Lilypie First Birthday tickers
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Part 2 :)
So much has happened this week that I'm shocked I am managing another blog post this early.
I left off with us leaving the hospital on Friday night, getting home around 11:00pm. Matt was great the whole time we were in the hospital, and it continued when we got home. Helping me take care of Isabella while I'm a huge hormonal mess. We tried our best to sleep Friday night, but Isabella has other plans. She isn't big on sleeping alone, and once we put her down after she has fallen asleep, she wakes up again and cries. That was Friday night. Saturday morning my parents, sister, niece and my grandmother came over to see Isabella. Then my friend Teresa and her mother came to meet Isabella also. People were gone by noon and we spent the rest of the day relaxing and taking care of Isabella. Sunday we relaxed for the most part. Matt cleaned up and made dinner and cookies for dessert.
On Monday Isabella had her first pediatrician appointment. She was weighed and we found out she had lost an entire pound off her birth weight. Plus she had another jaundice test done (she had one done at the hospital and her score was 13, 0-7 is normal). The results of this test showed her jaundice level at 18, she was almost admitted to the hospital. They were concerned, but not enough to send her to the hospital just yet. They wanted to give her a chance to get over it on her own. At this point too, she was having trouble at home with her eating. I'm sure that had something to do with her jaundice level not going down, but going up. The only way for babies to lose their jaundice is to poop it out, and she wasn't pooping because she wasn't eating well. So the nurse practitioner at the pediatricians office (our pediatrician saw us at the hospital but is now on vacation until this next week) suggested we start feeding Isabella every 1 1/2 hours. Oh my gosh...that was crazy! We hardly slept, getting up to feed her every hour and a half. We did that Monday night, then went back into the office on Tuesday so they could evaluate her jaundice again and weigh her. She had gained one ounce over night (YAY!) and her jaundice was looking better, but still not well, so they did another test, and the result of that one was 14 I believe. It went down from 18, so that was another good thing! He still wanted us to keep feeding her every 1 1/2 hours...that was disappointing because we were hoping for some more sleep. Oh well, you do what you need to do. We went back to the office on Wednesday afternoon (after standing with her in the sun in our living room for about an hour. Apparently that's another way to help them get rid of the jaundice) and had her weighed, and she had gained another ounce and a half. Slowly she was starting to do better. He didn't even test her jaundice level on Wed because he could visibly tell that she was less yellow looking. He said we didn't have to come in again until Friday to give her an extra day to get better. Also on Wednesday, when we got home, I noticed that I was having some calf muscle pain. I remembered that on my discharge paperwork from the hospital it said something about calling my healthcare provider if I was having calf pain, firmness, warmth etc. So I called my doctors office and told them I was having calf muscle pain. They strongly suggested I go to the ER and be checked for blood clots. So of course I start freaking out, thinking any minute I'm going to drop dead with leg blood clots. So we called my mom out to the house to babysit because after all, going to the ER sometimes you are hanging around for hours and hours. Well, an hour and a half later, and a doctor telling me I'm fine and most likely the pain is just from the whole delivery process, we were back home. Glad I went and had it checked though!!
Today (Friday) we went to her pediatricians appointment and had her weighed. She had gained 6 1/2 ounces since Wednesday! Plus she isn't yellow at all! She is doing so much better now. I'm glad that's getting better. We aren't feeding her as often anymore, now it's more like every 2 - 2 1/2 hours or so. Since she is gaining so well, we aren't going to force her to eat anymore when she doesn't want to. After that appointment, we had to run to my doctors office because I was having symptoms of a UTI, most likely from the catheter I had in the hospital. They tested me, and sure enough I do. They don't want to put me on meds though because what they would put me on I won't be able to breast feed Isabella. So they gave me instructions to chug the cranberry juice this weekend and try to flush out in the infection with out drugs. We will see how well that goes. At the same time, they took my blood pressure and it was high. My blood pressure has been high for months and for some reason now it's turning into a big deal. So much so that the doctor put me on high blood pressure meds! ACK! I still can't believe this...28 years old and I'm on high blood pressure meds. Hopefully it won't be for too long. My 2 weeks postpartum appointment is on Wednesday and they will be checking me again then to see how it's going.
