Monday, February 28, 2011
Catching up...
Bear with me as I am doing some catch up...as you'll quickly be able to tell from a 9 month post followed soon by a 10 month post. Sigh. Oh well. Most (if not all) will be post dated, so if you don't have me on a reader, go back prior to this post over the next week to see if there's something you missed. That is...if you care to at all. ;)
10 months
Owen's tenth month of life was difficult to say the least. It was hard on him and hard on us. I am glad that month is over. It started out with a rough round of teething. When we went in for his 9 month check-up, the doctor noticed his first little tooth poking through. I was surprised since I hadn't noticed it before. She said, "Well that's good. That means it wasn't a big deal for him." Sadly, she spoke too soon. Two days later, Owen starting cutting a second tooth on the bottom, right next to the first. He woke up every thirty minutes to hour that night. He was fussy, had a runny nose and fever, and basically wanted to sleep on me all day long. While I loved the cuddles, it was still difficult to have a sad, fussy baby in pain.
Shortly after that, Owen got a rash of some sort on his extremities. We still aren't positive what it's from, but are thinking it could have been an allergic reaction to some pineapple he ate.
Once that went away, we only had our happy boy for about five days before he got Bronchiolitis. Again...we had a baby boy who was sad, grumpy, needy, and just not feeling good. I felt terrible for him, but it was pretty rough on me too. I would have gladly done anything to make him happy, but no matter what I did (even things that normally always brought a smile) he was sad and fussy. I remember one night I just could not wait until it was his bed time and I said to Miles, "I hate feeling this way. I don't want to look forward to when he goes to sleep because I don't want to deal with him anymore. It makes me sad because I enjoy spending time with him, but not lately." I was really sad about that. :( Gratefully, by the end of the month, we started seeing signs of our sweet, happy, baby boy coming back. It was WONDERFUL. I missed him over the past month.
As rough as it's been, Owen has still found time to grow and develop and reach new accomplishments.
His biggest accomplishment is that he started crawling! In the beginning of the month, he learned to inch himself around by pushing up on both arms, put his legs under him and lunge forward. This went on for a week or so. Then one day, he just started moving his hands and knees one by one. He's still not super speedy, but he gets around the whole house and into everything in no time.
Crawling has led to him exploring the house in its entirety. He loves opening all the cupboards and emptying all the contents inside. Basically, he loves getting into everything he shouldn't get into.
Owen likes to play in the open dishwasher.
At the beginning of the month, he was able to pull himself up into a kneeling position. By mid-February, I went to get him up in the morning only to discover he could pull himself up into a standing position. It was definitely time to move the crib bed down!
Owen hates having his diaper or clothes changed and fights it with all he's got.
He enjoys watching PBS and cartoons like Sesame Street and Dinosaur Train, but only for very limited amounts of time.
His eating has been all over the place. While he was teething, he refused to eat much at all. He has become much more opinionated about food and will quickly push your hand away or swat or grab at the spoon. This has made for much messier eating times.
He bounces up and down when he hears music he likes.
Owen does these funny sideways glances, or looks at you from the top of his eyes. It's very silly.
Much to our chagrin, he has discovered toilet paper and loves to roll it out and tear it into tiny bits.
Sleep this past month has been horrible. He has been waking up anywhere between 5 AM and 6:30 AM and is ready to get up for the day. I keep telling myself it's just a phase, but I am so ready for this phase to be over.
Even though it was a rough month, he makes it all worth it...
Shortly after that, Owen got a rash of some sort on his extremities. We still aren't positive what it's from, but are thinking it could have been an allergic reaction to some pineapple he ate.
