The Long Haul

Lane's First Birthday

2015-08-24T21:20:00.001-04:00

Happy FIRST birthday to our first baby!

Lane is: 12 Months

2015-08-24T13:42:00.002-04:00

Stats:
-22 lbs, 11 oz
-32"
-wearing all 18 month clothes
-at 11 months and one week he completely stopped army crawling and just decided to only knee crawl one morning. He hasn't stopped since.
-We are still on two naps a day, but I think those days are numbered.
-Lane will fake laugh when everyone else is laughing.
-He will usually wave "hi" when you ask him to.
-For the most part, he is only nursing 2 times/day and has snacks and meals in between.
-Bedtime is at 7 and wake up at 6 or 6:30 still.
-He had to get his blood drawn to try and figure out his (STILL ONGOING!) diaper rash/sores. It was awful.
-He was in disposable diapers for the last week or so of the month- I decided to treat for a yeast rash on the advice of some friends... the dermatologist and pediatricians never mentioned that. It is starting to look a lot better! We used a homemade cream combination of equal parts: polysporin, lotrimin and hydrocortisone.

Lane is: 11 Months

2015-08-24T13:36:00.000-04:00

Stats:
(no official measurements again)
-Started moving into 18 month clothes
-We did a little more sleep training to get rid of the 12/2 am wake up since the teething shouldn't be bothering him anymore. We also eliminated the early morning wake up/nursing session (4:30/5 am), but now we are up for the day around 6 am instead of 7.
-Morning nap has gotten shorter (about an hour) and then he fought the afternoon nap for about a week. After that week it got shorter (down to about 1.5 hours instead of 2-2.5). After the week, his afternoon nap did go back to 2-2.5 hours. It seems like he might be moving in the direction of just one afternoon nap.
-Lane is nursing 3 times/day now- first thing in the morning, after the afternoon nap and before bed.
-We introduced snacks this month, replacing the after morning nap nursing session with a snack of cheerios or a pouch instead- much more convenient for on the go and errands!
-Still pulling up a lot, army crawling and butt scooting all over.
-Lane got a shorter hair cut this month and looks so much more like a boy than baby!
-He has had a diaper rash since THANKSGIVING! now. We have been to the pediatrician twice, been on topical antibiotics, oral antibiotics, been to the dermatologist, gotten a topical steroid. Nothing seems to be helping so far. It is so frustrating because it looks so painful and it seems to bother him!
-He will clap and say "yay!"
-This month was also Lane's first Christmas! He seemed to enjoy it, but not really understand all of the presents and activity.

Lane is: 10 Months

2015-08-24T13:28:00.001-04:00

Stats:
(no official measurements this month!)
-in 12 month clothes still
-Lane's first tooth came in 11/13/14, just over 9 months old- FINALLY!
-Tooth #2 came in 11/24/14 and the top two teeth are moving down as well
-This month Lane started waking up pretty consistently between 12 and 2, about when his Motrin would wear off. He gets a medicine top off, nurse, cuddles and back to sleep until he nurses in the morning.
-He started standing and pulling up on everything
-We went to Virginia for Thanksgiving and the night before Thanksgiving was his worst night ever- worse than when he was a newborn. Lane and I ended up sleeping in the bed together, but he was just rolling around and crying, I think we slept maybe an hour or two tops. Nursing, singing, reading, clothes/diaper changes- nothing worked.
-Thanksgiving morning Lane was in his first Thanksgiving family 5k! My sister pushed him in the stroller so that I could run.

Lane is: 9 Months

2015-08-24T13:22:00.001-04:00

Stats:
-22.9 lbs
-30.75"
-in 12 month clothes
-started army crawling at 8 months + 1 week (one day after our floors were put in!)
-butt scoots all over the house
-went down to nursing 4 times per day: 5 am, after morning and afternoon naps and before bed
-had another cold :(
-lots of talking and babbling!
-eating a lot (1/2 bagel, 3 pancakes...)
-bedtime is at 7 pm still!
-waking up at 4:30/5 am to nurse and then back to sleep until 7ish

Lane is: 8 Months

2014-11-05T20:59:00.001-05:00

Stats:
(at home/approximate measurements)
-18.5 lbs
-30"
-in 9 months clothes and starting to pull out the 12 month clothes
-We started breakfast this month, so Lane is now eating solids for 3 meals a day, in addition to nursing every 3-4 hours.
-Lane is sitting up a lot and much more sturdy than before!
-In addition to sitting, Lane has started spinning in circles on his belly to follow up around the room, or find his toys. It is only a matter of time until he is crawling!
-Naps have been going SO WELL and we are on a real schedule finally. Nap #1 is 2 hours after he wakes up in the morning (around 9 AM) and nap #2 is about 3 hours after he wakes up from the first nap (around 1 PM). I turn off the lights, turn his fan on and we read a story in his sleep sack, then into the crib. He will whine and fuss a little (sometimes) and then goes right to sleep. Naps are about an hour + in the morning and 2+ in the afternoon.
-He has started waking up a little earlier in the mornings to nurse. It is now closer to 4:30 or 5 am, but he goes right back to sleep and sleeps until 7.
-Since we ditched the pacifier last month, he will spit it out now if I try to give him one. I have seen him suck his thumb for a couple of seconds when calming down for a nap.
-Lane is babbling a lot- mamamamam, dadadada, blahblahblah. Nothing seems to have any real meaning or connections.
-Every single time I sing "You are my sunshine" to him, he starts grinning and cheesing at me.
-I have started back to work part time from home. I go into the office on Tuesday mornings and then work 10-20 hours from home. When I go to the office, John stays home with Lane and works remotely for the day. It's fun to see John have full responsibility, even if for only a morning a week.
-Since I am back at work, I am pumping once while away. I pumped for a week or so at home to get enough for a couple of bottles while I was away and then once in the office. I only get 1-2 oz/session (from both sides!) so it took me almost a whole week to pump enough for two 4 ounce bottles. UGH. I bought a manual pump to stick in my work bag. THAT THING IS MAGIC! I get SO much more from it (4-5 ounces!) in less time (10-15 minutes)! He is still not very good at the bottle and really only ends up drinking one full bottle while I am away.
-My first day back in the office Lane started FINALLY sucking out of the straw cup. We had been giving it to him for a couple of months and he would play with it, but didn't suck. Finally he drinks water out of the cup.
-I think Lane might have had his first real bout with teething. He woke up screaming bloody murder a few hours after going to sleep. He was miserable and nothing calmed him until the Motrin kicked in. No teeth have popped up yet though!
-Speaking of being miserable, the same couple of days that Lane was having teething pain, he also had a cold. And so thoughtfully gave it to us.

