Filed under: Baby, Breastfeeding, C-Section, Postpartum, Third Trimester | Tags: Motherhood
My LO is 4 weeks old! I know it’s a cliche, but time has gone by so fast! We’re figuring out how to breastfeed together. The first two weeks were terrible. Cracked and bleeding breasts- OW! But, now it’s going pretty good, and we seem to be getting better each week. I’ve pumped a few times, so DH was able to feed her for the first time last night. He had a blast! It was really cute. She has some baby acne and dry skin, but otherwise, she seems to be healthy and happy. She eating, sleeping, pooping, and gaining weight. I couldn’t be happier.
I’m adjusting slowly to not being pregnant. Recovering from a C-section was thankfully uneventful. I’ve got huge breasts (40F!!!) and a big jelly belly, so I feel a little self conscious. I’m having a hard time finding clothes that make me feel good about myself, so I might have to venture out to find a few outfits. I’ve been walking, and yesterday I did my pilates routine for the first time in months. I am out of shape, but I didn’t hurt myself. I’ll just keep it up, and hopefully it won’t take too long for my strength to come back!
I finally had my baby girl! Last Sunday at 4 am, I woke up feeling contractions. DH and I spent the day timing contractions. At 9 pm, my MIL came over to support us. At 4 am on Monday, we made the trip to the hospital. I spent the whole day in the hospital with contractions that never progressed much. When the midwife checked me, she said I was only 1 cm. I could have cried because I felt I was halfway there! They tried to break my waters to get things moving, but not much happened. That night they gave me morphine so that I could sleep since I hadn’t slept in a day or so!
I slept, and then in the morning (Tuesday) I labored most of the day and only made it to 2 cm.! They gave me gel to ripen my cervix, but by then I was so exhausted and lost my confidence. I asked for an epidural. I labored for the rest of the day feeling much better, but not feeling much below! I eventually made it to 10 cm! I pushed for 3 hours, and then the decision was made that a c-section was the safe way to go. Off to the OR, and my baby girl was born weighing 9 lbs. and 14 ozs. She was 20.25 ins. long! She was not going to come out vaginally. I spent a few days in the hospital getting to know my little girl and healing. DH has been the most amazing. We are having so much fun being a family and taking care of each other!
It may not have been the birth I envisioned, but I have a beautiful and healthy little girl. HypnoBabies helped when I was forced to lay down for fetal monitoring. It helped in the whirlpool tub. It also helped in the OR to keep me calm while the surgery was going on. Lamaze helped when I was upright and walking around through contractions. I’m glad that I went through labor and pushing. DH thinks it’s great that I got to try a little bit of everything! The epidural worked perfectly, and the c-section was as fast as possible. All in all, it got the job done. I thought she was never going to be born!
Filed under: Baby, Labor, Pregnancy Symptoms, Third Trimester | Tags: Pregnant
Off to the doctor again this morning. They did the non-stress test to track her movement, heart rate, and contractions. The nurse found the heartbeat right away, so that was nice. I hate waiting while the nurse fumbles around trying to find her heartbeat. All is well with the baby. The doctor took forever to get to me, so it felt like I was testing forever! I got there at 8am, and I didn’t leave until 9:15 am. I saw the doctor for maybe 15 minutes. Everything seems to be going well. She didn’t have the report from the ultrasound, so I’m assuming we’ll discuss that next week. I asked if it was ok to get a flu shot, and she said yes. My employer is starting to give them starting today. I got one this afternoon. I guess I’ll get the swine flu shot later in October if necessary. The OB said they would do an internal exam next week. Fun!
I keep checking for the mucus plug to fall out. No luck yet. I have contractions sometimes, but nothing serious. Otherwise, I don’t think this LO is going to make an appearance any time soon. She might end up being an October baby! That’s ok- I feel like I have so much to do. I’m just getting frustrated with all this water retention. I have no feeling in my fingers!!!! Carpal tunnel syndrome is no fun! I’m also running out of maternity clothes that actually cover my belly. Thankfully the weather is getting cooler. It’s so hard to wait for something when you have no idea when it’s going to happen!
