Sunday, October 23, 2011
Germ City
Germ City...the name of our house in September. The entire month someone was sick. Tim started out with a cold/sore throat and once that was over Alex decided to get a fever of 102.6. I whisked him away to the doctor who declared he had a sore throat. Great. Dr. Harrison said to call back the next day and let us know how Alex was doing. Well Alex wasn't much better the next day, his fever went away over night but came back with a vengeance in the afternoon. So back to the office we went. This time Dr Harrison found that both of Alex's ears were infected. He thought one of them might have even perforated, it was hard to tell because the ear canal was so swollen. So we were sent home with antibiotics, and several days of Alex being uncomfortable. A few days later we thought Alex was feeling better when he vomited three times one day. Of course it was Sunday so when I called the doctor I got the answering service, who directed me to a nurse's hotline. Well I wasn't too impressed, I reached a nurse but all she did was plug Alex's symptoms into a computer program that gave me some vague answers and not much help. So I decided if Alex vomited one more time I would take him to the ED. Well luckily he never had any more problems so we figured it must have been a stomach ache or something. Well then the next day Tim had horrible vomiting and I had a stomach ache/body aches. I swear it did not end! Needless to say I disinfected the house from top to bottom after all that!
Alex had his four month checkup in September, and everything looked great. Dr Harrison thought Alex was doing well developmentally, and is growing well. He was up to 13.5 lbs and 25 inches. His weight is now in the 25th percentile, so he is still on the smaller side for his age but is catching up! We got the all clear to start cereal with Alex, but Alex has other ideas. He wasn't too impressed with rice cereal and even a month later he still spits half of it out. But some babies don't get the hang of it until 6 months so we will keep trying!
Dr Harrison had us come back to the office this week for a recheck of Alex's flat spot. He thinks it is getting better and since there is no facial or ear deformity he doesn't have to wear a corrective helmet! So we will keep working on reshaping his head and get it nice and round. Alex is now 14 lbs 15 oz! Still in the 25th percentile but since he is gaining weight and healthy the doctor (and mom and dad) are happy. The bad news...Alex still has an ear infection in his right ear. So more antibiotics. I have a feeling he will have problems with his ears like I did.
I started a new job at Bergan Mercy Medical Center here in Omaha, I know work on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. A big change from my old med/surg/ortho job, but this is where I wanted to work since nursing school. It is going great so far, I have a lot to learn but luckily they are very patient with teaching me!
Well I think that is about it for updates on our little family, now the moment you have been waiting for...pictures!
Alex is the boy of many faces!!
Alex had his four month checkup in September, and everything looked great. Dr Harrison thought Alex was doing well developmentally, and is growing well. He was up to 13.5 lbs and 25 inches. His weight is now in the 25th percentile, so he is still on the smaller side for his age but is catching up! We got the all clear to start cereal with Alex, but Alex has other ideas. He wasn't too impressed with rice cereal and even a month later he still spits half of it out. But some babies don't get the hang of it until 6 months so we will keep trying!
Dr Harrison had us come back to the office this week for a recheck of Alex's flat spot. He thinks it is getting better and since there is no facial or ear deformity he doesn't have to wear a corrective helmet! So we will keep working on reshaping his head and get it nice and round. Alex is now 14 lbs 15 oz! Still in the 25th percentile but since he is gaining weight and healthy the doctor (and mom and dad) are happy. The bad news...Alex still has an ear infection in his right ear. So more antibiotics. I have a feeling he will have problems with his ears like I did.
I started a new job at Bergan Mercy Medical Center here in Omaha, I know work on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. A big change from my old med/surg/ortho job, but this is where I wanted to work since nursing school. It is going great so far, I have a lot to learn but luckily they are very patient with teaching me!
Well I think that is about it for updates on our little family, now the moment you have been waiting for...pictures!
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| Alex cheering on the Cyclones against Iowa!! |
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Alexander 3 months
Well our little Alex is 3 months old now! I say this all the time but it amazes me how much he changes from day to day. He is full of smiles and giggles, and loves it when you talk to him and look at him. He is getting pretty good at holding his head up when you hold him, but is still far away from sitting on his own. You definitely have to pay attention when you hold him that he doesn't flop out of your lap!
He still isn't very motivated to roll over yet. When I put him on his play mat he kicks and bats at his toys, but seems to be content on his back. He is happiest in his bouncy chair, the kid loves to bounce. If you aren't bouncing him hard or fast enough, he will let you know! I don't want to jinx myself, but Alex is a great sleeper. He usually sleeps about 9 hours a night, and he pretty much tells us when he is ready for bed. Around 830 he starts to get sleepy but we try to keep him awake until at least 930. Then we put him in his crib with the mobile turned on and he puts himself to sleep! He must take after his mommy and realize how great sleep is. I wish this would last forever!
For the most part things have been pretty quiet around here. Work has been going well for both me and Tim, my transition back to work wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes it was hard for me to be away from the family and leave Alex at daycare, but I have the benefit of only working three nights a week. So I get a lot more time with Alex than most working moms do. My first week back to work was hectic though, it was hard to get back into my routine! It is amazing how many little things you can forget or overlook when you haven't worked in 9 weeks. Luckily after a couple days things were back to normal. Well as normal as you can be with a new baby!