Lane is: Seven Months

2014-09-30T14:27:00.000-04:00

Stats:
(at home/approximate measurements)
-17.5 lbs
-29"
-Lane is now fully in 9 month clothes and I actually bought some fall/winter stuff in 12 months because I don't think 9 months will last very long! :(
-Naps started going okay- maybe a half hour or 45 minutes in the morning, around 9 am and then a couple of hours in the afternoon around 1, but usually he wakes up after a half hour or 45 minutes and has to be convinced to go back to sleep for the rest of the nap.
-At night, Lane is passed out asleep by 7 pm and then sleeps until 4-5 when he is ready to nurse. After nursing he typically goes back to sleep until 7.

-This kid is now officially sitting up on his own! Still not very steady, but he does it! I keep a boppy behind him and hover to make sure he doesn't face plant :)

-Lane and I spent a week in the Outer Banks with John's family while he stayed home and worked on the house.Lane was not a fan of the ocean- I held him and every time a wave came toward us he would turn his head and bury his face in my shoulder. He had a blast having his cousins around all day every day, but his sleep did suffer that week. I think it was being in a new place- he pretty much refused to nap except in bed with me (and they were short!), or sometimes on the beach. At night he wasn't getting to bed until 8 or so and then would wake up around 3 or 4 crying. I would nurse him to get him quiet and then he would sleep until 6:45 in my bed. Not ideal but it was just a week.
-After vacation Lane's naps were not so awesome again and he took to sleeping on me again. Boo!
-ALSO the wake ups to replace his pacifier had gotten out of control- I was up 4-5+ times a night just to plug him back up. So.. I re-did cry it out, but without the pacifier this time. The first night it only took 20 minutes of him fussing to fall asleep without it. AND HE DIDN'T WAKE UP ALL NIGHT. Amen.
-Every night since he has fallen asleep as soon as I put him in the crib and then sleeps until 4-6 when he is ready to nurse. He nurses and then goes back to sleep until 7 (usually).
-We kept on going with food and also introduced shrimp (shellfish) and peanut butter with no allergic reactions. Thank goodness. Lane loves grape tomatoes, grapes, peanut butter, cheese, meat... He has definitely gotten better at eating and swallows much more food. He loved the sight of his tray coming towards him and shrieks and gets a huge grin on his face. He is going to eat us out of this house soon..

Lane is: Six Months

2014-09-30T13:46:00.000-04:00

Stats:
-16.6 lbs (50%)
-28" (95%)
-Head is 17.5" (75%)
-Wearing 6 month clothes, though probably moving into 9 months soon
-Still breastfeeding

-At 5.5 months, on 7/21, Lane had his first "meal"- carrots, green peppers and peaches. He mostly just sucked on them. For a little bit he just had supper with us and then started having lunch when I ate also. Once he realized that he could have food, he would be upset if we ate in front of him without sharing!
-We skipped over purees and started right with finger food (Baby Led Weaning). He has had: taco/turkey meat, sweet potatoes,cucumber, watermelon, applesauce, shredded cheese, cheese stick, zucchini, bread, wheat bread, avocado, grilled ham steak, broccoli, cauliflower, banana, quesadilla with tilapia cheese and onion, rosemary and garlic grilled pork chop, dijon sauce on broccoli, parmesan orzo, scrambled eggs and toast, creamy turkey and rice, green beans. So.. clearly he eats what we eat. Haha! At first he did a lot of swishing his hands in the food and then licking his hands. Eventually he started raking the food toward his face. He is able to grab sticks (cucumber, broccoli, etc.) well and eats a bunch of that.
-While he doesn't eat a ton of the food yet, he apparently gets enough because we have made the great poop change. Yay.
-At exactly 5 months old we did Ferber/cry it out while at my parents' house. He didn't want to sleep anywhere but in my arms or in bed with me. So, it began. It took an hour of crying for 3 nights in a row and then twenty minutes of light crying for a few more nights. His crying at bedtime had changed too before I started- he was mostly just pissed off crying, not sad, which made it a LOT easier to leave him to fall asleep. Doing this was a life-saver. Bedtime was no longer a struggle!
-We switched Lane from the pack and play into the crib. I had been resisting setting up the crib until he was in his permanent room, but decided to just go for it since I'm sure the crib is more comfortable than the pack and play.
-Another miracle happened this month.. he napped in his crib without convincing! Maybe a side effect of crying it out? or possibly a 6 month growth spurt? Just before 6 months old, Lane fell into a 2/3/4 schedule on his own (wake up, nap #1 is 2 hours after wake up, nap #2 is 3 hours after last wake up, bedtime is 4 hours after last wake up).
-We finally kicked cradle cap! This showed up around a month or two and I had been using coconut oil and scrubbing his head. It was pretty bad, so the doctor suggested using Head & Shoulders. Boom. After a couple of months of that all remnants of the cradle cap were gone.

-We also visited Daddy at work for family day!

Lane is: Five Months

2014-07-23T07:41:00.001-04:00

Stats:
-At home (approximate) measurements:
16.5 lbs
27.25"
-Still all breastfed
-Had his four month shots and his sleep was interrupted with a couple of nights that had a wake up in the middle of the night, but then he went back to sleeping the whole night, usually 10 or so hours from 7 or 8-5 or 6.
-Lane outgrew the bassinet and started sleeping in the Pack n Play in our room.
-We were handed down his cousins' old Jumperoo and he LOVES it. Lane has always loved standing andloves being able to jump around in the Jumperoo.

