Wrenn - Week 2

Week 2 was full of firsts!

Wrenn received her first super humongous bow from her Aunt Angela! Her first (dreaming) smile was captured on camera. She had her first pedicure, compliments of her mama (Piggy Paint). And her belly button stub fell off (crazy early - I don't remember the boys' falling off this soon) so she had her first real bath.

Wrenn - Week 1

Week 1 included a lot of sleeping - on Wrenn's part and ours. She nursed every 2 hours, sometimes stretching to 3-4 hours at night. She had some issues with gas the first few weeks that typically kept her up at night, but once she worked out all those toots and poops, she gave us a little bit of sleep. We had a pack & play in our room, but she co-slept a lot as that was just easier in those first few weeks. She also seemed to like sleeping close to her mama. The mister had off 2 weeks and we sent the boys to school to keep them in their routine.

The boys have been so helpful out of the gate. They love to hold Wrenn and help in any way they can, including changing diapers!

We had lots of visitors as well - I love you all!

I will have to say that having a baby in the house again was quite an adjustment (I had gotten spoiled by my 2 independent boys), but I think we got back into the groove of things pretty quickly. There were a few hairy moments between trying to figure Wrenn out, my hormones, lack of sleep, trying to keep up with the boys' needs, and breastfeeding but we got sorted out within a few weeks.

I also agree with what I've always heard...1 to 2 kids was a crazy adjustment but 2 to 3 wasn't too bad.

*Please forgive me if some of these upcoming weekly updates are lacking in detail. 1) It was kind of all a blur. 2) It's been 3 months. 3) I'm not so great at keeping details and really terrible at remembering. (It is all documented on Twitter. And I have lots of cute pictures for you!)

Laid-Back Nursing (How We Saved Our Breastfeeding Relationship)

Wrenn took very well to nursing right away, however her latch was pretty small/shallow which caused me a lot of pain. Her weight gain was doing great the first few days, but then began to plateau. She wasn't losing weight, but she was gaining very slowly and that didn't make the doctors happy.

After working with my ped's lactation consultant, I had a private LC come out to the house a few times. She was able to show us a feeding position where the mom lays back in a recliner or on a couch with her feet up and places the baby onto her chest face down so that the baby can instinctively find and latch onto the nipple. (It's pretty awesome to watch a newborn literally crawl to the nipple.) It's called laid-back nursing or biological nurturing and mimics how most mammals feed their babies - here's a great video that demonstrates. This position uses gravity to force the nipple/areola deeper into the baby's mouth giving a better latch and better milk transfer. And it's super comfy and relaxing! After we started nursing like this, she started picking up weight like a champ and I started to feel better. It was a rough first few weeks and I wanted to give up several times. I am so thankful to my LC, Leslie!!! I HIGHLY recommend this nursing position. It changed my life and saved my breastfeeding experience (and this is from a mom who has nursed two babies prior).

Wrenn's Birth Story

On Sunday, November 30, I woke up as I had many of the previous mornings...irritated that I was still pregnant. But I had some hope that it was going to be THE day. I had thought for a while that my Wrenn Bird would come on a Sunday just like her brothers did. So I was hopeful...

Beth had spent Saturday night with us because I had freaked her out with my prediction. We spent the day preparing for the week: packing a week's worth of school lunches for the boys, laying out their clothes for the week, etc. I just felt like I needed to. Then, late afternoon, I decided I needed to go to the grocery store. Beth went with me and I had a contraction in the parking lot going in and at the end of our shopping trip (about 45 minutes or so apart). Beth said the color drained out of my face each time. We got home, unloaded the groceries, and I started having contractions about 6 minutes apart. Bam. Just like that.

My doctor's office asked that I not call until my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for an hour. I was so nervous that she was going to come quickly and that I wouldn't be able to get an epidural. Yes, I NEEDED AN EPIDURAL. So after about 45 minutes of contractions that were 6 minutes apart, I called the OB and asked if I could go to the hospital because I was scared #3 was going to come quickly. He said yes because I was experienced at this and knew if I was in labor.

The mister and I left the boys with Beth and headed over to the hospital. We arrived 15 minutes later at 5:00pm and were admitted. The nurse walked in the room and I said, "Let's get this IV started because I need to get an epidural." Contractions were coming hard and fast. They finally got my IV in (stupid small rolling veins) about 20 minutes later and got that bag of fluids pumping. They checked me at this point and I was 4cm dilated. In addition to the full bag of fluids, my platelet count needed to come back from the lab in order to clear me for the epidural.

