Everyday I'm Hustlin'

Things have been a little effing crazy busy around here.  Luckily, it has nothing to do with Lennon's behavior.  He must know that I have a lot going on because he has been the most laid back baby ever...so far.  He really just likes to sleep and eat, which is more than obvious in his pictures.  As long as he has a full belly, he is content just laying around for hours.  We sold our house and are moving into another house within the next month and I have two weeks left of my final course for my MSN degree.  I have been forcing myself to do something every day in order to look less like the Pillsbury Dough Boy than the day before, all while cherishing every moment I have with Lennon and doing something new and adventurous each day. Pair that with a baby that likes to each every two hours around the clock and I have some bags under my eyes, but it has been the best kind of busy I have ever been!

 

I vowed to never put this shirt back on after wearing it in all of my weekly belly pictures, but low and behold, I had to wear it one more time for an "after" shot.  I still can't believe that little guy was in there!

We have been taking lots of walks around the neighborhood and through the park.  He even lets me lay down and sunbathe or read my book while he shadebathes.

We joined the YMCA and Lennon got to experience a pool for the first time. The pool is indoors and kept at 89 degrees, so it's perfect for little babies. I thought he would scream, but he actually LOVES it.  Looks like we have a little Michael Phelps on our hands (minus the pot). 

 

The best second best thing about the Y is that they watch Lennon for free as long as I'm there working out, so I "work out" a lot.  I work out in the sauna with my book.  I work out in the steam room in my itty bitty bikini.  I even work out on the bikes without pedaling them.

Post swimming robe snuggles.  He is less than amused by his experience..."Ain't no thang mom. I spent 9 months in that stuff."
 

Lennon was tongue tied at birth and none of the doctors pointed it out at the hospital.  His pediatrician discovered it at his first office visit and told me that we could either wait and see if it stretches on it's own or see if he develops speech problems and get his tongue snipped then, or see a pediatric ENT now and see about getting it fixed.  I wasn't very happy that none of the hospital doctors pointed it out because it is a very simple procedure that most hospitals just do in the nursery with the circumcision.  I am not someone who likes to wait, for anything really, so we made an appointment with an ENT at John Hopkins and Lennon got a frenulectomy with a laser treatment.  It only took about 10 seconds and little man was this happy afterwards.  Glad that is over with.

He has been mixing lot of beats and rapping away in his Bumbo.

We finally started cloth diapering now that the never ending newborn poop phase is ceasing.  I thought it would be a lot more work than it has been.  It actually is not much more work than disposables and I actually really love it and plan to keep him in cloth diapers until he is potty trained.  He developed a diaper rash a few weeks after birth that would not go away despite me trying every kind of ointment possible, as well as corticosteroid cream and naked tummy time to air out his tush.  The rash got so bad that he developed little blisters and bled sometimes.  I started making homemade baby wipes, which also is very simple and a huge cost saver.  Homemade wipes + cloth diapers = rash free tush.

I set a little cabana station up for Lennon in the shade, complete with a padded bed and mobile, but that was not good enough for him.  He demanded a hammock.  Little man has no shame in showing off his physique.

We have had lots of tummy time, but it really is just like two minutes of tummy time followed by two hours of a tummy nap. I figure either way it is giving his head time to mold less flat and more round :)

Out of all the contraptions we bought for him to lay in and play in, he prefers the couch.  What an old man.

Lots of time spent laying and napping (both of us) like this.  My favorite thing to do with him.

Lots of pumping.  Can't wait to burn that thing when I'm done breastfeeding.

Lennon's first visit with another baby human from his girlfriend, Ella. Problem with this is that she is exactly 6 months in this pictures and he is 7 weeks and they are one pound apart and pretty much the same size.  Lennon is a little over 16 pounds at 8 weeks old.  He has been putting on a pound per week since birth.  He takes eating very seriously.  Little man isn't so little and is already in 6 month clothes. Chunk.

 

Found himself in the mirror recently and he seems to like what he sees.

Lots of time spent in the Nap Nanny.  His schedules goes a little something like this...gets up every 2-3 hours all night to poop and eat, wakes up for good around 7 or 8 AM, eats and poops again, stays awake for about 90 minutes, then sleeps in 2-3 hour stretches (with poops and meals between naps)until around 4 or 5 PM, when I force him to stay awake until bath time around 7:30 PM.  This is super difficult because the kid will not stay awake or wake up for anything.  He doesn't care how loud or bright it is or whether or not he is getting tickled or is his big belly is used to make whoppie cushion sounds with my mouth. Bath time is followed by another meal and usually another poop (sometimes right after the bath which really pisses me off and makes me feel like all the progress we made in the bath tub was useless).  He stays awake for another hour or so and the cycle begins again.  No wonder he is such a chunky monkey.

