It must be documented

Tommy slept GREAT last night!

I fed him at 9:30 and Bill took him to the living room so I could go to sleep (Bill was supposed to be off of work today but ended up getting called in this morning). Apparently, shortly after Bill took him out, he fell asleep in Bill's arms. He brought him in and put him to bed. Next thing I knew, it was 2:30am! Tommy went for 5 hours! I fed him and put him back to sleep pretty quickly and he slept until 6:30! I think he woke up because Bill's phone rang but a 4 hour stretch on top of a 5 hour stretch?! Amazing! I fed him and we fell back asleep until 8:30. I seriously have not slept that good since I was about 7 months pregnant! I feel great today.

Let's replicate it tonight Tommy!

3 weeks

The 3 week growth spurt is no joke. And no fun. Ouch.

Yay for small victories!

This is Tommy. Napping. In his Pack N' Play. ON HIS BACK!!!

(No, there is no sheet down. I just had the idea to try it out today when he had finally passed out at noon after being awake since 5 this morning. I'll put a sheet on after he wakes up.)

5 things

What I have learned in the 2 weeks that Tommy has been alive:

1) The baby blues are really rough on me. The changes that have taken place as well as the hormonal imbalance have been enough to really throw me. It's getting better but the cloud I was living in was a very scary place.

2) I have the best husband ever. If it wasn't for him, I don't know where I'd be.

3) A close second place tie goes to my parents and grandmother. They have been here every day whenever I need them.

4) Newborns have no schedule. Some nights Tommy will sleep and some nights he won't. We had two sleepless nights in a row this weekend and he was awake pretty much all day yesterday. Luckily, last night was a great night. He only woke up long enough to eat every 3 hours from 8-5. I'm working on keeping him awake as much as possible today to hopefully recreate that tonight.

5) My whole life is different now but that's ok. I'll get used to it. Change is very hard for me but I will be okay. This will be the most amazing thing to ever happen to me, once I get my hormones under control and can start to live my life a little bit more. I look forward to being able to take him more places. We've gone out to eat and to the grocery store, the three of us, but I haven't taken him anywhere myself yet. Of course, I haven't been able to drive until today so that's part of it. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday so I will definitely be taking him somewhere myself by then. I'm thinking about attempting a trip to Target or something tomorrow though, just to give it a try.

Sometimes Tommy's a Night Owl

Wide awake at 1:00 am

Last night I fed Tommy at 8:00 and went to bed. I slept blissfully from 9-11 when I was awoken by Tommy's little hunger noises. I took him from his chair and fed him. Usually, I have to change his diaper between each side to wake him up enough to eat again so I changed his diaper and he hungrily ate from the other side. At this point, he's usually in a milk coma and I can go back to sleep. Not last night! My little man was still looking up at me like, "now what do we do?" when he had finished eating. I tried putting him back in his chair but he started crying. I held him and rocked him hoping he'd go sleep. Nope. He was WIDE awake. After about an hour, he started to drift off. I waited until I thought he was sleeping deeply enough to put him in his chair but he bolted right awake again as soon as his bum hit the seat. I ended up feeding him again at 1 and he finally went back to sleep at 2. Bill got up and left for work at 3 and I told him that if he woke up the baby I'd kill him. Luckily, he slept through the noise and didn't wake up until 6. I was able to go back to sleep for another hour after I fed him again but those 3 hours in the middle of the night were a killer.

I tried to figure out why he was so wide awake and I have 2 theories. One is that my grandmother ended up coming over yesterday and held Tommy for 5 hours, only giving him up so I could feed him. He slept soundly the whole time. Not only did he get a lot of sleep, it was also all while being held. My second theory is that I might have accidentally hopped him up on caffeine. I got a migraine yesterday afternoon and drank two caffeinated sodas to get rid of it. I drank them around 5:00 so I'm not sure if there would be a 6 hour delay in effects but who knows.

Or maybe Tommy doesn't sleep between 11 and 2 anymore. I hope this isn't the case.

In other news, I ordered a Fisher Price Rock n' Play. I know the pediatrician said it was ok for him to sleep in his bouncer but I did some searching around online and saw that a lot of moms recommended this product for babies who don't like to sleep flat on their backs. I finally signed up for Amazon Mom and bought a Rock n' Play. It should arrive today and we'll give it a shot. I'll let you know how it works. I also ordered a nursing bra. I have 2 that I wore at the end of my pregnancy but they have underwire and I read that you're not supposed to wear underwire while nursing because the pressure can block ducts. We'll see how a supportive a non-underwire bra is for me. I have a rather, um, large chest. I've been living in nursing tanks so far but I'd really like something with more support to wear out in public. We'll see how this goes.

ps. I'm going to brag for a minute, I got on the scale today and I'm down 20 of the 40 pounds I had gained! Yay!

