Sunshine...not just for poop stains!

I mentioned in a previous blog that when Maggie was super little (she is getting bigger by the second) she had these crazy poop blow outs.  I thought her cute little outfits were ruined, but my mom mentioned that when we were babies she used cloth diapers.  She would wash them herself and then hang them to dry outside.  The sun would bleach out the stains.  This worked wonderfully for me and I'm happy to say that Maggie's clothes are free of poop stains.  I don't have the blow out problems anymore, but she has started eating baby food.  Sweet potatoes and peas are the new stain problems.  I tried the sunshine trick and what do you know...the stains disappear.  I can't believe it!  I wash the clothes and instead of putting them in the dryer I just put them in the sunlight.  The stains bleach out and it takes no time at all.  By the time the clothes are dry the stain is gone.  It does not change the color or pattern of the outfit, so all in all a perfect remedy!  Definitely worth a try!  I don't think it works on old stains, but I haven't really tried it either.

A weekend all to myself!

I had my first two nights away from Maggie.  Did I miss her....absolutely!  Did I cry or freak out....absolutely not!  I went to a girlfriend's wedding and I had about 40 hours all to myself!  I took full advantage and got a nice hotel room, took a bath, ordered champagne and even had my hair and makeup done!  It was full on pampering.  I was slightly worried that Kaleb would be stressed out back home, but after it was all said and done he did just fine (let's just say that he had lots of help from his mom).  I came back fairly refreshed and so excited to see my little girl.  The hardest part about travelling like that was the fact that I am still nursing.  I had to pump throughout the whole trip and even at the airport.  In fact, when I landed in Minneapolis I had a friend picking me up.  We were going out to dinner and then out to meet more friends.  I wasn't going to be able to pump in private and I definitely wasn't going to do it at the bar.  So, as soon as I landed I found one of the family bathrooms at the airport and got all my pumping equipment unloaded and everything out (literally) and ready to pump.  I turn the power on and the stupid outlet didn't work.  I put everything away and went on a search for another bathroom.  Pretty annoying, but that's how it goes.  I guess my next question is...when do I get to do it again??  Maybe with Kaleb this time...maybe.

first cold...

I thought babies who were breast feeding were not likely to get sick...not true.  Maggie was hit with her first cold.  Yuck!  It wasn't a really bad one, so there wasn't any coughing (thank goodness), but her nose was running like crazy.  She would sneeze a ton and her nose constantly ran.  I had to use the nose suction thing 5 or 6 times a day.  Poor thing...I'm sure she is going to have nightmares about nose suctions and then flash backs when she sees a turkey baster. :)  My sister did tell me about a product called Little Noses.  It is a simple saline solution that you add to their nose to help loosen everything up (Target also sells a generic brand).  It also makes it easier to suction everything out.  I actually use the saline every night (even when she is not sick) after her bath.  That way her nose is nice and clear while sleeping and a sneeze won't wake her in the middle of the night.  Maybe Maggie's cold would have been worse if I wasn't nursing, but it still did last about 6 days.  It also screwed up her sleeping schedule and she went from sleeping through the night to waking up at 3 in the morning.  It took almost 3 weeks to get back on track.  Who knew it would be this hard...only every other mother out there! :)

Your Baby Can Read - Month 2

Maggie is on month two of Your Baby Can Read.Not much difference since last month.  She still likes the videos and does some overall good squealing, but she is not reading any Dickens yet.  The videos are actually pretty amateur/dated, so they get old (for me) very fast.  We had a friend give us some Baby Einstein videos and they are done much better.  There is a whole series of Baby Einstein:  Monet, Da Vinci, Galileo, etc.  I enjoy them much more, although I don't think Maggie cares that much.  She just likes the pictures, colors and songs.  Your Baby Can Read does focus much more on the words and does show them on the screen and repeats them twice.  It then shows a picture of whatever the word is.  It is everything from animals to motions.  It does say to show the video twice a day and that never happens.  I don't even show it everyday.  I think at 5 months, there isn't too much to worry about and I think that if I followed what the instructions say it would be a bit much.  There are also flash cards that have words on them too.  You are supposed to show the flash card and repeat the word.  We are not very diligent about that, but at 5 months it feels a bit like overkill.  I will continue to use it and we'll see how it goes.  I do have to say that she loves books.  She loves to hold them and she will look at the pictures as I turn the pages.  It's amazing that at 5 months it seems as if she is listening to me read the story.  It really shows how important it is to read to your child!  So, no Oliver Twist, but she loves Belly Button Book! by Sandra Boynton.  Happy Reading!

