Calling Crownholm Party of 3

So over the past 10 weeks from our first trip to Labor and Delivery a lot has been going on. First bed rest…BORING! Testing positive several times on the fetal fibronectin test…STRESSFUL! You are probably wondering what the heck that is a fetal fibronectin test…so was I. So I learned is that if you have regular contractions , which I was having every few minutes and not the Braxton Hicks, you get to take this wonderful test every two weeks to see if you are "threatening" to deliver early. Nice terminology right?!? Why the heck would I want to threaten to deliver early?!? Anyway, this test has a 33% accuracy test that you will deliver in the next two weeks. Well, I tested positive each and every time I took it. I have to say the the 10 weeks leading up to delivery weekend were beyond stressful. The only positive I had was that at each of my weekly doc appointments I never dilated or effaced at all. Yeah! The irony of the whole situation was that at my 38w5d appointment (Friday Oct. 29th), the doc said that if I didn't make some progress soon I was going to have to be induced. Go figure! First you have to keep the little bugger in and then you have to maybe be induced to get him out. Any how, they were going to give me a week to make some progress…

I have to say giving me a deadline is the best way to get me to get things done. Well that and I really really wanted a Halloween baby :) I kept telling the hubs that the little man was coming on Halloween. He kept asking, "how do you know?" I didn't know but my heart was set on it.

So Saturday rolls around and we head out to our favorite Indian buffet with my parents. They, whoever they are, say that spicy food helps induce labor. Not sure if thats what kicked me into a tailspin or the fact that I was almost 39 weeks pregnant. Guess we will never know. Well, just a few short hours after lunch…the cramping began. These were some serious cramps. Was it because I hadn't had my period in almost a year or something different. I waited a couple more hours waiting for my parents to leave for their party. The second our front door closed, I called my friend Carrie in a panic. She answered thank goodness and in her calm, cool, collected self said "hey lady! whats going on?" Insert cheery, cute Carrie smile. Ummm, I said, I don't know if I am in labor. Are cramps part of the deal? She said, Yup, you better get to the hospital. Called Jessica, our doula, and off we went to the hospital. When we checked in, I found out that I was 70% effaced and 4cm dilated. Fabulous! I was just starting to think that natural labor wasn't all that bad. Yes, it was a little annoying having an IV hooked up because I had to had to have antibiotics for Strep B flowing through an IV before I gave birth but I was still mobile. Jessica breathed with me, held my hand, calmed me down, helped supported the hubs, read the monitors and probably a million other things that I honestly cant remember. Each time the nurse came in to check on me and the baby, I was another couple centimeters and completely effaced. By 9pm that night I was dilated 9cm…only a centimeter away from pushing. I was starting to panic. Not because I was about to have a baby but because I was supposed to have a Halloween baby…OK, this is when I learned the whole careful for what you wish for thing. Little did I know that the next three hours were going to be a sheer nightmare.

For the next three hours my contractions were one on top of the other, back labor started from the baby turned the wrong direction, my water still had not broke and I was starting to panic. The doctor came in and broke my water. And still nothing…I was stuck at 9cm. The hubs knows me well enough that when I start panicking and telling him the pain was too much, I was being serious. He quickly got the nurse who paged the anesthesiologist right away. 30 minutes later, I had the epidural and pertocin to hopefully get the baby to drop and help me to dilate the last centimeter. Somewhere in there, I passed out because my body does not react well to drugs. Little man Crownholm's heart rate dropped to 60bpm from 160 bpm and the panic in the room began. Doctors and nurses came flying in, fetal head monitors went in and I awoke to someone putting shots in my arm to stop the contractions. Thank goodness Jessica was there to support my hubs and he stood by not totally knowing what was going on.

