Ten on Tuesday

In traditional 10 on Tuesday format, here are my thoughts for the day:
1. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders by getting my book chapter done last night. Even though I didn't finish until midnight and really didn't get started until the evening, I was able to crank my butt in gear and get it done. I work best under pressure. Always have...always will. I've had months, months to get this thing done but I would write a little, maybe a paragraph, and have mental block to just not want to complete it. Likewise, anytime I wanted to start to write, it would take me 20 minutes to lay out the 15 journal articles, 2 textbooks, etc that I wanted to use as resources and no one wants to lug that around. So, even if I did get out of the OR early on some days, unless it was noon and B wouldn't be home for 3 hours, there was no way I could get everything set up and get into a mindset of writing. Hence, why it took Erik (though not by choice....we kinda fell into a jam) taking B into my parents and me having a library day to catch up on my life responsibilities like clothes and bills where I felt comfortable forcing myself to commit to the book chapter. But alas, it's done and I can move on with my life. I just have the editing remaining so hopefully it will be fairly quick in the process.

2. As for the work under pressure, I've always worked best under pressure. It's October and I still don't have my personal statement done....no problem, just crank it out at 2am the night before it's due. Haven't studied for exams....no problem, I'll open a book at 10pm the night before and start reading. I never really studied. Never really learned how to pace myself because I could always get by with last minute deadlines. It actually stresses me to think about getting something done early but I keep ignoring that "you have a book chapter, case report, poster, etc to write that's due next month, week, tomorrow" until it's the wire. My life would be so much less stressed if people gave me deadlines 2 weeks before they were due. And technically, regarding the chapter, it was due in August. However, I "knew" the final book didn't have to be to the publisher until January. So, it wasn't until the powers that be put a little bug in my ear to get working.

3. I miss my B. She's been out of town since yesterday and the house is eerily quiet (and clean, but hey, if I get a smile from seeing B destroy things, then I'll take disarray over spotless any day). Man do I miss that girl! Her little giggles, her "stinky toes," her constant hunger and desire to eat anything and everything, her little moans and grunts.

4. B has had me a little worried. She's "almost" 14 months and hasn't talked. Not one word. No mama, dada, Crosby, ball, etc. However, she signs "more," she points to what she wants and grunts and doesn't get frustrated. She follows commands like "get mommy's socks" and brings them over and puts them on my feet (though she has yet to get the concept of the hole in the sock. She just drops them on my feet). She goes straight to her high chair (even if we're upstairs...she just slides down the steps in lightning speed and goes straight to her high chair and lifts up the tray) when we say breakfast, dinner, lunch, snack, etc. She gives Crosby hugs and kisses when we ask. She follows along songs like "wheels on the bus" and "if you're happy and you know it" and rolls her arms or claps accordingly. She stacks those rings on a peg and attempts to stack blocks. She's starting to use utensils. She makes good eye contact and smiles constantly at people (except if we're at Portrait innovations where she's cried hysterically the last 2 times). I know she's far developed in her fine and gross motor skills, receptive language, etc. It's just her expressive language has me concerned because it's like she has no interest in talking. So, I called Community Resources for Butler County to have a referral done. I figure the least that will happen is an evaluation to say "she's fine" because having worked with kids across the spectrum, I know she's not exhibiting other signs or symptoms of spectral disorders, except for the not talking. Who knows? Like everything else in life (B's induction day, work, etc), if you schedule it, the opposite will happen.

5. Snow....seriously, I love the snow! It makes for such a beautiful backdrop in life. What I don't like: cold. In fact, I hate it. I was outside for like 5 minutes walking to my difficult airway course and about froze everything off on my body. Definitely not a day to wear earrings because I swear it transmitted freezing cold temperatures to my ears. I love the snow...I loathe the cold. I just wish it wasn't 11 degrees and something less bitter like 29 degrees.

6. Today was a perfect day to have a difficult airway course. I was in a very big, very long case surgically. However, anesthetically, once the large IV and a-line were in, my job was pretty much to keep the patient chill as there wasn't a lot of blood loss or other things to do. So, I was never happier when someone came in at 12:15 to send me to the Advanced Difficulty Airway Management (ADAM) course at the WISER center.

7. Love when the attendings at WISER are chill because we were done at 2:15 pm. Enough said! The only thing that stunk was that my ID was in the Mercedes so I had to pay $5 at Magee to park. Boo!

8. I swung by Target on the way home and picked up the next size up in a Penguins jersey for B. Yay! Have I mentioned how much I love my little girl! And I still made it home for 3:30pm. So wonderful!

9. I spent the late afternoon catching up on important housework such as putting away clothes that were washed the day before and straightening up the house. Not to mention that I threw away 52 receipts that had been piled in my purse. Also found in my purse: 5 diapers, sippy cup, snack cup, random change, random craisins, and a puzzle piece. Yep, b/c in the middle of the OR, I put together puzzles.....rather, I think some little suspect put it in there.

10. On another note, I must constantly watch the garbage can. B has this tendency to put stuff in there (almost an iphone one day....she had the lid up with the phone in hand). She threw away several bows when I was wrapping gifts. She also throws away her dirty diapers (don't ask me how she figured that one out....all of a sudden one day, she took her dirty diaper and went to the trash and put it in....I love watching life through the eyes of a child because they are just little sponges that suck up everything around them which makes me be on extra good behavior) which I thought was a great thing until now she throws everything in there.

So, there ya have it! 10 on Tuesday

Um, yeah...long night for our FOUR WEEK OLD

So, we put B down to sleep at 11 last night and from midnight to 2, it was definitely a trying time. She was up every 10 minutes...she nursed from both breasts, had about 2 ounces from a bottle, was burped, changed, cleaned, rocked, bounced, swaddled, shushed, etc and yet still continued to scream despite my best attempts. Then, I think she finally fell asleep after I fed her again (she had to have had 6-8+ ounces over the multiple feedings). She was up again at 4 for a quick nurse and then up at 6:30 for another feeding. I brought her into bed with us on the Boppy Lounger where we both woke up at 9:30. My Facebook quote this morning was "Some kid out there who wanted a little sister for Christmas almost got their wish when I was ready to put her in a box and ship her to the North Pole at 2 am after two hours of B's desire to cry and not sleep." That about summarized how I felt this morning!

I was exhausted so I didn't get very far off the couch after nursing. I took a nap from 11:30 to 12:30 and B had a bottle for that feeding. Andrea left during this time...it was nice that she spent yesterday cleaning...actually quite nice b/c it's one less thing to worry about with the needs of a demanding four week old. Did I just say that? FOUR WEEKS! Oh my, what a pleasure it has been.

