Can you believe it?! It feels like we've had Lydia for forever, yet it also feels like we just got her a couple hours ago! So, today, in honor of Lydia's 3 week day, we went to the Doctor's Office for her check-up. Lydia is now a whopping 9 lbs 3 oz! Holy Cow! She has gained a full pound and an ounce! And she has grown a full inch and a half! Wow! I knew she had grown a lot, but Wow!!! Her newborn outfits are already getting snug on her and she's fitting into the 0/3 month clothes that she swam in the day she was born! It seems a lot has happened since I last posted! Lydia was blessed on Sunday. She was fortunate to have both sets of Grandparents there. So, she was blessed by her dad with Grandpa's Anderson and Dickinson, and friends Jason Hobbs and Jeremiah West in the circle. She looked so pretty in her dress that I made! And she was a perfect angel throughout the entire Sacrament Meeting! I think I'll go one more week of just taking her to Sacrament Meeting and then we'll start trying to extend it. Some other fun things of note. 1. We have a picture of the Manti Temple hanging on our wall just above the couch I usually feed Lydia in. Well, it seems that whenever she has her eyes open while I'm feeding her, she is staring at that picture. I think that she recognizes the temple because she was there when David and I were sealed. At least the thought brings me peace that she has been with us and will be with us for eternity. 2. Also, check out these 2 pictures! Notice anything similar? Our little lady was a model in the womb and is continuing her career outside of it as well! It is common to catch her in this pose whenever she is relaxed or sleeping. 3. Lydia has also started to grab onto more things. Especially our clothes when we feed her. It's so precious! 4. I was able to capture somewhat of a smile with my camera. They often get much bigger than this one. 5. Lydia calms down when we take her into the bathroom and run the water in the bathtub. I guess the sound reminds her of the womb or something. Sorry there are so many pictures and randomness, but these are some fun things that I wanted to share and record for myself. Happy Three Weeks Little Lydia!
Lydia has found her fist and enjoys sucking on it. Sorry the video is so dark, we need to figure out better lighting. But enjoy! Also, here's a video where we were able to get her to smile a little bit. She is such a sweetheart! Sorry about the high pitched voice! Lydia just brings it out of me!
Our Little Lydia's time at home was short lived and very stressful. When we took Lydia to her first doctor's appointment on Monday, Feb 8th, we spent forever in the waiting room with tons of sick kids running all over the place and Lydia screaming her head off only to get into a room and hardly even see the doctor before she says, "I have some bad news. I need to send y'all back to the hospital." Lydia's bilirubin level was far too high and Lydia was jaundiced. They were unable to draw her blood due to a couple of veins blowing, but they didn't want to stick any more of them because the hospital would need to get an iv in one of them. Needless to say, I felt like an awful mother! I couldn't hold back my tears! I was so incredibly sleep deprived and already had several other hormones taking over my body that it all just came out. I had noticed that Lydia was near impossible to wake up to feed and that she rarely had any messy diapers, but I had thought that it was somewhat normal. Well, not so. Apparently high bilirubin sedates you and she was so dehydrated from not getting enough food (she slept through most of her feedings) that she didn't have much output. In fact, the poor girl was so dehydrated that it took the nurses and doctors 3 hours to get an iv in her because every vein was blowing! She had so many bandaids all over the place, including her head before they finally had one successful one which was protected by a cup on her head. The nurses and everyone was so wonderful and supportive while we were there! They kept giving me hugs and asking if they could do anything else to help me out. In order to get rid of the bilirubin in Lydia, she was given photo-therapy. I don't know all the science of it, but basically she lays in a bed with tons of lights on her which are supposed to help break down the bilirubin and then she pees it all out. She got a cool pair of sunglasses (a piece of felt with sunglasses pictured on it) to protect her eyes. Lydia looked like a little fake-baker! Guess she started young! I was able to take her out of the bed to feed her and had to hold a pad on her back that had a bunch of green lights in it. After 16 hours of being under the lights, her billirubin had decreased from 18 to 9! A very significant change! So, the doctors turned off the lights and said that if she was able to maintain that level for 8 hours on her own that she would be good to go. However, the next 8 hours were just as difficult as the last 16! Lydia still had the problem of eating and she wouldn't be able to go home if she still was unable to eat because then she would end up back in the hospital again. We tried and tried! The nurses had me pumping milk and trying to give her bottles along with trying to breastfeed. The lactation consultant came to see me again and after 2 hours of working with Lydia and Lydia fighting every trick she had, we finally noticed something. Lydia habitually keeps her tongue in the roof of her mouth and doesn't bring it down on her own to suck. So, we figured out