The Joys of Parenthood

Having a baby has definitely been a wake up call.....literally:) I can honestly say that being a mom is a lot harder than I imagined. I wish that weren't the case, but I think most moms that are honest would agree. I think the array of emotions I have felt is just all over the place. I couldn't have imagined just how much I could love little Amelia and just looking at her can make me cry. She's our little miracle and I'm just so thankful for her and that she arrived healthy and beautiful. But, I also wasn't prepared for just how tired, frustrated, guilty, anxious I would feel either. For the 1st 2 weeks, my hormones were quite insane and I was pretty worried that I would have postpartum depression. I just couldn't snap out of feeling so anxious and feeling like I could cry all the time and I did cry way more than Amelia:) Thankfully at exactly the 2 week mark...which is what my midwife said is the timeframe in which they would think it's more than just baby blues.....I started to feel much more like myself. There have been a couple obstacles that have made things kind of hard. My back has been really bothering me and it's starting to get better, but there for awhile I could barely put any weight on my left leg and certainly couldn't carry the baby carrier. Also, we are having quite a bit of trouble with breast feeding. It's crazy that something that seems like it should be so natural just doesn't come natural at all. I've been working with a lactation consultant at Vanderbilt and she seems to think Amelia is "tongue tied" which means her tongue doesn't come out of her mouth enough to get a good latch. So, we are trying to work through that and I'm hoping we can get this figured out.

So, that along with sleep deprivation has made for quite a few tears and lots of "We're gonna get through this" from my wonderful and encouraging husband. I'm so thankful for him and how understanding and supportive he is. We've found, too that once we open up about how we are feeling about things to other people, they open up and are honest about how they felt, too. It feels good to know we are not the only ones that are going through this. We will make it and in the mean time we are just cherishing how sweet our little Amelia is. She melts my heart. I'm looking at her now sleeping so peacefully in her bouncy seat. It's so cute...she's swaddled all tight, but has wiggled her little feet out of the bottom of the blankets. Nothing cuter than little baby feet:)

We would love your prayers for us as we are making this leap into parenthood. It's a wonderful and scary experience:)

New Little Friends

Today we had our biggest outing yet. We ventured to Murfreesboro to my friend JJ's house to introduce Amelia to her new little friends. JJ just had twins 1 month ago today and I got to see them the day after they we born, but was excited to see them again and take Amelia to meet her new little friends, Emma and Logan. Here's a picture of them all....Emma and Logan fell asleep and Amelia was just a little confused looking about what was going on. It was very cute to see them all together:)

Another Owl Onesie

In case you didn't know...we love little owls:) This is a super cute little onesie that my friend Anna gave me. She had actually bought it before I was even pregnant. It fits Amelia perfect and she looked so cute.....of course I might be biased:)

Father's Day

Chad had his first Father's day this year. It was very special and it just makes me so happy to see him with little Amelia. He loves her so much and I know she's going to be a daddy's little girl. He's a wonderful husband and dad!

I hope you love Target, Amelia:)

Amelia had her follow up dr. appt on Thursday and it went so great! She had gone from 6 lb 3 oz to 6 lb 11 oz in 4 days! So, she is back up to her birth weight which sometimes takes 2 weeks. The dr. was very happy and even said I could cut down on the feeding times since she was obviously eating plenty. So, after we got done at the dr. we had to celebrate by taking Amelia for her first trip to Target. It will be the first of many.....

Aren't I cute in my owl onesie?

Auntie Greta got Amelia the cutest little onesie. She designed the owls for the front and had it made. She looks so cute in it!

How will I sleep when Grandma goes home?

So, we've figured out a little night time routine that is working well. Not sure how it's gonna work when Grandma goes home, but we'll worry about that later. She is only content sleeping in her bouncy seat or in someone's arms. So, what we've been doing is after her first feeding of the night...usually around 9:30 or 10....she will get swaddled up and put in her bouncy seat. She gets to stay downstairs next to the couch where Grandma is sleeping:) She's actually been doing pretty good about sleeping roughly 3 hrs, but if she does wake up....she has Grandma right there to hold her and she usually goes right back to sleep and sleeps on Grandma's chest. We have about 2 shifts like that and then the past couple mornings after her 5:30-6:30 am feeding I've brought her up to my room and she lays on Chad's side of the bed since he has to get up around then. She is just as happy as can be laying beside me in bed and will sleep for hours. It's not a good habit...but our dr. has assured us that the first month for a newborn is just about "getting through" and to not worry too much about creating bad habits and just try to do whatever it takes for everyone to get some sleep. So, right now she's getting tons of snuggle time with Grandma and she loves it!

First Doctor Appointment

On Monday, just 2 days after bringing Amelia home we had an appointment to see her pediatrician for the first time. That morning before her appointment we decided to give her a little sponge bath and get her in a cute little outfit for her first outing. She did so great at the Dr. office. She was happy as can be in her little car seat the whole ride there and in the waiting room. When we first went back to the exam room I had to fully undress her so that she could get her temperature taken (poor little thing) and so they could weigh her. She was 6 lb 11 oz at birth and when we left the hospital she was 6 lb 5 oz. At her appointment she was 6 lb 3 oz. The Dr. wasn't worried at all and they don't get concerned unless she would lose 10 oz total before starting to gain. Amelia looked just a touch jaundiced, but the Dr. felt that if she starts eating and eliminating good then that would just go away. So, she wanted us to come back on Thursday to get her weighed to make sure she wasn't continuing to lose weight.

I'm Home!

