My newborn is getting big way too fast! It blows my mind how fast they change at this phase. I feel like I blinked and missed something between these two photos because I don't know when he grew so fast! Can I blame it on the herniated back?
Showing posts with label month 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label month 1. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Don't blink!
Because this is what happens...
My newborn is getting big way too fast! It blows my mind how fast they change at this phase. I feel like I blinked and missed something between these two photos because I don't know when he grew so fast! Can I blame it on the herniated back?
My newborn is getting big way too fast! It blows my mind how fast they change at this phase. I feel like I blinked and missed something between these two photos because I don't know when he grew so fast! Can I blame it on the herniated back?
Monday, October 15, 2012
Landon: 1 month!
Landon,
At 1 month old you:
- Weighed 10 lbs (Now at 5 weeks you already weigh 11 lbs)
- Eats 4 ounces every 3 hours.
- Still wake every 3 hours to eat but at just 15 days old you slept for a 5 hour stretch of time and at 26 and 28 days old you went 7.5 hours.
- Wear size 1 diapers and size 0-3 month clothing. (you wore size newborn for 3.5 weeks)
Your nicknames at the moment are Squeaker and "little bitty Landon".
You spend a lot more time awake now and you respond to our voices and are following objects with your eyes.
You are also very strong and lift up your head and torso when you are laying on our chests. You are getting good head control. It seems that you are already growing up faster than your brother did.
You still sleep in our room in your pack n' play which is currently right next to our bed. Like clock work you get fussy at 1 hour and 45 minutes after you take a bottle and you want your pacifier. You lose the pacifier several times but then you'll take it and calm down and go to sleep.
You are still an easy baby and pretty laid back. It is so fun to watch you and discover your own personality traits. I can't wait to watch you grow and see who you become. But please don't grow too fast baby boy!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Post Pregnancy: Our first few weeks as a family of 4
Our first few weeks have flown by in a whirlwind of days that are long but weeks that pass by in a blur. The transition has been different from what I imagined (more on that later) but we are making precious memories and growing closer together as a family.
How did I envision the transition going? Well, I figured it would be rough but I hoped I'd be feeling pretty good and taking lots of pictures of the littlest one and pictures of his brother getting to know him. I figured I'd be tired but still making my oldest child a priority and trying my best to keep up with the things I used to do so that Ethan would feel like the foundation of his world was still the same. Some of this DOES describe our transition into our new normal but only the first week or so and we are still not at a "normal".
In reality we had a sick toddler while having just brought home a less than 48 hour old baby. Thankfully my Mother was here with us for the first two weeks and she took care of the vomit episode and stayed up with the sick kiddo. After that episode was over Ethan and I went out two days in a row to playdates because he was having a tough time being stuck in the house when he's used to getting out. He was acting out a bit behavior wise too and needed the "Mommy and Me" time. However, 4 days postpartum and an uncooperative toddler proved to be a bit more than my episotomy stitches liked and I found myself in more pain and moving around less easily than before. Then Ethan came down with a cold that turned into the croup and for the next week the poor kid was miserable. My mom was pulling Ethan night duty while Garrett and I juggled Landon. Some nights Landon got more sleep than Ethan. Ethan was consistently starting his day at 4:30 am. Thank goodness for my Mom being here! In addition to my Mom being the glue keeping everything together our sweet playgroup and church friends brought us dinner every night for the first two weeks. Such a huge help and a blessing!
