Thursday, March 29, 2012

I can't believe how quickly this month has flown by! It really kind of makes me sad in a way. I am definitely ready to be sleeping through the night and not feeding every 2.5 hours, but my little girl is growing so fast and I feel like I can't capture it quickly enough. Every day she does something different!

She is starting to focus on things a lot lately. When I put her on her activity mat or in her bouncer or swing, she actually looks at the toys dangling above her head. A few times I've seen her start to reach out for one, but she forgets what she's doing before she accomplishes the task. She is starting to smile some. I know they say at this age it's usually just gas, but I swear to you she reacts to certain words or faces that I make and she smiles at me. It is truly addicting and I can't wait until she has more control over it and smiles all the time.

Sleeping is going pretty well. We are using Babywise and it is working really well for us. I have always known I would use this method after seeing friends of mine who use it compared to friends who don't. I am a planner. I like my routines and my schedules, so I knew that the attachment parenting, demand feeding, baby wearing style of parenting was not for me. Not that I think there is anything wrong with that style of parenting...it's just not for us.

Anyway, she usually wakes up twice during the night to eat, which is right on track for her age. I'll feed her around 10:00 before I go to bed, then she'll wake up around 2:00- I feed her- and then she goes right back to sleep. Then she wakes up again around 4:30, and this tends to be the roughest part of our night. She eats, and then is ready to start her day...it kills me! I put her in her crib and listen to her cry for about thirty minutes before she finally goes back to sleep. Then I wake her up at 7:00 because that is when I want her to wake up for when I go back to work. We are slowly making progress though and I figure in the next several weeks she'll start dropping that feeding all together. When that day comes I will be one happy mamma!

The daytime is going well and she generally sticks to a good routine. Keeping her awake during feedings is still difficult at times, but she's getting better!

I am so in love with this baby girl! She seems to be pretty happy and boy is she growing! I can't wait to take her to the doctor in a few weeks to see how much she's gained. She definitely getting little fat rolls on her legs and arms. I have a feeling she will be a chunky baby!

So for your viewing pleasure....Anadine at 1 month!




With my mom...


With my mother in law...




Getting bigger every day



My sweet girl getting sleepy


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Location:One month old!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Introducing...

Here she is, Lillian Waudine or as we like to call her, Anadine! Our sweet daughter was born February 28 at 1:47pm. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update y'all on the story - I've been a little busy and a little sleep deprived. But now Anadine is napping, and I'll try to get the story in before she wakes up.




Monday, February 27 I had my routine doctor's appointment at 8:00 am. I woke up that morning with a terrible headache and had felt generally horrible all weekend long. I didn't realize it so much at the time, but looking back on it I realize how terrible I really did feel. My feet, ankles, calves, hands, face, and pretty much every other part of my body was so swollen that I could barely fit into sweatpants and moving in general was very difficult. Anyway, I got to the doctor and they checked my blood pressure. It was 137 over 89....not too terribly high, but very high for me. I did my business in the cup and then went back to sit with R to wait for the doctor. I mentioned to R that my blood pressure was high, but neither of us were too concerned. My blood pressure has slowly risen throughout my pregnancy and so we just chalked it up to possibly extra stress or something along those lines. Well, the nurses came in and suddenly the mood in the room changed. They seemed extra worried about my swelling (more so than previous appointments) and they were asking me questions about headaches, blurred vision, etc. They told me the doctor was running late that morning, but they knew he was going to want an ultrasound, so they suggested we go ahead and do that before he got there so he could look over it with us. They said he was going to want to check the size of the baby to be sure she could come out soon (what?!) So this meant me getting redressed, but I didn't mind because I was going to get to see my baby! As I was dressing I mentioned to R that I thought they suspected preeclampsia. R was not convinced but of course started looking up preeclampsia symptoms on his phone (gotta love him!)

The ultrasound looked great...baby was measuring approximately 6 lbs 13 oz, and all looked good with her (whew!). So we went back to the exam room, I got undressed again, and we waited, and waited, and waited. Meanwhile R was reading off symptoms of pre e and we started realizing all of these ailments I had been having the last several days were right in line for it. So of course I start freaking out a little and the wait for the doctor was excruciating! He never runs late, and he chose this day to do so! Ugh! :)




So he finally comes in, looking extremely worried (way to put my mind at ease, doc!) and tells me that with my blood pressure so high, the swelling, and the extremely high protein count in my urine (the first time we heard mention of this) that i very definitely had pre eclampsia and that I needed to be at the hospital by 11:00 to be monitored for the day and that they would would start inducing that evening. I was still not dilated at all, but it was more important to get the baby out soon because I was going to quickly start feeling more and more sick if we kept me pregnant much longer.




