Hi all - quick update: We're home, follow-up check on Wednesday morning at the pediatrician to make sure the bilirubin is still going down like it should, and we're enjoying seeing her more pink and less yellow!
I am currently pumping at every feeding and also supplementing with formula, because Miss Penelope's so sleepy and lazy from the combo of being early and high bili that she often won't suck on my boobs at all, not even with a shield, and when she does suck she's very reluctant and requires lots of encouragement the entire time, so she doesn't end up getting a whole lot. But she's eating very well with the finger-feeding, I've spent lots of time with the lactation consultants and am hopeful things will improve as her bili goes down, and I'm pumping about 20 ml at a time now, which is increasing slowly but surely! So I'm hopeful we'll be back on track with breastfeeding and off formula in a few weeks or so.
But the whole process of feeding takes so long that there's rarely more than an hour to sleep at a time, and this feels like it counts more as our first day home, so it's still tough to make any time to answer texts or calls or to think about visitors. I'm sure we'll start emerging and welcoming visits as the week progresses!
I've been feeling all your prayers and support (and reading texts even if I never respond!), and it has really helped us keep our heads up. Luckily our little P-pie is doing great and is so undeniably adorable that we can't help smiling through the long feeding sessions and frustrating attempts to breastfeed. She's so perfect, and I can't wait to start introducing her to everyone!!
Also for those wondering about birth details (like I always do when my friends have babies!), I had to be induced with pitocin because labor didn't start on its own after my water had been broken for 18 hours, and once the pit really kicked in, I went from 1 cm to 10 cm in only 2 hours!! They never even checked me in between, and I was so relieved to hear it was time to push! I hadn't had any pain meds, but the contractions had been virtually constant with very few breaks, so I was getting pretty close to begging for some relief. Then once they gave me permission to push (not that I could have stopped myself--I had already been pushing for a while before they noticed!), she popped out in about 10 minutes. And we did it with no pain meds, and came out smiling on the other side! She had her eyes open and we gazed at each other as soon as she was out! It was pretty awesome. I want to write a real post about just that, it's an experience I never want to forget.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 02, 2012
More list
Welp, I am thrilled to report that we got all the major stuff from my Christmas Vaca to-do list done! Biggest exception is sewing, of which I did not do any, but I did get started cutting up the old t's to ready-to-sew diaper-sized squares. I have enough cut for about 10 prefolds so far.
Paul even got a pretty huge bonus project done - he removed the sliding doors on our tub/shower, cleaned it all up, and hung a shower curtain instead! So now in a few months when Baby Girl's ready to graduate from the infant tub to the big tub, it will be SO much easier for use to bathe her! I'm pretty thrilled how he pulled that one out of his hat! Our bathroom looks so nice now with a clean white shower curtain instead of dingy old metal and glass.
So now I need a more general list for the rest of our remaining pre-baby time:
1. Sewing - prefolds, soakers, and I need to hem a bunch of curtains including those for the nursery.
2. Knitting - Mainly I need to make the coming home outfit. I haven't even started yet. That needs to happen very soon!
3. Assembling nursery - duh! Gotta clean the floor, put the finishing touches on the dresser & finish painting a bookcase, assemble the crib, and then just start moving stuff in!!
4. Packing - it's getting to be that time where we need to be ready to go to the hospital!
5. Start cooking extra food to freeze for post-baby easy meals.
6. Triage after our baby shower (so excited!!) - Wash, sort, & put away all clothing, assess what we still need, and decide what we need to buy and when we need to get it by. Stack everything reasonably neatly in the nursery, assemble anything that needs to be assembled, etc.
7. Clean up the second bedroom so it's usable again - it would be nice for an enthusiastic visitor who stays too late to have somewhere to sleep, or for Paul or me to have a place to sleep if there's a way for one of us to get some extra sleep while the other is on baby duty!
8. Get the rest of the house to a reasonable level of tidiness - this shouldn't really be too hard, and it can happen last once everything else is done.
But right now, I need to eat lunch so I can head back into the basement to put one last coat of paint on the dresser! I hope tomorrow we can bring it upstairs & put it in the nursery!!
