I'm not sure if Elizabeth finally rolling from her back to her tummy is a blessing or a curse. She can now roll onto her tummy to grab those darned toys behind her head, and has started pushing herself backwards as well as maneuvering in a circle while on her tummy. The cursed part of this whole process is when she decides to flip herself onto her tummy while in her crib. Oh dear heavens you would think she was being pinched the way she get mad when she does this.
It seems to only happen when she's awake in her crib and not horribly tired. Take for instance this morning. She woke up a few times (2am/4am) and we heard her talking to herself, but she put herself back to sleep. Apparently after I had left for work, she had woken up again (which is not uncommon right before we get her out of bed at 6am), but flipped herself onto her tummy. She screamed bloody murder until daddy came to rescue her which then eliminated daddy's shower time.
I just don't get how she gets so frustrated. She knows how to roll from her tummy to her back, and quickly did so every time I put her on her tummy in the bath a few nights ago. Oh well, she will learn eventually, but I can tell you this, she is not a tummy sleeper! :o)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
5 months ago ... (Part 2)
Arla was my first nurse and she met us at the front desk and led us to our room, hooked me up to pitocin and chatted for some time. The contractions started kicking in pretty quickly and slowly started to progress. I used the labor ball for the first few hours until my hips hurt from sitting that way for so long. It was my goal, going into labor, to stay unmedicated the entire time, or for as long as possible. The contractions were starting to get stronger and closer together, both of which were good signs, but it also meant there wasn't as much down time between contractions. We walked the halls some, I used the bed to change up my position, and back to the ball.
My doctor came down after her last appointment to check my progress around 5:30pm. I had been on pitocin for 5 hours and figured I should have made SOME sort of progress. Her news was not what I wanted to hear. i was still about 95% effaced, but only 3cm dialated. 5 hours, 1cm. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! I started to doubt whether or not I could go without an epidural considering I was having contractions right on top of each other at this point in time.
She felt there was still a small amount of fluid in the forebag, so she broke that after her exam. It was a good thing they induced me when they did as there was little fluid left around Elizabeth, and who knows how long that had been going on.
At this point I had a new nurse, Kristen. When Arla left, she told me to expect about an hour for each cm left, so about 7 more hours of contractions before pushing. That really got me wondering my strength, but I was going to keep pushing through the pain until it was completely unbearable.
After the doctor left, the contractions started getting a little more uncomfortable, and I was starting to get naseous while they were occuring. The greatest thing my nurse did for me was stand at my side while I was contracting at the ledge of the counter and whisper in my ear, "remember, you can do anything for one minute." I kept telling myself that.
By this time, nothing was helping me get through the painful contractions so I asked the nurse to start me a bath. I got in the warm bath and was finally able to really relax between contractions. My shoulders were finally able to rest instead of holding all the tension of each contraction. Mark commented how amazing it was sitting there and watching the rolling of the muscles contracting from top to bottom each and every time.
The bath was over, I needed to change positions and worked my way out of the bathroom back into the room where I felt something was different. My nurse recognized that I knew something was going on and asked me if I was okay. It was then I told her I felt like I needed to push. Less than an hour and a half after my doctor was in the room and I was at 3cm I was 98% effaced and about 9cm dialated. Wow that was fast!
The nurse got me up on the bed to check my progress and I cannot explain what a primal feeling it was to be pushing. Your body takes over and the urge to push was incredible. From here to the end was a blur. It took a little over an hour of pushing, or not pushing. Your body is pushing, but they were telling me NOT to push the whole time. Are you kidding me?!?!
She was starting to crown when the nurse called the doctor to my room. Mark stood by my side and held my hand, but watched the whole thing. The most vivid memory is of his face when she was really starting to crown, he looked back at me after seeing her head, bright eyes, big smile, and he exclaimed, "I can see hair!"
I think they actually told me to push a total of 3 times when she came gushing out. Seriously, the doctor had just finished getting on her last glove when she came out, head, shoulder, arms and legs, everything in one push. Needless to say, the doctor was caught a little off guard, and the nurse seemed to think it was pretty funny! (she said she had never seen the doctor so flustered)
I remember looking at Mark and saying "ow" only once, and the 'ring of fire' that is used to describe the pain during birth was hardly there. She was there, she was with me, labor was done and I had survived. She was tiny and she was perfect.
