4 weeks today

Ya!! Doesn't she look excited :)
Nothing much to report. It's been about the same around here. She keeps us up at nights, is irritable in the morning and evening (right around when I want to eat breakfast and dinner), sleeps for 3-4 hours during the day and then again at night, cat naps for the remainder of the day and she's got us both wrapped around her little finger ;) We've fallen into giving her formula at night and she nurses during the day. At night I pump once or twice, which means our freezer is quickly filling up. I have to say it hasn't been as bad as what I've heard it could be, so I'm not complaining :) I learned that something so small can really generate ALOT of dirty clothes, and they aren't only hers! But we'll keep her :)

Here she is hanging out in her pjs :) Sometimes we don't get around to getting her bath until later in the morning, but I don't think she minds. She loves her baths however! I think she's going to be a water bug when she gets older ;)

Here she is hanging out naked :) The doc prescribed us this cream to use for her redness and it made it worse :\ The doc thought it was yeast...I think it's just a typical diaper rash. So I was giving her some air time before her bath. I also stopped using the cream the doc prescribed. I went back to desitin and it already is showing a difference. It's clearing up. The redness was there from using pampers, and I should have went by my gut and just con't the desitin...but instead I went with what the doc wanted...she was wrong I was right :)

Oh she also seemed to have a eye problem with her left eye. It seemed to gunky on occasion. I have been cleaning it with just warm water and a washcloth whenever I see the gunk and at her baths. Seems to also be getting better. She's definitly plumping up, I haven't went on the scale with her yet, but she seems to be filling out her clothes better :)

I've officially removed all the newborn things from the drawer and we are on to 0-3 months. Some are still big and others are snug...:\ but I have enough clothes she won't go naked ;)

Baby Development Week 4

Week 04 - Your New Baby

When you see your baby in the morning does she seem to be bigger than the day before? You aren't imagining things! Your little one is now capable of deep sleep, or non-REM sleep, during which the growth hormone somatotropin is released, so your baby really does grow while sleeping! She is also spending more time in lighter REM sleep, when dreams occur, so you may begin to notice your baby's body twitching, eyelids fluttering, and breathing increasing when she is dreaming.

Has your baby displayed the Moro, or startle, reflex? Babies are born with this protective reflex, which is triggered when the baby's head falls backward or changes position quickly. If your baby feels herself falling, she will extend both arms out sideways with palms up and thumbs flexed.She will then quickly bring both arms back together and cry. The Moro reflex gradually disappears around three months of age.

You may notice your baby is becoming a bit more interactive this week and will probably begin making wet, throaty noises that amuse you both. If your baby is fussing, she may now become quiet when you start talking to her.

Babies' eye color is a shifty thing! Most Caucasian babies are born with dark gray-blue eyes that can take weeks or months to reveal their true color. Many African-American, Asian, and Hispanic babies are born with dark gray-brown eyes that don't change color significantly, but some may start out with hazel eyes that get darker as they approach 6 months. After six or nine months of age, the eye color you see is probably what your baby will have for the rest of his or her life. However, some children's eye color is still changing after a few years.

Yesterday

So we are getting into a routine in sorts. Not liking her deciding that we need to be up at 6 am :\ But it's working out I guess. We went shopping again :) Target and Sam's Club. She slept through it all, but mommy was sneaky and took her during her normal nap time :) That way she would go to bed at her sort of normal bed time :)

We also played with a new today :) As you can see in the pic above, but he video below is much cuter ;)

The many faces of Emilie :)

Mommy can't resist taking pictures of such a cutie ;) LOL.

Weekend is over :\

We had another busy day today. We went to the flea market, went shopping, came home and cleaned the apt. I can now see the bedroom floor again, which is nice, most of the clothes that have been hanging around i baskets or bags are now away. Floors have been vacuumed, etc. I'm exhausted. I think I've been up since around 4 am. She wasn't liking going back to sleep and when she did I had to pump. By the time I finished pumping and peeing she was awake again :\ So I got up and washed bottles, did dishes and fed her a few times.

