Addie's First Month

These first few weeks have been exciting and tiring. :) Your mommy and daddy aren't used to losing sleep. We're definitely learning how to do this parent thing as we go. Hopefully we're doing a good job. We sure do love you a lot already! Here's some of the things that happened in your first month of life.

Growth:

• Day we left the hospital- 5.11, 18 inches
• One week- 5.11
• Two weeks-5.11, 19.5 inches 
• Since there hasn't been a weight gain, Dr. Patz suggested to add supplementary formula to your diet of 1 oz. of formula after feedings. Here's hoping for a weight gain soon!
• Three weeks-5.14
• Dr. Patz was a little concerned still that you weren't gaining much and still not up to birth weight. So now he suggests 100% formula for a week and for me to pump. I'm quite stubborn so after talking to a lactation consultant I decided to nurse you on one side, pump the other, and offer you a bottle of two oz of formula. YAWN. We also tried finger feeding you per the lactation consultant's advice. Pretty interesting.
• Four weeks- 6.1
• YOU MADE BIRTH WEIGHT! Yay. Sadly though Dr. Patz still was a little concerned that you only gained 3 oz. So he gave you a different formula with some rice in it that can help reflux in case you have it. I guess this week I'll listen to him and put you on 100% formula. It makes me sad but if that helps you gain weight I'll do it. Still pumping so you can hopefully have some of my milk later.

Your first weeks:

ACTIVITIES:

• You are a big time wiggle worm. You would roll right off the couch if we weren't careful.
• You could lift your head up and hold it up for a few seconds when you were only a day old! Strong neck ;)
• You love your hands. They are always up by your face. You don't like your hands swaddled or covered in mittens.
• At 4 weeks old, you're noticing a lot more around you like the ceiling fan and faces.
• You smile some when you're awake now. Very cute!
• Bathtime isn't your favorite. You don't like being cold and wet. I don't blame you.
• Being strolled and riding in the car puts you right to sleep!

SLEEPING and EATING:

• The first couple of weeks we let you sleep in a bouncy seat. You liked being snug in it and the vibrating motion. Andrew and I would both sleep on the couches in the living room with you.
• You go right to sleep when we put you in your swing. You love the highest setting and the water sounds!
• You eat about every 3 hours for about 30-45 minutes then stay awake for a little while before falling asleep again for about 1 and 1/2 hrs. You wake up to eat about 2 times throughout the night from about 2-3 and then 5-6.
• Sometimes you are very alert and stay awake for a while! Yesterday (a little over 4 weeks old) you stayed awake from 7:30 til about 2:00! You're a curious girl and don't want to miss anything. :)
• You have some fussy times in the late afternoon and evening. Most of the time you fuss when it's time to go to sleep. You like being swayed back and forth, and ocean sounds soothe you. 
• You smile sometimes while you're sleeping. SO CUTE.

OUTINGS:

• Your first road trip was when you were 2 weeks old to Nashville to see your cousin Jacob on his 3rd birthday. Your cousin Levi is about to be born soon!
• You went to your first family meal when you were 4 weeks old and spent time with all your cousins, aunts, and uncles at Aunt Sandy's house. You met Morgan and Danielle for the first time.
• You've been to Target and a couple restaraunts also.

Adelyn's Arrival

THE WAIT: Monday, three days before the due date (23rd) we went into the doctor hoping that I would be showing progress. We were a little disappointed when Dr. Conrad said I was only 3.5 cm and 60% effaced. Boo. Didn't look like labor would be in the next day or so. Dr. Conrad offered to strip my membranes to maybe jumpstart labor a little quicker so I agreed to it. OUCH. Then we received some semi-scary news. Dr. C did an ultrasound because my stomach had not really grown since the week before. Turns out my amniotic fluid levels were pretty low which could put the baby in distress. They did some fetal monitoring and determined Ms. Adelyn was just fine. Dr. Conrad said he'd let me go only 2 more days but if I didn't go into labor naturally by then he would need to induce. We had to go back the next day for more tests and luckily my fluid levels were back up. Thank goodness! So with that news, Dr. C determined I could wait it out and just go into labor whenever it happened. So waited we did. We walked... a lot... and went to the movies and played cards and packed our bags.

