2 Months!

Height: 23" (74.73%)
Weight: 10lbs 13 oz (49.80%)
Head Circumfrence: 41.2 (94.74%)

L is now babbling up a storm and we love every minute of it.

We are so very blessed.

1 Month!

Height: 21.75" (78.61%)
Weight: 9 lb 4 oz (55.52%)
HC: 39.8 cm (96.14%)

So smiley!

2 Weeks!

Our sweet baby is already 2 weeks old. We had a 2 week checkup on Monday and is already 8lbs 2 oz, 21.25 inches and her head is a whopping 38.4 cm. She has gained an ounce a day for the last week and grew 3/4 of an inch! She's finally reached (and surpassed) her birth weight. She's in the 45th percentile for weight, 85th percentile for height and 93rd percentile for head circumference. Her doctor called her, "Scrawny" !

Her jaundice has disappeared and her hair is getting much lighter (maybe even red?!?!)

She had her first bath on 5/02/09 but her umbilical cord had yet to fall off so she couldn't have a full bath, with her belly submerged. Her umbilical cord fell off on the 7th day (05/05/09) to reveal the cutest little partial outie and she then had her first official bath, in the sink.

Her professional pictures are tomorrow afternoon and I spy some baby acne. I've heard that breast milk can help to clear it so we'll try that tonight after her bath. Speaking of breast milk, I've been exclusively pumping now for 10 days and my supply has seriously tanked. I've heard that oatmeal can increase supply so I ate that for breakfast this morning and will continue to do so. I'm also going to look into fenugreek, pumping more often and skin-to-skin contact as a means of increasing my supply. I should really go to the lactation consultant to see if we can give breastfeeding a whirl again but I'm still in a lot of pain and I don't know if I can make the trip by my lonesome.

I'm still slowly recovering, I went back to the doctor on Friday (05/08/09) due to the fact that I was still in a great deal of pain, unable to stand or walk. In turns out I had a lot of granulated tissue that needed to be cauterized (with silver nitrate, fun!) and that they needed to remove some unnecessary stitches (which was WAY more painful than the silver nitrate).

Mentally I'm doing well, I'm ready to get outside and moving.

Irritable Uterus

I also found out yesterday that I have an, "Irritable Uterus" meaning I've been having contractions this whole time. I always chalked it up to the baby moving but apparently the stomach tightening sensation is actually contractions. That explains all the contractions that showed up on the monitors during my stay in the hospital.

It's going to be nearly 80* here in Wisco today and I'm going to have another lemon ice :)

Good News!

My "sentence" has been reduced from strict bed rest to moderate! What does this mean? I can leave the house once a day so as long as I'm not on my feet for more than a few minutes. Woo-hoo!

In a matter of 3 days, I have some significant progress, I went from being a finger tip dilated, very long/high cervix and the babies head was "floating." I am now more than 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced with an anterior cervix, yay! What does this mean in terms of when I'll have the baby? Meh, not much. However, it does mean that should they have to induce me due to pre-e, the likelihood that the induction would be successful and not lead to a c/s is much greater.

Overall, a fantastic appointment. To top it off, LEMON ICE IS BACK AT CULVERS! This is truly the best day ever ;)

Hospital Bed Rest & 38 Week Appt

On 4/20/09 I went in to my OB's office around 9:00 am because I was experiencing some sharp shooting pains in my lower abdomen. My regular 38 Week appointment was scheduled for 4/21 so they decided to just have me come in a day early. When I arrived, I realized that I had a pretty bad headache but it was manageable. At each weekly appointment, they take my blood pressure, I pee in a cup, they check my fundal height and her heartbeat. Well, my blood pressure was high (146/98, normal is below 120/80, REALLY bad is 160/100) and there was protein in my urine (+1). So, they decided to order a bunch of blood work, have me collect my urine for 24 hours and I was put on bed rest. Normally it doesn't hurt when they take my blood but this time it felt terrible (I later found out they popped my vein). I was told to go home, take Tylenol and call immediately if my headache became more severe. Two hours later, my head felt terrible and I decided to call my OB's office. They told me to go to the hospital and I would need to be on hospital bed rest and monitored for 24 hours. So, here I sit, in the hospital waiting for the results of today's blood work and urine collection. I feel SO much better, my blood pressure is good and my headache has subsided.

Hopefully I'll be able to go home today and finish out my bed rest "sentence" at home.

Stay put little one, we love you.

37 Week Appointment

U/S 4/13/09

Baby's Estimated Size: 7lbs 2 oz (64th percentile)
Position: Heads Down!
Cervix: Long (5cm)...we have a LONG way to go until it's paper thin

"37 Week" Appointment

H/B: High 150's-Low 160's
B/P: 130/88 (borderline high)
Total Weight Gain/Loss: +1 pre preg

Observations:

Maternity clothes? Shirts barely fitting
Stretch marks? Really obvious near the top of my stomach
Sleep: Painful and kind of a nuisance
Best moment this week: Ultrasound
Movement: Painful, large movements, rolling and pushing
Food cravings: Anything fruity & ice cold; push ups, smoothies, Hi-C with ice, etc
Labor Signs: Occasional cramping and lightning
Belly Button in or out? Flat
What I miss: Rolling over, sitting up w/o assistance, sleeping on my stomach, bending over, standing in the shower w/o being light headed
What I am looking forward to: Meeting our daughter