Lot's of Firsts

Well our little baby boy is one whole month old! 

We had our first family walk around the neighborhood (I practiced using the "Moby"). Liam and I walked around with my dad before, but this was our first as just our little family.

Took this pic for Myriah, but he was having a fussy day...haha

He's had quite a few "firsts" in the last few days. He had a babysitter for the first time. Scott and I had tickets to the "United Rocks" concert put on by United Way. It was really awesome and lots of entertainment. The December People were the main event, there was a local band, a bell chior, 3 school chiors, the United Way employee "chior" (I got out of singing because I'm still on leave. :-) ), and a school drum line. 

Watching a movie waiting for the babysitter.

Had a fantastic evening.

Today Liam and I made it to church all by ourselves. It was my first time going out with him alone and his first time at church. He did really well once we got to church, but getting him there was challenging.

Cuddles after church.

Random pics

Liam loves his Daddy, he gets so happy when daddy comes home from work. :-)

And some more pics of Liam just cuz he's so dern cute....

Haha, this face just makes me laugh.

I had just changed him into this onsie and then he peed all over it. Story of my life...

Liam enjoying the pictures on the wall

Here is what I have of the nursery so far, still adding things and fixing it up. Thanks to my mom for helping me track down the dresser for 10 bucks and also wiping down/cleaning the room.

The Mommy Life

Transitioning into the life of a mom. Here are a few things I've learned since starting this journey:

*When your pregnant, people will say the same things over and over  to you ("when's the baby due, what's the name, how far along are you, what's the gender, what hospital are you going to?") , try not to get annoyed. They aren't trying to annoy you, they are just excited for you.

And random people might want to touch or rub your belly like your some sort of buda...I haven't quit figured out what the proper reaction to this is...

*If you plan to do a home birth, you can never have too many night pads/bed pads and towels! Also, buy yourself a button up or zip up night gown (more than one-because that's what will be most comfortable for a while). Even if you don't plan on a home birth, it might be nice to have around. (Or at least I thought so)

*The way they portray births in movies is completely unrealistic. You don't just go "Oh, I'm in labor." or "Oh my water just broke.", then pushing starts and baby pops out. Nope much longer than that. Also, you don't really "push" your body knows when to push and will actually do it for you. It was seriously an uncontrollable action, more like instinct (best way I can describe it is like sneezing). It is best to let it happen naturally and breath with the pushes.  Don't force anything or fight it because that's when you tear. 

*I wish I would've had someone take a few nice shots of Me, Scott, and Liam right after birth. slipped my mind, but we got one at least (just can't see Liam's face :-( ).

*Make yourself as many freezer meals as you can before giving birth, that is one thing I wish I had done. My mom however made us a few and they were a life saver, but you go through them fast!

* When a baby is born, after you wipe all that "birth" off of them, they have the most beautiful skin you've ever seen. They also have that newborn smell, which everyone knows what I'm talking about but we can't quite describe it. But you can ruin that in a heartbeat by using lotions and soaps too soon. Some babies have extremely sensitive skin, even to lotions and washes specifically designed for babies. I learned this the hard way, poor Liam. If you are going to use a lotion or soap, test it in a small area first before lathering you baby in it. best to just use water the first few baths and baby oil or olive oil as moisturizer.

 Also, if your baby is breaking out in a rash you can't figure out why, they might be allergic to the detergent you use on your clothes or a perfume your wearing. These things had never occurred to me before, but now I know. :-)

*If you plan to breastfeed, keep to a feeding schedule. Even if baby is taking an extra long nap, pump so that your milk supply stays up. Also, super important to stay well hydrated, nourished, and avoid elaborate foods that might upset your baby's stomach. Burping is also very important so baby doesn't develop bubbles. I find I get best results when I place Liam belly down on my chest, and pat his back. 

*Research Pediatricians before you give birth. You will be exhausted and not want one extra thing to do while you are recovering. Apparently some Pediatricians will turn away home births, so if you plan on that it's best to go through all of that before you give birth.