Once that went away, we only had our happy boy for about five days before he got Bronchiolitis. Again...we had a baby boy who was sad, grumpy, needy, and just not feeling good. I felt terrible for him, but it was pretty rough on me too. I would have gladly done anything to make him happy, but no matter what I did (even things that normally always brought a smile) he was sad and fussy. I remember one night I just could not wait until it was his bed time and I said to Miles, "I hate feeling this way. I don't want to look forward to when he goes to sleep because I don't want to deal with him anymore. It makes me sad because I enjoy spending time with him, but not lately." I was really sad about that. :( Gratefully, by the end of the month, we started seeing signs of our sweet, happy, baby boy coming back. It was WONDERFUL. I missed him over the past month.
As rough as it's been, Owen has still found time to grow and develop and reach new accomplishments.
His biggest accomplishment is that he started crawling! In the beginning of the month, he learned to inch himself around by pushing up on both arms, put his legs under him and lunge forward. This went on for a week or so. Then one day, he just started moving his hands and knees one by one. He's still not super speedy, but he gets around the whole house and into everything in no time.
Crawling has led to him exploring the house in its entirety. He loves opening all the cupboards and emptying all the contents inside. Basically, he loves getting into everything he shouldn't get into.
Owen likes to play in the open dishwasher.
At the beginning of the month, he was able to pull himself up into a kneeling position. By mid-February, I went to get him up in the morning only to discover he could pull himself up into a standing position. It was definitely time to move the crib bed down!
Owen hates having his diaper or clothes changed and fights it with all he's got.He enjoys watching PBS and cartoons like Sesame Street and Dinosaur Train, but only for very limited amounts of time.
His eating has been all over the place. While he was teething, he refused to eat much at all. He has become much more opinionated about food and will quickly push your hand away or swat or grab at the spoon. This has made for much messier eating times.
He bounces up and down when he hears music he likes.Owen does these funny sideways glances, or looks at you from the top of his eyes. It's very silly.
Much to our chagrin, he has discovered toilet paper and loves to roll it out and tear it into tiny bits.
Sleep this past month has been horrible. He has been waking up anywhere between 5 AM and 6:30 AM and is ready to get up for the day. I keep telling myself it's just a phase, but I am so ready for this phase to be over.
Even though it was a rough month, he makes it all worth it...
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Static
Oh Utah...your weather provides rough fingertips and a statically charged atmosphere. Luckily you also provide some entertainment...
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Bronch-a-what?!
Our poor little baby wasn't feeling very well last week. We thought that he was either teething, or might have a cold. (Sometimes it's hard to tell). Well...after a few days, it started to seem more like a cold and he developed a sad, wheezing breath and a barking cough. I was worried about him possibly having croup or something. Miles talked to his Mom who suggested we take him in to be seen. It was a Sunday evening, so we had to go to the Instacare. It pretty much sucked since we got there seconds after a man who was checking in his three kids, all of whom were new to the system and he had to complete a lot of paperwork for each one. Fifty minutes later...we finally checked in. Since we said Owen was having trouble breathing, she brought a nurse out right away to check his oxygen levels. We were admitted shortly after. The doctor said he has Bronchiolitis which can be caused by RSV. After more waiting and Owen falling asleep in my arms, we did a nebulizer breathing treatment in the office and then the doctor checked him again. He sent us home with a prescription for an inhaler. However, he said that if he gets any worse to take him to the ER. He told us that babies used to be hospitalized for this and put in an oxygen tent, so it can be pretty severe. Scary! Luckily for us, Owen didn't need that.
We then went to the Walgreen's in Provo (the only 24-hour pharmacy around) and quickly proceeded to wait...and wait...and wait. I cannot even believe how many people were there on a Sunday at 9:30 PM. Gratefully, the pharmacy technician felt bad for our poor baby and got his prescription approved by our insurance and ready as quickly as possible. Still, when all was said and done, it was a three hour trip to get him taken care of and the poor baby didn't get to bed until 10 PM. (His bedtime is normally between 7 and 7:30PM).
