Push Presents

The *near* Perfect Farmboy came through with some amazing gifts the day after Daisy was born.  Of course he had been told to buy the clutch.  There was pre-shopping with my mom and I, then he took her back to buy it.  We try to pretend like there was a surprise there... ha.  

I looked everywhere for a clutch I really liked.  I first saw one I liked at JC Penney while we were helping FB's mom shop for a dress to wear to FB's sister's wedding.  Of course FB made a joke about me wanting a clutch... he asked if I'd prefer one for a Ford or Chevy.  Hardy har har!  By the time I got around to telling FB which clutch I wanted (a couple months later) the cute one from Penney's was gone.  I finally found one at a local store.

The clutch wasn't a surprise, but this lil number was inside my clutch!  FB sure does know how to really treat a girl!  He said we could add pieces to the bracelet for each baby.  Isn't he sweet?!

So what push presents did yall get when your babes were born?  What presents would you want for future babies' births?

Heeelp! Please!

We need any and all advice on sleeping and schedules!  Yes, I realize my baby doll's only three weeks old.  However, I realize now I'm clueless!  Tell me some good books to read, tips to try, anything.  I'm pretty sure I can't do the cry it out thing.  I'd definitely cry more than Daisy!  Give me your mom-knowledge!

What I learned in one short week!

People don't tell you what the first week of a baby's life is really like!  Some moms may warn you that you'll be overwhelmed or how much your life will change, but nobody really tells you exactly what it's going to be like.  Maybe it's that no one in their right mind believes moms when they try to warn you.  I know I was shocked.  So for all you future moms here's what my first week as a mom was like!

While we were in the hospital Daisy slept well, cried almost never, and was sort of getting used to breast feeding.  However, each new shift change brought a new nurse with new ideas and tips on breast feeding.  "Try a nipple guard" "No, that nipple guard will chafe your nipple"  "Use a syringe to give a little formula while she's trying to breast feed"  "Don't do the formula it's just coddling her and making her more lazy."  Needless to say I was confused, upset, and had no idea what I should really do!  When I wasn't breast feeding I was trying to get used to the idea of dealing with taking care of myself and my stitches.  We won't get into all that, just take my advice... take the pain meds!

They shipped us home Sunday, I wasn't ready!  Next time I plan to make sure to tell them I'm not ready. I was still waddling, bloated, and swollen.  The morning we left, a pediatrician I'd never heard of before came in, woke us up, and announced Daisy's bilirubin was moderately high.  I realize now how much harder it must really be for parents with babies in the NICU!  Bilirubin being moderately high is really no big deal, but I thought the world might end then and there!  We were told to spend a little extra time in indirect sunlight and we were told to check in w/ our regular pediatrician in a couple days.

Sunday afternoon we got home, had more trouble breast feeding, and cried AGAIN.  I cried a lot that first week!  I wasn't depressed or baby blues like they warn about.  This was just tears streaming down my face sometimes for no apparent reason, sometimes I was just overwhelmed.  Once I cried just because I realized how crazy in love I was with her and her daddy.  I also cried every time I couldn't get her to stop crying.  Yea... that little thing that acted perfectly in the hospital got home and woke up!

We went to the doctor on Tuesday and saw his nurse practitioner.  The actual appointment was great, it was just the waiting and the cranky baby that made it hard.  The nurse practitioner was great, and wasn't worried at all about her coloring due to the bilirubin.  She was a little concerned with her weight though. Which meant we got to go back on Friday.

Tuesday night Daisy went from being a lazy sucker to giving up all together.  After much drama, tears, trying all the different ideas from the hospital, and talking with the lactation consultant... we finally decided formula was the way to go.  FB was so helpful and understanding during this whole process.  We both wanted Daisy to breast feed, but it just was not going to happen!

After we switched to formula and got a little used to Daisy's cries, life started to get easier.  FB could take a feeding and let me sleep.  I was finally starting to feel more normal physically as well.  We had a great weight check on Friday with the nurse practitioner.  She was really sweet about us switching to formula and gave us a couple sample cans.  So the first week finally wound down and ended on a high note.

I know this was a downer of a post and more serious than usual, but I think more women need to be really honest about the beginning of their babies' lives.  I certainly am not this honest when people ask how I'm doing in real life.  For some reason I felt like I hadn't done enough or that people would judge my decisions.  Anyway I know I still have a lot to learn and Daisy and I will still have our good days and rough days.  But we survived our first week, lived through the second one, and wouldn't change it for the world.  So worth it to see her precious face all the time!

The Delivery Story

Feel free to skip this post, if you're not interested in all the details. But I do promise there won't be gory details! :)

I've got to start the night before Daisy was born. Thursday was my first day with kids, so I was exhausted by the time I got home. I put my feet up and realized I was having contractions pretty regularly. They weren't painful but they were 5 minutes apart. We decided to go into town for dinner, then we'd at least be close. The contractions continued for 3 hours! We decided to go to the hospital and let them check just in case. I was there long enough for them to check and say I was still nowhere close. The nurse was polite but she basically said my doctor had said I was more dilated than I really was from my last appointment. So we went home, me in tears so ready to be done with this pregnancy! It was 11 by the time we got home.

I got up at 5:30 to get to my second day with the kiddos. The day went fine with just a couple contractions here and there. Until 1:15! I was talking about math routines when I felt a small gush. I got up and gave them a worksheet just in time for another gush! I stepped out into the hall(looking like I peed myself) to get another teacher. My principal came down with our nurse ( who just happened to have worked in the birthing center before) they checked on me while another teacher got her car. I still wasn't in any pain. I called FB to meet me at the ER, and we both got there at the same time.

We got checked in and they checked to see if it really was my water, and it was. We got a nurse who my mom loves, and had emailed to keep her eye out for us. She sent us out to walk the halls. There were already 4 babies in the nursery at that time. My mom had been at work so she was already at the hospital. My dad left work and came straight over.

Not much had happened by 4ish. I was having regular contractions, but not much pain. My doc decided I needed a little pitocin to move things along. That worked really well! I was in pain very shortly after that! Our birthplan was to try to stick with IV meds. I didn't want an epidural and to be stuck in the bed for hours. The IV made me loopy,but didn't really help with actual contraction pain. I labored like that for an hour or so. I got freaked out that it was going to hurt this bad for hours and hours, so I asked for an epidural. They knew it was too late for epidural, so I got a spinal block. I felt better immediately! I'm so glad I didn't try to tough it out or stick with a birth plan just because that's what I thought at the time.

Daisy arrived at 7:08 after less than an hour of pushing. It is really hard and weird trying to push when you can't feel what you're doing. My doc stitched me up while FB watched Daisy get cleaned up and measured. This was our first picture together.

I have to say 6 hours from start to finish wasn't bad at all! I'm not sure how long it would've taken without medicine, but I'm not too concerned about that now! Hopefully I didn't scar my poor class by disappearing with wet pants. :)

Wow that's a long post! Next up bilirubin scare and my lazy sucker. Have a great Monday!