On Friday, with the due date behind us, we did whatever it took to keep our minds off the wait. We went to Chik fil A with Mom and Dad for lunch, I got a pedicure, we watched Batman at the Monaco, and I met Jennifer, Tammy, and Emily at Lime. On Saturday morning, I woke up and noticed I was having contractions...yay! They were short in duration and not very intense yet. They would happen about ever 5-10 minutes. We walked about 3 times, went to Lowe's and Babies R us, walked to the Dollar General for rice krispy treat supplies, and I made some rice krispy treats for the fun night ahead. Making dessert is always a fun distraction. Around 6:00 my contractions started getting more intense, were about 45 seconds long and about 3 minutes apart.

HOSPITAL TIME: Because the contractions were so close together we decided to leave for the hospital. It was hard to know if it was really time or not but we figured it couldn't hurt to go ahead and go in. We checked into Crestwood around 7 pm. By the time we arrived, the contractions were getting pretty strong. The nurse, Dan'l (AMAZING), checked me only to detemine that I was THREE AND A HALF centimeters. Not what I was wanting to hear since my contractions already were pretty intense and close together. So we walked some laps around the hospital floor. UGH, those were not fun laps. Contractions were happening about ever 2 minutes and lasting about a minute and a half. So needless to say, there wasn't much rest occuring! Around 10:00 I was checked again and was at 4 cm. I was 90% effaced but I just wasn't dilating fast at all. Mom, Rochelle (our doula), Breana and especially Andrew really helped me out by holding my hands, rubbing my back, and helping me breathe. Each contraction was more of a hurdle than I realized it would be. Dad couldn't really take it so he stayed in the waiting room most of the time. Our family came back periodically to check on things. The background of people talking was a nice distraction but I don't think I ever looked at them at all. Rochelle kept reminding me to breathe and was trying to get me to walk but all I could stand was sitting on a ball with my head on the bed. We played some music from my phone which was nice to focus on during the contractions and I squeezed the heck out of this comb Rochelle gave me which was supposed to relieve pain by putting pressure on certain pressure points. It helped some but back massages, the ball, and a heating pad were the biggest helps.

 BREAKING POINT: While I was sitting on my beloved ball, Mom said "well it's the 26th" which was the date she had picked out for the due date. I was shocked that it was already midnight. The pain had me in such a different world. I was also really disheartened that I had spent the past 5 hours in such bad pain and there wasn't a real way of knowing how much longer the pain would last. I was getting so exhausted from the contractions being so close together that I started to think about an epidural at this point. I mentioned it to my nurse and everybody in the room was surprised that I brought it up. Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess. ;) So, the nurse suggested that he wanted to check my progress to make sure I wasn't pretty far along which may have made me change my mind about the epidural. He checked me and I was still just 4 centimeters! By this point it was almost 1:00 and the past 6 hours of painful contractions had only dilated me half a centimeter. This is when I got overwhelmed and had a breakdown. I was scared to keep going through the pain not knowing how long it would take and I was scared of the epidural. After my nurse calmly reminded me of the safety of the epidural I decided to go through with it. Amazingly enough, the anesthesioligist was just finishing up with an epidural next door to me. Fate? Possibly. ;)

RELIEF: After a few little pricks to numb my back, the epidural went in and my pain was instantly gone. I had a contraction and didn't even feel it within minutes of the epidural. For the first time in hours, I actually opened my eyes and could relax. The mood in the room eased up a lot too. Andrew's face looked relieved, and my dad actually came back and was all smiles.We all decided to try and sleep. Ah, finally, sweet rest. About every hour or so I was checked and was making progress! I was surpised because I had thought the epidural would slow labor down.













PUSH TIME: By about 6:00 am I was around 9.5 cm and the nurse told me it was almost time to push. We decided to turn on the lights and get geared up for Adelyn's big debut. I was amazed at how quick it was about to happen. I pushed for about 30 minutes and at 7:00 am Adelyn Grace was here. What an amazing feeling to be able to see our little girl. There was meconium in the fluid which was a little scary but they sucked out Adelyn's nose and lungs and she was just fine. When I first saw her, I thought that she was the cutest, most pefect baby I had ever seen. She looked healthy and pretty filled out to me. I was surprised when they told us she was only 6 lbs, 1 oz. She was only 18 inches though so she was short and compact...like her momma. ;) After they cleaned her up which felt like forever to me, I got to hold my sweet little angel and nurse her. What a great moment. to look down at such a beautiful creation God blessed us with!!!