Alex had his three month pictures taken this week, and they are adorable! Meghan took all these pictures at our house. She got some great shots! I also weighed him to see how big he is getting, and he weighed in at a whopping 13.2 pounds! I was really excited about that because since we see him everyday it is hard to judge how big he is getting. He was 9 lbs 4 oz at his 2 month appointment so if he stayed on his goal of 1 oz per day he would need to have gained 2 lbs by now. He has far surpassed that!! Dr Harrison will be pleased next month. Enjoy the pictures!
Kristin
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| Alex and Great-Grandma Nancy |
He still isn't very motivated to roll over yet. When I put him on his play mat he kicks and bats at his toys, but seems to be content on his back. He is happiest in his bouncy chair, the kid loves to bounce. If you aren't bouncing him hard or fast enough, he will let you know! I don't want to jinx myself, but Alex is a great sleeper. He usually sleeps about 9 hours a night, and he pretty much tells us when he is ready for bed. Around 830 he starts to get sleepy but we try to keep him awake until at least 930. Then we put him in his crib with the mobile turned on and he puts himself to sleep! He must take after his mommy and realize how great sleep is. I wish this would last forever!
For the most part things have been pretty quiet around here. Work has been going well for both me and Tim, my transition back to work wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes it was hard for me to be away from the family and leave Alex at daycare, but I have the benefit of only working three nights a week. So I get a lot more time with Alex than most working moms do. My first week back to work was hectic though, it was hard to get back into my routine! It is amazing how many little things you can forget or overlook when you haven't worked in 9 weeks. Luckily after a couple days things were back to normal. Well as normal as you can be with a new baby!
Alex had his three month pictures taken this week, and they are adorable! Meghan took all these pictures at our house. She got some great shots! I also weighed him to see how big he is getting, and he weighed in at a whopping 13.2 pounds! I was really excited about that because since we see him everyday it is hard to judge how big he is getting. He was 9 lbs 4 oz at his 2 month appointment so if he stayed on his goal of 1 oz per day he would need to have gained 2 lbs by now. He has far surpassed that!! Dr Harrison will be pleased next month. Enjoy the pictures!
Kristin
Friday, July 15, 2011
Webb summer get together, 4th of July, and 2 month dr visit
The end of June was Alex's first Webb get together, so he got to meet some of his Great Aunts and Uncles. We were nervous taking him on a long road trip to Illinois, but for the most part it went very well! He likes to ride in the car, pretty much all he did was sleep haha. We just had to stop every couple hours so he could eat and get his diaper changed. But to be honest I was happy to get out of the car and stretch my legs! We had a great weekend of eating great food and catching up, I couldn't have asked for anything better!
Well Alex had his first 4th of July! He loved it of course! On July 2nd we went over to our friends Aaron and Kendra's house for a grill-out and fireworks. Alex did really well with the fireworks, I think the bright lights bothered him more than the noise. However, after about 15 minutes he was not enjoying it any longer, so we went inside. On the 3rd we went over to my Aunt Glenda's house for a family get together and Alex got to meet his "cousin" Collins. I say "cousin" because let's face it, it's simpler. My mom and Sarah are 1st cousins, and Collins is Sarah's daughter. So we joked that Collins and Alex are "some sort of cousins". Alex wasn't too sure about Collins, but I think Collins loved Alex and thought he was her new toy.
On the 4th we went to our friends Amanda and Kevin's house for another 4th of July picnic. Alex was a huge hit especially with the girls...everyone loves babies!
Amanda and Kevin were setting off some pretty big fireworks, so Alex and I watched them from inside. Or should I say, he went to sleep while I watched them!
Alex had his 2 month Well-baby visit this week. I think it was hard on the both of us since he had to get his first round of vaccinations! The good news is that he is up to 9 lbs 4.5 oz and 22 inches long! He is in the 5th percentile for weight, 7th percentile for length, and 16th percentile for head circumference. So he is still a little guy. But Dr Harrison said as long as he gains 1 oz per day, he is doing well. And so far he has surpassed that! The rest of his checkup went great!
I can't believe how big Alex is getting and how much he is changing day to day. He is getting really good at holding his head up and pushing up on his arms during tummy time. It's just a matter of time before he rolls over! His hair is growing back, I swear I can see it getting longer every day. In some light it looks white/blonde and in other light it looks red. Time will tell!
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| Alex and Claire |
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| Alex and Grandma Mary |
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| How cute!!! |
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| Paul, Toliver and Tim playing some ball in the backyard |
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| Alex and Great Uncle Ron |
Well Alex had his first 4th of July! He loved it of course! On July 2nd we went over to our friends Aaron and Kendra's house for a grill-out and fireworks. Alex did really well with the fireworks, I think the bright lights bothered him more than the noise. However, after about 15 minutes he was not enjoying it any longer, so we went inside. On the 3rd we went over to my Aunt Glenda's house for a family get together and Alex got to meet his "cousin" Collins. I say "cousin" because let's face it, it's simpler. My mom and Sarah are 1st cousins, and Collins is Sarah's daughter. So we joked that Collins and Alex are "some sort of cousins". Alex wasn't too sure about Collins, but I think Collins loved Alex and thought he was her new toy.
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| Come here little baby! I want to play! |
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| Awe holding hands! |
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| One of Alex's July 4th outfits from Great Aunt Jenn. Of course you should get your own parade cutie! |
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| Alex's second 4th of July outfit! |
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| All the kiddos oooing and ahhing over the baby! |
Alex had his 2 month Well-baby visit this week. I think it was hard on the both of us since he had to get his first round of vaccinations! The good news is that he is up to 9 lbs 4.5 oz and 22 inches long! He is in the 5th percentile for weight, 7th percentile for length, and 16th percentile for head circumference. So he is still a little guy. But Dr Harrison said as long as he gains 1 oz per day, he is doing well. And so far he has surpassed that! The rest of his checkup went great!