-This month Lane has started drooling and ton and always has his hands in his mouth. We don't see any teeth showing up yet though!
-3-6 month clothes have started getting a little short and we moved into 6-9 month onesies
-Still blue eyes- maybe they will stay!?
-Lane's cradle cap has started getting a little better with our use of Head & Shoulders. His hair is also starting to grow back in on top and it is lighter than I thought it would be!
-We took Lane's second trip to the lake for the Fourth of July. John, Lane, Lucy and I all went down for the weekend and then John and Lucy went home Sunday while Lane and I stayed at the lake for the next week. Lane went swimming for the first time and was pretty indifferent to it- he wasn't scared or angry though!

-The week we were at the lake was the week before Lane turned 5 months old. It was a crazy explosion of development- he started getting things into his hand and then mouth purposefully, smiling and talking a LOT more, giggling and lifting his head a lot higher than before and for longer periods of time. I felt bad that John missed it all and like I was bringing a new baby home!
-Lane also moved to his own room! We moved him from our room to the guest room since we don't have any guests scheduled for the foreseeable future and it doesn't look like John and I will be moving out of our room (the future nursery) anytime soon. Lane was going to sleep earlier and needed his own room.
-I started signing to Lane, mostly just "milk." He understood it within the week and he grins and reclines himself when I ask if he wants it- LOL. A few times he's also made a fist and stared at it and me like he was trying to figure out how to make the sign.
-This month we started letting him lick some foods from our hand- apple, carrot, banana, watermelon. He goes crazy for the watermelon and banana.
-On Father's Day, Lane went to his first baseball game! (Unfortunately.)

Lane is: Four Months

2014-07-23T07:24:00.000-04:00

Stats:
-15 lbs 9.5 oz / 60%
-26.25" / 90%
-Still 100% breastfed with a couple of pumped bottles a week
-This month we had a visit from a physical therapist for an Early Intervention consult for torticollis. She said he looks alright and he doesn't qualify for EI. She gave us some exercises for his neck and scheduled a follow up appointment to confirm that he is getting better and not worse.
-Around 13.5 weeks Lane started lifting his hear all the way up at tummy time (instead of just face planting and being pissed that he was on his stomach).
-Lane still has blue eyes!
-This month Lane was sleeping for 8-9 hours straight pretty consistently (usually 8 or 9 until 4-6). At 14 weeks he slept 10.5 hours straight! (8-6:30)
-At 14 weeks we also had his first trip to the lake in Virginia. Just he and I went and we left around 7 am- he slept just about the entire 5.5 hour drive down! We stopped once briefly for a diaper change and quick feed and then continued on.

-At 14 weeks Lane also started sleeping in the bassinet for naps and at nighttime (instead of the Rock n Play).
-This month Lane was wearing 3-6 month/6 month clothes.

Lane is: Three Months

2014-05-21T11:36:00.000-04:00

Stats:

-13 lbs 9.5 oz
-approximately (by my tape measure, LOL) 25.5"-26" long (whoa tall!)
-Still just breastfeeding, taking a bottle 3-4 times a week of pumped milk when I go to my workout class at night
-Around 9 weeks, Lane all of a sudden became more efficient at nursing- moving to 12ish minutes/side instead of the 15-20 he had been doing. Then around 9.5 weeks he went to closer to 10 minutes per side and by 11 weeks he was down to around 9 minutes per side. I was actually worried at first that I was losing supply because he was finished so much quicker and around the same time he also started pulling and fussing around while nursing- turns out he got more efficient and went through a growth spurt at the same time!
-This month Lane also started pooping a lot less- woo hoo! Instead of every diaper, he is now down to 3 or 4 times a day- progress!
-He nurses every 2-3 hours the day, sometimes 4 hours during nap
-We phased out the 0-3 month clothes toward the end of the month and are now fully in 3-6 (or 6 months depending on the brand)- he got too tall for one pieces in 0-3.
-Lane still has blue eyes!
-At 9.5 weeks, Lane had record nights and slept for 7 hours straight (9-4) and then 8 hours straight (9-5). It also seems like he is starting to sort himself out with real naps instead of just cat naps all day long. He has been taking 2-3 cat naps in the morning, anywhere from 15-45 minutes, and then a longer nap in the afternoon, 1.5-3 hours.
-By 11.5 weeks, Lane was pretty consistently sleeping 6-7 hours for his first stretch and then would nurse and go back to sleep for another 3-4 hours, waking for the day at 6 or 6:30 happy and ready to go. He also started to go to sleep earlier at night, pushing bedtime to 7:30 or 8.
-Around 12 weeks he started sleeping 8-9 hours straight as a standard and even had one night of 9.5 hours straight!
-9.5 weeks had our first bath without screaming!

-This month we also had Lane's first holiday-Easter! He also went to church for the first time and did pretty well. I wore him in the Moby and he pretty much slept the whole time.

-The best part of this month- at 9.5 weeks Lane started SMILING SO MUCH! He makes eye contact and smiles and giggles. I can carry out conversations with him and he chats back. It is the best! I was a little worried because everything has said he would begin smiling between 6-8 weeks and he wasn't and was just so serious all of the time.
-Lane had his first cold this month- he was stuffy and coughed a little. I Nose Frida'd the heck out of him with saline and within a week he was all clear. Thought it might have been allergies but apparently babies cannot have seasonal allergies- who knew?

A Day of Remembrance

2014-04-16T19:32:00.001-04:00

4.16.07

We will neVer forgeT.

We ARE Virginia Tech.

The First Two Months

2014-04-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Lane
We have been blessed with such an EASY baby. (I am afraid saying that will jinx myself.) He never had days and nights mixed up, he has never had a problem latching or nursing, and I would say he sleeps really well for a newborn. I am just going to say that the easy baby part is to compensate for the horrible hospital experience.

So far we have just been taking Lane's lead with sleeping and it has worked out really well. Around 7 weeks, he started to clearly tell us he needed an actual bedtime that was around 8:30. In the last two weeks we have been doing that and even the last couple of days he is moving closer to a 7:30 bedtime. Since he has been going to be earlier, he more consistently has a longer first stretch of sleep, then one wake up and then up again 3-4 hours later- at around 5:30 or 6 am. Usually I have just been getting up for the day at that point since I prefer to be up earlier and Lane is happiest that time of day. Naps are starting to get more defined (yay!).

