2 Months and Giggles

Another month has come and gone.  I'm amazed at how much Katelyn changes in even just a week.  Here are some key developments:

• Her stats: 9.26 lbs (13%), 21.65" (22%), head 14.6" (9%)
• She's fitting in the 0-3 month clothes really well, but the Carter's brand 3 month size is still a little too big.  The size 1 Huggies are starting to fit better too, she has really chunky thighs but a little waist, so it's hard to get them on tight.
• She smiles and giggles a lot more and will try to imitate you sticking out your tongue.
• She's eating just formula now, and eats 2-4 oz every 3-4 hours.
• She slept for over 10 hours two nights in a row! Too bad that didn't last long, now she's back to around 5 hours for the night.
• Her eyelashes have gone from blonde to brown and I'm pretty sure they've gotten longer too.
• She love love loves baths!  Sometimes that's the only way I can get her to stop crying at night.  The minute she even hears the water running she'll calm down.
• She is still a little colicky, some days are better than others.  The worst day I remember was almost nonstop crying from 1-9 pm, but most days it's closer to just a couple hours.
• She's getting close to rolling over, sometimes she'll sleep on her side.  She's also getting close to being able to hold her head up, I guess that tummy time is paying off.
• We like going for walks in the stroller.  Katelyn likes being outside and moving, and will usually fall asleep, and I like getting outside and exercising, and having her fall asleep.
• The cats are starting to show a little more interest in her, but for the most part they leave her alone.  Pepper does get concerned when Kate's crying really hard and will come over to investigate.

We finally got a motorized swing, a baby monitor, and a rocking chair.  The swing works great at keeping her in a good mood, but it won't calm her down if she's already crying.  It's nice finally having a monitor so she can sleep in her crib at night and I can hear her crying loud enough to wake up.  It's just a cheap monitor that my friend gave me, but it works great for my needs and Doug doesn't have to worry about it getting hacked.  We got the rocking chair at Shopko (I'm surprised Shopkos are even still around) and it's so nice.  It makes the mid-night feedings a lot more comfortable, I find myself falling asleep while I burp her.

Doug gave her a sweet blessing on March 29th.  One of my favorite parts was that she'll look out for others with a kind heart and be a good example of Christ.  It was so nice that Doug's brothers and both of our dads were able to be there in the circle.  She has so many people who love her and good examples to follow.  Doug had to leave for New York that night after the blessing.  I think I did well taking care of her on my own for a few days.  I guess it helped that Mom came over almost every night....

I need some crackers for all this cheese.

This is a Wubbanub, it's supposed to help keep the pacifier in place, I'm still on the fence about its effectiveness, but it's sure cute.

Her very first Nikes

Pepper wanted to go to New York with Doug.

Kate's blessing outfit.  I found the dress at Macy's for $20, the rest were pieces I already had.

She's happiest when she first wakes up.

2 months down, a lifetime to go.

Where did time go?

I can't believe it's been a month already.  Sometimes it feels a lot longer than that, and other days it feels like we just brought her home.  Here are the highlights of the past month:

• Weight: About 8.5 lbs, Length: About 19"
• She's mostly outgrown newborn clothes now, and the 0-3 month clothes are fitting a little better (Some brands fit better than others. I've noticed Old Navy, Children's Place, and Garanimals run slightly smaller and the Carter's brand, especially the one from Kohl's, is a little larger.)
• She eats up to 4 oz of breastmilk every 3 hours, and at night 3 oz of formula will last her 4-5 hours.
• She likes: Baths, cuddles with daddy, car rides, and tummy time.
• She dislikes: Cold wipes, mom picking her boogers, kitties licking her toes, and getting dressed.
• My wedding ring fits again! I don't think I've worn it since November.  Still working on getting in to my pre-pregnancy jeans, but I have lost 30 of the 38 lbs. I haven't really done any dieting or exercising, so I'm hoping once I get the all clear from my doctor I can get everything back to normal.

It looks like she's smiling, but I won't count it until she smiles in response to someone smiling at her.

And here is a video of her getting the hiccups during the photo shoot.