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| Alex on his boppy during "tummy time" |
A mother's guilt
Lately I have been thinking a lot about "mother's guilt". I am sure I am not the only one who feels guilty about something nearly every day. Think about it, what mother isn't guilty about going back to work, or letting a poopy diaper sit for just "five more minutes", or even thinking "ugh do I REALLY have to get up?" when the baby wakes at 4 in the morning. And of course there is the biggie: breastfeeding. Since I learned I was pregnant I have had several reasons I wanted to breastfeed. First of all, it is free. Who wants to spend money on formula when you can feed your baby for free? But most of all, I knew that breast milk was the healthiest food for my baby and as all mothers, I wanted to do the absolute best for my baby. I read books, articles, blogs, and message boards on breastfeeding; I talked to my friends and family to get their input. I took it for granted that it would work out for me, even though I knew it wouldn't be easy.
I may have known it wouldn't be easy, but I still wasn't prepared for the challenge. I started off behind the pack, I didn't even get to hold Alex until he was 4 hours old. "It's ok" I told myself, and as soon as I got to hold him and he was passed around for all my family to hold him I kicked everyone out of the room so I could breastfeed. Well it helped that it was 2 am, but that's not the point! Breastfeeding seemed to go well at first, Alex latched on perfectly. I continued to breastfeed him every couple hours, and as far as I knew, everything was going fine and normally. But then on hospital day 3 I found out from the pediatrician that Alex has lost quite a bit of weight. If he lost much more, we would have to start supplementing him with formula. Soon after that Alex started to get very upset, he was inconsolable and cried for over an hour. I tried to breastfeed him but he would just get more upset. Finally we called the nurse because I didn't know what to do. She suggested that we give him a little formula, just to ease his hunger. I didn't like the idea, but I put my feelings aside. My baby needed to eat right? I couldn't believe how fast he sucked the formula down. I broke down and cried. Why couldn't I feed my baby? Why couldn't I give him what he needed? It was a very hard time for me, it didn't help that my hormones were crazy since I had just given birth. The next day we discovered that he had lost more weight, so he would need formula supplementation after each breastfeeding. I felt defeated.
Well to make a long story short, breastfeeding never got any easier. But I kept at it, determined to make it work. My problem was that my milk never came in. I don't know if it was the c-section, the fact that I had a small baby, the medications I was taking for my clotting disorder, or just that it was my first baby. (I have heard from others that they didn't produce enough milk for their first baby, but produced plenty for the next baby) I tried everything to make it work. I pumped, I took medications, I took herbal supplements (that my dr told me not to take but hey, I was desperate), I ate oatmeal every day, I drank ovaltine, and I even spent a week drinking 1 Guinness each night. (yuck!) One of the prescriptions I took, Reglan, seemed to help a little, but you can only take it for 1 month and after that month my milk supply started to dwindle again. But still I kept at it. I spent weeks beating myself up over it. Everyone I talked to said "I would have given up by now" or "Is this worth all the stress?" but I just ignored it. Even though I was stressed out, didn't want to leave the house or make plans with friends/family, and just generally unhappy, I refused to give up. Why?
Ah now we get to it, the almighty Guilt factor. I felt like if I gave up breastfeeding I was being lazy and not doing my best for Alex. It took my mother telling me "Kristin you have spent your entire maternity leave being miserable over this. You should be enjoying yourself!" before I really got it. Alex was healthy. I had given breastfeeding my best shot. It just didn't work for us, and Alex would be just fine on formula. That day I felt such a wonderful rush of relief come over me. Sure Mr. Guilt talks to me in the back of my mind most days saying "What if you had given it one more week? Maybe it would have worked after that 9th week!" But I have learned to ignore it. It's time to move on!
I may have known it wouldn't be easy, but I still wasn't prepared for the challenge. I started off behind the pack, I didn't even get to hold Alex until he was 4 hours old. "It's ok" I told myself, and as soon as I got to hold him and he was passed around for all my family to hold him I kicked everyone out of the room so I could breastfeed. Well it helped that it was 2 am, but that's not the point! Breastfeeding seemed to go well at first, Alex latched on perfectly. I continued to breastfeed him every couple hours, and as far as I knew, everything was going fine and normally. But then on hospital day 3 I found out from the pediatrician that Alex has lost quite a bit of weight. If he lost much more, we would have to start supplementing him with formula. Soon after that Alex started to get very upset, he was inconsolable and cried for over an hour. I tried to breastfeed him but he would just get more upset. Finally we called the nurse because I didn't know what to do. She suggested that we give him a little formula, just to ease his hunger. I didn't like the idea, but I put my feelings aside. My baby needed to eat right? I couldn't believe how fast he sucked the formula down. I broke down and cried. Why couldn't I feed my baby? Why couldn't I give him what he needed? It was a very hard time for me, it didn't help that my hormones were crazy since I had just given birth. The next day we discovered that he had lost more weight, so he would need formula supplementation after each breastfeeding. I felt defeated.
