She's so much older now! This one cracks me up.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Noah Bear is 6 months old!
Noah turned 6 months old on April 24th. He is such a great baby. He is so happy and loving and playful. Noah is all boy too - he loves to bang on his toys and thinks its hilarious when he does something extremely gross like get poop up his back. He loves to be tickled, touch faces and pull hair. He started eating rice cereal a few days before he hit the 6 month mark and LOVES food (hmmm, I wonder where he gets that from). He is an expert sitter and loves to stand next to his toys but we usually have to put a big soft blanket around him for when Violet pushes him over. Noah is doing well with his sleeping - he usually takes 3 naps/day unless my busy social schedule
messes him up and he's down for the night at 6pm just like Violet. Both kids in bed by 6pm you ask? Yup. If you have young kids, its okay to be jealous. On a good night he usually only wakes up once around 2am after sleeping 8hrs to eat and get a clean diaper, but there are a lot of nights where he wakes up at least once more. Oh, and he has the cutest two little teeth on bottom that popped through when he turned 5 months old.
messes him up and he's down for the night at 6pm just like Violet. Both kids in bed by 6pm you ask? Yup. If you have young kids, its okay to be jealous. On a good night he usually only wakes up once around 2am after sleeping 8hrs to eat and get a clean diaper, but there are a lot of nights where he wakes up at least once more. Oh, and he has the cutest two little teeth on bottom that popped through when he turned 5 months old.
He is just an amazing little guy and just gets better and better every day!
Family photo
The setting doesn't look real, does it? Taken this past Sunday morning at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, OR.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Long overdue update
Facebook has sucked me in and I've long overlooked the blog. I'm growing a little bored with facebook now and the blog is a great way for me, and the three or so other people who look at it, to keep up with what's happening with the family and be able to look back at older posts. Plus, I'm back at work now, so I have plenty of time to update the blog and act like I'm actually doing something work related at the same time.
Okay, so here's my very wordy long overdue update:
Dominic and Krissy: Unfortunately, my vacation as well as medical, maternity and bonding leave have finally run out and I had to sadly return to work on April fools day. Dominic had to go from occasionally watching the kids for a max of 2 hours every few weeks to watching them all day long (except for a short break when I come home for lunch) AND he now has to change poopie diapers. I'm exhausted and miss the kids terribly but we'll all adjust in a couple of weeks. Dominic seems to be doing okay, especially now that he has a shiny new laptop and can watch the stock market all day long and not have to keep running into the office wondering if he's going to miss a good opportunity. He's doing a great job using all of our savings and then some to make money by day trading. I know, its risky business but he knows his stuff, keeps a constant eye on it, and today's economy is a great opportunity for anyone with the means and the ability to gain from it. I've spent some time during my break from work learning how to shoot photos in manual, reading up on exposure, composition, etc., and I'm starting to learn and play around with photoshop. I really enjoy taking and editing photos and think it will become a permanent hobby of mine, especially since I created two very beautiful subjects of whom I constantly want to capture their images. I've even done a couple newborn photoshoots for other people with more to come since there are babies being born around me all the time!
Nathanael: He started Lacrosse last month and his first game is this Saturday. He has never played but says he's faster than everyone on the team and a better player than a lot of the guys. Dominic and I are anxious to see him play. Luckily the practices are less than a mile away from home. His practices are M-Th 6-7:30pm. He's already thin as a rail and rock hard with abosolutely no pudge on the boy, I wonder if Lacrosse will beef him up some more. He's grown a lot - he's pretty tall now and his voice gets deeper every month. Being 14 and nearing the end of his 8th grade year, we get to relive all that middle school drama all over again, breakouts and all. He fought us for the longest time to cut his grown out Farrah Fawcett feathered -do, but now he styles it every day into a small mohawk and the girls happen to love it. Haven't taken any pictures of Nathanael this year because he won't let me... teenagers.
Violet: She is just as precious as ever. What a great age. She's pretty much completely potty trained with #1. She wears panties everywhere, goes potty in her little potty and in big potties at home and on the go. She's gone #2 in her little potty twice (I'm sure she'll disown me when she's older for putting this info on the internet) but generally waits until she has a diaper on during nap/quiet time to take her dump, or "elephant dump" as Dominic has taught her to say. At that point, she puts her face real close to the bottom of her bedroom door and politely says over and over "Mommy change the poopie diaper please" - beyond cute. She's been singing along to music lately too (i'm trying to limit the amount of times I write cute but its very difficult not to explain how incredibly cute it is). She has been taking a ballet class and although see often tends to observe more than participate, she loves to go and practice when she's at home. She's an excellent big sister to Noah and loves to be a helper.
