Two Week Survival Kit

We survived the first two weeks of parenthood so, of course, we are now experts at what it takes to deal with a newborn (ha!). But I do have a list of things that I consider “must haves” for those first few weeks home with baby. These things certainly made our adjustment easier but this is by no means an exhaustive list. 

But before I get to the list let me just say that the number one thing that has let me “survive” these past two weeks has been Brian. He’s a great father and a great partner. Even though I am breastfeeding, Brian spends a fair share of his nights awake, too. I feed Oliver and then hand him to Brian to be changed and swaddled - letting me get back to sleep more quickly. He is quick to change a diaper, sing a song, rock and soothe Oliver and I’ve loved every minute of seeing him be a dad. Oliver and I are both very loved and very lucky.

Here are the things that helped us survive (in order of importance):

1. Grandmothers - We’ve been fortunate enough to have both my mother and Brian’s mother stay with us for these first few weeks (my mom was here the first week and Brian’s mom was here the second). I can’t even imagine how little sleep we would have gotten, how hungry and unwashed we would be, how cranky Oliver would be or how unbelievably filthy our house would be without our moms’ help. Brian had to go back to class the day after we came home from the hospital so if it hadn’t been for our moms I would have been on my own during the day. I don’t think I would have handled that well - emotionally or physically. We are so grateful to both of them for staying with us.
2. Friends (and their blogs) - In the past few weeks we’ve had numerous friends come to visit and meet Oliver. Many of them have brought food which has saved us from having to cook and from having to go to the grocery store. Others have brought DVDs and books to keep me entertained during the numerous hours of nursing. But all of them have come with a desire to hold, rock and soothe a newborn baby which has allowed Brian and I to take a break, finish a meal and relax. These visits have also given us the opportunity for adult conversation that doesn’t (always) have to be about poop thus making us feel more human. I’ve also been so grateful to our friends with kids for their advice and stories and their blogs. When I’m having a rough time with Oliver I visit Robin and Laurie’s blog to read about her experiences with Lydia or Aaron and Jessica’s blog to read about their son, Aidan. Their blogs remind me that it’s not all easy but the tough moments will pass.
3. Miracle Blanket - Robin and Laurie tipped us off to the existence of this handy dandy little contraption. For those of you who don’t know about the Miracle Blanket, it is an unescapable swaddle blanket. You wrap your baby in this thing and they aren’t getting out until you take them out. Why would this be so important? That is, why would this blanket rank just below grandmothers and friends? (It was a tight race, by the way). Because a well-swaddled baby = a nice long stretch of sleep for Oliver = a nice long stretch of sleep for Mom and Dad. We own two of them now due to Oliver’s propensity to wet through the first one during his longest sleep stint. When he’s wrapped snugly in one of these, we can get at least three hours of sleep in a row. For those of you without kids, that’s a long long time.
4. White Noise Maker - On the theme of sleep, our pack and play has a bassinet that Oliver has been sleeping in since he got home. It also has a vibration setting, a built in soft light, music (and the ability to plug in an iPod), and a nature/white noise setting. I have found that the sound of waves helps put Oliver to sleep so Brian and I get to listen to it for about ten minutes before he goes to bed each night. It seems to work for us, too.
5. Laundry Detergent - Wow, babies go through a lot of clothes, sheets, towels, washcloths, etc. I am constantly shocked by how much laundry I am having to do for the little guy (at least one load a day). Anyone who claims to have an “eco-friendly” or “green” baby... I have one word for you: “Laundry.” Unless you’re taking those clothes down to the river and beating them on rocks, your little one has already got a big carbon footprint.
6. Sense of Humor and a Sense of Calm - These are the hardest to come by after two weeks of no sleep or when Oliver is screaming for no apparent reason but they are very very important. You have to be able to laugh when your baby pees on his fourth blanket of the night or when you get squirted in the face at a diaper change or when you forget to “point it down” when you put on a fresh diaper ... why do these all have to do with pee? You also need to be able to laugh when the baby sleeps for two hours straight but then manages to wake up screaming and hungry the minute someone puts a plate of food in front of you. You laugh to keep from crying. (And, I won’t make it a separate item, but I would like to stress here the importance of a little crying in those first few days). And a sense of calm is important for those moments when he won’t settle down and you have no idea why. You just have to take a deep breath and deal.

Maybe there’s a whole bucketload of hubris behind this post but these are the things that have made our lives a little easier as we adjust to life with baby.

First Real Bath

Oliver’s cord finally fell off on Sunday so we celebrated with his first real bath yesterday afternoon. He was not a fan. He screamed and squirmed through the whole thing which made him pretty hard to hold onto. But we all survived and it really tuckered him out (which was good to know... I think we might save bath time for right before bed). 

Here he is after all the trauma out cold and looking really spiffy in the outfit that Elaine, one of the sales reps I work with, bought him. 

