Sunday, November 23, 2008

 
The last couple of days Juliet and I have been out and about. Yesterday we went and had lunch at Kathryns house and then spent the evening at Katrina McCabe's. Kathryns kids were so facinated by Juliet. I even felt a little awkward feeding her with a 3 year old and 5 year old trying to peer around the blanket at Juliet on my breast. Juliet didn't sleep much there either. I am not sure if it was the noise from the kids or the fact that she was just awake. Trina's cats were just as freaked out by her as mine are- or at least one of them was.
Speaking of Cats, I busted Ninja sleeping in the Bassinet. I tossed him out (after I took a picture), and he came back to the bed. Juliet got fussy and cried, and Ninja disapeared. When I settled her down, I found him again- back in the Bassinet. I put some blankets over it blocking him from jumping in.... I found him today crawled under the blankets. *sigh* I think my next step is to put clothing that smells like her in there and maybe he won't like it anymore. The good news about it, is that I put Juliet in her crib instead of in the Bassinet for her naps today. I don't want her in the Bassinet if Ninja is going to jump in there. At least the crib is to high for them.
Today I had breakfast with Cori- one of the girls from my Lamaze class. It was fun comparing birth stories and babies. Her son in named Gavin and we joked that Juliet and Gavin were on their first date. Of course, Gavin slept all morning and Juliet wanted to nurse every 10-20 mins. I spent most of the morning with a blanket over my shoulder and her nursing. Thankfully I'm not so shy that I can't nurse in public, though the fact that Juliet hates anything over her face makes for ineresting times when she is nursing with a blanket over her. She doesn't know what to make of it- kept trying to push it away, but didn't freak out because she was too busy eating.
Mum arrives tomorrow. Juliet slept long enough this PM for me to pick up the house, get the garbage out, fold the clothes and get the dishes in the dishwaher. Tomorrow AM I need to clean out the car, and then maybe even vaccume and mop. Or wipe down the counters. But the house looks good so we'll see :)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

 
We went to the doctor again today. Juliet is doing fantastic. She is in the 25th percentile for her weight (She weighed in at 7lbs 6oz) and 75th percentile for her height. Her stump finally fell off, which means that I will give her a bath in the next day or so. She hates being naked, so we'll see how that goes!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

 
Well we both slept well last night. I wonder if thats why I feel so tired today. Something I ate has given Juliet gas so she's a bit cranky today, but not too bad. Her umbilical stump is also a little loose and I ran out of papmers and had to use huggies (which go higher up on her tummy) so she was really irritated. Pumping didn't hurt so bad today, so I suppose I just had to toughen up. We go see the doctor tomorrow, so hopefully everything is as good as I think it is. Her eye is still goopy, but I try and keep it clean.
Oh- she definatly has my feet. She's even got the little toe that turns sideways under the next toe just like I have! And it looks more and more like she's going to have blue eyes.
And she's REALLY strong. I put her on her belly on my chest and she lifted her head for about 30 seconds. And then she scooted herself all the way from between my breasts to my shoulder. I need to get one of those gym thingies so we can have more tummy time. She's also awake more often now so I want to make sure she's getting enough interaction to make her a smart cookie. She's also learning about sucking her thumb. Night before last she sucked it for a few seconds- I thought it was a fluke, but she did it again last night. She's not coordinated enough to get it in her mouth when she wants to comfort herself (she still uses my breast for that), but if she gets it near her mouth she's worked out she can suck on it.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Healing power of Baby Spit 

Yes readers- you read the title right. Healing powers of Baby Spit. It's this weird undocumented phenomenom. Let me explain. 4 days ago I was playing "hunt the hund under the covers" with Ninja when he managed to loose the covers and take a chunk out of my fingertip. It's a minor wound, but hurt like buggery. 3 days ago, while out and about, Juliet decided she was hungry and I couldn't stop at that second to feed her so I stuck my finger in her mouth. Of course I chose my injured finger. Ow. But it calmed her down so I left it there. Yesterday and today I also used my finger (mainly to stop her from sucking when she wasn't hungry). I noticed today, that my boo-bo is almost gone. There is a small mark, but the wound seems healed. Walla- the healing power of baby spit!

