Ramblings about my life and my inner thoughts.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Isabel, the baby model
Recently our good friend Rich Peterson came to town and took Isabel's picture for us. I know, I know every parent is biased about how dang cute their baby is...even if their baby is hideous. But, seriously, Isabel makes the Gerber baby look like a dog. ;) Here are a few of my favs from her shoot.
Isabel's Favorite Sleeping Position
Isabel is such a funny girl. For the first few weeks of her life I NEVER saw her sleeping without her mouth open.
Now that she's gotten a little older she has graduated to the arms stretched out sleeping position. It's the cutest thing.
We just love her to pieces.
One Proud Daddy
Ever since I met Dave five years ago he's always talked about how much he wants to have a family of his own. He's always said that he wants to have a whole bunch of kids and that he feels as if his calling on earth is to raise a good family. I of course believed him but wondered how much of that was just a fantasy and how much he would really be willing to jump into once we actually had a family since in the past I've seen men proclaim their desire for a family and then pass the buck onto their wives once they actually have kids.
Then we had our baby girl and I saw Dave with her. From the very first minute of her life he has been the picture of what a perfect Dad should be.
The nurses at one point said, "Look at you all natural Daddy, I don't think I've ever seen a first time dad be so comfortable with his baby" and it's true. You see the two of them together and know that they were supposed to be Father and Daughter.
I read all about the importance of skin to skin contact early on but I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was sleep while we were in the hospital. Dave had no problem picking up the slack. He changed EVERY diaper and spent hours with Isabel on his chest.
He even changed her into her very first outfit
But the Daddy Whispering didn't end there. Once we got home he burped her after every feeding and changed her diaper every time. He rocked her to sleep with the Daddy bounce and read in his boy scout version of a Daddy book that swaddling and humming can be comforting to babies. So he's now the master swaddler and it melts my heart when I see him carrying her around humming to her while her head rests easily in the crook of his neck. I absolutely love to see her sleeping on Daddy's chest because she spreads her arms wide out and it looks like she's trying to hug him close and his eyes just twinkle in the joy that his little girl loves him.
Yep he's one proud Daddy and Isabel and I are lucky that we have such an amazing man in our lives that takes such good care of us.
Then we had our baby girl and I saw Dave with her. From the very first minute of her life he has been the picture of what a perfect Dad should be.
I read all about the importance of skin to skin contact early on but I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was sleep while we were in the hospital. Dave had no problem picking up the slack. He changed EVERY diaper and spent hours with Isabel on his chest.
He even changed her into her very first outfit
Our Birth Story
I know this post is way past due but we've been busy adjusting to life with a newborn :)
My due date was Thursday 2/10/11 and the weeks leading up to it were fraught with braxton hicks contractions but absolutely no progression as far as dilation goes. (isn't it weird that women can talk so freely about their cervix as long as it's related to child birth) I went in for my 40 week appointment on my due date and was kindly told by my doc that we should wait another week and see where we were then since I was closed pretty tightly. Yay, just what every overly pregnant woman wants to hear. So, angrily, I left my appointment and went on with my day. Later that evening I dropped my niece and nephew off with their Mom in Denver and started driving home when I noticed that I was having pretty regular contractions - 9 minutes apart. I put Dave on alert and started regularly recording the start of every one. By the time Dave got home around 10:00 p.m. they were every five minutes and starting to get pretty painful. I didn't want to jump the gun since my doctor had told me not to come in until they were more like 2-3 mins apart, so around midnight we decided to go to Walmart and walk around. And...try on some Iron Man masks.
Finally at about 2 a.m. Friday morning they were pretty close and very painful so we decided to go to labor and delivery. Once we got there I was checked and told that I was only about 70% effaced and barely dilated to 1 cm. I opted to walk for an hour and a half to see if I would progress at all while Dave passed out on a half bench in the hospital lobby :). Went upstairs and got checked again...no progression. By this time it was only an hour from when my ob was scheduled to come into the hospital so we decided to wait around for him to see if maybe he would "help" me along.