I'm a little behind on my posting.....guess I've been busy or something:) So, I'm backing up just a bit to the day we brought little Amelia home from the hospital. After 2 days in the hospital and enjoying lots of visitors and learning a bit about how to care for our baby we were ready to come home. She came home on Saturday June 13th. It was a little scary thinking about bringing this tiny thing home and knowing that she was all ours to care for. Even the drive home was nerve racking for me.....but we made a stop at Sonic....which will be her first of many visits to Sonic Drive In:) She looked so cute and tiny in her car seat. That night my family came over and we grilled hot dogs and hung out and it was pretty early when I was ready for bed. So begins the first night. It's actually kind of a blur to me now. At about 10 pm after her feeding we put her in her crib and she was asleep. I took the baby monitor into our room and tried to go to sleep. But hearing every noise through the monitor (which also lights up when she makes noise) made it impossible for me to relax. I think about the minute I was asleep I heard her start crying. It was 11:00 pm. I stood by her bed with tears streaming down my face thinking...Oh goodness...it's only been an hour and I don't know what to do! (Love those crazy hormones) I think I tried to get her back to sleep and brought her into our room to sleep in her pack n play. That again lasted for maybe an hour and she woke up and I don't know....the rest of the night is a blur. Sleeping on Daddy's chest, laying between us, rocking her in the chair in her nursery.....and eventually and thankfully the sun finally came up and we had made it through the first night.

Amelia's Birthday - June 11th, 2009

By now you all know our sweet little Amelia Lucille Hunter is here! But, you may not know the details of the day she was born. I'm realizing that I'm already starting to forget details and so I thought I bet blog about it before things become too foggy for me to even remember. So here's the details of the day and day before her Birthday....

On June 10th we had a 38 week midwife appt. at about 9 am. I was 38 weeks 5 days along. We were anxious about the appointment because Chad and I both had reached a point where we were really hoping they would do something to move things along. We were nervous about making it to the hospital on time and were just ready to meet our little one. When the midwife checked to see how dilated I was and said I was 6-7 cm.....she said that she felt we should go ahead and induce labor due to advanced dilation. Wow...we couldn't believe that we now knew that it was going to happen. This was early morning and she didn't want us to come in until 8 that night to start. What a long day....she wanted me to nap (impossible) and eat high calorie foods (not a problem). That night we got to Labor and Delivery at Vanderbilt Hospital at about 7:45 and got things going.

They initially wanted to start me on a low dose of pitocin thinking that it might not take much to get the contractions going. They started that drip at about 9pm and increased the amount every 30 minutes. Since we kind of thought things would go fast with me being dilated so far....we had Chad's family waiting and my sisters and brother waiting for her arrival. Around 11:30 when I wasn't even starting contractions my family gave up and I think it was nearly 3 am before Chad convinced his family that they needed to go rest and that it didn't look like anything was going to happen soon. All night long they increased the dose and I didn't sleep even a wink....too anxious. Our midwife had a ton of deliveries that night and so it was really the next morning at shift change that the new midwife on call came in and said that we needed a new plan. She said....either go home or break my water. Oh, I forgot to mention that as soon as I knew that they were inducing me, I was able to let my parents know and so they could head out. My poor dad had already driven about 9 hours that day because he was out of state at a meeting and then they left on a 13 hour journey here. We figured they wouldn't be there for the birth, but would get there soon. And, even though the midwife offered that we could go home, we weren't about to turn back now!

So, here we are now on June 11th and the new midwife offered us the plan of breaking my water. She felt confident that this would get things moving. They had maxed out the pitocin at this point. We were also having trouble keeping the baby's heart rate monitor on my tummy and so when they broke my water, they also inserted a heart rate monitor that actually went inside my uterus and was between the uterine wall and the baby's head. I think it was about 8:45 am when they broke my water. Well, I pretty much right away starting having contractions. And, I think because I was already dilated so far they hit me like a ton of bricks. I had wanted to try to not get an epidural and I tried to get through the contractions by using my birth ball, trying a rocking chair, leaning on the bed.....but it was insane. Our nurse was wonderful. In fact she had been my nurse when I had the cerclage and when I had it removed. And...just the day before I had told Chad that I hoped she would be my nurse. Both her and Chad were trying to help me through....but I just couldn't do it anymore. It was probably about 10:15 am when I asked for the epidural and it took just a little while for them to get it to me. Once it was in place they were asking if I was feeling relief and it was hard for me to tell. I was finally able to talk through a contraction, but I was feeling tons of pressure and the nurse felt I was probably ready to push. She checked and I was 9.5 cm and a few minutes later was completely ready. The midwife and her student and my nurse were quickly getting everything ready and I think it was about 1 hour or so (she was born at 12:11 pm) later that little Amelia made her appearance. It was amazing. I knew I would feel emotional, but I don't think I realized how amazing that would be to have her on my chest. She was so cute and it was clear right away that she had some strong little lungs. Oh, I forgot the mention that literally within a few pushes of getting her out....our nurse got a page that said to let me know that my mom and dad had arrived. I was so happy:)

It was a whirlwind of the next 20 minutes or so of after birth stuff and then my parents and Chad's parents came in to meet the new little grand daughter. My sisters were there and so was Chad's brother and our sister in law and my brother got there very shortly after. It was so much fun to show her off and we were already feeling like proud parents. After about 1 hour, they needed to take Amelia to the nursery to make sure she was doing good. Chad's dad ran to get us lunch...I was starving since I hadn't eaten since the day before. I ate 15 chicken Mcnuggets...which I know is kind of a funny choice, but there is a Mcdonalds right there in Vanderbilt.

We got taken to our postpartum room and the nursery gave us a perfect report on Amelia. Ok..I'll stop now. This is turning into a long post. But, I'll post more about her coming home and our first few days.

We are so thankful for how things worked out. It was so scary to think back in January we didn't know if we would have a good outcome. It was a long and bumpy road, but it seems like a distant memory now. We can't thank you all enough for your prayers for our little one. We love her more than I can even imagine would be possible.