I think I am finally getting the hang of this mommy thing!! Elliot and I are starting to get onto a schedule. He generally wakes up for the day around 7 or 8 and eats every two hours until about 8pm. Around 8pm he starts cluster feeding every 45 minutes to an hour. This allows his belly to get full enough that he will sleep for 4 or 5 hours starting around 11pm or midnight.
Having a schedule makes this all way easier. Sometimes Elliot refuses fi follow the schedule but at least it gives me something to strive for.
Elliot has already gained more than a pound since he was born. His newborn size clothes don't really fit him any more which makes me a little sad. I also love to see my little guy growing so quickly!!!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Sleep, or lack there of
I am finding it increasingly difficult to find time to post now that I have a newborn in the house. Even though he spends a good chunk of his time sleeping some how I feel busy all the time. I feel like the little man is constantly attached to my boob eating (meaning I get lots of TV time in) and when he isn't I am snuggling with him to keep him from crying or I am making a mad dash around the house to straighten up while he sleeps. Every day I keep saying I will get out to run errands but when the little dude is wanting to eat every 2 hours it makes it kind of hard to get out and about for any worthwhile amount of time.
We have been incredibly fortunate that our little man is such a good sleeper. During the day he will only sleep for about 1 hour or so between feedings, then he loves to have snuggle time with mommy and daddy. He also just loves to stare at his mobile above his crib! At night he usually gives me about a 5 hour stretch of straight sleep!!! I never thought I would be a person who gets excited about 5 hours of sleep but trust me with a new born 5 hours is magical.
Every day I am starting to enjoy motherhood a little bit more. For the first few weeks I was really struggling with the baby blues which just made me into a basket case. I was constantly crying about something and I didn't feel like myself. The last 4 or 5 days though I have really started to feel like myself again and I have just fallen in love with being a mother. Nothing makes me happier than holding my baby, other than maybe seeing my husband snuggled up with the baby!
Every one tells you how hard becoming a parent is with the lack of sleep and the constant demands and they are right. I noticed while I was pregnant and even now that very few people tell you about the pure joy of becoming a parent, most people focused on the negative aspects of parenthood.But I have never been more happy in my life than when I am at home with my husband and my son, I am adjusting to the sleep deprivation, and I have realized that I will never have a more important job than being a wife to my husband and a mother to my son.
We have been incredibly fortunate that our little man is such a good sleeper. During the day he will only sleep for about 1 hour or so between feedings, then he loves to have snuggle time with mommy and daddy. He also just loves to stare at his mobile above his crib! At night he usually gives me about a 5 hour stretch of straight sleep!!! I never thought I would be a person who gets excited about 5 hours of sleep but trust me with a new born 5 hours is magical.
Every day I am starting to enjoy motherhood a little bit more. For the first few weeks I was really struggling with the baby blues which just made me into a basket case. I was constantly crying about something and I didn't feel like myself. The last 4 or 5 days though I have really started to feel like myself again and I have just fallen in love with being a mother. Nothing makes me happier than holding my baby, other than maybe seeing my husband snuggled up with the baby!
Every one tells you how hard becoming a parent is with the lack of sleep and the constant demands and they are right. I noticed while I was pregnant and even now that very few people tell you about the pure joy of becoming a parent, most people focused on the negative aspects of parenthood.But I have never been more happy in my life than when I am at home with my husband and my son, I am adjusting to the sleep deprivation, and I have realized that I will never have a more important job than being a wife to my husband and a mother to my son.
Monday, February 13, 2012
where are we now?
My body is finally starting to feel good again after the c-section. It took two weeks but my incision is no longer painful every time I get up or roll over in bed. It is still a bit tender to the touch, but I suspect that will be the case for quite a while. All my swelling from the IV I got while in the hospital has also gone away which means that my clothes fit again and I can wear normal shoes. I weighed myself the other day and I lost 25 lbs already!!! Only about 7 to go to get back to my pre-baby weight (although I hope to keep losing more with the help of breastfeeding).
Just as I was starting to feel like a human again I developed an infection in one of my breasts from breastfeeding called Mastitis and holy cow is it painful. It was causing me to have a fever and chills and to feel nauseous, also a headache and body aches in addition to the swollen and painful breast (sorry tmi). After a few days of feeling that way I finally went to the doctor and am now on antibiotics and starting to feel much better. My headaches have ceased, my fever and chills are gone and I am actually able to eat again with out feelin sick!
Meanwhile, Ted developed a fever and a cold meaning that he couldn't hold the baby for fear that he might be contagious. Poor Ted was not able to help me with the baby at all for 2 days because we just couldn't risk the baby getting what he had since Elliot is only 2 weeks old. Which left almost everything to me, stressful to say the least. I became frustrated more easily because I didn't have Ted as back up with his special daddy tricks to sooth the baby and I just got burned out. But Ted is feeling much better today so I am hoping that he will be able to help me more now. I know it was killing Ted not being able to hold the baby and having to sleep in a different room than us.
My house is a complete disaster because I just don't feel like cleaning, until 2 days ago I couldn't go up and down my stairs more than once a day so that was my excuse. Now that I am feeling better I feel i should focus more on keeping my house clean, but some how i suspect that won't really happen for a while still.
Elliot is doing great he is growing every day, and learning new things all the time. He makes the sweetest faces at me and sometimes cries just so I will hold him, which makes my heart melt and sometimes makes me frustrated. Although the last couple of weeks have been extremely challenging because I haven't felt well I know I will get better and things will get easier and my prize is my wonderful, adorable,healthy, sweet, handsome son who I love more and more every day.
