Really, it's already the end of May? Really?!

I started this post on May 11 and am just now getting back to it on May 26! Wow how the time flies!

It's been a difficult but exciting few weeks. Danny is doing more and more everyday and it's so fun to watch him develop. He is making good solid eye contact now and his head and neck seem to be very strong. We are trying to do tummy time everyday and he seems to like it. He's still not real interested in any toys. He'd rather stare at the things around him. One of his favorite places in the house seems to be the hallway. When we walk through there his eyes get big and he looks around.

Weeks 5 and into 6 were perhaps the most difficult weeks yet. But if you are paying attention to the date on this, you'll realize that we are now in week 7 and things are looking up. Week six brought a lot of fussiness. Not real sure why. Could be a growth spurt, who knows. But we spent lots of sleepless nights up trying to figure out what was going on with our little guy. Not much seemed to make him happy. He seemed to get overtired in the evenings and then would resist sleep. Also he wasn't napping well. He would sleep 20 minutes to 2 hours at the most. Also during week 6 we went back to the lactation consultant for a weight check and to our surprise our little premature son was weighing in at a big 8 pounds 1o ounces! Just two weeks before that he was 7 pounds 4 ounces. I still can't believe that weight gain! Yay!

Then something happened. On week 6 day 3 he decided to sleep through the night! Now it's not the sleep through the night kind of thing that I'm accustomed to. The professionals call "sleeping through the night" a 5 hour stretch or more for newborns. He slept 5 hours that night! I think what happened is that we learned the art of the swaddle. My friend, my wonderful friend, came over that day and showed me her swaddle stuff and I think it works! Because since then, he has been sleeping for a 5-6 hour stretch every night! Last night he slept from 11pm-5am!

Now while this sounds great and before you go high-fiving me on all the sleep I'm now getting, wait a second. For some reason, I can't sleep more than a 3 hour stretch, if that, at a time. WTF? Guess who has trained me on their sleep pattern? *looks over at Danny* When I do lay down to go to sleep, my mind is filled with, well I don't even know what. But I just can't get to sleep. I'm exhuasted and I can't sleep and I have the opportunity to sleep. In any case, I'm thrilled that Danny is getting all this sleep. In addition to his lovely sleep at night, he's also sleeping 2-3 hours during the day for naps. It's great!

But of course, this new found lovely sleep has now led me to more worries. These worries are about my supply. I'm still breastfeeding and it seems to be going well (note big weight gain cited above). In fact, today marks the end of the 3rd day of not using a nipple shield. But now with his increased sleep, he is going longer between feedings and I'm worried about maintaining my supply. I went from having an oversupply to being worried about having enough.

In addition to these worries thoughts about work are also filling my mind. I'm just not sure what is going to happen. There are pros (well one or two, not many) and cons to staying in my current position and to looking elsewhere. I'm just hoping that the perfect opportunity will just fall into my lap and I won't have to think too hard about it. Of course, I'd love to figure out a way to stay at home, not go back to work and still have an income..hmmmm...if anyone else figures it out, please let me know.

oh the noises!

Boy is this little man noisy! He grunts when he sleeps and even when he's awake. He squeals like a piggy, hence the nickname he has of "Piggy". He sighs out loud when he eats and when he sleeps. I guess he just has lots of stories to tell. The noises when he sleeps are hard for me to deal with. Well, not hard, just more difficult to figure out. I hear him making noises and think maybe either a) he hasn't fallen asleep yet or b) is stirring from waking up and wants to eat. So I go check on him and often times he is fast asleep! Makes resting hard for me I guess. But at the same time, it's pretty cute. So I guess he can stay :)

The past few days have been very low key. No visitors this week so it has been nice to just hang out and get to know him. He is more and more alert and has had a few periods of fussiness in the evening which seem to be solved by breastfeeding. The schedule we had for him in the first 2 weeks or so is pretty much shot. I'm trying to feed him on demand. Sometimes he goes 4-5 hours without eating and then, like in the evening, he feeds every hour or two. He seems to be getting the hang of it and also is wanting less of the supplemental feeding, which is great. Randy still feeds him a bottle in the mornings and that gives me a couple more hours to sleep. In the end, Danny runs the show I guess :) For now anyway!