Matt and Isabella had dropped me off at my doctors appointment because my mom, sister, grandma and grandpa were due to meet us at our house to visit with Isabella after her appointment (mine was last minute). It worked out so they actually picked me up from my doctor's office and took me home so Matt didn't have to come back. We had a nice visit with everyone. My sister had made us a couple of casseroles and a couple of quiches for us to freeze. We ate one of the casseroles tonight and it was really good! We are very thankful for food that we don't have to prepare, just heat up. Especially after a long day like today was. After everyone left we had yet another appointment to go to, then we had to run to Walgreens to get my prescription then finally we were home. Poor Isabella has left the house every single day this week. She liked the car rides though :)
Also this week we have been having a furnace crisis. Over the winter we have been having issues with the furnace not working. It won't kick on when it should, and Matt will have to go and mess with it. We have been more worried about it recently having an infant in the house. Sometimes it would get so cold at night, it would be 56 degrees. Well he called a heating place this week and had them come out and look at the furnace. Apparently it's original to the house (1989), Lennox doesn't even make it anymore, and you can't get parts for it either. Awesome. So in a nutshell, we are getting a new furnace, courtesy of the Mat-Su Borough. That is a blessing because the least expensive one (including labor) is around $6,100. So that will be installed on Tuesday. We are pretty excited about it too because it's going to be a way better furnace, higher efficacy, and it's going to regulate the temperature in each room better. Isabella is always sleeping in our room because it's the warmest room. Eventually she will need to start sleeping in her room, but right now even with the house temp set at 66 her room doesn't get that warm. Our room, on the other hand gets to 70 so we feel better about her being in here. So on Tuesday while they are installing the new furnace, Isabella and I will be spending the day in our bedroom with a space heater going and the door closed.
Well, I think that's about it. Like, I said, this has been a week and it's been very tiring, scary and exciting. I hope in the coming weeks we will be able to get a little more sleep and get back to being half way normal. :)
It occurred to me after I posted the last blog that I didn't include any pictures! Here you go!
I left off with us leaving the hospital on Friday night, getting home around 11:00pm. Matt was great the whole time we were in the hospital, and it continued when we got home. Helping me take care of Isabella while I'm a huge hormonal mess. We tried our best to sleep Friday night, but Isabella has other plans. She isn't big on sleeping alone, and once we put her down after she has fallen asleep, she wakes up again and cries. That was Friday night. Saturday morning my parents, sister, niece and my grandmother came over to see Isabella. Then my friend Teresa and her mother came to meet Isabella also. People were gone by noon and we spent the rest of the day relaxing and taking care of Isabella. Sunday we relaxed for the most part. Matt cleaned up and made dinner and cookies for dessert.