Noah: He is just a doll. He got his first two teeth right around 5 months and has been quite happy ever since. We transitioned him to the crib a couple weeks ago and he's doing pretty well, just waking up more often than I'd like, but he's getting better every week. He likes to sleep on his tummy but gets frustrated when he gets stuck. I'm pretty sure he'll be an even better sleeper when he can easily move around. He just adores Dominic and loves to play body slam with Violet and rough house with his daddy. He's been rolling over from his back to his front for a couple weeks now and Dominic said he rolled from his front to his back yesterday (when I was stuck at work, of course). He loves to be tickled and has the most incredible laugh. He's a big boy, 75th percentile for weight and length at his last check up at 4 months. He's starting to be able to sit up on his own right now and can do so as long as he has a soft landing surrounding him. He really adores Violet and its incredible to see them together.
Okay, so here's my very wordy long overdue update:
Dominic and Krissy: Unfortunately, my vacation as well as medical, maternity and bonding leave have finally run out and I had to sadly return to work on April fools day. Dominic had to go from occasionally watching the kids for a max of 2 hours every few weeks to watching them all day long (except for a short break when I come home for lunch) AND he now has to change poopie diapers. I'm exhausted and miss the kids terribly but we'll all adjust in a couple of weeks. Dominic seems to be doing okay, especially now that he has a shiny new laptop and can watch the stock market all day long and not have to keep running into the office wondering if he's going to miss a good opportunity. He's doing a great job using all of our savings and then some to make money by day trading. I know, its risky business but he knows his stuff, keeps a constant eye on it, and today's economy is a great opportunity for anyone with the means and the ability to gain from it. I've spent some time during my break from work learning how to shoot photos in manual, reading up on exposure, composition, etc., and I'm starting to learn and play around with photoshop. I really enjoy taking and editing photos and think it will become a permanent hobby of mine, especially since I created two very beautiful subjects of whom I constantly want to capture their images. I've even done a couple newborn photoshoots for other people with more to come since there are babies being born around me all the time!
Nathanael: He started Lacrosse last month and his first game is this Saturday. He has never played but says he's faster than everyone on the team and a better player than a lot of the guys. Dominic and I are anxious to see him play. Luckily the practices are less than a mile away from home. His practices are M-Th 6-7:30pm. He's already thin as a rail and rock hard with abosolutely no pudge on the boy, I wonder if Lacrosse will beef him up some more. He's grown a lot - he's pretty tall now and his voice gets deeper every month. Being 14 and nearing the end of his 8th grade year, we get to relive all that middle school drama all over again, breakouts and all. He fought us for the longest time to cut his grown out Farrah Fawcett feathered -do, but now he styles it every day into a small mohawk and the girls happen to love it. Haven't taken any pictures of Nathanael this year because he won't let me... teenagers.
Violet: She is just as precious as ever. What a great age. She's pretty much completely potty trained with #1. She wears panties everywhere, goes potty in her little potty and in big potties at home and on the go. She's gone #2 in her little potty twice (I'm sure she'll disown me when she's older for putting this info on the internet) but generally waits until she has a diaper on during nap/quiet time to take her dump, or "elephant dump" as Dominic has taught her to say. At that point, she puts her face real close to the bottom of her bedroom door and politely says over and over "Mommy change the poopie diaper please" - beyond cute. She's been singing along to music lately too (i'm trying to limit the amount of times I write cute but its very difficult not to explain how incredibly cute it is). She has been taking a ballet class and although see often tends to observe more than participate, she loves to go and practice when she's at home. She's an excellent big sister to Noah and loves to be a helper.
Noah: He is just a doll. He got his first two teeth right around 5 months and has been quite happy ever since. We transitioned him to the crib a couple weeks ago and he's doing pretty well, just waking up more often than I'd like, but he's getting better every week. He likes to sleep on his tummy but gets frustrated when he gets stuck. I'm pretty sure he'll be an even better sleeper when he can easily move around. He just adores Dominic and loves to play body slam with Violet and rough house with his daddy. He's been rolling over from his back to his front for a couple weeks now and Dominic said he rolled from his front to his back yesterday (when I was stuck at work, of course). He loves to be tickled and has the most incredible laugh. He's a big boy, 75th percentile for weight and length at his last check up at 4 months. He's starting to be able to sit up on his own right now and can do so as long as he has a soft landing surrounding him. He really adores Violet and its incredible to see them together.