I bought her some new clothes today, well not new but new to us :) Lots of baby clothes at the sales today. I spent probably around $15 dollars, but I got ALOT of clothes for that price :) In fairness $4 of it went to hats to donate in Keelan's name. So more like around 10ish spent on Emilie :)

We tried out her play mat today with her :) Not sure how much she sees of it, but it kept her content for a few minutes, which is all one can ask for some days :)

Busy Day!

So Jason looked up where to find some garage sales for us to go to. Somehow he missed the mile long one held in Binghamton today :\ Lol. But it was a fun day out none the less. We went to crack mommy's back and then learned NEVER to eat at Arby's again. It was $16 for just TWO meals.. For about $4 more we could have eaten at Friendly's! So lesson learned. Then we went garage sailing :) I bought Em a few things. A toy for when she gets bigger, some onsies, etc. Then we went to Babies R Us. Jason picked out an infant carrier. Yes mom and backpack for our baby. He's been wanting one, and so we used our gift cards and went and got one :) We spent a long time trying them on in the store. I was brave today and even nursed Em in the store while daddy was trying them on :) Then we got a few other misc things. Spent all the money we had on cards right down to 18 cents ;) Which was awesome since it was all things we've been needing, like more nipples, a new bottle brush and washable nursing pads :) She was in a cute dress today so I tried to get pics when I got home...she was somewhat cooperative :)




Oh did I mention she pooped ON me today! We were at our LAST sale. Daddy went in with out me while I stayed in the car...(which he also turned the car off and left us to bake! :\) But I was about to get out of the car and sit in the front seat and get my keys when she pooped all down the front of my shirt :\ Ofcrouse it had to be a leaky diaper at that moment. So I changed her, wiped me off and then moved into the front seat. I'm SO glad it was our last sale! I need to remember ot toss an extra shirt in the car !

Good Night and Good Day :)

Emilie slept for 5 and 1/2 hours last night straight! :) Jason and I made the deal that he takes the first feeding and me the second so that way we can sleep for chunks. Unfortunately someone last night stayed up for 2 hours after she slept that long :\ But then she slept for a few more hours until i got up with her to let daddy sleep more. I think he said he got 7 and 1/2 hours ? I don't count the hours. I think it would just make me feel more tired. I know how long she sleeps but I know it's not how long I get.

We're had a pretty good day together :) She nursed for awhile this morning but it wasn't as bad as normal. She then went down for her day nap around 11 and slept until 2! So I got some things done. I worked on the Thank You cards...which I got a little boring and they still aren't done :\ But overall it's been a better day than yesterday when she was getting a little frustrating. Lets hope this evening cont's to go well :)

She's 3 weeks old today!

Baby Development Week 3

So I missed the first two weeks, but thought it would be a nice carry over from talking about baby development in utero each week to what she can do now each week:

Your 3-Week-Old Baby: Cracking the Crying Code

Can't take the crying for another moment? Just stop, take a really deep breath, and listen closely: Your newborn baby is trying to tell you something.

Hard for an exhausted parent to believe, but not all or your newborn's cries are alike these days. Your 3-week-old baby now has different sobs to communicate different needs: short and low-pitched when hungry (accompanied by frantic finger sucking and rooting); intermittent fussiness and whimpering when bored; and continuous and whiny when uncomfortable or overtired. Learn by observation (and through trial and error) to tell them apart and respond accordingly, and you may actually be able to cut down on your baby's daily crying time. In other words, crack down on crying by cracking the crying code.

These days, your baby is also keeping busy (and keeping you busy) with lots of bodily activities, some entertaining, some not so much: spitting up (pretty soon you won't even notice that sour milk smell, or the yellow stains on all of your clothes and the formerly pristine little baby clothes), passing gas (what an adorable whoopee cushion you have!), and having explosive diaper blowouts (in case you haven't experienced one yet: they're the kind of BMs that don't stay put in the diaper).

And while older babies are known for their smooth complexions, three-week-olds definitely aren't. Among the conditions that may be keeping the skin your baby's in colorful but less-than-flawless: red zits and whiteheads (didn't expect those until middle school at least?), pink diaper rashes, flaky yellow cradle cap, and purplish mottling (not to worry — it's just a sign of your baby's immature circulation). Fortunately, all these skin imperfections are temporary (some like the pimples and mottling will go away on their own — others like diaper rash and cradle cap will respond well to treatment) — which means that clear baby skin is just around the corner (no Clearasil necessary).