I've figured out how to use the ergo carrier and I really like having him so close and also having my hands free! We've gone on a few walks this week and it makes me feel good to get out of the house. I went from a job I hate to enjoying these simple things in life...bonding with my son, playing with my dogs and rather liking this stay at home mom business more than I thought I would.

where is the time going?

This week seemed to fly by! Randy went back to work and I was left at home to tend to the child. The days went quick with the regular rotation of Daniel eating, burping, pooping, sleeping and growing! He had his 2 week appointment today and he is up to 6 pounds 11 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long! Even though he's gaining weight, some of the newborn clothes are still too big for him! He continues to be more alert every day and is getting better at tracking with his eyes. He's eating a lot and pretty regular. I've spent the past few days doing more "on demand" eating which is what "they" seem to recommend. So he's eating every 2-3 hours during the day and up to 4 hours at night. It's kind of an exhausting routine. I breastfeed him, then either I or Randy feed him a bottle with breastmilk and then I pump 3 times a day. But we are getting a schedule down. I'm doing the 2am feeding and Randy does the 5am one which allows me to get some sleep. It's working pretty good. I do need to spend some more time resting during the day though. I had visitors over every day this week and while I enjoyed the visits, I felt more tired. So, my goal for next week is to rest when Daniel rests. It's hard to lay down though when there is stuff around the house to be done.

That's all for now :)

2 weeks

Daniel is 2 weeks old today! I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks...oh how the time is flying! In the past few days I've noticed that he is more awake and alert during the day and he is just curious about his environment. He likes it when we walk around the house and he gets to check stuff out. The dogs are also doing pretty good at welcoming their little brother. Kona continues to be very gentile with him and Hilo is even warming up a bit to him.

Today we went and had lunch with some friends and of course Daniel slept through meeting everyone. Then a friend of mine who also happens to be a public health nurse, came over and weighed Daniel. He's up to 6.95! The doctors wanted him to get back to his birth weight by 2 weeks of life and he's already passed that up!

Randy went back to work yesterday and this was our 2nd day at home alone. Things are going pretty good. I'm eager to get some kind of routine going. I've got a list of "to-do's" and I'm able to do just a couple things each day while also trying to get some rest. Unfortunately because today was so busy, I didn't get a nap so I foresee an early bedtime in my future :)

good news friday

We have gone to the doctor 3 times this week but we got some good news today! Daniel's weight is up from 6.2 on Monday to 6.5 today. We had a follow up visit with the pediatrician on Monday and then 2 visits with the lactation consultant on Wednesday and Friday. Daniel is eating more at each feeding and will hopefully require less supplementation as he gets the hang of eating. I am down from pumping every other feeding to 3 times per day. The lactation consultant was happy to hear that I'm pumping 3-4 oz at each feeding. So I think things are heading up. All things considered though, we are so happy to have a healthy little baby.

In other news, Daniel is now free. Free from his umbilical cord stump which fell off today at the doctor's office and free from his plasti-bell from his circumcision!

And in non baby news...Kona went to the vet for her physical and we had some blood work done to ensure that her kidneys are working well because she's had some bladder infections in the past year. She got a clean bill of health! Yay! I always feel like you are asking for trouble when you run those kind of tests but we are so happy it came back good.

And...I also got some news that someone close to me is expecting another child! Yay!!

Today was a good day.

Off now to try to get some rest...

the first week...

Our first day at home was fun but a little tough. We had to introduce him to the dogs which was a little chaotic. They were excited to see me since I hadn't been home since Monday night. They were very curious about this new little person. Kona was especially gentile with him. She was very calm and yet curious about him. Hilo seemed much more upset by the situation. He was stressed out and very intrigued by all the sounds Daniel made.