He slept ok that night and didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning (which is late for him since he normally gets up between 5 and 6:30 AM). He also took a three hour nap that day too. I'm sure he was exhausted. I gave him his inhaler treatments every three hours, but he didn't seem to tolerate it well. He would either try to eat the mask (making it difficult to secure a suction around his face so that he could breath in the medication) or he'd be screaming. A friend of mine mentioned that her daughter did better with a nebulizer, so I called her to borrow hers.
I picked up the medication the next day from the same pharmacy. And I was super impressed and touched when I went through the drive-through this time and the same woman helped me as on Sunday. She recognized me, or Owen's name...I don't know...and said, "Oh! How is he? I've been thinking about him for the past two days." It was so sweet of her to remember and show her concern for him. I may just need to switch all my prescriptions to this pharmacy. ;)
Owen has been doing ok on the nebulizer. He likes it for a while, and then gets bored sitting there with the vapors in his face. But hopefully he's getting more of the medication than he was on the inhaler and that it is doing something for him. Another friend told me her son recently had Bronchiolitis and that it seemed to last forever. I'm hoping that's not the case. I'm ready for all of us to be healthy.
We then went to the Walgreen's in Provo (the only 24-hour pharmacy around) and quickly proceeded to wait...and wait...and wait. I cannot even believe how many people were there on a Sunday at 9:30 PM. Gratefully, the pharmacy technician felt bad for our poor baby and got his prescription approved by our insurance and ready as quickly as possible. Still, when all was said and done, it was a three hour trip to get him taken care of and the poor baby didn't get to bed until 10 PM. (His bedtime is normally between 7 and 7:30PM).
He slept ok that night and didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning (which is late for him since he normally gets up between 5 and 6:30 AM). He also took a three hour nap that day too. I'm sure he was exhausted. I gave him his inhaler treatments every three hours, but he didn't seem to tolerate it well. He would either try to eat the mask (making it difficult to secure a suction around his face so that he could breath in the medication) or he'd be screaming. A friend of mine mentioned that her daughter did better with a nebulizer, so I called her to borrow hers.
I picked up the medication the next day from the same pharmacy. And I was super impressed and touched when I went through the drive-through this time and the same woman helped me as on Sunday. She recognized me, or Owen's name...I don't know...and said, "Oh! How is he? I've been thinking about him for the past two days." It was so sweet of her to remember and show her concern for him. I may just need to switch all my prescriptions to this pharmacy. ;)
Owen has been doing ok on the nebulizer. He likes it for a while, and then gets bored sitting there with the vapors in his face. But hopefully he's getting more of the medication than he was on the inhaler and that it is doing something for him. Another friend told me her son recently had Bronchiolitis and that it seemed to last forever. I'm hoping that's not the case. I'm ready for all of us to be healthy.
At the pharmacy, waiting for his inhaler:
Saturday, February 19, 2011
A Week of Love and Celebration
Miles and I get to do a lot of celebrating of our love in February. We not only have Valentine's Day, but just three days later is our anniversary. This year for Valentine's I decided to try and make some yummy sugar cookies. I used to make them all the time when I was in high school, but I haven't done it for quite some time. And boy are they a lot of work! Nothing like regular cookies you just mix together, ball up and bake. And although it was my first solo attempt in many years, they were a hit. In fact...just looking at this pictures is making my mouth water and tummy rumble.
It was a ton of fun. I'm so glad my hubby made such awesome plans for us to go out and have a night on the town. And a big thanks to Uncle Mitchell who watched Owen while we were gone. :)
The last thing we did to celebrate was go to the temple to do sealings on our actual anniversary. I love our tradition of doing that each year, as it is a nice reminder of the day we were sealed together. It's also nice to be able to bring other families together.
We were also planning on doing our yearly trip to Chef's Table, but Owen got sick and we didn't think we should leave him. So we'll take a rain check for another time.
