First Week of Life

I can hardly believe that my sweet baby girl is TWO weeks old already.  Seriously, where does the time go?  Since I had a c-section, we were in the Hospital an extra day/night.  Friday, December 16th we went home.  

To be honest, I wasn't nervous - probably because I was SO tired.  We didn't leave the Hospital until 4pm {it's a long story as to why we were discharged so late}.  By the time we got home, it was time to feed Dafney.  My parents were sweet enough to bring our dog home for us so she was there when we got home.  And, of course, they stayed so they could see their grandbaby - thankfully, they didn't stay all that long.  

It was nice to have a night at home with just the 4 of us {yes, I count our dog, Hannah}.  Kyle & I just went through the 4 days of mail we had piled up, sat on the couch and watched a little TV and just stared at our daughter.  

Unfortunately, Dafney didn't adjust well to her new crib the first night.  She was up every 30-60 minutes...hello, exhaustion!  I tried feeding her, changing her and just snuggling her.  Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep that night.  

The next morning, we had to bring Dafney in to see the Pediatrician as she had lost 10% of her body weight while in the Hospital and was down to 5lbs 8oz.  So, we packed up the diaper bag, the babe and ourselves and headed to the Dr.'s office.  We had been supplementing some formula all day Friday and through the night per the Dr.'s orders.  When we brought her in on Saturday, she was up to 5lbs 12oz....YEAH!!  He was confident that when my milk was in, she would eat like a champ and continue to gain weight.  

However, to be sure he had me see a lactation specialist (she was great) and had us make another appointment for the following week.  After the Dr. appointment we decided to stop at Target to get some groceries.  We were true "first time parents" because we were trying to figure out how to put the car seat on the cart.  We weren't sure how to do so, so we just put it in the big part of the cart and decided we didn't need that many groceries.  Dafney slept the entire time!  

That night my parents brought us dinner {really it was their excuse to come see Dafney...I know  how they operate} and we had another low-key night at home.  

That evening my c-section incision started to "leak", so I called the Dr. and she said it was better for the liquid to come out than stay inside and that I should come in on Monday just to have it looked at.  It made me feel a little bit better that it was semi-normal to "leak"...the last thing I wanted was to have an infection or worse. 

The second night we remembered something our instructor taught us in our parenting class...she said to use a heating pad in the crib so when you put the baby down to sleep, you're putting them onto something warm and it can help them stay asleep.  Well, it worked!  She slept so much better.  I even had to wake her up to feed her once.  Ever since, she's been a really good sleeper (KNOCK ON WOOD).  She'll sleep anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time.  Our pediatrician said not to let her go more than 5 hours since we're trying to get her to gain weight....I'm thankful for the sleep that I do get during the night. 

Tuesday, December 20th was my first day alone with the babe.  My Husband had to go back to work =(  I was feeling all sorts of emotions.  I was sad, nervous, and a little excited to be able to spend some QT with my baby.  We made it through the day no problems!  She slept most of the time and when she was awake we snuggled together on the couch.  It's truly amazing! 

The thing that I still struggle with is not being able to do things I've been used to doing, such as walking the dog.  For the past 4 1/2 years, we've walked our dog almost everyday.  I even cry because it is so hard to not be able to go with my Husband to walk Hannah.  Unfortunately, with a c-section, I can't do anything other than leisurely walking for 6 whole weeks.  I can't even carry the laundry basket up the stairs.  It's tough.  But, I know that I need to limit my activities so I properly heal. 

Wow, I have so many more posts: Christmas, a guest post, and Dafney's 2nd week of life.  I will try to get these posts done soon....but I sort of go by Dafney's schedule now =) 

Happy first week of life, Dafney!!

The Birth Story

It all started on December 13th at 3:30am.  I woke up instantly when I felt this weird cramp in my lower stomach.  I thought I might need to "go to the bathroom" {if you know what I mean}, so I sat down on the toilet and a good amount of clear liquid came out.  I though, "huh, that was weird".  The thought of my water breaking crossed my mind, but I thought, nah it's too early.  So, I went back to bed.  17 minutes later, I woke up again with another "weird cramp" and again figured I just needed to use the bathroom.  And again, another "gush" of water came out, this time it was a pinkish color (sorry, TMI).  