We're home!

The couple of days in the hospital were a blur of getting checked by nurses and trying to get a hang of nursing. I was excited to be released and get home on Tuesday, but also very nervous and scared. Would I be able to do this? Bill was able to take Monday and Tuesday off but needed to return to work on Wednesday. My dad is a teaching assistant so he is off in the summer and would be able to come over to help and my mom was taking Thursday and Friday off of work to be available to help me too. Thank god for family.

I took Tommy to the pediatrician on Wednesday and his jaundice was still in full force but the doctor just said to get him in the sun and keep feeding him and have him poop it all out. Tommy had also lost another 2 ounces and was down to 7lbs 2oz so she wanted to see us back on Friday. By Friday, his jaundice had reduced considerably and he had gained 6oz! He was up to 7lbs 8ozs! I was so proud of my little piggy!

We also have figured out sleeping at night. It's not exactly the way I envisioned but it works. See, Tommy doesn't really like to sleep flat on his back. He fusses and squirms and just wants to be held. Thursday night, I was holding him in the living room so he wouldn't wake Bill up when I decided to try to put him in his bouncy chair. He had slept in it a lot during the day for my mom and needed to try to sleep some. I put him in the chair at 9:00 and we both fell asleep. I woke up in a panic at midnight because he was still quiet. He was still asleep! I woke him up to feed him and put him back in the chair. He then slept until 3:00 when I woke him up to feed him again, then slept until 7:30! I couldn't believe it! I mentioned that he slept well in the bouncy chair to the pediatrician and she told me that if he wouldn't sleep otherwise, then go ahead and let him sleep in the chair. She also told me that as long as he is eating every 2-3 hours throughout the day, then to let him sleep as long as he wants at night. We've been getting 3.5-4 hour stretches! I'm still tired, probably because I'm still recovering and not getting a full, uninterrupted night, but it's MUCH better. I'm hoping that once we get him on a semi-regular sleep schedule, we'll try putting him back in the pack n' play but for now, I'm good with him sleeping in the chair!

So that's what's been going on so far. Today Tommy is one week old! The doctor told us to expect a growth spurt between 7 and 10 days. They said he would want to eat constantly and not to get frustrated. I'm anticipating this with some trepidation. At least I know it's coming and won't freak out that I'm starving my baby!

Tomorrow will be interesting. It will be my first day completely on my own. Well, kind of. I know my dad is around if I need him and will drop everything to come help, but I'm going to see if I can do this on my own for a day. Tuesday my friends are coming to meet him and Bill has a softball game that I might try to bring him to. Wednesday we go back to the doctor and my uncle's political fundraiser. I haven't decided if I'm going to go or not. There will be A LOT of people there but if he doesn't mind the Moby Wrap (still have to try it out) I might give it a try. The hardest thing is knowing whether I should take him places or not. We were going to try going out to breakfast this morning but Tommy was fussy and wanted to eat every hour from 7:30-10:30 so we decided to put that trip on hold. I do know that I need to start going somewhere from time to time because I'm starting to feel pretty cooped up!

Some Pictures

The hospital where I delivered has a company, Charley's Angels, that comes around and takes newborn pictures. The session is free and you have no obligation to buy so we said, sure why not? They did a pretty good job I think so we bought a small package as well as a CD with the images on it with a release so we can print more if we want. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Day Tommy Was Born

Introducing......
Thomas Harrison!
Born Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 9:10 am
7 pounds 10 ounces
20.5 inches long

So here's the story, on Saturday I felt crampy and just plain blah all day. I couldn't sit still and just wanted more and more things to do. I swept, dusted, arranged, rearranged, and basically drove Bill nuts all day. Finally I looked at Bill and said, "you know, we haven't put the car seat bases in yet, the baby won't come until we do that." Bill laughed and reminded me that if I gave birth without the car seat bases in, he could always come home and do it before we were released but he humored me anyway and we went out in the rain and put a base in my car.

At around 7:00, Bill went over to our friends' house to watch the Mets game and I snuggled in on the couch to watch some TV. At 10:30 I went in to bed to watch TV in there. At 11:00 I felt this very strange POP in my belly. I waited to see what was going to happen but nothing did. About 5 minutes later I decided to get up and go to the bathroom. As I stood up, fluid started running down my legs. Not a lot, about as much as peeing yourself. I made it to the bathroom and realized that I had lost my mucus plug as well. I went and laid down to see what would happen and sure enough, more came pouring out. I called Bill and told him to come home, that my water had broken. He rushed home and we called the doctor who told me to go to L&D to get checked out.

