Months 1 & 2

Month One

• Slept in Rock N Play for all naps and in Rock N Play in our room at night by our bed
• Hands always in tight fists
• So tiny!! I was constantly just in awe of how small he was : )
• Got hiccups a lot just like when he was in my belly
• Does NOT like to be swaddled! We stopped trying to swaddle Owen pretty quickly after realizing he would fuss and kick off the blanket and bust out of the swaddle wrap. He is much more content and sleeps better when not in a swaddle.
• Does not like pooping, which unfortunately happens a lot right now
• Makes faces, twitches, and smiles while sleeping which is adorable and fascinating to me
• Wore mittens constantly because he was scratching me while nursing, not himself too much - he would though go for his eye every now and then
• Constant feeding and diaper changes. I would wonder how can someone who sleeps so much can still be SO much work?
• Breastfeeding -Went and saw a lactation specialist twice. Trouble latching and lots of pain. Ended up continuing to use a nipple shield that we were given while at the hospital when he was having trouble latching.
• Newborn photo shoot at 5 days old
• Cody was home 3 weeks with paternity leave. VERY grateful he had so much time to be at home helping so much and taking in that time with our new son.
• We did some outings and often felt like we overdid it -for me not Owen.  My own healing took way longer than I expected. I tell people that Owen's actual birth went better and quicker than I thought it would, but all the after stuff for myself was WAY worse than expected. That is the part I do NOT look forward to again with a future child 
• Introduced a pacifier at 1 month
• Always tinkles during diaper changes! Somehow Cody is much quicker and better than I am at getting the new diaper on in time. 
• Umbilical cord fell off at about 1 month
• Screamed during that first real bath! Better after that first one
• Lots of baby acne and rashes and dry flaky skin
• At about 1 month we stopped having Owen sleep in the Rock n Play at night and moved him to the Pack n Play still in our room.

So incredibly tiny!!

Introducing Callie and Owen : )

Cody weighing and burping Owen at the lactation consultation. 

I guess all babies have moments like this, right?

Family photo before our newborn photo shoot.

1 week old!! Walking into the hospital for his 1 week screening.

1st Month Thoughts

I remember that the first week with Owen went better than I expected and the first month as a whole (the part of dealing with him -the part of my own healing and recovery was so much worse than I imagined). However week 2 at home with Owen was rough. I think everything was hitting me finally and I remember week 2 being extremely emotional and difficult and feeling so overwhelmed. There were times that I would cry before nursing him and just did not want to. Then feeling like I didn’t want to nurse him made me feel like I must be the worst mom in the world. Learning the ropes with breastfeeding was difficult and painful.  I’m so glad though that they gave us the nipple shield at the hospital because without it I don’t know if we would have continued nursing. At the beginning (really the first two months probably) I felt very isolated with breastfeeding and did not like it, but I did want to try to continue and see if we could make it work.

For a newborn who sleeps so much of the day it shocked me at how much work he still was. It felt like constant feeding and changing.  Thankfully though Owen was content to sleep in his Rock N Play. I would often hold him while he slept because I enjoyed holding him, but when I needed to rest myself or do things around the house Owen would still nap fine in the Rock N Play.

I feel like Cody and I did a good job (maybe too much actually) at not holding up in our house even that very first month. Even with it just being quick trips to Target or a brief walk outside it was nice to get out every now and then.  The first few weeks though I felt like we sometimes did too much (not for Owen, for myself) that I wasn’t ready for yet.

We were a little nervous and unsure what to expect with Callie dealing with Owen. Thankfully she has been great! Actually Callie has seemed a little skittish around him. She will quickly walk off whenever we move Owen near her. 

Cody had 3 weeks for paternity leave which was amazing.  I am SO grateful for that time he was home with us each day.  He did so much to help me and Owen and I just physically don’t know how I would have done much more by myself if he hadn’t been there.  Also of course it was awesome just for Cody to have that time to experience being a Daddy for the first time and being so involved in Owen’s first weeks with us.  