Just as the first two weeks were winding down and my mother's visit was coming to an end, my back started to hurt. I thought I had maybe bent funny and thrown it out a bit because I noticed I was standing crooked in the mirror. However, over the next two days it started to hurt more and more. I was still able to do normal activities as long as I was very deliberate about them though so I figured it would take care of itself with some regular ibuprofen. Then the evening before my Mom had to leave I caught a stomach bug and spent most of the night sick and not sleeping which was really hard on my back. I was still able to get around the next day though so we said our goodbyes and I settled into my first day of handling both kids by myself. By the next day I couldn't get out of bed without being in the worst pain of my life. Thankfully it was the weekend and Garrett was around! I struggled to sit, stand, walk, or lay down all weekend long and by Monday gave in and went to the doctor. After two days of NSAID drugs and muscle relaxers I still wasn't feeling relief so I started steroids along with the muscle relaxers. Another two days later there was still no relief but by now it was way worse and I had pain radiating down my leg. I went back to the doctor and had a back x-ray and then an MRI. I don't know when or how but apparently I had herniated two disks in the lower lumbar of my back. I'm almost finished with my course of treatment now and I still haven't felt relief so next week it looks like I will be going back to the doctor. Currently my back hurts so bad I can hardly pick up and hold Landon unless I'm laying down and he's lying on my chest. I feel like I'm missing out on so much of my baby's little bitty newborn phase and I miss playing with my toddler. Garrett's week long paternity leave is now over and he goes back to work tomorrow. Thankfully my mother-in-law will be coming for most of next week to help me out.
In other postpartum news, I'm still doing the Lovenox shots and will be doing them for the entire 12 week postpartum period. At approximately 270 shots that I've done I'm pretty used to it and it doesn't really bother me anymore. As for the gestational diabetes it disappeared pretty quickly after labor. Yay!
Also on a positive note, my Dad was able to fly in to visit two weekends in a row while my Mom was staying with us. He got to meet Landon when he was just 1 day old and then see him again when he was a week old. Ethan had fun bonding with his Grand Daddy and watching Grand Daddy cartoons on the laptop (classic Looney Toons) and shooting off rockets out in a field near our house.
And that brings us up to date on the past three weeks!
** Special thanks to Deborah at Deborah Frances Photography who took the family photo and pictures of Landon at I at the beginning of the post. She did a great job of taking natural looking photos even with my back being hurt! **
Landon's Birth Story
Landon,
Seeing as you are 3 weeks old I figure its time to write down your birth story!
You were born at 2:12 am on Friday, September 7th, 2012 after approximately 13 hours of un-medicated back labor. But lets back up a bit....to Wednesday September 5th.
On Wednesday I had my regular weekly OB appointment (38 weeks +2 days). During the appointment the doctor and I discussed your scheduled induction date of September 13th and while we were discussing how my gestational diabetes was going along I told her that it had gotten significantly better and that I was even able to eat more than I could the previous week and still have a lower blood sugar score. She got a funny look on her face and told me that having my blood sugar get better instead of worse the closer to my due date meant that my placenta was wearing out and that birth was close. She decided to check me for progress and found that I was 4 cm dilated. The doctor really didn't think that I was going to still be pregnant by my induction date so we moved it up to September 11th which was the soonest she could induce under the circumstances.
I had some mild low back pain over the previous day and skipped my blood thinning shot just in case it was labor but when it went away I figured it was nothing. The doctor had told me that if I thought I was going to go into labor then I would need to skip my blood thinning shot (at this point I had just switched to twice a day heparin- very ouchy shot!). What we were trying to avoid with the induction was having me go into labor spontaneously soon after taking a shot. In fact, the plan was to stop it a day and a half prior. She said the worst case scenario would be to take my shot and go into labor an hour later so if I thought labor was imminent then I needed to skip a dose. Later that night I had more back pain so I skipped my next shot. (two shots in a row). By the next morning I woke up feeling fine. I proceeded to vacuum, dust, clean out the fridge, and clean the bathroom mirrors. Since I felt fine all morning I figured I would need to go ahead and take my afternoon dose since I couldn't skip the shots indefinitely. I took the shot and then decided to lay down for a nap while Ethan napped. Just one hour later I woke up with strong back pains. I still wasn't sure it was labor though since I had been cleaning all morning. I tried to time the contractions but they were 2-5 minutes apart and didn't feel like how I remembered contractions feeling. It was more like timing back pain than stomach pain so I really wasn't sure what was going on but I was skeptical that it was real labor. This was at 1:30 pm (I had taken the shot at 12:30 pm)
An hour later I was still hurting so I sent a text message to your Daddy and to a friend who had offered to babysit Ethan and I let them know that I didn't think I was in labor but I wasn't sure. Then I called the doctor's office and spoke with the nurse who said to go to the hospital when the contractions were 5-6 minutes apart for an hour. When I explained that they were closer but weren't felt in my stomach she was unsure as well but said I could always go to the hospital to be checked out. We agreed that if I still felt this way in 40 minutes then I would go to the hospital. Then she called me back not 3 minutes later and told me that she had spoken with the doctor and she wanted me to go to the hospital as soon as possible since I had so recently taken my shot and I had a history of fast labor (Ethan was 3 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing).
