One Month Old Already!

Oliver's a month old today! Where has the time gone? I feel like we've just taken him home.

He's definitely getting bigger. We weighed him on our scale, and he's coming in at over 11 pounds! Yesterday, he wore his first 6 month sized outfit, and it fit perfectly. He still wears some 0-3 month old outfits, but he's also outgrown some of his 3 month old onesies. And forget the newborn onesies! Those are long gone.

Oliver also sleeps most of the night now. He usually sleeps from 9pm to 5:30am, getting up 2-3 times to be fed and get changed. More and more frequently, he sleeps from 9pm-1am straight through!

Ollie still cries frequently, but we're getting pretty good at calming him right down. He has one crabby period every day from about 6pm to 8pm. During that time, Andrew and I trade off putting all our energy into soothing our little guy.

Also, he's starting to get pretty mobile! During tummy time, he moves like the hands on a clock. His head stays put, but he's able to move his body all around! He lifts his head for longer periods of time when he's "sitting" or put over someone's shoulder. He also holds his fists to his mouth for longer periods of time.

Likes:

Being held

Nursing

Bright lights

Tummy time

Looking at faces, especially when people make funny faces!

Listening to me sing

Listening to his daddy read

Sucking his fists

Car rides

Getting pat

The bouncy chair! Oliver just tried it for the first time today.

Dislikes:

Hats

Pacifiers

Baths

Being put down (he wants to be held all the time!)

Changing clothes

Meet Oliver

My friend, Sam, updates her blog with her son's likes and dislikes every month. I love reading how her little guy changes and grows, and so I've decided to do the same for Oliver.

Week one, and we've started learning so much about our baby.

Likes:

the swing

the glider

gazing at faces

being talked to

being swaddled

tummy time

skin-to-skin time

nursing!

having his head rubbed

sucking his hand

Dislikes:

the cradle

diaper changes

changing his clothes

sponge baths

hats

Oliver Comes Home

Oliver got to come home today! I got him set up in his Halloween costume as his returning home outfit. He's adorable in it. I especially like the skull cap, which didn't make it into his photos (he hates hats!).

I worried about what it would be like at home vs. the hospital, but so far, it's wonderful being home. Nursing is even easier and more relaxed. He loved the glider and fell right asleep, and now he's staying asleep in his swing. It's giving me time to eat the meal Andrew made me as well as update my blog. Still, I'm typing as fast as I can in case the little guy wakes up!

Here are some photos of his homecoming.

Oliver is Here!

Oliver is here! He was born on Friday, October 30, at 2:07pm. I'm so grateful I was able to deliver him because the doctor had started talking about a C-section when he hadn't dropped on his own. She decided to let me try to push him down on my own, and I was able to!

They put him immediately to my stomach for me to hold. Andrew cut the umbilical cord, and then the nurses took him away and weighed him at 7 lbs, 10 oz. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I sat in the bed crying from the emotions, waiting to have him back. It was definitely love at first sight.

Andrew and I spent the next 48 hours at the hospital learning as much as we could. I learned I love nursing, and Oliver was good at it. He latched on like an old pro.

Starting Saturday afternoon, though, he started to get really fussy. I'd nurse him for an hour, and afterwards, he'd continue to "root" and try to feed. He'd cry. That lasted through this morning. The nurses would bring him back to me after he'd nurse for an hour, and they'd say he was still hungry. Once, I nursed for nearly two hours, finally got him to stop crying, and then the nurse came back with him half an hour later and said he needed to nurse some more. He was insatiable (literally) and crying whenever he wasn't feeding. His pediatrician told me that he seemed healthy; he was having the correct amount of stools and everything, and he hadn't lost too much weight. However, I told her (in between Oliver's sobs) how he wasn't happy unless he was eating. She didn't really pay attention, but then a nurse came in and listened to me.

The nurse suggested I supplement Oliver's diet with a little formula. At first, I was against the idea. Then, she told me I could feed it to him through a small tube as he was nursing. He wouldn't need a bottle or anything, and he wouldn't lose his ability to nurse. We tried it. Oliver drank 20mL of formula! He was so happy! And, for the first time in a day, he fell asleep contently. He woke up an hour later and needed more. Then, an hour later, he needed even more! A lactation nurse came in and helped, and said he was quite the piggy.
Since then, Oliver's appetite has settled down. He went two and a half hours without another feeding, and now, he's sleeping quietly in his swing. I'm so glad he's full and happy!

In Labor!

I'm at the hospital in labor! Andrew and I drove through the 16 inches of snow to make our appointment at 7:30pm for me to be induced. They checked us in, got us set up in a labor and delivery room, and used some tablets at 8pm to start thinning my cervix. I received a second dose around midnight, and around 2:30am, I woke up with contractions!

The contractions were immediately severe, and they were only 45 seconds apart. I went to the bathroom to pee, and I had two by the time I finished. I went back to my hospital bed, trying to decide if I was supposed to wait for a while or not. After a couple more that were even more painful, I decided I couldn't handle them on my own. I woke up Andrew. Andrew got the nurse, and she reviewed the contraction monitor. My contractions were so close together, I barely got a break from one when the next would start. She told me that can be one of the side effects from the tablets.



