First Month

Jaundice has officially been cleared! We are still having some bloody diapers but they have gone down significantly. The doctor says that it is just coincidence that this began the same time we started the vitamins and that we need to start them back up again. I am nervous about that though since she seems to be going back to normal. What happens if I give her the drops and she starts having really bad diapers again and it takes this long for her to again go back to normal? I just don't know, I am apprehensive about it. Well, we celebrated her first month the other weekend. Since we had been through so much already, we figured a small celebration with her grandparents would be nice. We had fun, some of her grandparents have been so busy they haven't had a chance to really spend time with her. It was nice to set aside the day to spend with family. I made cupcakes with homemade butter cream icing and coffee. It was yummy! Looking at the pictures from when she first arrived to now, she has changed so much. It is amazing how quickly they change in such a short period of time. Thursday we went and had her newborn pictures taken from Donna Cummings. I realize this is not typically the time for newborn pics and that you have them done earlier but with her jaundice and so many doctor visits, it was hard to pin down a date and time to get them done and I didn't want her to be all yellow in her pictures. They are posted online right now for a month. We are trying to figure out which ones we want to buy. We have already picked the 3 for her birth announcements. I am so excited to get them! This week she has started sleeping through the night more! We are able to sleep longer and we feel so much better! She is now sleeping 4 1/2 to 5 hours during the night now instead of 2 1/3 or 3. I haven't weighed her recently but the last time we went to the doctor she was 8 lb 12 oz. I am thinking she has to be over 9 lbs now. She is growing in length now too. Not so much in width but her newborn stuff is getting too small and she is starting to wear her 0-3 months clothes. Also interestingly, she decided last Friday to roll over! Of course I wasn't recording and she rolled from her tummy to her back and started laughing. It was so cute! She hasn't done it since then but she has come close. I was amazed.

Newborn:


One Month:

First Videos

Here is our Greer getting her first bath at our house. Her Gigi had so much fun! It sounds like she didn't like it but I think it was because she was cold. Since her belly button hadn't healed, she couldn't get it submerged in the water. So, my mom had left her rag on her belly but when she needed to wash her hair, Greer started crying. She now loves her baths!



This next video is Greer's tummy time. She is only 2 weeks in this video and she has been pushing up and lifting her head already for the past week. She started really early throwing back her head so we wanted to see what she would on her stomach. This is what we got...

Doctor Visit Updates

So here we are 2 weeks later and her jaundice is still not completely gone. We are going to the doctor now 2 sometimes 3 times a week. Her poor feet are constantly covered in band aids and I know she is just as tired of going to the doctor as we are. They tell us now that it is jaundice from the breast milk. We had to go to formula for a couple of days and it seemed to bring down her levels some. We were then cleared to go off formula and I could straight breast feed again. Her levels are not going up but they are still very slowly going down. A couple of days ago it was at a 15 and we were told to start her on vitamin D drops. We were told that until her levels go down to a 13, we need to continue going in to see the pediatrician. Yesterday turned eventfull when we discovered blood in her diaper mixed with her stools. I immediately called the doctor and we went up there. I asked about the drops and if that could have effected her system. They didn't seem to think so and didn't give it any thought. I, however, and skeptical. The first night I gave her the drops she seemed to take them fine. The second night I gave them to her she had her first and only projectile spit up. The third night I gave them to her she didn't take them very well at all. Then the next morning she has blood mixed with her poop??? Instead of telling us to stop giving them to her the doctor says that it could be an allergy to milk and that I may have to eliminate all dairy from my diet and that if we end up having to formula feed her, the formula is a very expensive brand. "Great" Last night I did not give her the drops and have not given them to her today. So far she has had a few bloody diapers but also a few regular ones. So, maybe she does have an allergy to dairy but I am thinking it is the drops. Especially since she was perfectly fine up until she started taking them. I am really counting on this next week to be the end of the doctor visits and that by friday her levels will be down to 13. We went back today and had it checked once again. So, we are now waiting to hear back from the lab of her stool sample from yesterday and her bilirubin levels from today. The good news is that her weight has now surpassed her birth weight and she is now at 8 lbs and 9 ounces. She is a normal healthy baby if she can just get passed these 2 experiences!!!

