Sunday, November 13, 2011
Adventures in Parenting: A Colicky Baby
The first two weeks at home with baby Annabelle were a blur of rocking, swinging, swaddling, changing and bouncing. The hazing Annabelle provided us in the form of colic and reflux made us appreciate every smile, giggle and coo more than words can describe.
Prior to bringing Annabelle home, I wish I'd known:
- Babies cry. A lot. It's normal and many times there's nothing you can do except love them through it.
- Some babies don't like (translate: won't sleep in) swings, bouncy seats, cribs, bassinets and/or anything else other than mom or dad's arms.
- Wearing your child drastically prevents screaming, but is hell on your back.
- This bundle of joy will annihilate your nipples.
- Mom is a diary cow. Eating is a great soother for little ones, and you will spend an hour every two hours feeding around the clock.
- Your voluptuous pregnancy hair will fall out in chunks.
- Your mother's stay will never be long enough. I would have kept her for months had she agreed!
- MOST IMPORTANTLY... it will get easier.
A few highlights from the first month:
Friday, September 23, 2011
Annabelle's arrival
We were finally admitted. They rushed me in a wheelchair to Labor & Delivery, David running along behind, and got me settled in our room. Hours went by. Now it's noon, still no change. Now it's evening, still no change. Our very supportive family is cheering us on from the waiting room, now likely bored stiff. Finally they come in to say they need to speed things up with pitocin, but they warned that augmented labor pains are far more painful than natural labor, so they recommended drugs. I happily opt to throw the birth plan out the window and bring 'em on. Minutes later I'm nestled in bed, numb from the waist down, and thanks to the pitocin, having my first "regular" contractions!
What I didn't know that at the time was that since Annabelle was presenting face up, the chances of my delivering her without surgery were slim, but they were going to let me try. My doctor later told me she's NEVER delivered a baby face up without surgery. Never. Three hours of pushing later David said my eyes were rolling back into my head, and I was fading fast. Annabelle also began showing her first signs of stress from this long process, and David later told me he overheard the doctors discussing taking me into surgery. I can honestly say if David hadn't found his inner drill sergeant at this moment, I would not have been able to deliver that baby girl. He made me make eye contact with him and started counting and yelling at me to encourage me. The room filled with people. There were at least 15 doctors and nurses in the room, and now everyone is cheering me on. Three days of labor and one big push later we welcomed baby Annabelle Kay Lodge into the world... conehead and all!
Baby's coming! Labor days 1-3
Not to sound cocky, but prior to delivering I was naively confident that my labor would be as uneventful as my pregnancy. David, on the other hand, had been paying attention in our birthing classes when they talked about breech babies and back labor, and in our tour of the hospital when they said that occasionally the hospital fills up and they have to share rooms (where husbands are not welcome to stay) or they have to turn laboring women away all together. He said later, knowing our luck, he was sure one of these things would happen. Even so, we were totally unprepared for what was to come.
On Tuesday prior to Annabelle's due date I started having regular contractions, but they weren't yet painful. I should have been using this time to rest up, but instead I laid awake all night timing contractions like a kid on Christmas Eve. On Wednesday I was getting my first taste of the real thing, and by Wednesday night I spent the night altering labor positions trying to ease the pain I felt in my back. On Thursday my sweet husband got up and got ready for work, actually getting so far to kiss me goodbye, before I had a total break down. This was no longer something I could do on my own. We called our parents to put them on standby, telling them that we'd invite them down once we were admitted.
My contractions seemed a bit irregular but were very intense and close together, so we went to the hospital Thursday midday hoping to get admitted. Despite spending an hour running up and down the halls and stairs of OHSU with David, we were told we weren't quite far enough along. They also did a scan of the baby and told us she was presenting face up, essentially - backwards. They said it wasn't too late for her to turn, and advised me to spend time on my hands and knees and side trying to urge her to roll. We returned home Thursday evening to a houseful of people, despite having given instructions to our folks not to come... no pressure. When it was clear that it wasn't fun to hang out with a woman in labor, our family kindly left to go find hotel rooms for the night. I spent the night on hands and knees with pain that I can't even begin to describe. David applied counter pressure and helped me get into position for the waves of contractions. Still they were irregular. We'd have a few as close together as a minute and then a seven or eight minute break.