First bath after the umbilical cord fell off! Owen screamed!!

Better once the bath was over : )

Month Two

10 pounds; 22 inches 

• Starting to smile which is ADORABLE and melts my heart each time
• Introduced our first bottle at 6 weeks
• LOVES tummy time! Has been pretty strong from day one with his head/neck and getting even better.
• South Carolina trip for Cody’s Grandpa's memorial and met family. First airplane rides! Slept through 3 out of 4 flights. Cried before and after the last flight but was fine during it.
• Went back to the pediatrician because his belly button was still gooey and slimy. She used silver nitrate which dried it out and it has been fine since.
• He screamed like I hadn't heard yet when he got his 2 month shots :( which made me cry.
• Owen experienced his first Spurs championship!
• Finally found a carrier that Owen and I liked. (We tried and returned several. I already had a Boba wrap which is awesome but really warm and Owen doesn’t like anything on his head. We finally were happy with a Mei Tai carrier.)
• Started cloth diapers
• Loves to be held in a sitting position
• Does not like to change clothes or things on his head
• Right at the end of two months he started rolling from tummy to back (so almost at three months)
• Falls asleep while nursing
• Recognizes Mama (me) we think
• Coos and starting to babble
• Moved out of newborn clothes and into the 0-3 month size

Blurry but this was one of Owen's first smiles (not while in his sleep)!

Caught another smile : ) 

Month 2 Thoughts
Sadly month 2 is kind of a blur and not much specifically stands out.  I wish I had written at the time instead of trying to go back and remember now months later.

Family walk at the park.  The hat was so big on his head!

Owen and I were adjusting to being home alone consistently now that Cody has been back at work.  I do remember people seemed to continually ask me if I was bored yet or feeling antsy and stuck, but I really wasn't (and still haven't really felt that way).  Of course there are days and moments where everything gets repetitive and a little boring but overall I have honestly loved being a stay at home mom. This is exactly where I want to be right now with Owen.

Starting cloth diapers. They made his butt SO big and fluffy!

Owen still naps well in the Rock N Play and is now sleeping in the Pack N Play at night in our room. One of my favorite things is how Owen has started babbling and cooing!  He especially "talks" during diaper changes on the changing pad.  I think it's a good level and distance between our faces and he can look at me well there.  We have semi babbling conversations and I love them! It just makes me so happy and I love babbling back and forth with him.

Owen has the best daddy : )

We introduced a bottle for the first time at 6 weeks.

We're still breastfeeding using the nipple shield.  I still don't feel completely comfortable or love it but am glad to be doing it for Owen and hope it continues to get better.

Cody loves to read to Owen! 

At the end of month two we traveled for the first time with Owen.  We flew up to South Carolina for a family reunion/memorial for Cody's grandpa.  Honestly I was super stressed and nervous about traveling at this point with Owen so young still.  Thankfully it all went better than I expected.  We read that the change in pressure can hurt his ears and that sucking on a pacifier or feeding during take off and landing could help that.  So I fed him during each take off and landing and he seemed to do well.  Owen actually slept during the first 3 flights and did great.  During the very last flight back home Owen cried a lot in the airport before the flight and we were nervous it would be awful, but once on the plane he didn't sleep this time but was fine.

Bachman family group

And yes we are proudly sporting our Spurs championship shirts!! (Mine is too even though it's the only black one.)

Newborn Photos

We decided to do some newborn photos of our new little bundle.  I found a photographer with a package deal for 3 sessions - a newborn, 6 month, and 1 year session.  We did Owen's newborn session when he was 5 days old : )  and we are in the works to schedule his 6 month session sometime in November.

I love how our photos turned out and enjoyed working with Cami during our newborn session!  I'm excited for our future sessions to capture Owen's first year.

If you're interested you should check her out - Cami Lee Photography.

http://www.camileephotography.com

Here are our favorites!

*See note at the bottom for a funny story with this picture!

