Hadley's 2 week check up

Hadley had her two week check up on Monday and we were excited because she was going to be checked to see if she gained her birth weight back. It's always tough when you breast feed to know exactly how much baby is getting. I was fairly confident she was getting enough to gain her weight back because she was having the "right amount" of diapers. I didn't think she would sky rocket past her number but I thought we'd hit it. She was born at 6 pounds 15 ounces and left the hospital at 6 pounds 8 ounces (which is in the ok range).

Unfortunately, she did not make her goal weight! I was soooo disappointed. I felt very defeated because that's pretty much a main job of mine is to feed her and it didn't go as expected. It actually wasn't that bad, but at first my sister and I were confused. They weigh her in kilograms (which wasn't the issue) but it's still weird. Then they wrote it down in pounds. They wrote down 6.83 pounds. I interpreted that as 6 pounds 8 ounces (which is NOT correct). I did that because below it, it had her birth weight listed as 6 pounds 15 ounces. I just wish they would be more consistent! So the whole time the doctor is talking he's not freaking out. I'm freaking because she was (what I thought) was the same weight as it was 2 weeks prior. He was all like "it probably was the difference between a poop". I was thinking to myself A 7 OUNCE POOP?!?! haha

Needless to say the doctor wasn't that concerned because it turns out she was just about 1.7ish OUNCES off where she needed to be. I still think she should have gained her weight back but I will have to keep at it and keep waking her up at night (which is very unfortunate). She is very tall at the 50 percent mark. I'm not sure where she gets that from but we'll see what happens! She is a VERY good sleeper. We had to wake her for every feeding up until today. She seems to have grown very fussy and is hard to put down for sleepy time. She usually is easy to console though so that's a plus. We'll see how this develops, hopefully this has been a fluke and she'll continue being a calm baby.

I am going next Monday (a week from this 2 week appointment) to check her weight. The doctor didn't really tell me to do anything different but he did tell me to feed shorter amounts. I was going a whole hour for feeding (well she falls asleep for a lot of it) but he said she's putting out a lot of energy that cancels out some of the feeding. I'm also pumping a little bit to top her off with some more breast milk from time to time. Hopefully this does the trick but we'll see. She's just a tiny, cute little love bug :)

Thanksgiving

We gave Hadley her first bath when her belly button thing fell off. It fell off when she was 13 days old. She really did not mind the bath at all and was very calm about it. This was in her really sleepy stages so we'll see how she does again.

all wrapped up and sleepy

We dressed up the kiddos the other day and went to Santa's Ranch. It was a light display with over 1 million lights ands over 100 displays and animations. Max really enjoyed himself, Hadley slept :)

Max and Jen

Hadley's birth story part 2

So off to the labor and delivery room we went. They waited to see how I was progressing and it wasn't very much on my own. I was given pitocin to speed things up and boy did that do the trick (for a while). They had to turn it down several times because my contractions were getting crazy. I was NOT feeling good to say the least. I asked for the epidural at 2:20 am. I felt like I lasted a while with out it but guess not. I don't even care because it was the best thing since sliced bread. Honestly, good for you if you decide not to get one, but seriously, I don't know how they do it. I don't know why you would either if you could feel as good as I did with the epidural. I guess to each his own.

Long story short, James rested while I just sat there freaking out that I was going to have a baby soon. Baby was having spouts of inactivity so they kept turning me on different sides and giving me sugar water. I then stopped progressing and there was a BRIEF talk about a c-section. I was at a military training hospital so I saw several different "doctors", luckily the nurses were highly knowledgable. It was a little uneasy that they always checked what the doctors said....

My epidural on the right side was not working after a while. I could feel everything and it did not feel good. My left side was completely numb and almost to the point where I did not like that feeling. I decided I'd rather have that feeling that the feeling I was having on the right side. I was almost ready to push so they didn't want to give me too much more epidural so that I could feel something. Hadley was head down but she was face up. They tried everything to get her to roll around but they said that's why I was feeling a ton of back labor (which was VERY painful). She did end up rotating herself thanks to all the change in positions I was doing. I was also on oxygen a lot of the time because it helped Hadley move around in there. It also made me feel better and not like I was going to pass out from pain :).

haha you gotta love this photo, James said "just one like this". This was at the peak of miserableness

I ended up having the anesthesiologist come back in and she gave me two new squirts as I laid on my right side. That did the trick. I mean it's like night and day. I was back to being my pleasant self, it got hairy in there for a while :). I want to give a shout out to James. He was the perfect husband. He would get me anything I needed and would always run out to the nurses if something was urgent (or if he felt like I was in too much pain). The nurse kept saying ok, the hard part is still to come (meaning the pushing). I already thought I was doing a hard part so I did not want to hear that. She kept saying "first time moms can push close to 3 hours". I think she was just trying to prepare me but still it wasn't fun to hear.