Every time my nurse came in, I asked if my lab work was back. Always a no. And I kept repeating to whoever was in there that I needed to get an epidural. About an hour later (6:20ish), my bag of fluids was done but still no lab work back. Then it happened. I had the most painful contraction yet and my water broke. I looked at Christopher with tears (and panic) in my eyes and told him that I wouldn't be getting an epidural. The nurse came in and checked me. I was at 8cm. She asked that they call the doctor. About 5-10 minutes later, I felt like I needed to push so she checked me again and I was fully dilated. She sent that call in to the doctor and started scrambling. (I really don't think they thought I was going to progress that fast although I kept telling them.)

Because we were at a shift change, there were a lot of nurses in there just watching me want to push, but not able to because the doctor wasn't there. I was not my best self. I still wanted an epidural and was clinging to that and the thought that I couldn't do this without one. The pain just engulfed my body and mind. (Thinking back, I was an idiot not to prepare myself mentally that this was how it could have gone down. I think I was so thrown off by the fact that the epidural wasn't happening and just couldn't get past that.) I finally told my nurse that I didn't care if the doctor was there or not, but I was pushing on the next contraction because I could not wait any longer (I had waited about 15-20 minutes - later, I found out there were some communication issues and he hadn't been called right away.).

He barreled in, barely getting his gloves on, as I started pushing. I had forgotten how to push apparently in the 5 years since I had had Carter but quickly regained my footing after one pushing set. However, she was pushing up against a small part of my cervix that wasn't allowing her to come down. After about 2 or 3 pushes, my doctor was able to massage that back so she could come on past (he learned that trick from an old nurse maid long ago). I cursed. I cried. I got mad. I gave up. And then I got that second wind to finally push her out at 7:05pm after about 2-3 more pushes.

It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life. I can't tell you a story about how I found my inner animal, or that it was so spiritual, or that I was one with my motherly essence. I was in pain and I wanted it over. After she came, I was so void of feelings and just laid there so thankful that it was over. I've read that it very common in women with a rapid labor.

Wrenn did get stuck behind my pelvic bone as she was coming out, and subsequently, suffered a broken clavicle (that didn't seem bother her at all; the ped didn't even realize it was broken at first since she was using that arm so much). This is the conversation I had with multiple doctors in the practice (they wanted to induce at 39 weeks to avoid her being too big and having shoulder dystocia). Here was my rationale behind not being induced at 39 weeks and here was my doctor's response who was the one that delivered Wrenn. Of course I felt some guilt over this decision after her birth, but my OB told me that I shouldn't beat myself up over it. He said I could have induced early and ended up needing a C-section or she could have not gotten stuck at all (Carter was the same exact size as Wrenn and came on out fine). So I truly let that go as I know I made the best decision that I could at the time. And her little shoulder healed up in 2 weeks (the dr said you could put two clavicles in a room together and they will find each other; apparently it's the best bone to break if you do break one since they fuse back so easily and quickly.)

Other than the shoulder, she was such a healthy little girl. No jaundice at all, perfect O2 levels, nursed well out of the gate. Besides a few busted blood vessels around my eyes, which healed up quickly, I was in good shape as well. And it didn't take long for me to recover from my emotionless, drained state. I immediately fell in love with this little firecracker.

The boys met their sister for the first time early Monday morning before Beth took them to school. They were in awe.

We had an uneventful stay in the hospital and were discharged Tuesday, December 2 around lunchtime.

Back To The Real World

I took a little blogging hiatus while on maternity leave. I just wanted to enjoy my time with my little Bird as much as possible with minimal distractions, commitments, and interruptions.

Leave is sadly over and I am back at work, and back to blogging. I have 3 months to catch you up on!

I will just say this girl mom gig is alright.  ;)  Anyone who has been around me, or is following me on Twitter knows that I am completely smitten with this baby girl.

I'll start tomorrow with her birth story. For now, a picture of Wrenn with her brothers on the day she came home (December 2nd).

Introducing...

Wrenn Annalise Bagley arrived in this world on Sunday, November 30 at 7:05pm (just like her mama said). She was 3 days late but she wanted to share a Sunday birthday with her brothers. My sweet girl weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces and was 22 inches long. She has a head full of dark, bow-ready hair and so many kissable fat rolls. She is absolute perfection! Mom, dad, and big brothers are completely smitten with her. Birth story and more pictures/details later (mom needs to nap right now.).

Weekly Update: 39 Weeks

ONE MORE WEEK!?!?! (Plus or minus a week.)

At 39 weeks, baby bird weighs over 7 pounds and is about 20 inches long. She is the size of a mini watermelon.