I finally made it to the shower at 2 and headed to our Homeowner's Association Board Meeting at 2:30 with B. I did catch Oprah at 4 and watched her bid her farewell when she ends her show in 2011. B napped on my chest and I just watched her for what seemed like an hour...I watched her different facial expressions while she slept...she smiles, curls her lip, frowns, furrows her brow, moves her eyes, winks, etc all while sleeping and it's just precious. We all have come so far in the past 28 days, 4 weeks. 4 weeks ago, we had this tiny little fragile being and now we have this still tiny, not quite as fragile baby that has more of a personality. Her eyes will focus on us and she stares intently while studying our faces. Every once in a while, we get a smile when we smile and always, you'll get a yawn from us when she yawns. She's just so precious and we are so fortunate, blessed and happy to have her in our lives!

Erik learned an invaluable lesson today about burp cloths and their purpose as he had a significant amount of spitup on his shirt and B, being the multi-talented infant that she is, was able to burp, spit up, hiccup and poop at the same time. Unfortunately, given Erik's position and B's already full diaper, we had some leakage which was also quite evident on his shirt....he looked like the classic dad and would not let me take a picture!

Tonight, I must share two Crosby stories (no, she's not the red-headed stepchild...she still sleeps with us and gets her fair share of cuddling...she just is over this whole B crying thing so just stays asleep whenever she fusses). The past few days, B's spitup has been more frequent and with increased quantities...Crosby takes it upon herself to clean up our burp cloths by licking up her spitup. I think she might gain a few pounds this year from all of her extra snacking. Then, Erik was doing some work tonight and I hadn't seen Crosby for about an hour...I go upstairs to change into PJs and I see a lump in the bed...yep, sure enough Crosby put herself to bed underneath the covers...oh, she never ceases to make us smile.

I'll close B's FOUR WEEK (can I say that enough!?!?) post by saying how much more I love Erik every time I look at B and see him in her and every time I see Erik holding her, I fall in love with him all over again!

Clean House...

A little rough last night...we put her in the crib at 11:30 and we went to bed. She woke up at 12:30pm to eat and I gave her a bottle. She was up at 4 and nursed for a bit and went straight to sleep after I put her down. She woke up again at 6:30 and then she had two reawakenings so I just brought her to our bed with the boppy where we slept in until 9. She ate and was so messy that she got a bath which she enjoyed once I filled her tub up with water. I took a bath and then gave Crosby a bath. By this point, it's 11:30 and I attempt to straighten up the bedroom and put away the huge pile of clothes.

While B has been more alert and interactive, she's also been more fussy. After her 9am feeding, she had a significant spit up. She nursed at 11 and then spit up a ton that I don't know how she had nything left in her. After her 2pm feeding, I swear she spit up half her bottle. I just don't know what a normal spitup level is...is this too much???

Andrea cleaned the house today which was greatly appreciated. She took a little break in the afternoon and did some B holding while I finished up the house stuff.

Then I got ready to head to WPSA tonight. It was nice seeing everyone and having an intellectual interaction. B slept the entire time and as I was walking in the house, she was having a bottle...then, she went into a hissy fit where she was clean, fed, held and yet still continued to scream for 10 minutes. She nursed but didn't eat and just had comfort sucking. She's been asleep since then so hopefully she's down for a bit longer.

Not at MiCasa...

Since we've been at my mom and dad's since Wednesday, I don't have photos ready for MiCasa Monday...alas, till next week again.


Last night, I fed B around 10:30-11:15, she slept until 2. We nursed until 2:30 and she was up at 3:30 and Erik gave her a bottle. She woke up again around 7:30 just as Erik was going to work. I brought her into bed with me (don't yell at me, she was swaddled, in a boppy with no chance of suffocation) where she slept next to me and Crosby slept cuddled into my back until 10:30 when we woke up for the day. She got milk everywhere so she got a bath this morning and was all clean and fresh smelling (I'm still trying to remember that unadulterated smell of the newborn as it's been replaced by milk and lotions). After her bath, she was all smiles for about an hour. Then she was all cuddles with grandma while I caught up on more emails.

I spent all afternoon just cuddling with B. She still seems so tiny and her weight gain had been slow early on. I can't wait to get back to the house on Wednesday to weigh her on the kitchen scale. Actually, while I enjoy being home and relaxing and spending time with the parents, I miss our house...I totally miss our king bed and having B in her own room. I love our house so much as it's perfect and we're almost to the point where it's exactly how we want it. We have a king bed and it's about the right size for E, Croz and me; at my parents' house, we sleep in a full bed (I don't know how any couple could sleep in a full bed). We also have been sleeping with B in a PNP in the room and I really can't wait until she goes back to the crib at the house b/c everytime she's up or squeaks or makes any noise or even screams during a diaper change, both of us are up with her. While I think cosleeping may be good for some people, B screams until she's changed for night feedings so I wouldn't be able to just reach over to a co-sleeper to get her and we've both failed at side nursing.

We had our baptismal session with Deacon Bern tonight. Heidi came down with pneumonia so she wasn't coming in tonight for it. Lauren, Erik and I went and it was about an hour. We still have to call to set the date but at least the prep stuff is done. We had to take a test and the three of us and our fierce competitiveness came out with having the loser buy ice cream at DQ (uh hem, Erik) and of course, Crosby got her kid-size vanilla. I started organizing items so that tomorrow morning, I wouldn't have too much to pack.

Three weeks old!

Wow...time is flying by...every day I see B changing so much. She's now spending much more time in this "quiet alertness" stage where she's awake for about an hour or so after feeding. I'm not arguing with this as I love having my conversations with her and watching her explore her surroundings. She loves looking at faces (as she can probably only relatively clearly see 8-12 inches in front of her so that's why she prefers faces since they're in that range). She's also getting much stronger with her head control and when burping, she'll hold her head up 10+ seconds. We're also doing a bit of tummy time and she's doing alright with holding her head up during that time but she definitely enjoys it more and does better when she's on her stomach on the Boppy.

She's still a petite, skinny mini who barely fits into newborn clothes but I think she's starting to fill out a bit more in her face. Her eyelashes are growing as they're now visible (compared to the barely 1mm eyelashes when she was born). We are going through diapers like it's our job and today, we changed 3 times in 15 minutes as she wanted changed before feeding b/c she was wet (again, the child who refuses to eat if she has one drop of pee in her diaper until she's dry...however, she'll sit in poop for an hour before deciding she wants to be changed).

At 3 weeks of age....
Estimated Diapers: 170
Estimated Wipes: 120
Estimated Feeds: 146
Estimated Bottles: 22
1 bout of mastitis
Feeding amount: 2.5 ounces

We've also done our first load of laundry at my mom's....Erik and I used to go every 3 weeks before we had to do laundry (we had enough clothes, underwear, etc and I wear scrubs for work so we didn't really need to do laundry that often) and now we're doing laundry like twice a week since she's been home from the hospital because she spits up, pees while I'm changing a diaper, etc. Her hair is filling in a bit on top...she's my little peachfuzz!

I still continue to find amazement with how much gas this little girl can pass....5-10 times during any given feeding with about 2-4 different bouts of poop while she's eating. She's definitely a 5+ dirty diaper and 8+ wet diaper girl per day.