*Baby boys pee on EVERYTHING- this is something I heard but I thought it was just when your were changing their diapers - nope, somehow they get everything wet (the bed, the blanket you wrap them in, their clothes, you) even when they have a diaper on. So be prepared to do a lot of laundry. 

*Give yourself plenty of time to recover, do not plan anything big the first whole month after you give birth (I honestly didn't think recovery would take so long). Be realistic with expectations for yourself- you probably won't have a clean house for quite some time, if the only thing you get done in one day is laundry, that's good enough! And don't worry about what others think or what they do, YOU know YOUR limits and sometime you just have to say no.

So today I got  "summoned for jury duty" December 1st. Wow, could they have better timing? That's right after Thanksgiving (Scott's family will be out) and right after I start back at work, and I just had a baby! I'm going to see if they will let me out of it this time because I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. 

My appreciation for moms is really growing. This is hard stuff! Much harder than any job I've ever had, and I've had some not so great jobs. I find myself feeling I'm not good enough to be a mom and feel I'm failing Liam already. Or that I'm not doing as much as others. But I just suck it up and stop the self pittying, because I'm here...I'm doing this...there's no turning back...and when Liam smiles at me, it makes every worry fade away and I'm completely happy. :-) 

Getting out of the house finally! :-)

So life has been interesting and exciting. Lots of adjusting going on. We started our search for a pediatrician for Liam, and I was astonished that we were getting turned away by several doctors because Liam was a home birth. I had no idea they would take issue with a healthy home birth baby. Oh well...Finally we found one that would take him, did not have the best reviews but I was getting a little desperate.

So Tuesday Liam had his first appointment with the doctors and his first car ride as well. :-)

The day was quite a fiasco, first Scott was hung up at work so we were late to our appointment. Then sadly, the appointment did not go that great so we will still be searching for a pediatrician. I just don't think it's acceptable to cough on a 3 week old baby, among other things. After the appointment we realized we locked the keys in the car...haha, of course. Luckily after a while Scott found an autoshop nearby and the guy opened our car for us. 

Liam and I both have a little cold now. And last night Liam had a small fever which had me up all night worrying. But he came down off it and is doing a little better today. Thank goodness. Hopefully he recovers completely soon.

Today we were able to go outside for a short while and get some fresh air. I also took our first family photos, using my new tripod.

Liam's Home Birth

Week 41, I was awoken at 5AM with contractions. Scott and I waited a bit to wake up my mom becuase I wasn't sure if it was the real thing or just irregular contractions. They stayed consistent/steady and grew closer together so we decided to wake up my mom. I bounced around on my yoga ball for a while but then when I went to the rest room I noticed I was bleeding. We called my midwives and she told me go straight to the hospital just to make sure the placenta wasn't "low lying" (in the way of the baby) and that everything was okay with Liam.

My midwife and doula met us at the hospital. I was strapped down and checked in. Liam's heart was healthy and strong, I was having steady contractions, and wasn't bleeding a ton. But they wanted to do an ultrasound (my midwife and the nurses) to make sure the placenta wasn't "low lying" still. So, since my midwife had no say in anything they called up a random doctor to get the recommendation to get the ultrasound. And a Dr. Gleason ended up being my "over the phone doctor" for the morning. He ordered the ultrasound and everything looked great! It was interesting to see Liam during labor in my tummy. His face was all squished. The technician and nurse voiced concern that he was very big and we might have difficulty doing natural birth. They started talking about possibility of an emergency C-section. They also checked to see how far along I was (I felt fine, though the contraction machine showed I was having "intense" contractions). They found out I was almost all the way effaced (at least 95%), and not really dilated, 1 to 2 cm. So everything seemed great and I didn't seem too far along. So we wanted to get out of the hospital, they kept coming up with reasons for us to wait and stay- "oh just wait an hour while we get the results back from the ultrasound" (what results? We were there, we saw it and heard the results), "We have to call Dr. Gleason and see if he recommends you going home (Duh, we know he's not going to recommend a home birth, no doctor does), "Did you want to wait here while we have an OBGYN come and talk to you? (Why???). Luckily, eventually my midwife got us out of there. From there we were discharged "against advisement" and we went home. My midwives then went home for a while since I wasn't too far along (dilated)  and laboring continued. I wasn't paying too much attention to time but the contractions went from being uncomfortable to being very painful. This being my first child I had no idea when to call the midwives, but when they were 3 to 4 mins apart and getting quite painful we decided it was about time to call the midwives, I believe this was in the afternoon/evening time. They came, and laboring continued, very painful. I remember thinking, "this is it, anytime now" but contractions just kept getting more and more intense. There was a point I remember thinking, I'm done I can't do this, i'm just going to die. Haha, so dramatic I know. Then I changed positions and all the sudden BAM, my body started pushing. It as uncontrollable and wow, painful. Long story short before I knew it Liam was placed on the bed in front of me, and I just remember thinking "that does not look like a newborn". 