Me
I have had a really good c-section recovery. I was never really too sore, other than my incision. I was able to stop taking pain killers about a week after surgery. The only hiccup was around 4 and 5 weeks when a portion of the incision popped open (just the skin) and was bleeding a little bit each day. A little bacitracin and gauze each day, and it was healed a week later.

Nursing has gone so well. I don't know if I have just read so many horror stories, but I was really prepared to have to fight with breastfeeding. Then when we couldn't do skin to skin right away, couldn't try latching ASAP, and Lane was started on a bottle and then pacifier before breast... well I thought we were doomed. Not so. Every time he has latched right away and he hasn't had a problem. My milk luckily came in, thanks to the pump, and so far my supply has been able to keep up with him. I was worried for a few days this week because he was yelling and pulling on me, but I think it was just a growth spurt since he had a good amount of pee diapers still. I am SO GRATEFUL that this is working out.

I've started running again and thankfully it is coming back a LOT quicker than I expected. I haven't run since I think September. My first run out I was able to do a full mile (and honestly probably could have gone more, but I held back). My second run was 2 miles and I still felt good. YAY! I was dreading doing Couch 2 5k again since it is such a long program.

Lastly... I am back on the Weight Watchers train. Last winter/spring I had lost over 20 lbs on Weight Watchers before I got pregnant. Pregnancy weight was.. rough. I was pretty good until 3rd tri- I got so swollen and gained a ton of weight. I stopped weighing myself, but I believe I gained around 60 lbs. Yikes. By my two week postpartum appointment, I had lost about 15 pounds, and at 6 weeks postpartum I had lost 25 total. SO... I have around 35 pounds to get to my pre-pregnancy weight, plus another 15 or 20 on top of that. So far so good- I have lost about 3 or 4 pounds in the last 3 weeks.

Life

We are all still adjusting to our new life. Lucy is always beside her baby, Jaq is pretty indifferent and will sniff Lane and lay on me while I nurse, but doesn't lay with him on purpose.

John is still working in the house 7 days a week so at some point maybe we will feel more like an actual family of 3! Ha! I do look forward to the next baby when I won't feel guilty handing it off to John on weekends or after work.

The house is coming along- this winter has been a lot of interior wiring and plumbing that doesn't look like much but takes a long time. We should be able to get the rough in inspections soon though! Oh and our new hvac will go in soon too! Then... Drywall and insulation- that's when it will actually start to look like a finished house!

However; in general, I have not felt as much in the "right place" as I do now, since I moved to Virginia and transferred to Virginia Tech. I am just.. content and happy and loving where we are right now..

Menu Plan Monday

2014-04-14T13:04:00.002-04:00

Monday
Zucchini noodles (made using this neat-o thing that my cousin posted a meal- this one!-using) with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, cheese and chicken sausages

Tuesday
Sweet potato gnocchi in a sage cream sauce with shrimp and garlic roasted broccoli

Wednesday
Tacos/taco salad

Thursday
Pork BBQ sandwiches
Salad

Friday
Pizza night! - my half will have mushrooms and onions, John's will have pepperoni
Caesar salad

Saturday
Enchiladas with turkey (and probably a ghetto-rita!)

Sunday
Easter- John's family dinner

Lane is: Two Months

2014-04-12T21:41:00.002-04:00

Stats:
-12 lbs 3.5 oz, 50% (it blows my mind that he is almost FIVE pounds more than at birth)
-23.75", 75%
-Still exclusively breastfed
-Nurses every 2.5-3 hours during the day
-Decided around 7 weeks that he needed an actual bedtime that is around 8:30 every night. We change his diaper, swaddle, nurse, back pat and put him down. His first sleep stretch is typically around 5-6 hours. He then sleeps another 3 or 4 hours until we get up for the day. He is now also starting to get into more standard naps (though his preferred nap location is still on me. Ugh- working on that.)
-Still sleeps in the Rock n Play next to our bed. Every time I try the bassinet, he wakes right up.
-Goes easily back and forth between breast, bottle (both wide mouth and regular nipples), and pacifier (Soothie and Mam)
-Is in 0-3 month clothes still, though he goes go in some smaller 3-6 month clothes
-In the last week or so, Lane has started to actually smile. There isn't really any consistency to it and they are far between. We will work on it.
-We crossed the following specialists off of our list this month:

ENT (passed his re-do hearing screening)

Plastic Surgeon (had circumcision and good follow up)

Had a good hip ultrasound from being breech (no follow up required!)

-Lane is still in cloth diapers. Around 7 weeks I switched him over to one size pocket diapers. The newborn AIOs weren't big enough anymore, though the prefolds and covers still did, and he was fitting into the pockets, so I just went for it.
-His eyes are still blue!
-Lane still hates bath time, though he tolerates it if I hold him and bathe/shower with him.

Lane Is: One Month

2014-03-14T14:23:00.001-04:00

Lane is one month old!

Stats:
-9 lbs 2 oz (yes, this is a gain of 2 pounds in 3 weeks.)- 50%
-22.25" long (2" since birth)- 75%
-Exclusively breastfed
-Was in newborn clothes until 3 weeks and then moved into 0-3
-Still has blue eyes
-Nurses every 3ish hours, day and night.
-Will take or leave the pacifier- both Mam and Soothie styles.
-Sleeps in the Rock n Play next to our bed. He spits up a decent amount and when I inclined the bassinet mattress he would just slide to the bottom. Plus I think the Rock n Play is a little more cozy for him.
-He has started waking up more- he has awake periods during the morning and afternoon/evening. We do tummy time and read books. Sometimes he will just sit in the Rock n Play or Boppy and look around, often flailing his legs and arms since he hasn't yet realized that he has control of them.
-I have seen a few almost smiles.
-We got the all clear from the cardiologist and can cross one specialist off of our list. This is one area I am glad he doesn't take after me in!
-Lane has been in cloth diapers since just before 2 weeks. Right now we use newborn sized prefolds and covers during the day and newborn All in Ones overnight.
-He likes riding in the car and falls right asleep as long as we are moving.

Baby H: Birth Story Pt 3

2014-03-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

After Lane was out, they took the baby to the warmer to check him over real quick. I was able to turn my head and see (kind of) and then they eventually brought him over to my face so I could see him. John held him and we got our first family picture. I had an ugly cry. (Seriously so bad. I am not a crier. I NEVER expected to cry when the baby was born- at our wedding we just stood there and cheesy grinned at each other.)