Somewhere in there I feel asleep until 7:30am…Halloween morning and still no baby. No dilation and we were off to have a c-section. Boo! I was even more scared about having a c-section than delivering naturally. The fact that I would be awake while having a pretty serious procedure done. The good news was that the baby would be out in 30 minutes. Well whether I liked it or not, it was going to happen. They pulled our baby out and I know you are supposed to have the "OMG they are so precious looking" reaction but we didn't. Baby C came out with a whole head of hair on a serious cone head. To make matter worse, his face was all smushed up on one side and paralyzed looking. The hubs and I had the reaction of "WOW! Thats our baby???" We will just say he was not quite a looker post birth. Did we absolutely fall in love with him…YES! Something else people don't tell you post birth is that you will shake uncontrollably for what seems like forever. I wanted to hold our baby but I was far too shaky. It took almost a half an hour before I was able to hold him. And when I did…it hit me. We were parents, this was our son and we had truly began our family.

Another thing…nobody tells you that you literally blow up with all the IVs…I think I was 11 in and puffier than I could ever imagine.

Baby Must Haves Part 1

ok...so I have never spent a lot of time around infants, thus the past few months have been a HUGE learning curve. Some baby must haves that I have learned a new mom needs include:

Mylicon: A great gas cure
Colic Calm: A more organic way to get your baby to pass gas

*Never have I been so excited for a man to pass gas...yes a peaceful gas passing has been exciting news for me the past month

Destin: Diaper Rash solver
A and D ointment: to help prevent diaper rash

For the time before cloth diapering begins...Pampers Swaddlers SENSITIVE is a must. I learned the hard way that the dry max causes some serious diaper rash which then causes some SERIOUS discomfort. OK…so we keep trying the cute cloth diapers but this little guy needs to seriously put some chub chub on his legs still…so for now we have gone with compostable diapers Seventh Generation. Awesome!

A Wiper Warmer: I totally thought this was such a joke but every mom of a baby boy swore by this. In good faith I set it next to the changing table but did not plug it in. I think after the 20th time of getting pee'd on I thought maybe I should try this thing…fancy enough…haven't been pee'd on since :)

The latest and greatest...NoseFrida, the Snotsucker

So after stalking several Whole Foods for "Frida" as I more commonly refer to her, I finally have my own. Yes, she is now my prize possession as gross as she is. After several nasal aspirators that didnt work and some serious panics to a few other new moms, she came highly recommended. So what is this thing? You put a little saline solution up the little mans nose and then you take frida and suck the snot out. See pic below. My husband swears I LOVE this thing, but who really loves a snotsucker that you have to change the filter on. This contraption has made me feel like I broke the barrier into mommyhood. I get excited to suck boogers out of my son's nose. I feel like such a warrior when I get some really good ones out too! Wow! Life has changed!

So Many Changes So Little Time

Its been six weeks since the little guy arrived. Its absolutely amazing to watch him grow and even though has been with us for a very short time, I cannot imagine life without him; however, today I realized that the stress from all of life's charges came crashing down on me. The first thing every one says is that I am not getting enough sleep. Not even! This little guy sleeps in four hour spurts during the night. So generally, I wake up once to change his diaper and feed him. So sleep is not my issue. As much as I absolutely love being a mom and cant imagine my life without my baby....its a hard change. I went from being a professional at work, going to meetings and making decisions to being at home almost all day covered in spit up, pee, poo and leaking everywhere. While I do wear sweats/workout clothes a lot, I do try to put on makeup, pull back my hair and try to look decent but its hard when you still have a pregger belly. The maternity pull up pants are too big and honestly, I want to button and zip pants again. All but one pair of my pre pregger jeans are too small. They pull up but certainly do not button. The one pair that does button up are my new faves but its hard to feel good about yourself when your muffin top spill everywhere. To top that all off when I look in the mirror I see three scars from the appendectomy, stretch marks up the wazoo and a 8 inch scar from the c-section. When I think about having another little one in the far future, I wonder how many more scars I can accumulate on my belly. I affectionately refer to my abdomen as scar belly. EWWWW! I guess I will never have the cute maternity photos all my friends have.

Saying all of this makes me feel extremely guilty because its all for the most amazing experience...my son. The million dollar question is when do I stop feeling like a slob and start looking like a put together mom and working professional???