Lennon's first race!  I ran a 10K yesterday and little man trudged along.  As you can see, he is very excited for me.  Finished it in one hour exactly, which isn't anything to write home about, but I'm just excited I didn't die considering I am still look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy and nobody wants to see him run a race.

Life Lesson #1: Your body is a temple.

 

Can't run six miles and not follow it up with a Hershey's Chocolate milk shake.  This was Lennon's first time at Chocolate World and he loved the ride!  Stayed awake the whole time! Then again, is was an activity that evolved around food.

Just when I think my life can't get any stranger, I pull in beside this while running errands.  Only in this town...

Hippity Hoppity!

Happy Easter!!!

 

Lennon went to see the Easter bunny for his first time yesterday and made it into our local paper with his little hat on :)  We've been having so much fun and are finally in a routine.  He is breastfeeding like a champ and has gained a pound a week since birth...closing in on 12 pounds already.  I already scolded him for messing up his outfits, since they were bought for age/season and he is already wearing mostly 3 month clothes and some 6 month clothes in certain brands.  Oh well! I only have 12 weeks off of work with my little man before I got back to working 50+ hours a week, so I'm enjoying every second with him while I can.  

 

 

Lennon's Birth Story

February 18, 2013

I had been saying for months that I wanted to go into labor after going to see The Pet Comedy Show on Saturday, February 16^th, with Scott and Anita, because it was the last thing I had scheduled before my due date and I would be full term.  In preparation for being full term and preparing my body for labor, I had begun to drink four cups of red raspberry leaf tea a day and take evening primrose oil capsules orally. Starting Friday, February 15^th, I started inserting the evening primrose oil capsules vaginally to soften my cervix.  Saturday came and went (almost).  I was fast asleep and around 11:30 PM I felt like I peed myself a little, so I got out of bed and went to the bathroom.  I figured I just peed a little because I was so pregnant at this point and always had to pee all night long, so I crawled back in bed thinking nothing of it and fell fast asleep again.  An hour later, around 12:30 AM, I felt like I peed myself again.  A small amount of warm fluid leaked out of me for a few seconds, then stopped, but I was not able to control the flow of fluid coming out.  This time, I considered that the fluid might be my water breaking, but I was so tired and half out of it that I just put a peripad on and went back to bed.  This time I couldn’t fall fast asleep right away because my mind was racing.  I was anxious to see if more fluid would leak out or contractions would start, or if I was hoping for too much and it was pee after all, so I laid there and dozed in and out of sleep.  Shortly after getting back into bed, I started feeling slightly crampy.  I still didn’t think much of the cramps because they were about 1/10 of the amount of pain I’ve experienced from some menstrual cramps.  Eventually, the cramps started coming at a consistent pace, so I got my cell phone out and started to time them.  Turns out, they were coming about every five minutes on the dot and lasting about 45 seconds.  At this point, I knew things were getting started and got a sudden high, while being anxious all at the same time.  I wasn’t sure what to do exactly since I always figured I would go into labor first, then my water would eventually break or need artificially broken.  Since things were happening in a different order than I envisioned, I called my doula at 2:30 AM and let her know what was going on.  She told me to try to get some sleep while I can because I would likely be in for a long day/night and to not insert anything in my vagina since I am group B strep positive.  After talking to her I continued to toss and turn until it was socially acceptable to wake up (around 7 AM) and roam around the house. I remember that I kept staring at the clock and hoping time would pass so 8 AM would get here because that is when the gym opened and I knew I needed to walk to induce labor. Unfortunately, the cramps completely stopped after a few hours and would not start back up despite me attempting to get them restarted by relaxing and listening to my hypnobirthing CD and using my breast pump for nipple stimulation.  I went about my day as normal as possible and did not let anybody but Shawn know that my water had broken.  My Dad made me french toast for breakfast and I thought to myself…I better eat up because if I go into full blown labor I won’t be hungry, but I’ll need the energy.  After breakfast I headed into Gold’s Gym to walk on the treadmill since it was too cold to walk outside.  I walked at a pretty brisk pace for about 45 minutes and continued to leak fluid like crazy, but still no labor.  I came home and showered and made sure to shave everything since today was likely to be the day.  I didn’t want hairy legs! After my shower I tried to go about my day like normal, as the doula suggested, because adrenaline halts labor.  I decided to keep myself and my mind busy by working on sewing more of Lennon’s bibs.  Once I was done with that I bounced on the exercise ball for about twenty minutes, but still nothing. I decided to take a long nap while burning sage/cedar/lavender bark in hopes of completely relaxing, passing time, and kick starting my labor.  My nap came and went and still nothing.  I was trying to stay calm and relax but with each passing hour I got more concerned about not going into labor naturally and needing induced.  I was also concerned about the baby, but I did not insert anything in my vagina and monitored my temperature and drank tons and tons of water.  After my nap I ate some frozen pizza with mom and dad, and then went back into the gym to walk more since the first walk did nothing.  This time I walked for about an hour at a brisk pace and still nothing. It was around 2:45 PM at this point and I was starting to lose hope.  While on the treadmill, I researched ways to naturally induce labor and found a list of exercises on an exercise ball.  I went into the Women’s Preferred room at Gold’s gym and bounced on the exercise ball, then did hip rotations on the ball, followed by swaying back and forth, and wall sits/squats.  Still nothing but leaking fluid.  I decided to relax and started to forget about not going into labor.  We ate some chocolate and spent some time together.  All of the sudden I started getting cramps again.  I had no faith that they were the real thing and assumed they would last a few minutes and go away.  Little did I know that I was officially in labor!  It was around 3:15 PM and the cramps continued to come about every 3-5 minutes and lasted about 45 seconds.  Light touch massage and counter pressure on my lower back helped with the pain. The cramps got worse little by little as each hour passed.  I decided to text my doula and let her know things were finally getting started after a long day of attempting to start things.  I was still in pretty good spirits for the first two hours of these contractions.  I was able to talk and joke around.  I tried to stay active between contractions to ensure that things did not come to a halt again like they did earlier that morning.  I feared that would happen the entire time.  I kept telling myself all day that I would give anything to be in labor and be in pain so I wouldn’t have to worry about being induced.  I bounced on the edge of the bed in-between contractions and got up and did deep plea squats while laughing and danced and paced around the room.  Around 5:00 PM things got noticeably more painful.  I was starting to feel nauseous on and off and dreaded another contraction coming.  Compared to how bad things got, this was still nothing, although I didn’t know it at the time.  I continued to deal with contractions by pacing around the room and bending over the bed during a contraction or lying in bed and getting on all fours during a contraction.  After a particularly painful contraction I vomited and at this point it finally hit me that this is the real deal, these weren’t going to go away, and my doula should probably start her drive to me.  I called her and updated her on my progress and she said she would leave for Waynesboro soon.  She just so happened to be at a birthday party.  The contractions hit a new level of painful around 7:00 PM and my doula was texting me saying that she would be in Waynesboro in about an hour.  I could not get comfortable no matter what I tried.  I was in pain even between contractions and during a contraction I rolled around in my bed and moaned and screamed.  Jessica, my doula, could not come fast enough.  