I had my first day back to work today. Alexsa and I got to bed by 11:00 last night. She woke up for her night feeding at 5:30 (6 1/2 hrs!!) She only ate for about 15 minutes then went right back down, so i was able to sleep for another 40 minutes or so before getting up at 6:45 for work. I got ready for work then pumped right before I left (3 oz!). I only shed a few tears when saying goodbye and then a little on the way to work, and once I got there I was pretty good.
I 'traded' with Barry at his school and it was only then that I really missed her. She was so close to me (in the car seat), yet I couldn't pick her up to hold her!
I think she missed me too, because my independent baby has been very content cuddly with me all night :)
So, 1 day down, 4,679 to go...
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
All the Single Ladies!
The Beyonce song has been in my head all morning.
Anytime I think about how hard it is to take care of a newborn, I almost immediately think about the single parents out there. I have SO MUCH respect for them, especially with more than one child. UGH.
Barry got called to a teaching job this morning so I have Alexsa by myself today. Just chilling at the house isn't a big deal, but we have to go out today, which means I needed to shower and make myself presentable. The thought of taking a shower w/ the risk of leaving Alexsa wailing scared the poo out of me and even thought about forgoing the shower. But I knew the day would have to come sooner or later, so after our morning feeding i laid her in her basinette and took a shower. She was SO good! I love how independent she is (and it scares me at the same time!) She just lay there all content, and I even had an extra minute or so to just relax in the shower before turning off the water. This is how happy she was when I came out of the bathroom:
Anytime I think about how hard it is to take care of a newborn, I almost immediately think about the single parents out there. I have SO MUCH respect for them, especially with more than one child. UGH.
Barry got called to a teaching job this morning so I have Alexsa by myself today. Just chilling at the house isn't a big deal, but we have to go out today, which means I needed to shower and make myself presentable. The thought of taking a shower w/ the risk of leaving Alexsa wailing scared the poo out of me and even thought about forgoing the shower. But I knew the day would have to come sooner or later, so after our morning feeding i laid her in her basinette and took a shower. She was SO good! I love how independent she is (and it scares me at the same time!) She just lay there all content, and I even had an extra minute or so to just relax in the shower before turning off the water. This is how happy she was when I came out of the bathroom:
Then I was able to get dressed and blowdry my hair before she was ready for some attention.
She's so great!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Six Week Checkup and other Ramblings
I had my 6 week post partum checkup yesterday. Everything is pretty much back to normal! :) I still have a few stitches left to disolve, but I am free to be a normal person again. :) Sex? Yes please.
However, at the checkup, he noticed a mole on my back that makes him nervous, so i have to go back in a month to get it removed. What sucks is that its going to leave a nasty scar. :( BUT better to get it removed now before it turns into cancer later.
I also got the go ahead to go back to work, so I start back up on Monday. Its a week earlier than what we planned, but I figure we can save my PTO for if she's sick or if we want to take a long weekend trip, to say, Monroe, NC. :) I'm looking forward to going back but I already miss her. I miss her when she takes a long nap so I know once I'm at my desk i'll want nothing more than to be back at home.
Its amazing how independent she seems to be already. Many times when she's fussy and we can't figure out why, if we just put her down on the couch or her activity mat, she calms right down. She actually seems to prefer to be left alone! How crazy is that?
On Saturday, Barry and I are leaving Alexsa with my Mom to go to a wedding. Its the first time (other than a quick trip to Walmart when she was a few days old) that she'll be away from both Barry and me. I'm excited about it!
Did I mention that I had my biopsy on my eye? Last friday they took a chunk of the black thing out of my eyelid - we should get the results back in 2 more weeks. Hopefully its nothing!
Barry is just amazing with Alexsa. He has much more patience than I expected and he is actually really sensitive. Last night he got home from school and I had put her down already. He was dissapointed because he wanted to hold her. This from the guy that never even wants to be in the same room as an infant. I was afraid that the baby would put alot of strain on our relationship (which, i'm sure we'll have our moments) but it seems so far that Alexsa has brought us so much closer together. :)
However, at the checkup, he noticed a mole on my back that makes him nervous, so i have to go back in a month to get it removed. What sucks is that its going to leave a nasty scar. :( BUT better to get it removed now before it turns into cancer later.