I'll try to do a better job updating this thing so that I have more pictures as well as shorter and more frequent posts. If you actually took the time to read this, I'd just like to say thanks for caring. :) Leave a comment so I know that I'm not the only one who looks at this thing!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Noah is 3 months old!
* I wrote this a week ago on the 24th when Noah turned 3 months and I'm just now getting around to posting it. Ah, the life of a mom with a non-stop toddler and an infant. *
Noah celebrated his first Christmas this month. He didn't get much - just some letter cards for his room and a very nice binky clip that we have already gotten a ton of use out of. He's grown a ton - in the 80th percentile for weight and length and his 3-6 month clothes are starting to get snug already.He is usually a pretty happy baby and I'm really good at reading his cues. He loves bath time in the evening. He goes to bed around 6pm and gets a good 6hr stretch of sleep at night and then sleeps every 4 hours or so after that. He rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time a week ago and has consistently been able to do it again. He is definitely a little boy - he has very stinky farts and gets nasty funk build up in his crevasses if I'm not diligent about cleaning them.He loves to coo and smile and gurgle. He's still very tolerant of Violet. Most of the time she likes to hug him, touch the top of his head or hold his hands, but occasionally I catch her with her finger half way down his throat or trying to smother him with a blanket or her stuffed animal. He even puts up with her pulling his blanket off and ripping his binky out when he's sound asleep in the double stroller on a walk.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Violet is 2 years old!
Our sweet little princess turned 2 years old on January 4th. Above is her birthday photo montage showing how much she's grown over the past year, starting with a picture from last January in the upper left hand corner and a picture taken from each month all the way around clockwise ending in December. Violet has had tremendous physical, social, and educational changes over the past year and just gets more amazing every single day.Physically, Violet has grown over 6" this year. That's a lot when you're not even 3' tall. She went from having 4 teeth to a mouth full of 16 teeth. She went from only being able to walk while using the furniture to cruise around to running, jumping, and climbing all over the place. Her hair has grown from a few inches long to past her shoulders. She's working on her potty training but has only gone a few drops in her potty. She tells us when she needs to go, when she's gone, and usually demands a diaper change as soon as its soiled, but she just isn't comfortable with going on the potty yet. I'm sure once she runs around in big girl underwear she'll prefer the potty. Lastly, Violet just keeps getting cuter and cuter the older she gets.
Socially, Violet has grown into a very well rounded, well adjusted, social butterfly. She loves her playgroup friends and her family and she knows everyone's name. She only gets a little shy if she enters a busy environment like a party but warms up within a few minutes. She loves being the center of attention by showing off her sign language or doing push ups, but she is also very happy sitting back and just absorbing what's going on around her. She's very comfortable being with her friends and family and isn't clingy to Mommy or Daddy. Violet is also very polite. She says "please" and "thank you" as well as "yes ma'am/sir". Violet has adjusted very well to having a little brother in the house. She almost never gets jealous of the attention he gets and is extremely helpful during diaper changes or by bringing mommy a towel when he spits up. Her supply of hugs and kisses is never ending.
Educationally and intellectually, she is simply amazing. She can sing her ABC's all the way through and the only letter she leaves out is X, although she does know the letter X. She can count to 20, although she randomly leaves out certain numbers. She knows her left from her right and also knows the days of the week. Violet knows tons of sign language and loves to practice. If she gets fussy in her high chair or during a long car ride, we just list off different signs for her to show us and she's instantly entertained. Violet also loves to read books and knows most of them so well that I can usually pause at any point and she can continue the next phrase. She uses sentences and has an amazing ability to remember words and phrases.
Sweet little shot of the birthday girl.
Violet loved wearing her party hat. 
Signing "thank you" as she opened her gifts. 
We practiced blowing out her candle before the party with a candle stuck in her play dough. She was so good at it that she had it blown out before it hit the tray. 
Violet thoroughly enjoyed eating her special birthday cupcake.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Gingerbread house
We were supposed to decorate our gingerbread houses at this big event down at Intel but the roads were too nasty so they packaged everything up real nicely and we were able to decorate it at home. Violet did better than we thought and took great pride in picking out specific pieces of candy and placing them very strategically on her side of the gingerbread house. She was able to actually get a ton of candy on there before Nathanael told her to taste the frosting. It was all over at that point.