On Monday Isabella had her first pediatrician appointment. She was weighed and we found out she had lost an entire pound off her birth weight. Plus she had another jaundice test done (she had one done at the hospital and her score was 13, 0-7 is normal). The results of this test showed her jaundice level at 18, she was almost admitted to the hospital. They were concerned, but not enough to send her to the hospital just yet. They wanted to give her a chance to get over it on her own. At this point too, she was having trouble at home with her eating. I'm sure that had something to do with her jaundice level not going down, but going up. The only way for babies to lose their jaundice is to poop it out, and she wasn't pooping because she wasn't eating well. So the nurse practitioner at the pediatricians office (our pediatrician saw us at the hospital but is now on vacation until this next week) suggested we start feeding Isabella every 1 1/2 hours. Oh my gosh...that was crazy! We hardly slept, getting up to feed her every hour and a half. We did that Monday night, then went back into the office on Tuesday so they could evaluate her jaundice again and weigh her. She had gained one ounce over night (YAY!) and her jaundice was looking better, but still not well, so they did another test, and the result of that one was 14 I believe. It went down from 18, so that was another good thing! He still wanted us to keep feeding her every 1 1/2 hours...that was disappointing because we were hoping for some more sleep. Oh well, you do what you need to do. We went back to the office on Wednesday afternoon (after standing with her in the sun in our living room for about an hour. Apparently that's another way to help them get rid of the jaundice) and had her weighed, and she had gained another ounce and a half. Slowly she was starting to do better. He didn't even test her jaundice level on Wed because he could visibly tell that she was less yellow looking. He said we didn't have to come in again until Friday to give her an extra day to get better. Also on Wednesday, when we got home, I noticed that I was having some calf muscle pain. I remembered that on my discharge paperwork from the hospital it said something about calling my healthcare provider if I was having calf pain, firmness, warmth etc. So I called my doctors office and told them I was having calf muscle pain. They strongly suggested I go to the ER and be checked for blood clots. So of course I start freaking out, thinking any minute I'm going to drop dead with leg blood clots. So we called my mom out to the house to babysit because after all, going to the ER sometimes you are hanging around for hours and hours. Well, an hour and a half later, and a doctor telling me I'm fine and most likely the pain is just from the whole delivery process, we were back home. Glad I went and had it checked though!!
Today (Friday) we went to her pediatricians appointment and had her weighed. She had gained 6 1/2 ounces since Wednesday! Plus she isn't yellow at all! She is doing so much better now. I'm glad that's getting better. We aren't feeding her as often anymore, now it's more like every 2 - 2 1/2 hours or so. Since she is gaining so well, we aren't going to force her to eat anymore when she doesn't want to. After that appointment, we had to run to my doctors office because I was having symptoms of a UTI, most likely from the catheter I had in the hospital. They tested me, and sure enough I do. They don't want to put me on meds though because what they would put me on I won't be able to breast feed Isabella. So they gave me instructions to chug the cranberry juice this weekend and try to flush out in the infection with out drugs. We will see how well that goes. At the same time, they took my blood pressure and it was high. My blood pressure has been high for months and for some reason now it's turning into a big deal. So much so that the doctor put me on high blood pressure meds! ACK! I still can't believe this...28 years old and I'm on high blood pressure meds. Hopefully it won't be for too long. My 2 weeks postpartum appointment is on Wednesday and they will be checking me again then to see how it's going.
Matt and Isabella had dropped me off at my doctors appointment because my mom, sister, grandma and grandpa were due to meet us at our house to visit with Isabella after her appointment (mine was last minute). It worked out so they actually picked me up from my doctor's office and took me home so Matt didn't have to come back. We had a nice visit with everyone. My sister had made us a couple of casseroles and a couple of quiches for us to freeze. We ate one of the casseroles tonight and it was really good! We are very thankful for food that we don't have to prepare, just heat up. Especially after a long day like today was. After everyone left we had yet another appointment to go to, then we had to run to Walgreens to get my prescription then finally we were home. Poor Isabella has left the house every single day this week. She liked the car rides though :)
Also this week we have been having a furnace crisis. Over the winter we have been having issues with the furnace not working. It won't kick on when it should, and Matt will have to go and mess with it. We have been more worried about it recently having an infant in the house. Sometimes it would get so cold at night, it would be 56 degrees. Well he called a heating place this week and had them come out and look at the furnace. Apparently it's original to the house (1989), Lennox doesn't even make it anymore, and you can't get parts for it either. Awesome. So in a nutshell, we are getting a new furnace, courtesy of the Mat-Su Borough. That is a blessing because the least expensive one (including labor) is around $6,100. So that will be installed on Tuesday. We are pretty excited about it too because it's going to be a way better furnace, higher efficacy, and it's going to regulate the temperature in each room better. Isabella is always sleeping in our room because it's the warmest room. Eventually she will need to start sleeping in her room, but right now even with the house temp set at 66 her room doesn't get that warm. Our room, on the other hand gets to 70 so we feel better about her being in here. So on Tuesday while they are installing the new furnace, Isabella and I will be spending the day in our bedroom with a space heater going and the door closed.