Smoke Detectors!!

I found out that my baby can sleep...through just about anything!  In our house the smoke detectors are all hard wired and have batteries as back up in case the power were to go out.  I don't know what went wrong, but the other night every single smoke detector in the house went off at once.  We were all asleep and we were jolted up (it was only 11pm...definitely considered the middle of the night in our house now) by the screeching sound of smoke alarms.  There was no fire, but there must have been a short in the wires or something.  Anyways, Kaleb had to throw on clothes and run outside to flip the breaker in the electrical box to turn them off.  After I figured out what was going on I ran into Maggie's room to make sure she was ok and she was sound asleep.  She was on her back with her arms up over her head sleeping like, well, a baby. There is even a smoke detector in her room...holy cow.  Now I'm thinking I don't need to whisper every time she goes down for a nap!

The Lay Down

I mentioned in a past blog that I used to rock Maggie to sleep...every time she went down.  I have finally broken that habit and am so much happier...plus my arms are getting the rest they deserve.  It is tough work rocking a 17 pound baby and having to walk laps around the house (because she did not like it when I rocked sitting down).  Man, was I spoiling her rotten!  Well, Kaleb was not having this marathon rocking session and he would put her in her crib to sleep and would let her cry.  I did not like this...at first.  It made me anxious and I really just wanted to pick her up.  We tried it a few times and I said I would wait 10 minutes and if she hadn't stopped then I would pick her up.  It really has never even taken 10 minutes and now that she is used to laying down she doesn't really cry at all.  She gets situated and will almost always go to sleep without a cry.  I know Maggie's schedule and can tell when she is tired, so it is easy to lay her down for a nap.  I feel like she falls asleep much quicker (I think the rocking was actually keeping her awake longer) and it is less frustration for me.  I think it would have been one thing to have this calm rocking chair experience with your sleepy baby, but mine was a constant shaking/rocking and like I said I would have to do laps around the house.  So, here is what I do.  When I can tell Maggie is getting sleepy I will lay her down with her WubbaNub (see previous post) and close the door.  Sometimes she will cry for a few minutes and other times she will just kind coo herself to sleep.  I will let her cry for about 10 minutes (if I even need to) and then go in and soothe her by rubbing her back and putting the pacifier back in (the pacifier is slowly becoming a thing of the past.  I usually start with that when I lay her down to find that she has spit it out and gone for her fingers). I try not to wait until she is too tired because this seems to be more difficult and she tends to try and fight the sleep.  I've also put her down for a nap thinking she was tired only to go in and check on her 10/15 minutes later to see that she is sucking on her big toe.  Probably not tired...or that is her new pacifier!  Now that I have a routine and will just lay Maggie down for a nap - life has gotten much easier.  I finally think I have a handle on this whole motherhood thing...but I hear that can change real quick!

Breaking Routine...just when I had it down

I'm all about the routine.  Most mornings Maggie takes a good 3 hour nap.  This is a great time for me to get a lot of work done.  When she doesn't do the 3 hour nap she tends to get cranky and the entire day is more difficult.  So, being at home where it is easy to follow the routine is best, but then you feel like you never leave the house.  Sometimes I feel like I've been stuck in my house for 4 months straight, but at home I feel more rested.  When I get cabin fever and decide to head up to the cabin (that's ironic) or even visit friends, or go shopping the routine is out of wack.  Maggie never sleeps the same somewhere else, so this leaves her more tired and then she actually wakes up earlier or even in the middle of the night.  When this happens I am also tired that is usually when I wish I was just at home.  My mom thinks it is a better idea to take her out as much as possible, so that she gets used to sleeping other places.  She thinks I will appreciate this more in the long run.  Basically I take all this time to get this routine figured out just to find out that maybe being dependent on a routine is the problem.  I know I'm fairly selfish in saying that my own sleep is very precious and I get much more of it at home.  Maggie always does well travelling in the car or plane, but it's her sleeping patterns when we get there that seems to be the problem.  Maybe my sleep is the sacrifice to having a vacation, but I'm not sure how enjoyable I am to be around.  Who knows what the answer is, but if anyone has and idea I would love to hear it!

