No more Biliblanket!

Well, yesterday we got Jack's bili levels back, and they had gone down to 14 after not moving at all the day before. Praise God! The doctor said to keep him on the blanket through the night, then go ahead and stop using it this morning. So, we have been cord free today!
He has been sleeping better too, which is great! (well, except for night before last, but I think my drink from Starbucks was accidentally made regular instead of decaf...) Last night he slept from about 12 until I woke him up at 6 to eat... then slept from about 7 until 10:30. Scared me when I woke up at 6 and he was still asleep... I sure didn't expect it to be that late!
Overall, things are definitely going better than the first week! I am loving being a mommy, and couldn't imagine anything different. =)

1 week

Jack is 1 week old today!

He has been on the Biliblanket since yesterday, and the test today showed that his levels went from a 19 to 16! Yay! We go for another test tomorrow morning, and hopefully they will be even further down!

He has been sleeping most of the time since yesterday's Dr. appointment. He was awake for a little while last night and today, but we put him down to bed after feeding him around 12am, and he slept until 4 when I woke him up to eat, then he slept again until I woke him up at 9:30 this morning. He even slept through the foot prick. I am hoping that most of the gas issues have passed and he is catching up on lost sleep! ( I did check with the Dr. and he isn't worried about him sleeping so much)

I can't wait until he is off the biliblanket and I can carry him around and love and hug on him easier. (not that I don't anyways, it will just be a little easier) =)

Anyways, I will leave you with some more pictures!

Here he is in one of his outfits (they are all to big) and he had his legs pulled up and crossed in the body of the outfit. too cute.




Mom, stop taking my picture!


Our little glowworm on his biliblanket. =)

Jack's Dr. appt.

Well, we went to the dr. today, Jack weighs 6lb 12oz, so he lost quite a bit of weight. (he was 7lb 9oz) The doctor agreed that he still looked yellow, and his test from friday was high, so he ordered another test.
I just got the call back that his bilirubin levels are at a 19, which is pretty high. (if they had been at 20, we would be taking him to the hospital for a couple days. So, now they are sending over a med supply company with a biliblanket.
He will have to stay in this blanket most of the time, except for when we feed and change him. This will definitely be a challenge with him being as fussy as he is at times.
If the blanket doesn't help, then we are looking at some time in the hospital... so prayerfully this works, and fast! I have to take him in for a daily blood test now, which is so hard... his poor feet already look like little pincushions...

Emotionally Spent

I have so much running through my head, and so much I want to say, but I don't really know what words to use, or how to express what I am feeling.

These past couple days have been very hard. I knew bringing home a baby would be tough, but nobody told me how tough it really would be. The first night in the hospital was great. Jack slept most of the night, and fed well a couple times.
The second night was where it started to get tough. He would cry and cry, and was almost inconsolable. I tried to feed him and it was a battle to get him to latch. Most of the time he would eventually latch, and feed, and then be happy. (usually with the help of a nurse or my mom)
The first night at home he was up most of the night, fussing, hungry or dirty every hour or so. We noticed he would cry and cry, and seemed to be gassy... he would only calm down after passing the gas, which could take quite a while.
The second night at home was much the same... he did sleep for about 2 hours at one point, but was up every hour or so otherwise.
Saturday was a very hard day for me. It has been really hard to get him to feed, and I really didn't want to give him a bottle. But he will just cry and be inconsolable, refusing to breastfeed... he will latch and suck for a few seconds, then stop and just start crying. If he is upset and I try and feed him and he doesn't want to he will just scream. This is the part that really gets to me. I want to exclusively breastfeed, but he is making it impossible. Lately we have given in to pumping and feeding it to him in a bottle, but I don't even want him to get used to a bottle. I still try to breastfeed him each time though, but when he has gone 4-5 hours without eating, I can't just starve him.
The gassiness is still there though too. He will just scream and cry for what feels like forever, and he is inconsolable. We have tried mylicon, and I don't know if it really helps, but he seems to like the taste, because as soon as the dropper hits his mouth, he stops crying (doesn't always last though.) We have also tried a little gripe water, but dont know if it really helps either. We ordered BioGaia from the pharmacy, and will get that tomorrow. It is a pro biotic that is supposed to be good for colic. Hopefully we will figure out what works soon...