Well, I think that's about it. Like, I said, this has been a week and it's been very tiring, scary and exciting. I hope in the coming weeks we will be able to get a little more sleep and get back to being half way normal. :)
It occurred to me after I posted the last blog that I didn't include any pictures! Here you go!
Sleepy Isabella
Isabella with Grandma Forbes
Proud Papa
Isabella with Grandma and Grandpa Forbes
The new family
Isabella - 3 days old
Isabella and her cousin Ashlynn
Isabella - 1 day old
Going home!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Announcing Isabella Faith Schneider!
Isabella Faith Schneider was born on January 12th at 7:47am. She was 6 pounds 14oz and 19 1/2 inches long.
I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update the blog! Those of you who have had a newborn in the house, and a first time parent, I'm sure will understand. It's been a hectic first week since Isabella has come into our lives. I will have to make this blog post the first of a series due to my time restraints these days. :)
Matt and I went into the hospital on Wednesday Jan 11th at 3:00pm for my induction to start. Once we got settled into a room, one of my midwives came to start my induction. We were told that it could be a process, and may take days to complete it's cycle. They had me set up on the NST machine to monitor the baby. They noticed that I was having contractions (painless) while I was hooked up. Matt and I decided to watch a little tv to pass the time before we started in on our "stuff to do while waiting for labor to start" bag. Watching The Family Guy and American Dad apparently was the trick to get my labor going. I started having serious contractions in just a few hours. Then the back labor started...
After some time passed, Matt got me into the shower (they wouldn't let me take a bath because of the type of induction I got. It wouldn't allow me to sit in water). Spraying water on my lower back was supposed to help with the back labor pain. It did not! So back to the bed I went. The only comfortable position for me was laying in bed. I was pretty disappointed because we had planned on having me sit on the birthing ball, walking around, etc. By 1:00am or so I was having fast and extremely painful contractions. I had to ask for some pain relief. They gave me something to take the edge off the contractions through my IV. The only problem was it would only last about 20 minutes or so, and they could only administer it once an hour. So I had about 20 minutes of tolerable contractions and about 40 minutes of so much pain I couldn't breath. Finally around 4:00am we decided it would be best to get the epidural. We weren't against it, we just wanted it as a very last resort. I signed all the forms, and an hour later I was sitting upright with a needle in my back. That was the hardest part, sitting still when I'm having the most painful contractions it's making me shake really bad. But, we got it done, and I spent the next few hours resting. Once I started getting contractions that they call "pushing contractions" I let the nurse know and they got my midwife there to deliver Isabella. I only pushed for about 20 minutes and out she came.
During labor I had high blood pressure and it didn't correct it's self after delivery, so they had to put me on magnesium for the first 24 hours after delivery to get my blood pressure back to normal. That meant that I was on bed rest for 24 hours. Matt had to do everything for Isabella during that time. I couldn't get out of bed for anything. They had me strapped down by tubes and IV's that even if I wanted to get out of bed, there was no way. We were in the hospital until Friday night at 11:00pm. Isabella was cleared to go home Friday morning and I was cleared to go at 2pm. The hospital just had to get their stuff together before we could leave.