At 5 a.m. on Annabelle's due date I called Labor & Delivery and was told they were full. WHAT?! They offered to give us a referral to another hospital, or try to get into our regular doctor for a check-up. Thankfully I had an appointment that morning with my doctor, so we waited, and labored, and waited, and labored, until it was finally time to be seen. I was sweaty and unkept and terrified they'd take one look at me and turn me away again. My doctor checked my cervix and I was already dilated to a 7! She congratulated me on laboring at home, saying I was due "any minute". All I could think of is "that's very Oregon of me." She stepped out to call Labor & Delivery and ordered them to ready a room... we were on our way!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Nursery pics... and baby's name!
We're finally done with the nursery! It was so much fun to put together and now we can't wait to have her here! Also notice that we put up letters for the baby's name... we're happy to announce that we will name her Annabelle Kay Lodge.
We chose Annabelle because we think it's beauitful - I've been calling her "Baby Bella", my beautiful baby, and David has nicknamed her AnnaBee. We think it will fun to see if she grows up to be an Annabelle, Anna, Annie, Bella or Elle. Lots of possibilities! We chose Kay for her middle name in honor of my mom (Kay is my mom's middle name, and the first letter of mine. A great combo!)
This painting was a labor of love and took absolutely forever,
but I'm so glad I stuck with it and hope she loves it!
Barkley loves Annabelle's room too,
but is confused why we won't let him play with her toys...
This pink wall took four coats of paint!
David did a fabulous job while mommy stayed away from the fumes...
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Christmas comes every Friday
Every Friday, I get an exciting present in my email box from Baby Center. This little gift offers me a peak into baby's weekly size (as it relates to fruits and veggies), development and changes in my body and life. At 38 weeks this week, I've learned that baby is likely 6.8 lbs and over 19.5 inches long (like a leek). She is full-term, and will spend her last days plumping up for life on the outside. My doctor's visit this week confirms this. My doctor estimates that she'll arrive in a week to a week and a half! Isn't that amazing?! Any day now I'll be a mom! This creates only a tiny bit of panic... I need to clean the house, put meals in the freezer, finish baby's paintings, wash baby's linens, and paint my toenails. Why the toenails? Because nurses are people too, and they don't need to see my nasty swollen feet with naked nails.
38 weeks
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Unwanted advice
Why is it that everyone, including complete strangers, wants to impart wisdom upon pregnant women? Half of said wisdom is some version of "sleep now while you still can", or "go on a date before it's too late", or isn't really wisdom at all, but some horror story about their own pregnancy, labor experience, or child that didn't sleep for 7 years. I've heard more stories about not making it to the hospital in time, or nearly having the baby at check-in that I'm pretty much scarred for life.
The one piece of advice I did take was to make time for a little get-away before baby comes. Last month, David and I and my wonderful parents took a trip out to Cannon Beach for some lazy walks along the beach, crazy play time for Barkley, and a little R&R. I should note here that the beach is Barkley's Disneyland, so while we went to relax and sleep in, Barkley woke up every morning at 4:30 a.m. to go play in the water. Did I mention he's 80lbs? He can be very convincing. So... our lazy vacation involved early morning walks along the beach, which I decided to consider romantic rather than annoying.
As a side note to all women out there with some sort of pregnancy or labor horror story: I don't want to hear it. Not now... when I'm minutes away from delivering. Not last month, when I was worried about pre-term labor, and not in the first trimester, when I was worried about miscarriage. Feel free to share your story with me months from now when I'm in a better place, but on behalf of all pregnant women out there -- for now, keep it to yourself.
The one piece of advice I did take was to make time for a little get-away before baby comes. Last month, David and I and my wonderful parents took a trip out to Cannon Beach for some lazy walks along the beach, crazy play time for Barkley, and a little R&R. I should note here that the beach is Barkley's Disneyland, so while we went to relax and sleep in, Barkley woke up every morning at 4:30 a.m. to go play in the water. Did I mention he's 80lbs? He can be very convincing. So... our lazy vacation involved early morning walks along the beach, which I decided to consider romantic rather than annoying.