I went to the doctor this past Tuesday. BP was fine so they weren't worried about my one swollen foot. It's probably just my little girl laying on that side. I've been working from home all week and being very diligent about keeping my feet up, which has really helped the swelling. She also checked me for dilation - my cervix is really far back there and closed. The OB said, "yeah, you ain't having this baby this week." I've always thought I'd be late (Nov 30 is my guess) but had been hopeful that I was wrong lately (been having contractions for a week, *thought* I lost my mucus plug, and just feeling overall blech) but I doubt that'll be the case. I'll have family in town next week from Wednesday through Sunday, so I am sure she'll come on Sunday when everyone is packing up to go home and back to work. ;)

I'm just ready to meet my baby bird!!!

Nursery Tour

A while back, I posted an almost-done nursery tour. The nursery is completely done now so I wanted to share.

When you walk into the nursery, the closet is to your left - I added two hot air balloon garlands on the closet door frame that Aunt Ashley made for my baby shower.

Then you've got her dresser/changing table (I changed the changing pad cover from pink to gray chevron to balance out the pink-overload). We also hung a hot air balloon (again, compliments of Aunt Ashley) from the ceiling in the corner. It has a name garland on it, but the dang thing keeps turning so that the garland is on the back. I need to get that fixed.

Moving around clockwise is the cozy nursing/reading corner with a rocker, bookshelf, lamp, and music. We'll spend a lot of time in this little corner.

(I asked Christopher to remove his dead tree from this corner and his response...I think it's got a little life left in it.  O_O)

Then my sweet bird's crib and toy box (made by my grandfather) is on the same wall as the door. I love everything about this section - the sanded and painted crib to fix the peeling, the hot air balloon sheets that were on back order for so long, the gray chevron bed skirt (again to balance out the pink, and will look better once the crib is dropped), the hot air balloon rug from my boss, and her name above the crib.

All we need now is baby Wrenn!

No More Thumb Sucking

I mentioned in a previous post about Carter's thumb-sucking cease all at the mention of visiting an ortho at his last dentist appointment . The boy just stopped cold turkey that very night, which shows how strong-willed he is (that's a good and a bad thing).

My aunt, an ortho assistant, talked with her ortho about it and he said he wouldn't even want to see him until he is 7 and already has those 6 year molars in. So we'll see what happens over the next few years since he's stopped the thumb-sucking.

Christopher told him that he would take him to get a prize since he stopped sucking his thumb, and he cashed that in over the weekend. We took the boys (and met Beth and Olive) to see Big Hero 6 at the movie theater. (What an awesome movie! But my boys both had crocodile tears during some sad parts so beware if you have particularly emotional (Landon) or empathetic (Carter) kids...or tired (both) kids.) Afterwards, we walked over to Barnes & Noble where he immediately picked out a Baymax (from the movie) figurine.

We're so proud of our Carter Bear and HIS decision to stop sucking his thumb.

Weekly Update: 38 Weeks

TWO. MORE. WEEKS!!!

Has this really happened? Ok, yes. It has felt like I have been pregnant forever. But also...didn't I just get pregnant? And now that I am at the end (and pretty miserable), I am still kind of sad that it's about to be over. This is the last time I will experience this and I'm actually going to miss it. I've had women confirm my insanity so I *think* I'm with the norm here. Maybe the crazy norm. Carrying a child is a special thing. I am growing a life, y'all. Yes, I get the irritating comments, but I also get the smiles and the beautiful comments. I'll miss this.

BUT I will get to see that sweet little face soon! I'll get to hold her and nurse her and smell her. My boys will get to see their sister they've been highly anticipating. The mister will get to kiss on his little girl. And that's pretty awesome too.

At 38 weeks, she is the size of a leek at over 19.5 inches long and weighing about 6.8 pounds.

I will be checked again for dilation next week, but again, I could go from 0 to baby pretty quickly for this 3rd baby (instead of 1cm one week, maybe 2 the next...). I'm having lots of irregular, random contractions. And I am swollen to the point of no return. My feet are swelling, especially the right one. Actually it kinda freaks me out how much more swollen the right one is (see picture). My hips, tailbone, and pelvis hurt, especially when I sleep (I dread going to bed now because of how painful it is to lay there) and I'm pretty tired.

Today is my last day in the office, and I will begin working from home until she comes.

I think everything is ready unless I am forgetting something. The nursery is ready, hospital bag is packed, diaper bags are packed and in vehicles, car seat bases are installed, leaves of absence have been started for both of us (Christopher gets 2 paid weeks on the company - isn't that awesome?), call lists have been made. What else?

Eeeeeeek!!!!!! I can't wait to meet my baby bird!!!

This is my pensive look (Photography credit: Landon)

WHY is my right foot so much more swollen???