Out and About Once Again

Oliver had a busy weekend. We finally ventured out of the house again (numerous times). On Saturday we went to Dan’s for breakfast. Brian and I have been going to Dan’s every weekend for breakfast for most of my pregnancy. I love their biscuits and it’s just been a nice weekend tradition for us. We went the Friday morning before Oliver was born but skipped the next weekend (mostly because we were still exhausted). It was great to get back to our routine and include Oliver in our Saturday morning tradition. Oliver slept through the whole thing.

Mom and Richard came up to visit Saturday afternoon and we all (both grandmas, Richard, Brian, Oliver and me) went to Fuego’s for lunch. If you live in Austin and haven’t eaten at Fuego’s than you should go eat there right now. We had calamari to start and I had their fish tacos for lunch. Then we all split dessert - their creme brulee is amazing! Oliver, once again, slept through the whole thing. He will immediately fall asleep when he’s put in the car and tends to stay out through most of our outings. 

On Sunday evening, Brian had a meeting for his book club at BookPeople. Ann and I took Oliver down to the store to meet him and Dauphin when their meeting was over. It was the first time I had been back to the store since my maternity leave started so it was nice to check in and see how the store is looking (it looks great, by the way). But it was even better to introduce Oliver to some of my coworkers and show him the place he will spend the first couple of months of his life. When I go back to work Oliver will be coming with me at least through the end of the summer since we can’t afford day care at this point. Grandma explored Book Kids and picked out some great books for Oliver which I can’t wait to read to him. We spent about an hour in the store and I (bad mom that I am) didn’t take any pictures of Oliver’s first trip to the BP. After we left the store we went over to Dauphin’s house for a little while and ate dinner and had a glass of wine. Oliver woke up to eat but then went back to sleep.

Yesterday Ann and I ventured out in the rain with the baby and ran some errands. We needed another Miracle Blanket since Oliver keeps wetting his at night and I wanted to look for a sling that I could use to wear Oliver chest to chest. Getting Oliver in and out of the car in the rain proved to be a pain in the butt (especially since the doors on our car are so annoying) but we managed to do it without him getting wet (Ann and I got soaked). We went to Special Addition, Picket Fences and then ate lunch at the new P. Terry’s on Lamar. Then we swung by the post office and headed home. We were out and about for over two hours and Oliver slept through the whole thing (he even slept through me taking him out of his car seat and putting him in the sling I was trying on). 

So, he’s managed to be a little man about town in the first few weeks of his life. He’s got numerous restaurant and shopping trips under his belt and has been really great for all of them (the one exception being the meltdown that occurred the first time we went to Special Addition). It’s been really important to Brian and I to stay active and get out of the house as much as possible with Oliver and I’m glad we’ve been able to do that. 

Sundays With Oliver - Week Two

Oliver is two weeks old today. It’s hard for me to see how he’s changed on a day to day basis so I love being able to look at these pictures and see how he’s grown. The biggest change this week has been how alert he is. He has numerous periods throughout the day when he is awake and not crying. It’s awesome.

Our Birth Story

So, it’s been almost two weeks since my labor started and I’m finally finding the time to sit down and write our birth story. Oliver is sleeping contentedly in his car seat after our trip to Dan’s for breakfast so I’m thinking I’ve got a good ten to fifteen minutes before he wakes up and wants to eat. That should be enough time to at least get started with the story. Fair warning: I was in labor for twenty hours so this is not a short story.

As you know, Brian and I made a practice run to Labor and Delivery the Friday night before Oliver was born. I was having blurry vision and they wanted to monitor me due to my history of high blood pressure. We left after a few hours and I was told to stay home and off my feet until my induction date Tuesday the 14th. Mom and Richard came up to Austin that Saturday to help Brian keep me entertained and Mom planned on staying through the induction appointment. I had resigned myself both to four days of bed rest and to the fact that I was going to be induced. I was upset that I wouldn’t get to experience that feeling of my labor starting naturally but I was ready for Oliver to come no matter how labor started (or was forced to start).

We spent a nice day relaxing around the house, watching the Master’s and some TV shows on DVD and around 10:30 that night my parents headed back to their hotel and Brian and I got ready for bed. I laid down and was asleep for about fifteen minutes when I felt my first contraction. I hadn’t experienced any contractions except Braxton-Hicks contractions prior to that one so I was surprised by the sensation and by the fact that I knew right away what I was feeling. (I was always complaining about how people would say that you would “just know” when you were experiencing real contractions but it turns out that’s a true sentiment). The contraction lasted around twenty seconds and then was gone. I tried to get back to sleep but was pretty wound up thinking both that this might be the real thing and that I might somehow “jinx” it if I let myself be convinced that this was the real thing. I was so anxious to feel another one and yet convinced that it wouldn’t come. 