Well to make a long story short, breastfeeding never got any easier. But I kept at it, determined to make it work. My problem was that my milk never came in. I don't know if it was the c-section, the fact that I had a small baby, the medications I was taking for my clotting disorder, or just that it was my first baby. (I have heard from others that they didn't produce enough milk for their first baby, but produced plenty for the next baby) I tried everything to make it work. I pumped, I took medications, I took herbal supplements (that my dr told me not to take but hey, I was desperate), I ate oatmeal every day, I drank ovaltine, and I even spent a week drinking 1 Guinness each night. (yuck!) One of the prescriptions I took, Reglan, seemed to help a little, but you can only take it for 1 month and after that month my milk supply started to dwindle again. But still I kept at it. I spent weeks beating myself up over it. Everyone I talked to said "I would have given up by now" or "Is this worth all the stress?" but I just ignored it. Even though I was stressed out, didn't want to leave the house or make plans with friends/family, and just generally unhappy, I refused to give up. Why?
Ah now we get to it, the almighty Guilt factor. I felt like if I gave up breastfeeding I was being lazy and not doing my best for Alex. It took my mother telling me "Kristin you have spent your entire maternity leave being miserable over this. You should be enjoying yourself!" before I really got it. Alex was healthy. I had given breastfeeding my best shot. It just didn't work for us, and Alex would be just fine on formula. That day I felt such a wonderful rush of relief come over me. Sure Mr. Guilt talks to me in the back of my mind most days saying "What if you had given it one more week? Maybe it would have worked after that 9th week!" But I have learned to ignore it. It's time to move on!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
I need to get better at this
Well once again, I waited way too long in between blog posts. I am really going to attempt to be better to keep our wonderful relatives and friends updated on what's going on. I will try to quickly sum up what has been going on, hopefully you have either talked to me or read my facebook updates but if not here you go!
My last update was week 33 of pregnancy, and the rest of my pregnancy went pretty well. All of my ultrasounds and non stress tests were normal...until week 38 (May 13th). I got off my night shift at work and went into my weekly OB appointment. I went into the non stress test first, and we had one of our fastest times! I had the hang of it by that point and knew that I had to chug ice water to keep baby moving. After that we went to the ultrasound. Usually we breeze through it, but this time was a little different. It was one of our "measuring weeks" where we got to see approximately how much he weighed. The tech kept retaking the measurements over and over again to try to get a bigger weight, he was only measuring 6 lbs at the most. And most of his measurements were below that. I knew he would be a small baby, but that is pretty small for a 38 week baby. The tech just said it was because he was too far down in my pelvis and she couldn't get a good measurement on his head. I was a little relieved, I thought he must have dropped and he would be coming any day now! Well I was partially correct. When the OB came into check my cervix, I was still at 1 cm and he was not dropped down in my pelvis at all. So the measurements were correct. Dr Hedrick also said that she didn't like some of his placental measurements, and she was suspicious that his placenta was not functioning properly. Ok this was definitely panic time for me, but she said he is obviously doing ok since he passed his non stress test and the other parts of the ultrasound. However, she also said that she didn't want to wait until May 20th which was our original induction date, she wanted to induce that day. it was 1245 pm and she said, "Can you get to Bergan by 200 pm?" Um yeah I guess! Needless to say I was freaking out a little. I thought I had another week to get ready! We had a whole entire list of stuff we wanted to do before baby came, but oh well. It was time!
I called Tim frantically and told him he needed to get home right away so we could go to the hospital. We quickly threw what we thought we needed in bags and headed to Bergan. I made it there exactly at 2! They started the pitocin and I was nervous about starting labor but excited to meet my baby boy finally. Well after 7 hours of pitocin, I still hadn't started labor. My cervix didn't dilate, and I only had one real contraction, the rest were braxton-hicks. I was at the max amount of pitocin and the baby was doing ok, but his heart rate was starting to lose variability, which is one of the early signs that things just "aren't right". Luckily I have a great doctor and it was her weekend on call (yay!) so she was there at the hospital with me. She decided it would be best to do a c-section and get the baby out before we started having problems. Again I was a little freaked out and I didn't really want a c-section, but I would also do anything for my baby so I said, "let's go!"
Since I never went into labor I didn't have an epidural, so I got a spinal block. It didn't work all the way, I could still feel around my belly button. I didn't think that was a big deal until they started doing the delivery, it felt like someone grabbed my skin by my belly button with a hook and was pulling it across the room as hard as they could. Ouch! They ended up having to give me some fentanyl through my IV but it still hurt like nothing I've ever felt before. I guess that was my trade off for not having contractions! Anyway, Alex was born and he was a perfect baby. He started crying right away which was music to our ears. We both started crying hysterically we were so happy. (Well I was already crying from pain but I was glad to turn it into a happy cry!) It was the happiest moment of my life!
Well after a quick clean up and a kiss from mom and dad, Alex was whisked away to the nursery to finish his exams and get a bath. Tim followed Alex to the nursery while I hung out and the doctors sewed me up. After I recovered I was taken up to our post-partum room. On our way I got to stop by the nursery and see Alex. Oh how I wanted to hold him! But I had to wait another excruciating 2 hours because his blood sugar was low and it needed to be above a certain level before he could be released from the nursery. Finally at 1:30 am I got to hold my baby!
