Sunday, April 25, 2010
an addendum to hygiene
another reason its hard to keep clean...kids leak from all ends...sometimes at the same time. As evidenced by a few days ago. I was feeding Isaiah, and burped him. At which point, Tyler wide-eyed with disbelief exclaimed "What's on your shirt?!" I looked down, and Isaiah has pooped, which was leaking through his diaper, onesie, and pant legs on to my shirt, which I had just cleaned, and had not been clean more than a few hours. (EEW!) I took him to his room to change him, and when I was changing him, he proceeded to spit up on me (since I hadn't finished burping him). At this point, Tyler and I doubled over in laughter, and then i said "here Tyler, take your son," and I showered, and washed my shirt. I mean, you gotta laugh right? If you can't laugh, you're going to be in lots of trouble. :)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Parental hygiene
...or lack thereof.
I always heard people say that once you became a parent, that you wont care how you look anymore. And I vowed not to be like that. And I'm not...exactly. But as evidenced by the pictures that were taken of me in the hospital, i had more important things to worry about than the fact that I looked like CRAP. Slowly but surely I'm making progress. I'm wearing real clothes now - not just sweatpants, and I've even put on make-up a few times since he was born. And then this morning, my LOVELY son, whom I love, decided to start my day off my vomiting down my shirt - a direct shot. The upside of that, was that Tyler was still home, and so I could pass Isaiah off to Tyler, and shower! (Which doesn't happen every day I'm afraid...) It's REALLY hard to find 5 minutes to shower (and that's all it takes me - ask Katrina!) when you have a baby! For many reasons! So yeah, he sleeps sometimes everyday - BUT - that sleep time is not guaranteed to happen at a certain time, nor is there a guarantee of how long he will sleep for. And that sleep time is more valuable than GOLD I tell you...(except that if I had gold, then Tyler and I could both be home, and maybe I would be able to shower more often...) Anyway, when he does fall asleep, I immediately have a few important decisions to make. Will I - sleep? pump milk so that Tyler can help me feed him later? Do dishes? Do laundry? Cook dinner? Eat breakfast or lunch or anything? Clean something? or shower? Unfortunately (for me and Tyler) showering is significantly less of a priority than those other things I mentioned. I'm working on trying to get better and multi-tasking, and being faster! Maybe one day, I will be able to shower, throw in laundry, eat and wash dishes in 30 minutes. For now, I'm going to try and find time to shower everyday, sans vomit.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
We're doing okay!!
So today, Isaiah is 17 days old today - that's so incredible to me!! He is totally over his jaundice, which is great, and he's changing so much! His face is different, fuller I think. And he is so strong!! he has a fierce grip, and also has a surprising amount of neck strength! He will push himself up on your chest, and hold his head up. Granted its pretty wobbly, but still, its pretty good, i think for a 17 day old! This morning, Tyler put him on his stomach, for some tummy time, and he picked up his head, and turned it! (I'm sure all of these things are pretty boring to you readers, but to me, its VERY exciting!) AND HE SMILES! He smiles so much!! (And I don't want to hear "it's just gas!" I believe its real smiles!) He smiles about 1x a day, generally after he's finished a good feeding, and is about to fall asleep. He also smiles in his sleep. I think those smiles get me through the day (or night) sometimes. Because how can you be frustrated when you see that precious smile?!
We are making it through the days. We are slowly but surely adjusting to life here in Philadelphia, and as parents. Last night was AWESOME because Isaiah slept for two 4 hour stints! When I woke up for his first feeding, I thought I had missed one, because it couldn't POSSIBLY have been 4 hours since he last ate! But it was - thank God! Tyler and I are figuring out also how to juggle the nighttime schedule, we're still getting the hang of it. I try to get up with Isaiah a lot, because Tyler has to go to work, but I'm realizing that I also need to get some sleep for longer than 2 or 3 hours at a time. Tyler is GREAT and is totally willing to help out, so as long as I have milk pumped, and let him, he's will help out, all I have to do is ask. And he is
awesome with Isaiah.
I'm pretty sure there are few things better than seeing your spouse with your kids. Tyler is SO obsessed with Isaiah (who wouldn't be!?) and its totally adorable. Not that I didn't expect it, but having never had kids before, and never having really seen Tyler with kids, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But he's SO good with Isaiah! So patient, and helpful. Tyler's eyes light up when he comes home, and holds Isaiah. I LOVE IT! I do not know how people do it alone, I can barely do it, and I have a loving husband, and family nearby, and there are still moments, (at least once a day), when I think "I cannot do this!" But, everyday, I get through it.