Funny enough, my parents were having a Valentine’s dinner downstairs, so there were about eight guests in the house and even though I was upstairs moaning, nobody left.  Everybody seemed to think it was a good source of entertainment.  Jessica finally arrived.  I was laying in my bed in the dark and listening to Norah Jones Pandora radio.  She immediately helped me get into a more comfortable position and listened to the baby’s heartbeat.  It was in the 130s, which was reassuring.  I continued to labor with Jessica in my bedroom until around 11:00 PM.  I tried several different positions including sitting straight up, sitting on the birthing ball, lying on my side, and getting on all fours with my torso supported with pillows.  I found the all fours position to be the most comfortable.  I was having terrible, horrendous pain above my pubic bone and in my lower back.  I never felt the contractions in my mid-section like menstrual cramps.  I felt them in my pelvis and it felt like my pelvis was going to combust into a million pieces.  Jessica tried to alleviate my lower back pain with a hot rice pack, but it didn’t help much and during a contraction the heat really bothered me.  She found the fact that I was having such severe pubic bone pain strange, so I was encouraged to urinate, but that didn’t help.  I didn’t have a bowel movement all day and she suggested that I try a suppository because a bowel movement may be stuck and causing the lower back pain to be worse.  There were no suppositories in the house, so my Dad went out and bought some. Meanwhile, it was cold upstairs so Jessica turned up the heat.  The heater had not been used recently and set the smoke detector off…during a contraction.  Luckily we got that sound to stop because it seemed to make my pain worse.  I tried the suppository and it served its purpose, but it did not alleviate the back pain.  The contractions did not necessarily get more painful, but I was getting more tired, frustrated, and hitting the wall of “I can’t do this much longer,” “how much worse is this going to get,” and “I just can’t take this.  I don’t know what to do.”  It was like a pain that you want to run away from, even if you could only run to the other side of the room and let the pain in the bed, but no matter what I did, I could not get away from the pain.  Nothing helped.  I started to get nauseous again and vomited a few times.  Jessica got concerned that I would get dehydrated so she had me drink water and Gatorade.  I was scared that the more I drank, the more I would vomit, but I ended up not getting sick again.  Eventually I admitted my feelings to Jessica and told her that I wanted to go to the hospital.  I felt like such a failure.  I figured I was only 3-4 cm and already throwing in the towel.  I felt like I wasted her time and wasted my money hiring her by giving up and going to the hospital to get medication, but I just couldn’t imagine the pain getting any worse than it already was and I knew that transition was going to be worse.  She told me that I was probably just tired, but we could do whatever I wanted.  I begged to go to the hospital.  I just didn’t care anymore.  I was exhausted and wanted to be numb from everything.  She went downstairs and told my parents the plan and told them that the baby would probably not come until sometime later the next day and that I was talking out of fatigue.  She thought this way because some contractions were still 6-8 minutes apart.  She packed her bag and started warming up her van and my parents packed my labor bag into their car.  I was so excited to get into the car because I knew it was the first step to getting to the hospital.  I had a contraction right before I got to the door to leave the house and had to lean against the wall and moan through it.  I got into the van and tried to relax and hope the ride went smoothly.  I considered just going to the Waynesboro Hospital because it was only two minutes away and I knew I’d get pain medication faster, but I put that thought aside.  Jessica followed my parents to the Chambersburg Hospital.  It was very cold and dark and not many cars were on the road.  I sat in her back seat with my big fleece blanket and a puke bucket on the floor just in case.  I moaned through each contraction the whole ride.  Every time we hit a pot hole I could have just cried and screamed.  Overall, the ride took my mind off of what was going on, and the fact that we were getting closer to the hospital by the second was reassuring.  For whatever reason, I remembered that we should probably notify the hospital.  Jessica had my cell phone and I directed her to call Keystone Women’s Care.  She had to sit through the annoying automated message and I had to try to tell her my birthdate and other information between contractions.  She was told that the midwife, Emily Hoger, was on call and would head into the hospital.  I started crying and said, “She’s my favorite.  I’m so happy she’s on call.”  This was such a sigh of relief.  I had prayed throughout my pregnancy that she would be the one to deliver my baby and she happened to switch call with another midwife to be on call the night Lennon was born.  We finally arrived at the hospital around 11:30 PM and I kept thinking, “the end to this pain is near.”  I still felt like a wimp and a failure though in the back of my mind.  We had to enter through the Emergency Department because it was so late.  We walked into the ER and the receptionist totally ignored us.  She acted like she didn’t see us, as I walked around the ER hunched over in pain and looking like I was about to vomit and cry all at the same time.  We approached her at her window and she was rude and half laughing at the fact that I was in so much pain.  She probably thought, “Oh, here’s some young girl who is probably about 1 cm and can’t handle it.”  While we were at the window, I had a contraction and had to moan through it and lean against the wall.  The security guard on duty was staring at me, as well as the janitor. The receptionist disappeared for a few seconds, but it felt like forever.  When she came back she walked us up to labor and delivery.  She offered me a wheelchair but I knew that walking would be good for the baby’s descent and I wouldn’t want to be sitting in a wheelchair when a contraction came.  While walking up to labor and delivery I had three more contractions.  The walking seemed to speed things up.  Go figure it didn’t speed anything up throughout the day when I wanted it to.  With each contraction I had to stop walking, lean against the dirty hallway railings, and moan with my head resting on Shawn’s oversized ski jacket.  It was at this moment that I started to feel drunk due to the level of pain and fatigue.  The walk upstairs seems like a blur and there were “black out” moments.  I remember staring at the back of the nurse who was leading us upstairs and some people passing us in the halls and probably thinking I was crazy.  We finally reached the elevator and entered the labor and delivery floor.  I knew where to go since I had been there twice before when I was pregnant.  I walked straight to the window and again, the nurses acted like I was such a drama queen.  I guess I can’t blame them because when I worked in labor and delivery we did the same thing.  They asked Jessica to sign in and for a photo ID.  She said she didn’t have a photo ID and my heart sunk.  I thought they weren’t going to let her back with me, but they did.  We entered the unit and my parents waited in the waiting room.  When we turned the corner, a nurse, Sarah, was standing in the hallway and told me to go into the triage room.  I thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”  I know what that triage room is for.  It’s for people who are going to be evaluated for about an hour and sent home.  I didn’t need a triage room.  This was real and I reassured her of that.  She wanted to triage me to see if my water was really broken and I (kindly) reassured her that it is definitely broken, although I felt like yelling, “It’s been broken for 24 hours and I walked around with a freaking depends diaper on for the majority of the day!”  She let me go into a real labor room and I immediately started undressing.  It’s true that when you are in this much pain you don’t care what anyone thinks or who sees you naked.  I started telling the nurse I wanted everything possible for pain.  She informed me that it would be over an hour to get an epidural and they would have to infuse fluid first, which I already knew, so I immediately said I want Stadol in the meantime and anything they are willing to give me.  I cried to them about how I can’t take it anymore.  Jessica tried to talk me out of getting Stadol and said that it won’t take the pain away and would only make me sleepy.  I yelled at her too and said, “I don’t care!”  I was less than pleasant at this point. 