I also got the go ahead to go back to work, so I start back up on Monday. Its a week earlier than what we planned, but I figure we can save my PTO for if she's sick or if we want to take a long weekend trip, to say, Monroe, NC. :) I'm looking forward to going back but I already miss her. I miss her when she takes a long nap so I know once I'm at my desk i'll want nothing more than to be back at home.
Its amazing how independent she seems to be already. Many times when she's fussy and we can't figure out why, if we just put her down on the couch or her activity mat, she calms right down. She actually seems to prefer to be left alone! How crazy is that?
On Saturday, Barry and I are leaving Alexsa with my Mom to go to a wedding. Its the first time (other than a quick trip to Walmart when she was a few days old) that she'll be away from both Barry and me. I'm excited about it!
Did I mention that I had my biopsy on my eye? Last friday they took a chunk of the black thing out of my eyelid - we should get the results back in 2 more weeks. Hopefully its nothing!
Barry is just amazing with Alexsa. He has much more patience than I expected and he is actually really sensitive. Last night he got home from school and I had put her down already. He was dissapointed because he wanted to hold her. This from the guy that never even wants to be in the same room as an infant. I was afraid that the baby would put alot of strain on our relationship (which, i'm sure we'll have our moments) but it seems so far that Alexsa has brought us so much closer together. :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Realization
After another night of Alexsa going to sleep at 1:00am, Barry made a realization: She has chosen her schedule. It seems no matter now much or little she sleeps during the day, she goes to bed about 1:00am, wakes up between 4:30 and 5:30 to feed, again at 7 or 8, then we nap until 9 or 10am. We start our go to bed process at 9pm with a quiet feeding then we swaddle her up and rock her for a bit. As soon as she seems asleep, we put her down. Ten minutes later, she's wide awake! This process repeats until she gets hungry again about midnight and by then I'm so tired that I give in and fall asleep in the bed with her in my arms after her feed. Sure we're getting sleep by not getting up until after 9, but come April 5th when I go back to work, I will not be a happy Mommy. SOOO, how do I coax her to going to bed earlier? Keep her up ALL day? Then I get nothing done and the house goes to pot even more than it already is. Any other suggestions? (And I the thought of putting whiskey on her paci has crossed my mind more than once...)
Monday, March 15, 2010
From Her Cousin's Perspective
- Braydon watched me change Alexsa a few weeks ago. When I took off the diaper, he exlcaimed "Where is IT? How does she PEE!?"
- Alexsa yawned and Braydon got a glimpse of the inside of her mouth. Braydon asked "Where are her teeth?"
- Ashton saw me nursing Alexsa yesterday. I was mostly covered and he just came in and out. Jason (Ashotn's dad) asked him what we were doing. Ashton said "Alexsa is eating out of Aunt Mandi's stomach."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Schedule? What Schedule?
Ok, please tell me how to get Alexsa on a schedule.
Night before last she was up until 3:00, then up almost every hour to feed. It sucked.
Last night she, again, would NOT go down so at 12:30 Barry just let her cry it out. 15 minutes later of uncontrolable wailing I couldn't take it anymore so I picked her up. She was so worn out she fell almost immediately asleep, so swaddled her up and she slept for 5 hours or so.
Today she was awake ALL day except for a few moments when she's trying to eat and falls asleep on the boob, only to wake up 10 minutes later screaming hungry. She did not want to be put down AT ALL. Its 6:43 and she finally went down. Now she's going to be awake in a few hours ready to be up all night, i just know it.
AHHH!!! Any suggestions would be fantastic.
Night before last she was up until 3:00, then up almost every hour to feed. It sucked.
