Or, you know, she's the hammiest of all the hams that ever existed. :)
She was literally testing out her "funny faces" for the camera during lunchtime. I am so excited to see how her
Friday, March 30, 2012
My Little Wallflower
Here is our Reilly, our little wallflower.
I just wish she would let her personality shine through more.
I mean, she is just so shy. She just keeps it all inside!
Or, you know, she's the hammiest of all the hams that ever existed. :)
She was literally testing out her "funny faces" for the camera during lunchtime. I am so excited to see how her
Or, you know, she's the hammiest of all the hams that ever existed. :)
She was literally testing out her "funny faces" for the camera during lunchtime. I am so excited to see how her
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Hi, Reagan!
You are so so pretty!
And adorable.
And beautiful.
And according to your sister, you are "sho chute!"
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Reilly's Favorite Toys
Reilly is loving lots of things lately. She loves reading "But Mama" (aka "I Love You Stinky Face"), Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Suppertime, and anything having to do with Elmo. She loves to "do markers" or "color paper" with crayons. She loves her chalkboard, and loves to wipe it clean with her sponge, paper towels, napkins, or anything with water on it. She loves bubbles in the bathtub, and watercolor paints. She loves Play Doh, and puzzles, and Magna Doodle. She loves watching "Sillyville", and chasing Daddy around when he gets home. She is BEYOND obsessed with going outside and exploring with Daddy.
But, these are by far her favorite toys right now. In no particular order.
Here we have Elmo on the far left, who teaches her colors and shapes when you press his belly. Then we have Abby on the far right, Elmo's partner in crime. They sit with Reilly on her big girl chair.
The little baldy is Baby RJ (for Reilly Junior), which was a special Big Sister gift from Mima and Poppy. She came with a diaper bag, bottle, bib, and changes of clothes. Reilly changes her when I change Reagan - it's precious.
But personally, I think the little brunette in the middle is the cutest. And Reilly's favorite as well. She always wants to change Baby Reagan, or "hold it" (I keep trying to tell her that Reagan is a "her" and not an "it"), and every morning she loves to say hi to her, and will only go to sleep after she kisses her goodnight. When we went to the doctor for Reagan's rash, the doctor started looking her over on the table and Reilly started trying to climb up to see Reagan and said "Mommyyy what happened!!" She did NOT want this strange lady bothering our Reagan! She poops a little more than Baby RJ, but she's way cuter. We'll keep her. :)
But, these are by far her favorite toys right now. In no particular order.
Here we have Elmo on the far left, who teaches her colors and shapes when you press his belly. Then we have Abby on the far right, Elmo's partner in crime. They sit with Reilly on her big girl chair.
The little baldy is Baby RJ (for Reilly Junior), which was a special Big Sister gift from Mima and Poppy. She came with a diaper bag, bottle, bib, and changes of clothes. Reilly changes her when I change Reagan - it's precious.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Irish Princesses
For St. Patrick's Day this year, Mima and Poppy came and Mima cooked us an Irish feast!
We had so much fun soaking up the sunshine!
The littlest Irish Princess :)
The boys built a roof onto Mantown and did manly things like that. Then we all got cleaned up in green!
Well, let's be honest, the girls stayed clean all day. :)
We had such a fun and relaxing day! Nothing beats beautiful days outside. Doesn't Reagan look like she was having a blast?? :)
The weather was beautiful, and we played outside most of the day!
Well, let's be honest, the girls stayed clean all day. :)
Thursday, March 22, 2012
2 Week Checkup!
We went for Sweet Baby Rae's 2 week check-up! Girlfriend did so well! Actually, both my girlfriends did so well!
Before we left the house, I told Reilly exactly where we would be going and what we would be doing. I made her look at me, and repeat what I told her. We repeated "Stay near Mommy" and "Hold Mommy's hand" and "Listen to Mommy" a lot on the way to the doctors. This being because it's our first solo outing together - me, Reilly, and Reagan. Typically, it was just me and Reilly. If she runs in a parking lot? I could just scoop her up. If she doesn't listen right away? I just scoop her up. All my attention was on her.