On the developmental front, your baby is both more interested and more interesting. With improved concentration and focusing skills, your three-week-old is all eyes — and is using those eyes to take in his or her surroundings in a much more sophisticated way. Complex shapes will be more engaging than simple ones, so ditch the circles and bring on the zigzags. Another skill your baby's probably picked up: being able to track things as they move. Put this skill to the test by trying this experiment: Wave a scarf, soft toy, or a spinning mobile slowly around baby's head and watch as those eager little eyes follow every movement.

Getting into a routine :)

Today is a day of firsts for Miss Emilie ;) Today she didn't get a bath in the sling for the bath tub...but instead was right in the bath tub. She liked it at first...but decided she didn't later on. I think she will adapt though :) It was all new to her. Reason why...she decided when I laid her in the sling today to poop in it...so I cleaned out the tub, threw the sling in the wash and tossed her in the tub :) I think the water was a little cool to her liking. So tomorrow we will try again :)


Then my miss fussy was pitching a fit when I wanted to vacuum the floor. So I grabbed my wrap (which I need to make a longer one of) and tucked her in it. We did do it once before, but it was brief since she didn't like it. She fussed a little but as soon as the vacuum was on she just went all quiet and starred. no crying or anything! Yay :) About 5 minutes after I was done however...the fussing restarted :\

Here we are sleeping in the morning :) After a REALLY good night! We did three things differently last night and I think we are going to do them again to see if we get the same results :) We started a new bedtime routine which starts at 7:30. I massage her down with some lotion, dress her for bed, take her into the bedroom and feed her a bottle of formula while I sing :) Then she drifts in and out and each time we tried to put her in the bassinet. Doesn't always work. But she did go down around 9:30. We lay her in our bed and just kind of wait her out. If she can "see" us she tends to fuss less than if we just were to put her in the bassinet.
We also didn't run a night light in the room, so it was darker in there. And I covered her hands since she insists on having them out and they are always cold :)

(no mom I still don't put socks on her feet since she's swaddled).

Then I love her little sleeping expressions so here is video with some of them :) :)

We are definitly getting into a routine of sorts. She sleeps for 3-4 hours each day in the middle of the day. The morning is spent fussing and wanting to nurse on and off. Which gets tiring. She also wants to be held. But she only sleeps for about 15ish minutes, wakes, nurses, sleeps, looks around, etc. It's a cycle of some sort. Then she sleeps on her tummy around 1ish for 3-4 hours. When she wakes, she nurses and then the whole cycle from before her nap begins again. Especially around 6pm...she doesn't seem to like be put down, but on occasion we can get her to relax in the swing so we can eat :) I don't think she has her night and day confused since she sleeps for the longest times at night, not all at once, but up and then down...after her nap during the day she's not interested in sleeping for awhile agian. Which is kind of nice since its about when Jason comes home normally from work, so he can play with her :)

Last but not least Xavier and Cristina came to visit today :) My oh my how he has grown :) Still a cutie though! It was nice chatting :) Emilie even woke up for some of the visit :) Look at the size difference! Em is 3 weeks and Xavier is 3 months :)

Doc Appointment

So the baby girl had another appointment today. She's been going to the doc as much as I did while preggers with her, lol! She's no longer jaundice!!! YAY!! her numbers came back last week well within normal range :) So she's 100% healthy. Doc said we can still give her water but it's up to us. Also she suggested to con't with forumla before bed to help give her something more in her tummy at night, but also up to us. She goes back at the end of Sept for her first shots.

We also went to Walmart today to pick up her announcements ;) I'm hoping to get them in the mail by the end of the week, but be patient with me...she doesn't always give me down time...so it will depend on how tomorrow and Friday goes. Plus Jason needs to make out some of his own thank you cards :) I just got some of the apt under control today. Like by getting the laundry out of the living room (except the things that still need to be folded). But I'm working on it...

In the meantime enjoy the baby feet pic!!!