*While posing for this adorable picture with my naked newborn baby, my adorable naked baby decided it was time to poop : )  It seemed so funny in the moment I wasn't upset or grossed out at all; it just made us laugh!  But seriously... picture me standing there holding Owen with his naked little tushie sitting right in my hands. All of a sudden there is a gush of poop all in my hands, through my hands, and onto the floor -which definitely splattered all over my feet. Funny how something that pre-baby would have completely grossed me out has now turned out to be a sweet funny memory : )

We took this quick pic on our phone right after it happened! Please note the pile of mushy baby poop right in between my feet. This photo does not accurately show how covered my hands and feet were!

Owen's Birth Story

Baby Journey -Part 14:  Owen's Birth Story

Birth Facts:  Friday, May 2nd, 2014 at 1:58 pm.  7 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long.

Owen’s due date was Tuesday, April 29, 2014.  I honestly was convinced we would have him early.  I heard enough people say things constantly like "you've dropped!" "I give you no more than two more weeks" and things like that starting SO early on that I really started to think we would have Owen before the end of April.  Well the joke was on me! And I will NOT fall for that one again with future kiddos. I will be mentally prepared to endure the whoooole 40 weeks.

My pregnancy app on my phone.

So we reached our due date and went three days past.  I was already 3 cm dilated and about 75% effaced according to our last weekly appointment.  We were torn about doing an elective induction and finally decided to go ahead and we scheduled it for May 2nd.  As nervous and torn as I was about that decision, I am very glad that’s what we did and feel like it worked out perfectly.  I am actually pretty confident that I started going into natural labor that morning on my own.  The night before I think I lost my mucus plug and then that Friday morning I had what I’m assuming is the “bloody show”.  I feel very strongly that my body was going into labor anyway and I think everything ended up flowing smoothly because of that amazing timing.

Cody wrote happy birthday to Owen on our fridge board before we left : )

We showed up at the hospital bright and early with our bags and got all registered and signed in.  After lots of paperwork and prep they started me on Pitocin. The contractions started slowly and felt nothing like what I expected.  They definitely hurt like I expected but somehow it was a different pain feeling than I anticipated.  And for anyone who knows me, you know I am quite the wimp and have a VERY low pain tolerance.  Had I just been at home timing contractions and waiting it out to get to the point to go to the hospital I would have gone mad.  I honestly don’t know how I would have done that.  

Fairly soon after starting the Pitocin a bunch of nurses ran into our room and said that the baby’s heartbeat drastically dropped and they start having me roll every which way and took me off the medicine.  Talk about freak you out.  I couldn't help being so scared about if our little guy was okay or not.  His heart rate stabilized and we waited a while for my OBGYN to come in to check things out.  She arrived and said his heartbeat is good now and it was just a momentary drop and scare.  She decided to start the Pitocin again but at a lower dosage.  She also discussed the heart rate dropping being a concern and for me to consider getting the epidural already so that I could be all hooked up and ready if by chance we needed to go to an emergency c-section.

Soon enough the contractions started up again and after a while my doctor came in and broke my water.  Things sped up after that (although honestly I had already progressed quite a bit. Really every time they checked my cervix had dilated quite a bit more.) The pain got worse quicker than I expected and like I already said, please remember what a wimp I am.  It got to a point where I didn't want to keep doing this much sooner than I thought.  I sort of was torn and felt bad about wanting the epidural already but went ahead and got it before things got too intense, and thankfully didn't feel too guilty about it since the doctor was encouraging it anyways as a backup.  I was terrified of the epidural (I cannot stand needles) and thankfully that went much better than I expected.  I think I gave in and got the epidural possibly before I would have even been admitted to the hospital.  (Although now thinking about it in hindsight, the contractions were pretty consistent and close together at that point… so maybe I would have been at the hospital. They were actually happening fairly often right after each other. The Pitocin possibly just progressed everything much faster, so it all moved very quickly.)