But now, my attention is split. And one entire arm would have a baby carrier in it. I could have used the amazing double stroller that we have, giving me total control over everyone. But I decided to try and foster Reilly's "big girl sister" independence. She did so great! We had goldfish crackers as a reward for being a good listener halfway through the appointment, which subsequently acted as a distraction for the second half!
Reilly was talking the doctor's ear off, asking me "WHO'S-AT?" while pointing at him, and asking him continually what was the matter with Reagan while he was checking her. Reilly doesn't like when she cries. She puts on this dramatic sad face and leans over her saying, "BabyReagan whassa mah-yer??" It's precious.
We were also a bit nervous about thrush, but the milky white on her tongue is just milk stains. I also had some questions about gassy-ness that she seemed to be having, but the doctor said that would work itself out as well. So thankful!
Our next appointment is in May - Reagan's 2 month and Reilly's 2 year! So exciting. Definitely stopping for ice cream after that one - double the shots - eek!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Her First 2 Weeks
Reagan's first 2 weeks have been so much fun. The weather has been beautiful, we are still in our "baby cocoon" where I don't take her into any stores/public places for several weeks, to keep her healthiest, Daddy is getting home nice and early, the days are longer and brighter, we have had lots of nice relaxing time with family. It is so different from Reilly's first days, where there was a lot of questions and nerves. We are very relaxed, old pros at the newborns thing!
But we have had other learning experiences, that we didn't have last time! Learning to go on no sleep when there is a very excited toddler to wake up to every morning, learning how to teach a 22 month old about how fragile a new baby is, learning how to share time and attention between two little loves. We are adjusting and learning every day, and Reilly is being such a little trooper, stepping up to being Mommy's big-girl-helper!
When we first came home, I got this fear that Reilly would wake up one day and be sick of the "new baby", and not want her there anymore. Like the novelty would wear off once she realized she was here to stay. But every morning, her first words are "See Baby Reagan?" She rarely called her anything but "Baby Reagan". Before bed or before her naps, she will always ask "Kiss Baby Reagan? Huggie Baby Reagan?" Nothing makes me happier than hearing these words. She loves her so much, and is such a little helper. She doesn't seem to be showing any jealousy at all - she is more jealous when I am on the phone than when I am holding Reagan! She even understands that she needs to wait for certain things while "Baby Reagan eatin'".
Speaking of which, I was breastfeeding the other day, when Reagan has only been home a few days. I talked a lot about breastfeeding with Reilly before Reagan was born so she would understand a bit more and be prepared for the addition to our schedule. So I was breastfeeding her early in the morning in our bed, and Hubby said to Reilly, "What's baby Reagan doing?", because he was in the kitchen. And Reilly looks at me and then yells to him, "Eatin' the boobies!" I just about died. This is what she announces when I breastfeed. She cracks me up.
The days go by SO fast with these two girls, keeping me so busy! The nice weather has helped, allowing us to go outside and get some fresh air, and take some walks. I'm convinced the 75 degree weather in March is a direct answer to my prayers - so you are welcome, northeast America. :) Our days are filled with Sesame Street, breastfeeding, lots of diapers, coloring with markers, coloring with chalk, letters and numbers, iPad games (only when Mommy is breastfeeding), Wee Sing in Sillyville (Reilly's favorite movie), raisins, shapes and colors, Play Doh, walks outside, and naptimes. Well, Reagan and Reilly take naps. I take that time to nourish myself and do laundry. I am somehow surviving on very little sleep currently, because Reagan is becoming a grunty little sleeper, and is keeping me up even while she sleeps. Luckily, she isn't crying, and doesn't wake up her sister. So Reilly wakes up bright-eyed at 7am, while Mommy makes a bee-line for the coffee press! Ha.
Her first two weeks have been filled with lots of emotions - most of all happiness and joy. It really feels like she's always been here, as strange as that sounds...it feels like its been so much longer! I have been loving going through all of Reilly's clothes and putting all my favorites on Reagan (and of course some new things from Mima and Poppy :)). I have even been loving folding teeny little onesies again! Speaking of which, laundry calls!