Here are some flowers Miles bought for me at the end of the week after being reprimanded for not buying them for Valentine's Day or our anniversary. Sometimes husbands just need to be reminded of their husbandly duties. :)
Me with my baby Valentine on V-day:
On Valentine's Day we were pretty low-key. I made Miles a dinner of filet mignon, baked potato and fresh green beans with sparkling cider. It was delicious.
And for dessert, nothing but the best! Magleby's Fresh, decadent chocolate cake:
I also made Miles a pretty sweet card:
And here's the card from Owen:
In between Valentine's and our anniversary, Miles had made plans with his friend, David Hoover, to take their wives out to celebrate. It was kind of a joint celebration of Valentine's, our anniversary and Jenn's (David's wife) birthday. We started by going to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I only took pictures of our dinners. Of course we also got dessert, but I didn't get a picture since we got them to go.
Miles's spicy pasta dish:
On Valentine's Day we were pretty low-key. I made Miles a dinner of filet mignon, baked potato and fresh green beans with sparkling cider. It was delicious.
And for dessert, nothing but the best! Magleby's Fresh, decadent chocolate cake:
I also made Miles a pretty sweet card:
And here's the card from Owen:
In between Valentine's and our anniversary, Miles had made plans with his friend, David Hoover, to take their wives out to celebrate. It was kind of a joint celebration of Valentine's, our anniversary and Jenn's (David's wife) birthday. We started by going to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I only took pictures of our dinners. Of course we also got dessert, but I didn't get a picture since we got them to go.
My lemon chicken dish:
Miles's spicy pasta dish:
After that, we rushed up to Salt Lake for a JAZZ GAME! Yay! I had never been to a pro basketball game before, so I was stoked.
Miles got the tickets for free from his boss who got them from one of the company's vendors. It was awesome cause they were $100 tickets. Our seats were only 22 rows back, center court. We also got Sponsor Room tickets. So at half-time we went downstairs to the Sponsor Room where they had some free food (nachos, popcorn, fruit, cake, etc.) and drinks. It was pretty cool...even if we weren't hungry from our dinner.
Edgar Renteria, the World Series MVP, was at the game. His back was to us when he went out on the court, so I got a shot of him on the screen.
David and Jenn enjoying the game. David has his free yellow Jazz shirt on his shoulder that each of us got during half-time.
Edgar Renteria, the World Series MVP, was at the game. His back was to us when he went out on the court, so I got a shot of him on the screen.
David and Jenn enjoying the game. David has his free yellow Jazz shirt on his shoulder that each of us got during half-time.
It was a ton of fun. I'm so glad my hubby made such awesome plans for us to go out and have a night on the town. And a big thanks to Uncle Mitchell who watched Owen while we were gone. :)
The last thing we did to celebrate was go to the temple to do sealings on our actual anniversary. I love our tradition of doing that each year, as it is a nice reminder of the day we were sealed together. It's also nice to be able to bring other families together.
We were also planning on doing our yearly trip to Chef's Table, but Owen got sick and we didn't think we should leave him. So we'll take a rain check for another time.
Here are some flowers Miles bought for me at the end of the week after being reprimanded for not buying them for Valentine's Day or our anniversary. Sometimes husbands just need to be reminded of their husbandly duties. :)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Got Milk?
Owen likes to play with his bottle when he's drinking. He will often flip it upside down and suck on the bottom, or as he's been doing lately...he'll bite the top and the let it snap out of from his gums and teeth. Sometimes this makes for a whole lot of milk in the face. This picture isn't even as bad as it has been in the past, but this time I had a cameraman nearby to take pictures.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Ode to Pregnancy and Childbirth
Warning: This is a long post and most likely will not interest most of you. Don't worry. I won't be sad if you don't want to read it. I'm just doing it so I have an official record of my experiences.
Since Owen has officially been outside of my womb for as long as he was inside of it, I thought I should do a kick back to pregnancy and childbirth. Also, I figure it would be good to have it written down so I don't forget. I was talking with my friend, Bridget, the other day and saying how much I loved pregnancy and childbirth. She said, "Yeah, it's gets a bit romanticized as time passes." I think she's right, but I'll try to remain true to my experience.
