4 Weeks

Yesterday was 4 weeks postpartum. As of last week when we weighed Georgia she was 9.4 lbs, so she has gained a pound! As for me, I have lost about 25 lbs and have between 10 to 15 lbs to go to be where I want to be.

Fun story, yesterday while changing Georgia's diaper, she peed. Now this is nothing new, but this lead to a new experience. I wasn't able to cover her back up fast enough to keep the pee from getting everywhere and consequently needed to give her a bath. I put her in her baby tub and washed her hair. While I was rinsing her hair out, she pooped! So I freak out a little, and then I held her up while my dad took the infant sling out of the tub. The poo had stayed in it, so I finished bathing her in the bare tub and all was good. But it was a shocking thing to deal with at the time. It was bound to happen eventually, but it was too bad that Shawn missed out on it.

Here are some pictures from the last two weeks.

Just chillin.



Holding her daddy's hand.



She loves to have her hands up by her face.



In the stroller when we went to the Riverwalk.



Shawn with her in the stroller.



Waiting for her bath.



Covering up with her towel before her bath.

2 1/2 Weeks

At 2 1/2 weeks, we now have Georgia taking her first prescription medicine. From what we told the pediatrician he said that she seems to have a mild case of reflux and put her on Zantac drops. The upside is that she doesn't seem to be spitting up as much, but the down side is that she hates the medicine and spits it back out if we are crafty when we give it to her. She still seems to have an upset tummy at times so I'm not sure what that is all about. She also has gained back all the weight she lost and as of last Wed. she was 8lbs 3ozs. We don't go back until she's 6 weeks old.

Saturday night we experimented with putting her in her crib in her room. Up until then she was sleeping in the pack and play in our room. However, we knew that with Shawn going back to work that we would need to move her so that he could get more sleep at night. The great thing is that she isn't as fussy at night and I'm not having as much trouble getting her back to sleep when she is done feeding. (The same cannot be said for day time).

This is the second time we put her in the swing (the first time she was just not feeling it and was crying).



Shawn wanted to take some black and white pictures of her. This is after she had eaten.



This is right after getting a diaper changed.

Georgia's Birthday!

So, last Wednesday I woke up like every other day, planning on going to work. Not even five minutes after I got out of bed my water broke. I went downstairs to tell Shawn and eat breakfast before calling the doctor. After I ate I called and he told me to come in right then. Since he didn't know that we only live two exits up the interstate from the hospital and could be there in less than 10 minutes, I took a fast shower (even though he told me not to take the time to do so). We gathered all our bags and got in the car. Once we got there we went in the emergency room entrance and told them my name and that my water had broke. They sent someone to transport me upstairs to the maternal assessment floor. Once there they checked me and saw that my water had in fact broken. Once they got me to sign some paperwork I was taken down to labor and delivery and set up in a room. The thing about Lexington Medical Center is that they have "new" rooms and "old" rooms. If you come when they are crowded or on the weekend, you may end up in an "old" room. Well, I lucked out and got a "new" room, meaning it was bigger and nicer. Once in the room I met my nurse, Izzy. She hooked me up to monitors and started my iv. Then Dr. Ervin came in and checked me. At this point I was having pretty mild contractions that weren't really bothering me too much. Both of our parents had gotten there and were taking turns coming in to see me (except his dad, I don't remember him coming back into the labor and delivery room). Around lunch time Dr. Ervin came back in to insert an internal monitor for contractions. Once this happened, they turned up the pitocin drip and things started happening pretty fast. Less than an hour later Izzy checked me and I was over 5 cm dilated (I was between 3 or 4 when we got there). These contractions were causing some serious pain so she turned up my iv for fluids because you can't get an epidural until you have a complete bad of fluids in your system. Once that was drained they called the anesthesiologist in to give me the epidural. That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (Izzy turned down the pitocin so my contractions wouldn't be that bad). After they both left and my mom and Shawn came back in, the contractions picked back up again (the pitocin got turned back up before Izzy left the room). I thought perhaps the epidural was just taking a while to kick in, but then it never got any better. After I told Izzy, she got anesthesiologist to come back and turn up the dose. It seemed that my right side was more affected than the left side so they got me to lay on my left side (which just meant that I was even more uncomfortable). Once they gave that dose time to take affect they checked back with me and I still had no relief whatsoever. They decided to try giving me another upped dose and if that didn't take they would take that epidural out and insert another one. Well, needless to say that didn't take either and by this time I was at 9 cm. They called the anesthesiologist back to the room, but before she could get there, I felt a very strong urge to push and Shawn had to go out in the hall to find Izzy. She came back in and looked, and suddenly I was in position to push. She called for Dr. Ervin, but before he could get there I had already started pushing (he thought I had already had the baby because when he walked in the room Izzy was clearing out the bulb syringe they use to suction out the baby's nose and mouth). So, once he sat down I pushed for less than fifteen minutes and then Georgia was there! All together I had her in about 8 1/2 hours after my water broke. Once they suctioned out her nose and mouth she started screaming. They wiped her off and Shawn cut the umbilical cord. They gave her to him while they stitched up my episiotomy (they did that right before the last set of pushing). It seemed to take a while to stitch me up, and since the epidural never took I felt most of it. Dr. Ervin gave me more local after he realized that I was feeling it but that never fully took effect either! While he was doing that my mom went out with our cameras and showed pictures of Georgia to everyone in the waiting room. Once Dr. Ervin was done stitching me up I got Georgia and began nursing her. After I was able to nurse her for a while and they were done cleaning everything up, they took her to the nursery with Shawn and I was able to get up and go to the bathroom (one of the perks of not having the epidural take, you can move around almost immediately). Once that was taken care of they moved me to my mother/baby room and I got settled in. A few hours later they brought Georgia back in to me. I learned that she was 7 lbs and 15.9 ozs (they just wrote 8 lbs on everything), 20 1/2 inches long with a head and chest measurement of 13 inches.