In a bit things sort of settled down and I was able to rest while on the epidural. The nurse told us it would be several hours before I progressed the rest of the way.  I remember my lower half starting to feel really odd as the epidural was kicking in.  Numb and tingly and then things started to blend and feel surreal.  I remember one side of my body/legs being way more numb that the other and they had me rolling to let gravity help - at least that's what they told me.  Cody and I both decided to try and nap for a bit to rest up.  I'm honestly not sure if I fell asleep or not or if I did how long it was for.  The next thing I knew nurses rushed into the room again. This time I couldn't move myself at all.  They did the same thing as the first time and immediately started rolling and pushing me saying that again the baby's heart rate had significantly dropped. I got extremely nervous and anxious and at that point since it happened twice I worried that we would be going for the emergency c-section. Instead once a nurse checked me out she announced that I was already at 10 and ready to push.  She sort of jokingly said that one of my nurses had gone to lunch assuming I would be a while but instead I was already at go time. (Told you I kept progressing quickly!)

Cody had been startled awake when the nurses rushed in and was at my side.  A lot of things were very different than I would have expected.  Once we were at pushing time, it still didn't all happen and go as I thought it would.  We had a push nurse come in and basically it was just us and her for the majority of the rest of labor.  I could sort of feel pressure, not pain just a weird pressure sensation, when it was time to push with each contraction.  She had Cody grab one of my legs to help push it back and I was suppose to pull up by grabbing my legs. Talk about weird.  Since I obviously couldn't feel my lower half, I had trouble knowing if I was pushing well, or at all, or what.  Eventually I got the hang of it and we pushed for 45 minutes.  My pushing seemed weird to me though in that we would do three pushes for 8 seconds each all straight in a row and then just wait for the next contraction.  It felt like an intense minute of pushing and then FOREVER before the next push. Seriously sometimes it felt awkward.  Obviously I'm exposed in the middle of labor.  This nurse is there with the job of helping me push. But it felt like such a long dragged out round of minutes in between each push with this lady just sitting there below me twiddling her thumbs and we're all three just waiting.  It seemed so odd to me.

Finally we reached the end when everything really felt completely surreal and intense.  The nurse started saying that she could see the head and I think that's when they called for my doctor to come in.  Even once we were at that final point it took longer than I thought it would.  With every round of pushes there at the end I thought surely that would make huge progress, surely we were almost done.  Nope.  It kept being more and more than I expected. Turns out babies don't just "pop" out, you really have to p-u-s-h them out!

At that point everything completely seemed surreal like I was in some sort of slight haze.  There were several points where in the middle of it all I just had thoughts like "I'm actually having a baby" "I can't believe this is what having a baby is like". During this final part Cody was watching it all happen and when they started to comment on seeing the baby's head both Cody and the doctor made comments like how amazing it was and the doctor asked if I'd want a mirror to look. My initial thoughts were "Um... no!" but after seeing Cody seeming so enthralled watching our son be born I thought I should look. About two seconds after they set up the mirror I quickly realized I did NOT want to see that after all and asked them to take it away. I can use my imagination, or better yet, not even try to imagine what it all looked like.

Cody has said that when he first saw the head start to crown he thought we were having such a teeny tiny baby.  Then as the baby kept coming out the head just got bigger and what Cody saw at first (thinking it was most of the head) turned out to be just barely the top and it actually seemed huge as Owen just kept coming out. (Yeah, I didn't need a mirror to know that myself! The fact that an epidural was needed and that it took so many rounds of pushes to make progress filled me on that fact.)

Finally we did make real progress and his head was out and then we pushed for the shoulders and eventually we were at a point where the doctor kept saying just one more good one! Apparently I was about worn out because it took a lot of "last good ones" to finally have Owen be all the way out and born.  Our Owen arrived at 1:58 pm on Friday, May 2nd.  I remember feeling that last push and the doctor saying he was here and seeing nurses instantly move him over to check him out and clean him up a bit, and I remember not hearing any noise from him.  It immediately freaked me out as I thought it was normal to hear the baby cry right away.  It took a few minutes and they were trying to get him to cry and finally thankfully he did. He was fine and beautiful (a beautiful little gross mess of a newly born baby). He weighted 7 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 inches long.  Perfect.  