But we have had other learning experiences, that we didn't have last time! Learning to go on no sleep when there is a very excited toddler to wake up to every morning, learning how to teach a 22 month old about how fragile a new baby is, learning how to share time and attention between two little loves. We are adjusting and learning every day, and Reilly is being such a little trooper, stepping up to being Mommy's big-girl-helper!
When we first came home, I got this fear that Reilly would wake up one day and be sick of the "new baby", and not want her there anymore. Like the novelty would wear off once she realized she was here to stay. But every morning, her first words are "See Baby Reagan?" She rarely called her anything but "Baby Reagan". Before bed or before her naps, she will always ask "Kiss Baby Reagan? Huggie Baby Reagan?" Nothing makes me happier than hearing these words. She loves her so much, and is such a little helper. She doesn't seem to be showing any jealousy at all - she is more jealous when I am on the phone than when I am holding Reagan! She even understands that she needs to wait for certain things while "Baby Reagan eatin'".
Speaking of which, I was breastfeeding the other day, when Reagan has only been home a few days. I talked a lot about breastfeeding with Reilly before Reagan was born so she would understand a bit more and be prepared for the addition to our schedule. So I was breastfeeding her early in the morning in our bed, and Hubby said to Reilly, "What's baby Reagan doing?", because he was in the kitchen. And Reilly looks at me and then yells to him, "Eatin' the boobies!" I just about died. This is what she announces when I breastfeed. She cracks me up.
The days go by SO fast with these two girls, keeping me so busy! The nice weather has helped, allowing us to go outside and get some fresh air, and take some walks. I'm convinced the 75 degree weather in March is a direct answer to my prayers - so you are welcome, northeast America. :) Our days are filled with Sesame Street, breastfeeding, lots of diapers, coloring with markers, coloring with chalk, letters and numbers, iPad games (only when Mommy is breastfeeding), Wee Sing in Sillyville (Reilly's favorite movie), raisins, shapes and colors, Play Doh, walks outside, and naptimes. Well, Reagan and Reilly take naps. I take that time to nourish myself and do laundry. I am somehow surviving on very little sleep currently, because Reagan is becoming a grunty little sleeper, and is keeping me up even while she sleeps. Luckily, she isn't crying, and doesn't wake up her sister. So Reilly wakes up bright-eyed at 7am, while Mommy makes a bee-line for the coffee press! Ha.
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Funnest Hospital Stay
Minutes after Reagan was born, I was able to hold her on my chest and kiss her and love on her. My mind was spinning and my body was in shock, and I was somewhere in between laughing and crying with Hubby floating on cloud nine. It's the best feeling in the world, I'm convinced. That is the feeling I will miss most when we are done having babies...the last minutes of labor, and the first minutes of baby's life. That's where you come so close to heaven, I think. Intense pain, followed by a miraculous joy that your mind can barely comprehend. It's amazing.
I was able to breastfeed baby right away, I was so proud of her. I almost cried when she latched on, she was such a little champ! I actually ended up calling her "champ" the whole time we were in the hospital, because of how well she learned the breastfeed despite her gestational age. But soon after that, they brought her to the nursery and her temperature and glucose levels were low. They needed to bring both of these things up, or she would be brought to NICU. We were very scared, but thankful that those were the only issues that she had, being almost 4 full weeks early. She was a good size, and so healthy in every other aspect. I was trying to concentrate on these things, but hated waiting to see how she was doing - it took a few hours that morning.
