Lilah's firsts....

Lilah pushed herself from her tummy to her back twice while having tummy time today!!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~L I L A H' S F I R S T S~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3/16/10---Lilah's first pediatrician appointment
3/17/10---Lilah's first bath
3/18/10---Lilah's first walk (with mommy, daddy, and grammy)
3/20/10---Lilah started looking at toys/into mirror
3/25/10---Lilah first push over, tummy to back (2x)-12 days old
3/28/10---Lilah first time going to church
3/31/10---Lilah's first visit with the plastic surgeon
4/2/10 ---Lilah's first time taking probiotics/first mega puke on daddy
4/3/10---Lilah's first dinner out in public (Moe's slept through the whole thing)
4/4/10---Lilah's first Easter
4/6/10---Lilah's first time alone with daddy(mommy picked up dinner at Tapas)
4/7/10---Lilah's first time wearing sunglasses
4/8/10---Lilah got her finger tied AND held her head up for at least a minute in tummy time!
4/9/10---Lilah's first frequent sound; "gleh"
4/13/10---Lilah's first smiles
4/16/10---Lilah's first shot :(
4/24/10---Lilah's first Cherokee Naming Ceremony for her friend Chayton Marson-Rhodes
5/7/10---Lilah's first bottle
5/12/10---Lilah slept 8 hours (8pm-4am) and the ate and back to sleep (slept "whole night" )

Her tongue-tie...

http://www.aap.org/breastfeeding/files/pdf/BBM-8-27%20Newsletter.pdf

An answer to the breastfeeding woes!!

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/nipple-blanching.html

Fun first days home!

Meeting the kitties


Tummy Time with Daddy


First Bath

Lilah's not-so-very-birth-plan birth story....

Ok so we went into the hospital Thursday night @ about 2:30am with contractions VERY close together about 2-3 minutes, I was doing GREAT! Contractions had started at about 5pm. I had lost the mucus plug that morning and had blood show throughout the contractions. They took us in for testing to find (after 2 uncomfortable checks-one due to the nurses fingers not being "long enough") that I was 3cm and 80% effaced.....so they suggested that we walk....so we walked for about an hour and they were about 2-3 min apart still, feeling stronger, and it certainly wasn't as comfortable as home.
We chose to go in to the hospital due to wanting to make sure the baby was ok (which she was doing great!) and thought that contractions that were 2min apart and VERY uncomfortably painful was a good sign. Well the nurse talked to the on-call doctor (because our MW is on call friday from 5pm-sunday at 5pm) and he said that we could either stay or go home whichever would be more comfortable. We chose to go home--there we would have minimal interventions and we knew we could progress better there. They told us to come back when either the water breaks or the contractions are 3-5 minutes apart and I can't talk in between. So, very disappointed and uncomfortable we got all of our stuff, got into the car, I started to cry, and we went home @ 5:45 am.

When we got home we were so exhausted from not sleeping all night and I from the contractions, that we tried our best to get some sleep. What a HORRIBLE sleep that was! I would wake up with a contraction, but was so tired and out of it that I didn't know what was going on and tried to struggle through each one, trying to remember to relax, but much to late in the contraction to be beneficial. My body calmed down enough for me to get sleep in between, but short, uncomfortable spurts...I got up this am feeling tender and sore, contracting less often, about every 4 minutes, then fell back asleep between, woke up again to about 6-7 minutes apart, then got "up" and they are spaced pretty far apart (about 7-10 minutes). I was thinking "I CANNOT do this again!" 3 bouts of false labor and then the failed early labor where I was contracting at about 2-3 minutes (sometimes even 1.5 minutes!), getting checked, hooked up to the machine, pooing 50 zilllion times, and pacing the hospital hallways thinking THIS COULD FINALLY BE IT----to feeling tired, hopeless, and back to square one....all i could do was cry at that point. I was so tired and frustrated...and uncomfortable.