I work in two different offices. They both threw me showers, and it was very sweet of them. The first one was a surprise at lunch time. I really didn’t have any idea! I got a few neat toys and clothes for the baby. The second one was planned at a co-worker’s house. It was wonderful as well. The office chipped in for a big gift from my registry, and then the co-workers bought little items for $10 or so. I have so many fun toys for the baby. I usually get overwhelmed for showers, but this was quiet and low-key. I enjoyed myself, and it was really sweet of everyone. The funniest gift was this little plastic book that you can put photos in for the baby. I had originally bought this for the baby a few weeks ago. But, so far, I’ve gotten 3 of them as gifts!! It really is adorable. I’ll put family pictures in for the baby to look at while in daycare…. keep one in the diaper bag… keep one for reading at night. I was able to return the one I had originally bought! My MIL is planning a baby shower for me the second week in September. My BF is worried that it’s going to be too late. I’m hoping that I don’t have the baby that weekend anyway since DH will be out of town!!!! It’ll be a small shower, so I’ve been slowly getting the things that I need. I’m keeping receipts in case I need to make returns. There isn’t much I need to get anymore… but I’m sure I’ll think of something!
I had my 5th prenatal visit today. We did the gestational diabetes test. I drank the orange sugar drink and waited around for an hour for them to take my blood. I’m hoping it comes back normal, so I don’t have to go in for the 3 hour test. Otherwise it was a pretty typical appointment. Blood pressure was good, baby is head down, and her heartbeat is good. I’ve gained 30 lbs. so far! Yikes! I know- sugar is my enemy, but I really like ice cream… and candy. I walk most days, so hopefully I will be able to keep things under control for the next three months. I can’t believe that I’m starting the third trimester already. I start going every other week now, and then every week in September. This pregnancy is going by so fast!
The baby is getting stronger and kicking harder these days. It’s really neat and comforting. I was happy to know that she was head down. I’m feeling her feet on my right side by my ribs. I get another peek at her next week at my next ultrasound. I’m looking forward to seeing how much she has grown… and that everything is looking normal and healthy.
I can officially say that I feel the baby! Hurray! I wasn’t sure if I was feeling the baby for such a long time. It was always hard to tell if it was gas or some other bodily function. I was trying not to get stressed about this. I knew it would eventually happen… But, I can really feel her moving around now, and my DH can feel her, too. It was so cool to share that with him. He’s really been looking forward to feeling her move.
At my second ultrasound, I asked the doctor about not feeling much movement. He said that was because of the position of my placenta- it’s between my belly and the baby. The baby is typically is hitting the placenta, so I don’t feel it. This makes sense to me because I feel her only on my sides. I don’t feel the “butterflies” or “bubbles” that most women talk about. I feel two little feet kicking! It’s really neat. I usually feel her move once or twice a day. It’s really a weird sensation! It’s hard to focus when I’m in the middle of doing something.
I’ve had two unsolicited belly pats. Both sneak attacks were from people I don’t know very well. I’ve also had two people ask me if I am sure I’m not having twins. I just said that I imagine the doctor would have figured that out by now. I’m not sure what they expect me to say. Why can’t they say I look great and leave it at that?
I’m 22 weeks today! I really can’t believe how fast the time is going. I’m looking forward to my next prenatal visit- minus the weighing part.
I am halfway through my pregnancy! I can’t believe it’s been 20 weeks already. I’m feeling a bit better other than terrible heartburn- Yuck! I had my second ultrasound yesterday. Hurray- it’s a girl!
I was shocked. I really thought that we were going to have a boy, so I was surprised when the tech said it was a girl. I had already been calling the baby by the boy name we had picked.