I remember her first bottle at 5 days of age was 1.5 ounces and she spit up a good bit of it and we both think her stomach was still expanding to hold that amount. Right now, she's up to 2-2.5 ounces when she takes a bottle. She is starting to have a bit more spit up during breastfeeding than she's had in the past but I'm also producing more milk than I have in the past (in 1 pump session, I usually get around 4 ounces or 2 ounces after nursing). We just love her. I spent a good 30 minutes or so today just looking at her hands, feet, back, hair, fingers, toes, butt...just all of her parts as she's going to be getting so big so quickly and I want to make sure I remember these days as best as I can. She's also starting to become more of a messy feeder and we have to wipe her down practically after every feed since there's milk in her hair, ear, arm, chin (I love when there's a little bit of dried milk in the little triple chin she has going on), chest, etc...and this is despite a bib!.

I think Erik and I both agree that we just love being parents...we love seeing B develop and go through her stages. I think it's safe to assume we're out of the newborn stage and working toward the infant stage.

On another note, this morning I finished catching up on school stuff and benefits info and finishing up everything that I needed to for leave. Around 2, I went over to Cambrian Hills to meet up with family at Aunt Nancy's funeral dinner. After that, I was able to get the 4-generation photos with Baba/Pop-pop, mom, me and B. We then went over to Aunt Louise and Aunt Helen's to visit. After dinner, we visited with Ed and Joann and came home and were ready for bed.

On a happy note...two of my friends announced their pregnancies today...I'm so happy for both of them and so excited to hear of their good news!

Meet the Great-Grandparents...

This morning, B had a rougher night....nursed at 11 to 12, then took a bit to get down, then slept until 4, then 6, then 8:30. We were up and going by 10:30 (hey, that's early for us...considering by the time B wakes up, nurses for 30 minutes, gets a wipe down with warm water to get all the milk stickies off, gets dressed and I have breakfast, get showered and ready...it ends up being a 2-hr process give or take).

I took B to Baba and Pop-pops so B could meet them. Pop-pop was so cute holding B like she was this fragile thing and Baba also very gingerly held B. I wanted to get the 4 generation pic but we'll have to delay until tomorrow when mom's here. Grandma wasn't feeling well after her trip to Rivers so we didn't venture down there so I used the afternoon to catch up on school work and take care of benefits and other leave items. While B was down for the count, I also swung by the funeral home for Aunt Nancy...at 95, she looked the same as I always remembered her over the past 25+ years...

Erik made homemade pumpkin pies (yummy!) and we headed over to Lauren and Nate's for dinner (pizza and wings!!) and to watch the Pens game. It's a late night but B's ready to party (or at least nurse a while)...

Happy Veterans' Day! Welcome to the NC!

Happy Veterans' Day! More importantly, thank you to all the veterans to have served in our armed forces for the sacrifices they have made for our country.

This day started off with a lazy sleep-in morning (and a decent night last night...B slept from 12-3, then 4-7 and 7-9 when we woke her up to eat). Dad and E waved off the outdoors today in favor of house projects (like finishing our workbenches for the garage). B & I were a little slow getting going and I spent most of the morning trying to figure out what we would need for the next 6 days...diapers, clothes, pump parts, burp cloths, etc and trying to figure out what we wanted to take home to keep there (wash cloths, ducky towels and robe, shampoo, receiving blankets, blankets, baby wash, desitin, wipes, etc) since we'll be back and forth for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

She was a bit sticky after eating this morning so B got her second bath today and it went much better than her first bath. First off, I filled up her tub with about 6 inches of water (there were 2 of us there...don't yell at me for being a bad mom...there was no possible way of her drowning in that tub) which kept her covered and warm. We kept a wash cloth on her at all times and she was actually all smiles and enjoyed her bath. She was a clean, fresh smelling baby after her bath!

Mom and dad went to Springfield for lunch while E & I had some leftovers. We got on the road around 1:30pm. We had a good drive home and it was the first time all 4 of us were in the car...Crosby got shotgun with her car seat and I was in the backseat with B. B made it the whole way home and started fussing in Nicktown. Needless to say, as soon as we got home, I fed B to keep from total meltdown and Erik went out to the woods. Also, I think it's safe to say that we are looking forward to a few years from now when I buy a GL with the 3 rows of seating...we had room in the Benz for the essentials but I hope we have small-in-size Christmas gifts as we didn't have a ton of room leftover.

Crosby showed B all the sights of NC and grandmamma J and Pap's house...Crosby just cracks me up as as soon as we got home, she was all excited and went running through the house looking for them (even though they were just pulling in behind us in the driveway). Cracks.me.up! She'll go from room to room with her tail wagging and full of excitement looking for mom and dad and has a look of pure disappointment if they aren't home.

We got Chinese for dinner and just relaxed a bit and set up the pack and play, put out the play mat, nd trying to semi-organize since we'll be here until Tuesday. Mary Lou, Melissa and Steve stopped up to visit with B for a bit this evening. It's time for Top Chef (I keep hoping this is Robin's week to pack her knives)...

Busy day...

So, lots of action in HC last night....as I was feeding B around 11:30, we heard this thumping followed immediately by police sirens. Then a minute later, the Mars Fire Sirens were going off and then lots more police sirens. We found out today from Bob since Brandon is a fireman that there was a high speed chase last night and the car blew out its tire on 228 and turned into our plan to take Crider toward Myoma. The cops coming from the other direction turned down Myoma and cut off Crider at the top of the zigzag hill by our house. When the car apparently saw that he was blocked in, he wrecked on the zigzag. Even though I couldn't see anything from the glider, Erik saw the flashing lights from our bedroom. So we saw at least a dozen police cars, a few fire trucks, and ambulance. Then around midnight, there was just a few police cars and the fire trucks with their crash lighting out. Good thing the car didn't keep going down HC drive...it could've caused a major accident.

B had a good night last night....B slept from 12:00 until 3 and then was up at 5 and 6:30 to eat (then I got about a 30 minutes nap before I woke up at 7:45). As I may have mentioned before, I was supposed to go to Houston this weekend for the AMA meeting...however, given our bilirubin and poor nursing issues in the few days after B was born (and my feeling way more sore than I imagined), I decided to do what's best and just call in to the meeting. I was up at 7:45 this morning and on the conference call to Houston from 8 until 10am. In the interim, Erik so kindly brought me breakfast and drinks and I nursed B when she woke up. Then, I started some more laundry and put away clothes in between the sessions. I picked the call back up at noon until 2:15ish and then woke B up to eat.

We all headed out to Ross Park Mall and went to JC Penney to order the ottoman and get a few things for B. We had a few gift cards to use, including one very generous one from the Erik's group. We walked the mall but didn't really find anything. We then swung by the store to pick up a matt to put under Crosby's food and water bowls, something we should've gotten a year ago but kept delaying. B started to have a meltdown in the store so we tried to keep her calm as we headed home and I fed her as soon as we got in the door.