Sarah wanted to check me to see how dilated I was before calling the midwife, Emily, about pain medication.  I climbed into bed and gladly let her check me.  I wasn’t checked since going into labor so I had no idea how far I was.  After searching for a while, she said that she didn’t feel a cervix.  I was sure she was doing something wrong.  There was no way I was complete.  She wasn’t so sure herself, so she had another nurse come in and check me.  Sure enough, she couldn’t feel any cervix either.  I WAS COMPLETE!!! Take that everyone who stared at me and rolled their eyes.  That was the best feeling in the world.  Not because the pain got any less intense, because it certainly didn’t, but because I no longer felt like a wimp or failure.  When I was going through the self-doubt phase and thinking “it can’t possibly get worse,” I was in transition and it really was the worst of the worst.  Jessica was so happy to hear I was complete as well and said, “You did it!”  I continued contracting in the bed and mostly remained on all fours.  Sarah started an IV in my right hand so she could start infusing Penicillin since I was GBS positive.  I never had an IV before and I was worried about getting one while I was pregnant, but it wasn’t so bad and luckily she got it on the first try.  The Penicillin burnt going in though and the burning sensation bothered me more than the contractions at one point.  I expected that though.  Even though I was complete, I never really felt the urge to bear down, but Jessica and Sarah encouraged me to.  I was scared to because Emily was still on her way to the hospital, but I went ahead and started to bear down with contractions anyhow.  All of the books say that the bearing down/pushing stage is less painful and a relief for most women because they finally get to do something and work with the contractions rather than relaxing through them, but I thought the pushing stage made things worse.  Not only did I have to deal with the contractions, but I had to think during them and focus on pushing. 

