Hellobee Boards

Lily Alise was born this morning April 28 @ 7:15 am 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches! After water breaking I labored from 830ish pm til just a bit before 6 am an hour and a half of pushing and out she came! Epidural definitely saved me! More details to come for now going to enjoy my beautiful baby girl!

@Nskillet: CONGRATULATIONS on your outside baby. I love her name, and I so glad that you're happy with your birth story. Can't wait to see pictures. Hope this first week is a good one for you.

@msmini: In that case, I hope you hear nothing from the pediatrician.

@winniebee: So glad you got an excursion today. YOU DID IT! You kept the little boy cooking until 36 weeks, like some kind bed rest magic.

@Mrs.M57:Can't wait to hear your birth story. Welcome little girl! Great name. Congratulations!

In my news: BEST RESPONSE EVER:
On facebook today I posted: I want a cookie, and a massage, and new arms.
A friend said she'd make cookies. So, on my sitting rest, she came over with dough already made, brought chairs in my kitchen so I could stay sitting, we had cookies and some coffee, and then I went for my daily walk (that I'm still allowed to do).
Can you believe how sweet that is? She lives 35-45 minutes away, and still did that for me!

Well, I think we are safe, we went for the bloodwork 7 hours ago, and no word from the paediatrician! Yay! I must head back to my house full of 9 guests, so I will be back to post and reply to everyone on Monday at the latest.

@winniebee: yeah girl! You made it to 36 weeks!! Awesome job!

Can we do a re-check of everyone's due dates? You know, for the girl who just popped in here recently?

@Mrs.M57 and @NSkillet: Congrats you two! I am so excited for the both of you! I cannot wait to read the birth stories.

@pastemoo: Your friend kicks ass! What a sweetheart.

@MsMini: So good to hear the news about your LO's bloodwork!

@mediagirl: I'm due May 1st. Baby will be born no later than April 30th though.

My stomach has not been happy today. I pray that means impending labor. I've just been feeling blah. I keep having period like cramping and sharp back pains, but I know it is not true labor.

Have a good weekend everyone! Look forward to reading more updates.

@nskillet - congratulations! can't wait to hear more but glad you are both doing well.

@msmini - did you find a binding helpful around your incision or is it best to leave it uncovered for air circulation? I have heard some people say it feels better to have a wrap or bandage holding it all together and was wondering what your experience has been. And will you be using any scar cream to help the healing process?

@MsMini: NINE guests? Have fun, take care of yourself.

@duckduckkristen: Maybe? I started have crazy difficulty walking and my friend took one look at me and said he definitely dropped--so maybe? @aunt pol--I couldn't walk through mine either.
@duckduckkristen:That cake sounds soooo good. Happy birthday to your husband!

@mediagirl: May 21
@aunt pol: Me, too- I'm so surprised everyone's early. I have a feeling I'll be around awhile!
Only 6.5 pounds? I'm jealous. I'm at 38 pounds!
I am looking forward to shedding--I feel like my whole body is fuzzy now and the hair on my head is thick but now it s duller than usual.

And again, yes, my friend rocks!

@Mrs.M57: baby girls sharing birthday!

Doing well today! Sore but moving around wonderfully. Abbey is doing a great job nursing. She has a little symptom of jaundice but nothing major her blood sugars have been perfect.

Yay for birthday twins!

@duckduckkristen: I have a lot of pain in my pelvis too, but only right when I stand up. After a minute or two of moving around, it goes away. Especially if I have been sitting a long time... sometimes when I stand up my legs give out! Weird!

@winniebee: I am so happy for you and how far you have made it, and of course for your great attitude you had the whole time. I am sure strict bed rest like that is extremely hard but you were such a trooper and did exactly what your baby needed.
All this talk of your braxton hicks contractions though has me wondering if labor is just super far away for me--I have not felt a single one!

@Nskillet: So glad you and baby are doing well! Good job mama!

@mediagirl: I am due May 13. Doctor says that if I am at least a bit dilated by 39 weeks (May 7) that she will induce me because of my high BP. However, I have a feeling I won't be dilated at all by then because I just don't feel ANYTHING... and my bump is still super, super high!

@aunt pol: I think my bump is starting to touch my steering wheel too--how funny! I can't believe how little weight you have put on, especially with twinnies!

@marriedandlovingit: It's been half a day since your last post, are you having a baby right now???

So yesterday I walked the mall and even walked up several escalators. In Nordstrom, I kept going up and down the levels so I could get extra trips up and down the escalator....apparently climbing stairs is supposed to induce labor? I even walked around downtown, went to a farmer's market, and then went for a long evening walk with dog and hubby. Then we DTD last night. Still, NOTHING! I feel energized, my bump is high, my vagina feels relatively normal.....it's kind of freaking me out like I am going to be pregnant forever. UGH!

@Mrsdaredevil: No labor yet! Come on baby!! I know how you are feeling about wanting labor to start/not wanting to be induced. Keep walking like crazy and dtd. Both are good for you and make you feel good regardless, right?!

@winniebee: 36 weeks is a great milestone. I can't blame you for wanting to lay low until your appt on Tuesday. Hope your OB tells you that everything looks good!