We settled into the theater room and watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (but I fell asleep before it was over...go figure!). I'm just writing a quick post after putting B down for the night.

Two Weeks Old!!!

We have a 2 week old....Yikes! Time is flying by and we can see her changing already. She definitely has more periods of quiet alertness or quiet wondering where she's just looking around and taking everything in. Fortunately, she's still that squishy little newborn that fits all folded up into our forearms.

Last night, we had some good sleep from around 11pm to 3am to nurse then we had some difficulty in getting her to go back to sleep. Mom helped out in getting her to lay down and finally around 5, she had to get a BM bottle. She fussed a bit more after and I guess mom took her to the couch to sleep a bit. I got up at 8 and she ate then. I didn't know where time went b/c I'm finally getting around to a shower around 10. The one thing I've realized is how hard it is to get everyone up, fed, changed, clothed and ready in the morning.

We did a photo shoot this morning/afternoon in the foyer and got some adorable photos in her tutu and laying on the lounger. However, it didn't come without a problem as of course, B decided to poop while diaperless on my white fuzzy photo prop blanket (however, a little oxyclean, dreft stain remover, and slight addition of bleach to the soak removed all traces of the stain). We interupted a bit for some feedings and cuddle time. Mom did leave around 1:30 to head home but we'll see her soon! It is getting dark so early anymore that it makes our photo shoots fairly limited to the morning as by 4pm the sun is already setting! I promise pix to shutterfly will be posted soon....

As for weight (see next paragraph), I'm about 22lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight but I see it slowly coming off...I gained about 40 pounds during the pregnancy...oh, about an ounce for each milkshake, cupcake, moment of weakness I had during the 279 days I was pregnant...now that I'm feeling better and not quite so sore, I'm eager to ease my way back into walking. Today, I put her all bundled up into the sling and we went for a walk with Crosby through the neighborhood to blowoff some stink. Erik mentioned "walk" to Crosby and she was like crazy, mad dog whining and running back and forth between the front window and the door to the garage wanting to go on her walk so we had to cave and go for a walk a bit earlier than I wanted (that was our first disruption to the photo shoot).

We ventured to Target in the evening to pick up some totes as one of those 4 loads of laundry was my summer and dress maternity clothes that I want to put away so I can regain some of my closet back (I'm still keeping my stretchy type fabric long sleeve shirts and pants b/c well, the shirts are easy with nice stretch for nursing so I don't stretch out my non-maternity long-sleeve shirts and my pants, well, let's just say have a nice elastic waist band as I'm not ready yet to face my pre-pregnancy pants).

We also picked up groceries at Giant Eagle and came home and made mushroom swiss burgers...they were so juicy and so yummy! 85% lean is the key to good hamburgers...less fat and too dry, more fat and not as healthy and way more grease. We then settled into the theater room for the night and watched Pirates 1 on BluRay while I finished prepping for my conference call tomorrow morning.

I had to make my decision last week about going to Houston b/c I had to book my airfare and after the bilirubin and nursing issues and the fact that I was sore, really sore, I decided it was in our best interest not to go....however, since Wednesday, I probably could have gone but I did what was best for our new family. So, tomorrow I have a conf call from 8-10 and 12-2 with my WPC cronies at the AMA meeting.

We have gotten a ton of cards and well wishes this week....everyone has been so kind and generous to us. We appreciate everything that has been done to welcome B into the world!

Lots of Firsts today...

We had a good night last night...B slept from 11 to 3 then woke at 5 and 8:00 so we were up an fed for the day around 9. After a relaxing bath, we were ready around 11:30 (yes, you heard that...even though B was up and fed by 9, we weren't ready until 11:30...considering that 2 weeks ago, 11:30 was nearing the end of lunch and the almost end of my workday, it is disconcerting that we don't load up into the car until that time.)

Where were we going? Nope, not to a doctor's appointment or hospital. Well, first off, B had her first outing to a non-hospital or doctor's office today. We went to Target (B got her First Christmas bib), Bed Bath and Beyond, Michaels, and Joanns. At Michaels, I got some Delight modeling clay so this weekend, we can have arts and crafts time and make some handprint and footprint ornaments and frames before these feet go from 2.5 inches to size 9s.

We got Chick Fil A for lunch, including a peppermint chocolate chip milkshake....so good!! The weather was beautiful so we went for a long walk when we got home. We straightened up the house a bit and then for dinner, we had leftovers and then just relaxed with some TV and Top Chef All-Stars before bed.

Quite a relaxing day...

10 on Tuesday...Week 2 of Being a Family

1. I never imagined that something so little and so dainty and so fragile could fart so loud and poop so viciously that you can feel the rumble sitting a foot away on the couch and hear it 30 feet away in the kitchen...yep, she'll hate me one day when she's older and I share this story.
2. Breastfeeding is definitely a great experience when it's done the right way and after "healing." I went back to BFing today after realizing that pumping wasn't a long term solution.
3. Baby wearing...yep, we enjoyed doing housework with B in the sling today and hopefully this will be a way of both Erik and I having 2 hands free to get work done.
4. B survived her first shopping trip today...she kept asking me with her puppy pleading eyes for some new bibs and of course, grandma and I couldn't resist and bought a few for her.
5. Even though we have 10 pacifiers floating around the house, when there is a screaming baby, there's not one to be found except in Crosby's mouth (and yes, I took it out of her mouth and washed it off with soap and water before giving it to B).
6. Then, 10 minutes later, you count 5 pacifiers sitting around in the living room (pack n play, end table, coffee table-2 of them, ottoman). They are bright green/aqua Soothies...they're not that hard to miss...the shrill must distract the eye from processing what it sees.
7. B has 3 different level of cries: this sad, pathetic whimper that's like "please give me a paci or milk or fill in some blank." The pathetic whimpers then escalate into the crying that's like "I want it now...you're not listening to me so I have to be louder than my whimpy sniffles." Then, there's the run-around-and-find-whatever-screaming-child-wants-to-stop-the-ear-piercing-shrill screams. Oh dear...this child will turn beet red and you know it's coming because you have the crying then there's the silence for 5 seconds while she takes 3 deep breaths then, wham, the screaming shrill is let out of that tiny little being. Usually for us, this occurs during a diaper change when screaming infant wants to eat but refuses (see #8) to eat b/c she has 1 drop of pee in her diaper.
8. Yes, our child will refuse to touch a nipple until her diaper is changed if there is 1 single, solitary drop of pee. However, given her avid gastrocolic reflex (pretty much, upon the first drops of milk getting into the stomach that the reflex signals her colon to empty so that it can make room for the new meal), she will poop, usually in bursts of 3, thigh rumbling, Boppy rumbling, heard across the room poops. When she poops, she relaxes her whole body and this look of peace comes across her face like she just solved the world's problems. Then, she continues eating...sometimes for 30 minutes with poop in her pants. Yet, pee, one drop sends her in a tizzy.
9. Since nursing has taken a turn for the positive, I've been feeling the best today that I've felt since she came home. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am so so so so happy! Erik loves being a daddy and I just love being a mommy. Crosby loves the opportunity for extra calories (see #10). Life is great for us right now. We couldn't be happier and more blessed to have such a healthy daughter and wonderful life at home.
10. Crosby loves to sniff B and lick her toes (and maybe some milk drippings off her face or fingers). She just lays on the couch with B and won't move if B is even touching her...it's so precious and I just hope that B and Crosby have that loving, playful relationship with each other.

