Like little orphan Annie

For the past month I've pretty much written non stop about the baby.
What I have refrained to do is go on and on and on about how much I miss my husband.
He's been gone [to Washington State for military training] since the day after we came home from the hospital. I haven't even been able to speak to him since the day after he left.
But that all ends tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I will pick him up from the airport and we will resume our lives like we've been on pause.
It's always been hard [emotionally] when he's gone, but it's the life we chose.
What I am thankful for is that I have someone that I can miss that much. That I have someone to share my little bundle of joy with. That we can pick up the pieces right where we left off.
Tomorrow will be a very happy day.

1 month

Adelei Jane is one month old today.
I can't believe it.
It has been such a blur whirlwind, I can hardly keep the days straight.

In one month she has:

• gone from eating 2 oz at a time to eating 4 oz at a time.
• started sleeping more at night and less during the day.
• gained a little over a pound.
• had her very first photoshoot.
  
• started getting used to sleeping in her own bed [most of the time].
• began drinking juice [watered down!]
• met lots & lots of people!
  

Professional

A few weeks ago we had Adelei's newborn pictures made.
I got them back yesterday, and was so so happy with the results!
Here are a few of my fav's:

Wordless Wednesday

Frustration

Before I had Adelei, I was very adamant about breast feeding. I knew that this was the best option, and it was what I wanted to do for my child. When the time came however, she wouldn't latch on. Thankfully, our lactation consultant introduced us to the shield, and with that we actually had hope. What I didn't realize at first was that while we were in the hospital, the nursery was feeding the baby formula bottles. These bottles had fast flow nipples, which meant that she could suck down a 2 oz bottles in less than 5 minutes. Which meant that when it came time for her to work for her milk, she threw huge fits.

It took us a while, but she eventually got the idea. It wasn't easy, but it was working. Between breast feeding and pumping, I still wasn't getting quite enough so I was having to supplement with formula. I knew that people did this, and that it was still healthy, but I wanted to be able to provide for my child fully. So I spoke with my lactation consultant and she mentioned an herbal supplement that would help me DOUBLE my milk in just a few days. That made me so hopeful, we went out and bought it immediately. I started taking it 4-6 times a day and I was supposed to see results within a week.

Two weeks went by. I went from having a decent milk supply to having barely a milk supply at all. I was devastated. I didn't understand why this was happening. At first I thought maybe I wasn't eating enough. But even after I started eating more often, I wasn't seeing any changes. Again, I spoke with the lactation consultant. This time I learned that in some women, this herbal supplement can actually cause the opposite to happen. Instead of doubling the supply, it diminishes. This is what happened to me. I felt awful. Like I did this. This was something that I had full control over, and I messed it up. Unfortunately, she said that when it gets that low [basically dried up] there's pretty much nothing I could do to get it back. She did encourage me to keep trying [as long as I wanted], but after two days of trying & getting nothing, I'm just done. It took me a little while to get over it, but I've accepted it now. Some people may read this and think that I'm being so silly, but when you have your heart set on doing something it's really hard to just let it go.

I will say, that if you're ever in this kind of situation, please please please do research before hand. I wish I would have done research before I started taking the supplement and maybe I would have convinced myself that I didn't need it.

Yep

I want to blog about something other than the baby, but I can't think of anything.

Any suggestions?!

Where have I been?

I've been M.I.A. lately, but that's the life of a new mother, right?




I have been busy changing countless dirty diapers, feeding/eating, pumping, washing bottles, giving/taking baths, visiting w. friends & family, and taking pictures all along the way.
I have hardly had time to get on here, but when I finally did....
I had 160 unread blog entries. *sigh*
Needless to say, I have a lot of catching up to do. I will try, but I can't make any promises that I will get to all of them.
But first....
SLEEP!

Milestone

Adelei is a week old today!
It's hard to believe that just a week ago I was in labor with this beautiful baby girl.
Just looking at her fills my heart with so much emotion. I never imagined I could love someone/something as much as I love her.

Adelei's Birth Story

It seems like everyone I know has asked me about what happened. They want details, answers to all their [sometimes too personal] questions.
I'm not going to lie, I didn't LOVE or even like being bombarded with these questions from everyone who entered my room the day after my delivery.
But I dealt with it.
So here we go...

We decided to have an elective induction because of the fact that Aaron was leaving July 4th for LDAC [military training] and would be gone for a month. Adelei's due date was July 3rd.
Our doctor set our induction date for June 30th, so Aaron would get to be there for the birth and spend a little bit of time with her.

Thursday rolls around. We were at the hospital at 5 am. We sat in our freezing cold labor and delivery room for almost 3 hours before the doctor came in the break my water and start the pitocin. I was going to try to do this naturally. And I did try. But when I was 6 cm dilated the contractions were so strong, so close together I couldn't catch my breath. The pain was so awful I began shaking and vomiting. I decided I couldn't handle it anymore.
I got an epidural around 12 pm and life after that was amazing.

Once the pain subsided, I realized how starving I was. But I wasn't allowed to eat OR drink anything until after the delivery. I could have killed for a glass of water.
Finally, around 7 pm I had fully dilated and effaced. It was time to push.
And push I did. For an hour. The pain was so intense, it seemed as though the epidural just couldn't keep up.
After an hour of pushing, and an hour of my debbie downer nurse NOT motivating me, I called it quits. I was in so much pain and so frustrated with the way she was talking to me, that I told her I wanted to speak with the doctor.
He came in to check my progress and told me that it would be another 2 1/2 - 3 hours of pushing to get baby out. Not only was she really big, but her head was face up instead of face down.
I broke down. I knew the alternative, but that seemed like the best option for me. Another couple hours of pushing and STILL not knowing if that would do it really just made my decision for me.
So c-section it was.
I felt like such a failure. After being in labor for 12 hours and not being able to get my baby out on my own, I felt like I was taking the easy way out. But Aaron and Nanny convinced me that I was doing what was best for me and that I wasn't a failure because at least I tried.

After some kind of really really good medicine was pumped through my veins, we headed to the OR. I wasn't scared, just ready. I was awake through the entire thing and it took all I had not to cry when I heard her cry for the first time.
As the doctor was pulling her out, he said several times that she had a big head and that there was no way she was going to fit through my pelvis.
At that point I knew I made the right decision. Within minutes they were stitching me up. I fell asleep and woke up in the Labor and Delivery room.
I felt like I was in recovery for FOREVER before they finally brought me my baby.
Holding her for the first time was the most amazing feeling. As cliche as it is, you never know until it happens to you.
Although this experience wasn't my ideal experience, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Adelei Jane
born June 30th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
8 lbs 7 oz, 20.5 in long

Meet Adelei

We are finally back home after a long few days at the hospital! I can't tell you how good it feels to be here with my baby girl.

More to come...