- The baby and I both had check-ups today. I weigh 11 pounds less than my first prenantal appointment :) and she has gained about 3 pounds in her 1st month of life (she`s at 10 pounds already!). We are both healthy and good in all other aspects.
-Please pray for us in the coming days as my husband was informed near the beginning of the month that if his numbers didn`t go up this month he would be let go. We haven`t heard anythng else since (like how his numbers are, etc), but have no indication that things are any better.
-One week from today we head to the nearest embassy to register the baby as a US citizen. (Please pray we don`t get lost, no complications, etc.)
-A week ago I sent in my presidential vote! (Here`s hoping the unreliable Mexican postal system gets it to the States in time!) A good friend just got cable, which includes CNN (in English) - I`ll be at her house on election night checking in :)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
I am still here...
...just need to figure out how to hold a baby and type at the same time :) One handed is realllyyy slooooowww!
I finally bought material to use like a Moby Wrap, so maybe that will help.
I wanted to post a few pictures, then realized I am on that ancient computer sans USB port again. But she is 4 weeks old today and already so much bigger! That could possibly be connected to the never ending nursing we seem to be doing, even right this minute :) She loves to hold her head up (she started when she was only a few days old, and now can hold it up pretty steadily for extended periods already), recognizes me on sight, and is tracking us with her eyes. Everyone always comments on how alert she is. I have a tendency to hold her a lot (I don´t always, but a lot)... but I waited a long time for this sweet little girl and figure in 1 or 5 or 10 years I probably won´t look back and wish I did more housework and held her less.
I feel a little like it was forever ago now, but I still would like to share some about the birth and hospital and what not from my perspective.
I had gone to the Drs Tuesday am, and was 0 cm dilated. He was talking induction if I didn´t go into labor within a week. I started soon after having contractions of varying strengths and intervals. With 0 cm on the brain and hoping to go naturally, I made a point of walking little laps the rest of the day. We made sure everything was ready to go to the hospital that afternoon. Wednesday I again had inconsistent contractions. Weather was yucky, so I walked in the house and up and down the stairs. I´d had other days with contractions lasting a few hours and then disappearing, so I wasn´t reading too much into things. They were only rarely of an intensity to make me actually uncomfortable.
We got to bed around midnight Wednesday. At 1am I got up and headed for the bathroom. I mean, thats what I´d been doing every other time I woke up for the last nine months. It took me a minute or 2 to realize I hadn´t woken because I needed to pee, but because of a contraction. They started out every 7-8 minutes. They shortly were coming every 6, and I asked my husband to start timing how long they were...65-75secs. By 2:30, they were every 5min, and we called the Dr. He, thinking 1st labor, told us to hang tight and call back when we saw blood. By 3:30 they were every 3 min and lasting more like 90 secs. I convinced my husband that the Dr wasn´t expecting things to move so fast and to call even though there was no sign of blood. The Dr wisely :) agreed to meet us at the hospital. We arrived around 4am.
I had gotten the distinct impression that epidurals weren´t done here, and didn´t think I wanted one anyways. But when the Dr started talking induction, he mentioned the possibility of an epidural. And I got to tell you that around 3am, I started changing my mind about having one. I know it was great that my labor moved along so fast, but it was intense! I was going from nothing (remember 0cm?) to pushing in a few short hours. When the Dr came in to examine me, I felt better hearing him say something about what strong and fast contractions I was having (so it wasn´t just in my head). They never actually asked me, they just went ahead and worked on getting me that epidural. I think it happened around 5ish or just before, and it was a wonderful feeling :)
I was just thinking maybe I felt the urge to push when they realized I wasn´t feeling much and should cue me in. I started pushing at 5:15, and my baby girl was born at 5:30.
My husband was at my side every step of the way, and was a wonderful support. I don´t totally understand how his presence made such a difference, but it did make things so much better when he was with me for a contraction. I don´t know how I would have made it thru the entry procedures, during the strongest/longest contractions, without him there. And it was obviously absolutely wonderful to share the moment of our daughter´s birth with him. He still talks about it. A million thank yous to the person who made it possible for him to be with me.