Announcing the birth of Katelyn Eula

It was Wednesday night and Doug and I were in our room watching tv.  I started feeling what I thought could be contractions at around 7:00 pm, but they didn't hurt and they were sporadic so I thought it could be Braxton Hicks, maybe, if it was even a contraction at all.  Then around 9:00 pm I noticed they were more regular, so I tried timing them.  They averaged 7-8 minutes apart, and lasted anywhere from 1-2 minutes, but I still wasn't positive it was a contraction.  I kept timing them and by 10:30 pm they hadn't gotten closer together or more intense so I told Doug I'd last out the night and just go to my scheduled doctor appointment in the morning to see if I had progressed.  Doug went to sleep, and I tried to go to sleep, but I was feeling so uncomfortable.  It was mostly in my back, I couldn't sit still.  I woke Doug up just before midnight and said I wanted to try going to the hospital.  I was okay if they turned me away, but the chance to get an epidural and relieve the discomfort would be worth it.  At this point the "contractions" were about 5 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital and checked in.  The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 5 centimeters and almost fully effaced.  I got to stay!  They took me to a delivery room and it wasn't long before I got the glorious epidural.  I did make it hard for the anesthesiologist because he'd touch my back and I would twitch... I'm really ticklish.  He said to keep still, but I couldn't help it.  I wasn't worried about the shot, it was just a reflex.  After that the nurse would come and check me about every hour and I kept progressing slowly.  About 3:00 am the doctor on-call came in and broke my water.  The nurse told me to page her if it ever got to the point where I felt pressure and wanted to push.  I finally felt something like that at around 6:30 am.  The nurse said I was dilated to 10 centimeters but her head was sideways.  My doctor didn't come in until 7:00 am, so the nurse wanted to check with the on-call doctor to see if we should start pushing right now or wait a little while and see if my contractions would turn the baby on their own.  We decided to wait, and it turns out that my doctor actually got in at 6:45 am.  The baby still hadn't turned on her own, so during a contraction my doctor turned her the right way.

We were in the pushing stage now.  It took a little while because my contractions weren't very consistent.  Some were farther apart than others.  It still didn't take too long because at 7:30 the doctor said that one last push would do it, and she was born at 7:31 am.  They handed her to me and she proceeded to have her very first bowel movement.  I was so happy she had hair!  And she was so little!  She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long.  After her first initial cry she was really quiet.   Doug had decided he would cut the cord (I was surprised), and then they took her off to do some tests.  The doctor finished stitching me up and then they moved me upstairs to a recovery room where we met up with the baby.

She was sooo sleepy that first day and had no interest in eating.  I tried breastfeeding but she wouldn't latch on, even with a nipple shield.  After about 12 hours where she hadn't eaten anything, the nurse gave me some formula and a feeding tube to feed via SNS (Supplemental Nursing System).  That's how she ate the entire stay at the hospital.  I never produced more than a couple drops of colostrum, so without the formula she wouldn't have gotten any nutrition.  We stayed at the hospital until Saturday and then got to go home.

First day fresh from the nursery

Ready for her very first car ride

The first night home was, memorable.  I probably got 30 minutes of sleep between trying to feed her, pump, and then hold her because she'd cry when I put her down.  I was pretty miserable.  On top of that, the SNS feeding wasn't going very well.  To relieve some stress we decided to bottle feed instead, and that decision made all the difference.  She would eat a lot faster (15-20 minutes instead of an hour) and it was painless for me (I was getting very sore because she didn't have a good latch).  Once my milk came in I was able to pump, and we give her breastmilk during the day and supplement with formula during the night.  She sleeps a lot longer on the formula, (3-4 hours) and that makes a big difference.

We had her 2 week appointment today (February 19).  She now weighs 7 lbs 2 oz and her length is 18.7 inches.  The hospital must have measured her wrong at birth, because she was 21 inches, and I don't think babies shrink.  She's in the 15 percentile for weight, 4% for length, and 5% for head circumference.  So basically she's just a little thing.  She eats about 2-3 oz of breastmilk or formula every 3 hours or so.  We're still working on a waking/sleeping pattern.  Some days she'll be awake for 2 hours after eating, and other days she'll sleep for 4 hours.  She doesn't hate tummy time, and is getting really good at lifting up her head and turning it from side to side.  Her umbilical cord fell off a while ago, but the belly button is almost fully healed now.  The Dr. said we are okay to start giving her real baths.

5 days old, still fitting in newborn sizes well.

One week old

Thanks Aunt Jenny for this cute outfit. 

Milo finally got the nerve to get close to her.  Outfit courtesy of Aunt Cathy.

Fingers crossed

I'm down to my weekly doctor visits, and so far they have both gone really well.  The first one (last week) she was still "head down" and I was dilated 1.5 centimeters and 80% effaced (at 36 weeks).  My doctor said this was a really good start, especially for a first time mom.  Even though I hadn't felt any contractions, I had been feeling period-like cramping, and I could feel her down in my hips, if that makes sense.  They did the strep test, and that came back negative as well.  My doctor said I should have my hospital bag and car seat ready because the next couple weeks will go by fast.

