Monday, December 29, 2008

A visit to the doctor

Well, these last few days have been fun. Elizabeth takes after her mom in that she can't sleep on her back. Which means that none of us are getting any sleep.



On Friday, we didn't put Lizzie down at all. I was terrified to leave her in her crib. Mom stayed the night with us and we took shifts getting up to sooth her and put her pacifier back in.



Elizabeth's regular pediatrician is out of town, so we made an appointment with another one. He put Lizzie on a medication for reflux (Zantac) and prescribed an apnea monitor and said she should stay the night one night in the hospital for a sleep study.

Then someone from Children's Hospital brought the apnea monitor to our house and showed us how to use it. It involves putting sensors on Lizzie's sides under her arm pits and a band that goes around her chest to hold them on, with wires hanging down that plug into the monitor. He said that she should wear it 23 hours/day unless we hear differently from the doctor. So I called his office and was really surprised when he got on the phone himself! (One of the reasons we didn't go to this doc in the first place is because his office is so busy.) He said that right now she only needs to wear the monitor when she is sleeping away from supervision. So basically at night. If she has another "episode" however, she'll have to start wearing it 23 hours/day.

All I have to say is she better not have another "episode!" She is already soooo grounded.

Meanwhile, to make our week a little more fun, Nate had to get emergency surgery tonight. Last night he started complaining of a stomach ache. It kept getting worse throughout the night and today. He spent most of Lizzie's appointment in the bathroom throwing up. Turns out he had appendicitis. He's out of surgery now and is doing well.

Here's to no medical emergencies in 2009!

Thank You, God

Around 6:00 am Friday morning, Elizabeth's motion monitor (AngelCare) alarm went off. Before I really knew what was happening, Nate was already running to her room.

I immediately followed him, and by the time I got in there, he had already flipped her over (yeah, she used to sleep on her stomach) was shaking her and yelling, "Baby! Baby!" and "She's not breathing!" No response. He kept shaking her and yelling, "Baby!"

I ran over to flip the light on. I ran back to the crib and realized the light still wasn't on. So I ran back and flipped the light on. I realized later that I probably opened her door the first time. Apparently I wasn't thinking straight or something.

In the meantime, Nate was still yelling and shaking her. He breathed into her mouth. Nothing. He breathed into her mouth a second time. I reached out and did about five chest compressions. Then she finally started squirming. Wow.

This whole ordeal from her alarm going off to her coming to was probably about 20 seconds. It felt like an eternity. I have never been more scared of anything in my entire life. She was pretty out of it for a while. Nate picked her up first and held her. I was shaking too bad. She was squirmy and wiggling around, but didn't cry for a while. I think I sat down before Nate gave her to me, but I'm not sure.

I fed her and changed her diaper and clothes, just wanting to keep her awake. She wanted to go back to sleep so bad, but I was way too scared to let her. She had a really weak cry for about 5 seconds. Boy was that a beautiful sound.

The on call nurse told us to go to the ER since Elizabeth wasn't breathing for over 30 seconds. They did all kinds of tests on her - chest x-rays, blood sugar, oxygen, complete blood screen, etc. They couldn't find anything wrong. Everything was perfect. By the way, she did NOT like getting her foot poked for the blood tests or getting her temperature taken. She let out some good loud healthy cries, which were heartbreaking and wonderful to hear.

I thank God that she's okay and for the AngelCare monitor. The ER doctor told us this would have been a classic case of SIDS and that this monitor is the best money we've ever spent. It makes me nauseous to imagine what we would have woken up to in the morning if we didn't have that monitor.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Two month check up

Elizabeth had her 2 month check up today! She was weighed and measured first - she weighs 11 lbs. 3 oz. and 23 1/4 inches long according to the nurse. Although when we measured the same lines she did, Lizzie was only 22 1/2 inches long. Hmm... Then the doctor came in and checked her over. He said that she's wonderful from head to toe. I agree!

And then the mean nurse came in to give her shots. =( I stayed up by her head and the nurse said to keep my hands up because she goes fast and doesn't want to poke me. And she did give the shots (two in the right let, one in the left) really fast.

My poor baby. She SCREAMED. Like I've never heard her scream before. It was so horrible. She kept crying when I picked her up and even when I nursed her. She would drink a little and then start screaming again. My poor little girl. After she calmed down, she slept a lot for the rest of the day.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Elizabeth's baptism!

Elizabeth was baptized yesterday! She was a perfect angel during the whole thing. Didn't cry at all. Such a good girl.