New proud daddy!

Welcome to the world, Owen : )

They briefly did what they needed to with Owen and then handed him to his proud daddy. Cody had the biggest smile when holding Owen for the first time. I love a picture we have of Cody holding him with Owen's face all scrunched, skin looking pruney, and eyes covered in that medicine gunk. And I vividly remember when they put Owen on my chest right after he was born.  I remember instantly being filled with crazy strong emotions. On my chest Owen was lifting his head and rooting around. He was so tiny on me. Cody and I had an hour with Owen doing skin-to-skin with me before they took him to the nursery for the rest of his stuff and to be really cleaned up and all that.  

Cody went with him and was with him in the nursery.  I realized later that I never at all went to the nursery.  I only saw Owen in there from pictures.  While Owen was in the nursery I rested a bit and ordered some food. Then my mom came in to visit and hang out with me while Cody was with Owen. Once they brought Owen back we had all four grandparents in the room and a friend from our small group at church. That was sort of a funny scene as Cody describes it. So the nurse is bringing Owen back to us and starts telling us all sorts of directions and things we need to do/watch for, stuff that sounded like important information (and remember as brand spanking new parents we were clueless and really wanted to listen to what she was telling us). Surrounding us are the four grandparents with both grandmas taking pictures with the flash on like crazy. They were like paparazzi. It was extremely overwhelming and difficult to concentrate on what she was telling us. And also in hindsight I feel like it was another special moment but instead of being able to enjoy them bringing Owen back to us, we were surrounded and overwhelmed. Oh well.

First family picture!

A bit after that a nurse came in to check on me and while she did that everyone went out into the hallway for a minute. Cody took Owen out with him and that's when they did the first round of passing Owen through all the grandparents. They all love and adore him SO much! I can only imagine how overjoyed each of them were when it was their turn to hold him that first time.

We were in the hospital about two and a half days. Obviously we were there all day Friday when we had him, then we were there overnight Saturday as well, and trying to leave took allll day on Sunday since we had to wait for a doctor to come in to discharge Owen. Each night we were there we started with Owen in the room with us and in the early morning hours decided to send him to the nursery for a bit so we could get a little sleep. He was with us most of each night and a nurse would bring Owen back when he needed to eat again. I have blurred exhausted memories of trying to, sometimes semi-successfully and sometimes not at all, nurse Owen while laying in the hospital bed. I also remember seeing Owen so itty-bitty laying in the plastic hospital bassinet thing on wheels. I felt like I had trouble laying him down in there gently enough. And I can still remember the nervous feeling I had when it was time to finally leave and we strapped him into the car seat for the first time. Cody and I sort of looked at each other and were like, "Is that it? Is he good in there?"

So tiny in that car seat! I rode in the back with him on our way home.

Then after all that we took Owen home for the first time and started adjusting to the new normalcy of lives as parents. I can already honestly say it truly is difficult to remember what life was like before we had Owen. It's amazing how instantly he has become such an overwhelming part of our lives and how much new joy and love we have already experienced because of him. Part of my prayer for Owen every night is that he knows how much Cody and I love him and how much joy he brings to us, but more importantly that he comes to know how much God loves him and for him to know and love Christ.

Obviously I could just keep rambling about Owen and our new lives with him all day! I'll stop here for now and leave this post as the title states to focus on his birth.

Welcome to the world Owen! We love you more than you can imagine!

Baby Journey -Part 13: Last Bits of Pregnancy

Baby Journey -Part 13: Last Bits of Pregnancy

Obviously I have not exactly stayed up with blogging since having Owen! He arrived May 2nd as a healthy, happy, precious, little boy : )  

Cody occasionally likes to point out that he thinks I have a few tiny OCD characteristics, and in this case I'd have to agree with him.  Even though Owen is now 4 months old, I cannot just skip posting what has already happened; it would completely drive me nuts.  So this post is dedicated to finishing writing about the end of my pregnancy and after this we'll get caught up on Owen's life so far!