Paul even got a pretty huge bonus project done - he removed the sliding doors on our tub/shower, cleaned it all up, and hung a shower curtain instead! So now in a few months when Baby Girl's ready to graduate from the infant tub to the big tub, it will be SO much easier for use to bathe her! I'm pretty thrilled how he pulled that one out of his hat! Our bathroom looks so nice now with a clean white shower curtain instead of dingy old metal and glass.
So now I need a more general list for the rest of our remaining pre-baby time:
1. Sewing - prefolds, soakers, and I need to hem a bunch of curtains including those for the nursery.
2. Knitting - Mainly I need to make the coming home outfit. I haven't even started yet. That needs to happen very soon!
3. Assembling nursery - duh! Gotta clean the floor, put the finishing touches on the dresser & finish painting a bookcase, assemble the crib, and then just start moving stuff in!!
4. Packing - it's getting to be that time where we need to be ready to go to the hospital!
5. Start cooking extra food to freeze for post-baby easy meals.
6. Triage after our baby shower (so excited!!) - Wash, sort, & put away all clothing, assess what we still need, and decide what we need to buy and when we need to get it by. Stack everything reasonably neatly in the nursery, assemble anything that needs to be assembled, etc.
7. Clean up the second bedroom so it's usable again - it would be nice for an enthusiastic visitor who stays too late to have somewhere to sleep, or for Paul or me to have a place to sleep if there's a way for one of us to get some extra sleep while the other is on baby duty!
8. Get the rest of the house to a reasonable level of tidiness - this shouldn't really be too hard, and it can happen last once everything else is done.
But right now, I need to eat lunch so I can head back into the basement to put one last coat of paint on the dresser! I hope tomorrow we can bring it upstairs & put it in the nursery!!
Monday, December 19, 2011
My Christmas List is a To-Do List
Maybe I'll feel differently next year when I have a 10-month-old, but...I am totally not interested in getting a photo of my kid on Santa's lap. Unless one of my friends or relatives dresses up as Santa for a party, I just don't see myself getting that picture. At least not until she's old enough to request a visit to Santa, at which point I suppose if we were there anyway, I'd probably get a picture.
But speaking of Christmas pictures, for Christmas cards next year? I am so looking forward to setting up something fun and silly and snapping a bunch of pics to DIY our own photo cards (and for a much cooler keep-sake than the Santa picture). I'm thinking Baby Girl in nothing but a red diaper and santa hat, playing with a string of white Christmas lights, with some neutral fabric in the background and maybe a couple other non-breakable accessories. Or! Maybe a big pot fashioned to look like a mug, and stick her in there along with a few bags of big marshmallows like she's bathing in hot chocolate! Can a 10-month-old munch on marshmallows (with adult supervision)?
Anyhoo, that's all to come a year from now. This year, I have a huge to-do list of a different sort: this is the last time I'll have multiple days off of work in a row before D Day, so in addition to all the usual Christmas stuff, there's a TON of baby-related stuff I really want to get done between now and January 2nd! And I am SO GLAD I saved up my vacation days so I could have off for 13 days in a row, starting this Wednesday, December 21st! Here's what's on the ol' list:
Monday 12/19 Evening:
Tuesday 12/20 Evening:
Wednesday 12/21:
Thursday 12/22:
Friday 12/23:
Christmas Eve 12/24:
Christmas Day 12/25:
Monday 12/26:
Tuesday 12/27:
Wednesday 12/28:
Thursdasy 12/29:
Friday 12/30:
Saturday 12/31:
Sunday 1/1/2012:
Monday 1/2/2012:
If I can come reasonably close to actually following this list, I will be feeling LOADS better about the prospect of bringing a baby home to our house in (less than?) 2 months. WAY, way better.
But speaking of Christmas pictures, for Christmas cards next year? I am so looking forward to setting up something fun and silly and snapping a bunch of pics to DIY our own photo cards (and for a much cooler keep-sake than the Santa picture). I'm thinking Baby Girl in nothing but a red diaper and santa hat, playing with a string of white Christmas lights, with some neutral fabric in the background and maybe a couple other non-breakable accessories. Or! Maybe a big pot fashioned to look like a mug, and stick her in there along with a few bags of big marshmallows like she's bathing in hot chocolate! Can a 10-month-old munch on marshmallows (with adult supervision)?