                                

10lbs 10 oz - 22 inches long - 14.75 inch head circumference  (after 32 hours of labor)

What a beautiful experience. I'm so grateful that we were able to have a home birth and everything went well and Liam is a strong healthy boy. 

My iron fell extremely low so I was unwillingly bed ridden for a while. Thank goodness my mom was around to help. I got extremely annoyed that I couldn't take care of my own baby though. I only really could feed him and that's about it.

\

First day I was able to sit up (on a boppy) and hold Liam. I was so happy, also was able to take a bath and mom did my hair for me (I seriously had the worst rat's nest ever, took my mom forever to comb it out.)

Liam with Grandma

My precious boy

The day my mom had to leave. I was starting to put weight on my legs but still needed much help. Also my hemoglobin levels were at 6 after a week of recovery (average level should be about 14). So I still had a lot of blood building to do. 

Scott stayed home with me for a few days but then had to go back to work, so my dad flew out the following Wednesday. Also, we had some lovely ladies help us with rides to the airport and meals during the week (what a life saver they were).

Liam getting a foot massage from Grandpa.

Haha, love these.

Liam's first bath. Poor baby had an allergic reaction to the lotion we used (don't use baby lotion on newborns, or if you do, test it on a small area first). 

I was able to stand for a little bit to help (still couldn't stand for long because I would get faint, but moving forward with recovery)

Daddy dressing Liam on our stove.....He wasn't happy.

All clean!

My mom made this "Hungry Caterpillar" outfit. So adorable, and Liam loves it!

Look at that sweet face :-)

My mom also made the cowboy hat and the boots are form my Aunt Deb. 

Nap with Daddy

Going on our first walk....not very long just down the road a little then back (working up my leg muscles again and circulation) 

Mom got me these flowers when I started labor, they look like the ones in the rose garden we liked so much. 

Scott got e these flowers after I gave birth and got me a tripod for my camera as a "pushing present". I'm a lucky gal to have such a sweet husband :-). 

My dad is soooo amazing. I feel so spoiled by my parents right now and so indebted to them for all the help and support they have provided. My dad actually cleaned out our garage, organized everything, hung cabinets to store things, and built Scott a work bench. He didn't stop there, he helped draft up a plan for my laundry room. Seriously, my parents are so selfless and just amazing people. I aspire to be like them.

Liam on our second walk together, I got a little bit further this time...a little past our street. 

One of the breakfasts my dad made me. Haha, too cute. :-)

Liam on Halloween. We didn't really do much, just had a nice relaxing evening with Grandpa Speck (my dad). We did get one trick or treater :-), our first and only, but it was still exciting. 

The day my dad had to go back to PA. I enjoyed having him here and will miss him. I am also feeling a million times better and can hold Liam on my own and walk around without getting tunnel vision. When my midwives came to check on me today we checked my hemoglobin levels and they went up to 11 (5 points in a week)! 

Feeling grateful.

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