Now, for my next pregnancy, I think I might just have to camp out at the hospital a week before my due date if my first labor was only 7.5 hours (2.5 after full breaking of the water). It was scary because it was unknown, but I would willingly do it all over again!
My doctor came down after her last appointment to check my progress around 5:30pm. I had been on pitocin for 5 hours and figured I should have made SOME sort of progress. Her news was not what I wanted to hear. i was still about 95% effaced, but only 3cm dialated. 5 hours, 1cm. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! I started to doubt whether or not I could go without an epidural considering I was having contractions right on top of each other at this point in time.
She felt there was still a small amount of fluid in the forebag, so she broke that after her exam. It was a good thing they induced me when they did as there was little fluid left around Elizabeth, and who knows how long that had been going on.
At this point I had a new nurse, Kristen. When Arla left, she told me to expect about an hour for each cm left, so about 7 more hours of contractions before pushing. That really got me wondering my strength, but I was going to keep pushing through the pain until it was completely unbearable.
After the doctor left, the contractions started getting a little more uncomfortable, and I was starting to get naseous while they were occuring. The greatest thing my nurse did for me was stand at my side while I was contracting at the ledge of the counter and whisper in my ear, "remember, you can do anything for one minute." I kept telling myself that.
By this time, nothing was helping me get through the painful contractions so I asked the nurse to start me a bath. I got in the warm bath and was finally able to really relax between contractions. My shoulders were finally able to rest instead of holding all the tension of each contraction. Mark commented how amazing it was sitting there and watching the rolling of the muscles contracting from top to bottom each and every time.
The bath was over, I needed to change positions and worked my way out of the bathroom back into the room where I felt something was different. My nurse recognized that I knew something was going on and asked me if I was okay. It was then I told her I felt like I needed to push. Less than an hour and a half after my doctor was in the room and I was at 3cm I was 98% effaced and about 9cm dialated. Wow that was fast!
The nurse got me up on the bed to check my progress and I cannot explain what a primal feeling it was to be pushing. Your body takes over and the urge to push was incredible. From here to the end was a blur. It took a little over an hour of pushing, or not pushing. Your body is pushing, but they were telling me NOT to push the whole time. Are you kidding me?!?!
She was starting to crown when the nurse called the doctor to my room. Mark stood by my side and held my hand, but watched the whole thing. The most vivid memory is of his face when she was really starting to crown, he looked back at me after seeing her head, bright eyes, big smile, and he exclaimed, "I can see hair!"
I think they actually told me to push a total of 3 times when she came gushing out. Seriously, the doctor had just finished getting on her last glove when she came out, head, shoulder, arms and legs, everything in one push. Needless to say, the doctor was caught a little off guard, and the nurse seemed to think it was pretty funny! (she said she had never seen the doctor so flustered)
I remember looking at Mark and saying "ow" only once, and the 'ring of fire' that is used to describe the pain during birth was hardly there. She was there, she was with me, labor was done and I had survived. She was tiny and she was perfect.
Now, for my next pregnancy, I think I might just have to camp out at the hospital a week before my due date if my first labor was only 7.5 hours (2.5 after full breaking of the water). It was scary because it was unknown, but I would willingly do it all over again!
Thumper
Elizabeth is usually in bed between 6:30 and 7 nowadays and we wake her around 6am. She may not cry at night anymore, but I don't think she sleeps the 11 hours straight. Why, you ask? Because she thumps. When I put her to bed at night, she is usually awake, but definitely tired. She has to have her blanket (which she subsequently pulls over her head and falls asleep this way) and then she lifts her legs up high and slams them down on the crib. And she does this over, and over, and over until she falls asleep.
I wake up in the middle of the night for various reasons anymore, the dog in the kitchen, the neighbor getting home from work at 2am, or thumping. I swear that girl thumped from 3-5am this morning. Again, no peeps, no talking, no moaning, groaning or crying, just thumps.
She isn't crying out which is the best part, and has learned how to entertain herself without needing a pacifier (which she pretty much gave up about a month ago ... doesn't care for it anymore), a bottle or mommy. But I can only take so much thumping as it causes me to have to wake up more fully in the middle of the night to actually figure out what the noise is.
Maybe I should just close her door completely before going to bed and hope that helps stifle the noise.
