It has been too long since my last post and I intend to make a post every Monday however, crazziness has ensued the last couple of weeks. We have gone to Austin, Texas twice in the last couple of weeks so that Brandon could interview with University Avenue Church for their Youth Ministry position. It is a really great church and we were really hoping that he would be offered the job there. We found out this last week when we were there that he was offered the job! So, we are moving to Austin- I am so excited, there are so many wonderful things to do down there and it's really just a great city.
So my poor son has been drug all over the place these last few weeks and right at the peek of his colic periods. The first two weeks of his life were amazing. We had my family here helping first and then we had Brandon's family. The help was really nice, especially at first but then it was wonderful to get to be our own little family once everyone had left. Oliver slept almost constantly during his first two weeks, he also didn't cry hardly ever. he would let out an adorable little squeak or whimper when something was wrong and he made tons of little grunts and struggling noises while he was attempting to fill his diaper or toot. The breast feeding went pretty well in the first couple of weeks too. It took a while for the milk to come in and that was frustrating but, we would supplement feed him after each session because he was premature and had to gain weight. Oliver was slightly jaundiced during his first week. He was fine when we brought him home from the hospital but after a couple of days home he looked really yellow to everyone and so being the overly paranoid parent that I am turning into, I brought him to the dr (who lucky for me happens to be open on Saturdays :) His jaundice wasn't enough to be worried about but anything that is abnormal with a new born who is so tiny is completely frightening. Luckily we have a really great doctor who never guilts me about calling or bringing him into the office.
After everyone left the real trouble began. To start with I had some real difficulty with breast feeding ***Warning to anyone reading who does not want to know about boobie issues - skip this paragraph*** So you are supposed to breast feed, it is supposedly very bonding and wonderful for both you and baby, also it is way healthier for baby and cheaper. But, in my opinion it sucks, to be perfectly honest, maybe I will feel different about this later but as of now, it is my least favorite thing ever. Around week 3 I started having the real issues with, before week 3 the most annoying part was the length of time I would feed, I mean he would feed for like an hour or longer and only have 30 - 45 min before the next feeding. But the worst was the nipple blisters, yep it's possible to get blisters on your nipples...seriously. I spoke with and visited the lactation consultant at the hospital and she thankfully helped me to fix my latch which helped them heal and has prevented me from getting them again.
Hmmm....It is now 6 months later and my son is 8 months old, I guess that tells you how my life has been lately :) I believe that Oliver woke up keeping me from finishing the last post...then we moved when he was 8 weeks old (quite the ordeal)! Oliver freaked out because of the changes and refused to take bottles, he still won't even though he is now 8 months old.
I think I will end this post and start a new one since I started this one so long ago. I will tell you, the nursing slowly started getting easier after 3 months, by 4 months it really wasn't a big deal (although breast fed babies tend to not sleep as long at night) and I still haven't slept for more than 3 hours at a time since he was born. Pretty much a zombie mom now... Oh well, it's also been really wonderful and amazing and every time those sticky little hands reach for me or he turns to give me slobbery wet chomp kisses, it all becomes so special and wonderful and you can't even remeber how tired you are.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, July 8, 2010
beginning
So I am sitting in my glider holding my breast pump up with my forearm listening to the 'soothing' sound of the vacuum and watching my 6 week old who has been lulled to sleep by a combination of the vacuum and his bouncer. I wouldn't mind the vacuum so much if it was actually cleaning the floor for a brief period but, it has been running for the past 20 minutes in order to help my very adorable very colicy son sleep. This is the only way I have been able to put him down for the past several weeks. I love that he wants to be held but this does cause problems, like my lack of ability go to the bathroom or clean anything.
So 6 weeks ago I (Sierra) gave birth to a beautiful 6lbs 6oz little boy who my husband (Brandon) and I have named Oliver. The pregnancy was interesting. The beginning was not bad at all, I was a little sick but really not anything like the horror stories I've heard. The worst was probably throwing up at school, I am in the middle of getting my masters (so is Brandon) and thus many, many hours are spent up at school studying, going to class or working, so anyway, I was walking up to school for class one morning and the closer I got to the building the sicker I felt so that I ended up running up the stairs to the building making a beeline for the bathroom. On the way in I ran past a group of visiting parents and high school students who I am pretty sure had the unfortunate pleasure of hearing me empty the non-existent contents of my stomach. It was a wonderful advertisement for the school I am sure.