Today is also Elizabeth's 2 month birthday! Here's my favorite picture from our photo shoot today:




Friday, December 12, 2008

A beautiful sound

Elizabeth laughed yesterday! Her laughter is one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. Mom is the one who got her to laugh for the first time. She was holding Lizzie in the living room and I was in another room when I heard mom say, "Jenni! Jenni! She's laughing!" I came running, and sure enough, she was laughing! So amazingly cute.

Oh, I'm sure it was a fluke, but Elizabeth also rolled over the other day! She was laying in her crib on her tummy. She just started lifting her head straight up to look in front of her that day (at least that we saw). I went in to check on her and she was half rolled over! Like she had toppled over when lifting her head up. But her legs were still flat on the mattress. I went back in a few minutes later and she was on her back!

So many milestones in the last couple days! =)

8 weeks, 2 days

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Not all firsts are fun

Well, Elizabeth has her first cold. Her nose is all stuffed up and she's coughing and sneezing. My poor baby. Nate and I are also sick. My nose is running like a faucet and I keep coughing and sneezing as well, which makes it extremely difficult to put a baby to sleep!

In other news, Elizabeth is getting baptised this weekend! We finally got it scheduled. It's December 14th, on my mom's birthday! Its at the church where we got married.

I just hope we all feel better by then!

7 weeks, 6 days

Sunday, December 7, 2008

I am such a bad mom

I locked my kid in my car last night. My poor little precious baby. I started my car while sitting at the table with my family at Cracker Barrel. Apparently it was about 15 minutes later when mom, Lizzie, and I were leaving to get gas.

I put Lizzie in the car and tossed my keys over the seat like I typically do. SO stupid, I know. I shut the door at the exact same freakin time that the engine shut off and the doors locked. Mom was actually reaching for the door handle!

She said, "Jenni, open the door..." I said, "Mom, I CAN'T. Its LOCKED!" We just looked at each other and then we both freaked out. She ran inside and got my dad and I called Nate to ask how fast he could get to Cracker Barrel with the spare key. He said he could get there fast, but he'd have to run to his office to get his car. So dad took off to our house to pick up Nate and the key. While he was gone, another customer and the manager kept trying to unlock the door.

The car was pretty warm when I put Lizzie in it - Thank God. And she was asleep for a little while. But then she woke up. I stood there at the window staring at her, begging her not to. But she did, and she started crying. I ached to get to her. I wanted to break the damn window so I could hold her. It hurt so bad seeing her crying so hard and not being able to pick her up and comfort her.

When dad and Nate were about 2-3 minutes away, the guys stopped trying to get in to my car. I was on the phone with Nate the entire time they were on their way back. Once they were about about a minute away, Nate kept hitting the unlock button. When I finally heard the doors click, I flung the door open and said, "It's unlocked!" Apparently I threw my phone. Nate said he could hear stuff going on and there were buttons being pressed.

Mom and I jumped into the back seat and comforted my baby. I was crying and kept telling her sorry. My poor baby girl.

When we got home, I just held her and rocked her for a really long time. I think she's over it already, but I'm not!

7 1/2 weeks

Saturday, November 29, 2008

What I am thankful for!

I am so excited! Lizzie slept from midnight to 5:30 am on Thursday night! Then she woke up for a feeding and went back to sleep at 6:30, and slept until about 10:00. Yay! By the way, Thursday was Elizabeth's first Thanksgiving. Guess what I'm thankful for?! (Among many other things, of course.) =)

Then last night she slept from 1:30-6:30, then from 7:30-10:30 ish. Hey, I'll take it!

In other news, in the last week or so, Lizzie is getting much better at holding her head up. Her neck is getting quite strong! So cute. She is also smiling way more often and is absolutely the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen.

Oh, and we are also planning a trip out to Las Vegas in February! Elizabeth will be about 3 1/2 months old. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Traveling with a 3 1/2 month old! Eek!

6 weeks 3 days

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Sucky night time routine

I mentioned in the last entry what time Elizabeth goes to bed. To expand: For the last couple weeks, Elizabeth will fall asleep around 11:00 PM or so for about 20-30 minutes. Then she'll wake up and stay up until 3:30-4:00 in the morning! Then she'll usually sleep until around 9:00.

Last night we tried keeping her awake during the evening. Boy was she not happy with me! But apparently that didn't matter because she ended up taking her 20 minute nap anyway and didn't go to bed until almost 4:00.

I just hope she gets her nights and days straightened out soon.

5w6d

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A night out

Last night was the first time that I went out without the baby! Nate convinced me to go to a friend's house who was having a small gathering with our friends. I had a good time - but I missed my baby!