Routine!

I have never really lived my life based on routine.  My job changes constantly (which is why I like it so much) and I've never been at a desk from 9 to 5.  My personal life was all about travelling or nights out with friends or nights in with my hubby....that is until I had a baby!  Wow, now I realize that routine is the name of the game.  It has taken me a while to get on that band wagon, but I do think it works the best for baby and for mom.  Knowing when Maggie is going to be sleeping or eating or playing, allows me to plan my day for work and for rest.  Routine is hard when the baby is first born, but even then a schedule falls into place (I tried fairly successfully to follow the Baby Wise plan).  What I recently found working is a nighttime routine.  I had made a fairly bad habit of always rocking Maggie to sleep.  The first few months she would fall asleep pretty easy if I rocked her.  I would do a few laps around the house and she would be out (she only liked it if I was walking and rocking not sitting and rocking).  This last month or so I realized that it was taking longer and longer to rock her to sleep.  My husband was getting sick of walking around the house for 20 minutes (or more) every time we put her down.  He started putting her down and letting her cry for a little bit.  This was making me a bit crazy and I constantly had the urge to go and pick her up.  It wasn't until we went out to brunch with some friends that I realized it was ok to let her cry for a bit.  I basically adopted their nighttime ritual.  Their baby is about 5 months old (a month older than Maggie).  Around 6:30pm they will feed their baby rice cereal.  After that it is bath time.  After bath time baby is ready for the bottle feeding (or last nurse feeding for the night).  They then put their baby down for the night at around 7:30pm.  They do this every night.  So, I adopted this schedule and also put Maggie down without rocking her (more about that later).  By following this routine, Maggie is now sleeping about an hour longer in the morning.  Her tummy is nice and full and she is very relaxed from the bath.  Even if you don't give the full scrub down or hair wash every night the warm water and repetition gears them up for bed.  I also slather Maggie up with the lavender baby lotion too.  When I put her down she is out and sleeps through the night.  So, all in all the routine is fantastic....that is until you break it....watch out!

Sleep...or lack there of

I have a girlfriend who had her baby two weeks ago.  I spoke with her yesterday and boy was she exhausted.  It is sort of funny that I already forget how hard those first couple weeks are.  She was even more tired than I was because she is nursing her baby every two hours.  The doctor and lactation consultant both told her to nurse every two hours and to wake the baby if he is sleeping (and the two hours is from when you start feeding - not when you finish).  That means you literally have 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours in between feedings.  That also means you only get to sleep in 1 hour increments.  Pretty crazy.  I did not follow this routine.  I fed Maggie every 3 hours and if she was sleeping I didn't wake her up.  She didn't sleep much longer than 3 hours because she got hungry and woke up on her own.  Every once in a while I would get to sleep 4 hours straight and I thought life was great.  My poor friend is so tired and she is also stressed because nursing isn't easy to begin with.  It takes practice and patience and who has patience when you are that tired.  She is almost feeling like giving up on breast feeding because it is so hard.  I am not a doctor and I suppose you should follow your doctor's advice, but I also think you should go with your gut feeling.  If you are stressed and exhausted what is the harm of feeding every three or four hours?  Your baby will not starve.  I also feel like if the baby is hungry before the three hours then why not feed her?  I think the doctors say to feed every 2 hours because they want the baby to get used to nursing and it also helps stimulate more milk production.  All I know is that sleep does wonders and so does the breast pump!  If you are feeling stressed and frustrated try and get some rest.  A little sleep goes a long way and when you wake up you probably won't feel so overwhelmed!

Little Successes!

I am celebrating today!  It's not because I am writing a real estate contract in between nursing and diaper changes (although I'm happy about that too), but it is because Maggie finally ate rice cereal!  She sat there (in her bouncy chair), let me feed the cereal to her with a spoon and actually swallowed it.  It is funny that this feels like such a success, but it really does.  I'm in a good mood and am feeling like I accomplished something.  I think my overall good mood stems from the idea that once Maggie starts to eat solid food she will sleep longer.  I've been pretty lucky that she basically sleeps from 8:30pm to 5:30am every night, but I would love it if she slept an hour or two longer.  I've heard that when babies start to eat solid food they sleep longer because they stay full longer.  That is why toddlers can sleep 12 hours at a time.  Maggie started sleeping eight hours a night at around eight weeks old.  My trouble is that I don't want to go to bed at 8:30pm too.  It might be wishful thinking, but I would love to be able to go to bed at 10:30 or 11pm and sleep until 6:30 or 7am.  I'm wondering if any of you have some comments on what your child does.  Am I lucky as it is or am I right to want more?!?!