@mediagirl: Thank you!

@aunt pol: The hair loss afterwards grosses me out! I shedded a ton in first trimester. I can only imagine what postpartum will bring.

I have a little bit of cleaning I need to get done before we head to the hospital this evening. I only have 5 hours to go into labor myself before I head there to be induced. It's looking pretty unlikely that will happen. BOO. Hope all of you are having a good Sunday. Take care!

@aunt pol: I am looking forward to losing some of this crazy belly hair, but my head used to shed like crazy before I got pregnant and I am NOT looking forward to that again!

@winniebee: So happy for you! Can't believe it's been 6 weeks. You've done so well and have had such a good attitude!

@Mrsdaredevil: That's exactly how I feel too! The pain is right when I stand up and sometimes it's so bad I feel like I'll fall over, but it goes away after being up for a bit.
I didn't have ANY BH or anything until about a week ago when DH and I had sex and then I got really bad BH and I've been getting them every day since. Then they got worse after I saw my midwife on Wednesday and had my cervix checked. And that was the day I also started getting the pains in my pelvis. Any time I do any significant amount of walking now or DTD I get pretty bad cramps, so I guess it's working? Even if nothing is happening, the exercise is still good for you and so is quality time with DH!

@marriedandlovingit: Good luck! Hope the induction goes well and you get to meet your LO soon!

My bump feels sooo tight I don't know how this baby could possibly get any bigger!

We also finally installed the carseat and realized it's a bit big for my car. I have a small car (Honda Fit) with a tiny back seat, and I'm tall so I sit pretty far back, so the carseat will only fit in the middle and it rests on the front seats a bit. Uhhgg. I was hoping to keep my car til we had a third, but looks like we'll need a new one once I get pregnant with #2! I don't even think a smaller infant seat would work since there is so little room back there!

@marriedandlovingit: Aww, good luck at your induction!

@duckduckkristen: Oh. I am nervous that it won't fit in our new car--we have a small backseat, too. Sigh.

@goldilocks: oh, scary with your BP. I hope it goes down!

Yay! I get to reply to page 29. Finally caught up!!!

@Mrs.M57: Welcome Lily Alise! congratulations!!!!

@pastemoo: awwww best friend award for that!

@aunt pol: do you really think the hair loss will happen? when? no change for me yet.

@MsMini: I have been freaking out about 1 or 2 houseguests at a time. 9?! Crazy.

@winniebee: Horray for completing your bedrest! You already deserve the best mom ever award.

@Mrsdaredevil: I'm sure you just can't feel the BH due to your tight abs. And don't worry: I had no symptoms and suddenly within 8 hours I went from nothing to having a baby on my chest!

@MsMini: that ap sounds great. I am super old-school with the paper and pen. It's really annoying in the middle of the night when I have the baby on the boob and I reach over to record the time and the pen falls on the ground. Also, I'm always asking 'what time is it?'. I thought I needed a watch...maybe I need an iPhone!

And now I'll catch you up on me and my life with baby Nico!

So, I was really headstrong about being an independent, successful new Mom and I am going to toot my own horn here: I've done awesome. I wake up in the morning and get pretty and clean while I go and eat breakfast and take care of the baby. I decided to go to work on Thursday to teach dance. I had Nico in the sling-wrap and all worked out really well (he just sleeps in there). And it was dance recital weekend and I made it to all 3 shows (Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening) and was able to be in the wings for all my dances to help the little kids with remembering their dance and just to watch and support my older gals. Nico slept in the sling-wrap again the whole time (but there was one moment backstage where he made a little sound during the most quiet song ever and I got really worried that he was about to wail.....but we were safe).

So today was my first day to have nothing to do. It was actually hard for me to slow down my super-mommy pace and my husband had to give me a bit of an intervention talk. I was indeed being a bit of a psycho perfectionist. I think I'm back to normal now.

This morning I had my bath (glorious 2nd bath in 9 months, since I was too afraid of cooking the baby when I was pregnant due to my love of hot water) and I touched my lady bits for the 2nd time since the birth. And.....they felt normal!!! Like, totally normal. Sitting here now I admit they are a little achey, but I am quite pleased with the progress. I might ask DH to take a look tonight. No one has looked since I left the hospital the first time. I was so used to getting checked twice a day, I've been a little wondering about the 'down there' progress since then.

Nico lost his cord stump this weekend. Cute little belly button now! I'm doing a great (okay, maybe perfectionist crazy) job of documenting his entire life in photos and posting them onto my facebook with comments for all my friends. I plan to keep it up.

I never told you gals this yet, but I meant to: (haven't told anyone in real life and I don't think I will....it's just too weird). Okay, so after Nico was born, over the next 3 days every time i looked at him, in my head I called him 'Julian'. It was so bizarre! Julian wasn't even on our list of names. I have no idea where it came from. But we had by that point already told everyone his first and middle names. I didn't want to mess with the system. But I also felt really wrong like God/the baby's spirit was telling me his name or something and I was ignoring the message. I've always heard stories about people who took one look at their baby and changed their mind about the name. I never believed them. Now I do. But we're sticking with Nico. I hope I haven't like messed him up for life for not calling him by the name that came into my head. (I was fighting that name so bad, but it just kept coming into my head when I went to 'talk' to him). Sigh. Okay, now I feel better that I've typed that out. Isn't it weird?! I will have to eventually tell DH.