As a side note to all women out there with some sort of pregnancy or labor horror story: I don't want to hear it. Not now... when I'm minutes away from delivering. Not last month, when I was worried about pre-term labor, and not in the first trimester, when I was worried about miscarriage. Feel free to share your story with me months from now when I'm in a better place, but on behalf of all pregnant women out there -- for now, keep it to yourself.
Hello suburbia!
Before we could really be ready to be parents, we needed to say goodbye to our swanky singles flat in the downtown Portland. My nesting instinct was strong, and I felt we needed a real house complete with doors for baby and a yard for Barkley. We began searching for rental houses, and found the craziest and most discouraging assortment of wacky, unlivable houses. We either found beautiful homes in sketchy neighborhoods or sketchy homes in beautiful neighbors. Was there nothing in between? I suppose adding an 80lb dog to the mix and a hope for three bedrooms may have been asking for too much for Portland proper, so we extended our search criteria to the 'burbs.
As long as we were willing to leave the city limits and sacrifice a few extra minutes in our commute, we found a plethora of gorgeous homes willing to accept us and our crazy dog. We signed a lease on a home in Lake Oswego, where the yard extends into a nature preserve, that extends into a park. Pretty awesome stuff. The best part is the nursery off the master bedroom (pictures to come). I had us packed in minutes and since I was on strict "no lifting" watch, David asked his co-workers, and I asked my parents for help. It took 6 people 3 hours to move us entirely out of our apartment and into our new 3,000+ sq ft house. We went from a one bed/one bath/one door flat to a 4 bed/4bath house with more doors than I can count. As for the town, it feels like a vacation town in the Hamptons. Though we'll have to find other ways to expose our daughter to diversity...
A big thank you to Ken Katzaroff and my parents for driving all the way down to help us move, and to David's coworkers Ian, Kelly, Aaron and Daryl for sacrificing their Saturdays. I couldn't be more appreciative of or more flattered by this support.
As long as we were willing to leave the city limits and sacrifice a few extra minutes in our commute, we found a plethora of gorgeous homes willing to accept us and our crazy dog. We signed a lease on a home in Lake Oswego, where the yard extends into a nature preserve, that extends into a park. Pretty awesome stuff. The best part is the nursery off the master bedroom (pictures to come). I had us packed in minutes and since I was on strict "no lifting" watch, David asked his co-workers, and I asked my parents for help. It took 6 people 3 hours to move us entirely out of our apartment and into our new 3,000+ sq ft house. We went from a one bed/one bath/one door flat to a 4 bed/4bath house with more doors than I can count. As for the town, it feels like a vacation town in the Hamptons. Though we'll have to find other ways to expose our daughter to diversity...
A big thank you to Ken Katzaroff and my parents for driving all the way down to help us move, and to David's coworkers Ian, Kelly, Aaron and Daryl for sacrificing their Saturdays. I couldn't be more appreciative of or more flattered by this support.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Large and in charge
All the way through my pregnancy, well into my third trimester, whenever I tell people I'm pregnant, they act shocked. It's true I'm not showing all that much, and we even had a scare where our baby girl was measuring small (after a sleepless night and a third ultrasound they assured us she was just right, but since I am tall she was able to hide a bit more). It should really be a great thing that my weight gain is not out of control and I'm looking and feeling relatively well, but I find it annoying. I end up defending that I'm actually pregnant, having to assure everyone that I'm eating well and gaining enough weight, and don't get the special treatment everyone told me would happen.
...until recently. It's now June and I'm two weeks away from baby girl's due date. Now when people run into me they say in very sympathetic tones, "how ARE you?", "holding up ok?", or "almost due?" In a matter of days I've gone from not showing to being huge. And I have the cankles to prove it.
On a positive note, I feel completely comfortable asking for help out at the grocery store, having someone carry Barkley's 30lb bag of dog food to my car, and sitting down when I'm tired, even when it's weird. It's liberating.
20 weeks
...until recently. It's now June and I'm two weeks away from baby girl's due date. Now when people run into me they say in very sympathetic tones, "how ARE you?", "holding up ok?", or "almost due?" In a matter of days I've gone from not showing to being huge. And I have the cankles to prove it.
Why have I chosen to include this disgusting picture of my foot?
Because it's impressive.
37 weeks
Sharing our news, the name game, and baby showers galore!