After we got our pictures and I was cleaned up, they took the baby to the warmer and John followed him to the nursery for the first tests and weighing, etc. I was wheeled in my bed back to the delivery room to recover.

Then.. I laid there.. For hours? With nothing.

In the birth class, it was very clear that the hospital is very pro-breastfeeding and the baby is brought to mom ASAP for skin to skin to to attempt breastfeeding. I had nothing. I was laying in the room by myself staring at the TV and watching Family Guy at this point. It was awful. Not what I expected at all.

Eventually John came back and told me that Lane was having trouble breathing, He was doing a fast breathing thing and needed to stay in the nursery. We had no other information. I had no baby.

Around 11 or 12 we decided that we needed to let our parents know that the baby was born. We had been trying to wait for more (positive) information about the baby, but it had been a long time since we told them the surgery was going to happen.

Shortly after we called them, I was brought to a recovery room for the rest of the stay. (I was starting to be able to wiggle my toes! YAY!) At this point, John was back and forth to the nursery. He couldn't get any real information and the nurse's just told us to sleep.

WHAT. I can't go to the nursery since I have no legs, have an IV and a catheter and I can't get any information about my newborn baby! Obviously since I hadn't even held him yet, they were bottle feeding him formula. When I was first checking in, they had me fill out a form about breastfeeding, etc.- yes, we are breastfeeding, no pacifiers, if formula is needed, please use a cup not bottle. I still have no idea why he needed the formula and why they wouldn't let me try to breastfeed, or even pump for him.

I did not do much (any?) sleeping that night. No one ever came to give us any sort of update about the baby. John was turned away from the nursery. We had nothing.

Wednesday

Around 5 or so AM the nurse came in and I had another ugly cry about the baby. I hadn't seen my baby other than the couple of minutes in the OR! I hadn't even held him yet! She volunteered to take my ipod and take some pictures of him in the nursery and try to get an update for me. She came back with the pictures and told me he was still having trouble breathing/regulating his breathing. I asked if skin to skin or anything would help.She went back and came back to me with the baby.

We got to do skin to skin and latch him for about an hour or so and then Lane was taken back to the nursery. At this point (though we didn't find out until later), he was taken and officially admitted to the NICU. We only found out because John went back to check on him later and Lane was not where he used to be.

At one point in the morning, the NICU pediatrician came in and started talking to us about stuff as if we already knew.. UM NO. NO ONE was telling us ANYTHING TYVM. It turns out, they had given Lane an XRAY... yeah, no one told us. I understand that things might have had to happen quickly, but as his parents it would have been nice to at least have been notified... I was just so stinking frustrated.

One of my friends mentioned getting a pump to start pumping since we weren't able to breastfeed yet so I could start to establish a supply. DUH. WHY had no nurses or anyone mentioned this to me yet!? I was not thinking clearly and I would have thought someone would have thought to help us with this since EVERYTHING we had filled out since we checked in said we were going to try and breastfeed!

Around 3 pm they took out my catheter and let me wheelchair to the NICU. Then one of the nurses yelled at me for touching him.Cue another ugly cry. His breathing sped up when I was touching him- apparently the touch can make the babies over compensate or something? I don't know.. she could have been nicer. Again- so frustrated- I was a new mom and seeing my baby for the second time and everything I did was wrong, not helping, and I had no idea really what was wrong or going on.

The rest of the day and night was filled with trips back and forth to the NICU (walking now!) to touch the baby and get updates.The nurse in the NICU that night was SO DIFFERENT than the day nurse. She asked if I wanted to hold him as I was just staring (because touching was apparently a no-no). UH YES PLEASE! Once I was holding him she asked if I wanted to try breastfeeding. AGAIN YES.

Possibly the scariest moment of my life came next- as he was nursing (no problems latching!) he started gagging and then wasn't breathing. I panicked and the nurse came over and suctioned his mouth and then said she needed to suction his STOMACH. I couldn't watch. The sound was horrific. The baby was gagging and crying. I was crying. Ugh.

Even after all of that, she let us come back all night every three hours to bottlefeed him what I had pumped and then formula.

Thursday
Thursday was just back and forth to the NICU for feeding. In the morning, the NICU pediatrician said we could try breastfeeding for 5 minutes only before feeding what I had pumped and then the formula.

The NICU started Lane on antibiotics on Thursday also, saying that he needed them because I had been group B strep positive. My understanding was that only I needed the antibiotics but the doctor said he needed them as well. They hadn't started the antibiotics until late Thursday because even though the chart said I was positive, someone said I wasn't. Just another stupid miscommunication/bad coordination. The antibiotics needed a certain amount of time, so that meant we definitely weren't leaving Friday.

Also- giant snow storm that had Maryland all in uproar. It was actually kind of surreal being in the hospital for the whole storm.

Friday
Friday was Valentine's day. At this point our days were just on repeat. In between our NICU visits, we took advantage of the hospital's cable and watched a lot of TV- the Olympics especially.

Late Friday morning when we went to the NICU for Lane's feeding, he had been removed from the warmer since he was able to maintain his own body temperature. He was still on the monitors though (heart rate, pulse, lungs). The move to an open crib was still progress though!

John went home to check on the house and shovel out our driveway since we were expecting to go home on Saturday at some point. We also wanted to make sure we had heat still! Our awesome neighbors had already snow blowed the driveway! John also stopped at the grocery store for more bananas (LOL) since we were plowing through them in the room.

When he came back, he came into the room... with Lane in his crib! And Lane had flowers for me too. It was the first time we were almost like a normal delivery. Lane was still on (mobile) monitors, but we had our baby in our room with us and we could feed him and do what we wanted with him.

Friday night's NICU nurse was awesome. She gave us the baby for the whole night. We had to bring him back by 5 AM-ish for shift change so no one knew he was out of the NICU. LOL. It was so nice to have Lane in our room all night and night have to haul to the NICU to feed him every three hours.

Saturday
Saturday was our day. I had to be discharged since I had reached my 4 day insurance limit. I was just praying that Lane could leave with us. I couldn't imagine leaving him at the hospital.