I was hoping my appointment today would show progression.  "At least 2.5 centimeters, just give me that."  I have still been having period cramps, but no contractions, so I was worried I'd be the same as last week.  I think the pregnancy gods are smiling down on me, because I progressed to "almost 4 centimeters", 70% effacement, and her head is at station -1.  Before my birth class, none of that would have made sense.  But now I know it means that my body is practically ready to go in to labor whenever the baby decides to come out.  I don't want to get my hopes up too high, but my doctor seemed pretty confident that she should come within the week.

I have my baby shower on Saturday, so I just need her to stay put until then.  Other than that, I'm super ready for her to come.  I can't really sleep on my sides anymore, even when I prop pillows everywhere.  I get stuck and it takes me a good 2 minutes to sit up because everything hurts.  That's one thing I didn't expect about pregnancy, being sore and not having my muscles work properly.  Sure, it's annoying having to maneuver with a giant belly, but I didn't know that equates to sore muscles and ligaments, and physically not being able to lift my legs to put on boots or pants.  I have to sleep sitting up, which apparently makes me snore really loud (poor Doug).  My feet have also gotten huge.  Even shoes that used to be slightly too big, are too tight.  I'm glad it's not summer, but in a way it would be convenient to be able to wear flip flops.  I can feel (and see) her wiggling all the time.  Usually it's not too painful, but every now and then she'll push on my ribs, hips, or back and that doesn't feel good.  She also gets the hiccups multiple times a day.  I don't mind the hiccups, it's good to know she's exercising her diaphragm.

As much as I might complain about the third trimester, it's also a blessing.  I'm so uncomfortable that I'm not so nervous about the delivery.  From this point I know that I'm going to get more uncomfortable and miserable each day until delivery, but once she comes I can start healing and feeling better, if that makes sense.  Kind of like when you have food poisoning and you can feel yourself getting sicker and sicker and you know that as unpleasant as vomiting is, you'll feel so much better after you do.  (Did I really just compare my baby to vomit?  I think it's time for bed).

Little Update

It's been so long since my last post, I don't know where to start catching up.  It felt like the holidays were taking forever to get here and now they're over.  And now that I'm on this side of the new year, it feels like my due date is right around the corner (which it is).

Nothing too eventful has happened in the pregnancy since the last post.  My appointments have all gone well, and I'm down to one more 2-week visit on January 15th, and then 1-week visits from that point on.  I feel her moving constantly, she has a tendency to poke out on my right side.  At my last appointment the doctor said she was head down, and that at this point she will probably stay that way.  I am feeling the sleep deprivation.  Between the heartburn/acid reflux, back pressure, and hip pain, I'm lucky to sleep more than 2 hours at a time.  I was sleeping on the couch for a while because the cushions were softer than my bed, and my tossing and turning wouldn't wake up Doug.  But on Saturday we bought a foam mattress topper from Costco, and it makes the bed so much more comfortable.  It seems like my first trimester nausea has made an unwelcome reappearance as well.  It's the same queasy feeling, but it's not quite as constant as before.  The good news is that I only have about 6 weeks left, and she could even come in 3 weeks and still be "full term".  We just about have the nursery all ready.  She could come now, and we'd be able to get by with what we have.  Here are some belly progression pictures in case you haven't been following me on Facebook ;)

25 weeks

30 weeks

34 weeks.  It feels like my boobs are small, but it's only because my belly is HUUGE.

Rag quilt mom and I made.  It was hard picking "girly" fabric, I was drawn to the boyish stuff.

Pepper claiming the quilt as hers

 In other news, my last day of work was December 31st.  My manager gave me a baby shower/going away/birthday luncheon before Christmas.  It was really sweet of her.  I'll miss some of the people I worked closely with, but overall it's a relief to be done.  My only fear with unemployment is losing a daily routine and becoming lazy.  I expect to relax for a week or so, but after that point I hope to have a new daily routine that involves: showering (makeup is optional), cleaning, personal development (reading, studying, journal writing), and cooking a real dinner.  We'll see how it goes.

Google: Friend or Foe?

I had my "official" ultrasound at the doctor's office on Sept 24th.  She's still a girl!  So that's one less thing I have to worry about.  However, the doctor opened up a whole new can of worms.  He said there was a slight abnormality he wanted to go over.  It looked like Baby had a borderline diagnosis of echogenic bowel.  In normal person terms, the bowels should show up the same density as the liver (tissue) on the ultrasound, so kind of a dark gray.  The lighter something shows up, the more dense it is, so bone shows up completely white.  Her bowels were slightly whiter than the liver, but still darker than bone, so it wasn't a true echogenic bowel diagnosis.  He wanted to bring it up because a true diagnosis is a soft marker for some issues like cystic fibrosis, down syndrome, and a viral infection.  He said he was 95% sure that it was nothing, and it's just a variation (some people are tall, some people are fat, some have dense bowels), but he didn't want to just disregard it.  So he told us to come back for another ultrasound in a month to check on it again.  If that ultrasound showed the bowels still too dense, then he said we should think about doing genetic testing.  He also said, "Don't Google it, you'll freak yourself out."  So of course, we had to Google what it was.  It was actually a little more reassuring to me because I read a lot of cases where they get a false positive, and only very rarely does it actually result in a complication.