Anyhoo, that's all to come a year from now. This year, I have a huge to-do list of a different sort: this is the last time I'll have multiple days off of work in a row before D Day, so in addition to all the usual Christmas stuff, there's a TON of baby-related stuff I really want to get done between now and January 2nd! And I am SO GLAD I saved up my vacation days so I could have off for 13 days in a row, starting this Wednesday, December 21st! Here's what's on the ol' list:
Monday 12/19 Evening:
- Coat of paint on the dresser
- Lots of laundry, including all the old clothes I plan to make into cloth diapers & cover
Tuesday 12/20 Evening:
- More laundry (see above)
- Clean up & decorate Dining Room table
- Finish decorating tree (just need to hang ornaments)
- Vacuum/sweep/dust once all decorating is done
Wednesday 12/21:
- Tidy/reorganize 2nd bedroom in prep for more storage needs
- Clear out office except for small desk, computer, & printer
- All extra non-baby stuff from 2nd bedroom & office goes to the basement
- Finish up anything still pending from above (more laundry? fold laundry?)
Thursday 12/22:
- Wrapping & other prep for Christmas gifts (this is 5 bullets on my personal list, but I don't want to give anything away!
- Shop for any necessary supplies for baking Christmas cookies tomorrow
Friday 12/23:
- Bake Christmas cookies with Hannah!
- Two more Christmas gift prep items
Christmas Eve 12/24:
- Askey Family Christmas!
- Cooking in the morning?
- Knitting
Christmas Day 12/25:
- Killian Family Christmas!
- More knitting
Monday 12/26:
- Lebanon Christmas Brunch & Pregnant Cousins Pow-Wow!
- More knitting!! (I really need to knit every day to get anywhere near all my knitting done, so just assume this bullet is included in all future days!)
- PREP Christmas Dinner!
Tuesday 12/27:
- Paint the
OfficeNursery!
Wednesday 12/28:
- Sewing Day - hem curtains, make cloth diapers & diaper covers
Thursdasy 12/29:
- Finish painting nursery (trim, wall stripes?)
Friday 12/30:
- More of whatever still needs to be done (painting? sewing?)
- Finish painting dresser & bookcases in basement
Saturday 12/31:
- More finishing what still needs to be done from previous days
- KNITTING
Sunday 1/1/2012:
- Freak out because it's 2012 already, and because I'm going to have a BABY this year
- Start un-decorating
- More sewing? Start to assemble the nursery?
Monday 1/2/2012:
- Finish un-decorating
- Get house tidy & ready for organized storage of baby stuff
If I can come reasonably close to actually following this list, I will be feeling LOADS better about the prospect of bringing a baby home to our house in (less than?) 2 months. WAY, way better.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Brain Dump
Growing a new human is still going well. I'm starting to have to work harder to roll over in bed, and some...um...gastronomic discomforts, but on the whole I really can't complain. Still feeling blessed to have an easy pregnancy.
At the doctor's on Wednesday morning, I was told to keep doing whatever I'm doing, because everything is great! I still have great blood pressure, my thyroid is still staying stable like a champ, my weight is good, and I even got confirmation that I was right about the orientation of Baby Girl: her butt is on the top right, her head is all the way at the bottom just above my pelvis, and she's facing slightly to my left and back.
But today I'm more in the mood for a brain dump of things that no one really wants to listen to me talk about:
Last night on WITF radio, the host introduced an NPR story by saying that the EPA had "implicated a connection" between fracking and contaminated drinking water. That is...not correct. You can't implicate a connection. He should have said either that the EPA had implicated fracking in connection with contaminated drinking water, or the EPA had found a connection between fracking and contaminated drinking water. I know it's a minor misuse, but it bugged me. I may have ranted aloud about it to myself as I drove to choir rehearsal.
Abrupt topic change:
If you work at a desk at a computer all day, let me tell you, it is the perfect place to paint your nails. The smell really isn't an issue because it dissipates quickly (especially since I have a big air vent right above my head), and as long as you plan a bit, it is a very low-risk environment for messing up your fresh paint. I make sure my water bottle is filled, my bladder is empty, and my cell phone is sitting on my desk and not in my pocket or purse, and then I go to town. I do one coat at a time while I'm working and waiting for a report to run or a page to load. Then I straight up work for a while while that coat dries. So far today I've done a base coat and one coat of color, which is now pretty much totally dry, but I'll wait to do color coat #2 and top coat until after lunch. Then by the time I'm ready to go home, everything will be dry and safe. I am telling you, it is great. Plus, with my actually strong, thick pregnancy nails, they'll keep looking great for up to 2 weeks, at which point I will take off all the polish before bed and then re-paint them the next day at work! I sit near 2 smokers who definitely spend more time on smoking breaks than I do on my nails, so I figure it's a parallel activity.