We got to keep Lane in our room (with the doctor's approval this time!) all morning and late morning the doc came in and told us that he would be discharged with me!! We were only waiting for the pediatric cardiologist to come from Northern Virginia to evaluate him (the NICU doc was concerned about Lane's circulation, especially since I had open heart surgery as a baby- even though we had already had a fetal echo and everything was fine). The cardiologist didn't get to the hospital until around 3 pm, so we just had a lot of waiting around all day. The cardiologist ended up being the same doc that did Lane's fetal echo. It was awesome. As soon as we got the all clear from the cardiologist, we were outta there!

Also- just thought I would throw this in there- 38 week pictures :)

Baby H: Birth Story Pt 2

2014-03-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

John had loaded all of our bags into the car, moved the carseat and base from my car to his (we hadn't installed the base in his car yet- our inspection wasn't for another week!). We got in the car and looked at each other. Then John turned on the CD player- Metallica's Enter Sandman came on. Any Hokies recognize the significance of this- it is played before/as the football team comes onto the field at all of our games. It is a big GET PUMPED song. LOL. I (again) almost started crying.

Once we got to the hospital, we went to the front desk (bonus for delivering during the day- we didn't have to go through the ER) and they told us to go register. That took a lot longer than I expected it would, especially since while I wasn't having an emergency c-section, it was definitely a little more urgent than a planned surgery. Eventually we were escorted upstairs to the maternity wing.

I was weighed and brought to a room to change into a gown. Then I was stuck in bed. My nurse hooked me up to my fluids and eventually antibiotics (due to my heart stuff and I was group B strep positive). Then we just had a lot of sitting and waiting (and starving! I hadn't eaten since 7:30 am!).. My doctor came in and told me it was probably going to be 5ish when I went into surgery- once that came and everyone could get assembled it would be go time. The anesthesiologist came in at one point too to review the spinal with me (ugh). Other than that, we did a lot of TV watching (the hospital had cable!). Somehow, we haven't had cable for over a year, yet every single episode of My First Place that came on, I had already seen. Awesome.

Also- apparently I was having impressive contractions. The nurses thought it was crazy that I had no idea.

I also spent a lot of time reading the room service menu- I hadn't eaten in SO LONG!

After a lot of watching the clock, it was eventually 5 PM. And nothing... 6 PM came and someone came in and told us that there was someone else who was delivering twins and they needed to make sure she could have her c-section first, so I was pushed back more. Probably closer to 7 or 8. More waiting.

At 8:30, they came in to get John dressed in his scrubs. The anesthesiologist and a nurse got me out of my bed and walked me to the OR. John had to go in a side room and scrub while they did my spinal. That was the worst part- ugh. The spinal freaked me out SO MUCH. I HATED IT. I hate puke and the doctor told me that a lot of people puke, so I was petrified of that. I was trying to do positive visualizations to make myself feel better (beach in St.Lucia, and running and crossing the finish line) but the dang nurse kept talking to me! LADY LET ME BE IN MY OWN HEAD!

Eventually (it felt like YEARS!) the spinal was in and they laid me down. Pretty quickly I lost feeling from my chest-ish (?) down. I HATED IT. I can't say that enough. I kept feeling like I needed to fidget/wiggle my legs, etc. and I would try and couldn't. I eventually kept just telling myself to not even try because that freaked me out more.

John came into the OR and was told to stand by my head. They tested me to make sure the spinal had taken effect. I did feel something, but I think it was just more pressure than pain. Then... there was a lot of tugging, an awful burning smell (John and I both thought it smelled like the dentist when they sand down your teeth?) and more tugging. It felt gross. I just couldn't think about what was going on. I honestly have no idea how long this all went on for- I tried to just zone out.

Soon the doctor and nurses were saying that they saw the legs and they knew the sex. They asked if John wanted to say what it was- YES PLEASE! He wanted to confirm first though, so he looked over (yup- saw all the guts) and then looked at me and told me it was a BOY!

I was.. shocked. I wanted a boy but had convinced myself it was a girl (so I wouldn't be disappointed if it was a girl?). The doctor's asked the name..we told them the name and they asked if there was a middle name- I looked at John but he had forgotten which middle name went with which first name, so I called it. Haha.

Lane Vincent was born at 9:07 PM on February 11, 2014. He weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20.25 inches long.

Baby H: Birth Story Pt 1

2014-03-11T20:45:00.000-04:00

Now you see why I never had a 37 week post until now?

On Tuesday 2/11, at 37 weeks exactly, John and I went to the perinatologist for one last ultrasound to confirm that the baby was still breech before scheduling a c-section. For all of the ultrasound appointments, we were lucky enough to schedule them for 7:30/8 AM and then we had a little ritual of stopping at Dunkin Donuts and then heading our separate ways to work.

This ultrasound showed what we expected- the baby was still breech despite my four chiropractor appointments, laying upside down, etc. The baby seemed to look fine- we saw it practice breathing, etc. Once the tech left and the doctor came in, they discussed the baby's fluid levels- they had been low 3 weeks earlier (7/8 out of 20- anything above 5 is "normal"). Today the tech measured them at 7ish again, but when the doc went to measure, he only could find 3 or 4.

After confirming everything else, the doc turned to us and asked what we were doing that day. John had his notebook in his lap and was making lists of stuff to buy for the addition construction. We looked at each other and said we were about to go to Dunkin and then work. The doc said, "No you aren't." Both of us assumed he would just want to do a little more monitoring to see if they could find more fluid since the tech had seen more.

Then the doctor said, "What do you think about having a baby today?" Um cue me pooping my pants. We were expecting to have another couple of weeks!

The doctor explained that at this point, the baby was 37 weeks (basically full term) and had done basically all of the developing. With the low amount of fluid there was more of a chance of the baby squishing the umbilical cord since there wasn't much to keep it floating off of the cord.

The doctor actually sounded pretty urgent and wanted me to get to the hospital ASAP. I had a cheese stick and coffee in the car on the way to the appointment at 7:30 am though and before the surgery I wouldn't have been able to eat for 8ish hours, putting us at a 4-5 PM delivery time. While the two of us sat there staring at each other freaking out, the doctor called my doctor and left messages for her. After that, the peri sent us on our way and told us that my doc would call me to give us any details.