Week 37 (Continued)

At our 37 week appointment we found our that our baby was breech.  My doctor did a cervix check and her first reaction was that he was extremely low and asked if I’d been feeling a ton of pressure (which my answer was um, yes) and she said he was head down.  Then her face kind of shifted and she said “well, I think this is the head” and after feeling around a little more she decided it might not be.  She pulled up an ultrasound machine and checked and sure enough his head was right up there at the top of my tummy and his butt was way down low in my pelvis.  Essentially he had dropped and was engaged in my pelvis - just it was his butt instead of his head.  

We were definitely thrown for a loop.  We had been told at the previous two appointments that he was head down and good to go.  My doctor said there was a slight chance he had been head down and turned again, but more likely they were just wrong before - especially since her first reaction was that it was his head.  In any case we are very glad that she checked out her suspicion with the ultrasound.  

She told us that since he was breech at this point, it would be very unlikely that he would turn on his own.  She said it wouldn’t be impossible and that she’s “seen stranger things happen”, but it would be highly unlikely.  So we could either choose to have a c-section or try an external procedure to turn him, and if it worked then a regular birth would be fine still.  She told us that the procedure typically works about 50% of the time and can be pretty uncomfortable and sometimes painful.  We decided to try it.  She wanted to do it quickly so we scheduled it for the next morning.  

The whole rest of that day and night we felt so thrown off and caught off guard.  A c-section if he stayed breech wouldn’t be the end of the world by any means, we just literally had not even considered it as a real option.  Everything was good to go for a regular birth and short of something unexpected happening during delivery a c-section really hadn’t crossed our minds.  It started to freak me out even though I know that any way the baby gets here healthy and safely works.  

The next day we sort of had a “trial run” at the hospital with the procedure.  We were told that the rare complications of the procedure would be that the baby goes into distress and we end up needing a c-section anyway, or that the procedure even if successful could put me into labor. We considered taking all our hospital bags and things and then decided not to - that if either unlikely event occurred we could call someone to go get them.  

We arrived an hour early as instructed to the hospital.  When we did our hospital tour and birthing classes the labor and delivery wing was under construction.  When we went for this procedure it was all done and everything was backwards going the other directions so we were a bit confused and stood there not sure where to go for a minute.  I’m glad we saw the new set up prior to our real hospital day.  We went through a trial run with registering and getting all checked in and set up in a labor and delivery room.  I got all dressed up in the gown and hooked up to a contraction monitor and baby heartbeat monitor.  Then they took blood and put in an IV which is one of my worst nightmares.  If you know me you know I HATE needles and HATE is not a strong enough word.  More like I am terrified of them.  The nurse that did it all was amazing - super patient and calm and sweet.  I was thankful she was so good at her job and helped me not have a panic attack.  I did ask several times if it was normal for the IV to sting so much, and then continue to sting for several minutes.  They asked us a million health and history questions. (I’m wondering if now all of this is in our record… or if we will have to answer the same million questions on our real trip.) We were finally all set and ready for the procedure, although by the time my doctor came in I was already a red-faced freaking out mess from the IV and nerves about the whole thing.  

They gave me a shot (another needle I HATE -however an IV is way worse) to relax my uterus and try to prevent contractions.  Then the procedure was exactly as our doctor had explained it to us.  She put lotion oil stuff all over my stomach and literally used her hands and arms to push on the outside of my stomach trying to move our little guy and turn him around.  I did not like this procedure.  I mean, we choose to do it, and I’m glad we did.  But it was extremely uncomfortable the entire time and a lot of parts of it really hurt a lot.  I pretty much squeezed Cody’s hand and silently cried the whole time trying to get through it.  Fortunately it only hurt when she was literally pushing so hard on my stomach and around the baby, so as soon as she let up on the pressure, then the pain stopped.  If it had been constant pain I might have asked her to stop at the beginning when it wasn’t working at first.  Thankfully with the brief breaks in between her trying to move him I was able to keep it together and keep going.  