This time it hit me that my water probably broke and I was officially in labor.  The weird thing was that I was really calm.  I walked into the bedroom and woke up my Husband and said "I think my water broke, what should we do"?  He told me to call the Dr., so I did.  A couple minutes later, the Dr. called me back and I explained what had happened.  She said it sounded like my water had indeed broken and that I should come in, bring my bags and plan on having  a baby soon.   

WOW, this was really happening...I told my Husband what she said and he said "do you mind if I jump in the shower quick?"; I told him it was fine, but to sort of hurry.

{I mean, I was in labor for gosh sakes}.  

As he showered, I frantically ran around the house throwing things into our hospital bag, which I had only half packed thinking we had plenty of time to pack the rest that upcoming weekend.  

The contractions were coming about every 8-9 minutes or so, but they were starting to feel intense enough to where I'd had to stop walking when I had one.  But, it wasn't to bad.  After my Husband showered, he had to send an email to his boss quick letting him know that he wouldn't be into work - by this time I was ready to go and I may have snapped at him for writing what seemed like a novel to his boss.  

About 45 minutes after I had initially woken up, we were off to the Hospital.  I don't remember the car ride all that well as the contractions were coming closer together and starting to intensify.  By the time we got into the Hospital, checked in and into a room, my contractions were coming TWO minutes apart...and they FREAKING HURT.  

Thankfully my amazing husband was there by my side and kept bringing me cold towels to put on my head (the pain was so intense I thought I was going to pass out...not what you want to do when you're about to birth a child).  

My Nurse came in to see how far along I was and she found out the baby was breech.  I sort of started to panic, because I just wanted to make sure my baby was okay.  She said that I was already 5cm dilated and fully efaced.  She said I was moving fast and we would need to have a c-section.  She had another Nurse come into to confirm that baby was breech....she confirmed.  

However, because I was progressing so fast, the Dr. wanted to make certain and had them do an ultrasound to make 100% certain that baby was butt down.  Shortly after, the ultrasound came in and it showed the baby was breech (I don't really remember this because I was in so much pain).  They said we'd be having a c-section, so I had to sign some forms.  I have no clue what I was signing, or if I was even signing my name (seriously, for all I know, I could have been signing away my baby), but what seemed like hours and hours later, they finally wheeled me into the OR.  

They had me sit up and let me tell you, when you're having contractions, sitting up is nearly impossible.  But, I had to sit up so they could give me the spinal.   

SPINAL=NO MORE PAIN....YES PLEASE!!!  

FINALLY they gave me the spinal and I felt nothing...it was pretty much A-MAZING!  I laid down and they brought in my Husband.  It was a relief to see him.  He sat down next to me and held my hand.  And, before we knew it, we had our baby girl!  

She was born at 7:33am.  When I heard her cry it was by and far the most amazing sound I've ever heard in my entire life!  

The worst part of a c-section is the fact that I couldn't hold my daughter right away or even see her.  I could hear them say she weighed 6lbs 2 ounces and I could hear them talking to Kyle, but otherwise, I had no clue what was going on.  

Kyle brought Dafney over to see me, but I could barely see her through all the tears {of JOY of course}.  She looked perfect, but before I had a chance to stare at her every feature, Kyle took her out of the OR room into a recovery type room.  

I had to lay there for another 45ish minutes while the Dr. put me back together.  When they were done, they wheeled me into a recovery room next to where Kyle was.  I could hear Kyle and hear Dafney crying and it was so tough not to see them.  

Finally, the Nurse asked if I wanted to see Dafney and I said HELL"YES".  So, Kyle brought her over and put her on my chest....finally I was able to hold & see my baby girl!  It was so worth the wait {and all the pain}.  

I was in awe of how precious she truly was.  And, I still couldn't believe she was here - 2 and a half weeks early.  It is by far the best Christmas present I will ever get!  

 

I promise to write more about the Hospital stay, our first night at home and Dafeny's first week of life (I can't believe she's a week old already....she's growing up too fast), but for now, I'm going to go snuggle up with my little one! 

A Trip Down Memory Lane: Showered With Love - The FAMILY Edition

Disclaimer - I meant to post this a long time ago (like before Thanksgiving), but I clearly slacked...

This past weekend we had our combined family shower and all I can say is it was AMAZING!  We felt so blessed and loved after the shower.  

My sister and Mom threw us the shower and they did such a fabulous job.  The place was decorated adorably, they made the cutest diaper cake and had a delicious spread of food.  Aunts, cousins, sisters and nieces came from all over the area...even through the FIRST SNOW of the year - how awesome (that our family still made the trip, not the snow)!!  