Head & Shoulders and a toothbrush

After a few weeks of having Maggie she started to get this scaly layer of dried skin on her head (and her eyebrows too).  I looked it up and found out it was called craddle cap.  It doesn't hurt the baby and they say that after a few months it will just go away on it's own.  One book said that craddle cap may bother you, but it doesn't bother the baby.  I of course couldn't just leave it be.  I would find myself sort of picking at her and it drove me nuts.  I did a little research and they said that a good way to get rid of it was using olive oil and a toothbrush.  Pour a little olive oil on her head and gently scrub the scalp with a toothbrush.  I also read that even a little dandruff shampoo would take care of it.  The olive oil is messy and hard to rinse out, so I opted for the Head & Shoulders.  After a week or so of using it the craddle cap was gone.  Now if only trimming her nails was as easy!

Your Baby Can Read - Month 1

Is it important that your baby can read at 10 months...even before they can talk? Probably not, but this 'Your Baby Can Read' system is pretty incredible looking. When I first saw the tv commerical I thought only neurotic parents would purchase this. www.YourBabyCanRead.com After I saw the advertisement a few more times I got more interested and even bought it. I don't know if them showing little babies reading words off flash cards is what got me to buy this or if it is because I'm a bit of a infomerical junkie (thinking of buying Turbo Jam as I write this). But if I'm the infomerical junkie then my husband is the ebay junkie. Once I showed him the commerical he was searching it out on ebay. He did find it and bought it. It is a DVD system that your child watches and you change DVDs as your child gets older. It has you start with your baby at 3 months (that is how old Maggie is), but you can start later. Again, it seems a bit crazy to show your 3 month old reading videos, but Maggie really likes watching it. She will squeal in delight, so it is obviously pretty entertaining. The video shows an action, says the action and also shows the word. The word can be reaching or clapping, but also words like baby, dog, gorilla and elephant. As a parent the video gets old quick and this first DVD feels a bit amatuer and dated. However, Maggie likes it and maybe it will help her read early. It might help that Maggie likes watching tv in general. It can be soccer or Project Runway, but she definitely will stare if the tv is on nearby. I better beware with all the crap I tend to watch. I will try to keep up with it and hopefully this DVD system won't go by the wayside like my other infomerical purchases (Windsor Pilates anyone?). At least they can't send me automatic monthly purchases (Meaningful Beauty)!

Sunshine!

So, now you know all about Maggie's blow outs...and you can imagine all the staining on the clothes. I would get these cute outfits on Maggie and then poop would ruin them. We were up at our cabin this summer with my mom and sister and her family when I found out a big time tip! Maggie had one of her blow outs and it was all over my skirt too. What I had been doing was spraying the spot with stain remover, soaking it, spraying again with remover and then washing it. Well I did a load up at the cabin and after all that the stains were still there. My mom suggested I lay the clothes out in the sun. So, I didn't dry them and just put them on the table in sunlight! When I went back to get the dry clothes the stains were gone. The sun had bleached them out (but the color in the clothes was just fine). My mom said that when she had us she used cloth diapers. She used to wash them and then put them out on the line to dry. She remembered that the cloth diapers would always be white because the sun bleached out the stains. This worked on my skirt too! Haven't tried this with any other stains, but it does work on poop and now my clothes and Maggie's clothes are nice and clean!

Blow Outs!