I carried my camera around to show off pictures of her. Everything thought that she is gorgeous. =)

My mom, my dad, and my brother came over and hung out with Lizzie while we went out. I was told that she was a very good girl. She didn't do her staying up until 4:00 am routine that she's been doing lately. I'm so glad that everything went good for them!

Friday, November 21, 2008

A Few Cute Things

Here are just a few things I want to remember of her first 5 weeks...

  • For the first couple weeks when I was feeding Elizabeth, she would drink for about 3 minutes (you could actually time it) and then almost without fail, she'd choke and cough and then immediately fall asleep.
  • Elizabeth can be found wearing one sock most of the time.
  • Elizabeth has earned many nicknames already- Little Munch and Sqeakers are the most used.
  • Lizzie has so many expressions. One of my favorites is when she looks at me when one eye open. I already have hundreds of pictures of all of her expressions!
  • Lizzie grunts like the old lady on MadTV.
  • She found her thumb for the first time (that we've seen) recently. She sucked on it for maybe 15 seconds and had her fingers splayed across her face. Then she accidently gouged her cheek, and drew blood! My poor baby. :( Since then she just sucks on her fist.
  • Elizabeth gave me her first legitimate smile when she was 3 weeks, 6 days old (Nov 11th). Since then she smiles all the time. So freakin precious.

Oh, and Elizabeth was a pumpkin for her 1st Halloween! The cutest pumpkin you've ever seen in your life. We went trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa R's house. Boy did she hit the jackpot! She only went to one house and they gave her all the candy they had because she was so cute! It was really fun surprising them. =)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

5 weeks old already!

My daughter turned 5 weeks old yesterday! She's practically all grown up! I am told over and over again about how time will go by so fast, but holy crap! Maybe it just seems to be going so fast because I'm sleep deprived and things will start to slow down here soon. A girl can dream!

Here's what happened during the first 5 weeks of my daughter's life:

Mom stayed with me the first night in the hospital and Nate stayed the second night. The first night was so hard! Elizabeth had a lot of trouble breastfeeding. She wouldn't latch on very well at all. It was one of the most frustrating things! The lactation consultant spent a lot of time with us, trying to get Liz to latch on. I was getting scared that she wasn't getting enough to eat. On Thursday, she thought that we should supplement her with formula. So she did. She gave her an ounce or so. I sobbed. I thought that I had completely failed as a mother. I kept saying sorry to Elizabeth for giving her formula. That was a tough day. I don't think the hormones were raging at all. ;)

We went home Friday night around 9:00 pm. Grandpa Merle met us there and got to see Lizzie for the first time (he was out of town for work stuff). I think she got Grandpa wrapped around her teeny tiny finger right then and there!

The first week was pretty tough. We had so little sleep and my hormones were going nuts. I cried a lot. I was so overwhelmed. Just reading a little magazine that the hospital gave me on how to care for a newborn made me cry!

Plus, Elizabeth would not sleep on her back. At all. She'd fall asleep and we'd put her downin the crib and she would be awake within minutes. So she spend the first week or so only sleeping on someone's chest. Usually mine. So I slept on the couch with Lizzie sleeping on me. Very cute and cuddly, but exhausting! And we just couldn't go on like that.

So now she sleeps on her stomach. *gasp* We tried putting her on her tummy one day and she slept for a couple hours. It scared the crap out of me, and still does, because of the whole Back to Sleep thing to prevent sids. The only reason I am able to let her sleep on her tummy is because we have the AngelCare motion monitor. An alarm goes off if it doesn't detect movement for 20 seconds. I have been slowly trying to put her on her back during the day, so maybe she'll get used to it. She does a lot better, but still definitely prefers her tummy.

I also want to mention my saint of a mother. She stayed with us for 2 weeks after coming home from the hospital. She slept on an air mattress in the living room - one that had a hole in it somewhere because it needed reinflated every night. Poor mom! She did all of the laundry and dishes and general cleaning of the house, not to mention all of her help with Lizzie. She totally saved me from having a complete melt down. I don't know what I would have done without her!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

She's here!

My little angel is here and she's perfect in every way! It's still a little hard to believe sometimes. And I really can't believe that she'll be 3 weeks old tomorrow! It's already going by so fast.

So apparently I slacked off at blogging a bit during my pregnancy.

Here's my birth story:
I was induced on October 15th. We got to the hospital around 7:15. Lab came in first thing and took my blood. That was the worst needle experience of my life. She had to dig around for my vein!

My doctor came in around 8:15 and broke my water. It was really weird. I just felt a big gush. And then lots more gushes every time I switched positions. At that time I was about 2 1/2 cm dilated and 60% effaced.