I also wanted to talk about post-p hormones. I told you about my can't-stop-crying session upon re-admittance to the hospital. Since then the crying has levelled off, but I am so easily moved to tears when I hear a song that makes me think about Nico or if I try to sing him a song about how much I love him. It's kindof sweet. The other hormonal thing I noticed was that I had really bad night sweats. And my MIL told me that the same thing happens to her because of menopause. I would be so uncomfortable feeding Nico in the night because I'd be all damp from my sweating and yet feel freezing cold. I learned to feed him, change him, and then change my own pajamas. That helped a bit. Last night I decided to just wear my bra and pants and I felt much better....or maybe my hormones are just levelling off.

Waking up throughout the night continues to scare me. When I go to sleep I hope that it won't be so bad. Honestly it has gotten better every night. At first I was really delusional when I woke up...sometimes thinking my cat was my baby, and other times thinking the baby was on my chest when he was actually in his crib. I also would get sooo tired. Two nights in a row, around 3am I gave up and co-slept (giving up mid-breast-feed, and not changing his diaper). But I would like to report that for the past 3 nights I have made it through the night shift successfully. I find if I go to bed at 8pm it helps, because although I only sleep for 1-3 hour increments, then I get enough of them in throughout the night to feel better. Yesterday I additionally took a nap at 4pm. So, even though I have been getting so much better at the whole nighttime thing, I know I will still feel a little sense of dread when the shift begins: worrying about how I'll make it through.

Breastfeeding is getting more normal. I'm still worried that Nico might not be gaining enough, but I'll have another weigh-in next week and hopefully I'll feel better about it. He had gained on Friday's weigh-in. I'm starting to be able to breastfeed around other people. I've done it a few times. The trickiest part is getting started because I need the nipple to be exposed enough for baby to get it, but covered enough that it's not on public display. Plus, Nico isn't always very good about getting down to business right away. Sometimes he struggles for a while, or plays (it seems).

I'm really looking forward to Wednesday, as it will be my first time at the Early YEars Centre with the under 12-month group of Moms. Can't wait for Nico to meet all of his new girlfriends!

Got to go: apparently Nico is sucking on the quilt. Time to get that baby a boobie. Hope everyone is having a good, restful Sunday!

@cvbee: Oh my goodness, what an amazing mama you are! It's so funny, because I have had it in my head that I am going to be a "super mom" after my baby is born too... running all over town and doing all the things I couldn't do while I was on bed rest. It is amazing that you are already feeling good enough to go to dance/recitals... you really are a trooper! I have so many friends who stayed in their house for several months after giving birth, so GO YOU!
I am happy for you and the normal lady bits news. I was terrified of the thought of my va-jay-jay being ruined/puffy FOREVER! Glad to hear it goes down relatively quickly.

Thanks for the breastfeeding resource, I will definitely be checking that out! Funny how you noted about the whole breastfeeding in public thing... I always thought about how awkward it must be at first and embarrassing to do in front of people when you don't have the hang of it!

So the days leading up to labor, you didn't feel different at all? No extra pressure or extra sore down there? I have been walking like crazy lately and I swear I don't even feel pressure!

Update: at home BP reading went up to 134/85, so DH and I headed to the hospital to get checked out. The folks in L&D were super nice and got me situated in a triage room and hooked up to the monitors quickly. And what was strange is the BP in my left arm was 135/85, but when they checked my right arm, it was 139/85. I got to hang out at the hospital for 2 hours while they checked my urine (no protein!) and ran blood work (all normal!). So no pre-e for me right now. And this morning my BP was down to 126/78.
They told me to call my OB this morning to find out if she wanted to see me earlier this week (my appointment isn't until Thursday), but they didn't think there was any cause for alarm. And that I should keep taking Tylenol for my headache and checking my BP 1-2 per day to make sure it stays down.
Being hooked up to the monitors also confirmed what I'd thought - I haven't been feeling any contractions, but the baby really enjoyed kicking the monitor so that showed up on the chart!

And . . . drum roll . . . full term today!

@volksgirl64: I found out my GBS results yesterday when I was hanging out at the hospital. They told me I was "positive" - so I'm not sure what your "isolated" means. Maybe the show was from your internal on Friday? My OB said that can cause it sometimes because the cervix gets irritated and blood vessels can pop.

It's the city-wide garage sale in our town this weekend, so DH and I are going to see if we can find any deals on some of the items we have left (and on a patio set for our new house - closing is on FRIDAY!).

I am starting to go crazy! I went on two walks yesterday, have DTD every day for like five days in a row, AND I am bouncing on my stupid ball.... I don't feel anything! I have so much energy and I don't feel like baby wants to come out.
I DON'T WANT TO GET INDUCED NEXT WEEK!!!!!