Just for the record...Part four

If you are new to my blog and you want to read the other Just for the record posts...just go to the bottom of this post and click the JustForTheRecord label.  

Ok, so...  Sweet Pea was born...  One of the best days of my life!!  

But it got a little stressful afterwards.  We found out that she was jaundice and her bilirubin levels weren't good.  I was very adamant on wanting to breastfeed.  My original goal/plan was to breastfeed for the first 6 months, at least, and if she did more than that, well good for us!  But...as you might have caught on...  Nothing ever goes my way...  Haha.  Anywho...  

So, I tried breastfeeding not long after she was born.  She was doing pretty well with latching on.  The problem was...we couldn't keep her awake to eat.  She wasn't eating enough and didn't poop until the day we left the hospital (and the nurse had to stick a thermometer up her butt to get it moving).  Therefore, her bilirubin levels weren't getting any better.  The lactation nurse came by and we talked about everything.  My milk had not come in yet so Sweet Pea wasn't getting much out of me.  So the nurse brought us some formula and we started feeding her that.  I still wanted to breastfeed but we had to do what he had to for the time being. 

I rented a breast pump because I wanted to see how this was going to go before I went and bought one.  We had to go back to have Sweet Pea weighed and have her heel stuck to check her bili levels 2 days later.  We live an hour from the hospital.  Her levels still were not good.  They had to call the doctor, (we had not picked out a pediatrician yet so it was the doctor that was on call when she was born).  They told us that the doctor could decide on whether to put her under the light or admit her back into the hospital.  Well.....the doctor sent us home.  She said it wasn't bad enough to be high risk......but that's not what the lab girls and the lactation nurses said...  Anywho...  I got the feeling that the doctor didn't want to deal with us because we weren't "real" patients of hers.  It's getting my blood boiling just thinking about it....  Anyway....

The nurses had me so confused on what to do as far as feeding her.  My milk still had not come in yet so we were still having to feed her the formula.  And one minute they would tell me one thing and the next it would be another....  For instance, they told me to NOT let her nurse off me because it was too much work for her and she was tiring out to quickly and falling asleep.  So, I was bottle feeding her what little milk I could pump and and then giving her formula until she was full.  And then the next minute, they are telling me that I DO need to let her nurse for like 5 minutes on each side and then I needed to pump while Mr. Right fed her a bottle.  I WAS SO CONFUSED!!!  I cried and cried for the first 2 weeks.  I was so worried that she was not eating enough.  

The lactation nurse told me that I couldn't use powdered formula for the first 2 months (come to find out at her 2 week appt, the nurses didn't know what they were talking about!).  And the only formula we could use was the Ready to Pour stuff that is only good for an hour after you open it, unless you refridgerate it.  And of course, we don't have a refridgerator in our vehicle...  She was eating every 2 hours and if I didn't feed her right before we walked out the door, she would be screaming before we got to where we were going.  Very stressful on a new mom that has her hormones all out of wack!  

I was so worried that she wasn't eating enough.  And when my milk finally did come in a week after she was born, I was afraid to let her nurse off me because I couldn't see how much she was eating.  So I pumped most of the time.  I wasn't getting any sleep because it seemed like after she ate, I would put her down to sleep, I had to go pump and by the time I pumped and washed the pump equipment and got it ready for the next session, got a bite to eat for myself, she was waking up ready to eat again.  

I was so stressed out that my milk dried up at about 3 weeks.  So, as usual...nothing goes the way I plan it.  I'm glad she did get some breast milk for the first few weeks of life.  But I wish those nurses wouldn't have messed my head up like they did.  I probably wouldn't have been so stressed and my milk probably wouldn't have dried up.  But....there's nothing I can do about it now.  

I will say though.....  The lactation nurses better stay as far away from my room as they can the next time I have a baby....or they might get hurt!  

*Note:  No offense to anyone that is a lactation nurse or whatever.  I'm just speaking of those particular nurses.  

More to come soon...

Just for the record…Part three

If you are here from the blog hop at Mama M's, this is a continued post…  If you care to read the others, you can click on the JustForTheRecord label at the bottom of this post to see the others.  Thanks for stopping by!   

Warning:  This is the birth story.  So there may  be some talk of bodily functions and stuff....just so you know...  And it’s a loooong post…  Enjoy!  :-)

So...we went home excited, nervous, and not knowing what to think.  We were going to be parents that very next day.  Wow.  Were we really ready for this?  It was a little too late to be thinking about that, but you can't help but wonder.  I mean, our whole life was about to change...forever.  We were about to be responsible for another human being.