A few hours later, her glucose levels came way up, and her temperture was up too! The glucose would most likely stay where it was (they said it rarely dips back down), but we had to constantly keep her warm. Early the next morning, we started to try feeding again, and were having a lot of trouble. The lactation consultant spent hours with us the next morning - she was amazing. I started pumping to stimulate the milk to come in, because she was having a lot fo trouble waking up to feed and staying latched (we tried for about an hour). Then I pumped, and we fed her through a syringe, which she took well. The lactatian consultant told me that until she started feeding consistently, I would be doing the work of feeding twins. Feeding her what she would take every 2 hours, then pumping immediately after. While I was pumping, someone would be giving her milk via syringe from the previous feeding, to make sure she was getting enough. We had to keep her on contant skin-to-skin to help her temperature, so that she wouldn't be using calories to stay warm and could conserve those calories to gain weight.
The amount of time that I spent breastfeeding and pumping in her first 24 hours made me very nervous to be home - I didn't know how I would be able to devote so much time to feeding with Reilly there to care for too. But I just kept going, and tried my best to get my milk in, keep her warm, and keep her fed.
After her first 24 hours, she had a complete turn around. Our prayers were answered, and she started latching like a little champ. I was so happy when she started waking right up, eating a full feeding, like she had been doing it for months! Thank God, by the end of her second day, she was feeding full and perfectly. We were beyond ecstatic, and my sister may or may not have taken a video on her iphone to show the LC her latch. We were really pumped, and knew that the LC would be too. They totally saved us and helped start her feeding and gaining.
Anyway, about our hospital stay. It was beyond hilarious. I happen to be obsessed with the time I get to spend in the hospital after delivering babies. Life stops, time stops, and you live in this little sleepless, dreamlike, floating on air, baby cocoon for 3 days. Hubby agreed with me, we had the best time in the hospital with Reilly. This time, Hubby stayed with Reilly to give her some sense of normalcy since Mommy wasn't there, and my sister stayed with me. Sissy ended up agreeing with us, too. Here are some reasons why this hospital stay was so bizarrely fun and hysterical:
1. We functioned on about 2 hours of sleep per night, maximum, and somehow still were able to walk and talk and be (semi) normal each day.
2. We found out that on the unit there was unlimited juice, milk, cereal, ice cream, ices, graham crackers, and regular crackers any time we wanted it. So weirdly exciting when you are in this state. Nothing made us happier than boxes of cereal at 3am.
3. Combine the free ice cream, with the brownies from the cafe, and we had ourselves a pretty awesome Bachelor watching night!
4. We made friends with all the nurses, except for the one on my first night who was definitely close to be senile. We'll call her "Edith". She was quite old, and walked into the room about 4 times, then walked out, forgetting why she had come in. She wrote that Reagan was a boy on my breastfeeding chart. We felt like we were in the Twilight Zone. But all the other nurses were fab.
5. We had daily Dunkin deliveries! What's better than that?
6. We stayed in our PJs all day. It was like a sleepover when we were kids, except with a teeny baby to love on.
7. We had an obsession with Reagan being in our line of vision at all times. If they took her to the nursery for anything, even for 30 minutes, we would go for "walks" and keep passing by the nursery and watch her and make sure she was being taken care of. The nurses started glaring at us. Especially one, who clearly thought we were Psycho Sisters. On her last day, we strolled by the nursery casually for the second time in 30 minutes while she was being checked by the doctor, and we saw a sign on her crib that said "Return to Mom IMMEDIATELY". HA. I guess I might have said, "Okay, you'll bring her RIGHT back after she's checked, right?" a few too many times. :)
8. Our TV was broken for much of the time, and the sound was either really low, or really loud. The maintenance guys kept coming in while I was breastfeeding and then never came back all day because we scared them away. We watched Khloe and Lamar at 2am when the sound was loud, and had to shut it off because we felt like the losers who watch reality TV at all hours, and blast it.
9. Plain and simple: Sister Time for 3 straight days. We couldn't believe, as we sat there in our half-asleep twilights, that Reilly now had a sister, and that she might be doing this with Reagan one day. I pray that they have what we have. I will work every day to show them how to have a wonderful sisterhood, because it is one of the greatest blessings of my life.