Nursing

Nursing....where do I even begin....

For me, I have never thought about not breastfeeding so I didn't have to go through the decision making that a lot of women I know go through. Although I didn't have to think about this choice, the idea of breastfeeding was overwhelming. These little "A" cup boobies of mine are supposed to be the only things that feed our baby..WHAT?!?! What if they are defective? What if the baby doesnt know how to latch? And then there were a million other "what if" questions that I would constantly drive my husband crazy with. He always had one answer, just wait till the little guy gets here and then freak out. Ha! So off I went to go read about this . I ended up with the "Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" by the La Leche League. Ok, so I know this is a great book but honestly, the title. Like there is a manly art of breastfeeding. The book is super informative and a great resource guide for me as the dude grows and changes.

Ok, so the more personal experiences of nursing. Right after the mini-man was born, the nurses handed him right on over to me to feed. Tears started to well up in my eyes. I didnt know what to do. I looked at my boob and the baby. This should be simple. Baby...boob...still no clue. Thankfully our doula propped up all the pillows and made the magic happen. Oh my goodness, it is the weirdest thing to breastfeed. Oddly enough, as soon as the baby comes near the boob, it all just works. Nature is crazy like that. So for the first week, I was feeling pretty awesome about feeding. Well the colostrum part is easy...its the "real'' milk that brings on all the "oy vay" feelings.

Some things that I dealt with the first 6 weeks:

1) Sore nipples: Wow! I have never had anything that sensitive before. All the wonderful creams I own, like "Nipple Cream," help for about a minute and then oww factor is back. This does get better over time. Not a problem at all now.

2) Itchy boobs: Yup! Itchy boobs from all the increased blood flow to your boobs. They itched every where all the time. I couldnt even help myself from scratching. I dont even think I noticed that I did it when I was out of the house. No matter how much lotion you lather on...the itch continues

3) Leaking: Ok, this is an on going problem far beyond the first 6 weeks. I bought the reusable/washable boob pads by bravado in an effort to be eco-friendly. While you can reuse them, the major downfall is leaking right through them within an hour. There is nothing weirder than when you husband motions look at your boobs and you look down and there are some nice milk rings....UGHHH! The ones I currently swear by are by Lasinoh. I have to leak through and they last all day. Fabulous as far as boob pads are concerned

4) Pumping: I totally get why you pump. There are times that the little guy is not hungry and your boobs are hard as rocks full of milk. Just to get rid of that feeling, pumping is the only option; however, for me, pumping makes me feel like a cow. You squeeze your milk into a bag and then label it for a "best used by date." Real womanly right?!?! Another thing, while it is super convenient that my pump has a car adapter...its just not right

Life Lately

So somewhere in between my blogging, life took off on a fast track. Lots of incredible things have happened and then some other things happened. As I start to look back, they have all been good things in hind sight...just sometimes hard to deal with in the moment. Lets see...lets start with the fun stuff:

1)We found out we are having a baby boy!!!! Yeah!!! He still remains nameless to this day...so we will fondly refer to him as the "little dude" or "little mr. crownholm."

2)We went on a fabulous road trip/camping trip through Oregon and had the best time ever. The timing couldnt have been better to go on the trip because I found my new favorite item to crave but I cant find it anywhere here...Tillamook ice cream. Its a must have...seriously!!!!

3) We set up the nursery and got the little guy all outfitted

4) Went to Fresno, to see my "baby" sis compete at Miss California :) She won and now the little mr. has a pretty famous aunt!! He is so excited to meet her!