Last night she, again, would NOT go down so at 12:30 Barry just let her cry it out. 15 minutes later of uncontrolable wailing I couldn't take it anymore so I picked her up. She was so worn out she fell almost immediately asleep, so swaddled her up and she slept for 5 hours or so.
Today she was awake ALL day except for a few moments when she's trying to eat and falls asleep on the boob, only to wake up 10 minutes later screaming hungry. She did not want to be put down AT ALL. Its 6:43 and she finally went down. Now she's going to be awake in a few hours ready to be up all night, i just know it.
AHHH!!! Any suggestions would be fantastic.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My Angel is Here!
"Today Alexsa (note the new spelling!) is 1 week! What a whirlwind of a week. "
LOL! That's when I started this blog... 3 weeks ago! Sorry for the delay... Today is Alexsa's 1 month birthday!
Without further ado... her birth story:
At our 40 week appointment, my Dr and I decided to induce on Monday night, Feb 8th (40w2d). Originally our induction date was the 13th (41weeks). When I told Barry about it, he had concerns that we were inducing too early. We went to see Dr. Raspa Monday morning... Barry was worried that the reason we were inducing earlier was because of the doctor's schedule. With the anxiety of wanting to get her out + the fact that my grandpa has been waiting patiently for her and was leaving on the 13th, I was READY to go on the 8th. Of course, Dr. Raspa said he was going to be out of town the weekend of the 13th. I was heartbroken that it wasn't going to happen that day. So the Dr. left us to talk it out and we decided to try a 1/2 way approach - spend the night in the hospital with Cervadil to ripen my cervix. If i didn't go into labor that night we would go home and just wait it out.
Well that night was hell. the Cervadil was very uncomfortable and I bearly slept. Nothing happened. About 8:30 the next morning I heard Dr. Raspa talking outside my door and felt a trickle 'down there'. I thought , "Hm. what's that?" but didn't say anything. He came in to check me and while down there interestingly enough said "Hm, what's that?" They tested the fluid and sure enough my water broke on its own. But because I wasn't in active labor, they had to give me Petocin to get me started.
They started the Petocin at 10:30 Tuesday morning and by 3:00, I was still only 3cm dialated with contractions coming what felt like every 3-5 minutes. They were painful and just down right horrible. My plan was to give birth under a squat bar, which meant I would have had to go natural to be able to squat when the time came to push. But by 4:30, the contractions were so painful and the only way I was able to deal with them was on my knees or standing over the bed, yet I was so exhausted my legs didn't want to hold me up. I broke and asked for the epidural. It was the most defeating feeling I had ever felt. But Dr. Solomon, the adiminster of the epidural, became my best friend. I barely felt the procedure and was almost immediately pain feel. It was the best decision I could've made.
At 7:30 (i think) they checked me again and I was only 5cm or so, so most of my family went home. But when they checked 2 hrs later i was at 9-10! So Barry, my mom, and my sister started taking bets as to what time she would be born. Dr. Raspa came in a short while later and joked around with us about the bet. They got everything ready and with my husband on my left and my mom on my right, I started pushing at 10:15 or so and Alexsa was born at 10:50pm on February 9th, 2010! (Apparently I am a very good pusher. :)) I never had the urge to push, but thanks to the wonders of the epidural, I was actually laughing though pushes! The nurse on duty did most of the push coaching while Raspa sat behind her. At one point he was playing with his phone. Barry joked and asked if he was texting someone. He said, 'no, playing Tetris. I'd play Bejeweled but I'd get too wrapped up.' LOL! Right when she was crowning, everyone was talking about how they could see her. I was the only one that couldn't! So I actually asked for a mirror. I thought i'd be grossed out and not want to see, but it was actually pretty cool. They placed her on my chest right away. She reminded me of an old man. (Her face was so swollen, slimy and purply.
After they cleaned her up a bit, I got to hold her longer than normal. The reason was because as she came out, her nose caught and gave me what Dr. Raspa called a "starburst tear." UGH. It took them over an hour to stitch me up. I didn't really notice - i was holding my baby girl. At one point, Barry accidentally caught a glimpse and had to get some fresh air.