Honestly, after I delivered Georgia, I felt pretty much ok. I was sore, but there wasn't much pain. They kept bringing me Motrin and Darvocet while I was there, but I don't know they it did much. I was able to move around slowly from the time I was done getting stitched up. I got up on Thursday morning and took a shower. Georgia was nursing like a champ and not being fussy at all. We had her pictures made Thursday morning and she had her hearing checked not too long afterward. Her picture can be viewed on Lexington Medical Center's website. By Friday morning we were all getting the ok to go home and just had to wait around for the nursery to discharge Georgia. We got home around 1:00 in the afternoon and have been doing pretty well ever since.

Since being home Georgia has gotten the hiccups several times (almost always when Daddy was burping her), had many many sneezing fits, had her first bath, and gone to the pediatrician (that was this morning). Before we left the hospital she has lost about 7 or 8 ozs, as of today , she had gained almost all of it back (she was 7 lbs 13 ozs).

This is me and nurse Izzy after I had gotten into my labor and deliver room.



This is me and Georgia once she had come back from the nursery.



Georgia in the car after we had gotten home.



All three of us at the house. We cleaned up the house after we got home because we knew that people would be coming over.



This is the outfit Georgia came home it.



Georgia wearing her first Clemson outfit (too bad we lost the game).



After her first bath at home.



After getting dressed following her first bath. She really didn't like being naked!



All dressed up and ready to go see the doctor!



Georgia did have a touch of jaundice, but it wasn't bad enough for her to be kept at the hospital or for them to send a light home with us. So she looked a little yellow in some of her pictures. But she looked good enough when we were at the doctor's office today that he didn't even test her blood again.

37 Weeks and Baby Showers

On Tuesday I had my work shower. It was a lot of fun and it was time at work that I wasn't actually working! They all made fun of me because I was trying to open the presents without ripping the paper. I've been doing that for a long time (since I was a kid). I know that the paper will be thrown away, and in some cases the only way to get to the box is to rip the paper, but I still work slowly anyway.

This is just some of the food. I didn't take any other pictures of the food or decor, which is a shame because someone made an awesome banner with Georgia's name on it.



This is all of the gifts that I received, including the banner I mentioned earlier.



Then on Saturday I had a church shower. I forgot completely to take pictures of the food and decorations. I had a lot of fun and saw some people that I haven't seen in a while. It was fun to catch up and have people give me advice. I also got a card that everyone filled out with predictions about when Georgia will arrive, what color eyes and hair she will have, and how big she will be. Some of them were crazy (like I'll give birth on the 14th, which is this Tuesday) and some were, hopefully, far fetched (like October 8). There were a lot of people predicting September 29th and 30th. We'll see.

This is all of the gifts laid out from the church shower.



Then, of course, I took a profile picture for this week. I took it before the shower because I was all dressed up and had actually put in my contacts and dried my hair straight (man was I hot after doing that!). I personally think that this poofy blouse makes me look bigger than I actually am.