Our First Week

This last week has been very eventful. We got home and immediately people started coming over to visit and help out. Our family has been so great with all the help during the days and nights. This first week has been really hard. With the c-section and lack of sleep, recovery has been difficult. I have been trying to do a lot and get naps in and visit with people, all of which is difficult to do when you have an incision all across your bikini line. Jordan kept asking me why I was so tired. I keep telling him that he didn't just have surgery and that my body is physically tired as well as me being tired from lack of sleep. When we were at the hospital, just before leaving to come home we were told by the pediatrician not to worry about waking her up to feed her and allow her to wake us up. For the first couple of nights that's what we did and it was miserable. The next day I decided to forget what he doctor had said and started attempting to wake her up to feed every 3 hours. She wouldn't want to wake up and eat. I would try and feed her and she would eat for about 5 min before falling back asleep or other times she would eat really good, it wasn't consistent. It was really frustrating. She also wasn't on a sleeping schedule. The doctor's had told us to allow her to make the schedule and then after the first couple of weeks, we should begin a schedule for her to go by. I thought this sounded strange but being a first time parent I didn't know any better. When we woke up the day of her newborn appointment with our pediatrician (last Thursday) I noticed she was yellow. I got worried, we had only been home for 3 days and the night before she had looked good. It is crazy how fast they can change. I went and got my staples out while Jordan took Greer to the doctor. I met up with him laterat the doctor and we were told to stay by the phone, we might have to go to the hospital again and get her checked in to decrease her bilirubin. I thought, great... already she is having to go back to the hospital and all we did was follow the ped's instructions. Again, very frustrating. Later that day we got the phone call telling us we needed to get checked in and stay overnight. I started crying, I was so irritated! We hadn't been home long and we had to again leave our house. The room was at least really cute. It was decorated in animals and her bed looked like a tanning bed.


(She is so lady like! lol)

Staying at that hospital was a blessing in disguise. We had delivered at ETMC and there is not a lactation consultant there to guide you. At Trinity, they have several to help out and inform nursing mothers. They came in and talked to me about all that I was supposed to be doing and how to hold her to keep her from going to sleep, how to wake her up if she did fall asleep, and helped us get a schedule going. They helped me out a lot with questions I still had. They kept coming in and checking on us periodically throughout the night making sure all was going well. The next morning, we were told the good news. Greer's bilirubin count had gone down and we could go home. The lactation consultants came back in and went over things with me again. They gave me their number to call anytime if and when I had questions. I felt more comfortable going home this time, like I was more prepared. Since then, Greer has been waking up or has been easier to wake up to eat. Her color is back to pink and she is now tanner than momma. :) We are going to try this week to work more on the feeding schedule. She has been really good at nursing so we are going to try to bring in a bottle a day. I will nurse at 11 before both of us going to bed. Jordan will get up with a bottle at 2 to feed her and then I will get up at 5 to nurse. We are really hoping this will be better for us and for her. All 3 being able to get some sleep. She is also doing some things really early. She has already started picking her head up and leaving it up for several seconds at a time. She has also started throwing herself back! We have a smart kid on our hands. We went to the doctor again on Saturday for her follow up. Her bilirubin count was still really good, thank goodness. She was measured and was found to be in the 80th percentile for heighth and was at the weight she needed to be. Great news to hear after a really long and tiring week!

C-Section July 4th

Okay, so here is the story:
On Saturday night we were finishing up eating when my water broke. At first I wasn't sure since it wasn't a sudden "gush" of fluid but kept streaming out little at a time. We called the doctor and she told us to get our stuff and head on up to the hospital. Jordan was so funny, he was freaking out! He was running all over the house getting phone chargers and little things put in our bags. I started out all calm but then with him flipping out, I started to lose it. I told him he needed to snap out of it really fast and that him acting this way was not going to help in any way, only will prolong us getting to the hospital. He calmed down slightly until we got the hospital. Hahaha, the nurse even got annoyed with him and had to snap him back to normal. I told him he was about to lose the ability of staying in the room during delivery. If he couldn't handle this, then he definitely couldn't handle delivery. That seemed to do the trick and he calmed down (for a little while). We got checked in and settled into our room at around 7:30. At 9 pm I still had not dilated anymore and was still at 50%. So, they started the petosin. They continued to check on me every few hours. It got to the wee hours of the morning on Sunday and I still had not changed. They started talking c-section and I started crying. I did not want the c-section, I had heard horror stories of recovery and I had wanted to be able to feel a little of the delivery when the time came, not be completely numbed up. Well, at 8 when I still had not dilated and was still at 50%, the c-section was decided on. I started panicking and got sick. I had amazing nurses and doctors! They really helped calm me down as much as possible. Doctor Willis was very calming and worked fast. The anesthesiologist was AMAZING! He was very calming too and told me exactly what was happening when it was happening and guided me through the operation. My delivery nurse was there all the time too, she had stayed past her time to get off to stay with me through the operation. :) Jordan was there holding my hand and talking to me, keeping my mind off of my abdomen laying there wide open.When I heard her cry I was so relieved and knew it was almost over. The nurses made a cute little bow for her to wear and keep her head warm.