So R and I went home, grabbed our things, and went to the hospital. Here's the real kicker...they were out of beds at the hospital! Apparently that weekend was a very popular weekend to have babies, so they had to put me in this tiny, extra room until they got one of the labor rooms cleaned and ready for me...something they kept promising would happen in the next thirty minutes. Well, we finally moved into our room at 8:30 that night! Oh well, it wasn't a big deal, just kind of annoying. Throughout the day they checked my blood pressure, which steadily climbed to outrageous numbers...like 160/96! Wowser! Once we got moved into our room, they inserted a thing behind my cervix. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but the purpose was to give my cervix a kick start and try to get it dilated enough to break my water the next morning and start the pitocin.




Well, morning came, and I still had not dilated at all. They had to start the pitocin anyway, something that the nurse warned me was going to cause horrific pain with my water bag still in place and boy was she right. The contractions came on very suddenly and painfully. She checked me an hour later, still no dilation, so she cranked up the pitocin. The contractions were stage three, coming every minute and a half...an hour later, still no dilation. It was the most terrible pain I have ever experienced. I couldn't get an epidural because I wasn't dilated to a two, and they kept cranking up the pitocin, which would crank up the contractions, but still no change to my cervix. It was all very frustrating to say the least. By this point I knew a csection was probably inevitable, and I wanted nothing more than to just do it and get it over with! At 11:30 the nurse checked me again, found nothing had changed and called the doctor. She came in and said he wanted to come talk to me about a csection and would be there around 12:15 (he finished clinicals at 12:00). I thought okay I can do this for another fourth five minutes. I just watched the clock and counted down the contractions. At 12:30, she came back in and said that the doctor was in the parking lot, but he got a call that another patient was ready to push at a hospital across town so he would have to come back after that. Ugh! Another hour of contractions and finally he came in, checked me one last time (still no dilation) and said it was time for a csection. We got into the OR at 1:35, I got the spinal block (ah instant relief!) and baby Anadine was born at 1:47. It all happened so fast, and it was all so surreal.




While I was in recovery we started discussing names. Going into the day we still hadn't decided on a name, although we had two options that were our top two. Honestly, for the past two months or so I was convinced that her name was going to be something completely different, but when she was born I instantly knew she was a Lillian and I had this overwhelming desire to name her after our grandmothers - two women that we loved dearly. Lillian was my grandmother's name and Waudine was R's grandmother's name. The only problem was we did not want her to turn into a Lilly, which I felt was inevitable to happen.I've taught many Lilly's over the past several years, and not one of them has been a very pleasant experience. :) So R suggested we go ahead and decide her nickname now and in my drug induced sleepiness I came up with Anadine - a combination of the endings of both names. I realize it will cause some confusion, especially with the pronunciation (it's pronounced like clean, not with a long I as in clementine) but I think it's beautiful and it seems to fit her.




R and I are completely smitten with this little girl and we haven't once nor will we ever forget what a precious miracle she is. She is a pretty good baby and we've only had a couple of rough nights so far. Our biggest challenge is keeping her awake while she's eating so that she gets a full feeding each time. She's a pro at nursing, and while I am exhausted and feel like all I ever do is feed a baby, she at least makes it pretty easy on me by being good at it! She has been sleeping in her crib since the first night home and generally wakes up to eat about every 2.5-3 hours which isn't too bad.




I already feel like she has grown so much in the past two weeks. I'm just trying to absorb every minute of it. She is the love of my life and she continues to take my breath away with everything she does.




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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Nursery

Sorry these pictures aren't the best quality, they were taken with my phone. But here is a glimpse at our nursery.

I made the window treatments. The valences have little birds on them and the curtains have tiny pink polka dots.



The crib with the birds I made hanging above. Sorry for the glare from the light!



Changing table with covered bulletin board. It is covered with the same polka dot fabric as the curtains. We will use the bulletin board to put pictures of family, and also important information like doctor's number and feeding schedules, etc. (I'm a bit of an organizational freak sometimes)




Book shelf. I lined the back of each shelf with contact paper to add some color. I found the birdhouses at hobby lobby for $3 a piece and couldn't resist!