All the anatomy looked normal, so I was relieved. The spine was good, and we got a clear shot of the baby’s palate. No spina bifida or cleft palates! I was so very happy! A little healthy baby girl! It was so neat to see her move around a bit. I saw most of her bones. I even saw her swallow. It was very cool!
The doctor was really great, and he answered all my questions. He said they wanted to have one more ultrasound in 6-8 weeks just to make sure everything was developing appropriately since I have a seizure disorder in my medical history. I was happy to get another look at my daughter before she is born. I didn’t expect that I’d get to see her again until delivery.
My MIL was able to come to the appointment, so it was fun to share that experience with her. We had fun going out to eat afterwards to celebrate. I ran and got pink balloons to surprise DH when he got home. I think he’s excited about having a daughter. We are all just so happy that she’s healthy!
I was very sick on Friday. I even had a fever- yuck! I felt like I had the flu. Cold, achy, sore throat, cough… It was no fun. I’m feeling much better today.
We had a nice breakfast yesterday with my in-laws. They were coming over to celebrate DH’s birthday, but little did they know they were about to become grandparents for the first time! I had the table set with some pretty china, and each setting had it’s very own pregnancy test with two pink lines. I thought that was a clever party favor. They were very excited for us, and it was fun to share the secret with someone other than doctors. They will be the only ones we tell for awhile. We’re going to keep it quiet until March- just in case… I’d like to tell my parents, but they have a terrible track record with secrets. They would tell everyone and anyone, so they will have to wait. They have 5 grandkids already, so it won’t be quite as special to them as with my in-laws.
I’ve been treating myself to setting up my Target baby registry. You can keep it private, so I’m having fun playing with it without anyone knowing.
I think it’s so weird that I’m four weeks pregnant already. I know I wasn’t pregnant for two of those four weeks! I made my first OB appointment. It seems so far away- Feb. 19th. I’ll be 8 weeks pregnant by then. OMG- I’m pregnant! My fingers and toes are crossed that all goes well between now and then. The appointment is going to be about an hour, and I guess they will do blood work then. It feels weird to actually tell people I’m pregnant. I told my OB, my acupuncturist, my BF, and DH.
DH is out of town. I was going to wait to tell him in person, but that wasn’t going to happen. I just blurted it out to him. His birthday is this weekend, so his parents are coming up for a visit. I think we’ll surprise them with the big news. The baby will be their first grandchild. I was searching for creative ways to tell them. All the ideas made me just cry! It will be my parents 6th grandchild, and my grandma’s 13th great-grandchild. (I’m trying to not focus on the 13!)
I had a hard time sleeping last night. I was anxious and excited. I was also hungry, and I had to pee. I spent yesterday cooking, and the lingering food smell has been bothering me. I think it’s a psychosomatic symptom. Otherwise, the only symptoms I have are an aching in my uterus and sore BB.
I keep checking the pee stick. It still has two lines on it. I wonder how long they will stay there…
Filed under: Baby, Ovulation, Pregnancy Symptoms, Trying to Conceive | Tags: BBT, BFP, CM, OPK
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I POAS this morning and saw my first BFP. I’m still shaking a little bit. I didn’t take my BBT or really use OPK this month. I just watched my CM. DH was also more relaxed than usual. We took a nice vacation with our dogs. I didn’t feel pregnant at all. My BB had stopped hurting. Last weekend I cried because I didn’t think I was pregnant, and I was so upset that DH didn’t want to do a SA. This weekend I kept feeling a pull in my lower abdomen when I stood up quickly. Which was odd. This morning I woke up and my BB hurt again. I’m about 12 dpo, so I POAS to encourage AF to start. A BFN is usually a good way to get the next cycle started. Instead I found two bright pink lines. I didn’t really expect that! I’m pregnant! I keep checking the stick, and there are still two lines!
DH is out of town, so I haven’t been able to tell him. SHHHH! I want to think of a great way to tell him, but I’m sure I’m just going to blurt it out when he calls to check in.