In addition to all of the fun things happening this week, we also had a lot of not so fun things to deal with. Shawn's oldest aunt, Daisey, died early Saturday morning. Then Saturday afternoon his sister had emergency surgery. So between spending time with family following Daisey's death and going to the hospital to see Whitney, the Labor day weekend was a long and tiring one. Daisey's funeral was Monday afternoon and due to scheduling, the graveside service wasn't until Wednesday. Shawn was a pallbearer so we took off from work to go. It was HOT! Shortly after the graveside service was over Whitney actually was released from the hospital. The verdict was that she had an ulcer. While it is sad that the family lost a loved one, Daisey had been in very poor health all summer and hadn't been able to eat or drink anything for almost two weeks. In the end most of her family was their to say goodbye to her.

After we left the graveside service I wanted to get a picture of the two of us since we were both dressed up. We've been taking lots of pictures of me during the pregnancy, but we don't have many of the two of us.



In addition to all the craziness of the week I also had a doctor's appointment. Last week the doctor just said that I was starting to efface, but there was no dilation. This week, he almost immediately said that he felt her head (that freaked me out for a moment). Then after a few moments he said that I was about 60-70% effaced, about 1 cm dilated, and her head was at -1 (usually the baby has to be at -2 before you can give birth, so she is nearly there!). So, in one week I had progressed way more than I though I would. On top of all of that, I haven't felt anything! I haven't had any Braxton-Hicks contractions at all. I just feel like she is pressing on more of my lower abdomen. All that means that I could go into labor at any moment, or it could still be 3 weeks away. The doctor did tell me that if I make it to around September 27 or so that I could schedule an induction, and we may very well do that. If she is born on October 1, that would be a Friday, and Shawn wouldn't have to miss work. So, stay tuned for any more news.

First Shower

I had my very first baby shower this weekend. It was the shower for all of my family, hosted by my Aunt Beverly, my cousin Tami, and her daughter Chelsea. There was pink everywhere! We had yummy food and there were games. I was surprised because almost everyone I had on the list to get invitations actually made it. It was good to see all of my family, some of whom I hadn't seen in a few years!

Here is the cake. It was very good.



This is the table with all the food and punch. Notice everything is pink.



This is me before we started playing games.



A very cute Noah's arc themed balloon.



A rubber duckie balloon.



After I got home I took all the gifts out and laid them out on the dining room table. It covered almost the whole table. You can even see the giant pile of tissue paper on the buffet next to a pile of folded up gift bags.



Overall, it was a great day, and Georgia has a lot of stuff to come home to. We have tons of clothes, some blankets, and even baby wash and lotion now. And, not everything is pink, which is a plus. I've got three more showers coming up, and they all are on the same week! But it will still be far enough away from my due date that I'll be able to put everything up before Georgia gets here (hopefully).

33 Weeks

It's time for another profile picture. I tend to take these on Sunday so that I'll look a little bit better. I try to make more of an effort when going to church than I do when going to work. Mainly, because I sit in an office all day long and see the same 6 or 7 people on a daily basis. So, to me, there is no reason to look my best when I am in a tiny office all day long. On the down side, my dresses and skirts are starting to get tight on me. This is one of the maternity skirts that I have, and it will probably only be wearable for another week or two. The other two skirts are either fuller or more stretchy. I will be wearing the same things over and over again to church until the baby gets here!



Last week during our labor and delivery class the nurse went through all the medications you could get while in labor. Then she went through all the possible instruments that could be used as well. Then we went through the stages of labor and deliver. Let me tell you, for some of these people, it is apparently the first time they are learning any of this stuff. I've read What to Expect When You're Expecting and several websites, so I have learned most of this stuff before. It was the first time I've seen the instruments before, but at least I knew what they did. This week, we will be touring the labor and delivery floor of the hospital, seeing the baby nursery, meeting some of the nurses and doulas, and I guess getting to ask more questions. I swear, the class would be at least 30 minutes shorter if we didn't have questions being answered.

In other news, I have almost all of my showers scheduled. I'm going to be busy almost every Saturday from the end of August until the middle of September. There is one week off, but that is Labor day weekend, and I'll be planning a meal for Shawn's dad (his birthday is the beginning of September). On top of all of that, I'm in charge of planning a bridal shower at church for a girl sometime in the next several weeks. I'm hoping to recruit someone else to do the devotional, because right now it is looking like I'll be about 2 or 3 weeks away from my due date and not really feeling like standing up and talking in front of a bunch of women.