Dr. Yeh got there at 7 a.m. and informed me that I was going to be sent home since I had said previous to contractions that I did not want to be induced and because the risk of c-section was high since I wasn't dilated or effaced very much. I cried but accepted that going home was the best thing for the baby. Dave and I got home around 8:30 a.m. and I forced Dave to go into work since T-Mobile was having a huge weekend sale. I promptly got into the tub to try and relax a little bit and try my hardest to get some sleep since apparently exhaustion isn't good for labor progression (who knew?)...I labored ALL day in the tub. Literally I refilled the water like 10 times. When I got out of the bath around 8 p.m. my skin looked like it was going to fall off and I had been having contractions 3-5 mins apart for more than 24 hours. Dave got home later in the evening again because he had so much to do at work. We were both exhausted from the sleepless night before so we decided to try to get some sleep. Around 2 a.m. Saturday morning I couldn't take it any longer. I had been pacing our bedroom for hours trying to get some kind of relief from the pain in my lower back. I woke Dave up and told him we needed to go back to the hospital. We got there and told the lady at the desk that I was in labor. She then looked at my belly all snotty and asked how far along I was and then looked at me like I was out of my mind when I told her I was past due. (This event was probably exacerbated by my in labor goggles - but whatever) When the L&D nurse came down I told her that if I was going to get sent home again that I would like to get in and out as soon as possible - Dave had to work again Saturday and I didn't want him going two nights without sleep. They monitored me for an hour and then informed me that I was in what they call "latent" labor. Where I have actual labor contractions but my cervix is not progressing - although I was almost completely effaced at this point by still only 1 cm dilated. They gave me a "sleeper" shot that had some kind of pain killer and sleep aid and sent me home.
At this point it was about 4 a.m. Saturday, I was exhausted...two nights without sleep and going on three days of continuous painful contractions. I was hopeful that the shot would help me get some sleep so at least I wouldn't be a zombie when this kid finally decided to pop out. Sadly, the sleeper shot failed miserably. It did not take the pain away and it made me SUPER groggy. Awesome. At about 6 a.m. I couldn't lay in bed anymore because the contractions were so uncomfortable that I would moan through them and I just wanted Dave to be able to get some sleep so I got back into the tub. :) Labored in there until about 9 a.m. and then woke Dave up because I was tired of laboring alone. The contractions were now so painful that I would feel them coming on and just lose it. I couldn't stand unassisted and I would yell for Dave to run over to me and push as hard as he could on my lower back when they came on. Apparently her head was really low and putting pressure on my spine which was causing terrible back labor. I was struggling with the decision to go back to the hospital, again, because I didn't want to go in just to get sent home again. But I was in so much pain that I didn't know how much longer I could handle it. Finally at 1 p.m. I told Dave I couldn't take it anymore and that we were going to have to go back to the hospital and demand that they induce me. We did and when we got there I could no longer walk through contractions, I just had to hold onto Dave and cry. I know, I sound like a total woos but I'm not! It really hurt that bad! :) Dave kindly told the L&D nurse that she was going to have to call Dr. Yeh and tell him that we were not leaving and that he was just going to have to come in and induce me. The nurse was really nice and took us straight into a delivery room (instead of the stupid "triage" room) and checked me - again. As she was checking me she said, "Yep, your cervix is paper thin" which is what the nurse the night before had said when she sent us home. Dave and I sighed and looked at each other with despair because we were sure that I wasn't progressing. Then she went on to say, "And...I would say you're about a five"
Words cannot describe the feeling of relief that swept over Dave and me. Now, I was no longer facing an indeterminate amount of time with these contractions. Now, I could relax with the comfort that I would get to see my baby soon. Now, I wasn't wondering when the next time I was going to be able to sleep would be. I cried in joy that I was almost done with this whole labor thing. Originally I thought I would try to do delivery without an epidural but seeing as I had just labored for three days I was ready for some relief. They had the epidural in within an hour of arrival and I was shouting praises to the anesthesiologist. The last contraction I felt had me gripping onto the bed rail trying to keep the volume down on my "ow's" and squeezing my eyes tightly shut because my eyesight was blacking out through contractions and it really freaked me out.