Just as I was starting to feel like a human again I developed an infection in one of my breasts from breastfeeding called Mastitis and holy cow is it painful. It was causing me to have a fever and chills and to feel nauseous, also a headache and body aches in addition to the swollen and painful breast (sorry tmi). After a few days of feeling that way I finally went to the doctor and am now on antibiotics and starting to feel much better. My headaches have ceased, my fever and chills are gone and I am actually able to eat again with out feelin sick!
Meanwhile, Ted developed a fever and a cold meaning that he couldn't hold the baby for fear that he might be contagious. Poor Ted was not able to help me with the baby at all for 2 days because we just couldn't risk the baby getting what he had since Elliot is only 2 weeks old. Which left almost everything to me, stressful to say the least. I became frustrated more easily because I didn't have Ted as back up with his special daddy tricks to sooth the baby and I just got burned out. But Ted is feeling much better today so I am hoping that he will be able to help me more now. I know it was killing Ted not being able to hold the baby and having to sleep in a different room than us.
My house is a complete disaster because I just don't feel like cleaning, until 2 days ago I couldn't go up and down my stairs more than once a day so that was my excuse. Now that I am feeling better I feel i should focus more on keeping my house clean, but some how i suspect that won't really happen for a while still.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Elliot's Birth Story
Elliot Theodore Blake Holleran was born January 29th at 3:34 am. He weighs 7 pounds 9 ounces and is 19 inches long. Ted and I could not be any happier. Elliot and I are both healthy after a long and unsuccessful induction!
I arrived at the hospital 7:30am Friday January 27th to begin my induction, at which point I was already 10 days past my due date . Going in i had high hopes that the induction would be successful, I suspected that it would be long since I had not begun to dilate in time, but successful.
Shortly after arriving my doctor gave me a dose of cytotec to help soften my cervix and begin contractions. The medication did not work very quickly fir me it was boy until the middle of the night on the 27th that I began to have regular and painful contractions. Since I figured the labor would be quite bait longer I really wanted a good nights sleep do I asked the nurse for phentanol so I could sleep.
The phentanol helped a lot and I was able to get about three hours of sleep. But to my disappointment I woke up and my contractions had stopped and I had only dilated to two centimeters in about 24 hours.
After another dose of cytotec my cervix had finally dilated enough that the doctors were able to begin pitocin to really get my labor started. That stuff really works, within afew hours I had dilated another centimeter and was having regular contractions. It was not long before I was begging for the epidural, which I received about 8 pm on the 28th.
The epidural allowed me to sleep for a few hours because I really hoped the induction round still take because getting a c section was my worst fear and I wanted to avoid if at all possible. By 1 am Ted was asleep and my mom had gone to the hotel to sleep, when the nurse checked me and I had failed to make any more progress.
Elliot was no longer tolerating the pitocin and his heart rate began to drop. Around 2am my doctor decided that a c section was the best idea and the safest way for both me and Elliot. Inimmediatly freaked out and just started balling because I was so scared. But I also knew I had to do it because it was the only way I would get to meet my son
Ted called my mom and his mom who both rushed over to the hospital. They prepped me for surgery and both Ted and my mom were able to be in the operating room with me.
The whole surgery was a big blur to me because I was under so much medication. I remember it went quickly and it wasnt long before I was in the recovery room holding my son.
Although my birth was pretty much nothing like I imagined it but both my son and I are healthy and happy! Elliot is more fun everyday and I am loving being a mother. My husband is such a wonderful father it makes me a little teary eyed when I see him holding Elliot! Life could not be better.
I arrived at the hospital 7:30am Friday January 27th to begin my induction, at which point I was already 10 days past my due date . Going in i had high hopes that the induction would be successful, I suspected that it would be long since I had not begun to dilate in time, but successful.
Shortly after arriving my doctor gave me a dose of cytotec to help soften my cervix and begin contractions. The medication did not work very quickly fir me it was boy until the middle of the night on the 27th that I began to have regular and painful contractions. Since I figured the labor would be quite bait longer I really wanted a good nights sleep do I asked the nurse for phentanol so I could sleep.
The phentanol helped a lot and I was able to get about three hours of sleep. But to my disappointment I woke up and my contractions had stopped and I had only dilated to two centimeters in about 24 hours.
After another dose of cytotec my cervix had finally dilated enough that the doctors were able to begin pitocin to really get my labor started. That stuff really works, within afew hours I had dilated another centimeter and was having regular contractions. It was not long before I was begging for the epidural, which I received about 8 pm on the 28th.
The epidural allowed me to sleep for a few hours because I really hoped the induction round still take because getting a c section was my worst fear and I wanted to avoid if at all possible. By 1 am Ted was asleep and my mom had gone to the hotel to sleep, when the nurse checked me and I had failed to make any more progress.
Elliot was no longer tolerating the pitocin and his heart rate began to drop. Around 2am my doctor decided that a c section was the best idea and the safest way for both me and Elliot. Inimmediatly freaked out and just started balling because I was so scared. But I also knew I had to do it because it was the only way I would get to meet my son
Ted called my mom and his mom who both rushed over to the hospital. They prepped me for surgery and both Ted and my mom were able to be in the operating room with me.
The whole surgery was a big blur to me because I was under so much medication. I remember it went quickly and it wasnt long before I was in the recovery room holding my son.
Although my birth was pretty much nothing like I imagined it but both my son and I are healthy and happy! Elliot is more fun everyday and I am loving being a mother. My husband is such a wonderful father it makes me a little teary eyed when I see him holding Elliot! Life could not be better.
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