 

Emily showed up and I was elated and told her how happy I was that she was on call and that she is my favorite midwife.  I kept reassuring her that I wasn’t just saying that.  She stayed in the room with me the entire time once she arrived.  The pushing stage made me feel drunk again.  I pushed for 2.5 hours, but I don’t remember ever seeing a clock or having any idea how long it had been. I don’t remember seeing anything in the room.  It was like everything outside of my body was in a fog.  I tried every position imaginable.  I pushed on all fours, my left side, squatting, lithotomy, on the toilet, and McRoberts maneuver.  I used the squatting bar and pulled on a sheet as I pushed on my back.  I was so thankful Jessica was there because she “ran the show.”  All I had to do was deal with contractions and close my eyes and space out between them.  She took care of asking for the squatting bar, sheet, position changes, progress, and getting me anything I needed.  I felt nauseous at one point and ended up dry heaving, then vomiting in a bed basin.  Luckily this only happened once.  I kept having really bad lower back pain and pubic bone pain and would moan and groan about it after a contraction ended.  The pain spiked in intensity as the contraction pain went away.  I couldn’t escape pain for a second.  I informed them that I hadn’t been able to really pee since labor started and maybe I have a full bladder that is causing the pubic bone pain and holding the baby’s head up.  Sarah put a straight catheter in me, but only got a few milliliters of urine.  I was hoping she would get an entire tub full.  I never had a catheter before and I never want one again.  The catheter stung really bad, especially when coming out. 