My last update was week 33 of pregnancy, and the rest of my pregnancy went pretty well. All of my ultrasounds and non stress tests were normal...until week 38 (May 13th). I got off my night shift at work and went into my weekly OB appointment. I went into the non stress test first, and we had one of our fastest times! I had the hang of it by that point and knew that I had to chug ice water to keep baby moving. After that we went to the ultrasound. Usually we breeze through it, but this time was a little different. It was one of our "measuring weeks" where we got to see approximately how much he weighed. The tech kept retaking the measurements over and over again to try to get a bigger weight, he was only measuring 6 lbs at the most. And most of his measurements were below that. I knew he would be a small baby, but that is pretty small for a 38 week baby. The tech just said it was because he was too far down in my pelvis and she couldn't get a good measurement on his head. I was a little relieved, I thought he must have dropped and he would be coming any day now! Well I was partially correct. When the OB came into check my cervix, I was still at 1 cm and he was not dropped down in my pelvis at all. So the measurements were correct. Dr Hedrick also said that she didn't like some of his placental measurements, and she was suspicious that his placenta was not functioning properly. Ok this was definitely panic time for me, but she said he is obviously doing ok since he passed his non stress test and the other parts of the ultrasound. However, she also said that she didn't want to wait until May 20th which was our original induction date, she wanted to induce that day. it was 1245 pm and she said, "Can you get to Bergan by 200 pm?" Um yeah I guess! Needless to say I was freaking out a little. I thought I had another week to get ready! We had a whole entire list of stuff we wanted to do before baby came, but oh well. It was time!
I called Tim frantically and told him he needed to get home right away so we could go to the hospital. We quickly threw what we thought we needed in bags and headed to Bergan. I made it there exactly at 2! They started the pitocin and I was nervous about starting labor but excited to meet my baby boy finally. Well after 7 hours of pitocin, I still hadn't started labor. My cervix didn't dilate, and I only had one real contraction, the rest were braxton-hicks. I was at the max amount of pitocin and the baby was doing ok, but his heart rate was starting to lose variability, which is one of the early signs that things just "aren't right". Luckily I have a great doctor and it was her weekend on call (yay!) so she was there at the hospital with me. She decided it would be best to do a c-section and get the baby out before we started having problems. Again I was a little freaked out and I didn't really want a c-section, but I would also do anything for my baby so I said, "let's go!"
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| The proud parents right before surgery |
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| Alexander Steven, 5 lbs 13 oz, 19.5 inches |
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| Gimme! |
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| The Webb family together at last! |
| Of course we thought he was perfect. Things didn't go how we thought they would, but we ended up with a perfect, healthy baby which was all we could ask for. |
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Week 33
Week 33 has been pretty eventful, probably more than I would like! Friday I went to my weekly doctor appointment, and I had my first non-stress test. I think the name "non-stress" test is very fitting, because for me it was very relaxing! The nurses took me back to a private room with a comfy recliner, and hooked me up to a monitor. It is just like the monitors in the hospital, one sensor tracks baby's heart rate and the other sensor measures if you happen to have any contractions. I didn't have any contractions, but that is normal for a non-stress test, they are basically measuring how the baby does under normal circumstances. They measured his heart rate for 15-20 minutes (I'm not sure how long I was in there!) and they look for heart rate accelerations. That is when the baby's heart rate shows an increase of at least 15 beats per minute for at least 15 seconds. They also give you a little button to push every time the baby moves, so they can see if the accelerations coincide with activity. The first part of the test baby was asleep, so I figured I would be there forever. (If they monitor you for 20 minutes and there aren't any accelerations or movements, you just get to sit there longer!) He did have one acceleration but it was a little one, and for some reason the monitor wasn't working when I pushed the activity button. About 10-15 minutes later, baby woke up and showed how he likes to go wild in mommy's tummy! Let's put it this way - the first half of the test he moved about 5 times, the second half of the test he moved 30 times! He had a really good acceleration at the end, so the NP said I could come off the monitor. So this is what I have to look forward to every week!
Next they took me for my biophysical profile, which is another part of my weekly visit. The non-stress test is actually part of the biophysical profile, but I did that part first today. The rest of the profile involves an ultrasound that measures amniotic fluid, heart rate, breathing movements, and activity. Since baby was awake, it took less than 5 minutes to get what we needed. And then the sonographer was nice enough to snap some pictures of baby!
As you can see, he was striking his usual "hands in the face" pose, but today he decided to add a foot in there! In fact, before she was able to get a picture he was trying to get his foot in his mouth, apparently sucking his thumb is getting boring!
Anyway, he passed the biophysical profile with flying colors so we were taken back to see the NP. She measured my belly and everything looked good so we were on our way to enjoy the wonderful weekend weather! The weekend was wonderful, not only because the weather was beautiful, but because we had hardly anything planned! I cannot remember the last time we had a weekend all to ourselves without work, traveling, or having someone visit. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about traveling and having visitors, it is just nice to have a nice quiet lazy weekend once in awhile. Especially with a baby on the way! Friday night we did go out with some friends to a fish fry though. I have always wanted to go to a fish fry during Lent, but I figured it was a lost cause since Tim hates to eat fish. Luckily for me a friend at work invited him to one and he decided we would try it out! Granted he didn't eat while we were there, he just partook of the vast amounts of beer. I think fish fries are one of the smartest fundraisers ever, they had to be raking in money! As you wait in the tremendously long line, there are beer stations conveniently placed down the hallway. Just as your pitcher is empty, gee there's another beer station! And once you get your food there are raffles and dessert tables and all sorts of places to throw money. And no one minds because it all goes to charitable causes! So smart! So even though Tim was a party pooper and didn't have any fish, we still had a good time. I'm glad I finally got to go!