Lots of doctors came in to confirm that it was indeed time to push and it was around 12:45. The nurse was very encouraging and said I was doing great. I pushed for less than an hour and out came my pretty princess. With the substantial epidural I had, the pushing was a breeze. I couldn't feel anything (including if I was doing a good job). It all worked out though. I am so glad I didn't end up with a c-section because I was up and about less than an hour after giving birth.

We left the hospital two days later (well a couple hours short). A couple of my co-workers from Abilene came to visit us in the hospital! They were in town for a marathon and we were supposed to meet up for dinner the night I gave birth. My sister, mom, max, and david sent me chocolate covered strawberries and a balloon while I was in the hospital as well. We were glad to get home and have settled in nicely.

Stacia and Kerry with baby girl Hadley

I write this to you and she's just over 2 weeks old. I honestly don't know where the time has went (I always hear moms say that but seriously). We had our check up today and I'll post about that next time. A couple other things. We are wrapping up our time here in San Antonio and getting ready to move to Mississippi. We have pretty much finalized the house we are buying. I was waiting to post pictures once I knew it was a done deal and I'd say we're there. We've had the inspection and appraisal. Everything's turned out pretty well so far and I will post on it coming up. Hadley had her newborn photo session this past week. I can't wait for everyone to see them. She did absolutely perfect. She loves her beauty sleep.

We did little photo shoot on Thanksgiving when baby was 11 days old. Have a good day my blog readers!

Hadley Emilia has arrived! (birth story part 1)

Hey everyone! Happy Thanksgiving, we are very thankful our baby girl decided to come out in time for thanksgiving. We are very thankful for her and she was well worth the long wait.

I am going to be pretty intermittent with the blogging. Our little girl arrived a tad early and surprised her mommy and daddy! I just felt like she wasn't coming out ever so I was quite surprised when my water ACTUALLY broke! My twin sister's water broke the day before she was 39 weeks, but we had such different pregnancies that I didn't think mine would. So I'll tell you a little bit of the birth story.

Saturday, November 10th, started out like any other day. We were going to James' training squadron's party that evening around 5. It was the first/last time they were going to get together as guys are finishing up their training here. I baked nice and delicious pumpkin bars that afternoon and just lounged around until it was time to go. They had a great spread of food from smoked brisket, pork, and any other side item/dessert you could ever want. I ate several rounds of food :). My back was hurting REALLY bad, but I just thought it was because I was standing most of the time. I normally lay down a bit because sitting hurts and standing isn't comfortable. I kept sitting down and I was like ok, I just can't take it anymore I'm going to ask James if we can go. We stayed a good couple hours until about 8:30 (I think). He agreed we could go and we said goodbye to everyone. We got in the car and I was telling him all about how my back just didn't feel right.

We got home and went about our nightly business. I fed the dog, got in my jammies, and I was about to brush my teeth. I bent over to pick up something and I heard a POP! Followed by GUSHING warm liquid. I looked at James and I said "OMG James my water just broke" (looking at him with deer in headlights look). He said "ok, well this is what we've been waiting for, it's ok, it's ok". He must have sensed my look of panic. I just couldn't believe it was happening! After 9 + months of waiting, Hadley was finally making her way out! We called labor and delivery and they told me to come on in even though I wasn't having contractions just yet.

My sister did warn me about what it was like to have your water break.... but you really can't prepare for it. We finished up getting things ready (having maddie (our dog) go to our neighbor's, light tidying, etc.) I couldn't really move because of the amount of GUSHING that was happening. I mean it was just plain GROSS. I sat on a towel and it wasn't cool. So around 9:30 we were on our way to the hospital. I wasn't feeling any contractions yet so I was in high spirits, just a tad nervous.... ok a lot nervous. We got me inside (had to take a wheel chair in because I didn't want to leak everywhere!).

We went up to labor and delivery and they checked me into the triage department. This is where you go to be monitored to be sure you are in labor. They wanted to be sure my water broke before they moved me into a labor room. The nurse came over with some swabs and said I have to do this to make sure it's really your water that broke. If it is, it would turn blue. I told her if it wasn't my water breaking then we have some serious issues. Before she even really got close to the area, the swab already turned blue (like we couldn't have guessed that). She said that we weren't going to waste time in the triage room and she admitted me into my labor and delivery room.

We were on our way to having our baby! Who knew we'd be there still 16 and a half hours later......

I will leave you with a photo of my 38 and 5 day belly shot. I took it the day my water broke before the party. My LAST pregnancy photo! happy and sad at the same time. I miss Hadley's kicks and movements in my tummy, BUT nothing beats holding my sweet girl. She is absolutely precious and perfect. More to come later on part 2 of the birth story.

total weight gain 33 pounds

My sweet baby

Sweet Hadley

Hi there, Jen here! I've hijacked michelle's blog to bring you an important announcement. I'm sure you've all heard by either reading my blog (of course you do, right?) or seen on facebook that baby girl Hadley has arrived! 

