Well, it’s been just over 2 months since I deigned to show my face around these parts.  I thought it was high time to let you all know that I am still alive and that we are doing well over here.  Thriving, in fact!  We had a great, low-key Christmas, a successful New Year and are now forging headlong into spring.  Where, oh where to begin?  I’ll start with where we left off, I suppose.  Our Christmas was very nice.  We stayed home and took it easy.  Grandma and Grandpa Jim came to see us, which was so nice, and Urijah slept through most of the festivities, which was also so nice, since he really couldn’t actively participate anyhow.  I was a little bummed this year since I could only manage to squeeze out the barest of Christmas decorations, but I’m really hoping that next year, with a 14 month old!!, that I’ll be able to get back to my normal level of Christmas oomph.  That being said, we only put the Christmas tree back up in the attic 2 weeks ago!  And my fake poinsettias are still on the front porch. What?  They’re winter decorations…not just for Christmas.  Pfffftttt.

Scott and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary with dinner and a movie.  The grandparents came to babysit and we caught an early showing of ‘Hugo’ in 3D, which was excellent – highly recommended, and then came back home and got all dressed up for family Christmas pictures and then we headed out for our fancy dinner downtown at Trio at the Four Seasons.  Oh, it was so good.  We talked and drank and laughed a bunch, and definitely ate too much, but oh man, was it worth it.  It was just what we needed.  Happy Anniversary to my husband of one year and my partner for the last ten!

We were determined to so something for New Years and not be those people with a new baby that just hole up at home.  We….sort of….accomplished it.  We have some friends that always have a New years shindig, and it’s kid friendly, so we loaded ourselves up and went.  We stayed for about…2 hours?  Someone was particularly fussy and required walking and bouncing the whole time in order to stay calm, and pretty much didn’t want anyone other than Mom or Dad to speak to him, so it was sort of a flop in that regard.  But, it was still good to get out of the house and do something that we would have done pre-baby.  We made it home in time to crack open the celebratory bottle of wine that Scott found online (the same vintage that we had at our wedding that was fantastic!), and we watched the ball drop in our living room, with Urijah on Scott”s lap and me standing close enough to give kisses to both of my boys.  So, the New Year celebration was a success after all.

And after the holidays, we’ve been taking it day by day.  On February 13th, Urijah celebrated his 4 month birthday with a trip to the Dr’s office and some shots.  Yay!  The weekend prior to that, he had his first “sickness”.  An unexplained fever that lasted about 36 hours, and never got higher than 101.9.  I still don’t know exactly what caused it, but he weathered it well, and we’ll jut assume is was some viral infection he successfully fought off.  The stats from his 4 month appt are as follows, for anyone who is interested.  Weight – 15.8 lbs, length – 25 1/4 inches, head circumference was about 17 inches if I remember correctly.  For weight and length he was in the 50th percentile but his noggin was up into the 75th percentile.  He got an all around A+ and will go back in 2 more months.  He is generally getting more and more awesome.  He is smiling all the time and sometimes will do a few chuckles if you hit just the right spot with your silliness.  He loves it when you hold him under the arms and swing his body back and forth like a pendulum, and will give you huge open mouth smiles if you lift him up over your head and bring him back down over and over again.  He has recently decided that he hates his once much loved baths, so that’s a mystery since nothing has changed about them.  I’m going to try getting him a little tub that will let him sit reclined rather than laying flat, and we’ll see if maybe that is the problem.  He still also strongly dislikes having clothes pulled over his head, but usually recovers pretty quickly from that trauma unless he is already overtired.  But hands down my favorite new development is that when he wakes up in the morning, or from a nice solid nap, as soon as he sees me coming to get him, he gives me a huge smile and starts his whole body wiggling around in his swaddle.  It seriously makes me swoon, no matter how tired I am.

