Isobel's Birth Story

Isobel's due date was November 28- Thanksgiving day. I was hoping she would come a few days early so I would have most of this week to recover before going back to classes. To my surprise she actually came almost a whole week late. I had my doctor appointment on Tuesday, Dec. 3 around 4PM. My doctor told me I was already at a 5. I thought "wow, 5 cm already?" I had no contractions or any signs of labor all day. We decided to go home and get some rest. If she wasn't here by morning (7:00 to be exact) we were going to go to the hospital and have my doctor break my water.

We went home, called our parents to tell them the news, and then had dinner around 6PM. It was during this time that I began to feel my contractions. They were about 1 minute every half hour or so. We got Xavier all bathed and ready for bed and took him over to our friend Margo's house. We did this so we wouldn't have to wake him in the middle of the night if we had to go in to the hospital. By this time Drake's family and my mom were all on their way down.

I could feel my contractions getting stronger as the evening went on, so at 10PM I decided it was time to try to sleep. I tossed and turned all night, going in and out of sleep. I don't know if it was because of the contractions or because I was excited to finally be meeting my daughter soon. Either way I didn't get much sleep that night. My mom arrived at our house sometime in the middle of the night and went to bed. At 2:30AM I woke up Drake and my mom and told them it was time to go. At this point my contractions were pretty strong and pretty close together. I didn't time it exactly but they were happening every few steps I took.

We were all checked into the hospital room by 2:45. The rest is a little blurry. I remember the nurse asking me a lot of questions. Some I answered myself, the others were answered by my mom and husband. It was hard to think/ talk through the contractions. The doctor came in and was washing her hands right as my water broke. She told me it was time to push. I don't know how long I pushed for, but I know it wasn't very long. At 3:55AM Isobel joined us. I got to hold her right away while they cleaned her and Drake cut the cord. I was able to breastfeed right away. She latched much easier than Xavier did! She came down so quickly that she got bruises around her nose, poor thing!

My mom, and Drake's family were able to visit Isobel in the hospital. My dad and siblings didn't come down until the weekend because of work and school. Xavier couldn't come visit either because of the hospital's policy- no person under age 12 could be in the room during flu season. Drake and I went 2 days without seeing Xavier. This was hard for me to handle! I did get to talk to him on the phone a few times which helped a little.

Increasing/Keeping Up Milk Production

With Xavier I struggled with breastfeeding. I had a very low supply and had to supplement with formula. After 3 months my body stopped producing all together. With Isobel I am able to breastfeed, but still struggle a little bit. Here are the things I have learned about breastfeeding:

1. Fluids and rest are the best things for milk production.

2.Supply and Demand! The more your baby nurses, the more your body will produce. On my off days, Isobel feeds more often (sometimes even every 30 minutes). By the end of the day I have so much milk I don't know what to do with it ( not literally! I pump it and freeze it for future use)

3.Supplementing is horrible for breastfeeding. Don't supplement unless absolutely necessary! If you must supplement always offer formula after you have breast fed.

4. If supplementation is not necessary, don't even keep formula in the house for those "just in case" moments. If you need the added security of making sure your baby has something to eat if your body fails you, pump after each feeding and keep it accessible. I do this because there are days when my body struggles to produce milk. I let Isobel eat from the breast until she is fed up with it (not to the point where she is inconsolable) and then give her a bottle of pre-pumped milk. I pump on the days when my body decides to go into overdrive and produces more than she eats.

5. Mother's milk tea does not work. I tried drinking this with X to increase my supply and never noticed a difference. It could work different for each person, but I would suggest increasing supply by adding certain foods to your diet. Oatmeal does wonders for milk production! I have oatmeal with ginger (which is also good for supply) every morning to boost my supply for the day.

6. Prenatal vitamins are a must. I notice a big change in my supply if I forget to take my prenatal vitamin. If I don't take my prenatal in the morning I notice a decrease for that day. If I remember it by lunch, my milk production usually comes back up in time for her bedtime feeding.

7. Stay close to your baby. Try not to spend too much time away from your baby. I know this is hard for working and/or school attending moms. When you are home spend as much time with your baby as you can. If you spend too much time away, your body will not produce as much.

8. Nurse as often as you can. Stimulation from your baby suckling is much better than pumping. Try to nurse as much as possible. Again I know this is hard for moms in school or work.

9. Feed your baby as soon as you see signs of hunger. If you wait until your baby is crying and upset it is harder to get them to latch. When you hear your baby cry, your body will "leak" milk. This is not only a waste of your supply, but also makes a mess. It can leak through your shirt.

10. Do your best to offer both breasts at one feeding. This is mostly just for your comfort. If your baby only eats from one breast at a time, your breasts will always be uneven which can feel very uncomfortable.

Xavier's Birth Story

On October 19, 2011, 2 days after my due date, I had my doctor appointment. My doctor checked me and told me I was 3cm dilated (I don't remember how much effaced). She then hooked me up to the fetal stress monitor and informed me that I was also contracting, which I couldn't feel at all. The monitor showed that Xavier's heart beat dropped with every contraction. This was cause for concern as it meant he was under stress, so she sent me to the hospital to be induced and monitored.