She tried several times at first with no success since his butt was lodged so well in my pelvis.  She said that she would not keep going unless she thought there was a chance and she was hoping she could move him to lift his butt out of his dug in position.  Right about the moment when in my head I was screaming either lady you need to stop or just get him to move, she got all excited and said his butt was out and it was working. It hurt a ton when I could actually feel her moving and turning him around, but I was so glad it was working.  She showed Cody on the ultrasound to confirm he was now in the correct position and to check on his heartbeat.  After it was done we stayed to be monitored for an hour to make sure that the baby didn’t go into distress and that I didn’t start having contractions.  After an hour of everything looking good we were able to leave.  

My stomach felt really different and all the movements I was feeling seemed new.  It took a bit to get used to the feeling of his new position. I was pretty much an emotional mess the rest of the day.  Afterwards Cody and I were both starving (that already taught us that on the real day we will manage to eat something while I’m in early labor at home before going to the hospital hungry) and we went to IHOP to eat.  I pretty much silently cried throughout our meal.  I was just so overwhelmed with so many emotions.  I was still worked up and had nerves about the whole thing, was also very thankful and relieved that it worked, and at the same time I was feeling like I didn’t know what to expect now.  Even though since it worked we were back on track for the regular birth we were expecting, I still felt thrown off and unsure about where we stood and how everything would go from there.  It took almost the entire day for me to calm and accept that everything should be okay.  

A week later now as I write this, my only remaining fear or thoughts with all of that is a slight fear that he turns again now and becomes breech again.  Our doctor said that just like it would have been very unlikely for him to turn and correct himself without the procedure, that it would be very unlikely for him to turn after the procedure and become breech again.  She said in the very unlikely event that he did, she would recommend trying the procedure again and then inducing right away to have him immediately after turning. Even with it being so unlikely, any time I feel big movements I think “What are you doing in there? You better be staying put.”

Tomorrow now is our next appointment at 38 weeks.  We’ll see how it goes and I’m hoping that she’ll be able to assure us he is still head down and I’ll feel more hopeful and accepting that he should stay that way.  

Week 38

At our appointment this week we did in fact get confirmation (thank you, Lord) that our baby boy is still head down.  Even though she said it would be so unlikely for him to turn, I had felt some big movements and was nervous with the fear that he had.  Not much progress from last time - she said I was 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  

I am officially ready for our little guy to be done cooking and I’ve gotten very antsy about him hurrying up to meet us.  I have now started trying all of the silly things that “may induce/help labor” -of which none are medically proven and mostly just sound like things that it doesn’t hurt to try. And as Cody keeps pointing out, about this time when women seem to be so ready for the baby to arrive and they start trying these type things… well they are already close to their due date, getting closer each day.  So is it really anything you’ve “tried” to get labor started, or is it coincidentally just time now as you are already approaching the big expected day. Either way. If it doesn’t hurt anything, I’ve figured why not try.  So far nothing. In fact for so long I was convinced he would arrive early because I had people start telling me things like “You look like you’ve dropped” and “I bet you don’t make it to your due date” starting way early weeks ago.  I really thought with so many people saying things like that there was a good chance.  Now at this point, I am feeling like he’s not going to arrive super soon and could wait right up until his due date (the 29th) or even be late.  I realize that at this point our due date, even if he does wait until that day, isn’t that far away.  We’re at a week and two days, so 9 days, to go -unless he’s late of course.  On one hand it’s crazy that we will have a baby possibly within 9 days - that seems so soon and will be such a life changing moment forever.  On the other hand even just 9 days seems almost endless when I feel so uncomfortable throughout most of each day now.  I am ready to be done NOW. Not 9 days from now. I am ready for the backache, cramps, having to lift and roll myself out of chairs and bed to be over now.  At least reminding myself that the Lord already knows what his birthday will be and there is a plan for our little guy already in store helps me to try and be patient.  As well as knowing that as uncomfortable as I am, each day he cooks in me a little longer is better for him.  So hopefully I can be as patient as possible while waiting - although more realistically it’s Cody that needs the patience since he’s the one dealing with me!