Some of the words that describe our hospital experience...
beautiful
quiet
friendly
good service
good food
comfortable
Everyone who came to visit us was impressed. And I got a few comments about how much better this type of experience was than being in a room with 15-20 other woman giving birth (can you imagine??!! and without a husband at your side!?!)
Oops, out of time. Writing one handed takes ages :)
Hope to be back on soon!
I finally bought material to use like a Moby Wrap, so maybe that will help.
I wanted to post a few pictures, then realized I am on that ancient computer sans USB port again. But she is 4 weeks old today and already so much bigger! That could possibly be connected to the never ending nursing we seem to be doing, even right this minute :) She loves to hold her head up (she started when she was only a few days old, and now can hold it up pretty steadily for extended periods already), recognizes me on sight, and is tracking us with her eyes. Everyone always comments on how alert she is. I have a tendency to hold her a lot (I don´t always, but a lot)... but I waited a long time for this sweet little girl and figure in 1 or 5 or 10 years I probably won´t look back and wish I did more housework and held her less.
I feel a little like it was forever ago now, but I still would like to share some about the birth and hospital and what not from my perspective.
I had gone to the Drs Tuesday am, and was 0 cm dilated. He was talking induction if I didn´t go into labor within a week. I started soon after having contractions of varying strengths and intervals. With 0 cm on the brain and hoping to go naturally, I made a point of walking little laps the rest of the day. We made sure everything was ready to go to the hospital that afternoon. Wednesday I again had inconsistent contractions. Weather was yucky, so I walked in the house and up and down the stairs. I´d had other days with contractions lasting a few hours and then disappearing, so I wasn´t reading too much into things. They were only rarely of an intensity to make me actually uncomfortable.
We got to bed around midnight Wednesday. At 1am I got up and headed for the bathroom. I mean, thats what I´d been doing every other time I woke up for the last nine months. It took me a minute or 2 to realize I hadn´t woken because I needed to pee, but because of a contraction. They started out every 7-8 minutes. They shortly were coming every 6, and I asked my husband to start timing how long they were...65-75secs. By 2:30, they were every 5min, and we called the Dr. He, thinking 1st labor, told us to hang tight and call back when we saw blood. By 3:30 they were every 3 min and lasting more like 90 secs. I convinced my husband that the Dr wasn´t expecting things to move so fast and to call even though there was no sign of blood. The Dr wisely :) agreed to meet us at the hospital. We arrived around 4am.
I had gotten the distinct impression that epidurals weren´t done here, and didn´t think I wanted one anyways. But when the Dr started talking induction, he mentioned the possibility of an epidural. And I got to tell you that around 3am, I started changing my mind about having one. I know it was great that my labor moved along so fast, but it was intense! I was going from nothing (remember 0cm?) to pushing in a few short hours. When the Dr came in to examine me, I felt better hearing him say something about what strong and fast contractions I was having (so it wasn´t just in my head). They never actually asked me, they just went ahead and worked on getting me that epidural. I think it happened around 5ish or just before, and it was a wonderful feeling :)
I was just thinking maybe I felt the urge to push when they realized I wasn´t feeling much and should cue me in. I started pushing at 5:15, and my baby girl was born at 5:30.
My husband was at my side every step of the way, and was a wonderful support. I don´t totally understand how his presence made such a difference, but it did make things so much better when he was with me for a contraction. I don´t know how I would have made it thru the entry procedures, during the strongest/longest contractions, without him there. And it was obviously absolutely wonderful to share the moment of our daughter´s birth with him. He still talks about it. A million thank yous to the person who made it possible for him to be with me.
Some of the words that describe our hospital experience...
beautiful
quiet
friendly
good service
good food
comfortable
Everyone who came to visit us was impressed. And I got a few comments about how much better this type of experience was than being in a room with 15-20 other woman giving birth (can you imagine??!! and without a husband at your side!?!)
Oops, out of time. Writing one handed takes ages :)
Hope to be back on soon!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
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