Well, Isabella is waking up, and it's time to feed her. I'll blog more later on when I get another chance :)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Big News :D :D
We had a very interesting doctor appointment today. Nothing had changed, I am still only 1 cm dilated so while we are still in the clear as far as baby size, they have decided to start the induction process tomorrow afternoon. Matt and I will be going to the hospital at 3:00pm to get settled into a room. After my OB's office closes at 5:00pm one of my midwives will be coming by the hospital to insert a pill that will help my cervix soften. The pill will be administered every four hours until sometime the next day (wed). After my OB's office closes on Wednesday evening at 5:00pm my main midwife will be coming by the hospital to start me on pitocin in my IV to get contractions going. Thursday, if nothing is progressing and/or they stop the pitocin and my contractions stop, they will give me a good meal, and send me home. If that happens we will try again Monday or so next week. The main reasons for doing this is because we aren't in a rush YET to have a C-section. The gestational diabetes is of course the factor in this. The longer I'm pregnant, the more of a chance that I'll need a C-section. Next week, we will be in more of a rush to get the baby out because of "baby size". So we may or may not have a baby by the end of the week :)
On a more fun and less stressful and anxiety ridden note, my mom finished making the curtains and we got them put up in the baby's room:
Close up of fabric
Closed
Open
Mom did a really good job, I know it wasn't easy to get these done. Thanks mom!
My friend Crystal bought and brought over our new crib on Saturday. Sunday afternoon Matt and I put it together:
Thanks to my sister, Jody we have the crib sheets and skirt. Matt's mom, Susan made the quilt hanging on the back. We are super excited that the nursery is done! Just in the nick of time too...
So we will try and keep this blog updated and things progress while we are in the hospital. We will be in the hospital for AT LEAST three days just getting things going, so we will have plenty of time to blog and be online while we are waiting. Thanks to everyone who has commented on the last post! Your words helped!!
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Year/NST and Ultrasound
Happy New Year Everybody!!
I hope everyone had a very happy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Matt and I made it another low key holiday for us this year. Trying to take advantage of our "last quiet holiday". Matt had to go to Talkeetna on New Year's Eve during the day for work, but he made it back in time for a roast chicken dinner and an evening of playing Uno and Monopoly. We watched the ball drop, drank some sparkling cider and headed to bed. Got up early the next morning to go to my parents' house for a New Year's lunch of ham. So yummy!! Now that I think about it, it wasn't really "early", we ate lunch after 11:30 for goodness sake. Just early to us I suppose. We had a really nice holiday, and look forward to having an even better one this year :)
This morning we had another NST/ultrasound. The baby did an OK job cooperating with the machine, but not good enough. The nurse had to "shake the baby" by grabbing my belly and moving it from side to side. Works every time she does that, I guess maybe next time Matt and I should try that right after I get hooked up...if there is a next time. :) :)
The NST was normal, everything looked fine...on to the ultrasound. My fluid level went up from 11 last Wed to 16 today. Excellent!! Because it fixed its self, nothing needs to be decided now as far as an early induction or C-section. YAY!! Also, my sugars are still looking OK. The doctor just told me to keep at it, even though it's getting old. I'm doing pretty well. We did have her check my cervix to see if I have dilated. I have...to 1 centimeter. EEK!! Things are happening, slowly but surely. Matt and I are convinced that this baby won't last until her due date. I have been having massive pressure on my pelvic bone and hips lately. Not to mention the "under the belly pain" I have been dealing with the last couple of days. On top of the Braxton Hicks contractions, I feel like I'm about to lose my mind. For some reason, yesterday, my right calf muscle started to hurt, almost like I had a charlie horse...with out the charlie horse. Strange stuff...
Matt really wants the baby to be born on 1/11/11. That would be kinda cool, but it just isn't the luck of the Forbes to have something that cool happen. Maybe the Schneider luck is better? If that date won't do, then have her at 1:11am/pm or at 11:11am/pm. LOL, either way she needs to come out and I'm still unsure how that is going to happen.
My next appointment is on Monday, Jan 10th. I'm pretty sure it's just another NST and an OB check. They didn't say anything about another ultrasound. We will see if I have dilated any more by then.
We are almost done organizing the house, the nursery and washing everything for the baby. We FINALLY got our tree down today. I was terrified of going into labor, going to the hospital, having the baby, and coming home to the tree still needing to be put away. Now that fear is squashed.
By the way, if at any time anyone wants to give me any labor/delivery advice you are MORE than welcome. Just don't try to scare me!
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