I just think it's funny that I have a little bunny rabbit in the room across the hall, entertaining herself by thumping her legs in bed! I love that girl, even if she did keep me awake for much of the early morning before my alarm went off. :)
I wake up in the middle of the night for various reasons anymore, the dog in the kitchen, the neighbor getting home from work at 2am, or thumping. I swear that girl thumped from 3-5am this morning. Again, no peeps, no talking, no moaning, groaning or crying, just thumps.
She isn't crying out which is the best part, and has learned how to entertain herself without needing a pacifier (which she pretty much gave up about a month ago ... doesn't care for it anymore), a bottle or mommy. But I can only take so much thumping as it causes me to have to wake up more fully in the middle of the night to actually figure out what the noise is.
Maybe I should just close her door completely before going to bed and hope that helps stifle the noise.
I just think it's funny that I have a little bunny rabbit in the room across the hall, entertaining herself by thumping her legs in bed! I love that girl, even if she did keep me awake for much of the early morning before my alarm went off. :)
Monday, July 19, 2010
5 months ago ... (Part 1)
I can't believe it's been 5 months already. 5 months since I gave birth to the most amazing little person. In some ways it seems like just yesterday and others, eons ago.
I find myself thinking back to that day often. Mostly when i'm driving to or from work for some reason, I just think about the emotions, the pain, the will to get through labor to meet this little person I had been harboring for 9 months. It's something I don't ever want to forget. So, since I have yet to write out my birth story, I will post it here.
Friday night, Feb 12th I starte to have contractions, coming irregularly and not horribly strong, but they weren't going away. Mark and I even went on a late night walk, complete with a flashlight, to try and get the contractions to either stop, or progress. Well, they didn't stop, and 18 hours later we were in triage being told to go home. 1 hour after getting home, they stopped.
Monday night I had contractions again, this time they were a little more intense, around 5 minutes apart, but never got much worse and they started to go away on our drive into work.
Despite the fact that the contractions were gone, I called my doctor's office to let them know what was going on, and make sure I was doing all the right things. When on the phone with the nurse she asked if my water had broke, and I responded 'no, but I have had constant wetness in my underwear.' She suggested we come in just to make sure everything was okay. Now, as a side note, I had 'leaking' for much of my pregnancy, but always chalked it up to the inability to hold my bladder.
We got to the OB's office and my doctor was on vacation so I saw the on call doctor for her, and I knew right away that I didn't like her. She was Asian, and had a very thick accent. i'm sure she was good at what she does, but she didn't have the best bedside manners, and she didn't know my history like my doctor did. She checked my progress and I was about 95% effaced and 2cm dialated, not much change from the weekend when I was in triage. She then performed a test to make sure I wasn't losing amniotic fluid. Well, I was, which meant immediate induction.
Mark and I kinda looked at each other with a little bit of shock and awe that this was happening so quickly. We had just been at work that morning, and it was a good thing we had both turned our computers completely off! We called our parents and headed to check into L&D and was checked in at about 12:30pm.
I find myself thinking back to that day often. Mostly when i'm driving to or from work for some reason, I just think about the emotions, the pain, the will to get through labor to meet this little person I had been harboring for 9 months. It's something I don't ever want to forget. So, since I have yet to write out my birth story, I will post it here.
Friday night, Feb 12th I starte to have contractions, coming irregularly and not horribly strong, but they weren't going away. Mark and I even went on a late night walk, complete with a flashlight, to try and get the contractions to either stop, or progress. Well, they didn't stop, and 18 hours later we were in triage being told to go home. 1 hour after getting home, they stopped.
Monday night I had contractions again, this time they were a little more intense, around 5 minutes apart, but never got much worse and they started to go away on our drive into work.
Despite the fact that the contractions were gone, I called my doctor's office to let them know what was going on, and make sure I was doing all the right things. When on the phone with the nurse she asked if my water had broke, and I responded 'no, but I have had constant wetness in my underwear.' She suggested we come in just to make sure everything was okay. Now, as a side note, I had 'leaking' for much of my pregnancy, but always chalked it up to the inability to hold my bladder.
We got to the OB's office and my doctor was on vacation so I saw the on call doctor for her, and I knew right away that I didn't like her. She was Asian, and had a very thick accent. i'm sure she was good at what she does, but she didn't have the best bedside manners, and she didn't know my history like my doctor did. She checked my progress and I was about 95% effaced and 2cm dialated, not much change from the weekend when I was in triage. She then performed a test to make sure I wasn't losing amniotic fluid. Well, I was, which meant immediate induction.