About twenty minutes later, I felt another contraction. And then another one fifteen minutes after that. They were rather short and mild so I stayed in bed and tried to sleep between them. After about two hours they started to get a little more uncomfortable so I got up and took a warm bath. They were still coming no closer than every fifteen minutes and this pattern lasted for another two hours. At that point (around 3:30 am) my contractions were still pretty far apart but were becoming more and more intense and were being accompanied by some really serious lower back pain. Apparently Oliver had turned face up giving me back labor to deal with. I finally woke Brian up since I was getting to the point where I couldn’t manage the pain on my own. (I had let him sleep up to that point because it seemed obvious that we were in for a long labor and I thought it would be nice if at least one of us got some sleep). I laid down on the bed and Brian rubbed my back during contractions to help with the back labor. I kept trying to sleep between the contractions but they were getting very hard to deal with and in between every contraction my back would ache horribly so that it became difficult for me to tell when the contractions actually ended. Brian and I started to time the contractions around 4:30. At that point they were coming every seven minutes and lasting a little over thirty seconds. (You are supposed to call the doctor when you hit 4-1-1: contractions every four minutes, lasting one minute for over an hour). Around 6:30, I took a hot shower to try and deal with the back labor but the pain was getting very hard for me to cope with. When I got out of the shower I started vomiting from the pain and my contractions were getting closer together and lasting almost a minute. We decided at that point that it was time to head to the hospital.

We got our stuff together and called the doctor’s office who called the hospital to let them know we were on the way. I called my mom and told her that I was in labor and heading to the hospital and that we would call her when/if we got a room. I think it was around this point that I finally let myself start to think that this really was labor and Oliver really was coming that day. Up to that point I had been so worried that the contractions would stop and I would end up being induced on Tuesday. We got to the hospital around 7:30 and went immediately into triage. Luckily I had been in the hospital just a few short hours before and thus didn’t have to answer the four thousand ridiculous questions I had to answer on Friday night. The triage nurse started monitoring me - at this point the contractions were coming every three to four minutes or so and were really intense. The nurse checked me and I was fully effaced but only two centimeters dilated (that is, I hadn’t dilated any more than I had at my appointment on Thursday) and my water was still intact. In other words, I wasn’t making any progress despite the pain. I was still adamant about trying for a natural childbirth, though, so I shrugged off the nurse’s offer of an epidural.

They left us in triage for a few minutes and kept me on the monitor to track Oliver’s heartbeat and my contractions. I kept vomiting and was in the middle of throwing up when my labor and delivery nurse, Brenda, walked in to introduce herself. She took one look at me and said: “Uh uh, I don’t do vomit. So, you’ll have to stop doing that.” That might read rude but she had a great attitude and it was a light comment and actually made me laugh. She was with us all day and was great. It really is true that your labor and delivery nurse is the most important person the day you have a baby. She told me they were going to admit me (which was a relief since I had thought since I wasn’t making any progress that they might send me home) and helped me make my way to our labor and delivery suite. Brenda observed me through a few contractions and I’m pretty sure summed me up in those first few minutes as someone who wasn’t going to make it without the epidural. She told me right away that if I decided I wanted the epidural that it would be another hour before she could actually get it for me so I needed to keep that in mind as I was trying to cope with the pain. Basically she looked at Brian and I and realized that we had done nothing to prepare for having a child naturally - no classes, no breathing techniques, no doula - and she could tell that I was fighting every contraction. I would tense up and stop breathing every time one would start and could never get on top of the pain. 

After fifteen minutes in the labor and delivery room they finally took me off the monitor so that I could move around. I (incorrectly) thought that if I could just walk and rock from side to side and take a shower that I would handle the contractions better. Brenda told me I could be off the monitor for thirty minutes but that then she was going to have to monitor me again for fifteen minutes. I did feel better while I was in the shower but the back pain was becoming too much for me to deal with. I got out of the shower so I could get back on the monitor and at some point in there my water broke. The doctor was going to come in a break my water to get things rolling but it happened on its own. After my water broke the contractions started coming on even stronger and I had been in labor for twelve hours. I hadn’t slept since Friday night (it was now almost noon on Sunday) and I was beat and wasn’t making any progress. I had Brian call Brenda and we ordered the epidural. They started an IV to run some fluids and within forty-five minutes the anesthesiologist (Dr. Smith) came to get me hooked up. They had Brian sit down in front of me (apparently more partners pass out during the epidural than during the birth) while the doctor put the epidural in. I had to sit through a few contractions while he got everything set up but within fifteen minutes the epidural was in and working and I was feeling nothing and could finally relax. I could still tell when I was having a contraction but it registered simply as a tightening and not as pain.

After the epidural... 

