Annnnnd I'm back!
It has been almost two weeks (two weeks tomorrow to be exact) since the birth of my daughter, Reese. It has been quite the whirlwind. Now I don't intend to turn this into a mommy blog but I thought it might be prudent to catch you all up on what has been happening before returning to our regularly scheduled programming.
Let's start where it all began. On Sunday, February 26th we checked into the hospital at night to begin the induction process. Our little miss apparently had no desire to come on her own so there was some regular medication I had to take on Sunday to even get prepared for the induction meds on Monday. We spent Sunday night in the hospital watching the Oscars and biding our time. On Monday morning my OBGYN came to the hospital to start the induction and break my water. Now, these did not hurt near as much as I expected so I was really relieved. My contractions started really mildly but consistently as soon as I started on the medication. I was hopeful this meant the process would not take too long and we would have a baby by nightfall. I was wrong.
I labored all throughout Monday making very little progress as the contractions intensified. I wanted to hold off on the epidural as long as possible because you cannot get up and walk around. Although as time wore on what helped me was sitting up in my bed and slow breathing. So by 2:00 PM on Monday I said "gimme" to the epidural. Unfortunately, the first one did not take and I had to get it again. The second worked almost too well. My blood pressure dropped quickly and I had to be on oxygen for maybe 10 minutes. After that, though I did not feel a thing, which was glorious. I continued to make slow progress until about 1:00 AM on Tuesday when they decided to have me take a break from the meds to get my body to reboot. This, thankfully, worked like a charm. Once back on the medication things started rolling and at 7:22 AM Reese was born at 9lbs 8 oz. She was big and mighty with a strong voice almost right away.
Thursday we went home from the hospital after a long few days. Reese cried a lot at the hospital and we weren't sure what was happening. We went to the pediatrician for the post-hospital check up on that Friday and learned what was going on. Our girl lost a significant amount of weight, almost a pound. This was more than the average amount by a lot. The nurse practitioner we saw gave us a plan of action. Over the next week or so we would return 3 more times. Initially, she gained 3.5 oz overnight and we thought it was better. At the Monday appointment she gained some weight but not enough and at the Thursday appointment she lost .5 oz. This was very frustrating for us as we were basically feeding her constantly via nursing, supplementing with formula and I was pumping to continue to stimulate. It was maddening. After Thursday we decided to just pump and use the formula to ensure she was getting enough food. This past weekend went much better as a result and hopefully when we go back to the doctor today some of this will be remedied.
Overall I think both D and I are adjusting relatively well. Sleep is a bit hard to come by but I am learning to nap during the day as best as I can. Bottle feeding helps at night because D can help me with feeding. We have adopted a "tap out" strategy when it becomes too frustrating to get her down at night. This has been the most successful. We have had a lot of visitors in the last two weeks, which has been great. Everyone wants to meet her and has given her little gifts. She is outfitted really well at this point :) We love her so much and getting to know each day is so fun, albeit hard sometimes as well. We have come to learn she makes some pretty epic faces and often exhibits all of the 'feels.' She loves a warm blanket, her Mamaroo rocker, and her pacifier. The pups are loving on her as well and it is fun to watch them figure out what the heck is going on. So far I think we'll keep her ;)
Last week we got some newborn photos taken by Rebecca from TinyMe Photography. She did an amazing job and was so gentle with Reese. We got the photos back within 24 hours and loved the result! Here are a couple of our favorites!
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| This onesie says: Dead Drool; Spit Happens |
I am slowly but surely working my way back here. I will attempt to post three times a week as usual but it may take me a bit to get going again. I do have a lot of fun outfit posts coming up so stay tuned! Thanks for being patient as we transition to this new life change.
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