A Gift From Grandma & Grandpa Jones

I'm not huge in to home decor but I love me some cute Christmas decs! I especially love anything with glitter! It just turns me to goo. So when I recieved this gift from Grandma & Grandpa Jones I was over the moon.

Christmas + Snowman + Glitter + "New Little One" Theme = BLISS.

A Walk To The Park

Holly and Brodie came by today after school and we all walked to the nearby elementary school so that Brodie could go to the park. The weather today is nice and cool so it was perfect for my first work out. The walk is about a quarter mile each way I'd say. Portions of it up hill. I'm sweaty but good and Carly had a nice time in the fresh air. She slept a little on the way back too.

Of course it was lovely to hang with Brodie and Holly for an hour or so too!

A Message to Heather

MVI_7368
Originally uploaded by Jessiedc22

Heather & Michael - We took this video for you this morning! Carly is still a girl of few words but check out that double chin!

Love,
Carly

Papa Bear

Eric finally got a chance to feed his daughter on Friday. I have enough milk stored so that I can rely on him to feed her every now and again. It's nice for me just to have that extra time to use both my hands to do something else -- not baby related (laundry, change sheets, poop, empty the dishwasher). Plus, it will gives Eric a chance to be in on more of the parenting.

3 Days in a row...

....we've had good nights. She hasn't had a colicy fit since I was at the beach house a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if we've turned a corner or what but I'm happy. Every day we have been keeping her as stimulated as possible (taking her out, talking to her, etc.) in hopes that she sleeps better at night. Our schedule is (not sure you'd call it a schedule yet) that we wake up between 9 and 11am. Hang out. Nap. Hang out. Nap. Up from 8pm ish to 1130pm ish. Then she sleeps until around 4 or 5am. Then sleeps again and we start all over. I can live with that. In the next few weeks I'd like to start moving it all back so "bedtime" is not 1130pm but 930pm.

Outfit From Aunt Judy

Carly got this outfit from my Aunt Judy. It came with a blanket that I LOVE. The material is all organic, soft, thin and stretchy. The outfits were a tad too big when she came home from the hospital. Today I put them on her and it looks like we just made the cut. This baby is growing like a weed! The outfit is super cute. SUPER CUTE but she hates the hat. HATES. Ha! I thought it was cute though -- even if she was really sad.

Thanks Aunt Judy! I really love this gift!

Carly's Cousins

Toay we have a visit from Carly's cousins - Brent, Austin and Brianna. They had lots of good quetions to ask about babies. I'm so happy to have family in the area and cousins for Carly to enjoy. When I was a kid all my family and cousins lived far away -- so I rarely got to see them. (But maybe that's a good thing knowing MY cousins! Hahah! Just kidding guys!)

Clean Monkey

Momma Bear and Baby Bear

Eric took this picture this morning because we were sleeping so alike. Just cracks me up how similar we look. This is after a long night. I let her sleep all day yesterday so I could get some things done but paid for it last night when she was wide awake from 12-4am. So this is us at 7am after 3 hours of sleep.

Updated List

Here is a list I've been putting together of things I DON'T MISS about being pregnant:

1. Swollen Feet
2. Sore and achy hands
3. Having to pee 4 to 5 times an hour
4. Heartburn
5. Not eating salty food
6. Walking slow
7. Not being able to see my girly parts
   

Beach

Last week Carly and I went to visit my Mom at the beach house. We spent Tuesday to Friday there and I was so sad to leave. It was all just so nice. Being with my Mom was nice. Having someone to help me take care of Carly was nice. The view was nice. The outdoor shower was nice. I cried when I left. I didn't want to come home but I missed Eric and so did Carly.

Hanging with Daddy

So behind

But much to post! Promise to catch up soon!

Sore Boob

I've got one really sore boob. It's sore near the armpit area. Based on my What To Expect When Expecting book I might have a case of mastitis, a.k.a. Boob Infection. The cure is antibiotics and in the mean time I'm supposed to put a warm compress on it and make sure it's emptied completely at every feeding. It's really really painful and it looks funny too. I've got bright red and purple vein looking things running through that area. I think it freaked Eric out a little.

This all started last night and I got up and called my OB and also the lactation consultant at the pediatricians office. The doctor wants me to come in today to be examined and the pediatrician just confirmed what I need to do (warm compress, etc.) and told me that I probably need a round of antibiotics.

Luckily, with the right medical care my boob should heal up just fine. Mom told me this morning that she lost a cow one time to Mastitis. Here's hoping I come out of this better than my Moms cow.

What did Eric say? "I'm sorry about your tit, babe." Sweet, ain't he?

More later!

PRAISE JESUS

I finally found a nursing bra that fits. I got a Medela bra, with underwire, and it's perfect. They only had one in black though and I wish I had the nude color so I could wear it with more stuff -- but I'm happy I have something that holds these puppies up! The nursing bra search has been long and frustrating. It's not easy to have breasts this voluptuous - let me tell ya.

I'm Gross

While I'm happy with the big loss of 27 lbs I'm still getting used to my post pregnancy body. What hormones can do to your body amazes me! Right now I'm really feeling gross, all the while, my loving husband still looks at me like he's dying to ....fill in blank.... It's sweet that he still finds me so irresistible but it's hard to take him seriously when I feel like a monster.

I'm 25 lbs over weight with leaky boobs and a leaky crotch. My hair, while clean, is never usually brushed. Who has the time? I sweat like it's 110 degrees in the house. I have a wobbly belly that hangs over a 6 inch scar with stitches; and today, I woke up with a cold sore that takes up nearly my entire bottom lip.

I'M GROSS!

27 Pounds

I've lost 27 lbs since Carly was born. That's 27 lbs in 13 days. Obviously 8 of those pounds were baby. A few for placenta and the rest had to be the water I was storing in my feet and ankles.