Well, after breakfast, the contractions then started to get stronger again! They never actually went away, but picked up again, about where they left off....only were coming on closer and MUCH stronger. We labored at home for as long as we could...we rested, used the ball, walked, swayed, showered, got on all fours, my hubby was the lifesaver by applying counter back pressure, and i just tried to progress and get through each contraction. They were getting stronger and I felt like it was time to go to the hospital at 4:45pm on friday--so we called the OB/GYN office to call our MW who would be on call in 15 minutes and headed out...to hit major friday night rush hour traffic. We finally got to the hospital and they put us in the room to see whether or not we would get admitted and found that I was STILL 3 (maybe about 4) cm dilated and 80% effaced. That was the progress in 13 hours?!?! I was so beyond tired at this point, still with barely any sleep, energy draining by the minute and being told that all the pain in my RAW body was a result of NO PROGRESS in the 13 hours...they told us to go walk. We walked for an hour an a half to be check at 8pm. I tried everything to get myself to relax, but was so beyond tired and losing control of my body that every contraction was a fight. I would tighten when i needed to relax the pain was raw and I wasn't progressing. My eyes were puffy, my body was beyond exhausted, my contractions were becoming raw, and I was starting to realize that I just couldn't relax. It needed to stop so I could sleep and recover or I wasn't going to make it, I wasn't progressing outside of early labor. I was given my options: the only option that I could see as a possibility was an epidural, which is the polar opposite from my birth plan...but i needed sleep, I needed to rest and relax and without those things, I wouldn't be able to have this baby. I knew what i needed to do for my body and they hospital was so supportive of my birth plan that they asked me several times if i was sure because it isn't what i wanted in my birth plan and even called my midwife to come and talk to me to be sure this what what i wanted. What a great hospital! So I went to get hooked up to the IV at 9pm and knew the sacrifice I was making...no tub and laboring and birthing in the bed. This was what i needed to do and i was sure and confident in my decision...so i did. Well epidural number one, while having contractions didn't take, I still felt every contraction which were getting increasingly stronger, but not closer together. The anesthesiologist was called to give me another dose of medication because this one wasn't enough, so he added more. Still felt EVERYTHING! The only thing he could think of was that somehow it didn't make it to where it needed to be and that we needed to do the whole procedure over again...so out came all the tubes and everything and we did it again! This time the epi and double dose of medication took and i was able to finally relax. I had made it to 5-6 cm and 100% effaced by myself before the epidural finally took effect! I was proud :) BUT EXHAUSTED! Although being told I was having Prodromal labor which is not very common, progress was made, the MW broke my water, and then I slept! 3am it was time to push! We were ready! About a half hour into the pushing we found out that the cord may be around her neck because her heartrate would plummet with every push and contraction. It went from about 150's to about 70 and they MW, nurse, and Brian would watch the monitor breathless until it went up again. My MW told me what was happening and that I needed to get her down lower as fast as I could or .....well I just had to give it everything. I pushed as hard s I could and she suggested pushing that hard, plus more and holding it longer than a 10 count, if we could get the baby down further, we could use the vacuum to get her out and avoid a c-section but we had to work as hard and as fast as we could. So I found the energy from somewhere unknown and knew i needed to get my baby out safe...I pushed harder, longer, and until my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my sockets....I COULDN'T HAVE CARED ANY LESS ABOUT POOPING on the table!! My MW, nurse, and Hubby were awesome! My hubby couched me through it all and my MW cheered on! She pointed out her head and that was all i needed! She showed me the little piece of my baby girl i needed to go all the way, my can of pop-eye spinach so to speak. I pushed and pushed and the team came in in a whirlwind! The doctor came in the with vacuum, the warmer was getting set up, and all i could say was that someone needed to get the moms, the once shred of plan i held onto....but there wasn't time! I needed to get her out as soon as we could. So I pushed, he pulled, the cord was wrapped around her neck and her hand/arm and he got it off her, couple more pushes , the lights were bright, i was tired....then there was a baby on my belly, my baby?! I had a baby! The cord was cut by a nurse and she was whisked away. I wanted things done on my belly, but she wasn't crying, I wanted my hubby to cut the cord, but they needed to check and make sure she was okay. I wanted to breastfeed, but I was getting stitched up from a mild tear up, down, and lacerations inside. SHE CRIED! She got 9/9 Apgar! She was healthy I was healthy---I was a mom, my hubby, a dad. Tears of joy and pride welled up in my eyes and euphoria spread all over. 3/13/10, at 4:44am my life changed for the better. Ms. Lilah Rose, the most beautiful and gorgeous baby I have ever seen lit up our lives. 7 lbs 6 oz 20 inches long and we are so in love. My life has never been better!
So our not-so-very-birth-plan birth story comes with one moral! Plans change, but in the end, you get the most amazing gift of all--a family---and a pride in yourself that no one can ever take away! And that is my Birth Plan!