It was definitely overwhelming the first few days that Tyler went back to work, and when breastfeeding was going horribly. I wanted to give up, and just formula feed, (and get the kind that makes them sleep longer at night). I wasn't sure that I could actually do it, and would cry, but it's getting better! I'm pretty sure there's no worse feeling then not being able to meet the needs of your child. He would cry because he was hungry, and I couldn't pacify him. Now, things are better, breastfeeding is going better, and I'm able to pump and nurse, so that Tyler, (or someone else) can help me with feeding. I think that my mood still is dependent on how much sleep I get, but hey - who isn't crankier when they haven't sleep? So I think that is normal.
It's a little weird still, being home 24/7, not working, not going to church, sleeping at random times. Its okay, but I definitely want to get out soon, or else the cabin fever is going to get to me. I'm really looking forward to being able to see more family, go to church, and hopefully meet some other young families.
Here are some more pictures... I haven't gotten the hang of how to import pictures to the blog in an organized fashion (HELP!) but at least you can see my peanut!!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
He's Here! He's here! and how he got here.
So after much waiting (11 days in fact) I finally went into labor at 2:30am on April 1, 2010 (Happy April Fool's day!). After 3 days straight of Braxton-Hicks contractions, i was hesitant to diagnose it as real labor, but after a few hours, there was no doubt. I called our midwives around 6:30am and they told me to come on in to the Birthing Center. After running into a problem with an oil truck, (apparently Thursdays is when they refuel...therefore blocking off one way streets, and you can't go around them...not fun!) we made the drive to the Birthing Center - with no traffic! Thank God!
When we got to the Birthing Center around 8:30am I was 6 cm dilated (so awesome!) but there were 2 other women in labor already, so since I had some time still, the midwives sent me walking (NOT FUN!) to try and get me moving along. They checked me again at around 10:30am, and I was still only at 6 cm (I was definitely disappointed about it....) At this point, there were 4 women total in labor, including me, and one more possibly on the way. Three out of the 4 midwives were at the BBC already, and we were all praying that no one else would go in to labor! They sent me for some more walking, and checked me again at 1:30pm. At this point, I hadn't eaten anything since a granola bar at 3:30am, and couldn't keep anything down, I could barely keep down water. At 1:30pm, I was STILL only 6 cms so we made the decision in conjunction with our midwives and a consulting doctor to go to the hospital and get my labor augmented.
We were met at the Birthing center by our favorite midwife (yay Yuliya!) and we waited a while to see if i would progress naturally. After a LONG TIME in the hot shower (a laboring woman's best friend) Yuliya checked me again, and i was FINALLY 8 cms. The contractions were VERY strong at this time, and I was completely exhausted, so we decided that we needed to augment the labor with Pitocin, and also get an Epidural in order to make the contractions bearable. Well, next to a hot shower, an Epidural is a woman's next best friend. After the epidural, i felt GREAT! Couldn't feel the contractions at ALL, and I told Tyler I loved him, probably fro the first time all day. :)
Around 8:30pm I was FINALLY fully dilated, and started pushing. Pushing was definitely NOT successful! Isaiah would not come down AT ALL, and every time that I pushed his heart rate would drop. After trying for a little while, Yuliya put me on oxygen in order to try and get his heart rate to stabilize enough to be able to push, and to see if that would help him to drop. Alas it did not. After a little bit (only about an hour thank GOD!) and consulting with the attending on-call, we decided to try to use a vacuum to deliver him. We tried this about 3 times, and again, it did not succeed.
The only option left for us at this point was to do a c-section. Throughout the whole process, Yuliya and Dr. Jacob were AWESOME in telling us every step of the way what they were doing, why they were doing it, and making sure we were comfortable with the steps they were taking. Throughout this whole pregnancy Tyler and I were very committed to trying to be as natural as possible, but with the understanding that the MOST important things were that we had a healthy baby, and that my health were preserved. So when we found out that we were going to have to do a c-section, although very scary, i was TOTALLY okay with it, because I wanted the baby out and okay.
From the moment the last vacuum attempt failed, to when they wheeled me to the operating room, was a mere 2 or 3 minutes. Tyler had just enough time to get his scrubs on, and then they started the surgery. They let Tyler in to the operating room at around 11:30pm, and Isaiah was delivered at 11:34pm, weighing 7 lbs 12 oz, measuring 21 inches. That was the "easy" part. The hardest part for me was the next 45 minutes that it took them to stitch me up! Apparently though it was good that they took their time, b/c my scar is very negligible, so I'm told.