Violet doesn't want to take her eyes off her masterpiece.
Getting a closer look
My favorite photo
Here they are hard at work.
Violet doesn't want to take her eyes off her masterpiece.
Getting a closer look
My favorite photo
Snow!
Family photo in front of the snow man that Dominic, Nathanael and our neighbor made.
Violet is really good at balancing on Daddy's hand.
I like this picture because there's a snowflake falling right in front of her nose.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Noah's first month
Noah turned one month old 2 days ago but this is the first chance I've had to update the blog and as I'm typing he's laying on my lap and I'm trying to keep him from waking up. Noah has had a fabulous first month. He's had his fussy moments but there's never been a time when I'm not able to sooth him. We didn't take Violet anywhere when she was first born and her first outing (besides the doctor's) was to a restaurant when she was 4 weeks old. In Noah's first month he's been to the park twice, story time at the library twice, Violet's playgroup, Pump it Up, out to eat, the Farmer's Market, and over to Grandma's house several times. He does well riding in the car and only cries if he's hungry. He's a super strong baby and has great head control, a strong grip and soccer legs. He wasn't born with much hair and he's already starting to lose it on top and he has a small bald patch in the back. He loves to be swaddled up and when he's real fussy, bouncing on the exercise ball instantly calms him down just like it did for Violet. He smiles more than any newborn I've ever seen, not only in his sleep but when you play with him and drown him in kisses. I think the sweetest part about Noah is how much he adores Violet. She loves to hold, kiss, touch, poke and smother him and when she's real close, he's always very calm and happy. He ended his first month with an amazing 3 day stretch of sleeping all day, not crying when awake, and one rare 6 hour stretch of sleep at night. Unfortunately he's started off his second month pretty upset. I think its gas, poor little guy.
Noah riding his lamb. Some people have asked how we got him to sit up. Dominic was holding him, took his hands away, a took a bunch of pictures, and Dominic caught him as he fell.
Noah's first walk in the double stroller. He's gone around the neighborhood 3x now and does really well if I time it right with a full belly and a clean diaper and with the sunshades down, he doesn't get poked in the face by Violet.
I just love this picture. We were at OMSI (the science museum) and Violet made this face as soon as the band that was playing changed the song and she got really excited.
Just some sweet pictures taken by the window. He was 4 weeks old.
He totally looks like a boy, if you ask me.
Look at that head control!
Tight grip on mommy's hand.
This is the first time I put pigtails in Violet's hair. Her personality instantly changed from sweet girl to major stinker as soon as she saw her new look. I had to take them out after an hour so she'd turn back into herself.
Here are just a few random pictures from the past couple weeks...
Poor Noah, forced to sit in Violet's pink doll stroller.
Noah riding his lamb. Some people have asked how we got him to sit up. Dominic was holding him, took his hands away, a took a bunch of pictures, and Dominic caught him as he fell.
Noah's first walk in the double stroller. He's gone around the neighborhood 3x now and does really well if I time it right with a full belly and a clean diaper and with the sunshades down, he doesn't get poked in the face by Violet.
I just love this picture. We were at OMSI (the science museum) and Violet made this face as soon as the band that was playing changed the song and she got really excited.
Just some sweet pictures taken by the window. He was 4 weeks old.
He totally looks like a boy, if you ask me.
Look at that head control!
Tight grip on mommy's hand.
This is the first time I put pigtails in Violet's hair. Her personality instantly changed from sweet girl to major stinker as soon as she saw her new look. I had to take them out after an hour so she'd turn back into herself.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Two kids under two, two weeks later...
Things have actually been easier than I thought they would've been. We've had a couple of rough patches. The worst was two days ago - Dominic had surgery the day before to get the screws removed from his ankle and he was having a horrible recovery. We're not sure if it was a reaction to the anesthetic or the pain pill he took afterward, but he was wiped out all day and was vomiting too. On top of that, Violet was behaving the worst she ever had. I couldn't blame her - she's dealing with having to share mommy with another baby and she was stuck in the dark house all day with no social stimulation. I was an emotional wreck too. That was our worst day.
Other than that, things have been great. Violet adores her little brother. She loves to hold him and he's never fussed when she's holding him. She also loves it when he gets his diaper changed because she hands me the diaper and the A&D and she tells him "shhhh" when he cries. When she gets up in the morning, I bring her into bed with me and Noah and she gives him love.