Saturday I pretty much relaxed all day, I did a little housework and enjoyed the 87 degrees by sitting on the front porch swing and reading a book. And if I remember right, I was falling asleep on the couch by 830. Good times! Sunday I finished up the housework while Tim slaved in the yard, and then we vegged on the couch watching golf. I normally don't like to watch golf, but due to the fact we don't have cable (we just use a digital antenna) that was all that was on! Once I watched for awhile I actually started to get into it and it was somewhat entertaining! All I have to say is poor Rory! While watching golf my abdomen started to hurt. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but my stomach felt really tight and I was getting very uncomfortable. I wondered if I was having contractions, or if baby was just really pushing against my abdominal wall. It lasted all night, and eventually started to make my back hurt. I thought about calling the doctor, but I really didn't think it was anything too serious. Plus I had an appointment the next morning with my specialist, so I figured if I still didn't feel well in the morning I would bring it up to him. So around 830 I grabbed a heating pad for my back and headed to bed.
I tossed and turned all night and woke up with the same contractions/cramps/back pain. I figured it was probably Braxton-Hicks contractions if anything, but I didn't think they were supposed to be constant like this. So I went to my doctor's appointment to see what was up. So why two doctors? I see my normal OB doctor every week now, but I have also been seeing a Maternal-Fetal Specialist every 6 weeks or so since I was 18 weeks pregnant. He does a diagnostic ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing and developing properly. One potential problem with Factor V Leiden is fetal growth suppression, and other problems can include blood clots in the placenta. So far the baby is growing fine and they estimate his weight to be 4 lbs 5 oz! If he grows about a half a pound a week (which is the average) then he will be about 7 lbs when he is born. I think I could handle that! The rest of the ultrasound looked great and when the doctor came in he told me I would switch to heparin injections in 3 weeks. Right now I am on lovenox, which is a form of heparin, the reason I have to switch to regular heparin is because we are nearing delivery. (yay!) Heparin has a shorter half-life than lovenox, which means after injecting it is out of your system in about 12 hours. This is important when it comes to delivery so that you can get an epidural and not bleed to death! The downside is instead of one injection a day, you need to do two since it only lasts 12 hours. Blah. Oh well, whatever it takes right? I mentioned the contractions/cramps I had been having and he didn't seem to be concerned about it. That didn't really surprise me because as a high risk specialist he gets more concerned about the "big things" than the small things. So when I got home I called my regular OB because things just didn't seem "right". Of course she had me come into get checked out. She didn't think I was having pre-term labor or anything, but she was concerned that if these contractions/cramps continued I may go into labor. So she ran some tests and everything was fine, and finally determined I had a small infection she believed was irritating my uterus. So she gave me a prescription and told me she would see me on friday. If I wasn't better by then the infection must not be the issue. I thought, it better be gone by then I can't deal with this all week! I continued to have contractions/cramps all night but this morning I feel much better. Now I just have to figure out how to sleep comfortably at night but I think that will be a hard fought battle!
Next they took me for my biophysical profile, which is another part of my weekly visit. The non-stress test is actually part of the biophysical profile, but I did that part first today. The rest of the profile involves an ultrasound that measures amniotic fluid, heart rate, breathing movements, and activity. Since baby was awake, it took less than 5 minutes to get what we needed. And then the sonographer was nice enough to snap some pictures of baby!
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| 33 weeks 1 day, and yes that is a hand and a foot in front of his face! |
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| 33 weeks 1 day, looks like he is ready to go back to sleep! |
Anyway, he passed the biophysical profile with flying colors so we were taken back to see the NP. She measured my belly and everything looked good so we were on our way to enjoy the wonderful weekend weather! The weekend was wonderful, not only because the weather was beautiful, but because we had hardly anything planned! I cannot remember the last time we had a weekend all to ourselves without work, traveling, or having someone visit. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about traveling and having visitors, it is just nice to have a nice quiet lazy weekend once in awhile. Especially with a baby on the way! Friday night we did go out with some friends to a fish fry though. I have always wanted to go to a fish fry during Lent, but I figured it was a lost cause since Tim hates to eat fish. Luckily for me a friend at work invited him to one and he decided we would try it out! Granted he didn't eat while we were there, he just partook of the vast amounts of beer. I think fish fries are one of the smartest fundraisers ever, they had to be raking in money! As you wait in the tremendously long line, there are beer stations conveniently placed down the hallway. Just as your pitcher is empty, gee there's another beer station! And once you get your food there are raffles and dessert tables and all sorts of places to throw money. And no one minds because it all goes to charitable causes! So smart! So even though Tim was a party pooper and didn't have any fish, we still had a good time. I'm glad I finally got to go!
Saturday I pretty much relaxed all day, I did a little housework and enjoyed the 87 degrees by sitting on the front porch swing and reading a book. And if I remember right, I was falling asleep on the couch by 830. Good times! Sunday I finished up the housework while Tim slaved in the yard, and then we vegged on the couch watching golf. I normally don't like to watch golf, but due to the fact we don't have cable (we just use a digital antenna) that was all that was on! Once I watched for awhile I actually started to get into it and it was somewhat entertaining! All I have to say is poor Rory! While watching golf my abdomen started to hurt. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but my stomach felt really tight and I was getting very uncomfortable. I wondered if I was having contractions, or if baby was just really pushing against my abdominal wall. It lasted all night, and eventually started to make my back hurt. I thought about calling the doctor, but I really didn't think it was anything too serious. Plus I had an appointment the next morning with my specialist, so I figured if I still didn't feel well in the morning I would bring it up to him. So around 830 I grabbed a heating pad for my back and headed to bed.