A funny story about trying to induce (rather hoping to induce) labor is all about pedicures.  So a friend in our small group from church had her little girl about 6 months ago back in October.  She was in her 38th week being pregnant and it was her birthday, so a lot of the girls went to get a pedicure with her.  At the nail salon the lady doing her nails was saying crazy things like asking if she was ready to have her baby because she could do a foot massage to make it happen.  We all thought it was silly and funny and my friend said sure go for it.  And sure enough just a few hours later that evening my friend went into labor and had their little girl the next day.  

Months after that happening I read on one of my week-by-week pregnancy apps a post about how there are some pressure points on our feet that “can” help induce labor.  (Again… I know there isn’t necessarily medical truth to that - but considering I thought the nail lady was just straight up crazy, it blew my mind to read that post and think there might have been any hint of truth to it possibly.) I mentioned that to my friend and she said a similar thing that after the fact she had heard about those pressure points as well.  

So, another girl in our small group is currently pregnant and is due 8 days ahead of me and Cody (which means she is due tomorrow -Monday).  Either one or two weekends ago she went to the exact same nail salon and had the exact same lady give her a pedicure with the “labor inducing foot massage”.  While she did start having contractions the next day, she still hasn’t had their baby yet.  But in any case, Cody started saying he wanted me to go to get this labor inducing foot massage -that it couldn’t hurt.  

Last week I decided to finally use a gift card from my mother-in-law from Christmas that I’d been saving until around our due date. So it wasn’t to the same nail salon with the massage lady that my friends went to, but I figured it was stupid to waste a gift card and that at pretty much all pedicures that give you some sort of foot/leg massage.  I went with a co-worker from my team and we enjoyed a nice time getting our feet all prettied up.  (I picked a bright blue color for a boy.)

When I was telling Cody about it afterwards and when he realized I had gone to a different salon without the massage lady he literally said to me that it “Was a waste of a pedicure” and he “was disappointed.”   Now, I do not want to give my Loves a bad rap because he was joking and I knew it. He was having fun giving me a hard time about it, but seriously.  I told him if he really wanted me to I could go the following week and get another pedicure from that lady.  I do have super cute feet with boy-blue nails now, but it was definitely not a labor inducing pedicure.  Oh well.  At least now my feet look all nice for when we finally are at the hospital and the rest of me is a complete mess.

Week 39

We are pretty much officially at our due date as I write this.  Tomorrow is the big day! -April 29th.  Now where’s my baby boy!?

This past week has felt massive, overwhelming, exciting, and very emotional. Within this last week I had my last day at school (Tuesday) and started my maternity leave, we closed on our house (Wednesday), and moved into our new home (Saturday). Obviously the “move” is done but the unpacking, organizing, decorating will be ongoing for a while. Thankfully we have awesome family and amazing friends who have helped us out a ton : )  

I have been super emotional this week which I’m assuming at this point in pregnancy is normal, especially combined with the other big things going on at the same time.  There have been numerous meltdowns, indecisive moments, and ranges of emotion from super excited and happy to stressed and freaking out.  Cody has done a good job of “handling” me lol and being extremely comforting, supportive, and encouraging.  Poor guy - he probably needs someone doing the same for him as he deals with me!

We love, LOVE, our new home!  It is so exciting and such a great feeling to have bought our first house.  I genuinely did not believe we would make it to closing and then move-in day pre-baby, but of course who was I to assume God’s plan for our little guy’s arrival.  Now that we are moved in and our due date is tomorrow, we FINALLY have a REAL nursery underway!  Not like we were cutting it close or anything : )  It’s not finished by any means, but it has all the furniture in it, the dresser is full of clean clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and we have a changing area ready with a decorated box full of wipes and the tiniest diapers I could imagine : )

Our plan is to have him in our room at the beginning and move him into his nursery in a few months once he is hopefully sleeping better and not waking up to eat constantly.  For now we are as ready as we can be and excited to meet our little guy any day!