Noah is doing great. He was back at his birth weight by the time he was 6 days old and at his two week appt (at 13 days) he weighed 9 lbs! His head circumference, weight, and length are in the 40th, 50th and 60th percentiles (his head hasn't gotten huge like mine and Violet's - maybe he got Dominic's head). He's starting to have more alert times throughout the day. He gets a little fussy in the evenings but I know how to sooth him pretty quickly. He doesn't like a messy diaper, being hungry or being cold but if I fix any of those three, he's instantly happy. I think he's starting to get a little gassy so I'll have to start giving him a tummy massage. His cord hasn't fallen off yet so the doctor told me I need to start cleaning the base to help it dry out. Yuck.
Here's a couple shots I took yesterday. I need better light - its hard with these November Oregon skies.
Other than that, things have been great. Violet adores her little brother. She loves to hold him and he's never fussed when she's holding him. She also loves it when he gets his diaper changed because she hands me the diaper and the A&D and she tells him "shhhh" when he cries. When she gets up in the morning, I bring her into bed with me and Noah and she gives him love.
Noah is doing great. He was back at his birth weight by the time he was 6 days old and at his two week appt (at 13 days) he weighed 9 lbs! His head circumference, weight, and length are in the 40th, 50th and 60th percentiles (his head hasn't gotten huge like mine and Violet's - maybe he got Dominic's head). He's starting to have more alert times throughout the day. He gets a little fussy in the evenings but I know how to sooth him pretty quickly. He doesn't like a messy diaper, being hungry or being cold but if I fix any of those three, he's instantly happy. I think he's starting to get a little gassy so I'll have to start giving him a tummy massage. His cord hasn't fallen off yet so the doctor told me I need to start cleaning the base to help it dry out. Yuck.
Here's a couple shots I took yesterday. I need better light - its hard with these November Oregon skies.
He's already smiling a lot.
So comfy.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Baby Noah
Noah Grant Allori was born at 12:09pm on Friday, October 24th, 2008, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon, via emergency C-section. He was born 3 days before his original due date. He weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. He is absolutely perfect.
Here are the very long details. If you don't want to read, pictures are at the bottom:
On Thursday, Oct. 23rd, I called my doctor to find out if there were any openings for an inducement for the following day. I wanted to let it happen naturally like I did with Violet but after having three false alarms where I was positive I was in labor for a few hours, the contractions and pain dwindled away. I was starting to stress about the coordination involved with having my mom watch Violet, making sure we didn't forget to bring anything to the hospital, etc. Plus, as much as I love being pregnant, I knew the baby was cooked and I was ready to meet him. My doctor said that they could induce me and I should be at the hospital by 6:30am the next morning.
On Friday, Oct. 24th, my mom came over at 5:45am, Dominic put Violet's car seat in her car, and we left for the hospital. They had a room ready for us when we got there but it took awhile before I even got gowned up so I watched the news and Dominic wouldn't take his eyes off the stock market on my laptop. Quite a relaxed and different experience than when I showed up at the hospital having full on contractions with Violet. They eventually got me gowned up, took my vitals and got the IV started. At 9am, my doctor came in and broke my water (I was already 3+ cm dilated on my own and still 80% effaced) and at the same time they started me on the smallest drip of pitocin that the IV would allow. The next sentence may have too much info so skip to the next paragraph if you aren't a detail loving person. Having my water broken was the weirdest feeling. I already had my epidural in when the doctor broke my water with Violet so I didn't feel anything but since I didn't have the epidural when my water broke, I got to feel it all gush out, and gush out, and gush out. I actually thought it was a really cool feeling. Gross, I know. I started having contractions and they started to get painful.