[Me after epidural]

We went home and got everything ready.  Mr. Right had to work that night and I rode down with him and stayed with Randa Roo one last time.  I didn't get much sleep that night because I was so excited and scared all at once.  5AM came very quick...  I woke up, showered, put on my make up (yes, because I wanted to at least feel pretty when I was pushing something the size of a watermelon out of my hooha!  Ha!), and Randa Roo took me to the hospital to meet Mr. Right.  He got off at 6 AM and only had a few miles to drive to the hospital. 

[Mr. Right getting ready for pushing]

So, we checked in and got everything started.  They got my IV going and started pushing pitocin to get the contractions moving.  That all started at 7ish.  It wasn't long after that I felt what a "real" contraction felt like....wow!  OUCH!!  They hooked me up on the telemetry thingy so I could get up and walk around (if I wanted to).  I only walked a very short distance and came back!  Walking while contracting was not fun!  Anywho,  I had really bad gas pain for like a week leading up to today.  I mean, unbearable gas pain!!  So, along with my contractions, you can imagine how much pain I was in.  Especially with me not wanting to "let it out" because there was a nurse in the room with me at all times...  I mean, I had just met this woman...  I was a little uncomfortable "breaking wind" with a complete stranger in the room, not to mention, there was a nursing student in the room too!  I know I know, she deals with this all. the. time.  It's part of her job.  That doesn't make it any easier! 

[Sweet Pea minutes after being born…she doesn’t look happy! Haha!]

Anywho...  I needed to go #2, so Nurse Nancy (not real name) and Mr. Right helped me get to the bathroom.  I did my business and I was in so much pain that I couldn't even stand up to get off the toilet.  So, Mr. Right and Nurse Nancy are in the bathroom with me, and I'm shaking so bad because I was hurting like crazy!  Nurse Nancy knew I wanted to do a natural, no epidural labor.  But she asked me if I wanted it.  I said no.  And I even told Mr. Right months before that if I asked for an epidural during labor, to not let me get one.  I was hell bent on giving birth without the drugs!  But, as usual...nothing ever goes the way I plan... 

[Mommy and Daddy minutes after Sweet Pea’s birth…we were both exhausted!]

 

I was sitting there...on the toilet...shaking from the pain and I was saying, "I don't know if I want an epidural....No, I don't want one.....Mr. Right, should I get one???"  His answer was, "That's up to you!  Get it if you want it!"  When really, his answer should have been, "No, sweetie, you told me to not let you get one...under any circumstances."  And Nurse Nancy is sitting there saying, "Honey, I think you really want the epidural..."  So....before I knew it, I was saying, "Ok! Fine... I'll get the epidural!"  Nurse Nancy was out the door calling in the order for it before I could change my mind again!  CRAP!!!

[Proud Mommy and Daddy checking out our baby girl!]

 

The anesthesiologist was there in like 5 or 10 minutes.  I was REALLY scared of getting the epidural.  But it wasn't that bad.  It literally was just a little sting (nothing compared to the contractions and gas pain!  Ha!).  And let me tell you... It was like night and day difference!  I went from shaking, sweating, can't even think straight from the pain to...laughing, smiling, cracking jokes, and just so mellow....in less than 5 minutes!!!  It was great!!  The only downside was, I couldn't get out of the bed.  And I had to have a catheter put in.  It was AWFUL!!!  They asked me if I cared if they let the student put it in, and I said sure.  I mean, they gotta learn somehow.  (I'm okay with being the guinea pig sometimes because I know they are there to learn stuff..., but a student will NEVER....EVER put a catheter in me again!!!)  Now, I don't want to completely blame it on the student because the other nurse tried and she was having a hard time too.  I think I was swollen and it was just difficult getting it in, but still...  Anywho... Moving along... 

[Me and my baby girl]

 

Oh, how could I forget this part!!  I was so afraid that my mother was not going to be there for the birth!!!!!  She was scheduled to work that day, so when I called her the day before to let her know that I was being induced tomorrow, she tried to see if someone would swap with her.  Well...  Not one person would swap with her.  How screwed up is that?!  My mom is always willing to go in on her off time and cover a shift when someone calls in, or any other time she is needed.  And no one would SWAP days with her so she could be there for this!  I was pissed...I was irate!!!  So anywho...  She was scheduled to get off at 1:00 pm that day and the hospital I was at was over an hour away.  She went in to work that morning, and called every so often to check in with me.  She was even threatening to quit over this because she knew how bad I wanted her there.  But she stayed and we all just prayed that Sweet Pea would wait for her Nana. 

