1/2 way through my maternity leave

I KNEW the time would fly by, and boy has it.  Can't believe Peanut will be a month old on Friday.  Still trying to find our rhythm, infants aren't the most consistent of creatures.  We're going through something that I will blog about at a later date once it's more resolved, and I think that is contributing to errant fussiness and a LACK of sleep anywhere not on a human body.  Obviously, 4 weeks old is too young to "sleep train", but we have to start trying to get him to understand crib=sleep, NOT crib=cry.  On average, I get literally 2-2 1/2 hours at night of him in his crib, the rest of the time is ON my chest, not just in our bed.

Today so far has been a win; had some fussiness this morning that took awhile to snap him out of, but after a nice nap, he took a full 4 oz bottle, then I tossed him in his stroller for a walk around the duck pond.  This was the 3rd time we've ventured out, and I decided to push things and go twice around.  I'm definitely not recovered enough yet to do any type of jogging/heavy impact exercise at ALL (even yoga is pushing it), but it feels SO GOOD to get out and go for a walk.  I took the dogs for a walk around the duck pond around week 32, and it was torture.  Now, all my pregnancy pain is gone, and it just feels amazing to get out in the warm sun/cool air and get moving a bit.  We did have to stop about 1/2 way around the 2nd time to get out of the stroller and bounce the crying out, but I loaded him back in and he was perfect until we arrived home.



Put him straight into his crib, as he actually was awake the entire walk, and he started to cry after 30 seconds on his back.  Flipped him to his stomach, and he's been "out" for about an hour now.  WIN!!!

My FIL arrives today to be Colton's "nanny".:)  We were stressing big time about throwing an 8 week old infant into day care, and my FIL offered to fly out from GA to stay w/ us until July so we can really take our time and figure out what childcare situation works best for us.  AND let Peanut get a little older before we leave him with someone else that's not family.  SO blessed and grateful.

My sister finally got to come out and visit us and it was FANTASTIC!  I've really missed her, and it was huge having someone w/ 2 young kids 'refresh' me on some of the, ahem, modern ways of caring for an infant.;)  It was so good to get to lay eyes on my family, I've really missed seeing them.  My good friend from GA that now lives in NY came out on Monday and got to spend time with us as well; it has been so NICE to connect with people and not feel so damn isolated.  Being a new mama is hard, I'm SO grateful for my fantastic hubby that has been my rock and an amazing dad.  Sad that I only have 4 weeks left before going back to work, but grateful for the time I've had at the same time.

One week in ... a birth story

That dang IV was very uncomfortable ...

Perfect little Buddha Baby

Not sure how "normal" things are yet, but we're trying to find our rhythm.  Feeling pretty good, but trying hard not to overdo things and keep it slow ... dishes in the sink and a few loads of laundry sitting around are not the end of the world.  Interesting how different my first and second birth "stories" are.

Amazing eye lashes

With Kody, I went in around 7:00 in the evening, was given Pitocin, and labored until about ... 7:00 the following evening.  After the endless cervix checks, it was determined that labor was just NOT progressing, and they decided to do a C-section.  Recovery was HARD.  I was told to remove the bandage from the incision the following day on my own, and when I did, I took off about 4 layers of skin along with it.  An allergic reaction to the adhesive along with extreme "dermal bonding" resulted in me feeling like a burn victim for about 3-4 weeks; HORRIBLE.

Alert and awake

With Colton, we arrived around 7:30 for my scheduled 10:00 surgery (in the morning).  Right away, I was taken into a small room where I was given the ubiquitous hospital gown and quizzed on my "adhesive allergy".  The doctor discussed with me at length about how to cover the incision after surgery, and it was finally decided that they would use a clear dressing called "Tega Derm" (or something of the sort).  It was also decided they would do a spinal vs an epidural this time since my epidural fell out not once, but TWICE when I was in with Kody.  If the spinal didn't work, they'd knock me out w/ General.  I saw a nurse who finished the "prep work", met my doctor for the first time who would do my surgery , was prepped by my anesthesiologist, and was accompanied the whole time by a second doctor, the one that was concerned over my allergy.

Precious Angel

They wheeled me into the OR about an hour early.  HUGE room with bright white walls and literally full of people already.  They'd pumped me with saline, anti-nausea meds, and antiboitics already in the IV.  I walked into the OR, and got situated on the gurney.  BP cuff, pulse monitor taped on, and an endless flow of people in and out of my room.  I got into position for the part I dreaded the most; the application of the spinal.  I remembered the epidural wasn't 'that' bad, and I'd endured that through horrid contractions.  This time, I wasn't plagued with that 'problem'.  I bent over, he applied the cool wipe to my spine, then began poking around.  Um, it was AWFUL!  He kept saying, "A little poke and a burn".  LITTLE MY A$$!  He was joined by a second anesthesiologist and she began giving her opinion as to where to insert the giant needle.  They were both having a lot of trouble b/c right in the ideal spot to put it is my lower curve in my spine.  I have an "S" curve that's about 30 degrees, and it was wreaking havoc on proper needle placement.  I was stuck one time, and my left knee contracted like I'd been hit with a reflex hammer!  Just as I was beginning to feel pretty over it, they were happy with placement and I began to feel a spreading numbness through my lower extremities.  They got me properly laid down and raised the sterile drape in front of me.  THEN, things got bad ...

