him up while he was on me and then after a short while moved him to the baby station the check him over.  Because he wasn't giving that lusty cry they were concerned that he wasn't clearing the fluid out of his lungs and fully opening the air sacs in his lungs.  They still couldn't get him to cry out and the decision was made to NICU. Meanwhile Dr. P was seeing to me (2nd degree tear). They eventually let Wiki back into the room (she left when I started pushing) so we all got to see him until they took him away.

In the NICU they gave GV an IV and started him on antibiotics.  Apparently when they stuck him he gave the yell but because they started the IV they had to finish it up. Which is messed up because they gave him the IV because he wouldn't cry out.

Around 4pm they transferred me to the postpartum room but we got to stop by the NICU first. GV was so precious and little in that special bed but then you'd look at the other babies next to him and he was a giant compared to them. We weren't allowed to hold him then but they said when he got moved to the other NICU room then we would get to hold him. We were told that we could visit with him whenever we wanted but that at 9pm he would have a feeding.

We went to the room and updated family and made phone calls and such. Also the postpartum nurse brought the hospital breast pump so that I could start pumping since I couldn't breastfeed right away.  The amount I got was pathetic considering I had those things on my boops for 15 minutes.  But they said it was a good amount.  The NICU nurse had said to send anything down and they would add it to the formula he would be getting at 9pm.  When Wiki dropped it off they had already moved him down to the other room.  We went down for his feeding (we missed it by a few minutes) but I finally got to hold him.  He was so quiet and with such huge eyes. Kevin got to hold him afterwards. Wiki went home after the visit and the NICU nurse said that I should pump for the next feeding but then we would try to get him to latch and nurse for a bit after his midnight feeding.

Hello My Son

On Monday morning, June 14th, around 3:15am I woke up with a bad AF-type cramp.  It passed after a few minutes and I fell back asleep. Then about 30 minutes later I had another one. That was the pattern for the day.  A cramp every 30-45 minutes, nothing bad, just uncomfortable.  So I was looking forward to my OB appt & NST because I thought for sure I would be more dilated or something. I even warned Kevin that I might be calling him after my appt and having him meet me at the hospital.

My appt was at 1pm. Dr. P was at the hospital with a delivery so I saw the on call OB instead. He was horrible. Let's just say that he wasn't the gentlest of doctors when doing the cervical check. I was still at less than 1 cm. The NST was okay. GV didn't really move that much but I had a couple of cramps while hooked up on the machine so I was able to see those and his reaction to them.  Afterwards Wiki and I went to a couple of stores and then met Kevin back at the house for a late dinner. Before dinner, around 7pm, the cramps started to get more frequent and hurt a bit more. They were about four to five minutes apart. Wiki wanted me to call the OB but I wanted to wait. Since I hadn't had any Braxton-Hicks, I wanted to make sure these weren't them.  I knew eating/drinking and lying down could help relieve them so we had dinner and afterwards I laid down on the couch. They slowed to around 8 minutes apart.  But then the cramps changed to contractions. The pain was low (under the belly) but then would move around to my lower back. Plus they went to being 3-4 minutes apart. So finally around 10pm I called the OB. It was the same OB I saw in the morning. Grrr. But he did say that I should go in to the hospital. Kevin finished off the hospital bag and then we got in his car while Wiki drove my car.

Somehow my purse ended up in my car with Wiki so when we got to the hospital they wouldn't do anything because I didn't have my ID or insurance card. Kevin kept explaining to them that my sister had my stuff and the lady kept saying that I needed it before I could go to L&D. They accused Kevin of "freaking out" which he got really annoyed about. Finally Wiki showed up right when the L&D nurse did so she told them she was taking me back while Wiki finished off my registration.  What was especially annoying was that I had pre-registered and gone in on Friday to finish off my registration (in case of induction) and they still wouldn't let me in until they saw my ID and insurance card and asked me tons of questions which I had already answered multiple times.