Here is Greer with Dr. Willis. So glad she made everything as calm as could be. LOVE HER!



Here we are back in our room after the recovery period. I was ready for a nap!

Swelling and Stretch Marks

I have been priding myself in not having any of these the entire time I have been pregnant. Now, all of a sudden BAM! I have both. Greer has started to drop and therefore has started giving me stretch marks. YUCK! They are on the lower portion of my belly. I have been loading up more on the oil but so far, nothing. I am putting it on all the time. Unfortunately it seems to wear off with the way the clothes are fitting. I noticed today that they seem to be rising. My worst fear is that after all this is over I am going to have this horrible looking stomach and be so embarrassed, never to wear a swimsuit again. If anyone knows of any good remedies please tell me. The stretch marks are at least the small red ones that I have been told go away after time. I hope this is true. My wedding rings do not fit anymore. I am pushing the liquids. Yesterday I drank 2 bottle waters in a period of 15 min and then my sweet mom bought me a Rt. 44 Cranberry Limeade from sonic. I can't get enough, I am always thirsty! I hate not being able to wear at least my wedding band. I feel that people look at me and think I am this knocked up girl who isn't married. I should have a shirt that says,"I am married, but my rings don't fit." Maybe that would send out a wrong message though too. Anyways... so I didn't realize how truly swollen my feet were until yesterday before church. I had gotten all dressed and had my make up on and jewelry. I went to go put on my flats and couldn't fit into them. I knew my feet had swollen a little since heels had been out of the picture for several months. So, I thought maybe it was just those pair of shoes. I went to go put on another pair and the same thing. Ugh, I had no shoes to wear and thought about just not going anymore. Really depressing. Both Jordan and my mom said to just wear my crocks, but are you kidding me? I am not gonna be all dressed up and then have on crocks, how ridiculous. So I had to change clothes and went looking horrible. I am so ready for all this to be over and have all of this mess behind me. I am praying for no more stretch marks and that the temperature outside will not continue to rise above 100. I don't think my feet and hands can take anymore. I am counting down until July 12th when she will be here.

Only 3-4 Weeks Left!

I obviously am not the best blogger in the world. I thought that I would be doing so much better than this. At least 2 or 3 entries per month. I think I am averaging maybe 1? Anyway, school got out a couple of weeks ago and I am soooo thankful. Not only to be having a break but being able to sit when I need to. Those kids require so much more energy than I have right now and are too much of a handful. I am easily irritable and constantly uncomfortable so anything will set me off right now. Jordan is being so good during these final weeks with helping more around the house than usual and taking care of other things, like the dog and watering the yard. Since standing for long periods of time is off limits right now, he has even helped out with cooking! Bending over or squating down is very difficult too. The other day we were out shopping around. We are in the process of repainting our dresser to go in the nursery. So we were shopping for paint and other house hold items. I guess I had slippery fingers all day because I kept dropping everything! If Jordan hadn't been with me I wouldn't have even bothered with picking up the things. But when I would drop something, I would sigh and make a face. Jordan would stand there and laugh and then pick it up for me. So, as you know I have been having contractions known as braxton hicks. Well as we have been getting closer to the due date, these contractions have been coming more common and more sharp. They are really annoying and have on occasion caused me to stop in my track. Jordan has started laughing at me now as I walk. Apparently he gets a kick out of me waddling, isn't he sweet? This afternoon I had to get on to him though as it was about the third time he had laughed at me. We are having a garage sale today and tomorrow and with getting things ready I have made my calve muscles sore. So, today I did look funny as I walked. If you can imagine a 9 month pregnant person waddling AND limping at the same time, you can visualize what I look like walking. On a good note, I went to the doctor today for my regular 2 week check up. She told me that I am now 1 cm dialated, 50% effaced, and little Greer is head down and ready to come. She just needs to drop a little more. She keeps having the hiccups and continues to hit my ribs when she has them. It feels funny but it would be nicer if she was sitting a little lower. We scheduled an induction to be on July 12th just in case she has not arrived by then. With school and all the mess of paper work and confusion of getting things situated, it would be easiest if she was right on time or early. I am glad too that we have an actual day and I am not just in limbo. I need to take another picture soon and post it. Maybe I an get that done this week.