(Side note because I really need to wrap this up:  he did fantastic on his first flight.  He and I went to Portland to see Lisa, Josh and Ada in January, and he was an absolute perfect baby the whole time.  The flights were a breeze and he slept a ton in Portland!  The trip was too short, but he and I are making another venture in the beginning of March- this time to Jacksonville to see Gram and Grandpa.  Fingers crossed that those flights go as well as the first ones.  Hopefully the flights being half as long will help.)

Urijah:

-weighed 10 lbs 10 oz at his 2 month Dr appt!!  When the nurse weighed him and said ,” ok, 10 / 10″.  I paused and stared at her and said, “do you means 10 POUNDS and 10 OUNCES?”  I’m not sure what else I thought she might have meant.  To say the least, we’re pleased with this development.

-is 22″ long (and inch and a half longer than at birth) and his head is 15″.  The Dr. placed him solidly in the 25% to 30% range for all three measurements.  Which doesn’t really matter, so long as he’s proportionate with himself, and he is!

-got 3 shots and an oral vaccine at his appt and handled them fantastically.  Had his first doses of infant Tylenol to combat the fever that he got afterwards.

-really hates having clothes pulled on over his head.

-likes bath time, except for the getting out part.  I think he gets that from his Gram.

-is absolutely enamored with the bug mobile over his changing pad…and when Dad had the brilliant idea to spin it around so all the bugs look like they are flying? Well, you might as well have given him the moon and stars.  I think I spun that mobile about 30 times last night after his diaper change.  He was thrilled every time.

-is smiling more and more, and is just starting to make cooing noises.  I think they still mostly take him by surprise when he does it, but I’m sure in the next few weeks, he’ll find his voice.

-has started sucking on his fist with some purpose and determination.

-think it’s really funny when his Dad imitates video game songs and noises.  It practically guarantees a smile.

-wants to be bounced to sleep….vigorously.  No gentle motions for this kid…he wants his head bobbing all around when he drifts off.

-is sleeping from about 11-12 at night to about 5 or 6 am, and then taking 3 or so regular naps during the day.  Last night he (and by extension, I) slept from 11pm till 6am and got up to eat, and just crashed out again at 8am for a morning nap.  I felt so rested from the good 7 hours of sleep that it’s the first time I decided to just stay up and start the day, rather than face-planting back into my own bed at the same time he went back to sleep.  So far it’s a good routine for us.  If I can avoid regularly being awake in those wee morning hours, I’ll take it.  Those are the worst!

-is a champ at running errands.  I’m not sure why I don’t take him out of the house every single day.  He seems to like the car seat just fine once he is buckled in and settled.  He either crashes out immediately, or serenely gazes out the window while we drive. I think he gets bored of the house and wants new stuff to look at.  Mom, too!

-had his first picture with Santa this week:

His shirt has cookies and milk on it and says "For Santa, not Daddy."

I:

-am feeling physically good.  Recovery from the birth was pretty easy, and I feel like the crazy hormones are leveling out now.  Now if my skin and hair would get the memo, I’d be glad for them to go back to normal, too.

-am back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Some days a little less, some days a little more.  Good starting point for when I start to work out again!

-wish I could get my act together better more on days when we leave the house.  I usually just have my hair pulled back in a ponytail and absolutely no makeup and some random hodgepodge clothes.  I’m feeling pretty schlumpy most of the time, but I think it will get easier as he gets bigger.  I certainly need a haircut, and I totally get why new moms always get the ‘new mom haircut’; a.k.a. ‘the bob’.  Just not sure I want to join those ranks.  Maybe something midway between that and what I’ve got now, which is just long and out of control.

-have now nursed Urijah in the backseat of my car in a parking lot (surprisingly quiet and nice…wouldn’t mind having to do that again) and in the fitting room of Macy’s lingerie department.  Also not bad, but it killed my back sitting on that hard little seat the whole time.  When he was really small, I was complaining to Lisa that I absolutely could not nurse him without the Boppy pillow that I use at home (seriously the best thing EVER.  Thanks to Lisa for sending me hers when she was done with it.  We use it for every single feeding when we are at home!)  – he was just too floppy and his head was too hard to control, etc. I couldn’t make the logistics work of holding his head and his body and also positioning my boob for his mouth.  I needed more hands.   She said it would get easier as he got stronger and she was right!  All of a sudden, I can support his head in the crook of my arm and his little bottom and legs rests against my stomach/lap area and it all works out fine.  Whew.  That certainly makes being out and about easier.  (It also helps that he has gotten more aggressive about latching on and does so without nearly as much intervention from me.)