Such a refreshing day and MiCasa deferred again

Given my lackluster, general feeling of crapiness yesterday, I barely had enough energy to get off the couch to go to the bathroom so no MiCasa post today...

However, on the bright side, my fever broke overnight and was 99.1 this morning...I was going to call the OB but fevers, headache, chills, malaise and "other" issues appeared to resolve so I don't think that I needed antibiotics and to run in for an appointment today. I actually felt the best I had in a few days and at least the most rested than I had over the past few days.

Thanks to my mom being here, I was able to get a great night's sleep and sleep in until 9:15 this morning. Cross our fingers, but we may have also found a solution to B's more frequent awakenings at night...yesterday, after adopting the exclusive pumping until we cross the hurdles, we fed her at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 last night. So our feeding B every 2 hours yesterday worked like a charm overnight because after her 10pm feeding, she didn't wake up to eat until 1:15am, then 4am, then 6:30am and when we woke up somewhere around 9:15am. Since we were giving the bottle, it was a quick feed, change, and back to sleep until the hour + marathons of nursing that I had gone through last week (but mom took all the feedings which was awesome and so helpful for me).

It felt great to be refreshed but I was truly grateful to have my mom out here as she let me just sleep, recover, eat, drink and pump yesterday, all from the couch and took care of everything else in the house and everything with B so I could focus on myself.

After lunch today, Mom, B, Croz and I went for a walk to Columbia Court b/c it was a beautiful day and the rest of the week looked pretty crappy. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit.

Our neighbor, Sarah, brought over dinner for us tonight. This is one of the reasons I love our neighborhood...our neighbors have been awesome since we moved in. We love the diversity of the neighborhood: younger/older couples with or without children, single folks, etc. In the single family homes, Erik and I are one of the youngest couples at 28 and 29 (we were both 27 when we moved in) but it allows us to see different families at different stages of their lives (and so we can see what we have to look forward to: playdates, MOMS groups, school pickups/dropoffs, etc).

Then, this evening, we just veged on the couch. We missed Erik today...he went back to work today but we'll see him soon.

Day 9 and already setbacks...

After a generally good night where B got a bottle at 1 and 3 (but with the fall back time change, I don't know whether that was pre or post time change) and then slept until 6:30 when we were getting up to get ready.

We had our appointment with the lactation consultant (LC) at 8:30 and had definitely made progress by the end of the appointment. Our solution came with using shields which made everything go more smoothly and painfree. Pretty much, both B & I are doing everything right except the damage had been done by her chomping early on that thus propagated pain and more pain and her petite size made it hard for her to get everything in her mouth that she needed. At the appointment, I also had a lot of redness and firmness but I had not fever or other symptoms so there wasn't a concern for mastitis at that time.

Then, we get home...Heidi was still here so she got a bit of B time while I took a nap. Of course, as irony would have it (as irony seems to be the theme of our lives), I wake up from the nap with a fever to 101.4, chills, malaise, headache...all the classic "flu-like" symptoms of mastitis. After calling the LC, I just pumped every 30 minutes. Through this, we were to continue to nurse; however, breastfeeding has been causing me so much stress, pain, lack of sleep, frustration, etc that I decided to take a hiatus until everything has healed and will be exclusively pumping in the interim.

We're hoping this is a good decision...of course, I feel horrible about it as I feel like I've failed at it but at this point, it's something I need to do (and hopefully with my mom here, it will allow me to just rest and recooperate a bit).

We also wanted to try to feed her every 2 hours during the day to try to fill her up on calories so she would sleep maybe the 3 hour stretches at night (previously, she had been sleeping 3+ hours straight during the day but waking every 2-ish at night). She ate at 2, 4, 6, 8 (we put on her sleeping gown and began swaddling), and 10 (we put her in the crib and now we're heading to bed). So, hopefully things work out

With mom here, Erik headed back home today. He and dad set up the TV and dad was basking in HD and digital cable glory with all of its 50 inches of plasmaness....I think he just found Earth's equivalent of heaven.

Someone has an innie...

And it's the cutest thing ever! But since Erik is getting ready to leave, we're still going to continue the wipe downs until B gets her first bath Tuesday night! Ugh, my baby is growing up too quickly! Can she stay 9 days old forever?

The Little Pumpkin

What a great Halloween for B! We started off the morning (after a decent night...a hard time getting her down with Erik taking the bottle feeds at 12 and 2 and me having a fight to nurse at 4:30 and up again at 7:25) with a visit to the pedi's office at 8:30 in their new office. Since we were the only ones there (they were only seeing weight checks and sick kids since they still had a ton of unpacking and finishing up they were doing) at that time, I think B was their first patient in the new office! Heidi joined me at the appt so Erik could sleep in a bit (he was going to go hunting but rain and exhaustion thwarted his plans). B weighed in at 6'15" so she gained an ounce per day (typically 1/2 - 1 ounce/day so this was great) exactly since Tuesday and is almost back to birthweight at 8 days so we got clearance from the pedi to not come back until 1 month unless we were having issues. In addition, Dr. C also evaluated our nursing and she thought we were doing everything right but encouraged us to go through with our lactation consultant appointment tomorrow.

When we got home, Lauren worked with Erik to redo the office decor (as Erik had purged several of my books from the bookshelves so they'll be up in the attic as I haven't yet come to terms with parting with my Bio 101 or Chem 105 books and the like just quite yet). Haley and Alex came to visit and I just took a quick nap.

In the afternoon, we tried to do a photo session but B wasn't drunk on milk and was wide awake and crying most of the time so we got a few photos in, but nothing spectacular. Both Erik and Heidi stepped out to run some errands so I was able to get some of the photos with the bear and pottery barn chair done and dressed B up in her little pumpkin costume to take some more photos.

Trick or Treat started at 6 and Heidi handed out candy while we took B over to Irene's and Sara's. If I haven't mentioned it already, I love our neighborhood...all the trick-or-treaters were so polite..."trick-or-treat" followed by a "thank you" came from almost everyone. Erik was half tempted to dress up as one of our neighbors was giving out Yuengling to parents taking their kids around....that's awesome! Maybe next year, we'll be that house that gives our glasses of wine!

Afterwards, we were all pretty tired so we just settled in for the night with the Pens game (again, another great performance).

We took a bunch of pictures so hopefully we'll be able to add few here to the blog in a bit (yeah, I have way less time than I anticipated!)

