3 Weeks Old

I think time is flying by way faster now that I'm a mama. I can't believe 3 weeks have already passed since my sweet daughter came into my life. That's half of my maternity leave!

I love being a mom. I can't believe how amazing it is. I love seeing this face everyday:



She's starting to stay awake more and more. She still sleeps the vast majority of the day, though.

In vanity news, I'm in pre-pregnancy clothes now! I'm pretty excited...I hate those stupid jeans with the full belly panel. Old Navy jeans, I have missed you!

We scheduled Leah's baptism for September. So now, I'm on the lookout for a baptism gown, and can't find one I like enough to spend that kind of money. She's only going to wear it once, so I don't want it to be TOO pricey. Yes, I am definitely a cheapskate.

Leah is over 2 weeks old now...

and growing fast! At her pediatrician's visit on Thursday, she weighed 8 lbs 2 oz. She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz at her last appointment 10 days before. I put her in her cute little monkey outfit today, and I have a feeling it's the last time. :( She's looking like she's outgrown it. It was big on her when we brought her home. Time's going by way too fast! It actually makes me a little sad.

Man, if I'm sad about her growing up now, I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when she graduates high school or gets married. I don't even want to think about it. :)

I've been so exhausted lately, I've been sleeping in until 2 pm (with interruptions, of course). I think it's a combination of being tired from interrupted sleep and recovering from delivery. I hope I can shake it off by the time I have to go back to work.

Leah's First Week

We got home on Friday afternoon. My parents, who had been staying with us and taking care of the dogs, picked us up. Here is a picture of Leah in her coming home outfit:

I fall more in love with her everyday. I can't believe it's been a week since she came into this world. While a week isn't very long at all, it seems like she's been here forever. I can't imagine my life without her.

She went to the pediatrician's office for the first time on Monday. Everything looked great! She's gaining weight, and there were no concerns.

I'm so close to becoming one of those moms that announces diaper habits on facebook. Seriously, I cannot believe how many dirty diapers this tiny little baby produces per day. It's ridiculous.

Baby Leah's Birth Story

I ended up being induced at 41 weeks. This is my final bump picture from the morning of the induction:

We checked into the hospital at 6:30 AM on July 13th. There was a lot of paperwork and people coming to talk to us, so we didn't start the pitocin drip until about 7-7:15 AM. It started at a low dose, which gave me contractions, but they weren't that painful and didn't seem to really do anything. To be honest, I was getting a little nervous this wouldn't work.

The nurse steadily increased my dose until I was at the second to highest setting. This was at about 11:30 AM. Suddenly, the contractions got super painful. My husband was a champ and coached me through them.

I was worried about taking an epidural so early, since everyone says it can slow down progress, but I asked the nurse about one. I wasn't ready yet, and she said she'd check again at 12:30.

When 12:30 came around, she checked, and I had gotten to about 4 cm, which meant I could get the epidural. She told me she was going to ask the doctor if she could break my water.

While waiting for the epidural, I felt a gush of warm liquid. I got the epidural around 1 PM, and the nurse checked to see if my water had broken. It had, and I was at 5 cm. She told me to try to get some sleep since I would need energy for pushing later, and that first time moms tend to dilate at about 1 cm an hour.

Around 2 PM, she came in and asked how I was feeling. I told her I could feel some pain, but it was the same type of pain I had from early contractions. She thought maybe my bladder was full, but there wasn't much there. Then she checked my cervix, and discovered I was fully dilated. She had me sit up so that Leah could descend through the birth canal.

Around 2:40, she set me up to push. We only pushed 3 times before the doctor got there, mainly because she was coming down quickly. My doctor showed up, and we had 3 push sessions, and she came out at 3:05 pm at 7 pounds 4 oz and 20 inches long. I did have to get a small episiotomy because the head wouldn't come through. I cried when they put her on my chest...I couldn't believe she was here.

Also, after delivery, I started feeling fuzzy and passed out. Apparently, my blood pressure dropped to 40s/20s, but I woke up after about 5 seconds. When they asked me where I was, I asked "What do you mean?" thinking "are you really asking me if I know I'm at the hospital?" The nurse laughed. Because of the passing out, they had DH hold her, and told me not to hold her right away. After I drank some Sprite, and it didn't seem like I was going to pass out again, they let me hold her. We are so in love and can't believe we brought this little person into the world.

Getting closer...

I can't believe that I'm full term already! She's not due for a few more weeks, but it seems so close now!

We finished our classes at the hospital. I'm feeling a bit more prepared for all this stuff, though obviously nothing can completely prepare you for having a baby.

We've also picked up most of the stuff for our baby. Now I'm going into a washing/cleaning frenzy, trying to get the house ready for our new addition and the guests who will be here soon. I think I'm driving my husband crazy. :)

Lots of stuff going on since my last entry!

First off, we have finished 3 out of 4 of the classes at the hospital. Crazy, considering they seemed sooo far away when we signed up for them in March! We took a breastfeeding class, infant CPR class, and a childbirth class. We took the all day childbirth class yesterday, and I actually feel a lot more prepared for the process. Hopefully some of this information will be useful when I actually go into labor. We have our final class, the newborn care class, on Thursday.

We also finished our baptism class at the church, which means we'll be able to schedule the baptism as soon as our baby is born. Another thing out of the way!

We took our maternity pictures, and the photographer posted a few preview pics this week. I love them, and can't wait to see the rest.

Finally, we finished the nursery today! We put up the cute jungle decals a couple weeks ago. Today, we put a nursery rhyme decal for over the crib and finally purchased a crib mattress. Things are really coming together for our baby. I still need to buy a few things, as well as pack my hospital bag, but I'm feeling a ton more prepared! :)

What an eventful week...

On Wednesday, at work, I started feeling a little lightheaded. Since I was at a coworker's desk, I decided to go back to my own cubicle. Before getting far, I passed out. People at work called an ambulance, and I ended up going to the ER. All testing (echocardiogram, EEG, and bloodwork) came back normal. They also monitored me for contractions and for the baby's heartbeat, and everything looked good. However, they admitted me to Labor & Delivery for observation. I was discharged Thursday afternoon and have been resting at home ever since. I see my doctor tomorrow, so we'll decide what to do then. I had no idea when I woke up on Wednesday that I'd be spending the night in L&D!