She started an IV (eeeieii!) to try to space out the contractions. She gave it 15 minutes, but the contractions got even worse. I literally was shaking with pain because there was no break from them. She checked my cervix, and I was dilated to 4cm. She called the anesthesiologist, and he made it to my room within 10 minutes. Those 10 minutes felt like forever since I had at least that many contractions. I started to cry. When he arrived, he asked me if my contractions started out that severe, and I said, "Pretty much."

The nurse injected me with a pain medication to help for the epidural. It immediately made me dizzy and sleepy, and I could no longer keep my eyes open. Getting the epidural didn't hurt at all, and it helped almost immediately. I kept telling the anesthesiologist, "Thank you so much."

Labor's been super easy ever since. I'm now dilated almost 7cm, and all I've been doing is napping and relaxing. Of course, it's not easy being hooked up to so many things. I have the IV because I'm not allowed to eat or drink. I have the epidural in my back, and a cathader as well. On my stomach, I have a fetal monitor and a contraction monitor. On my left hand, I have a pulse reader, and on my right arm, I have a blood pressure cuff. Also, even though the baby's pulse is fine (in the 120s), it's lower than it was, so she gave me an oxygen mask to wear. As she put it, "The baby's getting tired from the medication, too."

My doctor is going to arrive in about an hour to break my water. From there, I'm hoping things will speed along, and hopefully, I'll have a baby soon!



I'm getting a little nervous again, but definitely more excited than anything. I'm wishing my mom was here, though, to tell me everything's going well and will be fine. She took the day off today, so hopefully she'll be here soon to help. Delivery will just be me and Andrew, of course. I think we'll take a couple of hours to ourselves to marvel at our little wonder, but then we'll see our visitors and show off our bundle of joy. Just a few more hours!

Baby Update

October 27, and still no baby. I went in for an appointment yesterday, and there was still no change. I'm 1.5cm dilated, and 60% effaced.

After the appointment, I had a few "practice" contractions. I call them practice because I've had them before, a few weeks ago. They don't hurt, and they don't last long. Still, it was nice feeling *something* going on with my body.

Today at work, I had a terribly painful event that might have been a contraction, but the tightening occurred in my back. It was quite intense. I'm hoping labor does not feel like that, but, alas, I'm thinking it will.

I'm hoping something regular starts occurring soon. I was planning on going to work tomorrow to take my mind off of everything going on, but now there's a foot of snow forecast, so I'm reconsidering. Maternity leave might officially start for me tomorrow!

Meanwhile, I'm getting a little tired emotionally. I'm getting pretty sick of people rubbing me and asking me how I feel. Is that bad? I go through moments where I don't want any visitors at the hospital. I just want to do my own thing! Maybe these mood swings indicate change...

Are You Coming Soon, Baby?

I went for my 39 week appointment today (Baby is due on Monday!), and I still haven't showed any new changes that indicate he'd be coming soon. Pooh! So the doctor set up an appointment for me to come in on Monday, where we'll then set up an evening to start inducing. She said she'd recommend Monday evening, Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening, but she said definitely no later than Thursday evening, which means he'll definitely be here by next Friday! Within a week and a half, our lives are going to be changing big time!
I guess it's certain, then, that we're having an October baby. Hurray!

10 Days Until Baby!

Our little guy is due in 10 days! I'm starting to suspect he'll make a late appearance. On October 1, before Julie's wedding, we went to the doctor to get her approval for me to drive to Omaha. Of course, she said yes! Turns out I wasn't dilated at all. A week later, I went back to the doctor, and I was surprised to hear I'd dilated a centimeter and a half. That was easy! I wasn't effaced at all, however.

Two days ago, on the 14th, I went back to the doctor again. I hadn't dilated any more than the week prior, but now I'm completely effaced. Does this mean I'll start dilating this week? I sure hope so! I'm hoping Baby can make it without having to be induced.

My doctor let me know it's not healthy to let the baby stay in too far past his due date. The longer he's in the womb, the larger he gets, and the more likely I'll have a C-section. Also, the longer he's in the womb past his due date, the more likely it is he'll pass his first stool... and if he inhales that, it can lead to a lot of breathing complications.

I go back to the doctor on Wednesday. If I'm not showing signs that the baby will be here any day, I set up an appointment for my due date (approximately), and we start discussing plans and options from there. I can't believe how close we are!

Our New Toilet

The top photo is our new toilet, and the bottom is the old one.

Andrew and I have a new toilet! Haha, it's funny what's all exciting when you're a home owner. Really, though, it's quite the improvement. The last toilet ran all the time, used gallons of water to flush, and was really (really) gross. I don't think the last owners were fans of cleaning their toilets, to be honest.

We removed the last toilet, and the last floor, and the last baseboards, and the last sink & cabinet. We also removed the toilet paper holder because it was crazy-crooked.

Since then, we've gotten the new floors in; we put in the new, thicker baseboards; and, today, my dad installed our new toilet. It's so exciting! Once we get the piece we need, we'll put in the sink, add the mirror and towel ring, hang a few photos, and call it good!

Baby Shower!

Jean and Colleen threw me a baby shower today! It was for all our work friends. I was excited to go, but I had even more fun than I expected. Everyone was so funny and so generous. They spoiled me and the baby! ;-)

They held it at Jean's house, which is so beautiful. The food was great, and the conversation was hilarious. I really had a great time. I'll post pictures soon!