I still felt pretty good so I drove your brother to the friend's house then met your Daddy at the house to go to the hospital. Then we got lost in construction around the hospital and then lost in the hospital itself. The maps I printed out in preparation of your birth were useless to us but we finally found labor and delivery. At this point it was already 4:30 pm. I was sent to maternal observation to be observed for an hour prior to being admitted and we discovered that I was 4.5 cm dilated. They told me that I could either go home or stay for an hour and see if I progressed. I felt so bummed. It sounded like it was a false alarm! I was okay with being patient and waiting for you to be ready but I was upset that I had called your Father away from work and had potentially inconvenienced a friend by having to leave Ethan in her care with little notice just to have to turn around and do it again on another day! We agreed to wait and walk the halls but we we felt resigned that today would not be the day you were born since several hours had already gone by and I didn't feel too much different. After the hour passed I was checked again and was at almost 5 cm so I was given the choice of being admitted to L& D and told that the worst case scenario would be spending several more hours at L&D and then being sent home.
Once I got settled into the room I sent your Dad home at around 7 so that he could pick up your brother and put him to bed and wait for your Aunt Kalyn to arrive to watch him at the house. I was alone from around 6:30 pm to 11 pm but it actually felt great to be alone. The room was so quiet that I didn't even want to turn on the television or the radio. I tried but turned them off. Being in a quiet room all by myself felt luxurious and I chuckled over how I had to have a baby in order to get a little quiet time. During this time I walked the halls, rocked in a rocking chair, and used the quiet time for prayer and reflection as I prepared to meet you. The contractions were coming a bit stronger but I felt very calm and composed.
Not long after being admitted to L&D I was already at 5 cm and told that I would be staying until I had the baby. For some reason I was still skeptical and over the next few hours as I was checked and still found to be at 5 cm I felt anxious that I would be sent home. I walked the halls for hours to try to help labor progress so that this wouldn't happen. Finally it sunk it that they were not going to send me home and I decided to try laboring in the room so that I didn't completely wear myself out. Because you were not yet at 39 weeks gestation and because of the situation with having recently taken a blood thinner they did not want to augment labor with pitocin or by breaking my water. The doctor wanted the blood thinner out of my system for 36-48 hours before intervening and they were fine with letting me stay at the hospital and labor that long if need be. It was already evening and I had not eaten since I had a granola bar at noon at all I had prior was 2 hard-boiled eggs and a cup of half-caf coffee at breakfast. Luckily because of the gestational diabetes I was allowed to eat even though I was in labor. I had 6 crackers and 3 slices of cheese along with some apple juice and it was an amazing meal. It was almost too much food but it gave me so much energy.
At 10 pm my blood work came back and showed that the heparin was already out of my system! Perhaps having skipped the two prior doses helped it leave my body faster. I was at 6 cm but with as much amniotic fluid as you had you weren't positioned low enough to progress labor very well and the doctor was worried about the risk of cord prolapse so he decided to go ahead and break my water. Now I finally felt like it was real and that you were going to be born soon. Your Dad arrived a little later along with my Mother, the birth photographer, and your Mimi and Poppy.