We got to the hospital around 12:15 and by that point, the contractions had started and were about 8 minutes apart. They did an internal and I was about 3-4 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. They admitted me and offered to let me get in the tub. It was about 2 am by that point and the hot water felt great. The contractions were painful in my hips and legs and the hot water really helped me to relax. However, it only felt good for about 20 minutes then I just felt restricted since it was a standard sized tub and I couldn't really move around.

At that point, my contractions were really close together and very strong. I was having a hard time concentrating on breathing and was in a whole lot of pain. The nurse offered to give me Nubain but I didn't want to get it because it's in the same family as Morphine and when I've had that in the past, it has caused me to become extremely loopy and fall asleep even in a small dosage. I was afraid that I'd take it and not be able to push. I was open to an epidural and asked for it at 3:00. The anesthesiologist was in an emergency cesarean and wasn't able to come to me right away so I tried to labor through the contractions but they were coming so fast and so strong that I was crying and shaking.

At 3:30 the nurse told me that the anesthesiologist was finishing up in the OR and that he'd be coming by soon but told me that I'd have to be able to sit still while he gave me the epidural. She asked if I thought I could do it and I just cried harder. She left so Bill and I could discuss what to do. I told him I didn't think I could sit still. He told me he thought we should try some sort of meds and I gave in to the Nubain. The doctor checked me and I was 5 centimeters dilated so they approved both the Nubain and the epidural. The nurse gave the Nubain to me and I instantly felt limp. I didn't feel any contractions, in fact, I didn't feel anything. She had me sit up so that the anesthesiologist could start the epidural and I just slumped on her. I remember her talking to me but not being able to respond, as if I was asleep. Bill told me later that she kept checking to make sure I was breathing because I was so unresponsive.

After the epidural was in, the nurse had me lay on my side and go to sleep. She came in to have me roll over a couple of times but the relief I got from sleeping was amazing. It wasn't good, deep sleep, but it was something. I was glad because Bill got to get some sleep too.

At 6:00 they inserted a catheter and I was 8.5 - 9 centimeters dilated. They had me sit more upright so that gravity would cause the baby's head to get me to 10 centimeters.

At 7:00 I started to feel discomfort on my left side. It quickly turned into being able to feel all of the contractions on my left side. The epidural had worn off on that side. This was also the time that the nurses changed. The nurse I had all night was nice but the nurse that came on for my delivery was AMAZING. Thank you Nurse Deb!

At 7:50 they checked me and I was at 10 centimeters and ready to start pushing. The first few pushes felt amazing. It was such a relief. However, this was short lived. Soon the pushes started to hurt. I could feel the contractions and pushing was hurting my hips. They had me roll to my side and push that way. That felt better for a little bit. Then they had me switch to the other side. The nurse kept telling me I was doing a good job but I just didn't feel like my pushes were that productive. I'd start pushing and I'd finally feel like I got it right and I'd run out of breath. The nurse grabbed a blanket and tied a knot in it. She had me grab hold of one end and she held the other. Bill had one leg and a nursing student had the other (oh yeah, forgot to mention, my brother in-law's girlfriend is a nursing student on the L&D floor where I delivered and I agreed to let two of her classmates participate in the birth). When I pushed, we kind of did a tug-o-war and my pushes became MUCH more productive.

After an hour and 20 minutes of pushing, at 9:10am, Tommy was pushed out and placed on my chest. He cried almost instantly and was absolutely perfect. They cleaned him up and let me hold him and nurse him for an hour before they took him to the warmer.

I did end up needing some stitches for a third degree tear but I honestly didn't care. It was the worst pain with the best result ever. I'm totally in love with my new little guy and watching Bill with him makes me fall farther and farther in love with him.

***It took me a few days to write this out. I'll add more information about the following days in a later post.***

To-do (update)

A couple of weeks ago I posted a list of things I had to do before the baby so I thought I'd update it:

* Buy whatever is left from registries - Done!
* Arrange Baby Room - Done!
* Get/Set up Pack & Play - Done!
* Install Car Seat - Done!
* Get cars cleaned inside - Still need to do this
* Get animals Groomed - Still need to do this, may not be done
* Get blinds for baby room - Done!
* Wash baby clothes and bedding - Done!
* Pack my hospital bag - Done (except for last minute things like laptop)
* Order more contacts - Done!
* Write 2 weeks worth of sub plans - Actually found out I don't have to do this
* Decide, then tell custodians how to set up classroom - Pretty much done!
* Decide if I want to rent or buy a breast pump and do it (after BF class on 7/25) - Going to buy one, I need to call the hospital and order it (they sell them at cost!) worst case scenario, I can actually buy one while I'm admitted to the hospital and they'll send it up to me. I'd like to have it before hand though if possible.
* Buy another nursing tank or 2 - Done!
* Decide which pediatrician will be our primary one (group is already chosen) - Waiting until after baby is born since they don't all do interviews. We'll get assigned one and can just change it if we like someone else in the group better

So I've pretty much accomplished it all. We installed the car seat base in my car today but then it started pouring so we'll do Bill's tomorrow. I'll call to make an appointment to get them checked when they open on Monday.