I tossed and turned all night and woke up with the same contractions/cramps/back pain. I figured it was probably Braxton-Hicks contractions if anything, but I didn't think they were supposed to be constant like this. So I went to my doctor's appointment to see what was up. So why two doctors? I see my normal OB doctor every week now, but I have also been seeing a Maternal-Fetal Specialist every 6 weeks or so since I was 18 weeks pregnant. He does a diagnostic ultrasound to make sure the baby is growing and developing properly. One potential problem with Factor V Leiden is fetal growth suppression, and other problems can include blood clots in the placenta. So far the baby is growing fine and they estimate his weight to be 4 lbs 5 oz! If he grows about a half a pound a week (which is the average) then he will be about 7 lbs when he is born. I think I could handle that! The rest of the ultrasound looked great and when the doctor came in he told me I would switch to heparin injections in 3 weeks. Right now I am on lovenox, which is a form of heparin, the reason I have to switch to regular heparin is because we are nearing delivery. (yay!) Heparin has a shorter half-life than lovenox, which means after injecting it is out of your system in about 12 hours. This is important when it comes to delivery so that you can get an epidural and not bleed to death! The downside is instead of one injection a day, you need to do two since it only lasts 12 hours. Blah. Oh well, whatever it takes right? I mentioned the contractions/cramps I had been having and he didn't seem to be concerned about it. That didn't really surprise me because as a high risk specialist he gets more concerned about the "big things" than the small things. So when I got home I called my regular OB because things just didn't seem "right". Of course she had me come into get checked out. She didn't think I was having pre-term labor or anything, but she was concerned that if these contractions/cramps continued I may go into labor. So she ran some tests and everything was fine, and finally determined I had a small infection she believed was irritating my uterus. So she gave me a prescription and told me she would see me on friday. If I wasn't better by then the infection must not be the issue. I thought, it better be gone by then I can't deal with this all week! I continued to have contractions/cramps all night but this morning I feel much better. Now I just have to figure out how to sleep comfortably at night but I think that will be a hard fought battle!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Catching up
Two years? In two years I couldn't post anything? Honestly I have thought about it many times, including when my friend Rachel said "You are pregnant? You should blog about this!" I guess in my mind I thought "is my life really that interesting that people want to read about it?" The simple answer is that it's not! However, sometimes I get the paranoid feeling that my friends on facebook are probably tired of hearing about my pregnancy all the time. And on the flip side not all of my friends and family are on facebook, and they are unintentionally left out of the loop.
So here we are! Shortly after I last posted I married my best friend Tim, and we have jumped blissfully into married life. To be honest I don't feel like it is really any different than when we were just living together, aside from the legal part. We are still boring homebodies that love each other's company and love to make each other laugh. Occasionally we peer out our front door and enter the social life, only to get tired and dreaming of bed by 10 pm. Exciting huh?
We were fortunate enough to be able to buy a house last year, and we are slowly making it our home. Of course our views of making it a "home" were very different! I think once we moved all our stuff in, Tim felt like things were done. It has our stuff in it, it's where we live, it's home! I on the other hand, felt like the bare walls/bare windows/blue EVERYWHERE had to be remedied before I could call it "our" home. So we frantically painted the week before move in, and that helped a lot. Over the past year we have slowly been adding furniture, putting pictures on the walls, and hanging curtains. I feel like we are almost there! It's not that I feel like you have to have a house full of "stuff" for it to be a home, but the house just needed a dose of "Tim and Kristin".
How could I leave out Vader?
Two months to the day of closing on our house, we decided it was way too quiet and bought a Doberman Pinscher puppy! We trekked over to Eastern Iowa to a little place called Bear Creek and picked up our adorable little trouble maker. He quickly claimed Tim by climbing up on his neck in the car and peeing on his shoulder! Apparently this is how puppies like to claim their new parents! The best part was, my lap was outfitted with a puppy pad and towel for just such an accident, but Vader was way too clever for that. In any case, I am glad he grew out of that phase because look at him now:
He is really turning into a great dog, Tim trains him every day and he is incredibly smart! Too smart sometimes, which is why he gets into trouble. Our ultimate goal would be for Vader to be a certified therapy dog. He loves people and would be a great breed ambassador, to show how great Dobermans can be.
So gee what next, oh yes I mentioned that I was pregnant? Tim and I aren't getting any younger and we both knew that we wanted kids, so we figured we better get started before too many grays started to show! I was lucky enough to get pregnant in September, which puts my due date at May 26th, 2011. Even though we were trying to get pregnant, the little plus sign on the pregnancy test still took me by surprise! I have longer cycles than normal, so when it came time to take the pregnancy test, it originally showed up negative. I was pretty bummed, but there's always next month right? Well two more weeks passed without my period, which didn't strike me as odd at the time. I was taking a medication to force my period (since my cycles are too long) but it takes a couple of weeks to work. Well as I was waiting for the medication to "kick in" I started to feel a little dizzy and sick. Nothing I couldn't handle, no vomiting or anything, I just felt like crap. "Great I'm getting sick" I said, but one of my friends at work said "you sound pregnant to me". I thought, surely there is no way I'm pregnant, but what the heck tomorrow morning I will take a pregnancy test. Well the next morning I forgot, and they say that "morning pee" gives the best results so I waited until the following morning. And what do I see? Thirty seconds into the 2 minute pee-on-a-stick test it comes up positive! Well I have had false positives before so of course I didn't believe it. So I ran to Walmart and bought not one but two different brands of pregnancy tests. I came home and peed some more and bam! Almost as soon as the pee hit the stick they were positive too! A very exciting morning to say the least. And since then things have been great. The worst morning sickness I got was a little nausea if I didn't eat anything. Not a big deal for me, eating is my favorite thing! It was a little hard at first to break the "forever dieting" mentality but I've embraced pregnancy with open arms.