I started painting my nails again about a month ago, and I've decided I'll keep up with it through Baby Arrival Day, after which I will want to have clean, bare, short nails for a while. Probably a long while. So for now, I'm treating myself!
Speaking of treating myself, I think this is a symptom of another thing I love about being pregnant: I feel better and more comfortable with my body now than I probably ever have! I was hoping I'd get the "cute, round belly" type of pregnant body and not the "fat everywhere" type, and my wish came true! I love not having to worry about sucking in my belly, love handles, etc. and it makes me enjoy doing my hair and wearing eye makeup and painting my nails that much more.
Now my next hope is that breastfeeding and babywearing and baby playing are effective at getting my body into better shape than it was pre-pregnancy...a girl can dream!
At the doctor's on Wednesday morning, I was told to keep doing whatever I'm doing, because everything is great! I still have great blood pressure, my thyroid is still staying stable like a champ, my weight is good, and I even got confirmation that I was right about the orientation of Baby Girl: her butt is on the top right, her head is all the way at the bottom just above my pelvis, and she's facing slightly to my left and back.
But today I'm more in the mood for a brain dump of things that no one really wants to listen to me talk about:
Last night on WITF radio, the host introduced an NPR story by saying that the EPA had "implicated a connection" between fracking and contaminated drinking water. That is...not correct. You can't implicate a connection. He should have said either that the EPA had implicated fracking in connection with contaminated drinking water, or the EPA had found a connection between fracking and contaminated drinking water. I know it's a minor misuse, but it bugged me. I may have ranted aloud about it to myself as I drove to choir rehearsal.
Abrupt topic change:
If you work at a desk at a computer all day, let me tell you, it is the perfect place to paint your nails. The smell really isn't an issue because it dissipates quickly (especially since I have a big air vent right above my head), and as long as you plan a bit, it is a very low-risk environment for messing up your fresh paint. I make sure my water bottle is filled, my bladder is empty, and my cell phone is sitting on my desk and not in my pocket or purse, and then I go to town. I do one coat at a time while I'm working and waiting for a report to run or a page to load. Then I straight up work for a while while that coat dries. So far today I've done a base coat and one coat of color, which is now pretty much totally dry, but I'll wait to do color coat #2 and top coat until after lunch. Then by the time I'm ready to go home, everything will be dry and safe. I am telling you, it is great. Plus, with my actually strong, thick pregnancy nails, they'll keep looking great for up to 2 weeks, at which point I will take off all the polish before bed and then re-paint them the next day at work! I sit near 2 smokers who definitely spend more time on smoking breaks than I do on my nails, so I figure it's a parallel activity.
I started painting my nails again about a month ago, and I've decided I'll keep up with it through Baby Arrival Day, after which I will want to have clean, bare, short nails for a while. Probably a long while. So for now, I'm treating myself!
Speaking of treating myself, I think this is a symptom of another thing I love about being pregnant: I feel better and more comfortable with my body now than I probably ever have! I was hoping I'd get the "cute, round belly" type of pregnant body and not the "fat everywhere" type, and my wish came true! I love not having to worry about sucking in my belly, love handles, etc. and it makes me enjoy doing my hair and wearing eye makeup and painting my nails that much more.
Now my next hope is that breastfeeding and babywearing and baby playing are effective at getting my body into better shape than it was pre-pregnancy...a girl can dream!
Friday, November 04, 2011
Oh Baby
So. Wow. It's been about 4.5 months since I last blogged. I have been meaning to remedy that, but...well, I guess I've just felt fulfilled by twitter and facebook. It sure is easier to post pictured on facebook, let me tell you!
But I've been feeling like I needed a longer format, and after last night, I knew it was time. Last night my wonderful choir family at Trinity Lutheran Church threw us our first baby shower. There isn't anyone reading this blog who wouldn't already know that I'm pregnant, but seeing as I haven't actually posted that on the blog yet, just in case: Yup! We've known since about a month before my previous post. I'm just a few days shy of 6 months. 3rd trimester! Ack! So crazy. I also just noted today that I'm officially under 100 days until my due date (although most likely still over 100 days until my actual delivery date, judging from family and friends' experiences with first pregnancies).