Holy cow can babies poop! My sister told me that when her daughter was a baby that she would poop one day a week. She would poop all day that day, but it was only once a week. In the first two months Maggie pooped five times a day (at least). Crazy blow out type pooping...running up the back and dripping down the leg. All very disgusting! The worst was when Kaleb, my mom and I were driving to Carlsbad, CA. Maggie was sleeping great and when we hit our first gas stop in Yuma she was still sleeping. I didn't want to wake her (even though changing her in a bathroom would be easier), so we continued on and let her sleep. Of course about 15 minutes later she was awake, so I fed her a bottle. I was pretty sure she also needed a diaper change so I had Kaleb pull off the highway. I was just going to change her in the car and we could move on. Well as soon as I pulled her out of the car seat I realized she had one of her blow outs! It was up her back and the whole deal. We had pulled off the highway in the middle of nowhere (90 degrees outside) and there were farm fields surrounding us. I jump out of the car, so that I could have some room to change her when about 100 flies came in the car. The fields had just been fertilized and the flies were out in droves. I of course freak out and Kaleb and mom were just as flustered. Kaleb says, "jump back in we're moving the car." I do and we move the car (with baby in my lap and poop everywhere) to the other side of the highway. I jump back out, but the flies are still there....they are everywhere because the fields are everywhere. I just deal with it and my mom, Kaleb and I are all trying to change her diaper, wipe her down, get new clothes all the while we are swatting flies. Again, this is the middle of nowhere and my mom looks around and says, "hey here is a garbage can." No idea why this garbage can was there, but it was the only lucky thing about that experience. Finally, Maggie is cleaned up and we are back driving in the car with the windows down trying to get all of the flies out. For whatever reason flies get out pretty quick in a moving vehicle with windows down. Another 10 minutes later we are all back to driving with the book on tape playing. It was about 25 minutes of pure chaos, but now we look back and laugh our asses off!

WubbaNub

The hospital gives you Soothie pacifiers. I tried a couple of other kinds (you get so many as gifts) and my daughter still likes the Soothie best. We were also given a gift of a Soothie pacifier with a little stuffed animal (pink pony) attached to it. It's called a WubbaNub! http://www.wubbanub.com/ When I got the gift I didn't think I would ever use it. However, when we were home and the pacifier fell out it would fall to the floor. My husband brought out the 'horsey pacifier' and we loved it. It has some weight to it, so it stays put rather than automatically rolling to the floor. Also, because Maggie sleeps on her side the pacifier will rest on the mattress and even if she spits it out she can actually go back to it on her own. We'll see if we continue to use it, but for the last couple of months we haven't gone anywhere without it. The person that gave me the gift got it at the hospital gift shop. Babies R Us does not carry it...I found out the hard way! One day my husband and I decided to go on our first outing with the baby. We of course went to Babies R Us! :) I had stuff to return and things to buy. We had Maggie in her infant car seat and placed it on the shopping cart. She was sleeping as we got her out of the car, but the cart ride from the car to the store woke her up. She was a little fussy, but not too bad. I decided to go wait in the return line and Kaleb was going to push her around until I was done. Maggie started getting more fussy and my husband started to panic. He grabbed a pacifier from the bag, but it was the Soothie on it's own and not the WubbaNub. She kept spitting it out and it fell to the floor. Kaleb was frustrated and didn't really know how to handle a crying baby out in public. He walks over to me in line and hisses, "You didn't bring the horsey pacifier," and storms back to the cart. I stood there stunned...thinking, "I didn't bring the horsey pacifier....YOU didn't bring the horsey pacifier!" I said, "we're in Babies R Us, go find one." As it turns out they don't carry them. We did go online and bought some others (you can collect all 12) and we now tell the story of Kaleb's first baby meltdown!

Baby is home...now what?

Once you are home with your baby it is pretty crazy. I think when you are a new mom it is so hard because you really have no idea what you are doing and you don't have those little tricks up your sleeve. So, the first trick I found was the boppy. I loved the boppy the first few weeks and didn't think there was a better product out there. I didn't really use it for breast feeding, but I did put Maggie on it (or in it...however you want to look at it) to sleep. The books and doctors say that the baby must sleep on their back. You don't want to suffocate your baby by placing her on her stomach and putting them on their back reduces the risk of SIDS. I tried having Maggie sleep on her back, but she didn't do all that well. She woke up frequently and seemed uncomfortable. That is when I tried the boppy. I would swaddle her up and place her on the boppy and she slept great. I would even put the boppy in her crib or pack n play and place her on top at night. I think she liked having her head elevated and I liked that she slept! So, just when I was comfortable with that she changed her style (I hear that happens a lot). She stopped liking the boppy. Now what? In the hospital I noticed the nurse had swaddled her (they do that perfectly by the way) and then would prop her on her side with a rolled blanket wedged behind her. She wasn't completely on her side, but wasn't on her back either. I started doing that at home and that worked great. Ultimately I bought a sleep positioner to keep Maggie from pushing the rolled blanket out and falling on her back. 3 months later and I still use the sleep positioner. She sleeps great and I guess just likes being on her side. I do switch sides from day to day, but she is getting these slight bald spots on the side of her head! Oh well...at least she sleeps!