Another view of one of the windows.



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Monday, February 20, 2012

38 weeks 4 days

Just a quick update. I went to my weekly appointment today and was slightly disappointed to find out that there hasn't been any change. The doctor said that I had started to dilate a little bit, but not even 1cm. The baby is still pretty high and has not become engaged. He said this is the week to do lots of walking and try to get things moving on their own. If there isn't any progress by my appointment next week, he said we will start discussing inducing me. Oh well! We all knew this baby would be stubborn! I know she will come when she's ready and to be quite honest, I'm okay with waiting a little bit longer. As much as I can't wait to meet her, I'm also trying to soak in as much of this pregnancy as I can. I feel like it has gone by way too fast and I'm going to miss having her inside me. Also, I need to give R as much time as possible to get his thesis finished so he can be around more after she's born. The thesis probably won't be completely finished, but the more he gets done before the birth the better! Now by the time 40 weeks rolls around I'll be a little more anxious just because I'd rather not have a 10lb baby!


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Friday, February 10, 2012

This is a test...

Just for kicks and to test my tech support skills, here's a picture of my swollen feet from several weeks ago. They have actually gotten worse since then, if you can believe it!




And here's a bump picture from this week...






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37 weeks!

So apparently my blogging AP has decided not to work anymore because I have posted, but it did not publish to the blog. Ugh! So sorry!

Anyway, I am now officially full term! What?!?! This baby could come any day now, which is really exciting and really scary at the same time. I am going to my appointments weekly now and the doctor has been performing pelvic exams. So far I haven't had any dilation, but the baby is head down (yea!) and last Monday she was at +2 station, so still pretty high. I definitely feel like she has dropped even lower this week though, but I guess we'll see on Monday at our next appointment.

Things are starting to get pretty uncomfortable. I am retaining a LOT of fluid. By the end of each day my feet and ankles are so swollen I can barely walk, and my hands can no longer make a fist, which makes opening things fairly difficult. Heck, just getting in and out of my car proves to be difficult these days!

I am also EXHAUSTED lately. I seriously feel like I could sleep all day long, but then again sleeping is quite impossible, too. Just about the time I get into a nice deep sleep, I wake up with horrific pains in either my hips, back, hands...you name it!

I hate to sound like I'm complaining constantly. I really am still so happy and I still love being pregnant. Let's just say I'm also ready to meet this sweet baby girl and lose some of this fluid! I realize the sleeping thing is something that I won't experience for quite a long time, but at least when I do sleep I'll be able to get somewhat comfortable!

The nursery should be finished by the end of this weekend, so I will post pictures next time...assuming my ipad will let me. I'll have to do some investigation with this ap between now and then.

Only 20 more days until my due date...assuming I make it that long!

Friday, January 13, 2012

33 Weeks

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted.  Honestly, there just hasn't been a whole lot to report-- which in my opinion is a great thing! I love how boring this pregnancy has been! :)

Everything is still looking good.  Every time I go to the doctor, I am measuring right on track and the appointments have been pretty boring...a nice change from all the ivf appointments where I usually left crying!

The third trimester has definitely hit me with a vengeance! I have swollen feet and hands (can no longer wear my rings), I have crazy heartburn, and I never sleep more than an hour without getting a cramp in my legs or hips.  Baby girl loves to settle in on my left side either up in my ribs or down lower on a nerve that makes my left leg fall asleep.

Her movements are so different now! I definitely feel more rolls and curling up than actual kicking, and most of the time you can watch my stomach move around when she does. Today at the preschool a little boy came up and started poking my belly and telling me he wanted the baby to come out so he could see her. She obviously did not appreciate it and curled up into a tight ball on the other side from where he was poking. So half of my stomach was flat and the other side had this huge bulge in it.  It was hilarious because the little boy could in fact see the baby like he wanted..just not exactly what he had in mind!

She's also started to get the hiccups a lot. So cute!

The nursery is coming along.  I have made window valences out of the most precious fabric. I've also made a bed skirt for the crib and basket liners for the baskets on the changing table.  It's just about to the point of being able to take pictures and post for all to see! I just need R to actually hang the curtains, and I have to figure out exactly how I want the furniture arranged. I promise to post pictures as soon as it is finished!

I'm down to having biweekly appointments and pretty soon they will be weekly. I think at that point things will start to get a little more exciting! I can't wait to meet this little girl!


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