In The Neighborhood

Before Carly was born I talked to my brother every other day but only saw him about once a month. We live in the same town but he's busy and completely unreliable when it comes to making plans. Since Carly's been born however he's been over to my house nearly every day. He claims to be "in the neighborhood". Funny. I couldn't resist pointing out to him that he was never "in the neighborhood" before his neice was born.

Here is a pic of Carly and my brother hard at work installing garage doors at 2pm in the afternoon...in the neighborhood.



Here is a pic of rob and Carly yesterday...

C-Section Scar

My C-Section is healing great. Eric pulled off the little strips of tape that seemed to be holding me together last night. I was pleasantly surprised when that didn't hurt at all. Now I just have to keep it dry and clean and pray that it doesn't turn even uglier. Right now it's still pretty swollen. My midriff looks really gross. My flabby tummy hangs over my swollen scar. Nice, eh? I just have to keep reminding myself that it's only been 8 days.

Labor Day

Ok, here is my account of the day I had Carly. Some of it is fuzzy because it was drug induced not to mention I was exhausted!

I'm going to start the story from where I left off on this post.

..............they checked me again around 12 and I was only 3cm dilated and she was still at a negative 3 station or "really high". Since she wasn't coming down the birth canal on her own they decided to urge the process along by breaking my water. (What a weird sensation! To be leaking cups and cups of water out of your va-jay-jay and have no control of it.) Almost instantly, the contractions went from tolerable to pretty damn painful.

Just as soon as my first serious contraction hit they gave me the pitocin drip (induction meds) in my IV and that was that! My pain went from 0 to 60 in an instant. The pain was out of this world and I don't remember much past this point. My Mom tells me I stayed like that, laboring through one painful contraction after the next, for a few hours before they checked me again. Carly was still "high" so they gave me a synthetic narcotic to "take the edge off". Take the edge off of what - I don't know -- because I still hurt and BAD. No epidural for me though because I wasn't very dilated.

Finally the doc came in and said I could have the epidural. There was a little bit of epidural drama because I couldn't sit still enough for it. They insisted that I sit up instead of doing it the lying down way. Personally I think my anesthesiologist was a royal C-word that rhymes with bunt -- but whatever. Eventually I got to a point where I could put both my butt checks down on the bed and get in to a sitting position so they could give me the epidural. Eric held my feet the whole time while I tried to "relax my shoulders" (hardy har har). Once the epidural was in I pretty much passed out.

Carly's heart rate dropped off the charts as soon as they gave me the epidural. Suddenly there were 6 nurses huddling over me and I had an oxygen mask on. They must have figured it out though because I fell asleep and woke up to the doctor telling me we were heading in to the C-Section plan. FINE BY ME -- I'd had it for the day!

Once they decided on a C-Section everything went really fast. Eric had to get dressed immediately. The new anesthesiologist came to give me a different type of epidural that numbed me from the chest down. Then I was in the operating room. Carly came out but not without a little struggle. Apparently her head was a little lodged in my pelvis so it took a few tugs. Yes, tugs. Once out they told me she had the cord wrapped around her neck and she was "sunny side up". Those two factors would have made delivering her vaginally impossible they said.

They also said my Uterus is unusually thin. Vedry thin for a woman who had never given birth before. So they said I'm not a candidate for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). I know this would upset a lot of women -- but I feel like I experienced the contractions and labor and I don't need to do that again. =) On top of that, they also told me of another pregnancy with hypertension is very likely so a scheduled C-Section will probably be the route for the next baby also. As I said -- FINE BY ME.

Good Morning Aunt Heather

Good Morning Aunt Heather
Originally uploaded by Jessiedc22

This video was taken this morning for Aunt Heather!

1st Full Day Home

Today is our first day home. Yesterday doesn't count because it's was the most hectic overwhelming day ever! We got home around 2pm and worked for the rest of the day how to fit Carly in to our home life. Thankfully my Mom is here so I can get some help and I have someone to bounce ideas off of.

Mom slept with me last night so she could get up and help with feeding/changing Carly throughout the night. Overall that didn't go so bad. I was anxious about getting her to sleep in her bassinet since I've never actually had to put her to sleep the nurses always did it and brought her to me ready to eat! Ha! Mom and I figured out a good technique and so far so good!

Carly was up at 230am and then again at 630am. I think that's great. I slept SO GOOD between the two feedings and have been up since the 630 feeding. I'm not doing much around the house. I can't. But it's nice to have my home back and to be able to put things away in their proper place and take a shower in my shower.

I haven't had a lot of time to fill in my labor story but I promise I will. There is just a lot of pooping and eating going on here and I can't commit to the computer for the length of time that it will take to remember/regurgitate that drama!

Good news: My milk is in! My boobs are huge and getting bigger and my child is sleeping very well!

Oh...poop just happened again... be back soon!

Wow!

Tonight is my last night at the hospital. It's the 3rd night in a row that I've planned to go to bed early, but it's now 10 minutes to twelve, they just took Carly back to the nursery, and I'm clearly not asleep...............and I'll see her again in another hour and a half for a feeding. Busy busy busy!



Over the next few days I plan to pick up where I left off blogging earlier this week by filling in the story of Carly's birth, and then once I get up to date with that I will continue to write here about Carly's amazing development.



So far we've had so much fun with her, and although I'm tired and could use a few more naps, I don't feel overwhelmed or bogged down. Tomorrow is the real test though. It's the day we leave the wonderful hospital full of helpful staff and head home to take on parenting. My Mom will be there so we won't completely go cold turkey but it will be a big change.



Our discharge is currently scheduled to be around 11am or 1pm. I will log on tomorrow afternoon and see if I can to start filling in the story. In the mean time, here is a cute picture of our daughter.