Sarah helped a lot by putting cold washcloths on my forehead and massaging my back with wet washcloths.  I remember re-doing my hair in-between contractions on the toilet.  I’m sure that was a sight to see and I’m not sure why I cared about my hair at that point.  I sat on the toilet and pushed completely naked with Jessica, Emily, and Sarah all staring at me and I didn’t even care.  Emily determined that the baby was “sunny side up” or “OP” which is a harder position to push a baby out.  This news was discouraging, especially because the best way to flip an OP baby is to push on all fours, which I had been doing and he never flipped.  After the toilet, Emily thought that the baby may be stuck on my pubic bone, so she suggested I push in the McRobert’s Manuever position, which is when you get flat on your back and have your legs pushed really far back.  This position killed my lower back but I was willing to try whatever might work.  Luckily, this position showed great progress, so I kept pushing like this.  Jessica determined that the baby would be born soon and asked if I wanted my mom in the room.  I didn’t care who was in the room at this point, so I said yes.  I kept asking Emily when she was going to gown up because I knew that the baby really wasn’t close until the midwife gowned up.  She laughed and said that she can put her gown on fast.  Lies.  I finally started feeling an urge to push as the baby was almost crowning.  It felt good to actually want to push, rather than doing it because I was told to.  Everybody was cheering me on when I was pushing and told me I was a great pusher and they could see the head.  I knew the end was near and it felt so good.  When I was pregnant, I thought I would be excited to see the baby when I got to this point, but I was more so just excited to not be in pain anymore and be able to really sit back and relax.  The level of exhaustion I had reached was unreal.  It was like trying to run a marathon with the stomach flu and no sleep for two days.  At one point, I heard his heart rate go really low and semi-freaked out.  The problem with having experience in labor and delivery is that you know too much once you are the patient.  Sarah reassured me that it was low because he was almost crowning.  The low heart rate made me push even harder.  I didn’t want him in any sort of distress.  I started feeling the ring of fire and it was the absolute worst pain I had experienced yet.  I’ve read about the ring of fire in books, but the books make it seem like it only lasts a few seconds.  This lasted for several contractions/pushes, and therefore, several minutes.  It really did feel like my privates were on fire and going to snap off of my body and fly across the room and that I was going to rip in half. 

Emily finally put her gown on and Jessica had another nurse come in to hold my leg so she could take pictures and video.  I pushed and his head finally came out.  From there I was encouraged to keep pushing until his body was out, even though I lost the urge to push.  He had the cord around his neck once and there was a little trouble getting his shoulders out.  The way people started yelling at me to push made me nervous.  I could tell it was taking longer than it should for his body to come out.  I gave it all I got and out he came at 2:15 AM.  I pulled him up onto my chest and it was the best feeling in the world.  I waited so long to pull him onto my chest and see his cheesy little body and examine him and see what he looks like.  He was blue and not crying at first, so I kept massaging him.  Once Sarah suctioned his nose, he started screaming and I was relieved.  As soon as I started talking to him and put him skin-to-skin he stopped crying and just whimpered.  It was like he recognized my voice from being inside me.  Even with him on my chest, I was still in pain from the placenta being in me and Emily messing around down there.  People say you forget the pain right away, but I definitely didn’t and don’t think I ever will.  Oddly enough, I liked the pain once it was over.  It felt good to feel my body working to birth a baby and do something so natural that a woman’s body is meant to do and I would absolutely do it again.  I checked out his fingers and toes and face and was amazed by all of the hair he had.  It was blonde like Shawn’s.  All of the heartburn I had was worth it after all.  His head was molded quite a bit from the long crowning stage and the tops of his ears were bent over, like they got squished coming out.  His right eye was stuck shut from vernix and his nose was a little crocked too from the journey out.  Emily warned me that my placenta was coming out and it felt like another small baby coming out.  Emily let me cut the cord and we were officially separated from each other. It was officially all over.  The weekly pictures, the heartburn, the swollen legs, the prenatal appointments, the frequent urination, the rubbing my tummy, the cravings, the swaying, the Pandora on my belly, the little kicks that reminded me I’m never alone, the preparing for labor and the birth, the oils, the tea, the anticipation of when he would arrive…we did it.  Everything went even better than I ever could have imagined.  I couldn’t be happier with how things went. I was so lucky.  I still thank God for how perfectly everything fell into place.  I had planned for this day and this moment long before I even thought about getting pregnant and everything was just as I always imagined it would be.   Lennon was able to remain on my chest for a long time before Sarah took him to the warmer to measure him.  My placenta was shaped like a heart which I thought was neat.  I asked Emily how bad I tore and she said I didn’t tear at all and that I wouldn’t need any stiches.  She referred to what happened down there as “brush burns.”  Really?  I couldn’t believe it. How did I get so lucky?  I felt so blessed about absolutely everything.  Emily left and I watched Sarah measure Lennon and put erythromycin in his eyes before she returned him to me.  Once he was back in my arms I held him forever and just kept starting at him.  My Dad came in and was so excited.  Even though it was 2:30 AM, he texted my brother and said “you’re an uncle!”  Scott and Neety were awake, even though they had to work the next day, and responded right away.  I never wanted this moment to end.  I tried to breastfeed, but Lennon was too sleepy.  I didn’t let myself get too stressed about him not latching on, probably due to how exhausted I was.  A lot of pictures were taken and a lot of love was in the room and I couldn’t believe this journey was over and the journey of being a mother was beginning.  I felt like I knew Lennon forever and that he had always been a part of my life.  As soon as they placed him in my arms I loved him like I’ve never loved anything or anyone before and immediately knew that I would die for him and give anything to make his life better. 

