Hello everyone!
So, it is obvious I am VERY late with this post. I have yet to write anything about my birth experience and the first few weeks of being home with my kid. I apologize! Time is seriously flying by and I can't believe I can say out loud that I have a one month old kid! (Technically one month and two days....but who's counting?!)
First let me go ahead and give a short synopsis of the day he was born, March 16th, 2013.
My water broke at 3:10 p.m. (in my kitchen!) and we loaded up and headed to the hospital. My mom followed behind Brandon and I. By the time we got checked in and made it through triage, I was dilated to 6 cm. I labored until about 8:10 p.m., when I was fully dilated and began pushing until he finally arrived at 8:35 p.m. This happened fairly quickly since it was my first baby and for that I am thankful especially because I chose to deliver him naturally. There were several times within that time frame that I REALLY wanted to just spurt out "give me an epidural!" but I never did, and somehow managed to make it through the contractions without any drugs. Unfortunately, the situation got a bit more serious when it was time for me to push. To spare you of the gory details, basically he was just too big for me. It's not too surprising when you consider the height of his dad, but either way, it was a struggle to get him out, but luckily he finally came without any major complications or trauma. After about 20 minutes I was able to hold and nurse him. It was the most intense mixture of emotions I have ever felt. Minus the scariness of his actual delivery, I am so glad I did it naturally and was able to experience that rush. The whole thing was one of the craziest experiences of my life. I can't really put into words how it felt, but I'm glad it turned out the way it did!
*For anyone who is interested, I would be happy to share a more detailed description of my my experience, just shoot me an email!
Moving on!
Here are a few tidbits about our current life :)
*Eating: I am exclusively breastfeeding right now. Tate eats anywhere from every 2-4 hours.
He eats more often and for longer periods during the day which sometimes makes for
more restful nights for both of us. I started pumping once a day last Tuesday so that
Brandon can help me feed him and to build up a supply for when I go back to work.
*Sleep: Since he is eating every 2-4 hours, that's about how much sleep I get at one time, however,
we try to go to bed by 9:30 or 10 p.m., and don't "wake up" until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m.
Thankfully, he is becoming more efficient during the night feedings are we are awake
about 30-45 minutes at a time. It is getting easier and some nights are definitley better then
others.
*Activity: Tate is the most active in the early morning. He may turn out to be a morning person
because as soon as light comes through our windows, his little eyes pop open and he starts
looking around. While lying on his stomach he can lift up his head for a few seconds and
move it from one side to the other. He makes all sorts of noises especially when he has gas.
He smiles on accident and we have noticed a dimple on his right side, which is the same
side Brandon's is on. It's pretty dang cute :)
*Stats: Weight 9.59 lbs (38.13 percentile)
Height 22 inches (76.9 percentile)
Head circumference 14.5 inches (51.6 percentile)
The doctor said he is developing normally though it looks like he is going to be tall and skinny................well hmmm, wonder how that happened?!
So, all in all, life is pretty awesome! It is definitely a different life then I could have ever imagined, but I am really enjoying it. Being a mom has been an amazing experience so far! Luckily I still have 8 weeks until I have to go back to work so I can enjoy as much time as possible with this child. I just love him so much! He is about the cutest, sweetest thing I have ever seen and now I can't imagine my life without him!
So that's it for now my friends! I promise to be more diligent about posting in the future :) As always, thanks for reading!
-NIKI