So.. I got back in my car to head home instead of to work. (Good thing we had done all of my project hand offs the day before!) I called the office and my boss to let them know that I wouldn't be in (LOL) and John headed to his office to get his work computer. I called my mom (no answer) and then my dad to let them know that yep.. today was baby day.

On my way home, the doc called me and told me to report to the hospital between 12 and 1 PM. That gave me like 3 hours to do whatever I needed to at home. Once I got there, it was a mad rush of random spot cleaning and packing. Luckily, I am an anal list maker and had lists for what we needed to bring and what I wanted/needed to do before going to the hospital. Those couple of hours passed in a blur of shaving my legs on the tub edge, and scrubbing the tub as best I could at the same time, sweeping/swiffering, washing dishes and running the dishwasher, changing the bed sheets, etc.

We also paused right before leaving to take this picture that turned into the 37 week picture.

Soon it was 12 and we were ready to make the 20 minute drive to the hospital...

37 Weeks

2014-03-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

(Spoiler alert- the baby has been born! I am just now catching up on these posts and a "birth story" is to follow! This post was for the week of 2/9- yep, a month ago.)

How far along: 37 weeks (missed 36 weeks- we had a big snow storm and lost power for several days..)

How big is baby:

A winter melon- what is a winter melon!?

He's practicing some skills: inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking.

He's getting his first sticky poop (called meconium) ready for his first diaper.

Stretch marks/belly button: Yes stretch marks, belly button is still an innie (though barely..)!

Sleep: Not so hot. I'm wicked uncomfortable in bed and it takes a lot to flip/flop around and readjust myself. PLUS I have to pee so much.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really... still a big fan of Swedish fish, Berger cookies and Reese's Puffs, but those could just be because I am a fatty in general, not necessarily cravings..

Movement: Yep. Not as much- I think Baby is running out of room.

What I'm loving: This is my last week of work... crazy. I am going to be wrapping up all of my projects/handing them and all of my brain power off to others and clearing my desk.

Symptoms: I am huge. I feel a baby moving. Etc.

What I'm looking forward to: Having a a week and a half or so off at home to clean and organize before the scheduled c-section. I have been keeping a running list of things I want to tackle/deep clean.

How I'm feeling: Coming to terms with a c-section. I had a fourth chiropractor appointment to try and flip the baby and nothing is happening. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday to check the baby's presentation and then at my OB appointment Thursday we will formally schedule the c-section, probably for 2/25 or 2/26. I prefer 2/26- an even number and it is more visually pleasing :)

35 Weeks

2014-01-28T21:22:00.000-05:00

Dog tail photobomb.

How far along: 35 weeks.. holy crap.

How big is baby:

According to The Bump- a cocount!

Now, his hearing is fully developed, and he responds best to high-pitched noises.

If it's a boy, his testes have probably fully descended.

Stretch marks/belly button: Same as last week.

Sleep: Fine. I even had one or two nights that I slept through! I do wake up all sweaty (which is a feat considering we haven’t had heat- just space heaters- all winter and it was in the negatives overnight this last week) with my hands wicked swollen. My knuckles actually have been hurting, which I am wondering if it is just the blood from the swelling settling in my knuckles.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Nah.

Movement: Yep. It definitely isn’t as jabby as I was expecting for this stage- more just rolly and soft. I guess there isn’t a ton of room for movement.

What I'm loving: I am pretty meh this week. I guess I am loving the fact that everything is organized. The car seats are in and we have seat inspections scheduled. Now if only we had a dryer so I could wash and dry the baby clothes…

Symptoms: Same as last week... also add in crazy exhaustion. I am seriously more tired than first tri.

Also.. I've been having some cramping. Nothing in waves or timeable, so I don't think they are braxton hicks or contractions.. just uncomfortable cramps. The OB checked and I'm not dilated at all either.

I am swelling like crazy now too. The last few weeks I would be a little swollen (feet) at the end of the day. Now? I take my shoes off at my desk at like 10 am and see the shoe indents on my feet. I walk around the office with no shoes and put my feet up in a chair across from my desk as much as I can. My face is also clearly swollen. Sweet. Hopefully this means I can blame some of the weight gain on water weight.

What I'm looking forward to: Our new dryer should be delivered the week of 2/3ish. I can’t wait to wash and dry baby clothes and then feel so much better.

How I'm feeling: Blah. On Thursday we had a 34 week (+) growth ultrasound. It was supposed to be the last, but we found out that the baby is still breech. Also, the head is in the 95%+ while the rest of the body is normal (maybe slightly large) range. The fluid level is supposed to be between 5 and 20 (whatever the units are) and mine is 7-8 depending on who measured. So while the fluid is in the normal range, it is relatively low which does not provide much opportunity for the baby to move. They had us schedule another ultrasound in 3 weeks to check the baby’s presentation and if it is still breech, we will have to schedule a C section for 39 weeks-ish.

I am most likely not a candidate for a version (the doctors basically forcibly rotate the baby) due to the low fluid, so my options are some sitting exercises/stretches and old wives tales type things.

Don't look too closely. I've given up cleaning due to construction.

I’ve also heard good things about Webster method chiropractors- checked at my doctor's appointment today and she is good with that, acupuncture and massage, so I am going to try the chiropractor ASAP.

I had been recently getting into mentally preparing for birth and all that comes with it, and coming up with some sort of a birth plan/ideals, so this just feels like a kick in the pants.

Other than being blah about the baby’s position, I physically feel good. My pelvis/undercarriage gets sore/achy if I stand or walk too long, but duh, there is 5.5+ lbs of baby sitting on it and gravity is not helping things out.

And just for funsies... a comparison shot of 5 weeks, 15, 25 and 35. Yow.

34 Weeks

2014-01-26T19:56:00.002-05:00

How far along: 34 weeks

How big is baby:

The Bump says that I currently have a butternut squash inside of me.

He's recognizing and reacting to simple songs, if you're singing them. (If you're not, start! He may find them soothing after birth.)

He's also urinating about a pint a day.

Stretch marks/belly button: Yup.. still have stretch marks. I think they are kind of slowing down. It seems like there was one week that they all popped up and then since then there hasn’t really been anything new. Belly button is still an innie, though shallow.