 

Chillin'

The sunrise the morning of Lennon's birthday :)

Our matching gowns!! Poor kid...

All wrapped up in his biliblanket :(

Ready to go home!  Less than thrilled about his carseat haha

Lennon is Here!!!

Lennon Grey arrived at 2:15 AM on Monday, February 18th after 12 hours of labor.  Everything went exactly as I wanted it to and envisioned for the birth of my baby for years, long before I was even pregnant.  He arrived at 37 weeks, 4 days, but still weighed in at 7 pounds, 2.9 ounces and was 21 inches long.  My water broke on its own, followed by 12 hours of labor.  I achieved my goal of a completely natural birth by laboring at home and arriving at the hospital fully dilated.  My favorite midwife was unexpectedly on call the night I went into labor because she switched with another midwife and I cried when she walked into the room because I've prayed all along she would be the one to deliver my baby.  I pushed for 2.5 hours, but did not have any tears, so the drawn out process did it's job. Baby had 8 & 9 Apgar scores and a head full of blond hair, just like his Daddy.  I feel so blessed that I have a perfectly healthy baby and between him and my body, things were able to fall in place. Full birth story to follow...

37 Weeks! FULL TERM!!!

February 13, 2013

What Little LaCasse has been up to:

• Baby is officially full term!
• Continues to practice breathing movements
• Grasp is firm
• Baby can turn towards light outside the uterus
• Baby develops definite daily activity cycles
• Length (19.1 inches); weight (6.3 pounds)

What we have been up to:

• Found out that I am GBS positive at my appointment :(
• Drinking four cups of red raspberry leaf tea a day and taking 2,000 mg of evening primrose oil
• Still walking on the treadmill
• Got professional maternity pictures taken.  Can't wait to see them all! It was so much fun!
• Started making Lennon some bibs
• Neety made a belly cast for me
• Had a busy and fun filled weekend in case the baby comes soon.  Went out for cooked sushi (followed by ice cream) and spent Saturday at a little tea house having tea and lunch, followed by a country concert.
• Neety bough Lennon a baby book and I started filling it out
• Met with Lennon's pediatrician
• Asked Scott and Neety to be Lennon's Godparents and they said, "Yes!"
• Downloaded an app on my phone to time contractions if/when they ever come
• I've been fairly pregnancy symptom free this week except for the occasional Braxton Hick.  Just super excited to meet Lennon!



from babycenter.com

A sneak peak at my maternity pictures! Thanks to Snips and Snails photography! She was so much fun and made me feel so comfortable.

 

I'm going to miss my little shelf.

The assortment of fabrics I picked out for Lennon's bibs

haha. This was an interesting process.

The finished product!

Our tea pots at our tea party :)

Our cute little tier of stuff to snack on during tea. Scones, sandwiches, desserts.

Scott and Neety reading their Godparents card

Finished making the Godparent card!

The cover

Lennon's little message to his Aunt and Uncle.