Last night was the best night so far... We put up his mobile, and it has lights and the heartbeat sounds, which he seems to really like. He actually slept for about 3 hours at one point. He was up often the rest of the night, but it wasn't as bad as the past several. Hopefully this will continue and get better.

He also gets fussy during the day in much the same way, but It is slightly easier to deal with...

I think the hardest part in the whole thing is feeling helpless. Not being able to do anything about his gas, not knowing how to get him to eat, and not wanting to bottlefeed. Throw in a whole lot of hormones on top of that and you have me. Yesterday I had a major breakdown. I was trying to get him to feed, and just started crying (not the first time.... in fact I am crying now) But I couldn't stop. I was bawling. like can't breathe, blubbering mess. Josh came in the room and took Jack and made me take a nap, but I just cried and cried until I fell asleep. I have been an emotional mess these past several days, and cry at the drop of a hat. People ask me how I am doing and I just break down... Makes me not want to go anywhere. Because it's not just tearing up, it's like I can't talk, I am crying...

I don't really know why I am writing this all out here... I think I just needed to get it out somewhere, but can't really talk about it because I just cry (heck, I have cried through writing this whole stinkin thing!) I have tons of people encouraging me, and that helps. I guess I can ask if any of you experienced moms out there have any good advice... did you have any of these problems? what did you do?

If anything, prayers would be appreciated. We go see his Doctor tomorrow, and hopefully we can get some questions answered, and I won't just be a blubbering mess.
Thanks, and I hope you all have a good week!

More pictures!

Introducing!

Jack David Welch!

Born July 21, 2009 at 5:49pm
7lb 9oz, 20 3/4in


I came into the hospital at 6am for my induction. They started my pitocin at about 6:30. when they started, I was at 2cm and a -2 station. They broke my water at about 9am because the external contraction monitor wasn't picking up the contractions, and they wanted to place an internal monitor. About an hour and a half or two later, I decided to go ahead with the epidural, because the pain was all in my back. Boy was that a relief! after about 8 hours of good strong contractions, the doctor checked me and I was still at a -1, the baby wasn't engaging, even though I was at 5cm.
The baby's head was very cone shaped, and looked like he was having trouble fitting into the pelvis. This combined with the fact that the baby's heart rate was decelerating after each contraction, the doctor decided to go ahead with a c-section. I was really upset. This was the last thing I had wanted.
So they told me they would do it at 5, since that was when the OR would be open. They wheeled me in, got me prepped, and then Josh joined me.
After pulling the baby out, the doctor determined that I have Cephalo-pelvic disproportion. So basically, there was no way the baby would have fit through my pelvis, even though he was not a very big baby. (Though he has a good sized head!)
He came out crying! he has a good set of lungs, but so far has been a very quiet baby. He has hardly cried, and has been sleeping since he came into the room with me. (except for a short while where he was awake and just looking around.)

He is definitely an adorable baby, and has a lot of Josh's features, and of course, the Kirby butt chin. =) I am so excited to be a mommy, and Josh has been amazing so far!
I can't wait until I am fully recovered and can spend every moment with our Son! I can't believe I have a Son!!!

Still isn't real...

It still doesn't seem quite real to me.

yeah, I have been pregnant for the last 9 months, been uncomfortable, felt my precious baby moving around in my stomach, and pregnancy feels real to me, but the fact that I am going to be a mom tomorrow still doesn't quite feel real to me.

I know it will hit me when I walk into the hospital tomorrow morning at 6am... And it will definitely hit me when they put my baby in my arms for the first time...

I am super excited. A little nervous. A little scared. But I know that tomorrow is going to be one of the hardest and best days of my life. And I can't wait.

I will try and update you all as soon as I can, but you can watch my tweets, because I will be more able to update that throughout the process! But the next time you hear from me, I will be a mommy!

38 weeks, and the last one!

Well, I had my 38 week checkup today...

I am about 2cm dialated now, so not much progress, but at least it's something... My measurements jumped again, so my dr. ordered an ultrasound, and everything looked good.
She scheduled me to be induced on Tuesday morning, if the baby doesn't come naturally before then. She says that because my sugars have been a little higher than normal (though kept under control) She doesn't want the baby to get too big.