[Daddy and his baby girl]

Well...things were moving pretty quickly.  I was still 4 or 4 1/2 cm when I came in that morning and it seemed like it took no time to get to 10.  Dr. E came back periodically to check me and he said everything was progressing really well.  My mom called to check on me and said that she was leaving work early!  Someone had come in early to relieve her and she was on her way!!  YAY!  She drove like 90 mph the whole way.  She got there right before I started pushing...which was right before 2:00 pm (if I remember correctly...I'm not sure on the time of everything...I'm guestimating).  She even made time to get me something to hang on the door of my room since my sister never finished the painting she was making.....and still hasn't 9 and a half months later!!!!  Umm...sis....????  *Snap snap*  Sweet Pea is still waiting on her birth announcement painting!!!

[Sweet Pea’s first bath….not happy about it either!!]

So, I reached 10 cm and Nurse Nancy was like, "Alright, let's start pushing a little!"  I said, "Now?!  We're doing this now?!"  She said, "Yeah, it's time."  Well okay then!!!  We pushed a for a little while without Dr. E because I think he had an emergency c-section to do or something, I can't remember.  But he made it back in time to deliver Sweet Pea.

[Sweet Pea sleeping under the heat lamp after her bath]

 

They asked me if I wanted to use a mirror to watch, and I said yes.  I have never see a real birth.  They blur everything out on tv.  And I was in the room during 2 of my sister's deliveries, but I've never actually seen a baby be born.  So, I wanted to watch.  It was pretty cool! 

[Daddy giving his baby girl some love]

 

Dr. E came back and we got things rolling.  It seemed like every staff member was in my room, along with several nursing students.  All of us just waiting for Sweet Pea...  I pushed and pushed and pushed....and didn't really feel anything at all.  I couldn't really tell that I was pushing except for the fact that I could see my progress in the mirror.  It was no time, and Sweet Pea was here!!

[Wearing her onesie that we got from the doctor’s office the day we found out the sex]

She was born at 2:48 pm on Tuesday April 14, 2009.  She was 7 lbs 1 oz and 18 inches long (short, ha!).  She was just beautiful, and still is!!  We are very proud parents!!

[Bundled up, ready to go home!!!  It was a little chilly and windy the day we left the hospital]

And once again, I realize NOW that I don't have any pictures of Mr. Right's side of the family at the hospital, nor do I have a picture of my mom that day!!  AHHH!!!  Makes me so mad!!  I will do better next time I have a baby!!  

Just for the record…Part two

Warning:  This may get a little graphic, but I am putting this all down so when I'm older and I can't remember these things, I will have this to look back on.....  :-)

Ok, so you all know how Sweet Pea came about...  Now on to the pregnancy... 

So, I had a really great pregnancy.  I know you are thinking, WHAT?!  Great pregnancy???  Who ever has a great pregnancy???  But really, it was!!

My first trimester was pretty good.  I never had much sickness at all...only a few times and it wasn't even that much.  But I did have terrible nausea!!!  I sometimes wished I could just vomit and get it over with, but I couldn't.  Just awful awful nausea that continued on and off throughout the whole pregnancy.  My breasts were extremely sore!  Like, I didn't even want to put a bra on.....and when I walked and they bounced a little....yeah, they were that sore!  I had headaches pretty bad too.  Mostly from the lack of caffeine and the hormones going crazy.  And they say you can take Tylenol, but I don't like to take any medication if I don't have to, so I didn't unless it was just completely unbearable.  Oh, and I was so stinking tired all. the. time.  Do I have to say it again??  All. The. Time!!!!  (Good thing I only worked part-time after I found out I was pregnant.)  That's pretty much how my the first trimester went...  It may seem like it was horrible, but it wasn't that bad, really.

[6 weeks….my little Sweet Pea]

 

[9 weeks]

Then the second trimester wasn't bad either.  Although some say that you get a burst of energy during your second trimester.... I never got it.  Maybe because I'm just lazy...ha!  I don't know...  The nausea just came every once in a while, thank goodness!  I ate like crazy though.  Cold Stone Creamery was my BFF!  Mmmm....cake batter ice cream....  I didn't really crave any specific food....I just wanted fast food and sweets.  Sorry Sweet Pea....mommy didn't eat very healthy while you were cooking.  I did want a lot of barbeque though...  Full Moon in particular...  Anywho...  I loved feeling Sweet Pea kick and move around.  It is the coolest feeling in the world!  Just knowing that there is a human being growing inside of you....it's just awesome.