-am dreading starting to work again.  Still no official ‘start date’ but probably soon after the New Year.  I’m not sure how it will work out, but we’ll give it a go.

-am about to celebrate my 1 year wedding anniversary with Scott on the 20th.  Grandma and Pop-Pop ( these are the unofficial grandparent names for Scott’s folks that I am using – there has been no official agreement as to what their names will be yet.) are graciously coming to town  so that Scott and I can go out for the evening.  It will be our first outing alone together since my mom was here back in week 2.  We are in week 9.  It’s time.

-love this kid more and more every day:

Whew.  Hello!  how have you been?  Wait, hold that thought.  I’ve got to {feed} {pick up} {burp} {change} {snuggle} the baby.  OK.  Now how are you again?

That’s how things go these days!  It’s non-stop baby and I make the ABSOLUTE most out of every naptime.  Aren’t you so lucky that today I am choosing to blog during these last few minutes of sleep.  I can hear intermittent noises over the baby monitor, but nothing requiring intervention yet.

So.  Thanksgiving.  We had it.  It was great.  It would have been perfect if Lisa and Josh and Ada had been able to be here, too, but the holidays are the busiest time of the year for Lisa’s bakery, so no traveling allowed!  Good thing we saw each other several times this summer to make up for it.

Scott and I had decided ahead of time that we weren’t going to attempt to travel for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, and so our families came to us!  It was wonderful.  I loved having every one here and Urijah didn’t suffer from any of the attention he got, either.  Who says the turkey is the star of Thanksgiving?!  Uncle Shane and Grandpa both got in some snuggle time.

We divvied up the food responsibilities and Karen brought the turkeys and the green beans, and Mom and I handled the rest.  Ali covered the appetizers and snacks, which actually came in handy, since we ended up pushing out the meal until dinner time and ended up skipping any official lunch.  I’ve still been eating off of the leftover crackers and cheese ball almost 2 weeks later.  Ha!

The food was wonderful and it covered every single inch of my kitchen counters.  (I think Scott and I had had leftover Thanksgiving for about 5 or 6 meals, FYI.)  There was A LOT of food.  All the standard fare, and Scott and I were able to enjoy it with our families while our perfect baby peacefully slept through the whole thing.  I can’t believe we got off that lucky!

L to R: Karen, Jim, Grace, Shane, Dad (mom behind the camera)

The Kid's Bar: Lane, Scott, Me, Ali

And no Thanksgiving would be complete, (in my eyes) without the obligatory Black Friday shopping. I love it out there!  I love all the craziness, the deals, the usually chilly morning weather, and always finding more stuff for myself than anyone else.  Seriously, why is it that I do the best shopping for myself on Black Friday?  It happens every year and I don’t even feel guilty about it anymore..I just go into it knowing that I’m going to stock up! I hit the jackpot on some jeans (alright, fine, they’re jeggings and I don’t care who knows it since Mom already blew my cover when she told Scott that my new pants pull on.) and some tank tops and new undies and some pajama tops that are nursing-friendly.  The jeggings are just what my post-baby body needed.  They are actually skinny-leg jeggings, which was so surprising to me since I didn’t think that cut of pants looked good on my body shape, but they look great (if I do say so myself – plus mom and Ali told me so).  You would never know the zipper is fake! They are now on my top ten list of things I am thankful for this year.

Our family had another reason to be thankful this year – my folks are celebrating 40 years of marriage, and we had a small cake to commemorate.  I wish I could have done more to acknowledge the accomplishment, but my last couple of months have been….busy.

