Being A Mom is HARD!!!

Look how little!

Be prepared for a marathon post!



Ok, so I thought that having a baby at home would be easier than working full time... Boy was I wrong! Never did I think that I wouldn't have my teeth brushed before 4pm or that I'd be finally getting around to doing my hair at 5pm... Or did you know that the 10:00 news is replayed at 2 am? Wow, being a mom is difficult! Today Addie has been VERY needy and I haven't been able to put her down for more than 30 minutes without her wailing. So needless to say I haven't had time to blog/clean my house/do laundry/cook/etc since she's arrived.

Thursday November 29th I starting having bad back cramps and was contracting every 15-20 minutes and so after about 3 hours of that I decided to call the doctor and Natalie said for me to come on in. I didn't really want to because I was busy at work so she said if it got worse to call her back. Well a few minutes later she called me and said Dr. Nix wanted to see me anyways, so I left work and headed to the doctor. He checked me and I was 60% effaced and still only about 1 cm so he said I could either go home and let the contractions get closer together or I could go to the hospital and let them monitor me. I didn't want to waste my time at the hospital if nothing was going to happen so I pouted and we were going to leave when Natalie said she'd go talk to Dr. Nix. A few minutes later we hear him get on the phone with the hospital telling them I was headed over and to start the pitocin. YAY! So Natalie tells us to go straight over to the hospital and so of course I didn't have my bags, and I hadn't eaten lunch or dinner yet and it was about 5 pm. We got to the hospital and they started an IV after sticking me in my left arm 3 times until the vein finally blew and then went for my right arm. I turned green the nurse said and I think this was probably one of the worse parts of my hospital stay! They started the drugs and I had no change all night long.

Finally Dr. Nix broke my water around 7 AM and I went to 3-4 cm and 70% effaced. This process was very painful and Dr. Nix said it was mild compared to delivering so I went ahead and got my epidural shortly after and then was just there for the ride. The nurse checked me around 2 pm and I was still 3ish cm and the same effaced and she got me to a good 4 cm while she checked me and then she wedged me on my side to help things along. Well within about 5 minutes I was having cramps on my right side of my body so they gave me more medicine and it wasn't helping and about 10 minutes after that I started feeling pressure so I told her and she checked me again and I was 10 cm and 100% effaced in just 20 minutes! She had me do a practice push and Addie was crowning so she called Dr. Nix and then we just had to wait for the 30 minutes or so it took him to get there. She had me do little pushes while we waited so by the time Dr. Nix got there I only had to push through 2 contractions and there Addie was at 3:15 pm! I was so lucky and had a wonderful nurse that helped to deliver Addie. Her name is Marie and she really took care of me and spent so much time helping me. I am so happy I had her to help us out! Addie weighed in at 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 inches long. She scored a 9.9 on the Apgar test thing which is apparently excellent.

Dr. Nix and Addie

Dad, Addie, & Me

My Wonderful Nurse Marie, Addie, & Me
Addie only let out 2 squawks and then they put her on my chest and I just cried and cried until I felt something warm running down my side and realized Addie was peeing all over me! This has held constant with Addie and she poops everytime I put her in the bathtub and then again when I wrap the towel around her after the bath and then she always manages to pee or poop on me when I fail to change her without a changing pad under her.

Case in point... see the wet spot on the couch by Addie? She pooped and peed before we could get a diaper on her after her bath and it soaked through the towel and blanket!
She is a sweet little girl who has been really good for the most part, only crying when she needs something but today has been needier than usual.

Big Yawn!

We came home from the hospital Sunday December 2nd with Addie weighing 5 lbs 13 oz and a 9 jaundice. Addie had her first doctor appointment the Tuesday after we got home from the hospital, December 4th and she weighed 5 lbs 10 oz and was a 14 on jaundice, so we had to go back on Thursday and she weighed 5 lbs 15 oz and her jaundice had gone down to 12. She had another appointment this past Thursday, December 13th and she weighs a whopping 6 lbs 10 oz and has grown an inch, to 20 inches long now! I can't believe she gained a pound and grew an inch in just a little over a week! We now won't go back to the doctor until she is 2 months old, so wish us luck!

She is not on any kind of schedule yet and some nights are horrible while others are ok. Last night was good with her sleeping 4 hours straight and then sleeping another 2. I am exhausted and Jarom is too, little Addie is the only one getting good sleep! My mom has been an enormous help to us, coming over and cleaning, holding Addie so I can shower and go to the bathroom, cooking, doing laundry, and helping with the dogs. Dad and Scott came over and cleaned out our gutters and got the leaves out of our yard which was a huge help to Jarom and then between family and church we haven't had to cook for ourselves for the better part of the past 2 weeks, which has been a blessing! Jarom bathed the dogs and groomed them really well Wednesday and we finally let them near Addie for the first time. They were just really curious and Misho cries whenever Addie does.

We were worried they would be jealous and maybe try to hurt Addie but they just wag their tails and try to get close to her. They are having to adjust to not being the babies anymore and now spend most of their time outdoors to their dismay.

Her little toes are like those tiny sour grapes

I now realize what they mean by a mother's love for her child. I love Addie more than I imagined possible. She has brought a new joy to our lives and despite our sleep deprived state we are so happy.

Look at her eyelashes! They are so long!

Her favorite way to sleep is in our bed on her side

Addie loves to sleep on her side and no matter how many times we place her on her back she always rolls herself over onto her side. Well yesterday we put her in the bed and I'm in the process of getting ready for bed and she proceeds to roll herself on her side and then rolled again over onto her belly. She got mad because then her arm was stuck underneath her belly, but I thought babies weren't supposed to be able to roll over until 5 months or so? She also has held her head up by herself since she was born and picks her head up when she's laying down and looks around or lifts her head up off Jarom's chest when he's laying down with her and looks around the room. She is strong!

Well this is the end of my marathon post, I hope some of you made it to the end. Its the first time in a while she's slept and I haven't been too exhausted to get on and post!