Although my contractions kept getting stronger and more regular, they varied in intensity and also in their timing. I had a contraction and the baby's heart rate took a pretty big drop so they had me turn on my left side. Turns out the baby didn't tolerate me being on my left side so I flipped over to my right side. He seemed to tolerate the contractions better with me on my right side but the stronger the contraction, the lower his heart rate got. I guess the normal range for fetal heart rate during labor is 120-160 beats per minute and Dominic said he was watching the monitor and it got as low as 60 bpm. It started to drop again and right in the middle of the contraction they had me get on all fours to see if it helped. By this point, I had my nurse, an intern, the head charge nurse, my doctor and the anesthesiologist in the room - all with concerned looks on their faces which wasn't very comforting. The doctor checked my cervix and I wasn't really progressing and she inserted a fetal heart rate monitor that stuck to the top of the baby's head to give a more accurate reading. My doctor thought that since I wasn't progressing fast enough, meaning it may have happened in another 6-8 hours maybe, and because the heart rate dropped with every contraction, a c-section was the best way to go. Plus, the anesthesiologist said I wouldn't have been able to get an epidural because in order for it to work properly you need to be able to lay on both sides to let the drugs flow evenly on both sides and since the baby didn't tolerate me laying on my left side, I would've only been numb on my right side and no way was I going for that. I was very upset - a little disappointed because Violet's birth was so easy and complication free, scared that the baby wasn't okay, and just extremely emotional because of all the hormones. I was also very upset because I thought I had caused this to happen because I didn't let my body go into labor naturally. The doctor said that his heart rate was most likely dropping because the cord was being pinched during each contraction and chances are that when my water broke, regardless of being induced or letting it happen naturally, it made him go into a tighter position and it was good that I was in the hospital for them to monitor his heart rate.
At 11:30am they wheeled me into the operating room and Dominic had to wait outside while they got me prepped. The anesthesiologist decided it was best to numb me up with a spinal tap. I guess he usually does it with the patient laying on their left side since he's right handed but it took him an extra long time and several pokes of the needle in my spine before he got it right because I was on my right side. I had to lay there with my legs pulled up (not so easy with a baby in your belly) and my back rounded for a good 20min while he poked around back there, all while sitting through a good 3 or 4 very strong contractions and listening to my poor baby's heart rate drop during each one. I could sense with every contraction that everyone in the room was getting impatient and wanted that baby out. Once he finally got the spinal tap in, they laid me on my back and the doctors got to work and Dominic was able to come in. I could feel them cut into me but it didn't hurt - it just felt like a plastic knife going across my belly. I think the numbing medicine was still taking effect. I hated smelling my flesh burn as they cauterized each layer. I started to get nauseated but the anesthesiologist was still trying to do too many things and couldn't pump anti-nausea medicine into my IV fast enough and I started to vomit. All I could do was turn my head and Dominic tried to catch it in a bag and the doctor was suctioning it out of my mouth but it was still all over my hair. I don't remember exactly how it felt when they pulled Noah out but I remember all the pressure and mentally comparing what they were doing to what I've seen on TV.
Noah came out with a healthy cry and great color and as soon as I heard that first cry, I let out the same cry that I did the first time I heard Violet. You definitely miss out on that precious moment where your naked baby gets to lay on your naked chest and stare into your eyes during those first few moments of life where they're calm and alert. Instead, poor Noah had that medicine put all over his eyes so by the time Dominic got to hold his head next to mine, he not only couldn't see me but his first scent of mommy was vomit.
I went to recovery for about an hour before they returned me to my room. They hooked me up with a morphine drip and although I was super relaxed for the next 24hrs, I didn't make much sense to other people when I talked, my mouth was beyond dry, my vision was blurry, and my nose and forehead itched like crazy.
More than a full day after the c-section, I walked for the first time. It was only a few feet over to the sink so the nurses could clean me up. Later that evening I had the nurse help me to the bathroom and by night time I was able to walk by myself. I stayed in the hospital 4 nights and enjoyed being waited on.
Nathanael got to meet Noah on Saturday and he wasn't very interested. I think the combination of him being almost 14 and his knowledge of what its like to have a little one in the house didn't really float his boat.
Violet got to meet Noah on Sunday. She got to spend a little time with mommy in the bed watching a DVD and drinking all of my cranberry juice while Daddy watched Noah get circumcised. When they brought Noah in the room she understood that Baby Noah was no longer in Mommy's belly, that he was a real baby now. She was very sweet to him and wanted to touch, kiss and hug him. When Noah needed his diaper changed I had to call in the nurse to show me how to handle the circumcision and when Noah cried, Violet lost it. The sound of other babies crying has never bothered Violet but when Noah cried she said "Baby Noah sad". So while I was trying to watch the diaper change and calm Noah down, Dominic held Violet and tried to calm her down.
