Sunday, April 11, 2010
falling behind...
It's been almost a month since I posted last and I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. I have had so much fun with Adaline so far. She's already 6 weeks old and has grown so much. I have pictures to post, but I have to download them first! Until then, here's a picture of Adaline at four weeks. More to come!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Thank you, Aunties!
What is cuter than a sleeping baby?
A sleeping baby with beautifully hand-knit booties (Thanks Auntie Hilary!)
We're on the cusp of spring weather which makes it difficult to dress Adaline. Thank goodness for my friends! Between Hilary, the famous knitter, and Brooke, The Sock Drawer owner, Adaline's little toes stay toasty warm!
(Forgive the fuzziness of this picture~ I'm not that good at holding the camera and taking close ups of myself.) Adaline has already grown out of the infant socks on the right and doesn't quite fit into the larger socks on the left (just give her another week!), but Hil's booties fit her perfectly :0)
The temps are finally reaching into the low 70s and soon, Adaline won't need socks, so I'm plotting her outfits around her footwear (don't all women do that?! I'm just teaching her a life lesson early) to get the most life out off all of them. Thank you again!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Adaline~ almost 2 weeks old
I think you're all going to get sick of how many photos I'll be posting, but just look at those cheeks!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
It's a girl!
My dreams proved accurate, and our baby is a girl! Adaline Rose was born at 9:45PM on Thursday February 25, 2010. Travis was the best support coach a laboring woman could have asked for and he was supported by one of my oldest friends, Julie. Julie, having had three children of her own and currently working on her fourth, knew exactly where to rub and push to help relieve my back labor. She was able to relieve Travis and she didn't even flinch when my inner sailor came out and the curse words started flying. She's going to make a fabulous doula, and if you're in Northern California for your next birth, I would highly recommend her.
Adaline came right on time, which surprised me. Actually she was one day early. The records state that she was born at 39 weeks and six days. I had been told multiple times by multiple people to expect to be at least a week overdue, as this was my first child. So I got into the habit of telling people I was due on March 1st to get my brain comfortable with being late. But, I think Adaline's personality is already showing and she's going to be just like me...tell her to do it one way and she'll respond with, "I'll do it my own way, thank you very much." At birth Adaline was 8 lb. 3 oz and 20.5 inches long. At two weeks, she is already 8 lb. 6 oz! We took this picture at 1:30AM just before we left for the hospital. It's amazing that it was only two weeks ago.
If you're interested in the labor story, read on; if it's too much information for you, stop reading here and have a great day!
We had a long, slow labor totally 23 hours. Contractions started out at 10:50PM Wednesday night at 3 minutes apart and stayed there for over an hour before I woke Travis up. I wasn't in pain, but my mother had incredibly short labors (I was born in 1.5 hours) so I was paranoid about our half-hour drive to the hospital. We arrived and were admitted at 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced, but Adaline was in a posterior position which contributed to my long, slow back labor. It was only painful for the last 6 hours or so. I stalled out at 5.5 cm (from 7:30AM until 3PM) so we decided to have the midwife break my water. The contractions grew stronger, but didn't get much closer together until 6PM. From there, we jumped from 6 cm to 8 cm where we sat for about an hour. I suddenly felt the urge to push, even though the nurse had JUST measured me and proclaimed me still an 8. She remeasured while I was having the next contraction and said, "Okay, you're right, we'll call the midwife back in." From there I pushed for an hour, and Adaline arrived! It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. True to other mom's statements, I've already forgotten the pain of the actual birth, but I don't think I'll ever forget the pain of the aftermath. I did tear a bit (TMI, I know) and getting the stitches was horrid. Also, I was hemorrhaging more than the midwife liked, so she instructed the nurses to get to work massaging my uterus (from the outside, thank you very much) and that was one of the most painful things I have ever felt. I think one of the nurses was less experienced than the other and I think she was not doing it correctly. When the other nurse did it, it was much less painful. Also, I was physically exhausted, not just from labor but from sleep deprivation, too. I was just getting into bed Wednesday night when labor started and I was unsuccessful at napping much during early labor so I was up for 39 hours by the time Adaline arrived.
Adaline came right on time, which surprised me. Actually she was one day early. The records state that she was born at 39 weeks and six days. I had been told multiple times by multiple people to expect to be at least a week overdue, as this was my first child. So I got into the habit of telling people I was due on March 1st to get my brain comfortable with being late. But, I think Adaline's personality is already showing and she's going to be just like me...tell her to do it one way and she'll respond with, "I'll do it my own way, thank you very much." At birth Adaline was 8 lb. 3 oz and 20.5 inches long. At two weeks, she is already 8 lb. 6 oz! We took this picture at 1:30AM just before we left for the hospital. It's amazing that it was only two weeks ago.
If you're interested in the labor story, read on; if it's too much information for you, stop reading here and have a great day!