[18 weeks]

[18 weeks….IT’S A GIRL!]

 

[Me at 24 weeks]  

On to the third trimester...  This is when things started going down hill.  I started feeling miserable.  I was getting bigger and bigger, and it was getting more difficult to get around.  I sometimes had to have Mr. Right help me get out of bed.  I couldn't even paint my toes!  I am not a big fan of going to get pedicures...  I would rather do my own toes.  But I had to give in and I got two pedicures while I was pregnant.  Both of which were treats from my BFF, Randa Roo.  :-)  I was eating everything in site!  I quit my job when I was 6 months pregnant because we were moving an hour away, so I slept all the time.  And that whole "nesting" thing people go through before the baby comes......nope...not me!!!  I never had the desire to scrub or clean anything!  I just couldn't move around well enough for all that crap!  Haha.  I got to spend a lot of time with Randa Roo during the last month or so.  Mr. Right and I lived an hour from the hospital and I was so afraid I was going to go in labor when he was working at night, so my BFF took me in the last few weeks of my pregnancy.  I would ride to work with Mr. Right, and he would drop me off at Randa Roo's apartment for me to spend the night, and then pick me up in the mornings and take me back home with him.  It was convenient, but it got old too...  There were some nights that I just didn't go stay because I just wanted to sleep in my own bed.  Anywho...

[30 weeks….my beautiful little girl]

[30 weeks….”Oh please..no pictures..I’m trying to sleep!'”]

[30 weeks…looks like she is trying to cover her mouth to clear her throat or cough…haha]

[Mr. Right and I at 37 weeks]

My due date was April 18, 2009.  I had started to dilate at about 36 or 37 weeks (I can't remember for sure)...  I tried everything in the book and on the internet to naturally induce labor, but NOTHING worked!!!  Oh my gosh, I was so frustrated!!  I just wanted that baby out of me!!  I wanted to be able to bend over and put my shoes on...  I wanted to be able to shave my legs again...  I wanted to sleep comfortably...  I wanted to be able to eat or drink something without my throat feeling like it was on fire from indigestion...  Oh, I was miserable!  So, we had started going to the doctor every week, and every week I just knew he was going to keep me and tell me it was "time"!  But nope...  He kept saying we just needed to wait a little longer...

[Baby shower #1]

 

[Baby shower #2]

 

My original plan was to have a natural birth.  Natural, spontaneous labor and NO drugs.  I wanted to do it the old fashion way.  I wanted to prove that I was tough and I could handle the pain!!  HA. HA. HA. 

[Me, Gena, and Maranda at Baby shower #1]

I went in to see the doctor on Monday April 13th (my friend Sarah's birthday) and I was in so much pain that I was tempted to hurt the doctor if he didn't keep me.  Ha!  To make matters worse, he totally forgot that he scheduled me that day and we were just sitting in the room waiting and waiting!!!  I was in so much pain that I couldn't sit down, so I'm standing there with a sheet wrapped around my waist for hours....  I was furious.  But I kept my cool and I didn't hurt the doctor.  (He was a really great doctor.)  He finally came in to check me, very apologetic for keeping us waiting.  I was dilated 4 or 4 1/2 cm.  I wasn't really having bad contractions, so he was going to send me home and let things just go as planned.  But I told him that I was so over having this child spontaneously and I wanted her out of me NOW!!  So, he said that since I was only 5 days from my due date, he would induce me if that's what I wanted.  I said BOOK IT!!!  He told us to come back the next day at 6:30 AM.  So that's what we did!! 

[MIL and I at Baby shower #2]

(I didn’t get a picture of me and my mom at Baby shower #1.  And didn’t really get any pictures with anyone other than these two pictures I’ve posted…  Kinda frustrates me now that I think about it!!!  Grrr…  Oh well, can’t go back now…)

Stay tuned....  :-)

Just for the record...Part one

I've had this typed out for weeks...but I was afraid to post it because I was afraid of what people might think.  And some of you who know me personally know that I normally don't care what people think of me or think of what I do.  But oh well....  I'm just going to put it out there.  