Congratulations Art and Sherry! We love you!

Also, it is of note to say that this was mine and Scott’s first Thanksgiving as a married couple!  He is definitely at the top of my list of things to be thankful for – he makes my life better and I can’t imagine my life without him.  I don’t want to. We’ll be celebrating our 40 years in…well, 40 years.

And this year, he’s not alone at the very top of my list.

Hmmm.  Maybe the turkey was the star of Thanksgiving after all.

As of last Thursday, Urijah hit the one month old mark! (As of today, he’s 5.5 weeks.) It seems a lot shorter to me to say 4 weeks, but when I start thinking in terms of ‘months’, I can hardly believe it.  We’re only 2 weeks away from reaching the end of the famed “the first 6 weeks are the hardest” saying.  And really, I must say, in a lot of ways it has been true, but it has also been better, dare I say, easier than I expected.

The hardest part of the last 4 weeks has been the feeding issues that we were facing early on.  We seem to have settled into a new normal of breastfeeding and supplementing (with both formula and Lisa’s milk) and while it isn’t ideal (I desperately wish I could exclusively breastfeed this baby, but I’m coming to terms with the fact that I can’t provide enough, and I need to make sure his belly is full, first and foremost, so supplementing it is!), it is what we have to do and he is thriving and putting on weight, and that’s what matters.  We just switched to Dr. Brown’s bottles two days ago…we were using Green to Grow bottles from the start but he was spitting up quite a bit, so we’re trying different bottles to see if that helps.  So far so good, he still spits up a bit, but it is definitely less than it was.

I hesitate to put it in writing in case I am jinxing myself, but the sleep has been pretty good so far.  AND I AM HUGELY GRATEFUL FOR THAT, powers that be.  Do you hear me?   I’m not taking it for granted!  Urijah regularly sleeps for stretches of 4-6 hours at a time at night, and so far, goes back to sleep pretty easily after eating. I’m starting to see a pattern emerging of nap times and awake times during the day, so that helps, too.  If I know he will go to sleep for a couple of hours and I can eat something, wash bottles and clean up the kitchen, it can make the whole day feel like a win.  Like I know what I’m doing.

It was a rough first 2 weeks of self doubt, though…I was frustrated and disappointed, and the emotional roller-coaster was a bit unpredictable.  It feels like it is leveling out somewhat now, but I still reserve the right to have a cry if I need to.  Just FYI.

So…now here are some first month ‘stats’.  The lactation consultant left her fancy scale here for almost 2 weeks, so I was able to keep tabs on Urijah’s weight…he hit the 7 lb mark and even exceeded it a bit!  His face and belly are noticeably fuller, and he is starting to get that chubby baby look to him.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s still tiny and a bit scrawny, but compared to how tiny he was at the beginning, it’s a big change!

He has more and more awake time during the day (and yeah, at night, too) and his little eyes are so bright and alert.  He is making eye contact and I feel like he might be on the cusp of smiling soon.  I keep trying to talk him into it, but he’s not cooperating yet.  He can hold his head up really well when you hold him up on your shoulder…he loves to look all around, especially at lights or the TV or at your face.  But watch out – he tends to overdo it sometimes and I’ve already had several hard collisions with his forehead and my lip.  We’re working on tummy time – he can move his head from side to side, but not very much consistent head holding up in that position yet.

And I would like to officially extend an apology to every mother that I ever (silently) judged for saying that they didn’t have time to do something.  I get it now.  I’m sorry I ever doubted you.  This kid takes ALOT of time.

We have weight gain!  As of Urijah’s 2 week check-up he was back to his birth weight.  I felt like we had been cramming for a test for days leading up to that appointment – as soon as the scale registered those numbers, I burst into tears.  It was such a relief to know that all of our effort was paying off.  Heather, the midwife, gave me a good long hug, and let me cry for a minute, and told me I was doing a great job, and I was doing everything right.  It was just what I needed to hear!  I had had so many days  of worry and stress, and disappointment in my body that it wasn’t fulfilling its obligation to this little boy, that to get the news that between my body, Lisa’s body and the Enfamil corporation, we were making it happen.  Go team!