Nursing

I'm sure I will write a lot about this topic since it's all I do (or feels like anyway), but the very first time nursing is quite the experience. Right after Maggie was born (I mean within minutes) they had me try to breast feed. It's crazy because you've just had the baby (which you are trying to process) and then they want you to feed her (which is difficult anyway) and the room is full of chaos. Maggie did pretty well latching on, but I did use the nipple shield in the beginning. Nursing in the hospital was hard because your milk hasn't come in yet and Maggie was starving. The nursing wasn't really cutting it. Maggie was also jaundice. They say the way for the jaundice to go away is for your baby to eat so that she can poop and that the poop will help pass the bilirubin (which causes the jaundice). They will also do light therapy if needed. I think most babies are jaundice, but when you are a new mom (and have no idea what you are doing) the jaundice seems like a big deal. Since Maggie wasn't getting much food from me, the lactation consultant said that feeding a bottle of formula might get her digestive system going. This would help with the jaundice and also a hungry baby. So, I fed Maggie a bottle (2 oz) and she gulped it down. She was so content afterwards that you realized just how hungry she was. I do have to say that when the pediatrician came in and checked Maggie out she stressed me out a little bit. She told me to stay away from the formula and that my body is making enough for Maggie to live on (she didn't want to risk nipple confusion). There were such conflicting theories from the doctors, lactation consultants and even the nurses. I went with what I felt was right and that was feeding Maggie a few bottles of formula during those first days before my milk came in (it actually took 5 days to come in). Maggie ate and was satisfied and ultimately I didn't have any problem with nipple confusion. I nursed too, so that she (and me too) could get some practice in. I had a happy little girl and that made for a happy mama because I wasn't freaking out over a hungry little baby!

Hospital Stay

I pushed for two hours before Maggie was born. It went very smooth, but I'm glad Kaleb was there to take it all in. I felt exhausted and in a bit of a daze. Kaleb was recording the first few minutes after she was born and I'm so grateful he did. I didn't want a video of the actual birth, but I love seeing her being weighed by the nurse and measured too. It really surreal at that point. You are so tired and you really can't believe what had just happened. Soon enough Maggie was on my chest and I was meeting her and looking her over. That is one life changing moment! The next 24hours were crazy. I had started labor at 10pm on April 29th and Maggie was born at 10am on April 30th. I had already been up over 24 hours because I had worked all day too. After she was born they wheeled me over to my recovery room (the room I would stay in for the duration). That is when the people train began. We had family and friends stopping by all day. Maggie pretty much slept, but the doctors and nurses and lactation consultants came and went. I did get a chance to take a shower (best feeling ever) and soon enough it was 8pm. I had now been up about 40 hours. What I did next will be different from what most moms do. I decided to send my husband home and the baby to the nursery for the entire night. Kaleb snores (loud) and if he was sleeping on the couch I wouldn't be able to nudge him quiet like I do at home. He was exhausted too, so I figured we would both sleep better if he went home. As far as the baby went, she went to the nursery around 10 and they brought her back at 5am. They asked if I wanted her to come in for the 1 am feeding or if they should feed her a bottle in the nursery. I had them feed her. The way I looked at it was, I'm exhausted and in the long run Maggie will be just fine if I get sleep and she gets a bottle. They also asked if I wanted to go home on May 1st or stay until the 2nd. I chose to stay another night and did the same thing in regards to sleeping/baby in nursery/husband at home...those were my last two great nights of sleep!