After the epidural kicked in it was smooth sailing from there. I got some much needed rest and sometime around 7:45 I was complete, Dr. Yeh arrived and said it was time to start pushing. He warned us that first timers with an epidural usually push for 2-3 hours so to take it slow because it was going to be a marathon. I started "practice" pushing just so they could see how effective it would be and immediately screamed at me to stop. I was confused at why I needed to stop, wasn't this the part where you're not supposed to stop? They explained that they weren't expecting the pushing to go so quickly and they needed to get the bed ready. Oh...okay my bad. :) Once they were ready I started pushing again and she was out in two contractions. 8:07 p.m. I held my little princess for the first time.
I was so excited to be done! One of my biggest fears going into delivery was that I would poo in front of every one...so when she was out I exclaimed, "I didn't even poop!" Dave patted me in embarrassment and kindly shh'd me. I was all, "Oh, did I poop?" The nurse reassured me that I didn't poop and at the time I couldn't figure out why Dave would be embarrassed by my exclamation. Now, I understand. :)
Isabel was healthy from the beginning she scored a 9, 10 on her APGAR, which is apparently very rare in Colorado since the altitude makes it hard for babies to get enough oxygen right at first. Yes, she's a rock star...j/k. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 0.5 oz. and was 19.6" long. She nursed for over an hour right away and has been such an amazing girl ever since. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives and I would go through that labor over and over again if it meant that I would always get her at the end of it. :)
My due date was Thursday 2/10/11 and the weeks leading up to it were fraught with braxton hicks contractions but absolutely no progression as far as dilation goes. (isn't it weird that women can talk so freely about their cervix as long as it's related to child birth) I went in for my 40 week appointment on my due date and was kindly told by my doc that we should wait another week and see where we were then since I was closed pretty tightly. Yay, just what every overly pregnant woman wants to hear. So, angrily, I left my appointment and went on with my day. Later that evening I dropped my niece and nephew off with their Mom in Denver and started driving home when I noticed that I was having pretty regular contractions - 9 minutes apart. I put Dave on alert and started regularly recording the start of every one. By the time Dave got home around 10:00 p.m. they were every five minutes and starting to get pretty painful. I didn't want to jump the gun since my doctor had told me not to come in until they were more like 2-3 mins apart, so around midnight we decided to go to Walmart and walk around. And...try on some Iron Man masks.
Finally at about 2 a.m. Friday morning they were pretty close and very painful so we decided to go to labor and delivery. Once we got there I was checked and told that I was only about 70% effaced and barely dilated to 1 cm. I opted to walk for an hour and a half to see if I would progress at all while Dave passed out on a half bench in the hospital lobby :). Went upstairs and got checked again...no progression. By this time it was only an hour from when my ob was scheduled to come into the hospital so we decided to wait around for him to see if maybe he would "help" me along.
Dr. Yeh got there at 7 a.m. and informed me that I was going to be sent home since I had said previous to contractions that I did not want to be induced and because the risk of c-section was high since I wasn't dilated or effaced very much. I cried but accepted that going home was the best thing for the baby. Dave and I got home around 8:30 a.m. and I forced Dave to go into work since T-Mobile was having a huge weekend sale. I promptly got into the tub to try and relax a little bit and try my hardest to get some sleep since apparently exhaustion isn't good for labor progression (who knew?)...I labored ALL day in the tub. Literally I refilled the water like 10 times. When I got out of the bath around 8 p.m. my skin looked like it was going to fall off and I had been having contractions 3-5 mins apart for more than 24 hours. Dave got home later in the evening again because he had so much to do at work. We were both exhausted from the sleepless night before so we decided to try to get some sleep. Around 2 a.m. Saturday morning I couldn't take it any longer. I had been pacing our bedroom for hours trying to get some kind of relief from the pain in my lower back. I woke Dave up and told him we needed to go back to the hospital. We got there and told the lady at the desk that I was in labor. She then looked at my belly all snotty and asked how far along I was and then looked at me like I was out of my mind when I told her I was past due. (This event was probably exacerbated by my in labor goggles - but whatever) When the L&D nurse came down I told her that if I was going to get sent home again that I would like to get in and out as soon as possible - Dave had to work again Saturday and I didn't want him going two nights without sleep. They monitored me for an hour and then informed me that I was in what they call "latent" labor. Where I have actual labor contractions but my cervix is not progressing - although I was almost completely effaced at this point by still only 1 cm dilated. They gave me a "sleeper" shot that had some kind of pain killer and sleep aid and sent me home.