how to get it down and then she drank like a pro from the bottle! Lydia was able to keep her billirubin down on her own for the next while and with her finally eating enough food, Lydia was able to come home the next day, Tuesday, February 9th. We were so happy to have our baby home again! Although it really felt like it was the first time since we had only been home for about a day and a half before. We have still had our share of adventures since coming home! Most of it has to do with eating. Breastfeeding is a whole lot more difficult thnt I had imagined and Lydia is one heck of a sleeper! She is great at drinking out of a bottle while she is sleeping, but not so much out of a breast. There are also other complications, but I'm not going to get too detailed on my blog. Basically I have to pump for at least part of every feeding and bottle feed her. So, every feeding takes about an hour and the doctors told me that I had to feed her every 3 hours. So, I feel like that is literally my life right now! Good thing about pumping is that David has been able to help a little bit more and I try to get one longer stretch of sleep each night. Unfortunately it pays a toll on David though and we need him to stay awake in his classes everyday! We were lucky enough to have my mom here with us till yesterday morning. She helped out so much! And she definitely seems to have the magic touch with Lydia! When Lydia won't calm down for David or I, Grandma holds her and she quiets right down! I appreciated having all the support and encouragement through all the initial stresses of bringing a baby home and also with Lydia going back to the hospital! Thank you so much mom! You were wonderful and we all love you so much! Lydia also started getting really gunky eyes yesterday and so I was debating taking her to Urgent Care today. However, I really didn't want to be around a ton of sick kids with her and would much rather take her to the doctor's office. But, tomorrow is a holiday and so she wouldn't be able to do that until Tuesday. So, as David is good at, he got on the internet and started looking up stuff. He found a few websites that suggested massaging the side of her nose by her eye for a few seconds several times a day and also laying a warm damp cloth on the eyes for a few minutes at each feeding. These things help out with the clogged tear ducts, if that's the problem. I did this a couple of times this afternoon and just a few seconds after massaging for about the 3rd time, her eye got so insanely gunky it was gross! It was like I had pushed everything out of the tear duct! Well, it seems to have been a good thing, because her eyes have been so much clearer since then! They still are a little bit gunky and I am still doing some of the massaging and moist cloth stuff, but they are clearer than they have been since yesterday morning! So, we like the home remedies so far on this one! Well, I know that this has been a long post. I have been meaning to write it for a while, but you all know how tiring it is when you have a newborn! I'll try to get at least one post up a week so that people can see all her cute pictures and know about all the fun little developments. She is such a precious little baby! We love having her in our home and feeling her spirit. And I have my little snuggler now! Well, here are a few more pictures to enjoy! You can always see more by clicking on the links to the side of my blog.
In case anyone is unaware, a lot has happened this past week. We have a beautiful new baby girl in our home! Lydia joined our family on Thursday, February 4th at about 3:22 pm. She was 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 inches long. So, here's the fun labor story for both my records and anyone who would like to read it.
My water broke at about 2:30 in the morning on February 4th. I had just gone to the bathroom and just as I pulled up my pants I sprung a small leak. Slightly annoyed I went back to bed. About 10 minutes later I decided I should go to the bathroom again... just in case. As I stood up, I got the wonderful gush that everyone talks about. I woke David up and we started gathering our remaining hospital stuff. When we got to the hospital, they did a small test on a strip to make sure that my water had truly broken. I passed that with flying colors and they settled me into my delivery room. I was having small contractions at that time, but nothing I couldn't talk through. When one of the doctors checked my cervix, I was only dilated to a 1 and they began to question me if my water truly had broken. That made me doubt myself, but David kept comforting me and telling me that it was okay and that we knew that it really had broken. It was helpful. At about 6 am the doctor decided to start me on some low dose pitocin. I opted to get my epidural started so that I wouldn't have to feel the heavy contractions when they came because the pain was already starting to set in. The epidural was wonderful! Well, all except for the insane itchiness that I experienced. They gave me benadril to help with that, but it caused for a very sleepy labor! Anyways, I slept through a lot of the contractions. At about 11 am the doctors started to become nervous that Lydia's heart rate was dropping for a little bit after my contractions. They put an internal monitor on her scalp in order to better see what was going on. After watching her for a couple of hours and getting increasingly nervous with my cervix only dilated to a 3, my doctor came into my