Urijah commemorated the moment by promptly peeing all over the sling they use for weighing.  An appropriate indication that he is getting enough food, I suppose.

The lactation consultant brought her fancy scale back over on Sunday and we did a couple of pre and post feeding weighs over the next 2 days, and we’re up to getting around an ounce or ounce and a half from a nursing session, which is a HUGE improvement.  Still not enough to sustain him, but it’s progress!  The last weight I took of him today was right around 6.5 lbs, so he’s starting to chunk up.  His cheeks are definitely starting to look fuller, even if his legs are still scrawny.

Look! I'm starting to get wrist rolls!

In other news, there’s been a bunch of grandma love going on around here.  My mom came to town and stayed for 5 days, and the day after she left Scott’s parents came to town to help me out, since sadly, Scott had to go back to work. My mom was Urijah’s first ever babysitter!  We took advantage of her capable hands and we went to dinner with some friends while she and the babe stayed home and bonded.  I actually put on makeup and wore my hair down for the first time in weeks – it felt great!  And, if I may pat myself on the back for something that I had absolutely no control over?  I was able to wear pre-pregnancy jeans.  There was sort of a muffin-top situation, but whatever.  They zipped!  The were pretty comfortable!  They looked great while I was standing up! All in all, it was a success.

My mom also gave Urijah his first bath while she was here.  We thought it would be nice to actually bathe the poor kid before we took him to his 2 week check up.  Honestly, he just wasn’t really dirty!  It was just a water wipe down, but he handled it pretty well.  He did pee during it, which we fully expected, but right as he started, he sort of rolled to the side and crossed his leg over in a very gentlemanly fashion, so she was saved from the spray.

Mom cooked up a storm while she was here, and Scott and I ate it up.  It was such a nice treat to have someone make food for us that we haven’t eaten, like, 20 times before.  We have been in a food rut, so Mom showing up with new recipes in hand was just what we needed.  She made tons, so we’ve got a stuffed fridge to keep working through.  Such a luxury to have prepared food that just needs to be heated up!

Scott’s mom took up the torch and she’s been cooking as well.  As I type, she’s working in the kitchen and it smells great!  It really is so nice to have an extra pair of hands (or two!) around the house to hand the baby off to, or to pour up a bottle or to make dinner.  I was even able to make a solo run to Target yesterday while Karen stayed home with Urijah.  Between Ali, Mom and Jim and Karen, we are so, so lucky to have had such amazing and supportive people around us to help out.  Everyone is just smitten with Urijah, and we couldn’t be more pleased to see how happy he makes them.

Next week will be my first real week ‘on my own’ while Scott is at work, and while I’m a bit nervous, I’m also excited to see how we do.  Hopefully we can settle into some sort of normalcy (notice I didn’t say routine – I’m not that naive) and both get through the days fed and somewhat rested.  If I can manage to accomplish both of those tasks for us, it will be a roaring success!

But can everyone please keep your cell phones handy in case of a meltdown?

Thanks.

I wrote this birth story in 2 sittings last week…I’m glad I got it all down so that I can look back over the years and remember just how it all went.  Enjoy!

Today has been exactly one week since Urijah was born.  I don’t know where the time has gone!  However, this story starts quite a few days before last Thursday, when my water unexpectedly broke during my 36^th week of pregnancy.  It was early Sunday morning, October 9^th, at about 2 am, when I felt a small gush and thought that I had to go to the bathroom.  A minute later I felt another small gush and got myself up and to the bathroom.  Immediately I started thinking “no, no, no, it’s too early”, but at that point it was out of my hands.  My water had indeed broken, so I woke up Scott to tell him, but we went back to sleep since nothing else seemed to be happening.

I called Heather the next morning and told her what was going on, but that I wasn’t having any contractions yet.  We decided to wait and see what happened.  Little did we know that “Wait and see” would turn out to be the mantra that we would repeat to ourselves for the 5 days until Urijah decided to make his appearance.