Happy 1 Week Birthday!

It's so hard to believe that our baby is 1 week old. Time has flown by. This week has been a week of discovery, some occasional trying times, and realizing that there's so much room in your heart to love another humn being. You can never do too much holding, cuddling, loving, singing, dancing you can do with a newborn.

Last night, we fed her around 10:30pm and, after her slew of diaper changes, she went down at 11:30pm in the crib. Then, between 12-2, it was definitely a trying time of figuring out pacifier and feeding (she did get a bottle of BM). She went down again after feeding around 2:30, then up at 4:00 until 4:45, then up 6:30-7:15, then we all were up 10:15 for the day. After feeding, Erik had her for the morning while I got a chance to shower, shave and be a normal person. I did manage to get some laundry done. I also had the opportunity to just have a day where I didn't have anything to do (not that I don't have a list of 100 things to do but I just chose to not do any of them today). It was so nice to not have to deal with the bili lights today. Her coloring looks a lot better today.

I've been reading Happiest Baby on the Block and I must say, the swaddle, side, shhhing, swinging, and sucking have been working for us. With the bili lights, it was hard to do swaddling with her but today we tried to swaddle quite a bit and it worked well today. She's been spacing her feedings today about every 2.5-3 hours.

Our nicknames for her:
Yoda (the furrow in her brow and that round/oval head...yep, Yoda)
Pebbles (enough said....this may be our family Halloween costume next year)
Poopshitz (b/c her gastrocolic reflex is in full activity...you can almost guarantee a diaper change before feeding b/c the child refuses to touch a nipple with a drop of urine in her diaper and then is the loudest child on the face of the planet with poop letdown occuring over a period of 5 minutes then changing her before she finally eats......we've probably wasted about 20 diapers just b/c we changed her then tried to feed her and had a poop letdown)
Sweet Pea
Brookie
Brookie Bear
These are the ones that we use most frequently, but I'm sure we'll come up with a few more.

Erik and I just love smelling her....it's pure, unadulterated, perfume-free, au naturelle smell and it's so wonderful...I can't get enough of it b/c sure enough we'll be having a new smell once we start bath times. I just spent time today feeling and touching everything on her...her soft hair, her knobby knees, her wrinkled feet, her button nose with tiny milia, her soft as silk skin, her mullet-esque babyfine hair with receding hairline, her fingers with wragged nails, her flat butt with lack of a gluteus maximus, her spread eagle long-as-her-fingers toes....she's just so precious!

Tonight, Heidi, Lauren, and Nate came over tonight to watch the Pens game and they get some Brookie time. We got General Tso's from China House in Mars and are having a relaxing evening. Tomorrow morning, we have a weight check and jaundice check and hopefully our bili lights get-up can be sent back.

Our Pumpkin's Arrival...the rest of the story!

Yeah, so let me just say I totally planned to nest, facebook, catch up on blogs, etc the entire day while I labored b/c I figured a first time baby after SROM at 5am wouldn't be born until at least 5-8pm...we were even guessing when during the Pens game she'd be born (though what we thought were conservative guesses was 4pm by Erik and 4:16pm by me)...

So, needless to say, right after I posted my last update around 12:45, Dr. S walked in around 12:45pm while he was up on L&D and just wanted to check to see how far I had progressed (I had been on pit for about 5 hours by this point and granted, with contractions, I was feeling a little pressure but nothing outstanding or severe or even minor that I would call. With a few pushes of the PCEA button, any wince of pain had gone away). We were guessing I'd be maybe 5cm by this point (or at least hoping). I wanted to call our birth photographer after being checked b/c I didn't want her sitting around all day so we figured around noon would be a good time b/c I estimated being around 5-6cm which would give her enough time to get some of the casual labor shots and give me some time to get ready (mainly put in contacts...I actually wanted to see the babe when she was born!). Likewise, we figured our family was all at our house by this point so we could call to give them an update.

Needless to say, I was completely taken aback, shocked, etc when he said "oh, you're ready to push when you want to or you can labor down a bit...you're complete, complete and +2 and the head's right here." As I already mentioned, this was not something I was expecting, he was expecting, or that we were ready for. So, I hurried up and called our birth photographer and told her to RUSH in b/c we were ready to push. I asked Dr. S to let me labor down a bit and give me about 30 minutes so I could mentally get ready for this, let the photographer here and call our parents since I knew they were at lunch.

The photographer got here in about 20 minutes (as for the photographer, this was something that, based on my Nesting and some blogs I follow (lifeinmotionphotography.com), I loved the idea of birth photography and to give Erik a chance to relax and enjoy and to not worry about taking pictures. Through the Nest, I found our photographer. I saw something on her blog about her doing birth photography so after some emails back and forth, this was something she really wanted to do but had a hard time finding interested people b/c a lot of people have misconceptions thinking she'd be "right there" taking pictures...whereas, I have seen other photographer's examples where you pretty much capture the first breath, those first few moments as a family, the experience of the birth, and the fun stuff like foot prints so I knew what I wanted from the photographer. When I discussed this concept and overall style with her, we were an instant mesh in what we both wanted....we were going to be her first birth photography experience and we were getting a totally great deal instead of paying $1000+ just for the shooting based on what I researched from other photographers. I was excited for her enthusiasm to do this since I had a difficult time finding other pro photographers who wanted to do this style.).

I was disappointed I didn't get a ton of laboring pix but considering that when she got here, I was literally at +3 with little time left b/c she was having a dip here and there with contractions so I had to start pushing. Brooklyn was coming sooner than anyone expected. I started pushing at 1:40pm...20 minutes of pushing (like 8 sets of 3 pushes b/c my ctx weren't picking up on the monitor so we were relying on my feeling worsening pressure) and her head was pretty much out. This may be TMI but I had the mirrors down so I could watch. I was having a hard time figuring out how I needed to push so by watching the mirror, I could see what worked and waht didn't work based on how I was moving her. This allowed me just a few sets of pushes to get her from not going back in. She was stable about an inch or so out and Kelly called Dr. S. We waited a few minutes and every set of contractions, she inched (okay, millimetered) herself out a bit more so she called the charge nurse, Jane, to come in just in case. I'm talking up a storm to Erik, the photographer, the nurses, etc about every random thing I could think of to keep from pushing. After about 5 minutes of waiting for Dr. S, we had to turn off the pitocin...it was so hard not to subconsciously push with the contractions so by shutting it off, it at least made her progress slow down.

There was literally one fibrous band holding her back during this time. Finally, 15 minutes later around 2:15 or so, he arrived in the room (he was doing a procedure...in the meantime, that little fibrous band held her back b/c literally one more strong push and she would've been out). When Dr. S came in and saw her, he said "Signal fair catch...everyone step back...don't touch her or we'll have a baby right there." He got dressed and they took down the bed. That fibrous band was the only thing holding her in and after one little snip of the band, she pretty much came out and a small push brought the rest of her head out. I remember looking up and seeing her hand come out with her head...it was right up there by her face. She was born at 2:25pm. She went straight to my stomach/chest. I was in awe looking at this little precious creature on my stomach...all gooey, bloody and not as bad of a conehead as I imagined! Erik cut the cord and she stayed on my belly about 10-15 minutes while I delivered the placenta and he checked everything out.