Those whole two days, Thursday to Friday morning, were very surreal. Between the lack of sleep, food and the whole emotional and physical toll, sometimes i feel like it was all a dream. But it was real, and i have the baby, and the scar to prove it! Thank God, now we are home (in our new home in Philadelphia!), we are working on the breastfeeding, (which has been difficult), and we are healthy! Other than a bit of jaundice, everything is okay!
So far Isaiah is a pretty chill baby, all things considered. He sleeps about 3 hours at a time, so that's good. We are just working on the feeding part of the equation. Once we get that down, i think it will be all good.
When we got to the Birthing Center around 8:30am I was 6 cm dilated (so awesome!) but there were 2 other women in labor already, so since I had some time still, the midwives sent me walking (NOT FUN!) to try and get me moving along. They checked me again at around 10:30am, and I was still only at 6 cm (I was definitely disappointed about it....) At this point, there were 4 women total in labor, including me, and one more possibly on the way. Three out of the 4 midwives were at the BBC already, and we were all praying that no one else would go in to labor! They sent me for some more walking, and checked me again at 1:30pm. At this point, I hadn't eaten anything since a granola bar at 3:30am, and couldn't keep anything down, I could barely keep down water. At 1:30pm, I was STILL only 6 cms so we made the decision in conjunction with our midwives and a consulting doctor to go to the hospital and get my labor augmented.
We were met at the Birthing center by our favorite midwife (yay Yuliya!) and we waited a while to see if i would progress naturally. After a LONG TIME in the hot shower (a laboring woman's best friend) Yuliya checked me again, and i was FINALLY 8 cms. The contractions were VERY strong at this time, and I was completely exhausted, so we decided that we needed to augment the labor with Pitocin, and also get an Epidural in order to make the contractions bearable. Well, next to a hot shower, an Epidural is a woman's next best friend. After the epidural, i felt GREAT! Couldn't feel the contractions at ALL, and I told Tyler I loved him, probably fro the first time all day. :)
Around 8:30pm I was FINALLY fully dilated, and started pushing. Pushing was definitely NOT successful! Isaiah would not come down AT ALL, and every time that I pushed his heart rate would drop. After trying for a little while, Yuliya put me on oxygen in order to try and get his heart rate to stabilize enough to be able to push, and to see if that would help him to drop. Alas it did not. After a little bit (only about an hour thank GOD!) and consulting with the attending on-call, we decided to try to use a vacuum to deliver him. We tried this about 3 times, and again, it did not succeed.
The only option left for us at this point was to do a c-section. Throughout the whole process, Yuliya and Dr. Jacob were AWESOME in telling us every step of the way what they were doing, why they were doing it, and making sure we were comfortable with the steps they were taking. Throughout this whole pregnancy Tyler and I were very committed to trying to be as natural as possible, but with the understanding that the MOST important things were that we had a healthy baby, and that my health were preserved. So when we found out that we were going to have to do a c-section, although very scary, i was TOTALLY okay with it, because I wanted the baby out and okay.
From the moment the last vacuum attempt failed, to when they wheeled me to the operating room, was a mere 2 or 3 minutes. Tyler had just enough time to get his scrubs on, and then they started the surgery. They let Tyler in to the operating room at around 11:30pm, and Isaiah was delivered at 11:34pm, weighing 7 lbs 12 oz, measuring 21 inches. That was the "easy" part. The hardest part for me was the next 45 minutes that it took them to stitch me up! Apparently though it was good that they took their time, b/c my scar is very negligible, so I'm told.
Those whole two days, Thursday to Friday morning, were very surreal. Between the lack of sleep, food and the whole emotional and physical toll, sometimes i feel like it was all a dream. But it was real, and i have the baby, and the scar to prove it! Thank God, now we are home (in our new home in Philadelphia!), we are working on the breastfeeding, (which has been difficult), and we are healthy! Other than a bit of jaundice, everything is okay!
So far Isaiah is a pretty chill baby, all things considered. He sleeps about 3 hours at a time, so that's good. We are just working on the feeding part of the equation. Once we get that down, i think it will be all good.
Tyler goes back to work this week, so the real challenge for me is just about to begin. The great thing about being in Philadelphia is that my family is around and I will have lots of support here. For now, our priorities are him, and unpacking, I still have to call my in-laws when i can't find something, LOL, one of the dangers of having other people pack for you. Soon though, hopefully we will be all settled. I will put up some pictures soon, as soon as i figure out how....LOL.
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