We brought Alexsa Jade home about 1:00 on Thursday, Feb 11th. We're sleep deprived and learning her personality, but doing well!
Now that I have this out of the way I hope to post more regularly on the day to day happenings of being a new Mom. Yay!
LOL! That's when I started this blog... 3 weeks ago! Sorry for the delay... Today is Alexsa's 1 month birthday!
Without further ado... her birth story:
At our 40 week appointment, my Dr and I decided to induce on Monday night, Feb 8th (40w2d). Originally our induction date was the 13th (41weeks). When I told Barry about it, he had concerns that we were inducing too early. We went to see Dr. Raspa Monday morning... Barry was worried that the reason we were inducing earlier was because of the doctor's schedule. With the anxiety of wanting to get her out + the fact that my grandpa has been waiting patiently for her and was leaving on the 13th, I was READY to go on the 8th. Of course, Dr. Raspa said he was going to be out of town the weekend of the 13th. I was heartbroken that it wasn't going to happen that day. So the Dr. left us to talk it out and we decided to try a 1/2 way approach - spend the night in the hospital with Cervadil to ripen my cervix. If i didn't go into labor that night we would go home and just wait it out.
Well that night was hell. the Cervadil was very uncomfortable and I bearly slept. Nothing happened. About 8:30 the next morning I heard Dr. Raspa talking outside my door and felt a trickle 'down there'. I thought , "Hm. what's that?" but didn't say anything. He came in to check me and while down there interestingly enough said "Hm, what's that?" They tested the fluid and sure enough my water broke on its own. But because I wasn't in active labor, they had to give me Petocin to get me started.
They started the Petocin at 10:30 Tuesday morning and by 3:00, I was still only 3cm dialated with contractions coming what felt like every 3-5 minutes. They were painful and just down right horrible. My plan was to give birth under a squat bar, which meant I would have had to go natural to be able to squat when the time came to push. But by 4:30, the contractions were so painful and the only way I was able to deal with them was on my knees or standing over the bed, yet I was so exhausted my legs didn't want to hold me up. I broke and asked for the epidural. It was the most defeating feeling I had ever felt. But Dr. Solomon, the adiminster of the epidural, became my best friend. I barely felt the procedure and was almost immediately pain feel. It was the best decision I could've made.
At 7:30 (i think) they checked me again and I was only 5cm or so, so most of my family went home. But when they checked 2 hrs later i was at 9-10! So Barry, my mom, and my sister started taking bets as to what time she would be born. Dr. Raspa came in a short while later and joked around with us about the bet. They got everything ready and with my husband on my left and my mom on my right, I started pushing at 10:15 or so and Alexsa was born at 10:50pm on February 9th, 2010! (Apparently I am a very good pusher. :)) I never had the urge to push, but thanks to the wonders of the epidural, I was actually laughing though pushes! The nurse on duty did most of the push coaching while Raspa sat behind her. At one point he was playing with his phone. Barry joked and asked if he was texting someone. He said, 'no, playing Tetris. I'd play Bejeweled but I'd get too wrapped up.' LOL! Right when she was crowning, everyone was talking about how they could see her. I was the only one that couldn't! So I actually asked for a mirror. I thought i'd be grossed out and not want to see, but it was actually pretty cool. They placed her on my chest right away. She reminded me of an old man. (Her face was so swollen, slimy and purply.
After they cleaned her up a bit, I got to hold her longer than normal. The reason was because as she came out, her nose caught and gave me what Dr. Raspa called a "starburst tear." UGH. It took them over an hour to stitch me up. I didn't really notice - i was holding my baby girl. At one point, Barry accidentally caught a glimpse and had to get some fresh air.
We brought Alexsa Jade home about 1:00 on Thursday, Feb 11th. We're sleep deprived and learning her personality, but doing well!
Now that I have this out of the way I hope to post more regularly on the day to day happenings of being a new Mom. Yay!
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