Fast forward one month to today.  We went in for the follow-up and it was actually fun to get to see her again (in normal pregnancies your 20 week ultrasound is the last one).  We had a different doctor this time.  The "echogenic bowel" didn't go away, but it didn't get worse either.  This doctor said that we're so borderline that she wouldn't have even noticed it if she didn't know that's specifically what she was looking for.  They even had new technology on the ultrasound machine where they could numerically measure the density level of bone versus the level of the bowels, and that showed that that bone was more dense.  She told us not to worry about it and we can go ahead and proceed with the pregnancy as normal.  Especially since everything else showed up normal.

Stats:
Baby is 30th percentile in size (she's a little small, but they just like to see anything above 10%)
Amniotic fluid measured at 15 (10-25 is normal)
Heart rate 150 bpm
Approximate weight is 1 lb 5 oz.
My blood pressure is good too, 117/70
I've gained about 14 lbs so far, my doctor said I'm alright but to not overdo it during the holidays. (HA!)
I can pretty much feel her moving around every day now.  Mostly after breakfast when I'm sitting at my computer at work, and then at night after dinner while I'm blogging.

We got some better ultrasound pictures this time than we did at the 20 week one.  They did a 3D picture at that one and she looked like an alien, not cute.  But this time she has filled out and they got a much better view.

20 week alien baby

24 week normal-looking baby, pouty lips and all

I already want to kiss those chubby cheeks

I've also bought some of my first outfits.  I can't be trusted at Kohl's with a 30% coupon....

Those are little hot air balloons on the dress.

Hair-bow or Bow-tie?

Patience is not a virtue I was endowed with.  I can be very impulsive at times, and when I know what I want, I want it now. (3 month engagement, bought one of the first houses we walked through, decided I wanted a kitten and brought one home after the first KSL ad, decided I wanted another kitten and brought home another one that day, etc etc.)  So when Doug mentioned that one of his coworkers would go to this place in the mall for an ultrasound to find out the gender early, naturally I was on board.  They claim they can tell the gender as early as 14 weeks, but I didn't trust going that early.  Then the longer we waited, the easier it got to "just wait until the ultrasound at the doctor at 20 weeks."  Plus, I'd have to call to make an appointment, and if you know me, you know I hate talking on the phone.  (Sidenote: You can tell how much I really want something by how quickly I will make the phone call to get it done.  When I saw the KSL ad for Pepper I only deliberated for about 5 minutes before I made an appointment to go see her.)

The Friday approaching my 17 week mark Doug texted me, "Should we find out the gender tomorrow?"  And just like that, I was on board again to go early.  Surprisingly enough, there were even appointments still available for that Saturday, so I made one and then had to patiently wait.  When the time finally came, I was excited and nervous (just like I get before my doctor's appointments).  The guy (doctor) who runs the place was super nice, and right away we were looking at our little baby on the screen.  He asked which gender I thought it would be, and since the beginning I've thought it was a girl.  He said in his experience, mothers are right 80% of the time.  We saw the little heartbeat first, and I was amazed to see the little bones for the spine.

Already practicing yoga

This was the first still shot we saw, and he said he could tell from the profile which gender it was.  I still think he was pulling our leg (that somehow he'd seen a bum shot before focusing on this), but he told us it was a girl, "look at those pouty lips, how could it not be a girl?" he said.

It's a girl!

But then we got to the definitive angles to prove she was a true girl.  Even though I've been fairly certain (95% sure) from the beginning, I still felt awed and amazed to have it confirmed.  It's not an "it" anymore, just using the pronoun "she" makes it feel more real.  There's still a tiny part of me that worries "she" will turn into a "he" by the time I go to my next appointment, but logically I know it's silly.

This is one of my favorite still shots.  Look at those tiny little fingers.

It was a fun experience going there.  He spent quite a bit of time with us, pointing out different body parts.  We got to see her move around, and it was just so reassuring to see activity and know she's okay.  I have my real 20 week ultrasound this next week (Sept. 24th) so we'll see if her gender changes.

Other news: I think I felt her really move for the first time on Sept. 5th.  It was super weird, like a fish flopping around in my abdomen.  To be honest, I didn't really like it and poked at her to make it stop.  Since then I've felt other flutters here and there.  Sometimes it's subtle, like a little tickle, and sometimes it feels like I have a frog jumping around in there.