G'n'R Out West

Well, we didn’t even make it to two weeks and already she has a cold.  She seems to be doing as well as can be expected.  Last night was a bit rough on all three of us.  Today she has been much better because she’s been sleeping on me and I’ve been holding her upright so she’s been able to sleep most of the day.  She hasn’t really been eating much, but one of the advantages of an 81/2 lb baby is you don’t need to stress out so much if eating isn’t going well for a day.

We still had a good day.  Afterall, I love a good cuddle and the theme of today has been cuddling.  Plus my friend Reema is in town and stopped by for a few hours to keep us company. My friend Heather came by for a visit yesterday afternoon as well…so despite the cold Adelle and I have been little social butterflies!

Hopefully after a good day of sleep she’ll start to sound and look a bit better.

Sorry, no pictures today, she just looks too sad to take her picture.

Well as you all know I am not the warmest person out there.  In fact I have not really  worn shorts since I moved to Alberta….well until I was pregnant.  Being pregnant was about the first time in my life I’ve ever been hot in Alberta…it was wonderful.

The last few days have proven to us that Adelle does not take after me in this respect.  We had our first family outing to a BBQ and it was a success – Adelle had a few fussy minutes but Greg is a star at calming her down so it wasn’t too bad.  She was perfectly happy in her car-seat on the way there but she totally lost it on the way home.  We’d never heard her so angry.  When I took her from the car-seat at home she was drenched in sweat.  Poor little girl.

Last night it was hot and after a good hour of trying to get her to settle we realized it was just too hot for our little girl upstairs, so Adelle and I moved downstairs and she settled fairly quickly. 

Today we had a much more successful car ride as I made sure I left the windows down until the car cooled off a bit. 

Here are some more photos of our ever changing girl:

Adelle and I working on her blog

A close up of our little gal

Well, we are now 2 for 2.  I am not saying sleeping is a total success.  But we’ll take as many of these good nights as we can get before we get our first upset.  Last night she slept for 4 hours and then 3 hours.  It was amazing.  She really is just so wonderful.

Tonight we are going over to a family friends with my mom for a BBQ….our first outing as a family – wish us luck!

Everything has been going great with Adelle with the exception of the sleeping situation.  Greg and I had ‘decided’ before Adelle came along that we did not want her to sleep in our bed.  My sister, being a big advocate of co-sleeping, had been asking me to consider it right from the get go – but Greg and I were sure this wasn’t the way we wanted to go.

Well, after 3 fairly sleepless nights we started to have second thoughts.  Basically Adelle is a very content little baby as long as she is being held.  We tried to rock her until she was sound asleep, we tried swaddling her, but she just kept waking up after a few minutes (her record was 45 minutes, but mostly it was 5-10 minutes).  We were getting pretty exhausted. 

Two nights ago I fell asleep with her next to me in bed and she slept for 3 hours before waking for a feed, and then slept another 2 after the feeding.  It was AMAZING! 

Yesterday our midwife was over and I was asking her advice.  I think she put it best by saying ‘You and Greg may not be co-sleepers, but I think Adelle is’.  So yesterday we bought this little co-sleeping cot thingy so that Greg and I would feel safer about having her in bed with us.  With the exception of the feedings she woke for every two hours our little angel slept soundly all night right next to us.  She is such a star.

We still have the idea that we will be slowly working to get her out of our bed over the next few months – but we also have learned our first parenting lesson:  Sometimes you just have to be flexible.  For now we will see if this arrangement is really successful (or if last night was a fluke).  The plan is to take the pressure off of her and ourselves and just get some good nights sleeps under our belts and the re-evaluate the situation.  Either way Greg and I are much more rested today and way better able to deal with what comes our way.

Here are a few more pictures for Adelle’s admirers.

Sleeping under the blanket Grandma Fran made her

A visit from our friends Gen and Lisa

Yesterday our friend Shan and her daughter Paityn came over and we went for our first walk.  I think it did wonders for me to get out of the house. 

Shan showed me how to swaddle Adelle – she loves being all cosy.  If she is crying and we swaddle her by the time she is half in her swaddle she usually stops crying.  Shan also lent us some really big receiving blankets so that swaddling is easy.  Shan – you are a life saver!

Things are still going well.  We are trying to figure out how exactly to do this whole parenting thing.  We are still mostly sleeping in shifts but last night Adelle slept for a good 2 hours on her own (not all quite in one stretch…but it gives us some hope).

Feeding is going really well.  She is eating only for about 10 minutes at a time, but that seems to keep her happy for up to 2 hours so I guess that is good.  Seems like she isn’t eating for long enough….but there is no waking her up after she’s had her 10 minute feed.  The midwife has been here to visit every day so far and is really happy with Adelle progress.  By the way, it turns out a newborn’s progress is monitored primarily by the number of poos and pees she has in a day…above average…nice one Adelle!)

Today I had my first outing – it was a bit sad, as it was dropping my sister and Noam off at the airport.  They’ve been here 3 weeks and my sister has been so much help, plus she is just such a great sister so it was a really hard goodbye.  Our hearts and our diets will miss her greatly.  I was out of the house about 1 1/2 hours and I missed Adelle so much.  I found her and her father trying to catch a snooze on the couch when I returned. 