When I was being sewed, she went over to the warmer and was cleaned up. Erik went over to see her too and then, yes, I updated FB (hey, there's not a lot to do when you're laying there with someone sewing you up). The epidural was awesome as I didn't feel a thing...I gave myself an extra few pushes of the PCEA and just laid there watching and taking everything in. My daughter was there...crying away! It was funny...right as she was coming out, I heard the text sounds and Lauren texted that they just arrived. Dr. S took the pumpkin back to the clinic...he was so excited to get candy from a patient!

Then, we had some time with just us and some photos....then we had the family come back slowly to meet her. Mom and dad, then dad sent back Andrea, then Lauren and Heidi and then they all were in the room. Lauren brought a basket with snacks and I started devouring Swedish fish and sixlets (and started on a mountain dew because I was starving!). The newborn nurses swung by and checked her out. We were in the LDR until about 5:30pm and then I was wheeled to post-partum. I ordered food the moment I got to the room (2704) so it was ready by the time we got settled :) Mom, dad, Andrea, Lauren and Heidi stuck around for a little while until around 7:00 or so and then they left to go home to get Primanti's for dinner. I must say we saw our nurse for 5 minutes to check us in, bring me an ibuprofen and that's about it...then it took like an hour for the nurse to bring me a percocet when I realized ibuprofen wasn't cutting it if I wanted to get out of bed. Let's just hope the nurse on tonight is a little responsive to when I need something.

It was just the 3 of us and we were scared to death that it was just us and our daughter. We watched the Pens game (they won!!) and around 10pm or so, a beautiful, 20-minute++ fireworks show was right outside the window in Oakland (I think it was Pitt homecoming...you could see the Cathedral of Learning in the background...we tried to get pix but we just got a reflection). It was so beautiful and we kept saying how it just capped off a perfect day.

I went into today without a birth plan (I had a general idea of what I wanted but I didn't want to be one of those people who had a detailed birth plan such that I'd be disappointed if it wasn't followed exactly) b/c I understand as well as anyone that the best laid birth plans will just go to rest and the day will turn out to be the exact opposite of the birth plan. Even though I didn't have a birth plan, the past 24 hours was exactly how I would've wanted my birth plan to read. Today was simply flawless...everything was remarkable and we have our baby, Brooklyn Sydney (yep, it was a pretty easy decision to go with Sydney), sitting here in our arms...life is perfect...our family is complete!

Brooklyn Sydney Ligda

Brooklyn Sydney Ligda arrived at 2:25pm today! She was 7lbs, 1 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. We're all doing well and we'll be posting pictures soon (probably posting them all the shutterfly then adding them to the blog next week sometime!)

An Awesome Morning...

So, I think I mentioned some of this earlier, but I'll reiterate...

We came in around 6am to the room (LDR 3), got checked in, had the IV started (on the second try), drew blood with a butterfly since the IV wouldn't draw back, etc. We started pitocin around 7am since I already had orders from the induction aspect and my ctx were only every 2-3-7 min and not regular.

Erik and I brought in those plastic jack o'lanterns for our nurses, my anesthesia peeps, the residents, the office staff (for Dr. S to take down when he remembered), and one for our post-partum nurses. They were definitely appreciated and everyone commented on them. Hey, I've been there, done that and love when patients would bring in cookies or candy for the team taking care of them.

Dr. S came in around 7:30am to check me (right after the last post) and I was 75%/2/0 and let me just say that he had to change his scrubs after....oh dear, he tried to assess whether the back of her head was in the front or back and that little bit of manipulation sent a geyser in his direction.

I noticed the ctx were way more painful after pit (I'd say 1/10 pre-pit and 3/10 post-pit in pain levels thinking of 10/10 being those women I've heard screaming their heads off). I held out until 8:30am (mainly b/c I knew there was shift change for anesthesia and also I wanted to see what ctx really felt like and tried to imagine them getting worse) and then I requested my epidural. I figure I was definitely getting one so the moment I started to feel mildly uncomfortable, I called uncle and it was the best decision ever.

Mike Maromonte had done my epidural. I definitely felt comfortable with him since he was one of the fellows when I was on my rotation and I knew that he wouldn't make me nervous. It was so weird to experience everything I've explained to my patients before...I was like, "oh, that's what that part feels like."

For the lidocaine, it truly does burn. It definitely surprised me! As for the Tuohy needle, it does feel like a pressure in your back and I really could feel him walking off bone and when he was a little to the left. It seemed like it was taking longer than usual b/c well, you're sitting there all vulnerable but it probably took about 4 minutes for him to get it. All the while, Erik is sitting there on the chair watching and Patty is helping to keep me in position. It's hard to stay in the curled shrimp or cat arching its back position and I had to reposition in the middle to help open my spaces. I couldn't feel the thread of the catheter but I did feel the bolus of lido/epi as it did feel like a small pressure in my back.

It was an awesome insertion and awesome epidural. I truly felt my legs get numb and heavy and I figured that I had a T9 level. It was really an out-of-body type experience b/c I could move and feel my legs but they felt so weird. I started on my right side and took a short nap with Erik and sure enough about an hour later when my BP cuff went up, my right leg was numb and I had to flip over. Kelly, my nurse, had to help move me b/c, while I could move my left leg, my right was really numb and hard to move. So, I flipped to the left and napped again. I kept flipping about every hour or so. I did do the PCEA and didn't really need it until maybe 11am or so. Katie stopped by to visit and likewise, Mike and Giorgio stopped in to see how things were doing.

I was lucky to have been able to nap, send emails and do stuff on the computer on and off since like 9:30 after the epidural went in. Around 11, I noticed when I was on my right side that I felt a ctx on the left side of my abdomen. I pushed the button and switched the left (while dragging my right leg with me!) and within 5 minutes, my pain was gone. Until now, I pushed the button 3 times I think.

My pitocin was adjusted quite a bit and I think I'm at 10 now but my ctx definitely have regulated themselves now at about every 1-2 minutes. I don't feel them one bit but I have noticed that I'm starting to feel some pressure with the contractions. I'm hoping Dr. S comes in to check me soon. Erik and I are having a birth photographer so that Erik didn't feel like he needed to take a bunch of pictures...we wanted him to enjoy this moment but both MB and I didn't want her sitting around the whole day.

Erik is calling 4pm as birth time but my vote is 4:16pm. I think we're both pretty conservative on this. Erik and I have just been enjoying talking about things. We spent this morning napping, on the computer, or just chatting...it's been really special. I did send him out around 11-11:30 to go grab lunch and he just got back a few minutes ago. He went to Quaker Steak for wings and fries. I told him that he could bring it back but out of respect for my ice chip status, he ate there.

