That's A WRAP

Well, I started this as a pregnancy blog - and I'm ending it there too. I had fun sharing my pregnancy with you all, I hope you enjoyed it too : )

This will be the LAST post on this blog......I am going to continue my Life is Wonderful Blog....so check there for updates!

Here's a couple pictures of the miracle that I received 10 weeks ago (newest to oldest pics):

Blogging

Okay - I thought I was going to be able to blog -but it's not going to happen while I'm on maternity leave (until September 1st) - So, check back come September...I'll be able to use my lunch breaks at work to blog since I stay at my desk!

Thank you all for waiting this out. NOTHING could have prepared me for how time consuming being a mom is. Days will go by and I won't get a THING done. I'd heard moms say that before, and truthfully always thought it might be a bit of an exaggeration - but it's not. It's ALL worth it though. Every little face (I'm getting smiles now : ), the way he smells and cuddling up on the couch - it makes it all worth it!!!!

I'll be back............... : )

Randoms

*We've moved up from Newborn to Size 1 diapers. I can't believe how fast he's growing!!

*Sunday we left Zach with Chris dad and stepmom for about 2 1/2 hours. I was surprised at how tough it was for me to do that. Chris had wanted to take him earlier in the day so I could get a nap, but I just wasn't ready to leave him that long so I sacrificed a couple hours. Chris keeps reminding me that everyone wants time with him - but I'm selfish and want him all to myself ; )

*I've decided to quit breastfeeding. There are a ton of reasons that I feel like it'll be better for me...and give Zach a happier mom....if I quit. I know it's the best thing for him - and it was a really, really, really hard decision for me to make. It took me nearly 2 weeks to actually quit from when I began thinking about it. I have enough stored that he should be getting breastmilk until he's about 6 weeks old, I figure that is better than nothing. So, now I'm in the drying up process. I did what I thought would be my last feeding around 5:30 Sunday night. By 4 a.m. Monday morning I was BEYOND miserable. I hadn't slept, the pain was so bad I was bawling and I broke down and pumped and fed him around 4:30 and then again at 7....so, now I've started the process over again. I haven't pumped or fed him since this morning and I'm miserable but I have to stick it out, otherwise I'll keep putting myself through this over and over. I spent the day at my moms today so she could help take care of Zach so I could take some Benadryl and sleep off some of the pain. Tonight Chris is taking Zach duty and then I'm going back to my moms tomorrow. I'm hoping that by tomorrow night it's more manageable and I can comfortably pick Zach up again - the stuff I read says it could take 3-5 days to dry up, I'm hoping that the pain gets better as time progresses......

*Less than a week ago I bought a brand new breast pump and several accessories for breastfeeding thinking I was going to try and do it at least 3 months. After many, MANY discussions with Chris we both felt that regardless of the money we spent it still was better for us as a family for me to quit. It might be what some people think is a selfish decision, but I am miserable not being able to get more than 2 hours of consecutive sleep - and there are other reasons - so I'm hoping that I can find someone to sell the items to. Considering the pump was used no more than 10 times I shouldn't have a problem selling it.

*We have been mixing half breastmilk with half formula so that when my stored up breastmilk runs out and we have to give Zach a full bottle of formula he'll have an easier time digesting it. We might even start doing less breastmilk toward the end so it's more of a gradual introduction. So far the 1/2 and 1/2 hasn't bothered him at all. He is really gassy, but he was with just breastmilk too - so I can't blame that on formula. I'm just hoping that when we give him straight formula it doesn't get worse.

*Zach is going to be one month old this coming Friday!! He is getting one month pictures taken Friday evening - I need to figure out what he is wearing! He's at the point where newborn stuff is a little snug but 0-3 months hangs on him, plus I used his only cute newborn stuff for his newborn pictures (we didn't have a lot of newborn clothes, because I was expecting a chunky baby : ) -so I might try and dig through his 0-3 month stuff and find the stuff on the smaller side....

Newborn pictures

Here is the birth announcement and another one of Zachary's newborn pictures!

Random pictures

Birth Story

*Thursday June 29th I had a doctor appointment and the doctor said I could go in to be induced. I was SOOO ready, so she called the hospital and they told her that all the rooms were full so I'd have to call back the following day to see if any rooms opened up. I was so disappointed and since I wasn't supposed to call back until 6 p.m. the following day it made for the LONGEST day EVER! By 5 p.m. the next day I couldn't wait any longer so I called and they had a room open and told me to be there by 9 p.m.

Chris and I headed to Jeff around 6:30 p.m., we went and ate Chinese, went to the Dollar Store for some hard candy and browsed Old Navy and Barnes & Noble killing time before we had to be at the hospital - then we were on our way there.

When we got there it took about an hour to answer all the questions and get settled into the room. Around 10 p.m. we started the dilation process (I wasn't dilated at all at that point...) This consists of inserting a pill that is supposed to help dilate you. 4 hours later the nurse came to check to see if I'd dilated - I hadn't, so she inserted a second pill. After that pill I started getting harder and longer contractions - so I was hopeful by the next time they checked me (6 a.m.) that I'd be dilated. Well at 6 a.m. I STILL wasn't dilated so they inserted ANOTHER pill. It wasn't long at all and my contractions were back to back and Zachary's heart rate was dropping from them - the nurse said all the pills probably started working at once. So, they tried flushing the pills out and my contractions were still crazy so they gave me a shot to try and stop them....and I STILL wasn't dilated.