On Tuesday morning, I felt my first identifiable contractions.  They were sporadic and not very strong, so we went to the birth center for a check in and to come up with a plan.  We all agreed that we were willing to maintain the wait and see approach – we didn’t feel there was any need to go to the hospital even though the hours were ticking away since my water had broken.  The baby sounded good and I felt good, so we wanted to give him as much time on the inside as possible.  Since the risk of infection was a possibility after my water broke, the midwives couldn’t check me to see if I was progressing, so we did a swab to verify that my water broke.  The first swab I did at the center was negative so we thought I was mistaken and it was a false alarm, but a second swab a little while later once we were back at home showed that my water had indeed broken with no question.  User error on the first try?  We’ll never know!

We essentially continued this pattern for the next 2 days…I would have sporadic contractions that would really pick up in the evening and nighttime, and all but completely stop during the day.  They were easy to breathe through, so that’s what I did.  I was running on very little sleep, and on Thursday morning after another sleepless night of stronger contractions that were coming regularly, I called Heather and said I needed to come in.  I was tired and starting to feel anxious and she agreed it might be time to head in, so we did.  We got settled into the room and tried to get some rest.  The contractions came and went and Scott and I managed to get a bit of sleep on and off.  Heather continued to monitor the baby and me throughout, and we were fine.  Then the contractions stopped…again!  Around 2:00pm, we decided to head home, although we were hopeful enough that we left our stuff in the room.  I wanted to have that baby!  I couldn’t handle any more waiting around.  As it turned out, I didn’t really have to.

I napped at home for 2 hours and woke myself up around 5pm moaning through some pretty strong contractions.  I leaned by the side of the bed for a few of them, but had to go downstairs to get Scott to help me though them, as they were starting to come fast and hard.  These contractions felt absolutely different than any I had felt so far.  At 6:00, I was shivering and knew this was it – I called Heather and told her what was going on, and she said she would call Sandra and meet us at the birth center.  Scott was concerned that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and I would need some energy for what was to come, so we loaded up and got into the car, thinking we would swing by Subway to get some food just in case I would manage to eat.  Ha.  It was quickly evident that was not going to happen – I was feeling the urge to push while we were about halfway there!  We got the birth center and I’m sure I made quite an impression on the Hypnobirthing class that was sitting in the family room waiting for their class to start, as Scott helped me back to our room.

Heather and Sandra did some quick assessments and they could tell – this was it.  They starting filling up the birthing pool and I leaned over the birthing ball that was on the bed, as the contractions came.  I told Heather and Sandra that I needed to push, and they assured me I could go ahead!  Scott stood behind me and applied counter-pressure to my lower back during each contraction, which helped so much.  At this point, I started to feel scared – this was unlike anything I had felt before, and I could feel the panic starting to take over.  I think I started to make high pitched noises during the contractions and Heather reminded me to make deep, low noises and Scott reminded me to relax my jaw and even those two small things made such a difference.  It gave me a sense of control over what was going on, even though my body was really in control – I just had to go along and let it do what it knew was best.

When the pool was full, Scott and I both got in the water and it was THE best feeling ever.  The water was so warm and so soothing and immediately helped me to relax.  I changed positions in the water several times trying to find which one felt the best and while I stayed on my knees for a time, I figured out pretty soon that my legs were too tired to maintain that.

Finally, Scott and I settled into a position with him behind me and me reclining between his legs, which was so wonderful as he could keep whispering in my ear to relax and telling me how great I was doing.  Heather and Sandra monitored the baby’s heart rate as contractions came and went and I began to calm down and just concentrate on the moment and relax as much as possible – I didn’t have any space in my mind to spare anticipating the next contraction.  Heather knew just what to say during and after each surge – she told me when to push more and longer, she told me how fantastic each push was and what good progress I was making each time, and when I was making nervous comments about the pain, she reminded me that yes, it does hurt, but that it’s not bad and that I didn’t need to be scared of it…I respond really well to positive reinforcement, so this was just what I needed to hear.