At this point it was about 4 a.m. Saturday, I was exhausted...two nights without sleep and going on three days of continuous painful contractions. I was hopeful that the shot would help me get some sleep so at least I wouldn't be a zombie when this kid finally decided to pop out. Sadly, the sleeper shot failed miserably. It did not take the pain away and it made me SUPER groggy. Awesome. At about 6 a.m. I couldn't lay in bed anymore because the contractions were so uncomfortable that I would moan through them and I just wanted Dave to be able to get some sleep so I got back into the tub. :) Labored in there until about 9 a.m. and then woke Dave up because I was tired of laboring alone. The contractions were now so painful that I would feel them coming on and just lose it. I couldn't stand unassisted and I would yell for Dave to run over to me and push as hard as he could on my lower back when they came on. Apparently her head was really low and putting pressure on my spine which was causing terrible back labor. I was struggling with the decision to go back to the hospital, again, because I didn't want to go in just to get sent home again. But I was in so much pain that I didn't know how much longer I could handle it. Finally at 1 p.m. I told Dave I couldn't take it anymore and that we were going to have to go back to the hospital and demand that they induce me. We did and when we got there I could no longer walk through contractions, I just had to hold onto Dave and cry. I know, I sound like a total woos but I'm not! It really hurt that bad! :) Dave kindly told the L&D nurse that she was going to have to call Dr. Yeh and tell him that we were not leaving and that he was just going to have to come in and induce me. The nurse was really nice and took us straight into a delivery room (instead of the stupid "triage" room) and checked me - again. As she was checking me she said, "Yep, your cervix is paper thin" which is what the nurse the night before had said when she sent us home. Dave and I sighed and looked at each other with despair because we were sure that I wasn't progressing. Then she went on to say, "And...I would say you're about a five"
Words cannot describe the feeling of relief that swept over Dave and me. Now, I was no longer facing an indeterminate amount of time with these contractions. Now, I could relax with the comfort that I would get to see my baby soon. Now, I wasn't wondering when the next time I was going to be able to sleep would be. I cried in joy that I was almost done with this whole labor thing. Originally I thought I would try to do delivery without an epidural but seeing as I had just labored for three days I was ready for some relief. They had the epidural in within an hour of arrival and I was shouting praises to the anesthesiologist. The last contraction I felt had me gripping onto the bed rail trying to keep the volume down on my "ow's" and squeezing my eyes tightly shut because my eyesight was blacking out through contractions and it really freaked me out.
After the epidural kicked in it was smooth sailing from there. I got some much needed rest and sometime around 7:45 I was complete, Dr. Yeh arrived and said it was time to start pushing. He warned us that first timers with an epidural usually push for 2-3 hours so to take it slow because it was going to be a marathon. I started "practice" pushing just so they could see how effective it would be and immediately screamed at me to stop. I was confused at why I needed to stop, wasn't this the part where you're not supposed to stop? They explained that they weren't expecting the pushing to go so quickly and they needed to get the bed ready. Oh...okay my bad. :) Once they were ready I started pushing again and she was out in two contractions. 8:07 p.m. I held my little princess for the first time.
I was so excited to be done! One of my biggest fears going into delivery was that I would poo in front of every one...so when she was out I exclaimed, "I didn't even poop!" Dave patted me in embarrassment and kindly shh'd me. I was all, "Oh, did I poop?" The nurse reassured me that I didn't poop and at the time I couldn't figure out why Dave would be embarrassed by my exclamation. Now, I understand. :)
Isabel was healthy from the beginning she scored a 9, 10 on her APGAR, which is apparently very rare in Colorado since the altitude makes it hard for babies to get enough oxygen right at first. Yes, she's a rock star...j/k. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 0.5 oz. and was 19.6" long. She nursed for over an hour right away and has been such an amazing girl ever since. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives and I would go through that labor over and over again if it meant that I would always get her at the end of it. :)
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