The "other" stuff:

Muze T-shirt from my cousin

I got my appendix out at 4 1/2 months preggers. I would say it was really scary except for the fact that I didnt even get time to do internet research and so on. I woke up one Friday morning to go to the gym before work and I was burning up. You know you are the only one with a temperature problem when you look at the Alaskan Malamute and he looks at you like you are crazy for being hot...then I started to feel cramping in the right side of my abdomen. I started to panic because I thought I was having a late miscarriage, which is really hard to think about after you just found out the sex of your baby. So i called my OB and they said...nope you are definitely not having a miscarriage...PHEW! They recommended I call my primary care doctor to see what was up. So off to the nurse practitioner I went...she was very sweet and awesome! She wrote me up a bunch of papers to take over to John Muir to have them run some tests later that day. She said it may be your appendix but probably not, so for peace of mind this weekend just head over to the hospital before you get home from work. Cool! So back to work I went...emailed the hubby and said I was stopping to have some tests done on my way home and then we would be off to celebrating our 1st anniversary. Well...I stopped at the hospital, they saw me right away, ran some blood tests and an ultrasound of the appendix. It was so fast for the ER, I really thought that they gave preference to pregnant women. Haha...nope! I learned later what could happen if your appendix bursts...its some serious business. Long story short....the hubs left the antepartum ward, where the the little dude and I were being watched, at 9pm to catch some Zzzzs and hang with the goons. Well, at 9:30ish my blood pressure plummeted and the pain went sky high. But since I wasnt screaming or crying yet, the docs werent convinced I needed my "appendage" out yet. So they strongly suggested I finally take some pain meds and 10mg of ambien and then they would assess if the little appendage needed to be taken out. The TV was turned off and drugs were taken....a couple hours later I was still wide awake and in pain. Finally at 2am, the docs came in to tell me I was having surgery as a precautionary measure. At 5am, I woke up footloose and appendix free....WOOHOO! The hubs was there bright and early to celebrate our first anniversary in a hospital bed at John Muir :)

he aftermath of having an appendix out laparoscopically while pregnant

Post Partum Planning....Oy!

Its totally crazy...just as you are getting excited about having a baby....you have to start thinking about all the wonderfulness after birthing the little munchkin. Its been quite the learning curve and I have to say there really has not been anything too attractive about it. What I have learned:

1) You should bring your breast pump to the hospital with you so the lactation nurse (yes, there is such a thing) can teach how to use it. I thought it was totally self explanatory until I bought mine. I got the Medela Swing and Style...right, a stylish breast pump. Really?!?!? There are more parts and pieces that I every thought. And what can be stylish about a breast pump????

2)Nursing tanks come in all kinds of styles and methods and honestly can be really difficult to decipher how they work exactly. These suckers should come with an instruction manual.
Word to the preggo mamma: Even though these wonderful nursing tanks claim to be extra long and can be worn in the last tri-mester for comfort..DON'T! Yes they are comfy but no...the belly still hangs out of the bottom. So not attractive. In my arsenal, I have some from Glamourmom, Bravado, Motherhood Maternity and Pea in a Pod. I will let you know what I think in a few months

3) Nursing Bras...didnt think anything of it until my wonderful husband pulled them out of the package and was like "What are these things?!?!" I never even thought about how unattractive these things were although they were made by Le Mystere and Bella Materna. I mean Nordstroms sellls them so they really cant be that bad right. I would take a picture but that just seems wrong.

4)Belly Bandit: After birth, this belly band made of bamboo is supposed to help everything go back to its original place and support your shrinking uterus. What my uterus needs support?!?! Oy vay, I have a lot to learn...

I have not even had the little guy yet and already I feel pressure to lose all this baby weight. Post partum, I am not sure I will ever be ready to face you

Blah!

Everyone is totally different. Some people are in love with being pregnant, others simply hate it and then there are those of us impatiently waiting until we can share the good news and get that oh-so-fabulous pregnancy glow...That's me! Week 9 and 10 are a beast. I honestly don't know if I could sleep any more (at least 10 hours per night), workout any more and eat any healthier and yet I am still cant shake these 7 pounds pregnancy has brought to my boobs and belly. I look like a really happy newlywed who has let myself go...We havent really told very many people we are expecting but I guess the tiredness gives it away. Last night I stopped by Junior League, far too tired to stay the whole time, and a good friend of mine said "wow, you look really tired...are you pregnant?" Bingo! Wow! I was super impressed with that. I am oh so not-so-patiently waiting for that "glow"