We also received a ton of amazing gifts - including: car seat, extra base, pack-n-play, onesies, sleep sacks, the most adorable boots EVER, hairbands, bath-tub, bath toys, towels, burp rags, baby monitors, adorable outfits, wipes, nuks, memory books, bouncy seat, crib sheets, tons and tons of toys, teeny-tiny socks, bottles, bottle cleaners, car seat cover (since we live in a cold climate 9 months out of the year), mittens, baby Bjorn and a breast feeding cover (I'm sure I missed something).  

Like I said, we felt blessed!  We are truly so lucky to have such amazing family ♥

Delicious Dessert

Diaper Cake...LOVED it!

Gifts for the guests - Bath & Body Works sanitizers inside baby socks

Yummy Treats

34 Weeks

Thanks again to our family, especially my Mom and Sister for making this shower so special for us and our baby girl!

Picture Overload - Week 1

I'm going to be the typical "new Mommy" and do a picture post of our precious little bundle of joy!  But, don't worry, I'm working on the birth story post...should be up soon (depending on how long Ms. Dafney sleeps)!

First day in the Hospital

First family photo...LOVE ♥♥♥

Such a proud Daddy!

Snuggle time with Daddy!!

Getting ready to head home....not so sure about the car seat, though.

Just looking adorable =)

Hannah isn't so sure about her new baby sister, but soon they'll be good friends!

So teeny-tiny!

Enjoying the little bouncy seat!

This is just the first of many picture posts....Enjoy =)

Welcome Dafney!

DAFNEY HARPER MACKENZIE

Born on 12/13/2011 @ 7:33am

6lbs 2 ounces - 19 3/4 inches long

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!

We are completely in love with our daughter ♥ 

36 (and a half) Weeks of Love

Can you believe I'm almost considered "full term"!?!  How did that happen?  I'm still amazed at how fast these past few months have gone by.  And to think, next week will already be the middle of December.  Yesterday I started the first of my weekly doctor visits.  

Yep, you know, the ones where they get up-close and personal with your nether regions.  

I did the normal: peed in a cup, stood on the scale (I'm up 16.5 lbs...yikes!), take your blood pressure taken, measure your stomach, hear the heartbeat ♥ (my personal favorite) and then....they checked to see if I was dilated.  I have to admit, I was sort of excited to see (not literally, thank-fully) if anything was going on, um, down there, but when she actually went in to check, I thought,  

HOLY CRAP...this hurts (okay, maybe not hurt, but was VERY uncomfortable) how am I ever going to get through the actual labor part.  

In retrospect {to labor, that is} I'm sure that it was nothing, but I certainly don't look forward to having that done every week.  She told me that I was about 2cm dilated...what does that mean?  Nothing, really.  My body is starting to prep itself for labor (super exciting and scary all at once), but it could happen today, or in 4 weeks...no-one really knows.  

I'm still feeling pretty good.  Sleeping is rough.  Either I can't get comfortable, or my mind is constantly thinking about: contractions, labor, what we still might need for baby, packing our bag, etc.  I swear, it never shuts off!  Otherwise, I have no real complaints.  I'm trying to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy all while relaxing and {trying to} taking to take it easy.  

23 days and counting....

December = PANIC MODE

When I woke up at about 3am thinking about anything and everything, it dawned on me that today was the first day of DECEMBER.  

Holy &%^@!  

When did it become DECEMBER for gosh sakes?  Perhaps the "nice" weather we've been having made me loose track of what month we're in, but it's true, today is December 1st....yikes!  

It seems like there is so much that needs to be done before baby arrives.  Now, I know that everything doesn't have to be done, but for my own sanity, I sure would like it to be done.  

Where do I even begin?!  I need to decorate the Christmas tree, finish my birthday/Christmas shopping, clean some stuff up at work, pack our Hospital bag, clean the house, get the car seat {properly} installed...the list goes on and on.  There's just so much to do and think about and knowing that things could happen at any time now I think I tend to panic a teeny tiny bit more.  

How will I ever keep up with everything once she's actually here (okay, I'll save that panic attack for another day)?!?  I just need to continue to remind myself that it will be okay if everything on my list is not crossed off by the time she arrives.  

Well, I guess instead of blogging about all the things I have to do, I should probably start doing them...I mean, I only have 31 days left!