Follies Continued..

Baby K continues to be easy-going. I do not know if I am the only new mom who finds this time relaxing. I am convinced that holding a baby is good for your blood pressure. I will be sure to hold her before my next doctor's appointment.

I look like a hot mess. I was talking my friend who does my hair, and she offered a house call! I am not sure if I will take her up on it. I am tempted to highlight my hair since it will not touch my scalp. I will not color yet though since your head soaks a while and you never know. I also have the residual belly that makes me appear pregnant. Mike told me it was my chance to embarrass people who call me out on being pregnant. "Oh, I am not pregnant". People felt safe doing so during the pregnancy since I carried everything between my shoulders and hips. Of course swimming always revealed what was going on too.

Mike got the car seat checked yesterday. The officer complimented him by saying he did it better than 95% of the people that show up for the check. The officer also told him that we should buy a house in town here. I would love to buy a house here. It has been really nice so far. I went for a walk yesterday (first exercise, only 15 min) and immediately needed a nap. I could smell the sound when I was walking around. The neighbors are so friendly here. We have met a bunch of the families who live on our street. Even though we are close to a busier road in town, it is really quiet. We are on a preserve (wetlands), and you usually just hear birds. When you look out the windows, you see tall marsh grass. Of course it must be a flood zone, so we will not be buying right here. The river that flooded most of the town last year flows nearby.

Oma and Opa came by yesterday. Baby K enjoyed their visit and enjoyed being held (her favorite past-time next to nursing and pooping after a diaper change). When I got up this morning, there was a present in the crib for me. Oh yeah, the umbilical cord! Mike found it rolling around in the onsie and left it out for me to see. He thinks it woke her up this morning like the princess and the pea. I hope this tale did not ruin any breakfasts!

Katie's bathtime revenge

Mike looked happy until he heard the large poop go into the towel! She showed us.

Follies 3

So we came home, and the house was 62 degrees. That is the temp we like to keep the house, but apparently babies prefer something alittle closer to room temp. We turned up the thermostat, and next thing you know it was 75. She was overheating, but it took us a while to figure it out (discovered her beet red body under her clothes!). So the temperature thing was making her cranky. Then Mike noticed that she turned herself on her side in the crib, and he was afraid to let her sleep like that. The whole "Back to Sleep" thing was emphasized over and over. Baby K also wanted to be held, so that did not lend itself well to sleeping. So the first night was rather sleepless.
The next couple of nights were better (for me). I went to bed early and got 7 hours of sleep. We talked to the doctors about her rolling over, and they were not too concerned. Mike was up a lot since she really likes to eat all night. When I was pregnant I was always telling Mike that the baby was a Caraher. I used to get a nightly kick-a-thon at about 5 AM, and I am the early one in the family. This morning he told me he thinks I am right. She tends to be super active at 5 ish with flailing arms and legs.
Otherwise she behaves. We gave her a sponge bath last night, and she got even with us by pooping in the towel when we were done.

Follies 2

While I was recovering, the house was still getting set up. The plumber was over and we got our crib and a dresser delivered. My mother and father in law came over to let the plumber in, and they built the furniture for us. That was incredibly helpful to know it was done before Katie came home (although we are not using the crib yet since I have been staying downstairs). If it was not for Mike's family and friends, we would have taken her home to a house full of boxes! Things are started to look relatively civilized now, but we still have some little things to do. Later in the week, the nurses would let her out of the NICU to our room. I got to have her pretty much all day and take care of her. That helped my confidence a lot since Mike had to go to work on Friday and wrap things up. Mike started taking care of her at night in the hospital. He told the nurses to let him do her care and coach him. The nurses were really great and really took their time with us newbies. We really felt pretty comfortable taking her home since we had a lot of support in the hospital (and lessons!). She was medically stable the whole time so that also helped us feel good about handling her. I can not imagine getting kicked out the hospital in 48 hours. That would have been overwhelming. I am also sure I felt a lot better than many of the moms who went through labor and delivery. I still can not get over how amazing the staff at the hospital was. They were professional, but incredibly caring. You can not just find that anywhere!

Newborn Follies

So I thought I would give some blow by blows for those who I have not spoken with the last few weeks. I was in the hospital the weekend we moved for low amniotic fluids, and they pumped my belly back up with IVs. I had to keep going back and getting my fluid level checked and have the baby monitored twice a week. That was my social life at the time. The staff at the hospital was just amazing. I got to know a lot of the nurses in labor and delivery since I had been coming in once a week since late January. It was kind of pathetic, but they would recognize my voice on the phone too. Last Monday, I had an ultrasound to check the fluid level. I was considering taking a shower before my appointment in case I was admitted again. I really should have since the doctor sent me upstairs for a C-section. The levels were the same as the last time where they could just give me fluids, but for some reason the neonatologist just decided I should go. I was a little shocked, and we really did not have a discusssion. I called Mike and he started grilling me about it. So when he arrived to the hospital, he talked to the OB on call who was supposed to do the procedure. I was familiar with her from the last time I was in the hospital, so after a long talk we elected to try to get a few more days and do the IV fluids again. She was borderline being 36 weeks. So we tried the fluids again, but despite our best efforts, the fluids dropped again. I was ready for my C-section since they told me not to eat the night before. The good news was that my doctor was doing the procedure. I was excited about that. She told me that she thought we made the right choice trying to get a few more days instead of delivering immediately. That was reassuring to us, and it was time to get the little breech baby out.