Oh and this video...I wonder if she will be an early crawler...also I love our pacifier :) She also loves it :) It's like a baby plug...hehehe

First Grocery Trip :)

Today we went for a much needed grocery trip. We went to price chopper since mommy wanted to make broccoli slaw and thats the only place to get the broccoli mix. Overall she was great! I did give her a bottle mid way through. But she slept or just looked around for most of it. It could have went better, but I know it also could have went WAY worse. The worst part of it is that I now have a car seat that needs to be cleaned AGAIN! Once home she hung out in her swing while mommy got the groceries up from the car and put most of them away. Then wanted another feeding and went down for a few hours, which gave me time to research a few things ;) Here are some fun facts I came across:

• Emilie's half birthday is January 29
• Emilie's birthstone is ruby
• Emilie's Astrological Sign is leo
• Emilie's Flower is larkspur or water lily
• Emilie was born in the Chinese Year of The Brown Earth Cow
• Emilie will start kindergarten in 2014, be old enough to drive a car in 2025, finish high school in 2027, and will graduate from college with the class of 2031, give or take a year.
  
• This time last year you weren't even pregnant yet!

Here are some more pics, since I know thats the only reason you come to the blog ;)



She has been spitting up alot recently hence the difference outfits...yes both of these pics came from today, and neither outfit was what she wore to the grocery store! Okay back to the spit up...I've just read that this time is about the time her digestive tract really kicks things into high gear...not sure what that means...I guess maybe it means the next time she poops on us we will be cleaning ceilings and walls too?? But at any rate, they say some spit up after every feeding is normal, as long as it' s not a WHOLE lot and projectile. If they spit up alot on occasion also not a big deal. So she's good to go :) We see the doc tomorrow for another check up. I would love it if THIS time they don't poke her heal mommy doesn't enjoy the procedure anymore than Emilie does :\

Finally Back Home

It's been a LONG week, to say the least! We went north for two things. Jason's grandmother passed away and a Jock family reunion. There also was a wedding, which we ended up not going to, just because everything was ALOT to try to keep up with. We weren't in town more than an hour when I found out my uncle was in the hospital. He was brought down due to a heart attack and needed the shock paddles three times before they stabilized him. So we rushed down to see him, be helicoptered from Malone to Burlington. We had some rough nights since my parents are redoing the upstairs, meaning this trip we were camping :\ So it got hard to get up each night from the floor to tend to Miss Emilie. Which she didn't do too bad. Her sleeping habits were about the same as home, so that was atleast nice :) Just mom and dad didn't get as much sleep. It was nice to have the extra hands during the day, but it was a very tiring trip...

we enjoyed the reunion and the other family visits. It was great to get to see everyone since it seems like we haven't been north just to visit in forever! I know many were disappointed that we didn't want Emilie to be held, but I'm glad we made the decision for her safety. I'm hoping that she didn't catch anything. We plan on going north again for possibly two weeks this november. By then I won't worry so much about others handling her and her getting sick. But until then Thank You everyone for being understanding :)

Here are some pictures from our trip north :)

Someone rides in a car VERY well :)
She sleeps and only wakes when she's hungry :)

Bath at grandma's is a little different than the bath at home :) But she still likes it!

Grandma HAD to get a pic with a doughboy in it :) lol.

This one isn't from the visit north, but from last night :)
She loves her bath SO much she actually fell ASLEEP last night!

What a Night :\

So our darling child wouldn't let me put her down yesterday :\ She wanted to either eat or sleep, but wouldn't sleep out of someone's arms. Not her normal I have to say :| On top of it I am sick...super worn down feeling and the beginnings of a sore throat...so I desperately wanted to try and get a nap...not happening! Well it did sort of. I laid her down perpendicular to me on the bed. Nothing was around her except her blanket, she slept and I drifted in and out. I can't say I felt better afterwards, but it did feel good to do it at the time :) This is when we say..."she's lucky she's cute"...


Since we are headed out of town today and won't be home for her two week birthday I REALLY wanted to get her in the tub :) Which her cord has long since gone so I did :) She LOVED it! She was super quiet and didn't fuss at all until I took her out, lol. I filled the tub right up to the tippy top with water so she would be soaking in it. I'm used to washing her hair over the sink so it was a little hard to do it in the bathtub but we managed. I even showered her with the sprayer...loved it all it! She's my little my little water baby...hehehhe...no wonder I had such an urge to go swimming while preggers with her ;)


So like i said above we are leaving today for a trip north. So what did Miss Emilie do to us last night...kept us up :\ She didn't go down until 10ish, which is normal. Then woke up at 1ish, 3ish and 6ish :\ Usually she only wakes up once in the middle of the night and then again in the early morning hours. The worst though was that at 3 she didn't want to go back to sleep! I gave her a bottle and put her down then went to pump. Jason came out while I was pumping to ask where the bottle was...she was awake again...and stayed awake for I think close to an hour AFTER I was done pumping.