Not only did I relax but so did Brian and my parents. None of them liked seeing me in so much pain. From that point on, labor was a breeze and I quickly started making progress. We spent the afternoon watching the Master’s on television (which Brenda loved since she was a huge golf fan... I probably got to see more of her than her other patient did since we had the tournament on). I even managed to sleep a little bit (not much but a little). They kept turning me from side to side every few hours to try and get Oliver to turn around from the sunny-side up position (it worked and he was faced towards my spine by the time I delivered). And Brian and I got a chance to talk about how things might be different the next time we do this. We really wanted to try for a natural childbirth this time but we did nothing to prepare for it. No classes, no books, no breathing techniques and (in our opinion, most importantly) no doula. Next time we will try again but we will take classes and hire a doula.

Around six o’clock Brenda checked me and told me that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. Mom and Richard left for the waiting room and we did some practice pushing. Pushing was a strange experience with the epidural. I could tell when I was having a contraction and thus knew when I needed to push, but there was no pain - just plenty of pressure. I pushed with Brenda in the room for about 45 minutes and then her shift ended. I was kind of bummed that she wouldn’t be there when Oliver was born but she left me with another great nurse, Leah. They passed me off and Brenda gave Leah an update on our progress and on the one point of concern - Oliver and I both had elevated heartrates (Brenda told Leah that both mother and baby were “tachy” - tachycardic... I was offended that she would call my baby tacky). Our elevated heartrates indicated that both Oliver and I were starting to run a fever (not surprising since my water had broken over 7 hours earlier). It wasn’t an emergency, just something to keep an eye on.

We kept pushing with Leah and once I got a hang of the technique it was pretty quick going. A little after 7 Leah called the doctor who came in to watch a few pushes. She watched one and realized that we were ready to go and the room became a flurry of activity as everyone prepared for delivery. We suddenly went from it being just Leah, Brian and I in the room to having a doctor and three nurses shuffling about getting ready for the baby. I found the influx of so many people a little confusing and scary but was assured that it was the standard number of people - two people for me and two for Oliver. Once the doctor was ready to catch we pushed through a few contractions until Oliver started to crown. Leah and Brian told me he had dark hair which was a little surprising to me since I was a bald baby and Brian was a blond baby. Once he crowned it only took another contraction to get him out. His head was mostly out and with the next contraction the rest of his body just slid out without me even having to push. The doctor put him up on my chest and all I remember saying is how very warm he was (probably from the fever). I remember Brian grinning this huge grin but can’t remember what he said if she said anything. I do remember the doctor or one of the nurses saying: “Big baby.” They cleaned him up on my chest and Brian cut the cord. I couldn’t believe he had finally arrived. Twenty hours after my first contraction.

But he was really pale and wasn’t screaming the way he should have been so they whisked him over to the warmer and pumped what looked like a ton of fluid out of his lungs and stomach. That got him screaming a little bit but they still wanted to get him to the nursery to check him out further. He was super alert from the beginning, though, just quiet. Brian brought him over to me so I could hold him for a little while but his breathing was kind of scary to hear (he seemed to be really struggling and sounded like he had even more fluid in his chest) so Oliver and Brian went with the nurses to the nursery (they grabbed my parents out of the waiting room on their way) and the doctor and Leah got to work on getting me cleaned up. 

Forty-five minutes later I was all cleaned up and found myself alone in the room. I made some phone calls to let people know he had arrived and ate an apple and drank a huge glass of ice water (I hadn’t had anything to eat since 8:00 on Saturday night and hadn’t had anything to drink since eight o’clock that morning. But I hadn’t had an update on Oliver so I called my mom on her cell phone and she came and sat with me and let me know that he was screaming something fierce in the nursery which was a relief. An hour later they finally transfered me to a postpartum room and Brian and Oliver met us there. It was at that point that I really got to hold him for the first long time and got to try nursing (he took to it really quickly despite the fact that we didn’t get to try until two hours after he was born) and then he was ready to sleep. 

All in all, it wasn’t the birth we originally imagined nor was it the birth I had resigned myself to (i.e., an induction that could very well end in a c-section) but I know it was the right birth for us at the time and I’m glad that I was able to go into labor naturally and that I was able to avoid a c-section. But mostly I’m just glad that he’s finally here even though his arrival has meant I haven’t slept more than three hours in a row for over two weeks now. He’s totally worth the sleep deprivation.   

Four Onesies and Three Blankets...

.. in one night. Oliver is still sleeping really well at night but he tends to have diaper issues if he sleeps three or more hours at a time. On Wednesday night, he set a personal record of wetting four onesies and three blankets in the course of one ten hour period. I don’t know if we’re putting his diapers on wrong or if he’s just a champion bed-wetter but whe.n you combine that many wet outfits with the fact that Oliver tends to scream a lot when he’s getting changed you get some restless nights and lots of laundry (I don’t even want to think about what our water bill is going to look like this month). But I’ll take all the wetting if he keeps sleeping for these three hour stretches. In fact, last night he slept from 10 pm to 2:30 am and so did I. It was great. He got up at 2:30 and ate for twenty minutes and then went right back to sleep until 5. Good night.