Well, the second half of the pregnancy became more difficult. I became pre-eclamptic and around 30 weeks was put on bed rest which is so not fun, poor Brandon had an insane amount to do. It was an all-around stressful time. We weren't sure where we would be living when Oliver was born because our lease was up before then, we lived in a really tiny garrage apt which wouldn't have had room for him anyway and we were in the midst of applying to both doctoral programs and jobs trying to decide what our next move would be. We ended up moving to a new apt 1 week before I went into labor and got everything miraculously unpacked during that time. My pre-ecclampsia however got much worse during this period, partly I am sure due to my bad 'bed rest'. (I couldn't handle having stacks of pictures on the floor and a kitchen completely in disarray).
So March 25 at 5:30 in the morning (I am already in the hospital for the pre-ecclampsia) one of my best friend texted me and told me she had just given birth to her son (we were pregnant at the same time and had almost identical pregnancies) 30 minutes later my water broke at 36.5 weeks. The labor sucked for the first 3.5 hours I had to wait for my epidural and got some Demerol which just made me dizzy and did not take away any pain. I finally got the epidural after I was already 7cm (apparently they won't give it to you after 8, I almost missed it!) After that the labor was wonderful! it was another 3 hours and a quick 30 minutes of pushing and he was here. He had some breathing issues since he was born so early and had to be taken to the intermediate nursery so that was difficult but the next day he was able to come be with me in my room and I was able to begin breast feeding him. We left the hospital 2 days later and the journey began.
I started this blog for 2 reasons, I want to remember how things are and everything that is happening and I want to be super honest for anyone reading this who is going through it too or pregnant and wondering or just wondering. There are so many things that I wish I had known like that there is a major difference between a 0-3 month old outfit and a Newborn outfit or that it is worth spending the money on a nice double pump instead of a nice single one even if you are planing on staying home with the baby. There are times you need to pump and a double pump cuts your time in half and time where you aren't holding or nursing your baby is precious!!
It is time for me to go now but next time I will post about the fist 6 weeks.
So 6 weeks ago I (Sierra) gave birth to a beautiful 6lbs 6oz little boy who my husband (Brandon) and I have named Oliver. The pregnancy was interesting. The beginning was not bad at all, I was a little sick but really not anything like the horror stories I've heard. The worst was probably throwing up at school, I am in the middle of getting my masters (so is Brandon) and thus many, many hours are spent up at school studying, going to class or working, so anyway, I was walking up to school for class one morning and the closer I got to the building the sicker I felt so that I ended up running up the stairs to the building making a beeline for the bathroom. On the way in I ran past a group of visiting parents and high school students who I am pretty sure had the unfortunate pleasure of hearing me empty the non-existent contents of my stomach. It was a wonderful advertisement for the school I am sure.
Well, the second half of the pregnancy became more difficult. I became pre-eclamptic and around 30 weeks was put on bed rest which is so not fun, poor Brandon had an insane amount to do. It was an all-around stressful time. We weren't sure where we would be living when Oliver was born because our lease was up before then, we lived in a really tiny garrage apt which wouldn't have had room for him anyway and we were in the midst of applying to both doctoral programs and jobs trying to decide what our next move would be. We ended up moving to a new apt 1 week before I went into labor and got everything miraculously unpacked during that time. My pre-ecclampsia however got much worse during this period, partly I am sure due to my bad 'bed rest'. (I couldn't handle having stacks of pictures on the floor and a kitchen completely in disarray).
So March 25 at 5:30 in the morning (I am already in the hospital for the pre-ecclampsia) one of my best friend texted me and told me she had just given birth to her son (we were pregnant at the same time and had almost identical pregnancies) 30 minutes later my water broke at 36.5 weeks. The labor sucked for the first 3.5 hours I had to wait for my epidural and got some Demerol which just made me dizzy and did not take away any pain. I finally got the epidural after I was already 7cm (apparently they won't give it to you after 8, I almost missed it!) After that the labor was wonderful! it was another 3 hours and a quick 30 minutes of pushing and he was here. He had some breathing issues since he was born so early and had to be taken to the intermediate nursery so that was difficult but the next day he was able to come be with me in my room and I was able to begin breast feeding him. We left the hospital 2 days later and the journey began.
I started this blog for 2 reasons, I want to remember how things are and everything that is happening and I want to be super honest for anyone reading this who is going through it too or pregnant and wondering or just wondering. There are so many things that I wish I had known like that there is a major difference between a 0-3 month old outfit and a Newborn outfit or that it is worth spending the money on a nice double pump instead of a nice single one even if you are planing on staying home with the baby. There are times you need to pump and a double pump cuts your time in half and time where you aren't holding or nursing your baby is precious!!
It is time for me to go now but next time I will post about the fist 6 weeks.
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