Chunky Monkey

Last week I took Hailey to the doctor to check to see if she was back to her birthweight. She JUST made it, but had only gained 3.5 ounces in 1 week. The nurse wasn't satisfied with that so she asked me to come back in a week to make sure she's gaining.

Well, I couldn't wait a week and took her a day early. Our little girl gained 12 ounces in 6 days!

Now I am off to check her closet for any newborn clothes she hasn't worn yet. I have a feeling she won't be wearing them for much longer.

*This is an old picture from the hospital, but I just had to show off her lips! We LOVE those lips! We will take/post more pictures this week...hopefully.

2 Weeks Old

Hailey is two weeks old today! Currently she's celebrating by hanging out in her swing and NOT sleeping!
We've learned a lot about our little girl (and babies in general) in the last two weeks. She's such a sweet girl, but she definitely knows what she likes...and doesn't like.
Hailey is slowly getting into a schedule (then quickly breaking it...like now). She's eating every three hours during the day and every 3-5 hours at night. She cries when she's hungry or getting her diaper changed, but that's about it until evening.

Every night after dinner Steve gives me time to take a bath/shower while he has "Sprouty time." This is usually when she gets fussy, but Steve is SO patient with her.
We went to the doctor on Tuesday to check her weight. She's back to her birth weight but only gained 3.5 oz instead of the desired 5 oz in a week so she's going back next week for another check. The nurse thinks she's fine, but just wants to be sure. I contribute the low weight gain to the spit up and giant nasty diaper before we weighed her.
We haven't ventured out too much, but we've been to her great-grandparents 3 times! Matt and Arlene love their time with their first great-grandchild and Hailey LOVES to sleep in her great-grandma's arms. Arlene has had a lot of practice with 12 children and several grandchildren. She's a pro!
Hailey will be getting her first real bath tonight. Thanks to the warming lights in the hospital, her umbilical cord is already off. I'm hoping she likes it more than the sponge bath.
It looks like the swing did it's magic and she's snoozing. Time for this momma to do the same thing!

Priceless

My First Official Day on the Job

Today is my first day as a mom on maternity leave. Well, it sort of started last night. I was determined to let Steve have a good night's sleep since he had to work today so I took care of all of the feedings, changings, soothings while he slept. He left this morning at 6:30 am for work, and we are on our own! :) Thank goodness my friend Karla will be here in a few hours! :) haha

We were finally discharged Saturday around 11am after her jaundice levels came back low and the doctors had seen us. I was SO happy to leave that hospital after spending 4 nights there and hardly leaving my room. Our hospital has bells (like church bells) that ring through town as new babies leave. It was so pretty. I almost cried.

As soon as we got home, we took pictures (lots of them) and settled into our house. Then, Betsy came to help out. She was WONDERFUL! She did laundry, washed dishes, made meals, and gave great advice. We had some visitors Saturday night and then we settled in for our first night home.

The first night wasn't the best, but I guess it's what we should have expected. Hailey wanted to stay awake, and we wanted to sleep. Betsy saved our lives (well, our sanity) and stayed up with her for a few hours so we could sleep. It was LOVELY!

Sunday was a great day. Betsy helped me give Hailey her first sponge bath at home. It started with her peeing on my hand, and ended with her relaxing while I washed her hair under the faucet. She LOVED that part. Later, Hailey took her first trip out to meet her great-grandma who was in IL when she was born. She loved being in her arms. Then, we hung out at our house as a family and relaxed.

Last night was a much better night. Even though her days/nights are still messed up, Hailey was much more content. We were up for several hours because she didn't want to close her eyes, but I learned a trick! :) Turn the lights on! I had the lights dimmed everywhere to "soothe" her, but that was only keeping her awake because she could look around. As soon as I turned them on, she closed her eyes and went right to sleep! Seriously, I wish I were a faster learner.

Today, my friend Karla is coming in town to help out. (I honestly couldn't have better friends.) She's going to help me out with a ton of stuff including taking Hailey to her first doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Life is good...no, great...I couldn't ask for anything more.

Happy 1 Day Birthday, Hailey

Our first day was great. It started with a much needed nap, and ended with a trip down to the nursery so Steve and I could get some more sleep. During the day, we had TONS of visitors. Good thing we have a big room because this girl is SO loved.