Holy cow, the c-section was efficient. The most uncomfortable part was the blood pressure cuff and when they sat on my chest to push her out. After they assessed her, they took Mike out of the room and had him sit with the baby in the recovery area (while I got sewn back up). I guess the babies are always calm right after they are born. I can not get over how amazing the staff was including the anesthesiologist! My only weird complication after the surgery was my body temp plummeting to 94 degrees. I had no idea since I felt hot and kept having to wipe sweat off my head. It took a while to get me back on track. It was a weird feeling. Mike spent a lot of time with the baby which was great.

I did not sleep the first night. I must have been excited despite all the crazy drugs I had. I was not in pain. I was able to go see her in the NICU first thing in the morning. I wanted to try to breast feed her, and I was a little stressed about how that would go. Fortunately she is a champ and latched right on! Thank God somebody knew what they were doing. I was up walking laps on day one since you gotta move after surgery.

Well, to be continued....

Who said newborns can't smile?

I swear she was not pooping, just alert and listening to singing.

Getting to know you....

Things are still going well at home. The first night poor Mike did not get any sleep. He ended up changing her clothes several times due to amateur diaper moves and K's affinity for peeing while getting changed. The other issue was that she figured out how to turn on her side, and they were totally hyper about back to sleep when talking about taking care of her. He was not sure if he could let her stay that way or not. Baby K also prefers to be held which is not conducive to sleep, but she gets a pass since she is not full term yet :) I was up too since I felt bad about Mike's situation, and I went to bed too late.
Tonight was better and Mike got a couple of hours to sleep. I went to bed at 10:30, so I am chipper since I slept until 5:45. We have a doctor's appointment this morning, so we will find out if she is getting enough to eat. Judging by her poop output, I would say that she is getting enough. Otherwise, not much to say around here. Just nursing, sleeping, pooping, and getting used to each other.

Baby K is home

We made it home, and so far so good.

Baby W is here!

Katherine Ann was born on March 18th at 2:06pm. She weighed in at 7lb 4 oz. She was 18.5 inches tall. The new mommy is recovering fine from the c-section.

Settling In

We have a lot of things set up in the new house now. Mike's dad put up blinds yesterday which was really helpful. Things are getting orgarnized. Crib is on the way(should be here on Wed). C section is scheduled for April 2nd, but my doctor thinkS I will go earlier. Baby W is still breech, but otherwise doing well. I spend most of my time on the left side like I should. That makes extensive blog posting challenging. Hopefully my fluid level remains good.

Last night we met more neighbors. This street is really friendly. They brought over some flowers for us which was really nice. It is nice to be able to freely talk to neighbors.

Dry run

We are discovering that renting this house will help us know what to look for even more when shopping. I know I want carpets in the bedrooms now. We know what to look out for in an older house now. We have had issues with finding 3 prong outlets, etc Live and learn.

Amazon.com: Cariboo Folding Bassinet - Mahogany: Baby

Amazon.com: Cariboo Folding Bassinet - Mahogany: Baby

For baby or laundry?

Lefty

I will be spending my final weeks mostly on my left side. Wish me luck and a tank of fluids for baby w. EWWW, I said fluids.

Also, looking like a scheduled C-section for sure now (unless anything else happens first) I told my doctor some of the turning over suggestions I was given, and she was most entertained by the flashlight trick. So I am aiming for 39 week delivery which is the goal still. The other doctor scared me the other day saying it would probably be 37 weeks. I want to meet baby W, but I am willing to wait to 39 weeks for sure.

Breechinger

Baby W is still breech, and I was told that I probably will have to have a scheduled C-section. Any suggestions to turn the stinker over (besides headstands which may not be good for my blood pressure!).

Makin' Progress

It is amazing how the house is really emptying quickly. I guess a lot of our stuff was sitting in boxes already, so it makes life easier. The most time consuming has been the books. Our whole apartment is filled with them. It does not help there are many built in shelves. Mike has all of his textbooks from undergrad and grad school (x2). I filled 2 boxes with books to donate to the library. It is crazy how many books we have. I keep trying to have a book intervention with Mike, but he is still in denial. Who needs a Fortran book from 1984?

With the pace it is emptying out here, we should be moved out completely by the weekend. We are getting furniture delivered this week too. So we have a lot to do, but I feel like we have a handle on things. The main thing is coordinating getting the big stuff out on Saturday. It stresses me out that I can not really help much with the move. I have been packing and unpacking to free up crates. Otherwise Mike is the manpower. I am so excited to have a kitchen with space and light! I am also excited to be able to sleep far away from the furnace. The biggest perk of all is the washer and dryer! I have been waiting years for that one!