Grandma #2 arrived this week from New Mexico and we’re so glad to have her here and I think she’s pretty happy to meet the little guy. What do you think?

Mom Loves Torchy's, Oliver Does Not

Yesterday was a rough day for Oliver (and for Brian, my mother, and me). After two days of sleeping a lot Oliver decided that yesterday was the day to eat all day long. He would eat, sleep for 45 minutes and then wake up to start all over again. I felt like I was breastfeeding all day which made me tired. And, because he wasn’t sleeping much at all, Oliver was overtired and a little cranky. Despite his grumpy and hungry demeanor, though, my mother and I headed out to lunch at Torchy’s Tacos after finally getting Oliver settled into the car seat (it took us over an hour to accomplish that feat). I ordered a green chili chicken taco and a bowl of their pretty spicy queso and really enjoyed my lunch (it seemed innocuous enough at the time).

After lunch we went over to Special Addition, a maternity and nursing boutique, since our friends Laurie and Robin had given us a gift certificate and I needed more nursing bras. Of course, I had forgotten my gift certificate at home but it was great to go in and check out what all they have for when I can come back. It’s an awesome place - they have everything a nursing mother could ever need, including onsite lactation consultants. Oliver had been calm the whole time we were out but about thirty seconds before we were set to leave he started crying. My initial reaction was to throw him in the car and drive home as fast as hell so we could take care of whatever was bothering him but the salesperson kindly pointed out that they had everything we needed in the store - a changing table and a nursing room. I changed Oliver’s dirty diaper (which did nothing to abate the screaming, which at this point was at earsplitting level) and then sat down to feed him for a few minutes. At that point, he dirtied another diaper which set off a whole new round of screaming. I changed his diaper again but he was still hungry (and so loud) so we went back to the nursing room to continue the meal. I felt like we were going to have to move into the store it took so long for us to get out of there. But it was so considerate of Oliver to save his first public out of control crying fit for a place that was so well-equipped to help me deal with it. Gotta say, I love Special Addition now. They’ve got one very happy customer now.

We got back to the house and Oliver continued his eating binge for the rest of the afternoon. Around six o’clock my mom left to go back to San Antonio (more on that later) and Brian and I were suddenly on our own. At this point, Oliver was not only insatiably hungry but starting to get a little fussy as well. Two of our friends, Kester and Rachel, and their son, Harry, were kind enough to bring us dinner last night and it quickly became obvious that they were not going to meet our angelically calm little boy but this possessed child who couldn’t stop pooping, eating and screaming his head off. Luckily, Kester and Rachel are parents and handled the freakout beautifully. They scooped Oliver up, rocked him and sang to him while Brian and I were able to sit down to dinner (which also provided my body the time to recharge for another feeding). About halfway through the dinner I realized what was probably behind the upset stomach Oliver was obviously experiencing - the green chili taco. Spicy does not agree with Oliver’s system. I started chugging water to try and flush the food out of my system and prepared myself for a long hard night. 

Luckily, I was only right on half of that. It was a hard night but turned out it wasn’t very long. After Kester and Rachel left Oliver started screaming like I’ve never heard him scream before and Brian and I did our best to soothe him and keep our cool in face of the fact that we were grandmother-less and exhausted. Miraculously, after over five hours of screaming and crying and more dirty diapers than I care to recount, Oliver finally settled down to sleep around midnight and stayed out for three hours until it was time to eat again. He ate and fell asleep again and slept until I woke him up around six to eat again and then fell asleep once more after that feeding. All told I was able to get over eight hours of sleep last night. I think we were helped in keeping this food inspired crisis short because Oliver was so overtired yesterday anyway and because I ate the offending food so early in the day and he had so much time to flush it out of his system. It definitely could have been worse (and I’m so grateful it wasn’t) but it was a hard lesson learned - no more spicy food for me.

Eating Out

Grandpa Greg and Grandpa Richard came up from San Antonio to meet/see Oliver this afternoon. Greg is visiting Texas for Fiesta and timed his trip perfectly. I was so glad he got to meet Oliver so soon. Plus, Richard had to go back to work the day after Oliver was born so today was the first day he got to hold Oliver as well. Oliver put on a very good show for his grandpas - he was quiet and alert for awhile but quiet and asleep for most of the day.  

We all went out to eat at Artz Rib House for lunch so Oliver got to add another first to his growing list - his first trip to a restaurant. He slept through the whole thing which is exactly what we all hoped would happen. 