Pregnancy:
First of all pregnancy wasn't a reality for me for a while. It was hard for me to feel like everything could fall out from under me since it took so long and so much effort to get pregnant in the first place. I was so worried about having a miscarriage and losing the baby or something going wrong. It was also kind of hard for me because during the IVF process, you are involved in every little detail from your blood draw results to egg development and embryo stages. When I went in for my early ultrasound and there was a heartbeat, I was ecstatic! But then they say, "Ok...now you just follow up with your doctor/OB like any normal pregnancy." That was hard to swallow. Waiting weeks between appointments felt like a lifetime. And it wasn't until I was past three months and had my 20 week ultrasound that I was really starting to feel secure.
First Trimester: Mine honestly wasn't too bad. I was definitely tired and had to pee a lot, but not overly nauseous or sick. I generally felt blah and just wanted to lay around most of the time. And I did have five very hideous days of nausea where I felt on the verge of vomiting all day. I really didn't want to go to or stay at work during those days, but I had no idea how long it would last and I figured there was no way I could take off my whole first trimester from work if it continued. So I stuck with it and gratefully it went away. So really, I can't complain. And I feel so badly for those who have it much, much worse.
Cravings: In my first trimester I had some pretty hardcore cravings for homestyle, comfort food. One time I had a strong desire for KFC. I know, sick, right? Miles was kind enough to comply with my craving and we went and got some greasy chicken, watery coleslaw, fake mashed potatoes and gravy, and buttery biscuits. What a mistake that was. I swear my childhood memories of KFC are 1000 times better than it is in reality. I felt super sick afterward and have since sworn off ever eating there again. Miles makes fun of me too because I tended to eat a large quantity of pickles during the first few months. I know...so cliche. I think I must have been lacking in sodium or something, cause man, were they yummy! I don't remember having any strong aversions to anything.
Side effects: I definitely experienced some side effects from all the hormonal changes in pregnancy. The first trimester I had some serious headaches. I was so so happy when the doctor told me I could take Tylenol. I was so afraid to take medication, but once I got the green light, it helped tremendously. My body was super itchy. Not just my belly (like is typical), but my body in general. My back especially. I love to get a back scratch before bed each night if I can convince Miles, but suddenly it was upped to a NEED. I could have had him scratch all night long.
My hair was awesome! It was long, healthy and I didn't hardly shed at all. Then there was the fact that in my third trimester I didn't have to shave my legs more than once every two weeks. I don't know what the deal was, but it was heaven.
As is normal, I had a lot of muscle/bone/joint aches and pains. Your body goes through so much as it helps create this life inside of you and makes room for a baby, placenta and amniotic fluid that everything inside of you gets moved and pushed around. As a result, you're bound to have aches and pains. One of the worst times for me was when I was about 28 to 30 weeks and my stomach muscles started to separate and tear. I was in excruciating pain and could hardly stand, sit or move without it hurting. Even laying down was painful. I ended up wearing a brace around my belly for added support the majority of the remainder of my pregnancy. Gratefully the intense pain only lasted a week or so thanks to the added support from the brace. Mostly after that, my hips and lower back would hurt me. All of this came back in full force after Owen was born, as I suddenly had to readjust and get used to not having a baby inside me. I felt like I couldn't walk and had backaches for at least a week following delivery.
Movements: I first felt Owen move when I was about 16 or 17 weeks. They were tiny little flutters that I had to concentrate on in order to feel them. For the first while, it was a surprise and I'd almost question whether or not I had felt him move. Miles first felt him on Christmas Eve when I was about 22 weeks. I think he could have felt him sooner, but we just didn't try a lot. But on Christmas Eve we laid real still and quiet and then he felt him move. It was awesome.