Here are the very long details. If you don't want to read, pictures are at the bottom:
On Thursday, Oct. 23rd, I called my doctor to find out if there were any openings for an inducement for the following day. I wanted to let it happen naturally like I did with Violet but after having three false alarms where I was positive I was in labor for a few hours, the contractions and pain dwindled away. I was starting to stress about the coordination involved with having my mom watch Violet, making sure we didn't forget to bring anything to the hospital, etc. Plus, as much as I love being pregnant, I knew the baby was cooked and I was ready to meet him. My doctor said that they could induce me and I should be at the hospital by 6:30am the next morning.
On Friday, Oct. 24th, my mom came over at 5:45am, Dominic put Violet's car seat in her car, and we left for the hospital. They had a room ready for us when we got there but it took awhile before I even got gowned up so I watched the news and Dominic wouldn't take his eyes off the stock market on my laptop. Quite a relaxed and different experience than when I showed up at the hospital having full on contractions with Violet. They eventually got me gowned up, took my vitals and got the IV started. At 9am, my doctor came in and broke my water (I was already 3+ cm dilated on my own and still 80% effaced) and at the same time they started me on the smallest drip of pitocin that the IV would allow. The next sentence may have too much info so skip to the next paragraph if you aren't a detail loving person. Having my water broken was the weirdest feeling. I already had my epidural in when the doctor broke my water with Violet so I didn't feel anything but since I didn't have the epidural when my water broke, I got to feel it all gush out, and gush out, and gush out. I actually thought it was a really cool feeling. Gross, I know. I started having contractions and they started to get painful.
Although my contractions kept getting stronger and more regular, they varied in intensity and also in their timing. I had a contraction and the baby's heart rate took a pretty big drop so they had me turn on my left side. Turns out the baby didn't tolerate me being on my left side so I flipped over to my right side. He seemed to tolerate the contractions better with me on my right side but the stronger the contraction, the lower his heart rate got. I guess the normal range for fetal heart rate during labor is 120-160 beats per minute and Dominic said he was watching the monitor and it got as low as 60 bpm. It started to drop again and right in the middle of the contraction they had me get on all fours to see if it helped. By this point, I had my nurse, an intern, the head charge nurse, my doctor and the anesthesiologist in the room - all with concerned looks on their faces which wasn't very comforting. The doctor checked my cervix and I wasn't really progressing and she inserted a fetal heart rate monitor that stuck to the top of the baby's head to give a more accurate reading. My doctor thought that since I wasn't progressing fast enough, meaning it may have happened in another 6-8 hours maybe, and because the heart rate dropped with every contraction, a c-section was the best way to go. Plus, the anesthesiologist said I wouldn't have been able to get an epidural because in order for it to work properly you need to be able to lay on both sides to let the drugs flow evenly on both sides and since the baby didn't tolerate me laying on my left side, I would've only been numb on my right side and no way was I going for that. I was very upset - a little disappointed because Violet's birth was so easy and complication free, scared that the baby wasn't okay, and just extremely emotional because of all the hormones. I was also very upset because I thought I had caused this to happen because I didn't let my body go into labor naturally. The doctor said that his heart rate was most likely dropping because the cord was being pinched during each contraction and chances are that when my water broke, regardless of being induced or letting it happen naturally, it made him go into a tighter position and it was good that I was in the hospital for them to monitor his heart rate.
At 11:30am they wheeled me into the operating room and Dominic had to wait outside while they got me prepped. The anesthesiologist decided it was best to numb me up with a spinal tap. I guess he usually does it with the patient laying on their left side since he's right handed but it took him an extra long time and several pokes of the needle in my spine before he got it right because I was on my right side. I had to lay there with my legs pulled up (not so easy with a baby in your belly) and my back rounded for a good 20min while he poked around back there, all while sitting through a good 3 or 4 very strong contractions and listening to my poor baby's heart rate drop during each one. I could sense with every contraction that everyone in the room was getting impatient and wanted that baby out. Once he finally got the spinal tap in, they laid me on my back and the doctors got to work and Dominic was able to come in. I could feel them cut into me but it didn't hurt - it just felt like a plastic knife going across my belly. I think the numbing medicine was still taking effect. I hated smelling my flesh burn as they cauterized each layer. I started to get nauseated but the anesthesiologist was still trying to do too many things and couldn't pump anti-nausea medicine into my IV fast enough and I started to vomit. All I could do was turn my head and Dominic tried to catch it in a bag and the doctor was suctioning it out of my mouth but it was still all over my hair. I don't remember exactly how it felt when they pulled Noah out but I remember all the pressure and mentally comparing what they were doing to what I've seen on TV.