Monday, November 17, 2008

2 Weeks Old 

She's two weeks old today. I can't believe that two weeks ago I gave birth to this BEING. The dummy (binkie) experement went decently. She doesn't like it, but she seems to understand that it was for her comfort to suck, but that she wasn't going to get the breast unless she was hungry. As soon as she vomited milk, she got the binkie instead. We had a much better night.
We had pictures taken today. I went to Picture People and the photographer I had was fantastic. They ended up short staffed and I had to wait for a bit, and she ended up giving me 40% off. There was no need to do so, but believe me my budget appreciated it. Anyway, here is the link to view the pictures. For those of you who want copies, you can order them and have them shipped to yourself or shipped to me and I can ship them to you.
http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/my/images?tk=d35624a9-9f8a-446a-98f7-1c40987cf6ed&CMPN=EmailAlbum

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Bad Night 2 

Last night we had our second bad night. It wasn't so much that it was BAD, but that it was frustrating. Juliet decided she needed to suck, and she nursed for 3 solid hours. My poor sore nipples were very rebellious, but as soon as I detached her and tried to get her to suck my finger or sing to her or anything else she screamed like I was killing her. She started to fall asleep at 2.30am only to be woken by Thunder and want to nurse again. She fell asleep again, only to be woken by a cat in heat at my back door. I was so ready to scream. What made it worse was that she was FULL- she kept throwing up milk and then wanting to nurse again. Needless to say, I went out and bought a binkie today. I wanted to not use one, but I can't have her nursing for that long at a stretch again.
Today I shook myself out of my slump and got some stuff done. I ran a load of laundry and the dishwasher and made Honey Joys (yummy). Unfortunatly I also discovered that in the storm last night my garbage can disapeared. I hope I can find it tomorrow I don't want to have to buy another one.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Pumping 

From everything I've read Breastfeeding is supposed to be hard. Other then the first few days when my nipples REALLY hurt, it's been pretty easy. If she's hungry, stick her on the breast. Simple. My nipples have hardened and it really doesn't hurt anymore- unless she catches me right on the tip. So today I started pumping in the effort to start saving in case I have a relapse- and if I don't so that she'll have milk when I go back to work.
I officially HATE pumping. OW. It's not the nipples the hurt it's the areola area. While pumping it looks like it's purple and bruised, and it hurts for ages afterwards. OF course Juliet keeps wanting to nurse right after I've pumped (in spite of the fact I was pumping after she'd fed and fallen asleep) which hurts like hell. In 3 pump sessions I only got about 3 1/2 oz. One session was great- I got almost 2 whole oz. The other two- eh, barely 1/2-1oz.
I'll keep at it, and hope that everything will harden in a day or two like my nipples did. I just have to keep thinking about storing so that she has sufficient food when I go back to work in 8 weeks....

Friday, November 14, 2008

Observations 

It's funny the things you notice when you watch your child. Here are some things I've noticed so far.
She has a dimple on her left cheek, but not the right.
She make an "oh" face when she goes to the bathroom.
She likes to sleep on her side- if I put her down on her back she'll roll over.
If I put her on her tummy she likes to scoot acorss the floor- or my chest.
She has the "donors" nose and possibly eyes, but overall looks like me.
Her poop turns orange when I eat carrots (gross but funny!)
She grunts when she's eating, and when she's frustrated.
She HATES when her eyes are covered (her hat slipped down while we were in the car today- she screamed bloody murder until I moved it)
She has hair fuzz on the backs of her ears.
She prefers my index finger over my little finger (when she can't nurse and I stick it in her mouth that is)
She likes to help helself feed, but hasn't worked out that it won't go IN her mouth when she's got her hand over the nipple.
She prefers country music over "top 40"
She likes to use my breast as a pillow.

 
Yesterday Juliet and I visited work so that I could pick up my paycheck. Everyone was completely bananas over her. What made me feel great was the overt jealousy directed my way. I don't look in any way like I've just had a baby. I have no stretch marks, and I am skinnier then I was before I got pregnant. Overall I look- and feel- fantastic. I'm still a little flabby over the midsection- mainly from the muscles being stretched during pregnancy- but I have hopes that that will go down if I keep excercising. I know it sounds vindictive, but I when I go to court I want him to realise what he lost. Two amazing people. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not that I want him in my life, I guess I just want to flaunt a little bit what he threw away. An amazing daughter and a sexy woman.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

1 week, 2 days 

Juliet has been a feeding pooping machine today. I don't think she's slept more than 4 hours all day. She's pretty much constantly fed (and thus pooped) since noon. Everytime I put her down she woke up and wanted to nurse again. I got the laundry done finally (took me about 4 hours... but it's done) but I didn't get a shower. I feel gucky, but she won't fall asleep long enough for me to take one. Hopefully she'll sleep more tomorrow.