feeling hopeless, just want to sit here and cry, my not-so-very birth story

Ok so we went into the hospital last night @ about 2:30am with contractions VERY close together about 2-3 minutes, I was doing GREAT! Contractions had started at about 5pm. We had lost the mucus plug that morning, had blood show, etc They took us in for testing to find (after 2 uncomfortable checks-one due to the nurses fingers not being "long enough") that I was 3cm and 80% effaced. I knew from the MW appt. that day that I was 2 cm and 80% effaced....so they suggested that we walk....so we walked for about an hour and they were about 2-3 min apart still, feeling stronger, but it wasn't as comfortable as home.
We chose to go in due to wanting to make sure the baby was ok (which she was doing great!) and thought that contractions that were 2min apart and VERY uncomfortably painful was a good sign. Well the nurse talked to the on-call doctor (because our MW is on call tonight from 5pm-sunday at 5pm) and he said that we could either stay or go home whichever would be more comfortable. We chose to go home--minimal interventions and we could progress better there, just to come back when were are "further along" So, very disappointed and uncomfortable we got all of our stuff, got into the car, I started to cry, and we went home. 5:45 am
When we got home we were so exhausted from not sleeping all night and I from the contractions, that we tried our bet to get some sleep. What a HORRIBLE sleep that was! I would wake up with a contraction, but was so tired and out of it that I didn't know what was going on and tried to struggle through each one, trying to remember to relax, but much to late in the contraction to be beneficial. My body calmed down enough for me to get sleep in between, but short, uncomfortable spurts...I got up this am feeling RAW and sore, contracting less often, about every 4 minutes, then fell back asleep between, woke up again to about 6-7 minutes apart, then am now "up" and they are spaced pretty far apart (about 10 minutes). I CANNOT do this again! 3 bouts of false labor, a failed early labor where I was contracting at about 2-3 minutes (sometimes even i.5 minutes!), getting checked, hooked up to the machine, pooing 50 zilllion times, and pacing the hospital hallways thinking THIS COULD FINALLY BE IT----to now feeling tired, raw, and back to square one....
ALL I CAN DO IS CRY! I can't do it again...I can't start over! The only thing i can think to do is walk...the thought exhausts me, everyone is bugging me and driving me crazy, and I am so very cranky, tired, and emotional! Is there such thing as temporary pre-pardom depression?

timing contractions....

well something must be right as the uncomfortable crampy contractions are coming about every 10 minutes now...timing them :)

We just got back from moe's and robeks for our 'walk' and are thinking to go try 'other things', although not sure if we need to at this point?

Can't wait to meet you bean!! xoxo

Progress....39 week appointment (@39weeks 5 days)

So went to see the MW today and she said i was 2 cm and 80% effaced. She stripped my membranes and said that I could go into labor if my body is ready within 12-24 hours. I have been having contractions that fade out in the past week and last night was the worst! I lost my mucus plug this am, so it really could be any time now. She also told us to go home and have sex and walk! LoL

Lost mucus plug, could this be it??

So last night i went to bed, having had B-Hicks contractions for the past day or so feeling rather uncomfortable over all. I was woken up at 11:45pm with the WORST pain ever! It was very sharp menstrual cramp pain that radiated throughout my whole lower stomach and was teeth clenching as I had no idea what was going on! I did some relaxation, but was just caught so off guard and drowsy/confused that teeth clenching was the quickest response. It last what felt like awhile and i tried to move, but it hurt, so I waited. Then I tried again, and although painful, I got up to go to the bathroom (felt a lot of pressure in my pelvis too, thought maybe I had to pee?). It still hurt and was a little less sharp and more crampy, went pee, went back to bed, was able to relax a little bit better through the last of it, and fell back to sleep. Waking up several times that night to sore, uncomfortable, crampy tightening all throughout the night. I was tired and didn't bothering timing them as they seemed pretty random, one or two with some lower back pain as well. I did NOT sleep well. It was very uncomfortable sleep-tossing and turning, achy and crampy tightening....just overall icky. Then I woke up this am with a lot of hip pain, overall uncomfortable and crampy/achy so i got up before the alarm. I felt like i had to poo again and had to pee, so sure enough, at 6:45 I went to the bathroom and lost my mucus plug. I am still getting contractions about every 10 minutes, some more uncomfortable/sharp than others, and tightening. I also have been to the bathroom 3 times so far this am...so this could be it...MAYBE. Or just another bout of false labor?!!? I certainly hope not I can't handle that again!

