Dear Brody - 2 weeks

Monday, April 22, 2013 Anya 0 Comments

Brody bear,

Your mommy is still very emotional - going through the baby blues but loving you more every day.
We are finally finding a little bit of a rhythm after the first week that was really hard. The check-up with your pediatrician went well. You don't really like the doctor's office though. You are fine before and after, but while we are in there, you cry pretty much the whole time. They weigh you when you are naked, I'm sure it's cold and bright for you. Your weight went from 7 pounds 15 ouz. at birth, to 7 pounds 9 ounces after 5 days and 8 pounds 9 ounces after 11 days, which is really good according to doctor. He mentioned that he assumes that breastfeeding is going well. They typically expect babys to gain their birth weight back after 10 days and we are clearly above that. :) Breastfeeding success!

You lost your belly button leftover on 4/23/2013 after 15 days. You started being really fussy and/or gassy during this week and you seem to prefer the crib over the pack n play that we have you sleep in. For the time being it is going to stay this way since we want you to be in the room with us until you are at least 4-6 months if possible. You are growing so rapidly though that I'm not sure you will fit into the pack n play for much longer.

Your grandparents were with us this week and we were so happy that they could meet you. You took your pacifier for the first time this week when we introduced it after you cried for a while.
We are taking our first walks around the neighborhood - meanwhile you are mostly sleeping and don't really know yet that you have left the house.

You got your social security number and therefore your first letter addressed to you.


We tried to get your passport pictures done but didn't succeed, so we decided to take them at home. The instructions say that you have to have a neutral facial expression. I think we succeeded. :))


We'll try to get your passport shortly and applied for your birth certificate also.

All in all everything is starting to go a little smoother but we are still learning.

Dear Brody - 1 week

Monday, April 15, 2013 Anya 0 Comments

Brody,

Wow - we are making it through the first week. What a shock to the system - but we are over the moon -very tired - but very over the moon.
Went to see your pediatrician and everything looks good. You weighed a little less which was to be expected for a breastfed baby a couple of days after birth but we were far from the usual 10% so you are already doing great. We are hoping for good measurements at the next appointment.

You love the car seat - just as most infants you fall asleep right away.

You hate diaper changes and cry up a storm. We try to keep you warm while we change you but it just doesn't seem to be one of your favorite things.

You started sleeping in the pack and play starting day 4 - before your dad and I took shifts to keep an eye on you all through the night and hold you. We were really nervous about you and your breathing after you spit up a couple of times in the hospital. They said it would most likely be amniotic fluid that is left over and it seems that was true since you stopped doing it here at home and we finally felt comfortable enough to put you in the pack and play next to our bed.

You have successfully marked your room multiple times already since me and your dad are still learning and tend to forget to cover your equipment during changes. You are teaching us! Aaah, the pit stops...

During the day you like to be held and prefer to sleep in mommies arms rather than the pack n play.

You became more alert already during your first week and started to 'try' to put your thumb in your mouth for soothing. You become frustrated when you can't get it back in there but it's amazing how fast you started this .

Your content face after you feed is one of my favorites. Here is a shot of your milk coma happiness (makes me happy!!)


Your skin is peeling and it sounds like this is a normal occurence for newborns. You had a little bit of a rash in the hospital that went away after a day or two.

Everything is so new and we find ourselves overwhelmed at times. We are trying to get used to you just as you are trying to get used to us and your new life outside the womb. We are happy this journey started and love you very much already!

He's here! B's birth story

Monday, April 08, 2013 Anya 0 Comments

Our little baby boy was born on April 8th 2013 - I can't believe that he is already a week old at this point.

He was due on April 17th and decided to show up early. I was hoping my water wouldn't break in the middle of the night and he decided to start his journey on Monday morning at around 6:30am. I heard/felt two popping noises and noticed my panties were wet. It wasn't a whole lot though. Period like cramping started soon afterwards, but similar to what I have felt before so I stayed in bed. At one point I started to time when the cramping started and noticed a pattern of about 8 minutes apart. More water gushed out, again not a whole lot - I was expecting it to be more so I was still unsure but combined with the noise I heard I thought it might have been my water breaking. Called the OB and they asked me to come in. Looking back it's interesting that I had to sit in the waiting room for quiet a while with contractions and dialated to a 3-4 already. I guess they didn't know...cough.
Tested the liquid and it was indeed amniotic fluid. Checked me and I was at around 3-4cm. She sent us to the hospital but mentioned I could go home also for a while since it usually takes long for a FTM.

We decided to head to the hospital and I'm glad I did. I should mention that we stopped to get me a Jamba Juice (as lunch so to say). The recommendation was to eat 'light'. ;)
Checked in around 11:30am at the hospital with stronger cramping. It progressed way faster than I had thought though and they mentioned that the anesthesiologist had to attend a c-section first and would be back in about an hour and whether that was ok. I thought it was - considering that the pain was very similar to my monthly menstrual cramps at this point. It went to very strong pain fairly quickly though and even though the hour was over I tried to get the nurse back twice due to the pain. When they finally arrived they had the hardest time to set my IV. It took 5 nurses and two arms with multiple trials to set the IV and the pain was really bad by now. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the epidural due to problems with the IV or just being past that point. I brought my little anti-stress-hand-star thingie that you can use to relieve stress. That star got a beating but by the end it did nothing for me, haha. It's a nice reminder though, so I'll keep it and it definitely kept me calm at the beginning.

It eventually worked and the epi brought on some sweet sweet relief. The doc that set it apparently asked me questions and recorded the answers to them, which I don't remember due to everything that was going on and mainly the pain, but Greg mentioned it to me. There are a couple things that I didn't quiet get at the time that were reported to me. Focus was definitely on pain management. They checked me and at this point I was at 7-8cms. They gave me some time and a little after 4pm it was time to push. I pushed around 3 times but every time I pushed baby boy's heartrate would drop dramatically. All of a sudden I had the oxygen mask on my face without warning and that definitely got me anxious about what is happening. They had me try to push without the contraction but it still was a problem. Things had to be done quickly and a vaccuum was needed to speed things up for him and unfortunately an episiotomy. Doctor nicknamed him 'stinker' since he didn't cooperate as we had hoped. I'm glad it went ok since the word 'emergency C-section' was thrown around the room in the middle of the ordeal. Luckily it wasn't necessary after all. He was born at 04:50pm and I'm still amazed that it went that fast. The cord was all wrapped around him multiple times which explained why he was in distress when I pushed. Daddy got to cut the cord.

We are over the moon. Meet little Brody

7 pounds 15 ounces, 20.5 inches
arrived at 38 weeks and 5 days

His birth health code was a 9, I asked the nurse. :)
Head was 14 cm's.
Pediatrician commented on big feet first thing when he saw you! :) Which is funny, since my dad said the same thing when he first saw me 32 years ago. :)
Multiple test were performed during the course of the next 24 hours and we checked out of the hospital after 24 hours also. It was an overwhelming feeling to drive home with our little bundle and all of the stress and pain washed off of me all at once which made it an interesting first drive home but definitely a great memory lodged into our hearts forever. We are two happy new parents.