Monday, November 10, 2008

1 week old 

Juliet is one week old today. We had our first doctors appointment this AM. She's gained 4oz since she was born, which means she is feeding great and is very healthy. I'm also very healthy. At the hospital I weighed 183... which is 27lbs less then I was pregnant and 7lbs less then I was prepregnancy. I'm already out of maternity clothes, and wearing 12-14 pants... I'm trying to walk more and do some excercises with Juliet (like half situps with her on my chest, or using her as a weight to lift) so that I can get myself fit. Next week I might even try and head to the gym for a short period- maybe 10 mins or so to do some other excercises while I have the energy.
I still have about 5 loads of laundry to fold, (and growing as Juliet peed twice when I've taken her diaper off) and a dishwasher to empty, but overall the house is clean and I feel good. At some point I really need to get some stuff organized, but I think I'll wait until I have a little more energy.
It still hasn't sunk in that this little being is mine. I can't believe I 'GREW' this person. She is a part of me. Every day is still a routine of changing and feeding, but it's slowly sinking in that this is my DAUGHTER. Holy crap.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Day 4 

Last night was soooo much better. Aunt Mary said that maybe she was frustrated because the milk wasn't coming down fast enough for her. So I tried manually expressing a little until I saw a drop on the nipple and THEN I started feeding her. I also changed her diaper before I fed her, so that she was awake for feedings. I also nursed her on just one breast so that she'd get the hind milk and stay full for longer. Whatever it was that I did- she was a LOT better. We were still up every couple of hours, but she didn't scream bloody murder at each feeding. Overall, a much much better night.
The cats are starting to come around a little. Both Ninja and Baby came to the bed last night. Ninja won't come any where near her still, but he did cuddle against my knees. Baby I need to watch a little more closely- she's oblivious to whats around her and could easily lay down on Juliet. But when she knows where Juliet is, she won't come near her either.
I had to run to the store again today for cat food and diapers- all the ones I have are too big for her, so I had to buy smaller ones. She did great at the store again. I have one of those over the shoulder slings- I love it. It rocks her while I walk and leaves my hands free.
However my back is killing me. The right shoulder blade region on my back is really sore. Just from holding her, and left over pain from labor. Hopefully it'll work itself out soon.

More Pictures 

Here are more pictures for those interested. (It's tough taking pictures of the two of us together- it's tough to hold the baby and the camera and smile at the same time!)





Saturday, November 08, 2008

Day 3 

Well last night was offically our first bad night. I went to bed kinda late- 11pm ish- because I really wasn't tired. Juliet was hungry and wanted to feed but she wouldn't latch on. She just cried and screamed and screached. I'd try and change her and she'd scream, she was fighting the nipple- thrusting herself away with her whole body. Not only did we not get much sleep I felt very frustrated and like I couldn't do the right thing. I even cried a little. Needless to say I didn't do much of anything today except sit around and nap. I know I can do this but talk about being frustrated.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Home Day 2 

Slept failry well again last night. Juliet is up every couple of hours, but falls asleep pretty quickly once she feeds. Unfortunatly she's pooping a lot more now and she wakes up when I try and change her and wants to feed again.
I did two loads of laundry today- I still have to fold and put it away but I guess I feel good seeing as I washed them. I also emptied the dishwasher.
My outing for the day was a quick one- I went to the courthouse and filed the custody/child support papers. I still don't know if I am doing the right thing, but I know that I have to do the right thing for Juliet and that means I have to face him. Maybe when he sees how amazing she is he'll become interested and be a part of her life. Maybe not- it will be easier for me if he doesn't. We will just have to see.

 
I actually got some pictures with her eyes open :)



Thursday, November 06, 2008

Home 

First day home from the hospital. We got home yesterday around 5pm, and went to bed around 6. I have the basinette next to the bed, but it didn't get used. I know you are not supposed to have the baby in the bed with you, but boy when you are tired there is nothing like nestling the baby on the breast and falling asleep together. I don't plan on keeping her in the bed, but for now it's working.
We went food shopping today. It was very successful. Juliet slept the entire time, and only woke up when we got home. I got all the food in the house before she fussed for a feed. Took a few hours before I got the groceries put away, but I won't have to go to the store for a while.
I also tried to take a shower. That was an abysmal failure. I was in the shower all of 10 mins, soap on the body and shampoo in the hair when she had a bowel movement and screamed bloody murder. There is nothing fun about changing a diaper when you are wet and naked. And then of course she wanted to be fed. I got dressed first, but needless to say I didn't feel clean or comforted by the shower.
The cats have no idea what to Juliet is. When I came home yesterday Baby was completely oblivious. She was all lovey until we sat on the bed. She cuddled up next to me, and then noticed Juliet on my lap. She jumped about 5 feet in the air and backed up with HUGE eyes. Ninja just stares at her with big eyes and then runs away. He's banished himself to the couch in the living room and won't come in the bedroom at all. If I come near him with her, he'll stay still while I pat him, until she moves or makes a move he'll walk away.