Our friend Shan and her one year old are on the way over this afternoon to keep me company and provide me with some new mom moral support as Greg has to go into work and my mom is off on a hike with some friends for the day.  I think we will attempt to venture out for a walk….funny how small stuff is now a big adventure!

I’ve included some new pictures below.

Jane and Bob – Adelle’s first official visitors – she was just  2 days old

First bath aftermath – we wanted to take some action shots – but the feedback from Adelle was that she was not impressed with us so we got her out as quickly as possible.  I think we’ll do a few things differently next time, and hopefully she will actually enjoy it.

Some proof our daughter had plenty of room before she was born.  She almost always has her legs stretched out – seems most newborns stay all curled up – but not our little girl.

As everybody has already heard our beautiful baby girl arrived arrived at 4:54 am on Sunday August 20th (1 day before my sister’s birthday).  We named her Adelle Verena (Adelle because we like the name, and Verena after Greg’s Nana).  She weighed in at 8.5 lbs, 21″ long with a head circumference of 14″. 

And yes Jen…now all the he’s must be switched to she’s – I was so sure we were having a boy.  In fact, we were so certain that we are having a difficult time getting out of the habit of calling her a him!  Sorry Adelle!

I wanted to post her story from the start so I don’t forget and in case anybody is curious.

Saturday afternoon a family friend who we were visiting offered me Castor oil she had left over from her last baby.  Castor oil is commonly used for induction in the midwife community.  We had discussed using it at our last midwife appointment, but we’d decided to give it one more week before trying it out.  Well, I guess after our little girl realized what measures I was willing to take to get things going and decided to make a move herself.  How cooperative of her.

At around dinner time that night I started to have somewhat frequent contractions which were nothing more than a little uncomfortable.  By 9:30 they were six minutes apart but still only uncomfortable, not painful at all.  We decided to give our midwife, Kimberly, a call and let her know it looked like things were starting.  She asked a few questions and then asked that we call back when the contractions were less than 5 minutes apart or very painful.  She figured that would be hours away, and was glad for it as this would be their third birth that day.  At 10:30 we called the midwife back and told her they were four minutes apart and I was definitely in pain. 

Kimberly showed up at 11:30, I was in the zone.  Along with my support network (Greg, Amy and my nephew Noam) we were working through each contraction.  Even Noam was right in the action groaning along with the rest of us.  It was REALLY funny.  Such a supportive little dude!  I think my sister had hoped her little 10 month old would be sleeping at 11:30 – but he knew something was happening and clearly was not missing out.

When Kimberly checked me out I was already 5cm and cleared for moving over to the hospital.  Things got much more intense at the hospital.  When we arrived, Kimberly asked that we take the stairs up to the 5th floor labour and delivery area as the baby needed to turn still and she felt this would help.  It was a long five flights but we made it up in about 3 contractions and I was still in the zone.  Although….a few people did give us some funny looks as I laboured through the hospital and up the stairs.  Sorry, if I woke anybody, but I was following strict orders!

By the time we got upstairs I was exhausted and the contractions were giving me about a one minute break.  And this was the craziest part of the whole operation.  In between contractions I was sleeping.  How does your body do such a thing?  I’d go from 100 to 0 and then back to 100 in a split second.  My sister told me that during my little micro-breaks my eyes were actually rolling back into my head – so I was definitely out.  It is amazing to see what your body is capable of.

After a few hours of labouring I finally decided I’d had enough.  With the contractions right on top of each other I was getting no break and having a really difficult time dealing with the pain.  I demanded drugs!  The midwife checked me out and I was 9 cm….too late for drugs.  Of course finding out that you are 9 cm dilated after only a few hours of labour is a pretty excellent feeling and I was filled with energy to keep it up.

After what seemed like another long while I still had not made it to 10 cm.  Kimberly asked if I wanted to have my waters broke to see if this would finish the job.  I was fairly eager to be done so I was quite certain that this was an opportunity I was not willing to pass up!  Well just as she was setting up to break the waters, they rupture naturally.  What a relief. 

Shortly thereafter I was pushing.  The second midwife, Marie arrived and she got to work getting things ready for after the baby’s arrival.  The pushing lasted almost 2 hours, which was hard…but at least when you are pushing you feel like you are really getting something done so that part was in some ways the easiest.  Unfortunately, I started having trouble with my bad hip at the end – so instead of focusing on the baby, at times I was focused on my hip, which appeared to be causing me more pain then the birth stuff that was going on.  Anyway, once we were able to see her head, again, new burst of energy.  I was so lucky.  After her head popped out I was able to watch the rest of her come out.  It was totally magical.  As soon as her shoulders were out everybody started laughing because she was trying to breath and cry and squirm the rest of herself out.  I actually felt her give me two big kicks just as she was finishing up.  So cool. 

Immediately she was put on my chest and we spent about the next two hours just enjoying each other and feeding.  She was totally into feeding right away which was a pretty big relief.  It was totally amazing to have that uninterrupted time with her after birth.  She was so alert and it was just so special that all three of us were able to get to know each other.  Of course, the downside is that she didn’t have a diaper on her for 2 hours, so her first bowl movement was on me…her second was on her proud daddy’s hand….