Sleep: Okay. I am mostly interrupted by the need to pee and usually once a night I will need to take some Tums.. Heartburn itself doesn’t seem to wake me up, but when I wake up and need to pee, the heartburn is there and I won’t be able to get back to sleep without a couple Tums.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really. Maybe Swedish fish still. No real aversions either.

Movement: Yes, lots. Especially at night time after supper when I am just sitting on the sofa. I can see my stomach bumping around and wonder what the HECK it is doing in there.

What I'm loving: At my doctor’s appointment I was able to ask a couple of questions about delivery that I’d had and the doctor/practice seems to be on board with what I was thinking. Yay! I was nervous since I do lean a little more crunchy than typical and I wasn’t sure how it would play out with a standard OB office.

Oh.. and since my shower was Saturday (more below!) I feel so much more prepared! And my mom and I went to Babies R Us on Sunday and finished out some of the registry stuff that I wanted to buy (car seat!) so that pretty much all my baby purchases are complete. We are going to go to Ikea this weekend and get some small things too.

Symptoms: Movement (duh), had my very first (ever) bloody nose- it wasn’t gushing or anything, but definitely dripped out L I have had bloody snot (sorry) but not drippy like this. Needing to pee a lot, and… constipation (sorry, TMI?).

What I'm looking forward to: Ultrasound this week to see if baby is still breech. I think it might be flipped due to where I feel the hiccups, but who knows. Also- I only have 4 weeks of work left. WHAT. So crazy. I will miss my office and everyone in it, but some days when I am in traffic it is so nice to think about not doing that day in and out.

Best moment of the week: Um… my shower was freaking awesome on Saturday. Amanda and her mom did such an awesome job with a whole wintery theme.. It was a winter wonderland!! Milk and cookies (all my favorite cookies!), a full lunch and mashed potatoes with toppings! Mashed potatoes were my one BIG craving in first tri :)

I guess we can have a baby now...

How I'm feeling: Good.. just big and slowing down. My sciatica is all gone and I don’t have any weird aches and pains. My hands are still itchy, but not debilitating or gross looking either. Just plain eczema itchy I think. Never had eczema before, but I will take plain dry itchy over the other!!

Addition: Edition 5

2014-01-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

The rest of December consisted of a little bit of interior framing,

and deck/porch construction,

Snow....

Rearranging the kitchen once,

Hello old floors.

Heater trying to warm up the inside of the addition to melt the snow on the roof so that the shingles could go up.

Screen porch roof.

And finally the snow melting, and roofing...

Christmas Eve brought new shingles on the whole roof!

33 Weeks

2014-01-15T20:02:00.002-05:00

How far along: 33 weeks.. Holy crap. I am huge. I just saw the size comparison from 21 weeks to 33 weeks when I was editing the picture. I am also swelling like whoa. Clearly.

How big is baby:

The Bump: He weighs about 4.2 to 5.8 pounds and measures about 17.2 to 18.7 inches. And he may grow up to a full inch this week -- amazing.

He's keeping his eyes open while awake.

He's also starting to coordinate breathing with sucking and swallowing.

His bones are hardening.

And he's going through (more) major brain development -- that's one smart baby!

Weight gain/loss: A lot.

Stretch marks/belly button: Yes. stretch marks under my belly, sore belly. Still an innie belly button though!

Sleep: Ehhh. Okay. I get really sore still and have to pee a lot. It is so freaking difficult for me to get in and out of bed too, around all of my pillows, so it is a huge production and takes forever each time.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really. I have eaten a lot of Swedish fish. I've always had a sweet tooth, but second and third trimester have been crazy with the sugar and sweets.

Movement: Lots. Hiccups too. I am hoping that baby is head down now- it feels like the hiccups are down lower.

What I'm loving: I am kind of in a weird place- I love that third trimester is flying, BUT I also am freaking out and it is stressing me out.

What I'm looking forward to: Shower this weekend! I set up the bassinet in the bedroom too and made a few small changes so that we can hopefully accommodate the baby soon.

Best moment of the week: The massages/rubs that the birth class teacher made John give me. Ahhh I got hair rubs.

How I'm feeling: Stressed out. Frustrated. There is so much I want to/need to do but I can't. I just physically can't do as much anymore and I can't really ask John for the help either because he is always working on the house. So, stuff just doesn't get done- the house is a mess, dishes pile up, stuff doesn't happen for the baby. The piles of stuff around kill me and just seeing them is stressing me out. I spent the weekend trying to at least set up our bedroom so that I won't be stressed in there and there is at least a bit of space that I can feel okay bringing a baby into.

Milestones: As of yesterday, 1/14, my last day at work is in a month. WHAT!? So crazy.

Addition: Edition 4

2014-01-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Once framing began, the exterior went up QUICKLY. They really just had needed to get those beams in and then the contractor was able to get a second floor subfloor up, followed by the exterior walls... within days. I keep going crazy because it seems like weeks go by with nothing from the contractor, but then we will have a few days here or there in between that BAM everything happens. And then nothing.. I think I am a little more impatient than a typical customer because I have a very important deadline.. that most definitely will not be met now.

From the house, over the screened porch gap, to the deck.

Lucy seeing us from the other side of the house.

John kept saying that as soon as there was something on the other side of our old kitchen/dining room door, he was going to take that board off the door (since we wouldn't fall into a giant pit anymore). Sure enough, as soon as that subfloor was up, he held a ceremonial door opening:

Before

Ta da! Walking from one house to the other!

It was seriously like a day or two and we all of a sudden had walls and sheathing around the front and sides of the house, and some of the load bearing wall around the stairs in the center.

Windows all framed out:

Where the addition meets the old house.

After a day or two of framing, our roof trusses showed up and were put on in one day. The next, the roof got sheathing and paper.

John was pretty pumped at this point. I got quite a few texts while I was at work.

Our old power line is still going into the house from the street.

John and his dad also worked quickly during this time to build the rest of the deck/porch that would connect to the addition.The screened porch area needed to go in quickly so that it could be roofed at the same time as the house.

The whole addition got house wrap, which required taking out the old front windows so that the new front door could be framed in. And thus, we lost our last windows into the main room in the house, and we entered the dark ages.