It's going to be a long day, since we aren't even packed yet and have a doc appointment at 10:30. I also have to stop at a store breastfeeding supplies.

Oh and now that WE have to be up...guess who's fast asleep! I know, I know ... welcome to being a parent!

More Pics :)

Got another chance to sit at the computer today...so I found time to put up some more new pics ;) :)

Here she is with daddy :) He's not really sleeping since that would be a big no no ;) But Emilie is sleeping :)

Daddy thought these milk splatters were cute :)

This pic is another one that shows the difference in size of Kaitlin and Emilie. Although I don't really need the size comparison...I felt it when each of them came out, lol!

Just me and the baby today...

Daddy went back to work today. He's going back for Monday and Tuesday so he can take Thursday and Friday off. We were going to go north for a reunion but since Grandma Herne isn't doing so well we aren't sure of what we are going to do. We realized that in the past few years all of our trips up haven't been on the happiest of terms :\ It's a combination of me being on bedrest for months and people in the families just not doing so well. We are both hoping luck starts to change for everyone soon. But it's looking like our next trip will also not be under the greatest of circumstances.

So Emilie and I are chilling today. Mommy figured out how to nurse sitting at the computer, so she gets SOME computer time :) I know my back is not going to take much of it though :\ Still allows me to get a post up :)

So both grandparents have come to visit our latest addition. I love this picture! Ideas for the caption? Emilie's face is priceless!! I think she's saying "Who in the hell are you?"


My mother also asked for a picture of each of the girl's feet to show the difference in size between Kaitlin and Emilie. I probably would have thought of it at some point, but it was cool to see the difference and it really puts in perspective how little Kaitlin was!
Emilie looks like she has really big feet compared to Kaitlin's tiny ones :)
So daddy went back to work today, like I already said and he made sure he had a picture to take with him :)
This is his favorite. I think it's a good one. I haven't see all the pics he's taken yet to decide what my fav is ;)

Alright we are off to watch Dr. Phil and then maybe she will sleep long enough for me to clean something :)

Oh she had a really GOOD night! She slept for 4 hours, woke to eat and then slept another 5!! Way to let mommy and daddy sleep!

Oh almost forgot to talk about what she did to me last night!! So she still doesn't poop as often as I would expect. So last night I was trying to help her along by pushing her legs up to her belly, it helps them with gas too. She loves it, calms her right down. So i was doing that...all day I tried it and only got a little squirt of poop if any. And I mean a tiny squirt. Last night she decided to EXPLODE! She missed her diaper, got the bed, got my dress and my leg! I think she needs a onsie that said "warning contents under pressure!" lol. Jason had to pause his fights to come help me clean the mess up. But atleast she popped. She also now has gotten mommy and daddy :) Who needs a boy to make messes when changing diapers, when you've got a power poopper! lol.

Cute Baby Sounds

Took this while she was sunbathing :) She wasn't so happy with the idea today, but she was still cute enough to capture on video :)

Oh and here is a shot with a bunny. In a week we will take another to see how much she's grown :)

1 week old!

So the little stinker is one week old today. I have to say having her here feels more natural than anything. Like she was always here.

Here's an update (some of it repeats from the e-mail I sent out).

We are trying to move back to breastfeeding now that the jaundice seems to be better. She's still a little yellow in her eyes, but she's WAY more wake than what she ever has been and she's very much a little stinker now :) She poops way more than she was. Jason even twittered about one of her latest ones, lol.

I JUST had my 1st encounter with projectile diarrhea. It got EVERYWHERE. I swear to god she was aiming for me. All over me, all over the changing ttable, all over her diaper, all over the hamper, diaper pale, blanket, and a pile of clothes :(

With the breastfeeding though comes some devotion. I haven't been out of my chair for more than a few hours in the past few days. She nurses and nurses then sleeps for an hour or so, then nurses and nurses. But she's getting better at it I think and I know my milk production seems to be picking up.