I went back home first to get Drake and my hospital bag. We arrived at the hospital around 11:00 am. I got all checked in and settled in my room and at noon the doctor came in and broke my water and put me on pitocin. The contractions were very painful, but I chose to go without any pain medication. Drake stood by my side the entire time I was in labor. Our families got there around 6:00 pm. Eventually my body was contracting enough on it's own that I was taken off the pitocin. Since I didn't have to be monitored anymore I went to take a bath to try to relax a little bit and ease the pain. I stayed in the water until it was cold.

When I got back to my room I was put back onto pitocin. They had me on it off and on for the remainder of my labor. I tried to sleep, but had little luck. At about 2:30 am I felt like I was ready to push. We called the doctor in, but when she checked me I was only at 9cm. She said it was almost 10 and she could stretch it. So I started pushing at about 2:35. At 2:55 am on October 20, Xavier arrived weighing 7 lbs 14 oz. I got to hold him right away and was so amazed to see such a little person in my arms-my little person! I ripped in the process, so I was being stitched up while Xavier was being cleaned. Drake and I got very little time to ourselves with our son before his visitors came in to see him. Everybody was very excited to see him. Here are just a few pictures.

Fall Tree Craft

This week's craft was a fall tree. It was a simple one because I had to study all day. I glued a bare tree (made out of napkins because we don't have brown construction paper) to the background. I let Xavier help me squeeze some glue out for the "leaves" that I had pre-cut for him. I told him to glue the paper onto it, but I don't think he understands yet. He grabbed handfuls of the cut paper and just put them all in one big pile on the glue. I had to show him how to spread it across to all the parts of background that had glue on it. He put clumps of "leaves" on the paper until he could no longer see the background. After shaking off the excess, here is how it came out.

The leaves are falling off the tree into piles on the ground. The important part is that he had fun!

Xavier's "All About Me" Book

Xavier's daycare requested that the parents do an "all about me book" with their kiddos. We had a lot of fun with this! I sat down and planned out all the pages and made sure I had all of the supplies ready to go so all he had to do was put it together. I don't have pictures of the supplies or of us putting it together (I was alone when were doing it-Drake had to work), but here are the pictures of the finished pages.

I chose this picture because he is having so much fun!

I probably should have taken another picture, but this one was just so cute

He absolutely loved doing this page! He loves his stickers!
(Please disregard my misspelling of lightning!)

The picture is hard to see, but he is putting his train tracks together.

He made his own little book.
He wrote (scribbled) on all of the pages.

He sings this song anytime he is bored.
In the car, while waiting for food, during bath-anytime!

He had too much fun with this one!
We glued actual dirt to this page, but he got more on himself than the page.

Here is a recipe for his favorite dish-pizza!

The Fair!

Sorry this post is so late, I had a busy week. We went to the fair last Saturday, 10/5. Xavier had fun. His favorite part was the little petting zoo that was there. There were llamas, cows, horses, sheep, pigs, camels, and alpacas. We all got to pet and feed the animals. Xavier didn't understand that the animals ate from your hand. He kept trying to hand the animals their food and eventually just started dropping the food into the pens. He finally let me help him keep his hand flat to feed them and he laughed when he felt their lips tough his hand. I guess he thought it tickled.

We also saw a puppet show. He would pay attention every now and then, if there was a loud noise or a song he recognized. For the most part he just sat in my lap and cuddled. We saw a live shark encounter too. This didn't keep Xavier's attention at all. We were sitting on bleachers and all he wanted to do was squirm and get down. Drake and I enjoyed the show (the parts we saw when X actually sat still).

Helping Mom and Dad feed

Our little cowboy in his cowboy boots watching the animals

Puppet show

Just cuddling

I couldn't get low enough and X is turning away...

I didn't get any pictures of the shark show. It was pretty crowded and Xavier wouldn't sit still.

Parade!

On Saturday (9/28) we went to our first parade as a family. Drake and I had never gone together and it was Xavier's very first parade. He seemed to like it OK. His favorite parts were the cars and horses. Like father like son. Xavier would point to any car that came by, even the ones pulling the floats. He was more excited for those than the floats themselves. Drake also liked all the cars (as you will see from the pictures, he was behind the camera). Neither of the boys payed much attention to the cheerleaders, gymnasts, or bands (which have always been my favorite part of a parade).

Xavier got some candy too. One girl walked up to him and handed him a bag of sour skittles. Who buys skittles for a parade? He was too occupied with the sucker he was already eating to really care about the skittles. It was a pretty clear day, so we all got sun burnt...oops! I forgot the sunscreen.

Tried to take a family picture, but Xavier didn't want to be a part of it.

Waving at the tractor

Looking tired

Waving to the pony

The Ballet

Part of the ballet...not sure what was up with the mouse thing...
maybe the rat king from The Nutcracker?

Excited about something after the band...I don't remember what it was.