Weight check

We had a photographer come over yesterday to take newborn photos of Alex. Besides the screaming he did the whole time, we both thought he looked incredibly gaunt when we reviewed the photos on the camera. The paranoid parents that we are we decided to get Alex weighed again today since he's been struggling with getting back to his birth weight. Well we went to the pediatrician's office and unfortunately he's down 3 ounces from last week. Not only is he not gaining weight but he's losing weight. They decided to have us see the pediatrician today until waiting until next week. She's concerned about his weight and wanting us to supplement breast milk with a bottle after each feeding. Luckly I've been pumping so we have some frozen that will hopefully last us until next week. John introduced the bottle and is in the room with him right now. As far as I can tell Alex doesn't seem to mind the it (lets just hope he will still take the breast). We go back next week for his one month check up and he'll also have his weight checked. Unfortunately I will probably have to start formula feeding with a bottle after each feeding since the frozen breast milk will only last so long. If Alex is doing good with his weight by next week then no medical tests are going to be need to rule out anything serious. Pray for us that we'll have nothing to be concerned about.

It's really hard on me knowing that Alex's weight probably has something to do with my supply. I have cried the past three days thinking that I'm a failure. I have to remind myself that I have done so much for him thus far and even one day of breast feeding is better than no days - I've gotten as far as a month. If Alex has to get SOME formula so be it, I just want him healthy.

Baby Pea

Every Tuesday Community North has a breastfeeding support group. Not only is it a great way to get some questions asked and hear what other women are concerned about but it's also a great way to meet new moms. At the class today moms dressed their babies up, Alex obviously went as a pea. Funny, he HATED the costume last night but didn't mind it one bit this morning.

Getting ready for a ride

This is for all those high school girls who think it would be "fun" to have a baby at such a young age. He does this almost every time we strap him into his car seat.

Bassinet

Well we got Alex in his bassinet for half the night last night. I have to admit, it made me nervous. Everything you hear about SIDS and blankets, positioners, etc. so I was up about 3 times to check on him. Once he woke up to eat we couldn't get him back in the bassinet so the car seat it was. Oh how crazy it is the things that excite me these days....

Just photos

Monkey

Aunt Melissa

Our doula Kim

My parents with their grandbabies

Grandma Stempkowski

My first photo with my baby

Daddy and Alex

Alex's first bath

Aunt Kristen and Uncle Todd

Sleep

Well we fed Alex at 9:00 last night, put him to bed and he didn't stir until 4. I can't believe we got 6 hours of consecutive sleep, I also can't believe he wanted to sleep that long. John woke me up around 2ish wondering where the baby was. He thought I had fallen asleep while I was nirsing him in the middle of the night and that Alex was asleep on my chest.

Weigh In

We went in for our weight check and we got the good news that Alex is at his birth weight. Yea! No more SNSing and I only have to pump in order to freeze for future use. Now we just need him to fatten up like most breast fed babies do.

Alex's first time on camera

I didn't realize I could take a video with my camera so I tried it out while Alex was in a good mood.

Updates

Since it's been almost three weeks and I haven't posted anything, I'll update you all on what I can remember about Alex....

Well the first two nights home were rough. Alex slept so much at the hospital so I seriously thought we'd have it easy at home but boy was I wrong. I think Alex woke up about 6 times that night. The second night wasn't as rough but then again John and I were expecting it to be bad. We were recommended to swaddle him tightly only at night and boy-oh-boy has sleep been so much better (nothing like it was pre-baby though).

For those of you who know how worried I was, breastfeeding has been very successful. Well at least my milk supply is where it should be, we just need Alex to take more of it in. Unfortunately Alex hasn't gained his birth weight back so we have to go back to the pediatrician's office weekly to do weight checks until he gets to where he's supposed to be. Yes, this has me worried. I feel like I feed him all the time yet I don't want to wake him when he's sleeping. After two weeks I gave into the pacifer. Since I was worried about my milk supply, I didn't want to take the risk and have to worry about "confusion" as well when we gave Alex the pacifier. He totally has an oral fixation and the pacifer satisfys that when we give it to him.

A little late

Well I started this blog when John and I first found out we were pregnant and really didn't update it so here I am again starting a new blog now that Alex is here. To update everyone, Alex was born on 10.4.08 (a Saturday) at 6:52 pm weighing 7 lb. 12 oz. and 20.5 inches.

I woke up around 2 that morning with some terrible back pain and decided instead of waking John that I'd get up and check my email, read some of my book and see if the pain went away. Sure enough, it got worse. About an hour later I woke John up by saying "Babe, I think today is the day we're going to meet our baby." Boy did he jump out of bed so fast! He started packing some last minute things while I sat of the birth ball trying to relieve the back pain. I didn't want to go to the hospital too early so I was in no hurry to get moving. John and I decided to go for a walk to maybe try and speed things up (I knew that if I was albe to carry on a normal conversation with John that I wasn't ready to go to the hospital). We made it about one block and had to turn around, the contractions were coming fast and hard. To put off going to the hospital even longer I told John that I wanted to take a shower. That was amazing! We then decided it was hospital time and John had to practically carry me out of our bed since that was the only place I could get comfortable.

We made it to the hospital around 5 in the morning and our doula, Kim, arrived shortly after. I have to admit that triage was probably one of the worst experiences. Seriously, trying to stick you with a needle, asking you tons of questions and having you sign papers is not something any woman wants to do when she is having contractions. Not only that but it was there I was told I was only 2 cm. Once we made it to our room our wonderful nurse Anne let John and me get into the shower (we requested a room with a tub but they were both taken). I labored there for a while but had to get out to be monitored and checked about 30 mintues later. This was probably when I was at my worst. I hated being on the monitors and was begging Anne to let me get back into the shower but the good thing, I was 7 cm. When I was finally able to, I was in so much pain that it didn't help. Anne had overheard me telling John and Kim that I wanted drugs and told me that her and I had to have a code word (kumquat) if I was serious about the drugs. She was SO great about not pushing the drugs whatsoever. Anyway, as I was laboring on the toilet I looked and Anne and said kumquat (the regret I have....)

Let me just say that I was a totally different person after I received my epidural - which was about 8 hours after I first realized I was in labor. I allowed my mom and mother-in-law to come see me (this never would have happened during the state I was previously in - I would have hated for my mom to see me like that). Unfortunately with the epidural came along the slowing down of my labor progress, it took me 5 more hours to dilated the other 3 cm. Around 3 I was told I could start pushing. I was lucky and received a very low dose epidural so that I could labor in different positions and be able to "feel" our baby being born. I pushed for 2 hours and our OB came in and told me that she'd give me one more hour to push and if I still wasn't making any progress I'd have to have a Cesarean. Well one more hour came and went and I was prepped for a Cesarean.

I really don't remember Alex being born, I remember John looking at me crying and saying it's a boy and Kim taking photos. All the medication I was given sort of made me numb (not just physically) and gave me the shakes. Probably an hour after my son was born I finally got to hold him. What an amazing experience it was to hold Alex for the first time. Even though his birth was not how I planned it whatsoever, Alex was born healthy and that's all that matters. I still can't believe this little man is mine.