In order to get more sleep at night we are using bottles at night. She knows how to do both and seemingly isn't have ANY issue with going in between them so last night we alternated. Since she's waking more frequently I get up every other time, bottle feed her and pump. If I tried feeding her we would be up for hours, where with the bottle she's up for maybe 20ish minutes and then back down :) But lately it's only for 2 hours then we repeat. Atleast if we alternate we get about 4 hours at a clip sleeping.

One set of grandparents have come and gone and the other set are on their way down as I type this. They will be pulling in later tonight just in time to see her off to bed. Jason is ready to do some UFC watching while grandma dineen keeps mommy busy while she nurses :)

We've told people if they want to visit to call and set up a time with us first. Also to be patient if we need to cancel it. It's unsure how one day will go to the next. But things are alright as of right now so we are hoping they con't to be "stable". It's a little tiring being a parent, but really I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm becoming more and more attached as the days go on :)

Last but not least...I want to say thank you to two internet gal pals who sent out gifts for Emilie :) Here she is cuddling with the bunny :) ;)

Sunbathing

I'm so proud of our little girl today :) I've been trying to get her to latch and try to suckle the breast and today she did one side for over 20 minutes :) She is still a little slow at it, but she did suckle and not fuss so that tells me she was getting something since she seems to be a girl that knows what she wants. I couldn't wake her up enough to do the second boob, so off to dreamland with her :) She's been eating so well and pooping that I'm not worried :)

Enjoy the video of her sunbathing :) I think she likes it, lol.

1st Meal Out :)

We went to the mall today and ate at Friendly's. Miss Emilie woke up and wanted lunch too, so she had her first meal out :) hehehe. What a stinker. I kind of like the fact I'm not exclusively breastfeeding. This allows me to be WAY more flexible. I don't have to worry about feeding her in public, etc.

Last night I learned why parents say they never thought they would get excited over poop, lol. She pooped again :) It was great! Then she did again today :) I'm hopeful that it will continue and we will out of the clear of jaundice soon :) Her skin to me looks pinker today, but her eyes still have lots of yellow in the corners. My milk has come in but still not enough to feed her as often as she wants. I'm thinking I will have to increase pumping sessions, but I'm not in a hurry to do that right now. I will have to ask some questions first to see how to eventually maybe get her back to the breast, etc. Now that my milk has come in it will help matters.

Nothing else is really new to report :) Here are some sweet baby pics :)

Emilie's First Docs Appointment

So I've been having problems with my back. Part of it has to do with the fact that when I get those aftermath contractions (because going through labor wasn't enough) my back kills me. Couple that with the weight of Emilie and I'm almost in tears each time I tried to breastfeed :\ Last night at 11:30 it was enough. I carried her into Jason crying it just hurt so bad and I cried while making a bottle of formula. I was so upset, she was upset, it was just upsetting! I felt like I had to give up and in many ways I still somewhat feel I do. But let me carry on.

So then she slept for 6 hours straight! I was so worried about her not eating enough I woke her up! We moved over to bottle feeding for today because I fear she's just not getting enough. Which her suck is terrible :\ She's a little slow and very dainty about it. So bottles work better. So I pumped and bottle fed along with some formula feeding today. We also called to make a docs appointment to check her levels.

The second concern is that she wasn't wetting enough diapers and hasn't pooped in a whole day now :\

Went to the docs...the doc tried feeding her too and said the same thing, she just might never breastfeed :\ But oh well. She is a touch jaundice looking and they are checking her levels. We have orders to give her 1oz of water a day, feed her every 3-4 hours 2oz, and let her sun bathe for 20 minutes 2 times a day. We go back next week for her to be checked again. She looks great in all other newborn areas :)

I guess it's one day at a time at this point :) Although the doc warned that I might be wishing she were this way in a week...lol.

Birth Story

Went in to the hospital around 7:30pm on the 30th.
They took awhile to get things going so I didn't get my first dose of the Cytotec until 9:30 pm. There were all the check in papers, etc. But once that went in I was monitored for 1 hour, so we watched Hot Shots. We went to bed. Around 1 am they came in to monitor the babe for 30 minutes and then gave me the second dose. At this point I wasn't dilated at all so I wasn't very hopeful. They again monitored her for 1 hour and then off sleep again with us.