Owen was definitely a wiggly baby. He moved a lot in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Wait a minute...maybe he just liked to move after meals. ;) I loved when he got bigger and I would be sitting there in a therapy session with someone and he would do a big movement where it looked like my whole belly was moving. Sometimes my clients would notice and other times they didn't and I would just smile to myself. Toward the last trimester, he started sticking his butt up into my ribs. That was pretty uncomfortable. One time I was complaining about it, and I said to Miles, "Do you still wish you had a baby inside you, pushing against your hip and getting all up in your grill?" He looked at me, nodded yes and said, "It's special...even if sometimes it's painful." It was a good reminder to be ever grateful for the experience and miracle of life that was growing inside of me.
Labor and delivery:
This is the timeline of the labor and delivery.
April 30th
12:00 AM - Went to bed.
2:30 - 4:00 AM - Kept feeling like I had cramps and wasn't aware they were contractions.
4:10 - 4:50 AM - Decided they were contractions that were happening every 20 min or so
4:50 AM - Noticed some spotting and thought I should get some paperwork done from work. Woke up Miles to tell him I was likely in labor. He said, "Do you need anything?" I told him no and to go back to sleep. He told me to wake him up when I needed him.
5:50 AM - Stood up to get more comfortable and my water broke...at least I think so. I let Miles know.
6:30 AM - I decide my water has definitely broken.
7:45 AM - I go to take a shower and Miles starts timing my contractions. They are about 2-4 minutes apart. He urges me to get ready and go to the hospital. But of course I wanted to take my time and blow dry my hair. He was quite annoyed with me that I wasn't rushing since some contractions were only a minute apart.
9:35 AM - On our way to the hospital.
10:00 AM - A test is done to confirm whether or not my water broke. The nurse said it definitely did. However, I'm only dilated to 1 cm.
11:00 AM - Still only dilated to 1 cm, so they start me on Pitocin.
12:00 PM - I get my epidural. Yay!
12:30 PM - About 2.5 cm dilated.
2:15 PM - My doctor, Dr. Savage, visits and tells me that being a first-time Mom and my water breaking when I am only at 1 cm means I could be in for a LONG labor. She said it could go up to 36 hours and said to get my rest and if we start approaching 24 hours from the time of my water breaking without much progress, they will consider a C-section.
2:40 PM - I'm 8 cm dilated! (Bet that was a surprise for our doctor!) Our nurse, Cynthia, guesses that I will be complete within an hour. I call the family to let them know and tell them to hurry their tooshies to the hospital.
3:45 PM - 10 cm, 100% effaced! Cynthia calls Dr. Savage to get the ok to start pushing.
4:00 PM - I do three rounds of three practice pushes each. The baby starts crowning so Cynthia tells me to wait for the doctor and my family to arrive. They all arrive over the next 20 minutes or so.
4:39 PM - With only one push, he is out and my beautiful baby boy is born. :D
One thing I loved was that (per my request) they put Owen directly on my tummy for immediate skin to skin contact. I thought I'd be kind of grossed out with the blood and all, but I wasn't at all! I was too overwhelmed by this beautiful creation and my immediate love for him to even care. It was really great. I should also mention that Owen got a 10 out of 10 on his appy (Apgar scoring). One nurse was so amazed she came into our room to see this baby who scored a 10. They said most babies will at least miss a point or two on their color. Miles was so proud of his son for doing so well. ;)
My sister, Kerry, once told me that she is always jealous when she sees pregnant women because they get to experience giving birth. I've been to three live births (besides giving birth myself) and always found it to be a beautiful experience. So I thought I understood what she meant...until I experienced it for myself. Giving birth is incredible and I'm so grateful for the experience and hope to be able to do it again one day.
Here are some pictures from the special day. I didn't have these before, so I'm excited to finally have pictures from Owen's birth-day.