Noah came out with a healthy cry and great color and as soon as I heard that first cry, I let out the same cry that I did the first time I heard Violet. You definitely miss out on that precious moment where your naked baby gets to lay on your naked chest and stare into your eyes during those first few moments of life where they're calm and alert. Instead, poor Noah had that medicine put all over his eyes so by the time Dominic got to hold his head next to mine, he not only couldn't see me but his first scent of mommy was vomit.
I went to recovery for about an hour before they returned me to my room. They hooked me up with a morphine drip and although I was super relaxed for the next 24hrs, I didn't make much sense to other people when I talked, my mouth was beyond dry, my vision was blurry, and my nose and forehead itched like crazy.
More than a full day after the c-section, I walked for the first time. It was only a few feet over to the sink so the nurses could clean me up. Later that evening I had the nurse help me to the bathroom and by night time I was able to walk by myself. I stayed in the hospital 4 nights and enjoyed being waited on.
Nathanael got to meet Noah on Saturday and he wasn't very interested. I think the combination of him being almost 14 and his knowledge of what its like to have a little one in the house didn't really float his boat.
Violet got to meet Noah on Sunday. She got to spend a little time with mommy in the bed watching a DVD and drinking all of my cranberry juice while Daddy watched Noah get circumcised. When they brought Noah in the room she understood that Baby Noah was no longer in Mommy's belly, that he was a real baby now. She was very sweet to him and wanted to touch, kiss and hug him. When Noah needed his diaper changed I had to call in the nurse to show me how to handle the circumcision and when Noah cried, Violet lost it. The sound of other babies crying has never bothered Violet but when Noah cried she said "Baby Noah sad". So while I was trying to watch the diaper change and calm Noah down, Dominic held Violet and tried to calm her down.
Noah's first week home has been wonderful and I'm enjoying some of the most precious and memorable moments of my life. I don't know if Noah is a much easier baby than Violet was or if I just know what I'm doing this time around but having two kids under 2 is actually doable. He's very sweet and he's a great nurser and sleeper. Violet is very helpful and hands me things when I'm nursing the baby and loves to help with his diaper changes. She also loves putting the "c-pillow" (the boppy) on her lap and holding the baby.
This picture taken the morning we got to the hospital and both thought we'd have a perfect delivery like we did with Violet.
This was taken right before they wheeled me into the operating room. Its a horrible picture of me but I thought Dominic looked hot in scrubs so I thought I'd post it.
Welcome to the world, Baby Noah!
Taken right after his first bath. He looks just like some of my (Krissy's) baby pictures. I looked like a boy and so does he.
Taken a couple hours after the c-section.
Grandmama meets Noah.
Auntie Lisa meets Noah.
Granny meets Noah.
Violet meets her little brother for the first time.
Family photo with my OB who delivered both Violet and Noah. The dude who took the photo must have not understood that the camera has the ability to focus on the subject. Oh well.
We didn't get too many "posed" hospital shots but of the ones we took, this one was pretty cute.
Noah was in pure heaven when my colostrum started turning into milk. He was drunk! You can see he didn't even bother to wipe off that little drip on the side of his mouth.
Yawn!
Sleeping in my hospital bed.
This is the first time Violet held Baby Noah. He has his hands up almost like he knows she wants to poke his eyes.
Violet LOVES to give baby Noah kisses.
Its surprising how difficult it is to get a newborn and a toddler to pose for a picture and not cover up the special t-shirts they're wearing. I'm sure I'll have to try this one a few times before I get that perfect shot.
Violet loves holding Baby Noah. He hasn't fussed once when she's held him. He naively feels at ease around her. Maybe he won't like her holding him as much if we don't manage to stop her from poking at his eyes one of these days.
Noah's first Halloween. Nathanael's b-day is exactly one week before Christmas and Noah's b-day is exactly one week before Halloween.
Poor quality picture because we used the small camera. Don't look at my belly hanging out either. Nathanael wore my Eeyore suit and Violet LOVED being Piglet. She had a great time walking up to the doors and getting candy (even though she didn't eat any of the candy) and Noah slept the entire time. He was in a warm bear outfit and I carried him in the Moby Wrap. We probably walked about a mile and I over did it. I was in so much pain about half way through that I had to have Nathanael stay with me while Dominic went home and got Violet ready for bed and it took us forever to get home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)