We had a long, slow labor totally 23 hours. Contractions started out at 10:50PM Wednesday night at 3 minutes apart and stayed there for over an hour before I woke Travis up. I wasn't in pain, but my mother had incredibly short labors (I was born in 1.5 hours) so I was paranoid about our half-hour drive to the hospital. We arrived and were admitted at 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced, but Adaline was in a posterior position which contributed to my long, slow back labor. It was only painful for the last 6 hours or so. I stalled out at 5.5 cm (from 7:30AM until 3PM) so we decided to have the midwife break my water. The contractions grew stronger, but didn't get much closer together until 6PM. From there, we jumped from 6 cm to 8 cm where we sat for about an hour. I suddenly felt the urge to push, even though the nurse had JUST measured me and proclaimed me still an 8. She remeasured while I was having the next contraction and said, "Okay, you're right, we'll call the midwife back in." From there I pushed for an hour, and Adaline arrived! It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced. True to other mom's statements, I've already forgotten the pain of the actual birth, but I don't think I'll ever forget the pain of the aftermath. I did tear a bit (TMI, I know) and getting the stitches was horrid. Also, I was hemorrhaging more than the midwife liked, so she instructed the nurses to get to work massaging my uterus (from the outside, thank you very much) and that was one of the most painful things I have ever felt. I think one of the nurses was less experienced than the other and I think she was not doing it correctly. When the other nurse did it, it was much less painful. Also, I was physically exhausted, not just from labor but from sleep deprivation, too. I was just getting into bed Wednesday night when labor started and I was unsuccessful at napping much during early labor so I was up for 39 hours by the time Adaline arrived.
Anyway, we are home and doing well. Travis was able to take two weeks off work to help me and to get to know his daughter. He returns to work on Thursday and I'm already sad...I don't want him to go! I'm relying on him less every day, but I'm so enjoying our new little family being together all day.
The pictures posted here are from her birth and the first week of life. Again, a HUGE thank you to Julie for all her support (and the fantastic photos!) I haven't taken many pictures this last week but hope to get back to it next week. Check back soon to see how I've done with that :P
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Things to come
I know this is a glimpse into the future and I absolutely love it.
Tanner and Belle have been our babies for five years and we know we've treated them as such. In order to prepare for the human baby that is due any day now, we've borrowed a baby doll from my mom's house and have been carrying it around with us and referring to it as "The Baby." We can tell that Tanner came from a home that had children because he is completely attentive to the doll as an individual and is soooo gentle with it. He sniffs it, but doesn't get near the head, even though he will look at the doll's face. Belle, on the other hand, came from a young couple that didn't have children. We think that she thinks it's our new toy (which, it kind of is, I guess). She gets really excited whenever we have the doll out and follows whomever is holding it. She listens really well whenever we're holding the doll, so I have hope for her :)
I took this picture after Travis fell asleep on the couch holding the doll~ doesn't it just warm your heart?!
I took this picture after Travis fell asleep on the couch holding the doll~ doesn't it just warm your heart?!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
running behind
I know I'm late posting the Week 38 photo, but I just can't seem to get to it! While I was working I kept postponing things that needed to be completed until I was on leave because I'd have so much time then, right? Bahahahaha!!! (Wiping a tear from my eye)...now I know. There is NEVER enough time. Travis calls it nesting, and I suppose he's right, but it has not taken the form I imagined. Yes, I cleaned and organized the baby's room, but that was out of necessity not desire. I had to finish taking out all the office stuff so it could really be the Baby's Room instead of the storage room. Then I had to find a home for all the displaced items (let me warn you should you come over for a visit- do not, I repeat, DO NOT open any closets you may come across!!!) Yes I washed, dried, and folded all the baby clothes, but that's because I'm somewhat allergic to the...(crap, pregnancy mind...what's it called? Staffing?) stuff they use on new clothing items for shipping and packing. Always have been, always will be...which leads my wandering mind to defend my expensive decision to use all natural baby wash. Let me tell you, I LOVE Seventh Generation products because of the lack of scents they use, and the baby degergent is no different! I used to enjoy the smell of Dreft but my defenses have withered away or the company has upped the amount of scent additive in the bottles, because I cannot NOT sneeze when I smell the stuff.
Anyway, back to nesting... now that the baby's room is done and the rain has stopped (temporarily so I've heard) we decided to tackle the yards. Not smart. I get so frustrated that I can't operate at my old level of physical exertion. I tried to hula hoe the flowerbeds because I know I can't kneel down and weed anymore, and it was still to much for me. I ended up hobbling around for a couple of days grabbing my lower back and moaning to anyone that would listen, "Oh, my back!" Because of said injury, I haven't been able to walk the dogs and now I have to endure their sad, pleading puppy eyes.
Other than that, I've been attempting to nap during the day because I can't sleep more than two hours at a time at night. I'm not a good napper (oh how I hope this changes when the baby gets here!) so I end up watching daytime tv and playing on the computer instead. I keep reminding myself there's only 2-3 more weeks of this discomfort...then Baby Walsh will be here.
Anyway, back to nesting... now that the baby's room is done and the rain has stopped (temporarily so I've heard) we decided to tackle the yards. Not smart. I get so frustrated that I can't operate at my old level of physical exertion. I tried to hula hoe the flowerbeds because I know I can't kneel down and weed anymore, and it was still to much for me. I ended up hobbling around for a couple of days grabbing my lower back and moaning to anyone that would listen, "Oh, my back!" Because of said injury, I haven't been able to walk the dogs and now I have to endure their sad, pleading puppy eyes.
Other than that, I've been attempting to nap during the day because I can't sleep more than two hours at a time at night. I'm not a good napper (oh how I hope this changes when the baby gets here!) so I end up watching daytime tv and playing on the computer instead. I keep reminding myself there's only 2-3 more weeks of this discomfort...then Baby Walsh will be here.
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