Since Owen has officially been outside of my womb for as long as he was inside of it, I thought I should do a kick back to pregnancy and childbirth. Also, I figure it would be good to have it written down so I don't forget. I was talking with my friend, Bridget, the other day and saying how much I loved pregnancy and childbirth. She said, "Yeah, it's gets a bit romanticized as time passes." I think she's right, but I'll try to remain true to my experience.
Pregnancy:
First of all pregnancy wasn't a reality for me for a while. It was hard for me to feel like everything could fall out from under me since it took so long and so much effort to get pregnant in the first place. I was so worried about having a miscarriage and losing the baby or something going wrong. It was also kind of hard for me because during the IVF process, you are involved in every little detail from your blood draw results to egg development and embryo stages. When I went in for my early ultrasound and there was a heartbeat, I was ecstatic! But then they say, "Ok...now you just follow up with your doctor/OB like any normal pregnancy." That was hard to swallow. Waiting weeks between appointments felt like a lifetime. And it wasn't until I was past three months and had my 20 week ultrasound that I was really starting to feel secure.
First Trimester: Mine honestly wasn't too bad. I was definitely tired and had to pee a lot, but not overly nauseous or sick. I generally felt blah and just wanted to lay around most of the time. And I did have five very hideous days of nausea where I felt on the verge of vomiting all day. I really didn't want to go to or stay at work during those days, but I had no idea how long it would last and I figured there was no way I could take off my whole first trimester from work if it continued. So I stuck with it and gratefully it went away. So really, I can't complain. And I feel so badly for those who have it much, much worse.
Cravings: In my first trimester I had some pretty hardcore cravings for homestyle, comfort food. One time I had a strong desire for KFC. I know, sick, right? Miles was kind enough to comply with my craving and we went and got some greasy chicken, watery coleslaw, fake mashed potatoes and gravy, and buttery biscuits. What a mistake that was. I swear my childhood memories of KFC are 1000 times better than it is in reality. I felt super sick afterward and have since sworn off ever eating there again. Miles makes fun of me too because I tended to eat a large quantity of pickles during the first few months. I know...so cliche. I think I must have been lacking in sodium or something, cause man, were they yummy! I don't remember having any strong aversions to anything.
Side effects: I definitely experienced some side effects from all the hormonal changes in pregnancy. The first trimester I had some serious headaches. I was so so happy when the doctor told me I could take Tylenol. I was so afraid to take medication, but once I got the green light, it helped tremendously. My body was super itchy. Not just my belly (like is typical), but my body in general. My back especially. I love to get a back scratch before bed each night if I can convince Miles, but suddenly it was upped to a NEED. I could have had him scratch all night long.
My hair was awesome! It was long, healthy and I didn't hardly shed at all. Then there was the fact that in my third trimester I didn't have to shave my legs more than once every two weeks. I don't know what the deal was, but it was heaven.
As is normal, I had a lot of muscle/bone/joint aches and pains. Your body goes through so much as it helps create this life inside of you and makes room for a baby, placenta and amniotic fluid that everything inside of you gets moved and pushed around. As a result, you're bound to have aches and pains. One of the worst times for me was when I was about 28 to 30 weeks and my stomach muscles started to separate and tear. I was in excruciating pain and could hardly stand, sit or move without it hurting. Even laying down was painful. I ended up wearing a brace around my belly for added support the majority of the remainder of my pregnancy. Gratefully the intense pain only lasted a week or so thanks to the added support from the brace. Mostly after that, my hips and lower back would hurt me. All of this came back in full force after Owen was born, as I suddenly had to readjust and get used to not having a baby inside me. I felt like I couldn't walk and had backaches for at least a week following delivery.
Movements: I first felt Owen move when I was about 16 or 17 weeks. They were tiny little flutters that I had to concentrate on in order to feel them. For the first while, it was a surprise and I'd almost question whether or not I had felt him move. Miles first felt him on Christmas Eve when I was about 22 weeks. I think he could have felt him sooner, but we just didn't try a lot. But on Christmas Eve we laid real still and quiet and then he felt him move. It was awesome.