room with 2 options. Either I go in for a c-section then, or we could wait and see if circumstances changed and probably end up with a c-section anyways. After discussing it further, David and I strongly felt that we needed to wait a little bit longer with the hope that something would change. We set a time of 3 pm and then we would re-evaluate the situation. The doctor then placed a catheter into my uterus in order to add more fluid and relieve some of the pressure on Lydia. About a half hour later, the pain began to return and the epidural button would no longer release more medicine. The anesthesiologist returned and began to figure out what was going on. Upon solving the problem and relieving my pain, I commented to the nurse that I felt immense pressure in my perineum. Like the baby was going to come right on out. The doctor then checked me and I was fully dilated! It was about 2:30 in the afternoon. They then gave me a small shot of something to briefly stop the contractions so that Lydia could get the rest that she needed before going through the strain of delivery. Then the pushing started! Normally they have you push at least 3 times during each contraction, however, since Lydia's heart rate was dropping so drastically during each push, they only let me push twice before giving her a break. My doctor was very obviously getting more nervous with each push. He ordered a vacuum and told me that he would need to perform an episiotomy in order to get Lydia out of there before anything bad happened. He told me then that a c-section was still not out of his mind. I pushed harder than ever! And, after much cutting and vacuuming, Lydia was born. She had the cord wrapped around her neck, which is why her heart rate had been dropping so much. Luckily, she was healthy right away with an apgar score of 9 and 9! Hooray! We got to hold our little angel for a while before Daddy went with her to the nursery for her first bath and testing. This whole experience was by far the most beautiful I have ever had! All of the strain and exhaustion from pregnancy and labor came out with those tears just after Lydia was born. She was worth every second of it! She is such a blessing in our home! So innocent and sweet! We love her so much and are excited for our future with her!
She's here! The world's newest little angel! Born at 3:22 pm on February 4th, Lydia Dawn weighed 8 lbs 2 ounces and measured 20 inches long. More details to come soon, but here's a few pictures to share her sweetness!
This post's existence should answer anyone's questions as to whether or not I have had the baby yet. But, in case you haven't figured it out, I am still pregnant. However, I feel more miserable than ever. I feel so bad for David who has had to deal with all my emotional crying spells and short-temperedness. I just am so sick of everything! The comments when I see anyone of "you're still here?" or "when's that baby going to come?" Well, don't I wish I knew that one! Then everyone's "advice" they have to go home and vacuum or go walking. Well, maybe something's just wrong with me, but none of it seems to be working! My body seems to get more uncomfortable by the day, yet no signs of contractions. People act like something's wrong with me when they find out I have not dilated and I don't know how big my baby is. I'm even tired of random strangers asking me how far along I am and giving crazy looks of surprise when they find out I'm ready to pop! Then, on top of it all, I'm scared I'm just going to be the point of such bitterness and crankiness from all the pregnancy that when I finally do have the baby I'm going to look at her and want to send her back! I wonder if I really am cut out for this whole mom thing! I hope some people who are reading this understand the feelings I am having and will tell me that it's perfectly normal. I'm pretty sure they will. So, let's focus on a few positive notes!
#1- The doctor has scheduled me to be induced next Monday, February 8th if I do not go into labor myself before then.
#2- I was able to make a new cover for the swing someone so kindly gave us! The other one was very boyish. So, after reading someone's instructions for recovering a highchair, I decided to attempt this project myself. It wasn't too difficult and took me a total of about 3 hours.
#3- I was able to go to our Stake Women's Conference Saturday night where Randal Wright spoke. He was the institute director in Austin when I was probably about 18-20 years old and has now written several books and speaks at various conferences worldwide. It was good to see a familiar face and he gave some really great advice on parenting that I took note of.
#4- If I don't have the baby tomorrow, then tomorrow night is the Premier for "Lost"! Yay! We're gonna get together with some friends and have a party!
There have been good things happening that I need to give credit to. And I really appreciate all the support that people have been giving me! Especially my mom, Lindsay, David and my friends here. And I know you all understand when I say that I wish it was all over with! But, Lydia! Your eviction notice is almost up and Grandma Anderson is almost done with your blanket! It's time, my dear!
5. Lydia calms down when we take her into the bathroom and run the water in the bathtub. I guess the sound reminds her of the womb or something.
Sorry there are so many pictures and randomness, but these are some fun things that I wanted to share and record for myself. Happy Three Weeks Little Lydia!