They're worth all the pain and the "trouble"

My BP bottomed out big time.  While they were trying to do my spinal, Dr. Phelps was telling me how they will pull the baby out, then put him on my chest for some skin on skin time.  They'd take their time, make things "nice and neat", and all would be well.  I felt pretty awful once I was laid down.  I'd thrown up at this point with Kody, but this time, I felt as though I couldn't breathe.  I was hot, I couldn't focus on anything, I couldn't breathe, and I started to pray.  I asked God to first and foremost let me live.  Then to have Him stop the awfulness that had all of a sudden become my life.  Monitors started beeping and I heard the words "Fetal decel".  All of a sudden, people jumped into action and my bed was tilted pretty dramatically to the left.  My BP slowly came up, but Colton's heart rate wasn't.  Dr. Phelps apologized to me and said things were going to happen a little faster than they'd anticipated, and everyone jumped into action.  David hadn't even been allowed into the room yet.

Heading to big brother's play

The surgery was a blur.  I remember feeling absolutely NO pain (yay!) except when it took two, TWO additional people pushing so hard on my ribs I felt like they were going to break to get the little booger lower down and out of my ribs.  David was finally by my side, and he was absolutely fascinated by the tugging and pulling going on down there.  He told me when Colton was almost there, then he was out!  I didn't feel it at ALL.  With Kody, I could tell when they'd pulled him out, but with Colton it was just the feel of tapping on my belly.  David went with the baby to the warming table, and they kept working on me.  The doctor was able to actually remove my Fallopian tubes, they weren't sure they'd be able to without knowing how much scar tissue was in there.  I tried to just close my eyes and chill, but it seemed like it took forever.  David all of a sudden appeared with Colton.  Oh. My. Goodness.  He was a perfect little doll baby.  Smooth unblemished skin, perfect little mouth, nose, and ears ... eyes closed and quiet as a mouse.  I got to touch him, and then my boys were gone while I was finished up.

Yep ... sleep when baby sleeps!

Dr Phelps again appeared in my line of sight, and she apologized for things getting a little "dramatic", but time was of the essence.  All went well with his 'extraction', all was good with my tubal, and things were looking great!  Upon my arrival at Recovery, I was freezing in my right arm.  The doctor that had been with me at prep had been with me all through surgery and now through recovery.  My temp was extremely low, so she piled on about 4 warming blankets.  WOW, that felt SO good!  Once I'd had about half an hour to stabilize, David, Kody, and Colton came in.  I guzzled down a cup of water about 30 seconds before the doctor told me to sip it.  Ooops, lol.  They brought me another one and I guzzled it too.  I was THIRSTY.  After about an hour total, I was wheeled to my room and left alone once my vitals were taken again.

Memaw holding her grandson at big grandson's play

The rest of the stay was a blur of nurses for me, nurses for Colton, lactation consultants, Pediatricians, etc. etc.  Colton was 7 lbs, 15 1/2 oz and 18 1/4 inches long.  Compared to Kody's 8 lbs, 7 oz and 20 inches long.  Colton was born at 9:27 in the morning; Kody at 8:17 in the evening.  They typically like to keep C-section patients for 3 days, but on Sunday I was campaigning to go home.  The nurses were VERY surprised, but said I seemed well enough to go.  There was a small delay with Colton about mid afternoon because he was showing a small amount of jaundice and my bloodwork had come back with antibodies against him in it, so they had to do some additional testing.  Finally around 6:30 in the evening, we got the all clear and around 7:45 we had all the necessary discharge papers.  I walked, yes WALKED out of the hospital.  It was hell, but I did it.

The sleep of angels

So far, recovery has been very good.  The Tega Derm worked AMAZING, and my incision has looked GREAT.  By Wednesday I could laugh a little without wanting to cry, and by today (Sunday), I can sit up with the baby on my chest from a lying down position.  I still feel a fair amount of pain in the usual moving around/day to day stuff  but I know that will improve.  Tomorrow will be my first day 100% alone.  David was with me all week, but he's back to work tomorrow :(  So far so good, one day at a time adjusting to life again with a newborn!  Sorry for the novel, wanted to get all the details down before they escaped my memory.  Wish I'd really logged Kody's birth like this, but things were different 14 years ago.  Thanks for reading, will try to keep up!  No food plan this week, we've been eating a LOT of fast food the past 2 weeks.  Hopefully I can get back on routine by the latter part of the week.

Why yes, we did go into San Fran at 5 days old ...