Owen was definitely a wiggly baby. He moved a lot in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Wait a minute...maybe he just liked to move after meals. ;) I loved when he got bigger and I would be sitting there in a therapy session with someone and he would do a big movement where it looked like my whole belly was moving. Sometimes my clients would notice and other times they didn't and I would just smile to myself. Toward the last trimester, he started sticking his butt up into my ribs. That was pretty uncomfortable. One time I was complaining about it, and I said to Miles, "Do you still wish you had a baby inside you, pushing against your hip and getting all up in your grill?" He looked at me, nodded yes and said, "It's special...even if sometimes it's painful." It was a good reminder to be ever grateful for the experience and miracle of life that was growing inside of me.
Labor and delivery:
This is the timeline of the labor and delivery.
April 30th
12:00 AM - Went to bed.
2:30 - 4:00 AM - Kept feeling like I had cramps and wasn't aware they were contractions.
4:10 - 4:50 AM - Decided they were contractions that were happening every 20 min or so
4:50 AM - Noticed some spotting and thought I should get some paperwork done from work. Woke up Miles to tell him I was likely in labor. He said, "Do you need anything?" I told him no and to go back to sleep. He told me to wake him up when I needed him.
5:50 AM - Stood up to get more comfortable and my water broke...at least I think so. I let Miles know.
6:30 AM - I decide my water has definitely broken.
7:45 AM - I go to take a shower and Miles starts timing my contractions. They are about 2-4 minutes apart. He urges me to get ready and go to the hospital. But of course I wanted to take my time and blow dry my hair. He was quite annoyed with me that I wasn't rushing since some contractions were only a minute apart.
9:35 AM - On our way to the hospital.
10:00 AM - A test is done to confirm whether or not my water broke. The nurse said it definitely did. However, I'm only dilated to 1 cm.
11:00 AM - Still only dilated to 1 cm, so they start me on Pitocin.
12:00 PM - I get my epidural. Yay!
12:30 PM - About 2.5 cm dilated.
2:15 PM - My doctor, Dr. Savage, visits and tells me that being a first-time Mom and my water breaking when I am only at 1 cm means I could be in for a LONG labor. She said it could go up to 36 hours and said to get my rest and if we start approaching 24 hours from the time of my water breaking without much progress, they will consider a C-section.
2:40 PM - I'm 8 cm dilated! (Bet that was a surprise for our doctor!) Our nurse, Cynthia, guesses that I will be complete within an hour. I call the family to let them know and tell them to hurry their tooshies to the hospital.
3:45 PM - 10 cm, 100% effaced! Cynthia calls Dr. Savage to get the ok to start pushing.
4:00 PM - I do three rounds of three practice pushes each. The baby starts crowning so Cynthia tells me to wait for the doctor and my family to arrive. They all arrive over the next 20 minutes or so.
4:39 PM - With only one push, he is out and my beautiful baby boy is born. :D
One thing I loved was that (per my request) they put Owen directly on my tummy for immediate skin to skin contact. I thought I'd be kind of grossed out with the blood and all, but I wasn't at all! I was too overwhelmed by this beautiful creation and my immediate love for him to even care. It was really great. I should also mention that Owen got a 10 out of 10 on his appy (Apgar scoring). One nurse was so amazed she came into our room to see this baby who scored a 10. They said most babies will at least miss a point or two on their color. Miles was so proud of his son for doing so well. ;)
My sister, Kerry, once told me that she is always jealous when she sees pregnant women because they get to experience giving birth. I've been to three live births (besides giving birth myself) and always found it to be a beautiful experience. So I thought I understood what she meant...until I experienced it for myself. Giving birth is incredible and I'm so grateful for the experience and hope to be able to do it again one day.
Here are some pictures from the special day. I didn't have these before, so I'm excited to finally have pictures from Owen's birth-day.
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