Sundays With Oliver - Week One

Our friend Laurie gave me (or I stole) the great idea to take a picture of Oliver every Sunday (the day he was born) with the same object for his first year so that we could really watch him grow. I love the idea and am so happy to present the first installment of Sundays With Oliver. We’ve chosen to take the pictures with the awesome stuffed dog that my friend, Meghan, gave us at our baby shower. And you can’t tell but his onesie has the Penguin logo on it and says: “Future Reader.”

First Outing and Another First

I was going a little stir crazy being in the house all day everyday so Brian and I decided to pack up Oliver and head to Thunderbird Coffeehouse yesterday afternoon. It was his first trip outside the house that wasn’t for a doctor’s visit and we figured a coffeehouse was a good place to start since we could pack up and get out quickly if we needed to. We called up Laurie and Robin and had them meet us there with Lydia. It was so nice to be out in public again and Oliver did really well. He was conked out when we arrived and proceeded to sleep until Laurie and Robin pulled into the parking lot. At that point he started to wail so we were forced into another first - our first feeding in a public place. Now I’ve had to feed him at the pediatrician’s office but most people there are used to the site of a woman breastfeeding so I was still a little nervous about trying to nurse him with a bunch of strangers around. But we covered up with a blanket and he ate and all was well. He fell asleep soon after eating and we got to spend a nice couple of hours hanging out with Laurie, Robin and Lydia.

It was a great day for his first outing since Oliver had a really good day yesterday. The switch from formula to breast milk only seems to be sitting well with him. On Friday night he let me sleep for nine hours (not in a row, obviously, since I had to get up to feed him a couple of times but still...). His whole day yesterday consisted of eating and sleeping. He had some trouble getting to sleep last night but my mom finally got him down at about 1:00. He ate at 4:30 for about 15 minutes and then slept again until 7:30 this morning when I woke him up to eat again. I know we still have many rough nights in our future but I’m really grateful for the bit of a reprieve we’ve been granted the past couple of nights. I really needed to catch up on some sleep.  

Follow Up Visit for Jaundice

We took Oliver in to the doctor this morning for a follow-up visit due to his jaundice issues. The doctor just wanted to weigh him and take a look at him to make sure his jaundice isn’t getting any worse. It was an appointment full of good news. Although he is still a little yellow, the doctor feels the jaundice is improving and was very happy to see that he has gained another 4 ounces to weigh in at 8 pounds, 1. 4 ounces - almost back to his birth weight! She said we didn’t have to do another blood test and just to keep an eye on his coloring and bring him in if we feel it’s getting worse. She also said that since my milk has come in (with a vengeance, by the way), we can stop using the formula to supplement and just breastfeed from here on out. That is great because every feeding with the formula was a pain in the butt since it took so long to get the supplemental nutritional system set up. Now feedings should be much shorter although the doctor did warn us that there might be more of them now that he’s only on breast milk. It’s not like we were getting much sleep anyway.

At Home and Feeling Tired

We are all home and doing well. We were released from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Oliver is having some jaundice issues but was deemed healthy enough to head home. We are all adjusting slowly but surely to our new lives with no sleep and we are very very grateful to have my mother here with us. She saved us last night when Oliver would not stop fussing by taking him in the other room and letting Brian and I get a few hours of sleep. We are erecting the monument to her this weekend since that is the longest stretch of sleep that I have had since we got home. Grandmothers are amazing things.

The stay in the hospital was a little rough. The first night I got absolutely no sleep because I could not stop staring at Oliver. Every time he moved I jumped and when he was still I had to check to make sure he was breathing. The second night Oliver entered full meltdown mode. He was eating so voraciously after he was born that he drained me of colostrum (the first milk) within twelve hours and my body never recovered enough to make more. By the second night he was so hungry that he wouldn’t sleep. He cried for hours and hours and Brian and I felt pretty close to melting down ourselves. In our delirium Brian called Oliver “she” or “her” about three times and called him Miles (our dog’s name) a couple of times. I called him Lydia and both of us told him he was a “good dog.” We were so tired. 

We finally called for the nurse who proceeded to tell us that Oliver was hungry (well, duh) and that we would need to give him formula to get him to sleep. That made me burst into tears since I wanted so badly to avoid giving him a bottle so that we could breastfeed exclusively and he wouldn’t get any nipple confusion. Plus, I felt like a failure since I couldn’t feed my son. I finally broke down and consented to the bottle because I felt it was the only way we were going to get any sleep. The nurse brought the bottle in and Oliver point blank refused to take it when Brian offered it to him. I finally ended up dipping my finger in the formula and letting Oliver suck it off. We did this for about twenty minutes and then he finally fell asleep. 

The next morning the pediatrician came in to check Oliver out and I told her about the night we had and how upset I had been about having to offer him a bottle. The doctor wrote us an order for a supplemental nutrition system that lets Oliver get the formula while he is at my breast (it’s kind of a cool set up). She recommended we supplement with the formula for awhile since I wasn’t producing enough for him and she thought he looked a little jaundiced. I was so glad that she respected my wishes to keep him away from artificial nipples and came up with a solution that would allow me to keep breastfeeding while making sure he is getting what he needs.

