Lullaby

I get this song stuck in my head every time I put Joshua to bed. I think I might learn the words so I can sing it to him. I've never seen the whole movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou, but I know this song on the soundtrack.

Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby

Chatty Cathys

It's no secret that Dave talks a lot in his sleep. He usually talks about what's been on his mind a lot lately. He used to sell his roommate furniture when he worked at the furniture store. I've had him talk like he's in a cops & robbers situation. He has also talked about computers and restaurant stuff a lot lately.

Since Joshua was born, he still has the occasional mid-night-sleep discussion with me about the usual topics, but there is definitely evidence that baby Joshua is on his mind a lot lately.

The other night, he woke me by pushing me over towards my side of the bed concerned about the baby I was squishing. Of course I told him he was dreaming and that he should go back to sleep, but he looked directly at me and said, "No, I'm AWAKE! There's a baby right here...it was...uh...right...uh..." (He wasn't awake.) Usually when Joshua starts stirring, Dave will start stirring as well. The other night Dave wakes me up and says, "Aren't you going to check him? He's got throw up on both sides of his face!" To which I reply, "He's fine, go back to sleep." (He wasn't awake, and Joshua didn't have anything on his face, much-less any throw up.)

I'm pretty sure Joshua has inherited this trait as well. He's quite a little chatty baby when he's sleeping. He mumbles all the time. I can't wait until he's actually talking to see what he's saying. Maybe one of these days I'll catch his noisy sleeping on camera (Joshua's, not Dave's).

The Thing to Do

It's that time of year again when everybody seems to be making goals and associating them with the New Year holiday. I used to make goals every year, and can guarantee that they almost always included floss daily, write in journal daily, and read scriptures daily. If you look at my journals/diaries through the years (please don't), they have a plethora of entries in January, but seem to be devoid of entries for the rest of the year. It's really a shame, since January is a rather boring month: "Today it was cold."

For the past few years I've just skipped making goals because I never reach any of them anyway. However, this year, I've just completely changed my life. I've made a full 180. I feel like with a change like that, why not start new and try to make some progression out of it?

Thus, here are my goals. I intend to keep at them by making daily, weekly, and monthly goals based on the larger goals below. Who knows? Maybe I'll even keep track of some of them here on this blog (Oh, how fun!).

Clean house up and out

• De-junk
• Deep clean

Craft (stamp, sew)

• Finish couch
• Make curtains for all windows (see save money, bullet 3)
• Decorate house, hang pictures

Develop schedule for sanity's sake

• Chores
• Projects/goals
• Fun time

Save money

• Budget
• Eat healthy/schedule meals
• Save energy in house

Get in shape again

• Walk Monkey regularly (weather permitting, otherwise walk at indoor track? Buy stroller!)
• Stake Aerobics

Read lots

• Unread books in bookshelf and sequels/series
• Book club
• Book of Mormon & New Testament

2 Weeks - 1st Doctor Appointment

Yesterday was Joshua's 2 week mark. I thought it'd be fun to do updates on his developments, but I make no promises of being consistent.

So far all Joshua does is sleep, poop/pee, and eat. He is starting to be more aware though when he is awake during the day, and he'll stare at things for a good 15 minutes or so before resuming the sleep, poop/pee, eat cycle. I could cuddle with him all day and night, especially when he curls up like a tree frog against my tummy, but I put him down in his bassinet to sleep most of the time. Right now he's snoozing un-swaddled for the first time and is doing well (getting up to check on him right now to make sure that's still the case...yup, we're good).

This morning he had his first doctor appointment since the hospital. That also meant that I got to leave the house! YAY! It was a whopping 10 degrees this morning, so we all (Dave, my mom, Joshua, and I) bundled up to brave the cold. 3 adults and one 2-week-old infant squeezed into the exam room, and then the nurse and doctor squeezed in, respectively. I hope Joshua appreciates that his first doctor appointment was well attended.

All in all the appointment was pretty routine. They measured him (22 3/4 inches - 95%ile), weighed him (7 lbs 14 oz - 25%ile - 2 oz more than birth weight), poked his heel for the PKU thing, and then asked if we had questions.

The End

Baby is Here! ("Short" Version)

**Updated - Added water breaking and birth stats. On Monday, December 27^th, Dave and I were running some errands and he joked that the baby’s lease was up and he needed to be evicted, but I had to go into labor before 1pm so that it’d be before he heads to work.

12:30pm:

Our last stop was Smith’s to get a few groceries. As soon as we got into Smith’s my contractions actually started hurting…a lot. It felt like cramps and painful gas both at the same time. We finished our shopping and decided that I must be in labor, so we went home to pack the car for the hospital.

1:30pm:

We got to the hospital and were admitted and everything. I let them know first off that I was a big fan of getting an epidural as soon as possible. They checked my dilation (I was at a 2 and 90%) and realized that there was definitely a foot or a hand down instead of his head. So the rolled in the ultrasound machine and found his head lodged firmly in my ribs.