We tell our parents about the baby at Thanksgiving, but ask them to keep it a secret until Christmas. We're 11 weeks along and all is going well. I'm still suffering from morning sickness, but have mastered the secrets to staying as well as possible. I've started my new job and am happy being busy again, even through the first few weeks are incredibly awkward. New jobs are always awkward... getting to know your coworkers, gathering background on the politics, arriving everyday not knowing exactly what you'll be doing, etc. Add to this the fact that this job is far different than anything I'd done before, to say it was challenging is an understatement, but I was enjoying it.
Christmas comes and goes quickly, as I don't have much leave from work. We go home to Wenatchee for a wonderful break, stay with my parents, and share our exciting news with our extended families. Everyone is thrilled for us, and the grandparents are so excited to be able to share their secret.
At 17 weeks along I'm still thankfully not showing much (but having to get a lot more creative squeezing myself into crazier and crazier outfits). I decide it's time to share my news with my boss. She is amazingly composed and says she'd already figured it out. I'm grateful, because it spares me an awkward conversation, but am curious. How'd she know? She says, "you seemed to know your way around a wine bottle but never drank." Very astute.
At 19 weeks, the end of January, we find out the sex of the baby. It's a girl! David and my mom say they somehow knew, but I was completely in the dark. This is a huge milestone for me. We're safely past the first trimester, know our baby is a little girl, and I for the first time I feel safe dreaming about our future with her.
We begin playing the name game and I had no idea what I was in for. How does anyone choose a name they both like, while honoring their family and ancestry, avoiding weird acronyms and weighing awful nicknames? Impossible. The conversation continues well into the third trimester and while we have a list of candidates, we don't land on a name until our baby girl is nearly due.
In April/May I am honored with four baby showers. My first is an amazing shower at my cousin Darci's house with family and friends from Seattle and colleagues from UW. My second is a shower in Wenatchee that would have made Martha Stewart proud. It's hosted by my sister-in-law Andrea and "the Bible study ladies" with friends and family from home. My third is a sorority shower at Tayah's house hosted by she and Julia and is small and perfect for catching up with my girlfriends. The last is a work shower, which turns out to be awkward but wonderful, and includes an odd assortment of board members, coworkers and their kids. I couldn't be more flattered by the support of these amazing women and the wonderful gifts they showered me and baby Lodge with. David and I are having the best time setting up baby's nursery, and we can't wait for her to arrive!
Christmas comes and goes quickly, as I don't have much leave from work. We go home to Wenatchee for a wonderful break, stay with my parents, and share our exciting news with our extended families. Everyone is thrilled for us, and the grandparents are so excited to be able to share their secret.
Matching pajamas? That's right, that's how we roll.
At 17 weeks along I'm still thankfully not showing much (but having to get a lot more creative squeezing myself into crazier and crazier outfits). I decide it's time to share my news with my boss. She is amazingly composed and says she'd already figured it out. I'm grateful, because it spares me an awkward conversation, but am curious. How'd she know? She says, "you seemed to know your way around a wine bottle but never drank." Very astute.
At 19 weeks, the end of January, we find out the sex of the baby. It's a girl! David and my mom say they somehow knew, but I was completely in the dark. This is a huge milestone for me. We're safely past the first trimester, know our baby is a little girl, and I for the first time I feel safe dreaming about our future with her.
Money shot!
We begin playing the name game and I had no idea what I was in for. How does anyone choose a name they both like, while honoring their family and ancestry, avoiding weird acronyms and weighing awful nicknames? Impossible. The conversation continues well into the third trimester and while we have a list of candidates, we don't land on a name until our baby girl is nearly due.
In April/May I am honored with four baby showers. My first is an amazing shower at my cousin Darci's house with family and friends from Seattle and colleagues from UW. My second is a shower in Wenatchee that would have made Martha Stewart proud. It's hosted by my sister-in-law Andrea and "the Bible study ladies" with friends and family from home. My third is a sorority shower at Tayah's house hosted by she and Julia and is small and perfect for catching up with my girlfriends. The last is a work shower, which turns out to be awkward but wonderful, and includes an odd assortment of board members, coworkers and their kids. I couldn't be more flattered by the support of these amazing women and the wonderful gifts they showered me and baby Lodge with. David and I are having the best time setting up baby's nursery, and we can't wait for her to arrive!