We spent the day holding him and feeding him. He slept pretty much all day. And then when night fell and it was time for us all to go to sleep, he was awake and crying much of the night. He eventually settled in on daddy's chest so we were all able to get a little shut eye.

We went back to the doctor on Friday for his 2 day appointment. Unfortunately, Daniel had lost a little more weight and his biliruben levels were higher than the doctor was comfortable with. They wanted Daniel taken back to the hospital so he could receive some phototherapy.

We arrived at the hospital and they showed me to a room where I would be allowed to stay. After being assessed by the Peditrician, it was determined that Daniel could receive his phototherapy in the room I would be staying in. Being back at the hospital also provided me with an opportunity to work further with the lactation consultants to help get his weight back up.

Randy spent the days and into the evenings with us at the hospital and I sent him back home at night so he could get some good sleep and spend time with the dogs.

Each day at the hospital, they monitored Daniel's weight and biliruben levels. Finally on Easter Sunday, it was determined that he was healthy enough to go home. When we were admitted to the hospital on Friday, Daniel's weight was 5 pounds 14 ounces and his biliruben level was around 16. By Sunday his weight was back to 6 pounds 1 ounce and his biliruben level was 6.5. We were sent home, again, from the hospital!

We had another follow up appointment on Monday where we met our new Peditrician. Daniel's weight was up to 6 pounds 2 ounces and his biliruben level was up to around 9 which was still a safe level for him.

Our first few nights at home have been much easier than that first night. Daniel is adjusting to life at home and the dogs are adjusting to their new little brother. Daniel is more alert at eating times and is already developing quite a little personality. He makes lots of noises and lots of funny faces. We have already taken our first walk and had our first outing which was to Michael's and Target. I'm pretty sure he was excited to be out of the house. We also noticed that his eye color is starting to develop from a blue gray color to a brighter blue.

It's hard to believe that a week has already passed since his birth. I suppose this is an example of what is to come and we will be sure to soak up every moment with our new little son.

Daniel Edward is here...early!

Daniel Edward decided to come early at 36 weeks and 3 days. He was born on 4/7/09 at 7:49 am. He weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 inches long. Apgars were 9 and 9.

April 6 was my first day of maternity leave. I spent it running errands and trying to get a jump start on my to do list. Randy came home from work early that evening and also got some chores done. While watching television I saw an ad for biscuits and we decided biscuits and gravy sounded good for dinner. I ran to the store to get the ingredients and cooked dinner for us. After dinner I sat back down to finish sorting what I thought to be a never ending supply of baby clothes.

At about 7:30pm I felt what I thought to be my water break. I ran to the bathroom. Randy was in his bathroom and wondered why his pregnant wife was running down the hall. Just as it dawned on him why that might be, I said "I think my water just broke!".

Randy brought me the phone and I got on the phone with Labor & Deliver who told me to come on in. Meanwhile, Randy ran around the house trying to pack a hospital bag, which was on my list of things to do...guess I should have done that chore on Monday! After the bags were packed we gave the dogs a treat and headed to Kaiser Deer Valley.

We arrived at Kaiser around 8:00pm and after walking down the longest hallway in the world (really poor planning on their part...L&D was at the end of a very long hall) we finally got there. They put me in triage to confirm that my water did in fact break. It did and they admitted me to the hospital and told me we'd be having a baby!

Feelings of excitement, joy, anxiety and a little bit of fear overwhelmed us. Upon being admitted they hooked me up to a bunch of monitors to keep track of contractions, baby's heart beat, blood pressure, etc. I was feeling minor contractions but apparently they were regular. Things were going almost as I had hoped with the exception of his premature arrival which I was a little worried about.