More Pics 





I still haven't got any with her eyes open.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Birth Story 

While Juliet is at the nursery seeing the doctors I figured I would steal a moment to write :)

Sunday I woke up at 11.30am (I thought it was 12.30 dang daylight savings), and figured that with time to kill I'd get my fish into my new fish tank, and do a load of dishes. I went to work, and was there until 11.30pm. I stopped to chat on the way out the door, so by the time I left it was just a few mins past midnight. I drove home (a 20 min drive) and stopped for gas (I nearly ran out THAT could have been a disaster!). Got home, fed the cats, and realised I had no milk, bread or basic food stuffs in the house. I figured I'd run to Walmart, but first I wanted to throw the cleaning stuff in the old tank.
I leaned over to pick up a part of the tank to throw back into it when I got a wicked cramp. I stook up slowly, and tried to walk a little to relieve it when my water broke. (I called my nurse friend Kathryn to make sure that I hadn't just peed or something!).
1250- Called my doctor to tell him my water broke. He told me to head to the hospital as soon as I started feeling contractions.
0107- Had a contraction. Put out food for the cats for while I was gone.
0112- Second contraction. Realised I was in trouble- they were only 5 mins apart and I live 20 mins from the hospital. Grabbed my phone charger, and a towel and garbage bag for the seat of my car.
0117- Third contraction. Keep in mind that I work at the hospital that I delivered at, and had left there not an hour before. Called security (who are friends) and told them to have someone at the lobby entrance to park my car for me.
Approx 0130- Got stopped at the traffic light just before the hospital. My contractions are about 3 mins apart at this point and I figured I would stop, check for traffic and blow the light (it's a LONG light), when a cop car pulled up behind me, forcing me to wait the never-ending 4 mins for it to change to green.
Arrived at the hospital, gave keys to security, had another person grab my bag for me, and walked to the elevator (no way was I getting in a wheelchair- note to spouses, sitting in labor SUCKS). Got upstairs to my room to discover the two AWSOME nurses that I had last week had traded off a patient so they could have me. I was a happy duck. Also found my nurse friend Kathryn waiting to help me through. Got changed and checked- I was already at 3cm.
They had a lot of trouble starting the IV, so I opted for some Tylonol to help until they could get the IV in and get something stronger.
0210- Still no IV. I was checked and was already at 7cm. We called one of the lead nurses up from the ER, who came up and got the IV started finally. Asked for Stadol (pain medicine). It took about 20 mins to arrive, and at that time I was coping ok, so I said I'd wait a little bit. I figured I'd only been in labor for just over an hour, I didn't want to waste it if I had a while to go.
At this point I loose track of time, things went REALLY quickly, and when I finally said I wanted the Stadol I was 9 1/2cm and it was too late. It seemed to take FOREVER for that last centimeter, and it was so hard to not push when I had the urge to do so and I know I alternated between begging them to let me push (you can't until you are 10cm otherwise the cervix will swell and the baby won't come out), and stating that I needed to "take a f*ing sh*t".
When we finally got down to the pushing it took me just over an hour to push her out. Her head was slightly crooked, so she was stuck in the perienum forever.

But overall, for a first timer, I did remarkable well. From start to finish was one minuete short of 5 hours, and I can claim bragging rights to have done it with no pain medications.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Another picture 


Monday, November 03, 2008

Juliet Rose 


Meet Juliet Rose.
Born today, 11/3/08 at 5.49am 6lbs 9oz, 19 3/4 inches. I'll write more when I am not so drop dead exhausted.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Fish Tank 

For those of you not in the know, I had a snail infestation in my 45 gallon fish tank. Nothing I did got rid of the damn things. In the crazed cleaning of these last few weeks of pregnancy my snail filled fish tank has become unbearable. I've officially declared war. I bought a new tank (god bless craigs list!) new decorations, new pumps, filters, heaters. While my fish moved to my new tank NOTHING else did. Next step..... Bleach the old tank. Yup Bleach. If the bastards survive bleach and a year of dry storage then... well then they win I guess.
Anyway, today I just finished transfering my old fish to their new home. Hopefully the shock won't kill them as I did it a bit quicker then you really should. Dash (My Tetra), Streak and Stalker (my algea eaters) were all absent from the old tank, I assumed they were hiding, I guess they've died. I will post a picture of my new tank as soon as I get the light working!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Not Yet 

Well, today we had our first "hopefully scare". I went to the hospital this AM when my contractions reached 6 mins apart, only to arrive and have them 3 mins apart. While I STILL wasn't dilated at all, I was hopeful with contractions that close together I would be soon. They gave me some water, and said they would recheck in a couple of hours to see if I was progessing and where they would go from there.
2 hours later, not only was I not dilated, my contractions had slowed down to every 10-15 mins. Turns out I was just dehydrated.
So.... I'm home, still pregnant, and not in labor yet (and I never did fold that load of laundry).

 
 

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