Could this be it? Or just more false labor? :(

Please baby girl come this weekend :'(

My midwife is on call this weekend, the weekend of my due date (and monday 5pm-tuesday 5pm)! But then not again for awhile...I need Ms. Lilah bean to make her appearance....I don't know what else to do, I don't want to be late simply due to this feeling like it SHOULD be the weekend .... I really don't mind if she isn't there but would certainly prefer it. She told me last visit that she would give me her cell phone number but her nephew just got in an accident, has a traumatic brain injury, is only 7, and her sister is a mess so she isn't attending births not on her call. She felt so bad she was almost in tears (we bonded and became very close over my pregnancy)....I really wnat her to be there, but am not a super anal mom-to-be that MUST have her there....but the combo of Lilah's due date, Mary (MW) only being on call this weekend, and me wanting to meet her so bad it hurts and i want to cry.....is KILLING me....

Letter to the bean

Ms. Lilah bean,

We can't wait to meet you!! We just want to hold you in our arms and see your beautiful little face :) You are making mommy and daddy very anxious; we are living day by day hour by hour, waiting on when you will be ready to meet us. As much as I love you in my belly, we want to meet you even more! Everything is all set and ready, my maternity leave has officially started and i am sitting around spending our time together, waiting to share the world with you :)

I miss you so much already and I haven't even met you yet!

So very much love,
Mommy (& Daddy)

Baby shower highlights!

I can't believe I forgot to post about the baby shower!

1/23/10 was a great day! Mom and a a bunch of helpers (Kristy, Colleen, Brian's mom, Liz, Dad, Joe, etc) transformed the garage into a pink Reduce, Reuse, Recycle theme party zone! It was awesome! There were balloons and the tables had decorations of flannel tablecloths (to be reused into flannel wipes and cloth diaper liners), plates and silverware, and the awesome gifties (a recycle magnet, chocolate Lilah bar, bookmark for taking a book from the shelf of reused books, and/or a picture frame).

We played games:
-Nursery Rhyme pictionary: (so fun, mom drew clues and people had to guess, if they got it right they got a card, if they said or sang it they got another card-cards were from the movie knocked up and used as 'points' to keep score)

-measure my belly: Diana from mom's work got the EXACT measurement and Rebecca from my work had the tiniest piece left, I'm pretty sure Ginny had me go around 2 and a half times LOLOL!

-diaper pin poo game: everyone got a diaper corsage when they came in and when we were ready to play the game they had to check their 'diaper' and see if there was a poo (2 raisins) in there!

-guess the M&M's in the jars: 2 different jars of M&Ms with a big chart on the wall of numbers 2 were correct (one for each jar) and you could only put your name in one space

-under the chair giftie: if you had a ribbon under your chair you got a prize

-present timer: while unwrapping presents we set the timer randomly and whoever's present I was opening at the time the timer went off, they got a prize

It was a really great time! Prizes were all recycled theme (reusable shopping basket totes, Reusable water bottle, eco-friendly light bulbs, plastic bag saver tube, etc), wrapping paper used for some gifts was recycled or newspaper, mom passed around cloth diapers to show people what they are like NOW, and food was great!

Thanks everybody what a PERFECT and WONDERFUL time it was!

39 weeks

Well baby girl, we have made it to passed 39 weeks! You seem to love mommy's snuggly tummy and are definitely going to take your full 40 week stay, maybe even an extended stay. You are more than welcome to stay in there as long as you like, BUT we want to meet you and hold you so badly! It is getting harder and harder to wait lately as we are so ready to be your mommy and daddy, kiss your toes, and make you smile :)

any time you are ready we are here for you and ready to show you the world!
SO SO SO very much love,
Mommy & Daddy

38w MW appointment!

Woo-hoo we are making progress!! Everything looks great with the bean (good heart rate, size, etc) and I am 1-2 cm dilated and 50% effaced!! YAY!

False labor can kiss my patootie!

Okay so we had our second bout of false labor last night from 2am-5:30am with contractions 6-7 minutes apart consistently and it triggered giving me a stomach ache :( couple poohs later and uncomfortable contractions later, they tapered off after a couple hours. UGH ....