One Month

Kaelyn had her 1 month check up today. She grew 2 inches in length - she is now 22 1/2 inches long which puts her in the 90th percentile for length. Her head is still kinda small and is in the 10th percentile. She weighs 9.1 pounds which is in the 50th percentile. Overall she seems to be doing well!! She got her 2nd Hep B shot and did well with it. Next month she'll have 2 shots.

Kaelyn got to meet he Nana (my mother-in-law) this weekend. Nana found that Kaelyn loves to suck on your finger. We had attempted to give her a pacifier before, but she wasn't really that interested. The finger calms her down and often puts her to sleep.

She isn't anywhere near sleeping through the night. She is usually up every 2-3 hours. Sometimes she'll go 4 hours, but not often enough!! She eats about 9-10 times per day. We give her about half breast milk and half formula each day.

Kaelyn seems to enjoy her baths. We use a wash pod which is difficult to use right now since she can't hold her head up. It's almost impossible to give her a bath without the help of another person. The soap and water make her slippery so it becomes challenging to hold her up. :)

Things are getting easier for us. I still have 2 months of leave (I return to work the end of July). I'm looking forward to more warm days and getting out more often.

2 1/2 weeks after birth

People always say how fast time flies when you have a baby, but so far these past couple of weeks have been very slow. These past couple of weeks have also been quite challenging. Newborns cry about everything so it's like a stressful game trying to figure out what 'this' or 'that' cry really means. I've been concerned that I'm not producing enough milk. We have been supplementing with a little bit of formula to be sure she is putting weight on. I'm anxious for her next doctor's appointment. Since she lost 12% of her weight at the hospital (10% is common, more than that is a little concerning), however, she did gain about 1.5% back within 2 days of leaving the hhospital I just want to be sure she has continued to gain. One of the things I keep reminding myself is that she is peeing and pooping every day so that is a good sign she is eating.

Being a new parent is hard. Everything is new and there is nothing to compare anything to. I don't want to be one of those mom's who calls the doctor every other day with ridiculous questions. Although, Tim did remind me that it's okay to ask questions especially since we're first time parents. I just tend to research things online rather than pick up the phone to call the doctor's office.

I've been feeling pretty good. I'm finally able to drive again. I had a doctor's appointment today to follow up with my blood pressure and my cesarean incision. The incision became infected on one side and come to find out it was caused by a stitch that did not dissolve. The doctor numbed the area and took it out - YUCK! It already looks a lot better though. I'm down 23 pounds since delivery - just 10 more pounds until I'm back to my starting weight. I managed to button my regular jeans, but not comfortably!! haha

Yesterday Tim and I went grocery shopping while Kaelyn stayed home with my Mom and Step Dad. Although we were only grocery shopping it was nice to get out of the house together. :)

Well - the boss is waking up (Boss = Kaelyn) so I must go change her diaper and fill her belly!! :)

My Birth Story

Kaelyn was born April 29th at 3:02 a.m. via c-section. Here is the story of how we got to 3:02 Friday morning.

April 28th, Thursday contractions started around 1:00 while Tim and I were hanging out at home. Around 2:00 I mention to Tim that I think things are starting. By 3:00 we start timing them and the contractions are about 5 minutes apart and last for about 1 minute. We call the doctor and they say to come in to the office. I was only dilated 2 cms (same as I had been for 2 weeks), but the doctor forces me to 3 cm *ouch* and sends us to the hospital.

We get into our labor room at about 4:30. I get an IV for the antibiotics because of the Group B Strep. I used a birthing ball along with my breathing exercises for a couple of hours or so to deal with the contractions. Tim helps by pushing on my lower back and breathing with me to help keep me going. My BP is checked occasionally as well as the babies heartbeat and all looks fairly well. I switch to getting on all fours on the bed and rock my butt back and forth which helped for awhile as well. By 9:00 the nurse checks my cervix again and I'm only 4 1/2 cm dilated. I cry. I couldn't imagine the pain getting worse at this point and I decide to go for the epidural. I felt like I was letting myself and Tim down, but he was very supportive of me doing what I felt was right. By 9:30 I get the epidural and I rest the best I can in hopes of dilating a little quicker. With the epidural I need to have constant BP monitoring and the baby's heartbeat and my contractions are regularly monitored.

By about midnight I have dilated only 1/2 cm more!! And at this point I start to feel the back contractions. The doctor starts me on Pitocin (I cry more because nothing is going as planned!) Which increases my back contractions to almost unbearable. (come to find out she was facing up which causes back contractions to be worse). I begin to throw up and dry-heave almost nonstop. By 2:00 a.m. I've dilated to only 6 cm. By throwing up my water starts to leak and the doctor checks me and finishes breaking my water. At this point we know the baby has had a bowel movement. By BP has been rather high and my heart rate was between 95 and 110 beats per minute. I had to stay on my right side because the baby's heart rate went down if I was on my back or left side. At this point the doctor is considering a c-section because of the extra strain that is being put on the baby (High BP, heart rate, and the sign of stress from her bowel movement). After another 30 minutes or so I practically beg for a c-section (along with the tears because I couldn't ever imagine myself 'wanting' a c-section). They increase the dosage of the epidural so I'm completely numbed from the waist down. I'm wheeled into surgery, prepped, and then Tim is allowed in to sit beside my head. The baby is out in a matter of minutes. To hear her cry was heartbreaking because I couldn't hold her or even see her right away. Doctors from the NICU were there to look her over and suck out the meconium from her mouth and nose. Tim was allowed to cut her cord and then she was brought over to me so I could talk to her and kiss her. The entire process was 45 minutes, with the first 10 minutes spent actually getting the baby out and the rest was to stitch me up.

I was taken to recovery where I was able to breastfeed within the first hour of her birth which I was really happy about. We stayed in the hospital for 3 nights. I don't regret a single decision I made. I'm just happy Kaelyn is here!!