At 8:30, the nurse started the pitocin. Around 10:00 I started feeling contractions. They were pretty mild and didn't hurt. Shortly before 11:00, the nurse checked me again - I was now at 3cm/60%/-2 station. Contractions were also getting a bit stronger.

Around noon I got out of bed and sat in the rocking chair. My contractions were even stronger and I mostly felt them in my lower back. It helped when Nate or mom pushed on my tailbone during contractions. After about 10 minutes of sitting in the chair, I got really nauseous, really fast. I started vomiting right before they got the trash can to me. I was still puking when the pediatrician came in to visit for the first time. Great first impression I made!

Apparently vomiting helps with dilating. The nurse checked me again after I threw up - 3cm/80%/-1 station. Some progress! I threw up several more times during labor. Each time it came on really fast.

At 1:00 PM, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. I sat on the side of the bed, leaning on the bed tray. I think I jumped a little when he gave me the first shot to numb the area. It stung a little bit, but wasn't too bad. He worked pretty quickly and was done before I knew it. Each contraction after the epidural hurt a little less. I even got to take a little nap while Nate rubbed my feet!

At 6:15, I was around 7-8cm/100%/and between 0 to +1 station. At 6:45, they had me start pushing. Then at 7:00, shift change! My wonderful nurse left and a new lady came in right after I started pushing. Nice.

The contractions were hurting again. I thought maybe the epidural was wearing off, but maybe the contractions were just that intense. I don't know. Either way, it sucked. Nate stayed up by my head and held me up when I was pushing. He also had to count to 10 A LOT. I had to push 3 times during each contraction, and sometimes the mean new nurse made me go a 4th time. I could barely make it through the 2nd push each time, so I can't imagine the 4th push ever being that effective. Several times I just physically couldn't push anymore and would just stop. Then Nate would say, "7, 8, 9, 10" really fast. Ha. I don't remember laughing at all at the time, but I do remember thinking that was funny.

Mom held one leg and the nurse held the other while I was pushing. Around 8:30 or so, my doctor came in and they started getting everything ready. I knew things were getting close! I was almost done! At one point, a nurse came in and said there was another woman in labor at another hospital and that Dr. S was available for me. She wanted my doctor to leave me! My doctor had to say a couple times that he would go there when he was done - he even sounded irritated at her! (Nate, my hero, said later that he wasn't worried about my doctor leaving - that there was no way he was going to leave the room until the baby was out. =)

When the baby was crowning, the doctor said something about her having lots of hair. To which Nate said, "Are you jealous?" Ha! Not the time to piss off the doctor! Luckily, he laughed at that!

So at 8:53 PM, after 2 very long hours of pushing, my baby girl was born. After the nurse started to take her away, mom said that I wanted to hold her. She brought the baby back and laid her on my chest. Hands down the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.

She laid there on my chest while we both cried. They cleaned her off and eventually asked if they could go weigh her. I suppose. =) She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20.25 inches long. With the one minute APGAR test, she scored an 8, and she scored a 9 on the five minute.

She totally stole my heart. I am head over heels in love with her.

Thank you God for my beautiful, wonderful, healthy baby girl.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

A little progress!

This is at 12 weeks, 4 days. Starting to get a little tummy!



This is my 6 week belly. Basically what I looked like pre-pregnancy, plus a little bloat.









Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Apparently I'm RH negative

I got a call from the doctor yesterday. Apparently my blood type is B-. So I had to get a shot of Rho-gam last night. My arm hurts so bad today! Nate thought that it would be funny to get the shot in my bum. What a jerk.

Doc said I have to get another Rho-gam shot when I am 28 weeks along, and another one after the birth depending on the baby's blood type. Oh joy.

9 weeks

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Just a little scare...

Last night we had a bit of a scare. I went to the restroom and when I wiped, there was blood all over the toilet paper. I flipped. I ran to wake Nate up by saying, "I'm bleeding!" Poor guy. I was sobbing. I thought we were going to lose the baby.

Nate called the 24 hour nurse line and I talked to a nurse for a while. I don't know that she did much to ease my fears, but by talking to her I was able to stop crying.

Somehow I was able to fall asleep and this morning Nate paged the doctor. He called back within a few minutes and told me to come in this afternoon. I called the office and made an appointment for 2:30. When we got to the office at 2:30, we were told that the doctor had to leave to go to a delivery and to come back in a half hour to an hour.