The midwife explained that she wanted to move labor along since my water had broken this left the baby more vulnerable to infection. She wanted to start me on some pitocin but I wanted to hold off because I had heard that makes the contractions much more painful and I really wanted things to progress naturally. In addition, I hadn't had a particular test done yet so they started me on some antibiotics to protect the baby. The antibiotics were repeated every 4 hours. Oh, did I mention how bad having the IV put in my hand hurt? Well, if I didn't..it hurt, bad. I'm glad I didn't see how big that needle was until they took it out the next day. Anyway, I digress...

We were moved into a Labor & Delivery room. The rooms were huge. Lots of space and we had a pretty decent view, except that it was night time, so it didn't really matter much. Labor continued on but my contractions became irregular. Randy and I spent this time laughing a lot, watching Old School, watching our trip to Kauai video and talking about what our new little son would be like. This "light" labor continued until about 3:00am. The midwife finally decided it was time for the pitocin since my contractions were irregular and I wasn't progressing. The pitocin was given around 1:00am and then the "fun" began around 3:00am.

Contractions got much more intense and I got more and more uncomfortable. The bed was uncomfortable and I had to keep moving which then made the nurses continue to come in to adjust the monitors. Needless to say, I wasn't able to rest much. I finally decided to get some relief and had a narcotic given to "take off the edge". Yeah, whatever. I think they only thing that did was help me rest in between contractions. The pain was pretty intense. Randy stayed right by my side the entire time and was so incredible. He was supportive and said and did all the right things.

About 30 minutes after the narcotic was given I decided to go for the epidural. The pain was so intense. It seemed like it took the anethesiologist forever to get there. It seemed like it took the anethesiologist even longer to get the epidural adminstered. I think she had to give me 5 different locals and it took 3 attempts at the epidural to get it in right. She was less than helpful. Apparently, I have a curve in my spine and this was inconvient for her. She wanted to discuss the situation and finally Randy just said, "yes, she must have a curve in her spine". Oh also, the moving I was doing during the contractions was also inconvient and she kept telling me to hold still. Yeah, thanks..I'm trying. Finally, she got her job done.

I don't remember a whole lot of specifics during this time. But apparently it took a while for the epidural to get going. The thing I worried about with the epidural was not being able to feel my legs and fortunately, this wasn't an issue. By the time it was time for me to push I was told that I didn't even get the full effects of the epidural because things happened so fast. I think I went from being 3 cm dialated around 3:00am to 8 cm at about 5:00am. When they told me I was only 3 cm dialated, I felt so discouraged and that was when I ended up deciding to get something to help with the pain.

Also, I guess they were having a hard time monitoring the baby's heart rate and they wanted to use an internal fetal monitoring device. I did not want that and told them that. The midwife was worried about not being able to monitor his heart rate but agreed to let me try and push. Finally! During the active part of labor I think one of the hardest things was the feeling of pressure and not being able to push. I started pushing around 6:30 am. Randy continued to be by my side and was with me during every breath and contraction and kept telling me to relax, breathe and push.

I pushed for about an hour. I kept being moved from laying on my back to my sides to help him make his way out. Finally, at 7:49 am Daniel was born! Sunny side up! Randy got in there and cut the cord. Hearing that little guy cry for the first time was incredible. There are no words. They put him right on my chest and began to clean him up. I think I said "Oh my gosh there's a real person in there!" and Randy kept telling me how awesome I did. That might be true but he did pretty freaking awesome himself.

Daniel calmed down pretty quickly after being put on my chest and cleaned up. He spent about an hour resting on my chest before they took him to weigh and bathe him. He laid on my chest and cooed and looked around and it was just amazing.

Randy went with them when it was time to clean him up. He put on his first diaper and was right there by his side during his first medical examination and bath. Soon after they were done, Daniel was brought back to me and the 3 of us spent some time as a new family.

We spent a couple days in the hospital so that Daniel's weight and possible jaundice could be monitored. They discharged us on 4/9 and we headed home to start our new life as a family of 5. I am of course, including the dogs in this number :)