I pushed from about 7:00pm-10:52pm when Urijah came into the world.  He made his appearance with the cord wrapped around his neck and his little hand up next to his cheek, and I caught a glimpse of his face under the water when only his head was out and all I wanted was for the rest of him to come OUT! Heather unwrapped the cord and maneuvered his arm and the next thing I was aware of was there was a baby on my chest and Heather and Sandra telling Scott and I to talk to him while they rubbed him with a towel and worked on getting him to announce himself.

What a feeling!  I said to Scott, “Can you believe this!?”  Scott didn’t say much at the time, but later he told me he was overcome with emotion, and wasn’t able to speak without losing it totally.  We enjoyed a few minutes in the birth pool snuggled together, but since Urijah was so small, we needed to be concerned about his temperature, so we all moved to the bed to get to know each other and get him warmed up on my chest, and for me to deliver the placenta which seriously, felt so good!  Scott cut the cord once it was done pulsing, and after a while, Heather stitched me up and we worked on some breastfeeding with Sandra’s help, and then Baby U got the full once-over and we learned that our baby boy was 5 lbs 15 ounces and 20.5 inches long!

I am so proud of my birthing experience and what I was able to accomplish.  This being my first baby, I obviously didn’t know what to expect pain-wise.  I must say, even during the contractions, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I knew I could handle it.  They were manageable and even though I was so tired, my body kicked in during each surge and it felt like a rocket boost of energy that made each push so much more effective.  I have such a respect for my body and what it was able to do….near the end of the pushing my contractions had really slowed down, and I was able to relax so much between them that Scott told me I fell asleep several times!  Who would have thought?!

The whole long labor was not anything like I anticipated, and definitely lasted a lot longer than I would have chosen, but I believe that my body knew just what it was doing and Urijah got 5 extra days in utero because we were patient and willing to trust my body and our midwives.  Heather and Sandra both took excellent care of us, and I could not have asked for more supportive and intuitive caregivers during the entire process.  We never felt rushed or pressured, and they were absolutely patient and calm during all of the waiting – always encouraging us and reassuring us.  The delivery was just what we had hoped for – calm and peaceful and intimate and Scott and I will forever be grateful that they were there to guide us and share in the birth of our baby.

So…Urijah is now 10 days old and we are still working to get more and more milk into that little body.  We’re on a pretty regimented schedule of feeding and pumping, and supplementing…it’s draining and time consuming, but I’m hoping it will do the trick and put some weight on his frame and give my body the clues it needs to START MAKING MORE MILK.

We will forever be indebted to my sister Lisa who has been pumping her own breast milk and FedExing it to us, so that we can supplement with it, rather than formula. As of right now, I’m feeding Urijah for about 15 minutes on each breast, and then Scott gives him a bottle of about 30 ml of Lisa’s milk and my pumped milk combined.  I am pumping about an hour and a half after each feeding session, and am getting about 15 mls total each time – not a whole lot, but better than before.  We’re trying to wake him up to eat every 3 hours.  He’s a lazy nurser, though, and likes to just settle in and fall asleep.  Maybe I should take that as a complement that he finds me soothing?

Aside from the feeding challenges, he’s just amazing.  I am constantly staring at his face and thinking that I can’t believe he came out so perfect.  I can’t stop myself from kissing his cheeks every single time I pick him up, and peppering his scrawny legs and belly with kisses every time I change his diaper.  His has very light downy hair on his back and shoulders, and along his jawline, his feet and hands are big for his body and his fingers and toes are long!  He looks just like Scott and even has his toenails.   I love when he has those little gas smiles…I know he’s not actually smiling, yet, but it makes me so happy to see, regardless.