We went back at 3:30. After waiting for quite a while (or at least it seemed like a while) they called me back for an ultrasound. Our ornery peanut did not show up at first! Then he/she was found and it took me a few seconds to see the heartbeat. Then I saw it and the doctor did something so we could hear it. It was the best sound I have ever heard in my life. I just kind of made some weird noise and layed down on the table. It was such an enormus relief to hear that sound! AND we were able to see the little bean moving around! It was so freaking awesome. Seriously the coolest thing I have seen my life thus far.

Heartrate: 174 bpm

8w3d

Monday, March 3, 2008

We have a heartbeat!

We had our 1st appointment today!

It. Was. AMAZING!

They did an internal ultrasound and we were able to see and hear the heartbeat on our little peanut!

Heart rate: 133 bpm
0.91 cm long

They moved me back a week, so I am only 6 weeks, 6 days along. I already suspected that because I was pretty sure I ovulated late.

My due date is October 21st!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Paranoia has kicked in

Its amazing how quickly all logical thought disappeared from my brain. I have been so scared that something bad is going to happen!

I keep taking pregnancy tests just to make sure I am still pregnant (stupid, I know). I also have been talking myself out of going to the emergency room (when I freak out at night) or to the doctor's office to get my HCG levels tested.

Today I took another pregnancy test while Nate and I were watching a movie. I was thrilled to see that the test line showed up before the urine even made its way across the strip! And it was so dark! It was almost a deep maroon, much darker than the control line. I kept going into the bathroom to look at it.

Obviously, I know its not a promise that every thing will be okay, but at least it makes me feel better today.

Only 9 days to go until my doctor appointment...

Friday, February 15, 2008

Was that so hard?

Today I agonized over which doctor to call. I was on the internet all morning researching doctors when I was supposed to be cleaning the house (oops). Then Nate picked me up for lunch and then we went to the office, where I was on the internet all afternoon researching doctors, when I was supposed to be working (oops).

A doctor that a few friends have been to also came highly recommended in the online community. I called and made an appointment. The receptionist was pretty clueless, so hopefully she was a fill in or new. She asked when my last period was. I told her and she said, "Well you are barely four weeks along... when do you want to come in?" I asked when the doctor normally starting seeing people. She said all grumpily, "Well its up to you. You are four weeks along, so when do you want to come in?" I said, "Look, I'm a little new at this. I DON'T KNOW." She put me on hold and came back, saying that the doctor usually sees new patients when they are 8 weeks. Ah, thank you. That's what I needed to hear. Was that so hard?? Shouldn't receptionists know this kind of information?

So my appointment is March 3rd at 4:00 pm. A little over two weeks away. I am so nervous and excited!

So here's what happened...

I still can't believe I'm pregnant! Which is probably resonable considering I JUST found out.

Nate went to bed earlier than I did on the 12th. I stayed up pretty late wondering if I should test or not. Finally around 2:30 am (technically the 13th!) I tested.

I set the pregnancy test down on the back of the toilet and watched it for a few seconds. It looked like it wasn't going anywhere good. I got up and walked around for a minute, pretty disappointed.

I walked back over to the toilet, totally expecting to see a negative. I did a triple take at the test. There were two lines! It was POSITIVE! I grabbed another test out of the cabinet and tested with it. This time my eyes were glued to it. Two lines showed up again!

I started crying and shaking and kept checking the test to make sure I wasn't just seeing things. I walked into our bedroom and Nate being the deep sleeper that he is, woke up right away. He said something like, "Hey babe. Love you." I sat on the bed next to him and said, "I think I'm pregnant." He sat up and smiled and hugged me. At some point he said something about having super sperm. What a romantic. :)

We eventually went to bed but I couldn't fall asleep until well after 4:00 am. Then Nate woke me up at 7:30 to take the First Response test. So I took the test and we sat on the floor of the bathroom and watched both lines show up. Positive!!

During the day I went shopping and found cute "I love Grandma" and "I love Grandpa" bibs. When we went to my parent's house that night, I gave my parents their gifts. I told them they were Christmas presents that I found in the closet that I had forgotten about. Complete with Christmas wrapping paper.

Mom got her's open first. She just looked at me and started crying! Then she hugged me as my dad got his opened. His eyes got all watery and he just said, "When?" I said, "We found out today!"

We went over to Nate's parent's house under the pretense of fixing her computer. While there, Nate threw a bag to his mom and said it's an early Valentine's Day gift for them. I got them a tiny little pair of booties. She opened it up and squealed and said, "ROB! Do you know what this MEANS?!?" That was funny. =)

Then we went to Nate's brother's house to tell him and my sister-in-law. I told them by saying, "We just wanted to let you know that Chloe is going to have a little cousin!" Jen loaned me a few baby name and pregnacy books and helped me look up doctor stuff. I love her. =)

Thursday, February 14, 2008