Since time is getting closer for showers, then there will be more pictures to post. Until then, just keep looking for my profile pictures.

Birthing Classes

Last night we had our first birthing class. Shawn was kinda funny about the whole thing. After I finally finished reading the What to Expect book, he started reading the parts on labor and delivery and the chapter for dads. This is somewhat of a refresher for him because while in the military, he acted as a paramedic on base and helped several women deliver babies on the way to the hospital (apparently German women wait until the last minute to go to the hospital). As a result, he knew pretty much all of what we went over. While I had done lots of reading, I still learned a few new things (like what a baby's station is, and also that I am a terrible shallow breather - I will need to practice).

The worst thing about the class was that the decription never said how long it would be each night. I knew going in that we would meet 4 times, but we were there for two hours and fifteen minutes. Whoever thought that keeping a room ful of women that are pregnant, most into their third trimester, cooped up for that long on pretty dang uncomfortable chairs is not a smart man. I'm assuming it was a man, because any woman that had ever been pregnant knows that is not a smart move. Then, on top of that, we essentially came from work (the class was at 6:30). We left work early enough for Shawn to go home and take a shower (he works outside and it is summer, I don't blame him for wanting to take a shower before going into a room full of stangers). While at home I got a snack that I thought would tide me over for an hour or so. But no, the class went on forever. They had snacks and drinks, but I don't really want to eat a bunch of sugary snacks that will just make me gain even more weight than I already have gained (seriously, these people knew we were pregnant, right?). Thankfully, when we got home his parents had left us a message asking if we wanted to come eat. We, or course, accepted their invitation. So, we ended up not getting home for good until almost 10:00! Talk about two tired people. Shawn fell asleep while watching the one tv show that we had decided to watch before going to bed. Since I had not really had any down time to relax it took me forever to get to sleep. So, it looks like Tuesdays in August are just going to be annoying.

Back to the class though. The first thing they did was show a video clip of Bill Cosby doing one of his stand up routines talking about his wife's first delivery. Because he is old and loves stand up comics, Shawn had already seen this (this is not to say that Shawn is all old and decrepit, just older than me). But it was funny. I love Bill Cosby anyway, and he is one of the few people that have had tv shows that when you go back and watch their stand up acts he is pretty clean with his comedy. Next we learned terms (if you have made it to an age where you can have a baby, you should seriously already know where your uterus, vagiana, and cervix are located), learned what happens to your cervix during labor and learned a few breathing techniques. As I've already reported, I will have to practice the whole shallow breathing, Shawn made fun of me over that. We also watched one delivery video. The sad thing is, most people acted all shocked that we were actually seeing everything (nothing was blurred out). Seriously people, you need to know what it looks like because it will happen to you! Also, watch TLC and see it happen every single day (granted, on TLC's shows they blur out the main parts that no one really wants to see, but still, you see a brand new baby emerge all messy and stuff). The thing that surprised me the most was how purple the baby was, not that I could see all the intimate details of this woman's body. As the nurse givng the class pointed out, if this woman was willing to have her delivery filmed, she obviously had no problem with modesty. Also, this poor woman had an natural child birth and her contractions only ever got to be 7 minutes apart, which the nurse estimated as putting her labor and delivery at around the 24 hour mark. Crazy!

This has also started me thinking about my birth plan. When I first heard that term I was all, really, you have to come up with things to write down, not for me. Then I learned some of the things that I defintely don't want happening to me(forceps and vacum extration!) or the baby (eye drops that are only needed if the mother has possibly got and STD, no thanks, not needed). I know I will probably want an epidural, but not right away because you can't walk around once you get one. So, once I realized how much you can cover with a birth plan I was all on board for one. I also found a fill in the blank birth plan on thebump.com, so I will probably use that. I also has a space for who you want in the room during labor and who you want in the room during the actual delivery. Since I am the most modest person I know, that will be a limited number of people, possibly only Shawn. I told my mom she could come in, but she thinks we should have that time to bond and be a special moment with just the two of us. So, who knows. Now that we are getting so close to the actual event, these are the things I'm thinking about now, which is funny because I never thought about them before. Now a birth plan doesn't seem rediculous to me. I'm even kinda excited because I found out that Lexington keeps doulas on staff at all times. I had read about them and was interested, but not sure how that would work. I'm pretty sure my insurance won't cover it, but it would seem it would just be added to the hospital bill. This is something I will look into further.

So, for a post with no pictures, this ended up being really long. Stay tuned for more profile pictures, and soon, baby shower pictures.