Mark and I kinda looked at each other with a little bit of shock and awe that this was happening so quickly. We had just been at work that morning, and it was a good thing we had both turned our computers completely off! We called our parents and headed to check into L&D and was checked in at about 12:30pm.
Life as a working mommy ...
So, I figured I would start this blog to discuss my life. My life juggling being a wife, a mother, and a career woman, all rolled into one. I am *cough* slightly OCD, despise a dirty house, and wonders what I did with all my free time before having a baby.
So, today my husband and I decided to switch our work schedules. He had been working his normal 5:30/6am to around 2:30 and I was working 8-5. This staggering of our schedules allowed for Elizabeth to be in childcare for less time. We wake her at 6, get her dressed, fed, in the car and to child care around 7:15/7:30 and picked up between 3 and 3:30.
This works great, what didn't work great was my 1/2 of the bargain. I would leave work as early as possible to get on the road for my 45 minute commute home. Once I got home I would quickly change into sweats and take Elizabeth. By that time, she was starting to get cranky, and there were days she didn't even care to see me. I would try and get something ready for dinner (or Mark would perhaps have something laid out if we were so proactive as to have our dinner menu for the week written out) while putting Ellie in her highchair, warming up a cube of her cereal. I'd sit down and try to get one or two spoonfuls of cereal in her mouth before she got too cranky and only wanted to chew on her bib or the washcloth. At this point I might have about 10 minutes to let her be content eating her bib so I could get dinner partially started.
This next part actually changed about a week or two ago. I used to deal with a very cranky baby around 5 or 6 which made for a long evening, and difficult to be excited to spend time with her as well as prepare dinner. After starting to read the book 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child,' I decided an earlier bedtime was necessary, and it was the trick. If Elizabeth doesn't get a bath, she is changed into her pjs by around 6, and a bottle is made. She is done eating and in bed not much later than 6:45 anymore (and she sleeps until 6am!). The change killed me coming home at 5:30/6pm. I couldn't handle not spending time with her as well as the stress of making sure we were all well fed and to give daddy a break since he was home with her for the 2 hours previous.
Something had to change, thus the flipping of our schedules. Working 6-3 is not a problem for me, and was my schedule before having Ellie, it's Mark that is going to have to adjust.
This is just another one of those changes/sacrifices/compromises that has to be made as a married couple with a baby. Just another of many more to come.
So, today my husband and I decided to switch our work schedules. He had been working his normal 5:30/6am to around 2:30 and I was working 8-5. This staggering of our schedules allowed for Elizabeth to be in childcare for less time. We wake her at 6, get her dressed, fed, in the car and to child care around 7:15/7:30 and picked up between 3 and 3:30.
This works great, what didn't work great was my 1/2 of the bargain. I would leave work as early as possible to get on the road for my 45 minute commute home. Once I got home I would quickly change into sweats and take Elizabeth. By that time, she was starting to get cranky, and there were days she didn't even care to see me. I would try and get something ready for dinner (or Mark would perhaps have something laid out if we were so proactive as to have our dinner menu for the week written out) while putting Ellie in her highchair, warming up a cube of her cereal. I'd sit down and try to get one or two spoonfuls of cereal in her mouth before she got too cranky and only wanted to chew on her bib or the washcloth. At this point I might have about 10 minutes to let her be content eating her bib so I could get dinner partially started.
This next part actually changed about a week or two ago. I used to deal with a very cranky baby around 5 or 6 which made for a long evening, and difficult to be excited to spend time with her as well as prepare dinner. After starting to read the book 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child,' I decided an earlier bedtime was necessary, and it was the trick. If Elizabeth doesn't get a bath, she is changed into her pjs by around 6, and a bottle is made. She is done eating and in bed not much later than 6:45 anymore (and she sleeps until 6am!). The change killed me coming home at 5:30/6pm. I couldn't handle not spending time with her as well as the stress of making sure we were all well fed and to give daddy a break since he was home with her for the 2 hours previous.
Something had to change, thus the flipping of our schedules. Working 6-3 is not a problem for me, and was my schedule before having Ellie, it's Mark that is going to have to adjust.
This is just another one of those changes/sacrifices/compromises that has to be made as a married couple with a baby. Just another of many more to come.
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