Finally she got checked out by Marie and then Greg got to cuddle her while I showered.  After my shower we were both given the official thumbs up and checked out of the hospital. 

My labour was 6.5 hours and we were in the hospital for 8 hours in total.  I don’t think I could have asked for a better story than that.  We are so blessed.

Day 1 at home went well.  We all took a nap when we got home (well….after Greg sent out the official email of course).  Then we got up for a dinner of pancakes courtesy of our in house cooks – Grandma Sue and Auntie Amy (hmmm…so much for eating perfectly when breastfeeding!).  After that we made some more phone calls and then Kimberly came over for an hour to see how things were going and to give me some breastfeeding tips (which were greatly appreciated!).

Last night was a bit rough for Greg.  I slept great and he took care of our daughter who will soon be given the nickname barfy if things don’t get better.  Apparently, because of her eagerness to get breathing Kimberly thinks she aspirated a fair bit of mucous, so it will take a little while to clear up.  Feeding is going really well.  She is eager to eat when she is awake and has eaten more frequently then was expected in her first 24 hours.  What a great little kid.

Armed with 5 hours of sleep myself I am ready to face the day.  Greg is having a little lie in this morning, since the only breaks he got last night were her 2 one hour feeds.  Thanks for that Greg!

Here are a few pictures of our first day together to feast your eyes on:

Our first family photo

 

With her proud dad (get a load of all that hair!)

Happy and oh, so tired

With Grandma Sue (who waited patiently for HOURS in the waiting room babysitting Noam, so my sister could be with us)

Cousin Noam and Adelle getting acquainted - with Auntie Amy

Greg and Adelle – all tuckered out

Just a quick note to let everybody know the ultrasound went well.  As with the last ultrasound the baby wasn’t in the mood to perform so after a few failed attempts by the technician to get the baby to respond she had me move to my side and then quickly move onto my back with authority to give the baby a little jolt.  Poor little dude, he just likes a good nap like his dad and here I am always bugging him for these ultrasounds.  Anyway, he got a perfect score so I am guessing there is no immediate need to induce in my future.  Which is a good thing.

The weight was estimated to be 8 1/2 lbs +/- 1 lb.  I am hoping it is the minus and not the plus…especially if this baby continues to remain on the inside for a while, since they put on a lot of weight right at the end.  On the plus side the bigger the baby the more leeway we’ll have while we get the whole breastfeeding thing figured out!  If he is 9 lbs then he’ll have a pound or two to spare while we figure things out!

Yes, that is right.  No baby!  The funny thing is that 4 years ago my sister went into labour the day before my birthday and had Wynne 1 day after my birthday…my sister’s birthday is on Monday.  I really hope my labour won’t be as long as hers but it would be nice to return the beautiful birthday present!

We had a midwife appointment yesterday and the baby is doing well.  We have an ultrasound appointment booked for this afternoon.  It is recommended to have an ultrasound if you go over your due date just to ensure the baby is still comfortable.  I am pretty sure the baby is doing well as he is still moving lots – but it will be nice to have some more assurance. 

Speaking of the baby’s movements a few days ago Greg and I were lying in bed and noticed some part of the baby sticking out of the upper part of my belly.  Usually this is just his little foot getting a stretch or something.  But we both felt the lump and decided it was no foot.  That little bugger was mooning us!  OK, I might be giving the random movement a little more credit than it was worth.  But if you were waiting for your baby to come out and suddenly you notice him sticking his butt out at you – you’d have to admit it seems like a pretty cheeky maneuver.  It was pretty funny!  So at least we (or maybe the baby) has a sense of humour about all this waiting.

Today is a sad day becuase Wynne and Hugh are heading home.  They’ve been here a two weeks and just can’t put thier lives on hold any longer.  It is sad, but we totally understand.  The house will seem a bit quiet and lonely without a four year old running around.  Luckily, my sister and Noam can still stay a bit longer. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank my sister for everything she has done to help us prepare for the baby.  And especially for all the food she prepared.  When she arrived our freezer contained 3 pies (all since consumed, but yesterday I replaced them), a McCain’s pizza (still there since she feeds us so well everyday), and some freezer packs.  Well, have a look at that freezer now:

She and Hugh have done an amazing job of stocking us up for the weeks following the arrival of our baby.  Most of what is in there is precooked healthy dinners…but Hugh did throw in a container of his famous cookies along with some cookie dough in case we want some hassle free fresh ones!  Yep…it is official, we are spoiled.

Anyway, that is all our news.  We’ll keep you posted. 

Since there are lots of people asking for updates I thought I’d send one out.

There are no babies here and no signs of babies coming.  We are all trying our hardest to make things happen.  I tried to dance the baby out at Afrikadey…no luck.  Today we were at the science centre roaming around…still no baby.  Tomorrow we have a big shopping day planned…hopefully that will get things moving.

We are trying a little more accupressure tonight and hopefully that will take.

I have posted another, hopefully the final, bellyshot up in the belly gallery.