Your Daddy and I were less prepared for your birth than we were for your brother's. Since we had been through a birth before we didn't have any formal birth plan. We hadn't even discussed who would be in the room with us or anything prior to recently deciding to have a birth photographer. We didn't do any birthing classes and we had only located the book from the class we took when I was pregnant with Ethan the night before. Because I was taking blood thinners I knew the chance of being able to have an epidural was iffy since it depended on platelet count so I knew your birth would be unmedicated. However, I also thought your birth would be faster than Ethan's so I didn't think I would have much time to labor and use what is taught in birthing classes. With Ethan I arrived at the hospital during the last stages of labor prior to birth and there was no time for labor positions. I was just hoping that you wouldn't be born on the highway or at home. However, I hadn't taken into account that you were positioned to where the doctors thought you were going to be either huge or that you were transverse, or that I would have back labor or that all the amniotic fluid would slow things down.
Because we felt a bit unprepared I am so glad that your grandparents were in the room to help distract your Daddy. Neither of us remembered how to labor for natural childbirth and I know it was hard for him to see me labor, want to help, and not know how. Having people around helped pass the time and because I didn't want to people to see me in pain it helped me to stay composed through the contractions. Right as I was going through the final stages prior to your birth your grandparents left.
I have no idea how long I was in the transition stage of labor or how long the pushing stage lasted. I know I threw up a few times, and I remember the nurse having trouble finding your heart beat and asking me to wear an oxygen mask to help you out. I remember saying that I wasn't sure if I wanted pain meds or not so I decided to go without them then I wished I hadn't but then I was glad I did. In the end, I'm glad we did this naturally because being able to feel my body's response to labor gave me the sense of urgency that I needed to pick up the speed and get you born. Such sweet relief it was to hear your first cry!
And that brings us back to Friday, September 7th at 2:12 am. The moment that you were born.
7 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches of precious baby boy!
Seeing as you are 3 weeks old I figure its time to write down your birth story!
You were born at 2:12 am on Friday, September 7th, 2012 after approximately 13 hours of un-medicated back labor. But lets back up a bit....to Wednesday September 5th.
On Wednesday I had my regular weekly OB appointment (38 weeks +2 days). During the appointment the doctor and I discussed your scheduled induction date of September 13th and while we were discussing how my gestational diabetes was going along I told her that it had gotten significantly better and that I was even able to eat more than I could the previous week and still have a lower blood sugar score. She got a funny look on her face and told me that having my blood sugar get better instead of worse the closer to my due date meant that my placenta was wearing out and that birth was close. She decided to check me for progress and found that I was 4 cm dilated. The doctor really didn't think that I was going to still be pregnant by my induction date so we moved it up to September 11th which was the soonest she could induce under the circumstances.
I had some mild low back pain over the previous day and skipped my blood thinning shot just in case it was labor but when it went away I figured it was nothing. The doctor had told me that if I thought I was going to go into labor then I would need to skip my blood thinning shot (at this point I had just switched to twice a day heparin- very ouchy shot!). What we were trying to avoid with the induction was having me go into labor spontaneously soon after taking a shot. In fact, the plan was to stop it a day and a half prior. She said the worst case scenario would be to take my shot and go into labor an hour later so if I thought labor was imminent then I needed to skip a dose. Later that night I had more back pain so I skipped my next shot. (two shots in a row). By the next morning I woke up feeling fine. I proceeded to vacuum, dust, clean out the fridge, and clean the bathroom mirrors. Since I felt fine all morning I figured I would need to go ahead and take my afternoon dose since I couldn't skip the shots indefinitely. I took the shot and then decided to lay down for a nap while Ethan napped. Just one hour later I woke up with strong back pains. I still wasn't sure it was labor though since I had been cleaning all morning. I tried to time the contractions but they were 2-5 minutes apart and didn't feel like how I remembered contractions feeling. It was more like timing back pain than stomach pain so I really wasn't sure what was going on but I was skeptical that it was real labor. This was at 1:30 pm (I had taken the shot at 12:30 pm)
An hour later I was still hurting so I sent a text message to your Daddy and to a friend who had offered to babysit Ethan and I let them know that I didn't think I was in labor but I wasn't sure. Then I called the doctor's office and spoke with the nurse who said to go to the hospital when the contractions were 5-6 minutes apart for an hour. When I explained that they were closer but weren't felt in my stomach she was unsure as well but said I could always go to the hospital to be checked out. We agreed that if I still felt this way in 40 minutes then I would go to the hospital. Then she called me back not 3 minutes later and told me that she had spoken with the doctor and she wanted me to go to the hospital as soon as possible since I had so recently taken my shot and I had a history of fast labor (Ethan was 3 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing).