If you read my old blog, you should know that I have been wanting to start doing posts looking back on when I was pregnant with Sweet Pea. I didn't start my blog until a couple of weeks before she was born, so I don't have all the weekly pictures of my baby bump and everything else that went on in those 9 months. So, I will be going back in time a bit and writing a few posts about my pregnancy and posting a few pictures that I and my family can always go back and look at.

Before I start this post, some of you may learn a few things about me that you didn't know before (in this particular post). This is not because I was hiding anything, but because there are parts of my past that I am not exactly proud of and I chose not to bringing them up. So, with that said....let's move along.... :-)

This might come as a surprise to some, but Sweet Pea was a planned pregnancy. *Gasp*

I have always wanted to have children and I always wanted to be a young mother. Meaning, I wanted to have children in my early 20's. I have always wanted at least 2 children and no more than 4. And my plan was to have all my children before I turned 25.

Funny how things almost never go as planned... Anywho...

This also may come as a shock to some who don't know, but I have been married twice before Mr. Right (hence why he is called Mr. Right! Haha!). I'm not going in to any detail about my past marriages because the past is the past and that's where I would like it to stay. But after two failed marriages, I swore to myself that I was never getting married again!!!!! (I believe that I even told my mother at one point that I was considering sperm donation. Haha! I'm so glad it didn't come to that!)

But then along came Mr. Right.... After Mr. Right and I had been dating for a short while, we knew we wanted to be together. I told him that I have always wanted to be a mother. We talked about how I "thought" my life was going to turn out and how I had things planned for my life. We talked a lot and had several discussions about that particular subject. We knew we wanted to be together and wanted to get married. So, we decided to start trying to conceive.

Yes, I'm aware that we didn't do things in the order they should have morally been done, but like I stated before, I have made decisions in my past that I'm not exactly proud of, but I can't say I regret any them! I'm a firm believer that "everything happens for a reason", even if we did take things into our own hands and go out of God's will. But it's something that we have prayed about and asked forgiveness for and we are at peace with it. And we wouldn't have our sweet baby girl if things hadn't happened they way they did...  :-)

Moving along.....  ;-)

We got pregnant almost immediately. I took a HPT one day and the line was so faint that I could barely see it. I seriously thought I was hallucinating. I showed it to Mr. Right the next morning when he got off work and he said he could see it too. We were so excited! I had some light bleeding that kinda worried me so we called the doctor and they wanted me to come in to get some blood work done. So, we went to the doctor that day. They had me take a urine test and it was positive. I had my blood drawn and I had to go back two days later to have more blood drawn to see if my hCG levels went up or down. I'm sure most of you know that if the levels go up, you are doing good, and if the levels go down, you've had a miscarriage. Well....my levels had gone down. I got the call from my doctor's office while I was at work. I waited until I got home to tell Mr. Right about it. We cried and talked and cried some more... We had to go to the doctor to talk to him about the miscarriage. I wasn't very far along so he said there was no need for any type of procedure. He also informed us that there was nothing that we did or didn't do to cause the loss. It was probably caused from a chromosomal abnormality. He said we needed to wait until I had at least one menstrual cycle before we started trying again. So we went home and talked about whether we wanted to wait a while or if we wanted to start trying again after my next cycle, and we decided to try again.

So, a few months later, I was feeling really moody one night. I wasn't sure for what reason, but I was M.O.O.D.Y!!! I literally and physically kicked Mr. Right out of our bed that night. He slept in the living room on the couch and didn't eat or drink anything all night because he was afraid I wasn't going to let him come through the bedroom to use the bathroom (which is ridiculous because I totally would have let him!). But, that just shows you how moody I was and he did not want to cross my path!!! Bless his heart! (And he just recently told me about him not eating or drinking anything that night...can you imagine how bad I feel now?!) So, a few nights later, I just had a gut feeling that I might be pregnant. I sent him a text while he was working and told him to stop on his way home in the morning and get me a HPT. I took the test and left the little stick in the bathroom because I didn't want to look at it. I didn't want to be disappointed. I made him go look at it. He came out of the bathroom with a goofy grin on his face. (Keep in mind, I can never tell if it's a good or bad thing when he has that goofy grin on his face!) But there it was.....Pregnant!! This time we used the tests that actually say the words Pregnant or Not Pregnant...haha. I wanted to be for sure!

So, that's how things started for Sweet Pea. More to come soon....

And just for the record....this IS the last time I will ever get married!!! You know they say...the third time's a charm! ;-)