As it is for many couples, pregnancy has been pretty surreal. Finding out that IT'S A GIRL was a big milestone for me, along with seeing her squirming all around during the ultrasound, and beginning to feel movement shortly after that was another one. But last night, getting all these baby gear gifts, and especially holding up adorable outfit after adorable outfit? That really brought it home for me. Especially after we got home and stacked it all in the designated Baby Gear Area in the 2nd bedroom, and I revisited some of the outfits. I was holding them up and realizing that in a little over 3 months, I am going to have a little person to put into these outfits. To fill up these outfits. I will be holding these outfits with a warm, squirmy little body in them. And that will be my daughter! It's amazing to think about, and mind-boggling.
My choir family at Trinity has made pregnancy special from the beginning, not just by throwing a shower for us. This is not a replacement for thank-you cards (don't roll your eyes at me, Jane H, I WILL write you another thank-you card whether you like it or not!), but seeing as I can't write a whole exposition in every little card, I wanted to share it here. I have loved hearing everyone's stories about their experiences, their memories of being pregnant and having their children, their advice, and their weekly inquiries about how I'm feeling. I loved choir before, but this whole experience has just magnified everything! It's been such a blessing.
So anyway...I have a whole lot more to muse about my pregnancy experience, picking items for a registry, planning for the nursery, and expectations/hopes/wishes for starting life as a family once Baby Girl arrives, but my wonderful choir family was at the top of my mind. I've had an amazing support group of friends and family members as well, but I feel better about my ability to express my appreciation to each of them individually. Now to see if Facebook is still slurping up my blog posts so that I can tag all the choir people...
Hopefully more posts to come soon! I want to get back in the habit before February, when I'll want to start, you know, documenting my daughter's life.
But I've been feeling like I needed a longer format, and after last night, I knew it was time. Last night my wonderful choir family at Trinity Lutheran Church threw us our first baby shower. There isn't anyone reading this blog who wouldn't already know that I'm pregnant, but seeing as I haven't actually posted that on the blog yet, just in case: Yup! We've known since about a month before my previous post. I'm just a few days shy of 6 months. 3rd trimester! Ack! So crazy. I also just noted today that I'm officially under 100 days until my due date (although most likely still over 100 days until my actual delivery date, judging from family and friends' experiences with first pregnancies).
As it is for many couples, pregnancy has been pretty surreal. Finding out that IT'S A GIRL was a big milestone for me, along with seeing her squirming all around during the ultrasound, and beginning to feel movement shortly after that was another one. But last night, getting all these baby gear gifts, and especially holding up adorable outfit after adorable outfit? That really brought it home for me. Especially after we got home and stacked it all in the designated Baby Gear Area in the 2nd bedroom, and I revisited some of the outfits. I was holding them up and realizing that in a little over 3 months, I am going to have a little person to put into these outfits. To fill up these outfits. I will be holding these outfits with a warm, squirmy little body in them. And that will be my daughter! It's amazing to think about, and mind-boggling.
My choir family at Trinity has made pregnancy special from the beginning, not just by throwing a shower for us. This is not a replacement for thank-you cards (don't roll your eyes at me, Jane H, I WILL write you another thank-you card whether you like it or not!), but seeing as I can't write a whole exposition in every little card, I wanted to share it here. I have loved hearing everyone's stories about their experiences, their memories of being pregnant and having their children, their advice, and their weekly inquiries about how I'm feeling. I loved choir before, but this whole experience has just magnified everything! It's been such a blessing.
So anyway...I have a whole lot more to muse about my pregnancy experience, picking items for a registry, planning for the nursery, and expectations/hopes/wishes for starting life as a family once Baby Girl arrives, but my wonderful choir family was at the top of my mind. I've had an amazing support group of friends and family members as well, but I feel better about my ability to express my appreciation to each of them individually. Now to see if Facebook is still slurping up my blog posts so that I can tag all the choir people...
Hopefully more posts to come soon! I want to get back in the habit before February, when I'll want to start, you know, documenting my daughter's life.
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