I still felt pretty good so I drove your brother to the friend's house then met your Daddy at the house to go to the hospital. Then we got lost in construction around the hospital and then lost in the hospital itself. The maps I printed out in preparation of your birth were useless to us but we finally found labor and delivery. At this point it was already 4:30 pm. I was sent to maternal observation to be observed for an hour prior to being admitted and we discovered that I was 4.5 cm dilated. They told me that I could either go home or stay for an hour and see if I progressed. I felt so bummed. It sounded like it was a false alarm! I was okay with being patient and waiting for you to be ready but I was upset that I had called your Father away from work and had potentially inconvenienced a friend by having to leave Ethan in her care with little notice just to have to turn around and do it again on another day! We agreed to wait and walk the halls but we we felt resigned that today would not be the day you were born since several hours had already gone by and I didn't feel too much different. After the hour passed I was checked again and was at almost 5 cm so I was given the choice of being admitted to L& D and told that the worst case scenario would be spending several more hours at L&D and then being sent home.
Once I got settled into the room I sent your Dad home at around 7 so that he could pick up your brother and put him to bed and wait for your Aunt Kalyn to arrive to watch him at the house. I was alone from around 6:30 pm to 11 pm but it actually felt great to be alone. The room was so quiet that I didn't even want to turn on the television or the radio. I tried but turned them off. Being in a quiet room all by myself felt luxurious and I chuckled over how I had to have a baby in order to get a little quiet time. During this time I walked the halls, rocked in a rocking chair, and used the quiet time for prayer and reflection as I prepared to meet you. The contractions were coming a bit stronger but I felt very calm and composed.
Not long after being admitted to L&D I was already at 5 cm and told that I would be staying until I had the baby. For some reason I was still skeptical and over the next few hours as I was checked and still found to be at 5 cm I felt anxious that I would be sent home. I walked the halls for hours to try to help labor progress so that this wouldn't happen. Finally it sunk it that they were not going to send me home and I decided to try laboring in the room so that I didn't completely wear myself out. Because you were not yet at 39 weeks gestation and because of the situation with having recently taken a blood thinner they did not want to augment labor with pitocin or by breaking my water. The doctor wanted the blood thinner out of my system for 36-48 hours before intervening and they were fine with letting me stay at the hospital and labor that long if need be. It was already evening and I had not eaten since I had a granola bar at noon at all I had prior was 2 hard-boiled eggs and a cup of half-caf coffee at breakfast. Luckily because of the gestational diabetes I was allowed to eat even though I was in labor. I had 6 crackers and 3 slices of cheese along with some apple juice and it was an amazing meal. It was almost too much food but it gave me so much energy.
At 10 pm my blood work came back and showed that the heparin was already out of my system! Perhaps having skipped the two prior doses helped it leave my body faster. I was at 6 cm but with as much amniotic fluid as you had you weren't positioned low enough to progress labor very well and the doctor was worried about the risk of cord prolapse so he decided to go ahead and break my water. Now I finally felt like it was real and that you were going to be born soon. Your Dad arrived a little later along with my Mother, the birth photographer, and your Mimi and Poppy.