Now that I am 8 months pregnant I am entering a whole new world of back pain, sciatic nerve pain, and leg cramps. I try not to complain too much though, because really I have it pretty great. I am considered a high-risk pregnancy, but everything has gone perfect so far thanks to the great care from my doctors. My family has a blood clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden which makes your blood clot too much if you are not careful. Easily managed in regular life, but make pregnancy risky if you don't know you have it. Fortunately I knew about this before I got pregnant, so my doctors could take the proper precautions. Some women are not as fortunate and find about their Factor V after many heartbreaking miscarriages. So what precautions are involved? Well for me I have a subcutaneous injection every day called lovenox that keeps my blood from forming unnecessary clots which could harm the baby. I have been doing these injections since March of 2010, way before we started trying to get pregnant. I also have frequent ultrasounds to make sure baby is growing the way he is supposed to. (oh yeah did I mention, it's a BOY!) So for those of you that are friends with me on facebook, that is why you get the monthly ultrasound pics. Not only are they fun but they serve a purpose! Here are a couple of my favorites so far:
Well I guess that is as good a place as any to wrap up this post. Sorry it's so long but hey if I wrote everything that's happened I would be writing a small novel! More to come!
So here we are! Shortly after I last posted I married my best friend Tim, and we have jumped blissfully into married life. To be honest I don't feel like it is really any different than when we were just living together, aside from the legal part. We are still boring homebodies that love each other's company and love to make each other laugh. Occasionally we peer out our front door and enter the social life, only to get tired and dreaming of bed by 10 pm. Exciting huh?
We were fortunate enough to be able to buy a house last year, and we are slowly making it our home. Of course our views of making it a "home" were very different! I think once we moved all our stuff in, Tim felt like things were done. It has our stuff in it, it's where we live, it's home! I on the other hand, felt like the bare walls/bare windows/blue EVERYWHERE had to be remedied before I could call it "our" home. So we frantically painted the week before move in, and that helped a lot. Over the past year we have slowly been adding furniture, putting pictures on the walls, and hanging curtains. I feel like we are almost there! It's not that I feel like you have to have a house full of "stuff" for it to be a home, but the house just needed a dose of "Tim and Kristin".
How could I leave out Vader?
 |
| Vader, 7.5 weeks |
 |
| Vader on his 1st birthday |
So gee what next, oh yes I mentioned that I was pregnant? Tim and I aren't getting any younger and we both knew that we wanted kids, so we figured we better get started before too many grays started to show! I was lucky enough to get pregnant in September, which puts my due date at May 26th, 2011. Even though we were trying to get pregnant, the little plus sign on the pregnancy test still took me by surprise! I have longer cycles than normal, so when it came time to take the pregnancy test, it originally showed up negative. I was pretty bummed, but there's always next month right? Well two more weeks passed without my period, which didn't strike me as odd at the time. I was taking a medication to force my period (since my cycles are too long) but it takes a couple of weeks to work. Well as I was waiting for the medication to "kick in" I started to feel a little dizzy and sick. Nothing I couldn't handle, no vomiting or anything, I just felt like crap. "Great I'm getting sick" I said, but one of my friends at work said "you sound pregnant to me". I thought, surely there is no way I'm pregnant, but what the heck tomorrow morning I will take a pregnancy test. Well the next morning I forgot, and they say that "morning pee" gives the best results so I waited until the following morning. And what do I see? Thirty seconds into the 2 minute pee-on-a-stick test it comes up positive! Well I have had false positives before so of course I didn't believe it. So I ran to Walmart and bought not one but two different brands of pregnancy tests. I came home and peed some more and bam! Almost as soon as the pee hit the stick they were positive too! A very exciting morning to say the least. And since then things have been great. The worst morning sickness I got was a little nausea if I didn't eat anything. Not a big deal for me, eating is my favorite thing! It was a little hard at first to break the "forever dieting" mentality but I've embraced pregnancy with open arms.
Now that I am 8 months pregnant I am entering a whole new world of back pain, sciatic nerve pain, and leg cramps. I try not to complain too much though, because really I have it pretty great. I am considered a high-risk pregnancy, but everything has gone perfect so far thanks to the great care from my doctors. My family has a blood clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden which makes your blood clot too much if you are not careful. Easily managed in regular life, but make pregnancy risky if you don't know you have it. Fortunately I knew about this before I got pregnant, so my doctors could take the proper precautions. Some women are not as fortunate and find about their Factor V after many heartbreaking miscarriages. So what precautions are involved? Well for me I have a subcutaneous injection every day called lovenox that keeps my blood from forming unnecessary clots which could harm the baby. I have been doing these injections since March of 2010, way before we started trying to get pregnant. I also have frequent ultrasounds to make sure baby is growing the way he is supposed to. (oh yeah did I mention, it's a BOY!) So for those of you that are friends with me on facebook, that is why you get the monthly ultrasound pics. Not only are they fun but they serve a purpose! Here are a couple of my favorites so far:
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| 28 weeks, what a sweetheart! |
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| 28 weeks, loves his thumb! |
Well I guess that is as good a place as any to wrap up this post. Sorry it's so long but hey if I wrote everything that's happened I would be writing a small novel! More to come!
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