Epidural

The epidural was the best and worst part of the labor. Once they moved me from triage to the labor room they asked if I wanted my epidural. The nurse basically said that if I'm getting it anyway why should I wait until the pain gets worse. I saw her logic and said yes to the epidural. My doctor had already instructed the nurses to start Pitocin. It also seemed like standard practice (with my doctor anyway) to use Pitocin no matter what. Maybe this was because I had planned on the epidural and that can slow contractions. The nurse also said that once they gave me the Pitocin the contractions would get strong fast and that it was a good idea to have the epidural before they started that. The anesthesiologist must a been a newbie! He had an extremely hard time getting the needle in the right spot. He had to try many times and that pain was terrible. I was squeezing Kaleb's fingers just about off and when a contraction hit too...I thought I was going to die. Finally he gets it in, but shortly after my entire right side was dead numb. The left side was a little numb, but I could still move my leg around. I did not like that feeling plus it made me nautious. When the nurse came back to check my dilation I was at a 10. We decided to try and start pushing, but because I was so numb I couldn't lift my legs or feel the contractions. Kaleb was helping lift my leg, but it felt to me like a 300lb blob. The nurse suggested we reduce the epidural and give it a little while until I got some feeling back. After a couple of hours I had some feeling back and then it was really time...at least I had no pain!

The Hospital

Our hospital was about 15 minutes away from our house. Banner Gateway is a newer hospital and is very nice. They have a great maternity ward complete with gardens, sitting areas, nice restaurant/cafeteria and cute shop. The private maternity garden even had funky labor tools/swings. Again, the tour helped explain everything, but I knew the epidural would prevent me from walking around the gardens during labor. I also wasn't going to need those swings and stretching devices because I planned to have my own little zen party right in my bed! More about the epidural later. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger all the way to the hospital. I was nervous and excited and even texted a girlfriend or two telling them I was in labor. When we parked the car and got out my water burst. I thought it had already broken at home, but that was just small leaking compared to what happened in the hospital parking lot. So, now we are walking in the hospital doors (they had to buzz us in because it was after hours) and I looked like I just peed everywhere. I wasn't too worried since it was 12:15am, but sure enough the entire waiting room/lobby was full of people (it was all of the inductions that got bumped). I was a little embarrassed, but what could I do? They checked me into triage and examined to see how dilated I was...4cm! That is when the nurse said, "you are having a baby today" and that is when Kaleb said, "Maggie Mae will be born in April instead of May," like we had planned...she was one week early.

It's Time!!

My water broke when I was at home (thank god for that). It was around 10pm on 4/29/10. We had been watching the Suns play in the finals and had our friend over to BBQ and watch the game. Around 9:30 or so I decided to go get ready for bed and read a while. As I was laying there I felt the gush. Now, I had been reading about that moment, praying for it to happen, but I still wasn't prepared for it. I called in my husband, Kaleb,(I was now sitting on the toilet)and said, "I think my water just broke!" He kicked our friend out...well it didn't take much force. He was up and out of there as soon as he heard what was going on. "Congrats and let me know how it goes," was what he said on his way out. My husband then started running around getting the rest of what we needed. My cousin had told us that they were so busy thinking about her and what the baby would need that they forgot to pack anything for dad. One of the things they wished they had was a sweatshirt for dad in the hospital. So, remembering that, Kaleb put his sweatshirt on and continued to pack. After a few minutes Kaleb was sweating like crazy. I told him that I think he could wait to put the sweatshirt on once we got to the hospital. My contractions still hadn't started. Fluid continued to leak, but no real contractions. I was expecting to have contractions and not really know when it was time to go to the hospital, but since it was my water that broke first I knew we had to go. We left the house around 12am and on the way to the hospital my contractions began. They felt like strong period cramps. They were uncomfortable, but not unbearable...not yet anyway!

What to bring to the hospital

There are many things you can bring and others may be able to give their suggestions too. I think the very best thing we had was our IPOD. During the entire labor we were able to listen to different songs. It helped pass the time and relaxed us. Plus we'll always be able to tell our daughter that Prince (Purple Rain) was playing when she was born! We named our daughter Maggie Mae, so you would think we would of had Rod Stewart on, but we were preoccupied! Be sure to bring your own shampoo and conditioner because they don't have any there. You'll love taking that first shower. Bring a robe. You'll be wearing this gown that is all open and you will want to get up and walk around. People will be stopping by, so the robe (make it a cute one) will keep you together. Plus the nurses will need to check you down there and they like easy access! If you do bring your own pjs, make sure they are maternity wear. Just because you had a baby you will not be skinny. Plus you will be wearing these diaper things packed with ice. You'll need lots of room. The nursing cami works great as a top. You'll be nursing a lot and it was nice to wear something that looked normal and that you didn't have to wear a bra with. I got mine at Motherhood Maternity, but Target has cheap ones too. Gals who have C-sections probably have other advice on clothes in the hospital, so maybe one of them can give some tips. Other things you may want are, magazines, socks, makeup, and most importantly don't forget the camera!! Ours had the ability to take video and that was awesome. We have video just as our daughter was born! Priceless!