The doctor said that it’d have to be C-section. I asked him for some time for the baby to turn, since he had somehow turned just fine in the last week. He gave baby until 5pm to turn.

3:00pm:

It’s finally my turn for an epidural. The anesthesiologist showed up, gave me some local anesthetic, and then put in the epidural with the numbing medicine. It was like warm fuzzies! Literally my feet and legs got really warm and tingly (not like when they fall asleep), and the pain melted away. I could still feel when the contractions happened, but, like I said, no pain.

While we waited, Dave and I tried to play skip-bo, but we kept getting interrupted. Then I had Dave read me information about C-sections online to help me to not freak out as much about it.

5:00pm:

The team came in to prep me for a C-section because he hadn’t turned and the people who usually do the turning of babies weren’t in that day. The Anesthesiologist gave the epidural more juice so I was completely numb, they gave me some meds to empty my stomach, they gave me a super strong antibiotic to help fend off infections, and gave Dave an awesome outfit to wear. This is about when I started shaking a lot. Oh, and at about 5:30 my water broke. I mean, baby boy kicked and it broke, "splash!" It was a strange feeling.

6:00pm:

They wheeled me out to the O.R. and got everything set up in there. It was freezing in that room, and very bright lights were everywhere. It’s not dark with a few spot lights like they show it in the movies. The Anesthesiologist gave me some anti-nausea meds and put a plastic tube thing with warm air flowing through it over me to help control the shakes.

6:14pm:

After some strange conversations between the doctors as they cut me open (including “hmm, not much body fat here”…thanks!), they pulled baby boy out of me kicking and screaming and pooping. He was holding on for dear life and didn’t want to come out, and then he pooped all over the doctor. He was 22 inches long and 7 lbs 12 oz.

6:30pm:

Baby and Dave go to the NICU team to get baby’s esophagus checked out, among other things. The doctors start cleaning and stitching me up. Now their conversation is more centered on what they’re doing (“hold here, and I’ll stitch there”…“Hmmm, two cavities. Did you see that there are two cavities?”). The Anesthesiologist (who was awesome, by the way) then tells me that I have a heart shaped uterus, which is probably why baby was able to turn so easily and often.

7:00pm:

This is about where times get a bit hazy. I go to the delivery room I was originally in to “recover” for an hour. My parents keep me company for this because Dave was at the NICU with baby. Then I get to go by the NICU to meet baby (other than a 1 second peek over the curtain during surgery… “Here he is!”). Then they wheel me off to my Mother/Baby room and I wait, shaking, some more.

Meanwhile at the NICU, baby’s esophagus is fine, but his lungs aren’t staying inflated right, so they put him on a breathing machine thing for a little while and then take him off and observe him. Then, once he’s doing fine on his own for a while, they take him down to the nursery to do their thing and bathe him.

8:00pm: (ish)

Finally Dave and Baby show up, and I get to meet him for real. Dave’s parents show up a little while later to say hi.

We stayed at the hospital until Friday, mid-day. I had some good nurses (Ann, Misty) and some bad nurses. When I first saw my incision all stapled up, I almost hyperventilated. There’s something about seeing a 6 inch cut on your abdomen held together by staples that is very unsettling. I think I did quite well at recovering (didn’t get dizzy while I walked the first time, was able to pee normally, etc.), but I got a sore throat on that same Monday, and it made everything a lot harder. (It’s still making everything a lot harder.) I've been ordered by my doctor to stay home for two weeks if at all possible (except for doctors appointments) so that I don't slip and fall or get in a fender bender and pop open my incision. I'm already getting cabin fever.

Ready to head home.

Joshua's First Hiccups

Phone Phobia

Today I added little baby Joshua to our insurance, which involved calling our insurance company. I also set up his two week doctor appointment. Yesterday I called my OB's office TWICE with questions about my ... ah ... digestion ... problem.

I'm so proud of myself.

Phone calls I still need to make:

Hospital billing, utilities, WIC, I'm sure there's more I've been putting off

Don't forget to give me your email address. I'll be going private tonight or tomorrow.

Uncomfortable, Unbequem

There were some discomforts I was ready to deal with after having a baby, but there were some I just wasn't ready for because I didn't know about them. Honestly, they shouldn't even exist.

Probably the biggest discomfort is having a cold after having a C-section. Nobody should have to go through that. Somebody needs to find a cure for the common cold. It would make the world a happier place. It would foster world peace!

Not that I'm complaining...wasn't 9 months of discomfort enough!?

Now that I've cleared the air, on another note, don't forget to send me your email address so I can add you to the reader list when I go private.

Happy Monday. One week!

Changes

Just a quick note to say...

Yes, I had a baby on Monday, December 27th at 6:14pm.

I will be making the blog private before I post more on the subject, so please let me know your email address so I can invite you to view the privatized blog.