Alright, I know I have 11 days until my due date so I shouldn't be rushing this but, baby, if you're ready to come out, WE'RE READY FOR YOU!!!

False Labor Sucks

Yup. The title basically says it all. I went grocery shopping yesterday afternoon and my belly was contracted the whole time. After I got home, I went to my uncle's house to help with some campaign stuff and had BH contractions the whole time about 25-30 minutes apart. They weren't painful but noticeable. After that I went to watch Bill's softball game (they beat the number 1 team!) and the contractions started to intensify and come more frequently. I wasn't timing them but I'd guess about every 10 minutes or so. When we got home, I put some final touches on my hospital bag just in case, and went to bed.

I woke up at 1am with extreme lower back pain and intense, period-like, cramps in my lower abdomen. It didn't come in waves like contractions are supposed to, it was constant. This lasted for about an hour and no amount of moving around or bouncing on my birthing ball made it go away. Bill got up at 2am to go to work and asked if he should go. I kind of broke down because I didn't know. I was pretty sure this was it but I wasn't ready to go to the hospital. He was scheduled to ride with another driver today so we decided that he should go to work and just drive his car to all of the stops behind the truck and if I needed him home, he could come.

After he left for work, I started to have contractions. I timed them for an hour and they ranged from 4 1/2 and 8 1/2 minutes apart. They were painful but not unbareable. I decided to keep timing and see if they became more intense in the second hour. They didn't. In fact, they went away. I went to sleep and only woke up 2 times with contractions. I've been up for about an hour now and I've had 2 contractions.

I'm 38 weeks today and while I know I'm supposed to say that I want our little boy to stay in as long as he needs, I am ready for him to come out after last night. I can handle the contractions if I know that it will result in me holding our little guy but contractions that just disappear? Not fun. I go to the doctor tomorrow and we'll see what they say. My mom told me that when she was pregnant with my sister, this happened to her for 2 days before she gave birth. We'll see!

Baby Room is DONE!!!

FINALLY!!! We finally finished the baby room! I'm so happy with it.
Now we just need the baby!

Weekly Check-In (37 weeks)

How far along? 37 weeks, 5 days
Weight gain/loss: +40 lbs...
Maternity clothes? Yes, of course.
Sleep? I wake up at least twice a night to go to the bathroom. I wake up slightly sore in the hips and never feel fully comfortable. The good news is that I am sleeping, just not feeling totally rested.
Best moment this past week? The nursery is essentially done! The glider was brought over to us yesterday (it was delivered to my aunt’s house) so we have to put that together but other than that, it’s done!
Sex: We're having a boy!
Belly button in or out? I can officially see it through shirts.
Movement: He has definitely slowed down. Still moving a lot but not the big kicks that I used to get.
What I miss? Drinks, turkey subs, and sleeping like a rock though I know that is gone for a long time...
What I'm looking forward to this week: 38 week appointment on Thursday, I’m excited to see if I’m dilated at all. Also, looking forward to the pedicure I’m supposed to be getting! My mom is also convinced that I will have the baby on Wednesday. My dad has been saying the whole time that I’ll have him on the 14th (my late grandmother’s birthday). If mom is right, I only have a couple more days! haha
Milestones: From babygaga.com, "Your smooshed-up baby is weighing in at around 6.3 lbs and 19 inches (with boys somewhat heavier and longer than girls).
As far as their internal organs go, your adorable poop and blood factory has reached "term" - a medical term that means your sweet little bun is birth-ready and labor is welcome and normal at this point. Despite being physically ready to land on planet Earth, your baby's immune system is quite weak and will continue to be that way for their first years of life. Thankfully, your breast milk (aka "boob medicine") protects your child via protective antibodies that are present in your breast milk.”
Labor Signs: Some very strong Braxton Hicks and they are definitely getting more and more frequent though definitely not time-able. I don’t know if this is a labor sign per say but man, I have been in the bathroom A LOT lately. It’s as if my body wants food out of me as fast as possible.
Picture: Taken at 38 weeks.