In order to get rid of the jaundice, Oliver needs to eat and poop a lot. We took him in to the doctor’s yesterday and he is putting on more weight which means he’s eating well but his jaundice is still a concern. His bilirubin levels were higher today than they were in the hospital but still not so high that he needs to be treated for it. The doctor also said she expected the levels to rise once we left the hospital. We take him in tomorrow morning to get him checked out again. 

There is a lot more going on but since Oliver is taking a nap right now I’m going to take the opportunity to take one, too. I will try to update more soon.

He's Here!

Oliver Mott Contine was born at 7:49 PM on April 12, 2009 after putting his mommy through 20 hours of labor (which she cheerfully endured after hitting the twelve hour mark and meeting the nice nice man with the epidural). 

He weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measures 20 inches long. I will post our birth story when I get a chance but wanted to let everyone know that everyone is healthy and happy (and a little exhausted). You can see more pictures on the photo page and we will be posting some videos in the next couple of days as well. We can’t wait for you all to meet him! 

Practice Run. Or, Discharged With No Babies

Brian and I participated in a first-time parent’s rite of passage last night - the late night call to the doctor and a trip to L&D that doesn’t result in bringing home baby. Around 9:00 last night I started experiencing some very bizarre vision disturbances. I felt as though I was watching the world as a dream scene in a movie - the edges of my vision were completely blurry. When it was still going on ten minutes later I decided to call the doctor’s office since all of my pregnancy books said that vision disturbances warranted an immediate call to the doctor. The nurse on call called back within ten minutes and I described what I was experiencing. She asked if I had experienced high blood pressure during my pregnancy and when I told her I had she told us to go immediately to Labor and Delivery - do not pass Go, etc. Turns out vision problems are a symptom of preeclampsia so the blurriness combined with the high blood pressure readings I had at the office a few weeks ago meant we needed to get checked out.

So, we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital. I called my mom on the way in and told her what was going on. We got to the hospital and headed up to Labor & Delivery. They already had my paperwork ready to go since the nurse had called ahead and told them I was coming in. They set me up in the pre-op room (I think their rooms were full last night and we had pre-op to ourselves) and hooked me up to the monitors - one to keep track of Oliver’s heartbeat and one to measure for contractions - and a blood pressure cuff. The nurse asked a ton of questions (so many that I was really grateful I wasn’t in labor because it might have annoyed me if I had been) and checked me for swelling. They drew some blood and took a urine sample and gave me some Tylenol since I had a headache (another symptom of preeclampsia but I think was due more to stress at that point). Then they left us in the room while the labs were run and kept me on the monitors. The machine took my blood pressure every five minutes. The first readings were very high (probably due to the stress I was under) but my blood pressure came down with every reading. And, Oliver’s heartrate was strong and he was moving around really well the entire time we were being monitored so it was a relief to know that he was doing okay. 

After three hours of being monitored, my labwork finally came back and the doctor came in to check me out. I was having a few contractions that I couldn’t feel but the doctor let me skip the internal exam since I had just had one the day before. He checked my legs for swelling (there was none), poked Oliver a few times (who obligingly kicked him back), and then told us that all of my bloodwork and urine sample looked fine so he was going to let us go home but that because my blood pressure was still elevated that I needed to “be a couch potato” from now until our induction appointment on Tuesday night. No more walks, no going out - just sitting around doing nothing. I’m on hour three of that and already pretty bored but I know it’s best for me and for Oliver and at the most it will only be for four days. They checked us out and gave us our discharge papers which inspired the title of this post since there was a field that says: “Discharged With: No Babies.” 

It wasn’t the greatest way to spend a Friday night but I know we did the right thing in going in. Plus, now they will have all my paperwork and even some bloodwork all set for when we go in on Tuesday night (or earlier, if a miracle occurs and Oliver decides to come before I have to be induced).   

Two Days Overdue

1 cm, 90% effaced and baby is “really low.” That’s all I’ve got to show for progress according to the doctor’s appointment I had today. That and Oliver is measuring over 8 1/2 pounds. So, big baby staying put is what I’ve got and, although I’m trying to keep a good attitude, I was pretty upset by the lack of progress in the past week (had my first “I’m going to be pregnant forever” crying fit on the way out of the office). On top of being *very* ready to not be pregnant anymore and to meet our son, I’m afraid that the little progress my body has made so far is going to cause problems when we go in for the induction next Tuesday night. Since I’m not very dilated my odds of an induction ending in a c-section are much higher. So, my goal/hope now is to avoid the induction and somehow miraculously go into labor naturally. 