  She was born on 11/11/12 at 1:46pm (central) and weighed 6lb 15oz and was 20 1/4" tall. That is a great announcement, but the real announcement is how darn cute Hadley is.

 Mom, Hadley and James are all at home now trying to get used to things as a family of 5 (including Maddie and Bella of course).

I can not wait to get my hands on her and help them out as sleep is hard to come by these first few weeks. Hang in there guys, we'll be there soon! 

 Here is Maddie meeting Hadley for the first time! She is doing very well with baby girl. 

Precious baby.

Happy early Thanksgiving! Here is our lil' turkey, but don't worry we won't eat her for real. I will gobble her up though :) 

Happy Friday and Weekend

Let's all think positive thoughts that maybe I'll go into labor this weekend? I'll be 39 weeks Monday! James said "if you could go into labor this weekend, that would really work with my work schedule", sure thing buddy! I don't have any indication she's coming out though? We have a squadron party Saturday night and a couple of past co-workers from Abilene are going to be down at the riverwalk so we will be meeting them for dinner Sunday! So I'd prefer to do all that and then go into labor Monday :) I can't wait to see them, they are being over achievers and running in a marathon. I hope to snap pics to share with you, so we'll see.

We've been busy getting new tires on my car (to make it more quiet) and tinting my windows (so it's cooler in there). I've also been keeping busy crafting. If you know me, that's not really my forte, but man I've been ROCKING them. I'm very proud of myself. Unfortunately, I won't be able to share them with you until after christmas.

I'll leave you with a photo of my cute nephew Max, he just can't get any cuter :)

hospital goodie bags

Hey there,

So we're halfway into the 38 weeks mark and it SEEMS like Hadley would like to stay put. I just don't get the feeling she's coming soon, but you never know. I have another doctor's appointment in a week so we'll check on her then if she's still in there.

I've been feeling pretty ambitious lately. I started and almost finished my christmas crafting gifts. I also completed the nurses goodie bags for when we're in the hospital. I had heard this is a nice gesture and believe me I would not like to have that job :) Here's what we came up with. I originally wanted to do thanksgiving themed bags but I couldn't find them. That is until after I bought something else and finished them :) I found a great selection of Thanksgiving bags at hobby lobby..... bummer. I guess it's good because now if she comes late it won't be weird. PS I love hobby lobby. Everything's always 50% off which was the case for frames and christmas things this last weekend.

We hit Walmart up the day after Halloween to stock up on the candy for the goodie bags. Excellent idea since they were half off.

tags I made from word document and my pretty kitty Bella

I'm just ready for the days to go by so Hadley can be here! Don't forget to put your predictions in under the comments section to when you think she'll be here and how much she will weigh! Also, vote in the polls on the right side.

38 weeks pregnancy survey

38 Week Pregnancy Survey

* I put a poll up on the right side bar to start guessing Hadley's birth weight and when she'll be born. If you'd like to be more specific with your guesses, leave a comment on here, too! 

How Far Along: 38 weeks *edited* I measured from my belly button around my belly and it came out to be 40 inches! YIKES :)

we have another doctor's appointment today, we get them weekly now (not that they do anything crazy) my belly's still measuring on track and her heart rate is steady in the 130's. 

Size of baby: Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Total Weight Gain: about 30 lbs now

Sleep: Well if i cut out napping sleeping at night seems to be going better. I sleep with one pillow in between my legs on my left side and it's working ok. 

Symptoms: Well since last post, my groin muscle has stopped hurting but my upper back is still aching. I also have pain up in my chest like right in between my ribs like I need to push her down (which indicates to me she hasn't "dropped" yet).

Cravings: well been eating candy because we have it, but I'm definitely into Mexican again, back to at least once a week! woohooo 

Gender-Hadley Emilia

Movement: Still moving as much as she can, lots of hiccups.

Maternity Clothes: Same

Best Moments this week/milestones: Finished my goody bags for the hospital nurses and getting started on my christmas craft gifts! I'll do a post on my goody bags this week. 

What I'm looking forward to: HADLEY COMING! :) and Christmas and Moving...... it's just like a waiting game now! 

To Do List: well I feel like we've done everything we need to do besides have this baby! We aren't doing a nursery here, so we haven't had that much to do. We have most everything we'll need immediately. Meeting with a petsitter in case we need one while we're at the hospital. 

This is from week 36 (at the end) just got a hair cut! and it temporarily got cold which is why the difference in outfits

Week 37.5 photo before we went on a dinner date