Birthing Class

I would recommend the birthing classes. A lot of it was boring, but they did show a live birth and I hadn't seen that since 7th grade health class. My husband freaked out when they showed the delivery of the after birth. He had no idea that happened. It is big and pretty gory looking, but we did have a good idea of what to expect. I planned on having an epidural (the second they would give it to me) and I felt the class was more geared towards women doing a natural childbirth without drugs. I think the videos just reinforced my decision to have the epidural. My husband did have to put on a weighted pregnancy vest. The instructor had him lay on the floor, get up and tie his shoes with it on. I think he got a fraction of what it was really like, but making him look goofy was really the best part. The instructor also had us practice breathing and relaxing. She told us to find 'our happy place,' but my happy place was video poker at the casino with a vodka soda! I don't think that is what she had in mind. We were given ideas of what to bring to the hospital and given a tour of the maternity ward. The tour was great and we were told exactly where to go when it was time. A tour is a must, so even if you don't do your classes at the hospital then I would stop in for a look see.

Maternity Clothes

Everyone told me that "maternity clothes are so much cuter than when I was pregnant." That might be true, but who wants to buy them? I held off on buying maternity clothes for way too long. I went to visit a girlfriend in Sacramento when I was six months pregnant and I was wearing big sweaters that I had in my closet. She, a mother of two, convinced me to go maternity clothes shopping. Once I gave in and bought the pants with panels and tops with the side rouging, I finally got it. Don't hide the pregnancy...embrace it! You will look like a cute pregnant girl rather than a frumpy overweight girl. Plus you won't believe how much more comfortable you are. I will definitely wear the maternity clothes much sooner on my next one. I bought most of my clothes at Target or Kohls because it was cheap, but also got some things from Motherhood. A couple of girlfriends passed their maternity wear on to me and that helped a ton. Here is what I suggest - borrow what you can, find a good pair of jeans (you'll wear the heck out of them), and when you have to buy bigger bras - get nursing ones so that you can use them once the baby is born!

Pregnancy!

Pregnancy was, for the most part, enjoyable. I did not have any morning sickness and loved eating anything I wanted! I was very tired the first trimester and that lead into being a home body. I'm a very social person and that part of me changed during pregnancy. I stayed home all the time and now I am addicted to all "The Housewives" reality shows. I still Tivo them! I think they call that nesting, but I think it was me just missing my Chardonnay! Once I had Maggie the social part came back, but so did the wine! The very worst part of pregnancy was the last month or so...I swelled up like a balloon. Shoes didn't fit and even my maternity clothes were getting tight. Who wants their realtor showing them houses in sweats and running shoes? I did work right up until I gave birth and that helped pass the time. If you take too much time off before delivering all you can think about is being pregnant and praying that the baby will come. I do have to say that you should make sure to have your hair cut/colored and get a pedicure a week or so before your due. You'll be happy you did. Just be sure the pedicurist uses cool water...we don't want even more swelling!

The Big Decision

In a few days I will be 31. Wow, my life sure has changed since my 30th birthday. My husband and I will be married 7 years this summer. We both knew we always wanted kids, but when we married we wanted to wait a while. We enjoyed travelling, movies, nights out with friends and those things were much easier without children. We had time and always pushed having kids out into the future. When I turned 30 I guess I sort of felt my biological clock ticking. We would probably want more than one child, so we decided to try....well, stop preventing anyway. I thought it may take some time to get pregnant, but what did I know? Two weeks later and sure enough I'm pregnant. So, this Saturday night I will be celebrating my 31st birthday and our baby girl will be 10 weeks old. We will probably go to the same wine bar near our house that we were at last year, but now I need to find a babysitter and be very careful how much I drink. There is nothing worse than taking care of your baby with a raging hangover!