At 5:30 my day time nurse came in and offered me a small breakfast of toast and decaf coffee. They started the pitocin around 6:30 am. It was at this time we learned that I was 3cm dilated and my water sack was bulging through. While waiting for the onset of labor and my doc we went for a walk around the floor a few times. When my doc came around 8ish she broke my water. This is when things REALLY kicked in then. The pain does get worse when they break the water, I was told this is due to the prostogladins in the amniotic fluid that is now washing over your cervix. I also had to stay in bed for a little while, while the fluid drained some...so it didn't allow me to move which hurts MORE! I learned that being able to move is a HUGE help. We soon moved to a stool that was on wheels. So I rolled it back and forth through each contraction. Trying really hard to focus on staying super relaxed, my cervix opening, and breathing in slow steady breathes. It was hard but it apparently worked since I went from 3cm at 6:30 am to fully dilated at 10:30 am.

At some point I asked for the bath tub to be filled, which I never got in since things moved far to quickly.

I did get some drug aid :\ At some point I felt really sick, which always turns me into a baby, then on top of it since the baby was having a little trouble we were stuck in bed again, so it hurt even more, etc. I even got sick a little at one point too, which should have been my cue THEN to how fast the labor was going. But in tears I asked for a little something to ease the edge of the pain. I don't remember exactly what they gave me. It was an IV drug and it didn't ease the pain like I had hoped BUT it did allow me to relax a little better in between contractions, which helped me get through each contraction. I was a little fuzzy headed feeling, but I was before they even gave me the drug so I don't think it had really anything do with it. Oh and as for the transition part I did mention that to a nurse at some point too...it was like a bulb went off and I was like...so this is that transition feels like?

Then the I feeling like I had to poop started, which was NOTHING like Kaitlin's birth! Holy cow did I ever feel constipated! I didn't even think of telling the nurses about it until they asked if I felt it after doing another exam where they found me to be 9 cm. I honestly thought I just needed to fart or something, lol. At this point they did page the doc.

The poop feeling just kept getting stronger. And I did "push" a little when I felt it. It's hard not to! When your contraction peaks it pushes on your anyways and it feels like you just really have a hard stool you want to get out. I think I even asked the nurse at some point if they were sure my problem wasn't I just really needed to poop, lol. (I blame the drugs for that one! ). They must have thought I was so funny with all my stupid comments, hehehe.

So at one point the nurse had me push some and then immediately told me to stop! They then frantically started looking for the doc. I told them to tell her to run The feeling to push was a little overwhelming I have to say. I remember Jason talking to me during each contraction which helped. I have no idea what he said, but it helped. Since they had my on my side and kept telling me not to push while they were trying to get anyone who could deliver the baby there. At what I would like to think was the last moment the doc walked in, thankfully



As soon as the doc was there and dressed they told me I could push...which I did on command I didn't wait for the peak of the contraction either. As soon as I felt it coming I pushed, and I have to say it feels good to push during a contraction when you get that point. Not that it takes the pain away, but feels different and not as painful (or so it seemed to me). Emilie was born seconds later I think it was 2-3 pushes, and one contraction Jason said it was like he was watching it with a strobe light going, you saw her head, then shoulders, and then all of her in abrupt steps with no pause. She came out screaming I cried as soon as I saw her So did my doc It was a great moment They put her on my tummy and I just feel in love

It seemed to take awhile to deliver the placenta. Which they let me see It was pretty cool looking. I'm always full of odd requests, lol so my doc wasn't even surprised I asked They even showed me the cord and it's three vessels.

With all of that, I ended up with one stitch. The doc even tried to stop the bleeding to see if I wouldn't need one, but I did. It hasn't really even hurt so no big deal I guess :)

We tried to breastfeed within the first hour, but when she was really getting the hang of it, it was time to go to the nursery. We then patiently had to wait for them to transfer me over to the maternity floor, etc. I think it took a few hours. But everything was a blur.

If I remember more details I will let you know, but I wanted to get everything down while it was still only fuzzy and not a distant memory