I finally made it to the room around 10:45pm. I got the first cervical check around 11:20pm and was 1-2 cm. They told me since I had made progress since my appt that afternoon that the on call OB said I could have an epidural as soon as I wanted.  The pain wasn't that bad so I told them not yet.  It wasn't that I didn't want an epidural, it's just that I had a fear of them sticking something in my spine. I knew the pain was going to have to be bad enough that the fear was negated.  Anyways they gave me something that took the edge off but around 1am it wore off and I was ready for the epidural.

They let Kevin stay in the room with me but made Wiki leave.  They did the first part of the epidural (where I think they numb you up) and then when the anesthesiologist tried to do the second part I got a shooting pain that wrapped around my left lower back. I yelled.  They tried getting me to explain the pain and I couldn't very well.  So he tried again and I yelled in pain again with the eyes watering up.  He asked me if I had any back injuries and I told him no. He tried once more and this time it was more of a scream with tears falling.  So finally he decided to try a different location. I didn't feel a thing this time.  Later while I was thinking about it, I do have this thing with my back sometimes.  If I'm sitting and I stretch sometimes I'll trigger a pinched nerve in my back (pain on the left side). So I think he found it. If I have more kids I'll have to find out which vertebrae they should not touch!

Shortly after the epidural (1:30am) they checked me again and I was 3-4 cm.  At this point they told us we could get some sleep since we were just waiting for the dilation to happen on it's own. With the epidural in this was possible so we sent Wiki home and Kevin coverted the couch to a bed and settled in. The nurse came back around 3am for another check and I was at 5.5 cm.  Then when the on call OB showed up at 6am they checked me again (boy was I glad for the epidural when he had to check me) and I was at 6 cm and GV was at -1 position.  They decided to break the sac to help aid in dilation (figuring the pressure of GV on the cervix would help). Right after they broke the bag though I got hit with a sudden wave of nausea and my dinner came back out.  It was the first time I lost any meal during this entire pregnancy.

Dr. P came in around 10am and I was at 7-8 cm.  The nurse was guessing that I'd deliver before noon. But then the infection came.  I got the shakes real bad and my temperature started rising.  GV's heartbeat shot up above the normal range.  They gave me oxygen hoping to bring his heartbeat back down but it wasn't doing anything.  So they gave me some antibiotics and kept a close watch on GV.  They also started talking about possibly having to do a c-section because of the infection but when they checked me again just before noon, I was at 9.75 cm but with an anterior lip. By this time Dr. P was around. They needed the lip to go away before I could start pushing. So we waited a bit and after about half an hour it was gone so I could start pushing. But then GV turned from being face down so Dr. P had to help him reposition. But in less than an hour GV was born. They placed him on me and Kevin and I got to say hello to our son. He was born at 1:20pm, 8 lbs 10 oz and 22.5 inches.

Down but not out

GV is in his playard, being quiet, but not sleeping.  He got the hiccups right after his feeding which woke him up from his feeding induced nap.  He's gotten rid of them but now he'll be lying there awake most of the interval between feedings.  At least he's not crying. Okay, now he's starting to make noise...

Last night was actually one of the best nights we've had since we got back home from Florida. He woke up to nurse, nursed and then went back to bed twice.  With at least three hours between feedings. Then after the third one he stayed up a bit. Kevin has been great about getting up and seeing if he can get him to go back down before waking me up. Kevin has been great about a lot of things. But more on that later.

Okay you can't tell but there was an hour break there because GV started fussing a lot.  So I had to take him upstairs to his swing. But I did manage to get his room back in order.  Since his birth we've just been dumping everything in his room. It stayed a mess because we're not really using his room yet. Once we get his furniture in (still not around!) then we'll start using the room more.

And it's time for his next feeding. Gotta go wake him up now. Well get him up, I can hear him stirring. Can I just tell you how much I love this kid? A lot!