We're not sure when we're going home. We had planned to go home sometime today, but Haily just had her bilirubin levels checked and they are a little high. She's spending time under the lights this morning and will be checked at noon today to see if her levels go down. I sure am going to miss that little girl while she's under those lights!
Steve's dad, Andy, came to visit her, but wasn't sure about holding such a tiny baby. I LOVE this picture. :) Don't worry, Steve doesn't hold her like this.
Steve's grandpa Woods also came to visit. He has SEVERAL children and grandchildren, but Hailey is his first great-grandchild. You can tell he's been around a lot of babies. He's a natural. Check out those giant hands. They are as big as our little girl!

She's FINALLY Here!

Hailey Paige Woods
Born:2:12 am 11/4/10
Weight: 7lbs 9oz
Height: 19 inches

Update!

The last post was from Steve. I apologize for the lack of info, but there really wasn't much.

By 11:15 I was begging the nurse to check me again to see if I was at a 4 in order to get an epidural. BEGGING! Of course, I wasn't so she checked me again at 12 and I was at 4!

The nurse went to get all of the epidural stuff as well as my new best friend (aka anesthesiologist), but by 12:45 she wasn't back yet and I was near death (ok, it just seemed that way). As I sent Steve out to look for her, she was walking in with the stuff.

The nurse went ahead and put a thing on Sprout's head to keep track of her heart rate and then my bff gave me the epidural.

After that, it's a bit of a blur. What I DO know is that I had THE BEST NAP EVER!

Later the nurse woke me up to put another probe in me to check contractions internally as well as the cathedar. So now I am hooked up to the epidural (with a patient release button, thank-you-very-much), internal heart rate probe, internal contraction probe, iv, pitocin, and cathedar. Basically, I have no worries. :)

At this point, my nurse is working on increasing the pitocin so I continue to dialate while I am sleeping and relaxing. My contractions need to be closer together, but they're getting there.

My doctor just stopped in and she's going to FL for a conference so she won't be delivering the baby, but I have met the doctor and he's a great guy. She's thinking that she'll come this evening, but we'll see! :)

stuff is happening........kind of

3cm dialated, the doc broke her water a little before 8 this morning

Who Needs Sleep?!

Apparently not this girl!
My nurse gave me a sleeping pill at 9 that worked wonders until about 12. Then, I was waking up with every contraction. So they agreed to give me tylenol 3 at about 3 am which might have worked for an hour but I was still waking with every contraction.

When I was in elementary school I used to cry every night before the first day of school because I was too excited to sleep and just KNEW my day would be horrible. It never was. So I hope this one is the same. I hope somehow I get a rush of adrenaline that pulls me through the long day coming up.

Luckily, Steve is sleeping right now. I had him up rubbing my back from 12-3 but since then he's been sleeping.
Sprout, on the other hand, is having a party. She sure does like it in there. :)

Tonight's News

My doctor just checked me. I am still one cm...bummer!
BUT she is happy that I am now contracting, baby is coming down, etc. So there is progress, but not a ton.
The plan is to get more cervadil tonight and get some rest before a busy day tomorrow. Sprout is loving life...and her current home.
Seriously, Sprout....get out!

No News is....No News.

Steve and I got into our room at 8 and saw the doctor around 8:30. My doctor gave me cervadil in hopes that it would start contractions. Now, we are just hanging out in the room...waiting. So far, I have had contractions, but nothing that I can really feel.

They take the cervadil out around 9 tonight and decide if/when to give me pitocin at that point. Hopefully, I will start contracting on my own, but you never know. I think she really likes it in there.

This is bigger than Christmas!

It's 6am. I've been up since 5. I guess that's ok since we went to bed at 9. I slept ok, but was up every few hours and then every hour.
I promised Steve I would not wake him up, but I lied because I am heading that way. :)
This is BIG! :) Bigger than Christmas!

Things are about to get exciting.

I went to the doctor today during lunch and my blood pressure was just a tiny bit higher. After checking my urine (gross, I know, but it's going to get worse) Dr. Young decided that it's time for this baby girl to come out.

SO, we are reporting to the hospital at 7:30 tomorrow morning. My induction is scheduled for 8:00 if they have room for me.

We've been told that this won't be a quick process so we probably won't meet Sprout until Wednesday, but we are SO ready. :) Tonight, we're packing up last minute stuff, tidying the house (Sprout doesn't like coming home to a dirty house), and getting as much rest as possible.

We'll do our best to update the blog as much as possible, but I can't promise anything. I'm a busy mom, you know. ;)