Your Daddy and I were less prepared for your birth than we were for your brother's. Since we had been through a birth before we didn't have any formal birth plan. We hadn't even discussed who would be in the room with us or anything prior to recently deciding to have a birth photographer. We didn't do any birthing classes and we had only located the book from the class we took when I was pregnant with Ethan the night before. Because I was taking blood thinners I knew the chance of being able to have an epidural was iffy since it depended on platelet count so I knew your birth would be unmedicated. However, I also thought your birth would be faster than Ethan's so I didn't think I would have much time to labor and use what is taught in birthing classes. With Ethan I arrived at the hospital during the last stages of labor prior to birth and there was no time for labor positions. I was just hoping that you wouldn't be born on the highway or at home. However, I hadn't taken into account that you were positioned to where the doctors thought you were going to be either huge or that you were transverse, or that I would have back labor or that all the amniotic fluid would slow things down.
Because we felt a bit unprepared I am so glad that your grandparents were in the room to help distract your Daddy. Neither of us remembered how to labor for natural childbirth and I know it was hard for him to see me labor, want to help, and not know how. Having people around helped pass the time and because I didn't want to people to see me in pain it helped me to stay composed through the contractions. Right as I was going through the final stages prior to your birth your grandparents left.
I have no idea how long I was in the transition stage of labor or how long the pushing stage lasted. I know I threw up a few times, and I remember the nurse having trouble finding your heart beat and asking me to wear an oxygen mask to help you out. I remember saying that I wasn't sure if I wanted pain meds or not so I decided to go without them then I wished I hadn't but then I was glad I did. In the end, I'm glad we did this naturally because being able to feel my body's response to labor gave me the sense of urgency that I needed to pick up the speed and get you born. Such sweet relief it was to hear your first cry!
And that brings us back to Friday, September 7th at 2:12 am. The moment that you were born.
7 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches of precious baby boy!
** Special thanks to Deborah at Deborah Frances Photography for the wonderful birth photos! **
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
9- 26- 12: Self portrait
Well, self-portrait with help. With my back thrown out I can't lift Landon so Garrett was nearby to hand Landon to me and make sure I was alright. (So don't worry Mom!)
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Landon: 2 week update!
 |
| 3 days old |
Landon,
At 2 weeks old you:
- Weigh 8 lbs 4 oz. That's exactly one whole pound more than your birth weight! (50th percentile)
- are 20.5 inches long. You grew a whopping 1.5 inches since birth! (55th percentile)
- have a head circumference of 36 (45th percentile)
- wear size newborn diaper folded down in the front because its still too big even with the cord cutout
- wear size newborn clothing
- eat 3 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours.
 |
| 3 days old |
You had almost lost your cord stump so the doctor helped it along the rest of the way at your 2 week appointment.
You sleep 3-4 hours at a stretch at night (with short little wakeful periods during each stretch where you easily settle back down with a pacifier or a hand on you for a moment). You sleep best at night when swaddled and you are already taking 1 hour naps unswaddled in the crib in your room.
 |
| 2 days old |
 |
| 2 days old |
 |
| 3 days old |
Little details that I love: When you are done eating you stick out your bottom lip and purse your lips really tight whenever we try offering you the rest of your bottle/or a pacifier. I also love how you frantically root around for the bottle whenever it gets near you and its time to eat.
 |
| 6 days old |
You are becoming more aware of your surroundings and have you eyes open more than when you were first born. I love when you look like you are trying to memorize my face.
 |
| 5 days old |
You are a very relaxed and easy going baby! Loud noises don't seem to
bother you (which is good with your brother around!) and you are pretty
content most of the time! |
| 14 days old |
Saturday, September 15, 2012
On the day you were born...
The high for the day was 101 degrees and the low was 71.
The price of gasoline was $3.53 a gallon.
The price of postage at the United States Postal Service was $0.45 a stamp.
As for you baby boy...
You were and always will be absolutely priceless.
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