My doctor got there around 8:30 or so and after assessing the situation decided I'd have to have a c-section since my body wasn't dilating...I was scared and I didn't want a c-section, but I knew the doctor would make the best decision - so by 9 they had me wheeled into the operating room.

I got some type of shot in my back (similar to an epidural) to numb from my waist down. That shot HURT, especially since I was having contractions while they were giving it to me, but I had to try and be as still as possible. After they gave me the shot and got the "area" prepped they sent Chris in. Then the surgery began - but I really couldn't feel a thing....It wasn't long and the doctor told me that the baby would be here within 3 minutes. Well, those 3 minutes passed and she eventually said that he was stuck....so they tried again....and again, couldn't get him out (afterwards Chris told me that the doctor was literally one top of me pushing down on my stomach trying to get him out) - at that point she told me she'd have to use the vacuum but it would be fast and shouldn't hurt him. And then I heard him scream!!!!!

It wasn't too much longer and they handed him over to the nurses and I could hear him crying, but I couldn't see him.....it was several minutes (they were cleaning him up) before they handed him to me.....I was amazed. I was expecting him to look so different. I don't know why, but I expected him to be bigger and maybe having a darker complexion - but he was ADORABLE..................

Time is Flying

Well my little guy will be 3 weeks old tomorrow!





Here is how the last 3 weeks have been:





We've pretty much stayed home the entire time. At 100+ degrees outside I just don't want to drag him out in this - plus the first 2 weeks I was overwhelmed with nursing.





Zach has had 2 doctor appointments - his follow up a couple days after leaving the hospital and his 2 week check up. At his last check up he weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces - almost up a pound from his birth weight! I can really tell he is starting to fill out.





My mom came out during the days during our first week home and helped clean, cook and watched Zach while I took naps (very short naps....) - which was a huge help. She has even watched him once so I could run to Jefferson City and get baby stuff so I didn't have to drag him around with me....





Here are some randoms about him and things I've learned, done and still need to figure out!





*Nursing is HARD. The first two weeks were so trying and I almost quit several times. As a matter of fact at his 2 week check up I told the pediatrician I was quitting and she was very nice about it and gave me tips to help dry up my milk...but sometime between the appointment and that night I decided to try it for one more week...and that was this week, and it has gotten easier. He still eats every 1-3 hours, and eats for about 45 minutes which gives me anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours MAX to sleep, shower, eat, whatever I need to do......





*I've been pumping since my first week home - and we decided when he was not quite two weeks old to introduce the bottle. My thoughts behind it were that if he took to the bottle and wouldn't go back to breast feeding (because the "experts" recommend waiting until 4 weeks to introduce bottle) that I'd make a decision at that point whether to exculisevley pump or switch to formula. The little champ transitioned from bottle, to pacifier to nursing with no problems!! This has helped with my decision to keep nursing tremendously. It helps just knowing that if I'd need to go somewhere or want to take a long nap I could have someone give him a bottle.





*When we introduced the bottle we did so with cold milk. I was hoping he'd take the cold milk so that when we were out I wouldn't have to worry about a way to warm a bottle up - I did some research and everything I read said that cold milk is fine for babies, but some just won't take it since they are used to warm breast milk. Again, the little guy sucks cold milk down without a problem!!





*Diapers....I got three different types of diapers at my showers - Huggies, Pampers and Luvs. I also bought bulk in size 1 and 2's of Pampers from diapers.com before he was born. I've found that I hate Huggies. He ALWAYS leaks right through them or pees out of them. I haven't really decided between Pampers and Luvs, but I think I'm leaning toward liking Luv's the best....but I'll use the Pampers I've bought.





*Wipes - HATE Huggies wipes as well. They are really hard to pull apart. The brand I've found I like the best is Target's off brand, Up & Up - they're soft and tear apart really easy.





*I originally had a Playtex pump that my sister handed down to me and after I decided this week to continue nursing I went and bought a Medela pump. I've used it several times now and it seems to work well so far. I'm not sure if nursing is really all that much cheaper than formula, what most people think of when they consider nursing....I've purchased a pump ($300), storage bags ($10 for 50 bags - so far I've bought 3 sets, and as I continue nursing will have to buy more), nursing bras ($15-$25 a piece, I bought 3), nursing tank tops ($15 a piece, I bought 3), nursing cover ups ($20 for 2), nursing clip (to turn any blanket into cover up - $10). So we're looking at $500+ dollars. I don't know how much formula averages a month, but I have a feeling I need to nurse for several months to make it a monetary benefit.....





*I hate onsies or jumpers with more than 3 snaps - it makes changing diapers a pain when you have 15 buttons to snap up!





*Zach has a blocked tear duct in his left eye, so there is drainage that needs wiped out and it gets kind of matted after he sleeps. The doctor says in most cases it corrects itself. If by the time he is 1 it hasn't they do a minor surgery to fix it.





*Zach kind of has his days and nights mixed up. He sleeps his long periods during the day and is up more often wanting to eat at night. It's not a huge deal for now, because I can catch a couple of naps with him during the day - but I'm hoping it gets corrected before I go back to work! Otherwise I can see us giving him several bottles throughout the night - and by us, I mean Chris ; )





I think that's about it for now..............any suggestions, tips, hints on nursing (or any baby related things!!) are welcomed.