It's so nice that it's just the 2 of us. Our family arrived at the house and are getting lunch and taking care of Crosby. We just wanted labor to be about us and not have family there while I labored. We plan to call them when I start to push so that they'll be here for after she's born and after I'm cleaned, they can come back to meet her. We were very happy that our family supported this decision but know they're chomping at the bit for the call to come down (heck, it wouldn't surprise me if they were sitting downstairs in the cafeteria or something).

At this point, I'm pretty numb and I don't feel any part of the contractions. I'm super comfortable and DH and I are just chatting and relaxing. We chose not to have anyone in the room until after she's born (minus the photographer person who is coming in a bit) so that we could enjoy these last few moments as us. I hope this continues b/c this would be like the best labor ever.

Really, I have utmost respect for anyone who does this without an epidural b/c after just a few minor pitocin contractions, I was immediately thinking that this was for the birds and no way I was going to be uncomfortable for God-only-knows how long b/c I'd rather be sleeping, relaxing, etc that tired from pain and not sleeping. I even had a fear as Mike was doing the epidural that he wouldn't be able to get it and I'd have to go au naturelle and that thought just scared me. I actually thought "I would never have gotten pregnant if I had to do this without an epi...that wasn't part of my plan"....hehe!

I must say I was GBS positive so I had to get penicillin at 8am and again at noon and damn, that burns, hurts, etc....my whole arm, elbow joint, hand...EVERYTHING just hurt and ached. When she slowed down the rate, it still hurt so I just asked her both times to run it as fast as it would go to get it over with! They have been having a hard time keeping the contraction monitor on so Kelly or Jane keep coming in to readjust and her heartbeat has dropped even lower in my abdomen so she's definitely descending...so much so that I have to keep my legs straight to keep the monitor on!

And Dr. S just walked in the room....so hopefully we've made progress (hopefully about 5cm or so) so I can call MB to come in....

The Irony...

So, we had been debating for a while about elective induction vs. letting Brooklyn choose her appearance. We were supposed to go in last night to start the induction process so by morning, Dr. S could break my water and then deliver, ideally, in the afternoon. Well, it's midnight and they still hadn't called and I heard from my sources that Magee was busy so we went to bed. I fell asleep on the couch at like 10:40 and Erik was a bit nervous and stayed up until midnight in case we got the call. At midnight, we both ventured up to bed. We had washed everything and changed the sheets b/c my parents were going to be coming in and staying in our room while we were at the hospital...but, at the last minute after I had already gotten into bed, I decided to put the blanket and chux pad on the bed, just in case.

I woke up around 3am with my regular alarm and figured since they hadn't called yet, that there was no reason to have people come to the house for 10am. I actually called the parents, sister, sister-in-law, etc around 3am to let them know to reschedule their plans/sick days since we didn't know if they'd even bring us in at that point and that she wouldn't be born anytime in the near future so they all could go to work. I actually decided that I was going to go into work this morning unless we had been called in before 6am. I figured they weren't going to bring us in, so we'd go to work and I'd call at 8am when the office opened and then we'd just wait until we had more updates.

Anyway, at 4:30, the phone rings and they give us the green light to come in. Erik and I decide to sleep in another 30 minutes then head in around 5:30 or so. This may be too much information but I noticed it felt a little "wet" but didn't think anything of it since I was sweating and feeling quite warm and cozy since Crosby and I were cuddling. Then, about 10 minutes later I go to roll over and, wham, like a gushing faucet. My water had broken! I woke Erik up with the news! I think he was a little annoyed at this tidbit of info...not realizing the implication of this moment! At that point, I felt instant relief about the induction vs. Brooklyn arriving on her own! I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulder and I was so calm yet excited at the same time!

We take our time to get up and get ready. Apparently, it's true what they say about towels after your water breaks! Erik was taking his time and I was like a kid on Christmas! Crosby had to have sensed that something was different....usually, when Erik and I are both up to go to work, Crosby is such a little zombie dog that you have to carry her downstairs in the morning to go potty then she practically drunk walks back up the stairs, goes straight to the couch or our bed and is asleep within minutes until like noon, if not 2 or 3 in the afternoon....um, not this morning! From the moment we got out of bed, she was this excited little jumpy dog with her tail wagging and she just followed us around the house whining and crying. She had no problems going potty and just had such high energy the entire time. She did her excited howls when we were going to the garage...something she NEVER does at 5am and something she usually never does before noon. She had to know or sense that something was up!

On the way in, we called the family and let them know to reschedule their plans back to the original, though they didn't "need" to be at the house first thing in the morning. Erik and I just talked the entire way about how exciting this was going to be.

We got to the hospital at 5:45am and since I was scheduled for elective induction, they already had our room ready and registration was already done so we just had to sign a few papers and they took us right back to LDR 3. It was a little while until the nurse came in but she was entering all the pitocin orders since they were already here. Since I was already scheduled, everything was filled out so we got the ball rolling early. I had still been feeling those contractions every 2-10 minutes, very irregular, and definitely not painful...I wouldn't have even noticed them if I wasn't feeling my belly.

The nurse came in around 6:15am and got me connected to the contraction monitor and fetal heart rate monitor. Another huge weight was lifted off my shoulder hearing her heart beat around 150s. Sometimes, being in medicine creates too much stress b/c you know too much...I kept thinking that I hope we didn't have a prolapsed cord when my water broke...that really was a thought that crossed through my mind so hearing her heartbeat was a relief. I asked to turn the machine up so I could hear the heartbeat the entire time. Amanda also went through the paperwork list and started my IV (she did miss the first one but got the second one....I was only going to give her 2 tries before I asked for one of my anesthesia peeps to do it but thank goodness she got it on the second one....there should've been no reason to miss my veins, there were like 8 that were like 14 gauge pipes just in my hands. The charge nurse came in to draw my blood to save some time since the IV wouldn't draw blood.

I did ask to not have any med students or interns...yes, I know it's a teaching hospital but for the med students, I may have them on a rotation some day and for the interns, well, I was an intern once too. I didn't care if a resident checked me or whatnot but I didn't know where the interns were on their rotation block.

They just started the pitocin around 7am at a level of 2 and I can definitely feel the contractions a bit more. Maybe 1-2/10 at this point. The contractions were irregular, about every 2-6 minutes on the monitor.

I'm just waiting to be checked at this point and to see where things go. I'm just super excited that Brooklyn had the chance to make her own arrival. Huge weight lifted off my shoulders! Thus, we'd be in the same boat regardless of what decision we had made (induction vs. letting her decide her arrival). Sometimes, I think God just wants to mess with my brain a little bit to keep me on my toes. So, it looks like we'll have our Mole Day (a mole is 6.02 times 10 to the 23 atoms or molecules of a substance...I know, I'm a chemistry nerd...I even have a Mole stuffed animal from the American Chemical Society) baby after all!