So, looks like I am going to be a mommy in a week or less! I am really praying that the baby decides to come on it's own sometime this weekend... That would be the best, because I really didn't want to be induced. So yeah, Just wanted to keep everyone updated! Pray for a safe and healthy (and natural!) delivery! =)

update

well, I went to bed last night and the contractions pretty much stopped. I slept most of the night...
This morning we got up and went for a walk, and have been playing on the wii fit. I have had several contractions, but they are still not very strong.
Hopefully they will pick back up and make some progress!

In Labor...

Well, last night I started having contractions at about 8pm, and they continued all night at between 6-8 minutes apart.
This morning my mom and sister decided to drive up just in case, and they got here around 2 or 3. It's been nice having them here.
Today they kept going for most of the day, slowing at a couple points, but most of the time staying between 4-8 minutes apart... They haven't been really bad, just like bad period cramps.
After being at 4-5 minutes apart for about an hour, we decided to go to the hospital. (at about 7pm) We get there and they hook me up, and check me, and I am still only 1cm dialated! I was so bummed. haha. So they sent me home, and we went to Walmart to walk around... now we are at home, probably going to go to bed soon.
Hopefully things will start to progress... I am really ready to have this baby!

Nesting

Well, I think I finally hit Nesting mode. Today I...

*Cleaned and organized the guest room/office (it was a huge mess! tons of baby stuff, etc. all over the place...)
*Took the car to the self serve car wash and cleaned out the trash
*did 3 loads of laundry
*cleaned the piles of stuff that have been in our dining room for months
*cleaned and vacuumed the living room

And there are still some things that I want to get done, but now I feel prepared to have the baby. Things are organized, the baby bag for the hospital is packed (and mine is almost packed, just need last minute stuff that I use daily,) the clothes and blankets are all washed and ready. All we have left to do is install the car seat, which Josh is going to try and do tomorrow.

I am so uncomfortable. I can tell the baby has dropped because I pee every half hour at least, my lower back hurts, and I am just overall more uncomfortable. I am ready to have this baby! =)

37 week checkup

I had my appointment today, and I am still 1cm dialated and about 60% effaced, but now I am also at a -2 station (meaning the baby has dropped some)

Still have a ways to go, but it could happen quick, or not so quick... hopefully quick. Still holding out for this weekend. haha. Then I wouldn't have to go to work! =)

Other than that, everything looks good, and my group B Strep test came back negative, so that's good!

Now we just keep waiting...

37 weeks

Wow, 37 weeks...

And more and more ready to have this baby! I finished cleaning our bedroom today, and got the bassinet set up and things organized... the rest of the house is still a mess, but at least the bedroom is ready! (we don't have a nursery, the baby is getting a corner of our bedroom.)

We had a good 4th of July weekend. I was scheduled to work till 5 on Saturday, but since we were so slow, I was able to go home at 12:30. nice! So we went to Adam and Renee's house to hang out and eat bbq. It was pretty fun. We came home around 6, and hung out, I made some cupcakes, and then we walked a couple blocks to a good fireworks watching spot, and watched the fireworks. They were pretty neat! =)

So, this week I work Tue, Thurs, and Sat. I have my 37 week checkup on Wednesday, and I am anxious to see if I have made any more progress towards having this baby! I have definitely been having contractions! Just not regularly yet...

I will leave you with a really bad, blurry belly picture. I will try and remember to have Josh take a picture of me to post, but for now, this will have to do!


Hope everyone has a great week!

36 weeks...

well, I had my 36 week checkup today, and everything is still looking good!

I didn't gain any weight! Yay for me! =)

I am 1 cm dialated, and 60% effaced... which could possibly not mean much, but does mean that my body is making progress and the baby more than likely won't be late, at least!

At the ultrasound last week, the baby was measuring right at 5lb 15oz, putting it in the 50-60th percentile. (of course those can be off by a bit) but at least it's not measuring huge!

So now I start going weekly, but we are hoping this baby comes early! =) I wouldn't mind next week, or even the week after. hehe. But, we'll see!

I went to Walmart after my appointment to get a girly "take home" outfit, since all the stuff I have is neutral or a little more masculine, and I hit the jackpot! They had like 3 clearance racks of baby clothes, all cute outfits that were all $1! I bought like 10 different boy and girl outfits! Hey, I have enough pregnant friends right now, if I can't use them, someone will! =)