Speaking of Scott – he has been so amazing through all of these first days.  He has handled so many of the phone calls and scheduling, and meals, and laundry and making sure I have water and that I am following all the activity restrictions the midwives gave me.  He has been so encouraging during my doubtful moments and the crying jags (mine, not the baby’s) and held and soothed Urijah during both of the blood draws he’s had to endure so far.  (One for the newborn heel prick and one to check his bilirubin levels.  Bilirubin came back ok.)  He’s given every bottle and changes his share of diapers.  I couldn’t feel more loved or taken care of.  Especially since my brain has not been functioning very well…I am depending on him to think for both of us until I can return to my normal cognizant state.

So, we’re taking it one day at a time.  We’re hanging in there.  We’re loving this baby a little more each day.  Even when poop gets on our hands.

Urijah James King

10/13/11

10:52pm

5lbs and 15oz

20 1/2 inches long

I have a crazy birth story to share, but that will have to wait a bit, as we sort of have our hands full right now!  Urijah and I are both doing well, and recovering from a very long week.  He’s pretty much the cutest baby ever (and the spitting image of Scott, if you ask me)  and his head smells amazing. 

Guess I can get rid of that pregnancy ticker that still says I have 20 days to go.  Ha!

Tiny baby!

I will update things as soon as I can.  Once we get the hang of what we’re doing!

*No more weeks pregnant, and Urijah is about 43 hours old.*

Just a quick post to say that my water broke and now we are just waiting for things to get going!  Not much to report yet, but I’ll let you all know when he’s here, for sure!

36w3d

What’s going on this week:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She’s shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she’s in a head-down position. But if she isn’t, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an “external cephalic version,” which is a fancy way of saying she’ll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

My Update:

Due Date: November 4, 2011 –  28 days to go!

Weight Gain: honestly, I haven’t checked in a while.  I have my next appt on Tuesday, we’ll know for sure then!

Symptoms:  Sciatica.  Every day for the last 5 or 6 days.  It kind of sucks.  And the fatigue has really kicked in…everyday at about 2:30, I just want to crash out.

Cravings/Aversions:  Nope.

Sleep: Sleep is starting to make a downward spiral…between waking up 4-5 times a night to pee, and waking up fully every time I need to change position, and Scott having to poke me or wake me up when the snoring gets going a couple times a night, I’m not getting a lot of consecutive hours of sleep.  (I don’t think he is either, unfortunately.) Hopefully this is preparing me for the nighttime waking up that is to come…I’m usually such a great sleeper and one of my big fears about new motherhood has been the lack of sleep.  I don’t really function very well when I don’t sleep…it makes me cranky and spacey.  Maybe my body is anticipating that and is getting adjusted.

I am loving:  The little stockpile of meals I’ve been working on for after the baby is here.  I made a list of meals and snacks I wanted to have on hand for some quick dinners and breakfasts, and I’ve been working my way through getting them all prepped and into the freezer this week.  It makes me happy knowing they are there for us, and that Scott or I will just need to heat up the oven and pop one in for a  quick dinner.  I made a full batch of blueberry muffins and another one of pumpkin muffins, as well, and  I’m trying really hard to forget they are there for now.  Those pumpkin muffins are calling my name!

I miss:  Being able to do everything I want to when I want to.  Taking it easy is harder than I thought it would be.  It makes me feel guilty to be sitting on the couch reading or watching tv when Scott gets home from work, even though I know it’s the best thing for me right now, and really, it’s all that I’ve got the energy for by that time of day.

Movement:  Good…I’ve been trying to catch a good video of one of the times when he is moving around a lot, but the little stinker seems to know exactly when I start recording and stops moving.  Then I stop recording and he starts up again.  And so on.  Over and over.  We’re at an impasse.

Nursery progress:  Not much change since last week.

Exercise:  Does changing positions in bed at night count?  It should.

Looking forward to:  Either when the baby changes position or comes out so the sciatica goes away.  Only to be replaced by other aches and pains, I’m sure. 

Belly Shot: we totally missed the week 35 picture.  So we’ll just have to do without that one, but we took a week 36 yesterday, so as soon as Scott dumps his card, I’ll post it!