I remain hopeful that tonight’s full moon will have some sort of labor-triggering effect on Oliver even though I’m pretty skeptical when it comes to that sort of thing. (Although the nurse practitioner we met with today did say that in her experience working in labor and delivery, full moon nights were always the busiest... so, we’ll see). In good news, although he’s big, Oliver is still looking very strong and healthy and appears to have enough amniotic fluid in there to keep him set until next winter and my blood pressure is back down to normal. Apparently I’m really good at being pregnant but not so good at figuring out how to get the kid out.

Yesterday we had an awesome visit from Laurie and Lydia. It was so nice to finally have a baby in the house. Laurie and I put Lydia in Oliver’s car seat and stroller and took her for a walk. I am so grateful for the opportunity to practice putting a baby in the car seat and to figure out how all of it works. Lydia was a little crabby/gassy yesterday but I’m at the point where I’ll take a fussy outside baby over a quiet inside baby in a heartbeat. She seemed to love the walk we took, though, and did settle down slept on my belly for a little while. I tried to get her to tell Oliver how nice it is out here in the world. We didn’t let her meet the dogs, though, since I’m still nervous about how Miles and Coltrane will react to a baby and I’d rather test them out on our own rather than a borrowed one. They’ll have a baby soon enough (right?!). 

How To Spend Your Due Date (Sans Baby)

Our due date has arrived... and Oliver has not. So, I decided last night that since we obviously weren’t going to have a baby tying us down today that we should treat the day as a sort of holiday rather than thinking of it as a disappointment. This is the day that we’ve been looking forward to for so long, it’s been on our calendar for the past 35 weeks, so we can’t let it pass unremarked even if it’s not how we originally thought we’d be spending the day. 

Brian had class this morning but when he got home we went out for a lunch date at East Side Cafe (one of my favorite Austin restaurants). I had the smoked salmon ravioli with a house salad and broccoli. And for dessert we split a Ghiradelli brownie with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on top. (Gotta say, I’m really going to miss being able to order dessert whenever I feel like it). After lunch, I dropped Brian off at home and then went and got a manicure and pedicure. It was so relaxing and my toes and fingernails look great - all ready for the numerous photo ops that are soon to come their way (and, if anyone’s interested I’ll tell you all about the Sweet Potato Queen who was in the chair next to me and all of her baby cluelessness). This afternoon Brian and I took Coltrane on a long walk - but only because it’s beautiful outside today not because I’m trying to kickstart labor. I’m done with trying the home remedies - he’s on his own timetable and I can’t make him hurry up. Tonight we will have dinner and I’m going to treat myself to a half a glass of red wine because I feel like after this long carrying this kid around, I deserve it. Then I will take a hot bath, watch some Gilmore Girls on DVD and then go to bed at ten and enjoy the fact that I can sleep at least four hours at a stretch without being woken up (that’s how long my bladder lets me stay asleep if I’m really nice to it). 

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to a visit from Laurie and Lydia. Laurie hasn’t been able to see the nursery in person yet and I’m looking forward to showing it off. And it will be great to finally see a baby in there! 

My plan from here on out is to take one day at a time and before each day is over think of one thing that I’m looking forward to the next day. Tomorrow, it’s Laurie and Lydia coming over, on Thursday it will be our ultrasound, etc. That way each day that I don’t go into labor is an opportunity to do those things I’m looking forward to and not a letdown. 

Still Pregnant

Yep, I’m still pregnant and getting more uncomfortable with every passing day. I feel like I’m going to be pregnant forever. I had a dream last night that we went over to Laurie and Robin’s house and Lydia was two years old - she was walking and talking and as cute as can be - and I was still pregnant with Oliver. The doctor assured me at our appointment today, though, that this will be over at some point soon. We set our induction date for April 14th so at least I know now that the longest I could possibly go is twelve more days. I’m really hoping he comes sooner, though, since I do not want to be induced. Plus, twelve days would be pretty unbearable since I’ve already started my maternity leave. I think I will go a little stir crazy just sitting around here for twelve more days. Today was my second full day of maternity leave and I’m already running out of things to do. I’m mostly just cleaning the house, watching TV and reading. Not a bad way to spend two days but it will probably get old soon. 

Everything looked pretty good at the doctor’s appointment today. My blood pressure was still a little high but not as high as it has been. The doctor doesn’t seem to be too concerned about it, though, since I’m not having any other symptoms of preeclampsia so I guess it’s nothing to worry about it. I think my blood pressure is high when I go in for these appointments because I’m excited to see if I’ve progressed any since the previous week. Unfortunately, I haven’t made any progress. According to the doctor I’m betwen 1 and 2 centimeters but that’s not much more than last week. I’m trying not to focus on it and just focus on the fact that both the baby and I are doing really well. If I’m still pregnant next Thursday we will do another ultrasound to check the baby’s size and make sure there is still enough amniotic fluid to keep the baby healthy, happy and safe. Here’s hoping we don’t make it that long.