I was able to breastfeed baby right away, I was so proud of her. I almost cried when she latched on, she was such a little champ! I actually ended up calling her "champ" the whole time we were in the hospital, because of how well she learned the breastfeed despite her gestational age. But soon after that, they brought her to the nursery and her temperature and glucose levels were low. They needed to bring both of these things up, or she would be brought to NICU. We were very scared, but thankful that those were the only issues that she had, being almost 4 full weeks early. She was a good size, and so healthy in every other aspect. I was trying to concentrate on these things, but hated waiting to see how she was doing - it took a few hours that morning.
A few hours later, her glucose levels came way up, and her temperture was up too! The glucose would most likely stay where it was (they said it rarely dips back down), but we had to constantly keep her warm. Early the next morning, we started to try feeding again, and were having a lot of trouble. The lactation consultant spent hours with us the next morning - she was amazing. I started pumping to stimulate the milk to come in, because she was having a lot fo trouble waking up to feed and staying latched (we tried for about an hour). Then I pumped, and we fed her through a syringe, which she took well. The lactatian consultant told me that until she started feeding consistently, I would be doing the work of feeding twins. Feeding her what she would take every 2 hours, then pumping immediately after. While I was pumping, someone would be giving her milk via syringe from the previous feeding, to make sure she was getting enough. We had to keep her on contant skin-to-skin to help her temperature, so that she wouldn't be using calories to stay warm and could conserve those calories to gain weight.
The amount of time that I spent breastfeeding and pumping in her first 24 hours made me very nervous to be home - I didn't know how I would be able to devote so much time to feeding with Reilly there to care for too. But I just kept going, and tried my best to get my milk in, keep her warm, and keep her fed.
After her first 24 hours, she had a complete turn around. Our prayers were answered, and she started latching like a little champ. I was so happy when she started waking right up, eating a full feeding, like she had been doing it for months! Thank God, by the end of her second day, she was feeding full and perfectly. We were beyond ecstatic, and my sister may or may not have taken a video on her iphone to show the LC her latch. We were really pumped, and knew that the LC would be too. They totally saved us and helped start her feeding and gaining.
Anyway, about our hospital stay. It was beyond hilarious. I happen to be obsessed with the time I get to spend in the hospital after delivering babies. Life stops, time stops, and you live in this little sleepless, dreamlike, floating on air, baby cocoon for 3 days. Hubby agreed with me, we had the best time in the hospital with Reilly. This time, Hubby stayed with Reilly to give her some sense of normalcy since Mommy wasn't there, and my sister stayed with me. Sissy ended up agreeing with us, too. Here are some reasons why this hospital stay was so bizarrely fun and hysterical:
1. We functioned on about 2 hours of sleep per night, maximum, and somehow still were able to walk and talk and be (semi) normal each day.
2. We found out that on the unit there was unlimited juice, milk, cereal, ice cream, ices, graham crackers, and regular crackers any time we wanted it. So weirdly exciting when you are in this state. Nothing made us happier than boxes of cereal at 3am.
3. Combine the free ice cream, with the brownies from the cafe, and we had ourselves a pretty awesome Bachelor watching night!
4. We made friends with all the nurses, except for the one on my first night who was definitely close to be senile. We'll call her "Edith". She was quite old, and walked into the room about 4 times, then walked out, forgetting why she had come in. She wrote that Reagan was a boy on my breastfeeding chart. We felt like we were in the Twilight Zone. But all the other nurses were fab.
5. We had daily Dunkin deliveries! What's better than that?
6. We stayed in our PJs all day. It was like a sleepover when we were kids, except with a teeny baby to love on.
7. We had an obsession with Reagan being in our line of vision at all times. If they took her to the nursery for anything, even for 30 minutes, we would go for "walks" and keep passing by the nursery and watch her and make sure she was being taken care of. The nurses started glaring at us. Especially one, who clearly thought we were Psycho Sisters. On her last day, we strolled by the nursery casually for the second time in 30 minutes while she was being checked by the doctor, and we saw a sign on her crib that said "Return to Mom IMMEDIATELY". HA. I guess I might have said, "Okay, you'll bring her RIGHT back after she's checked, right?" a few too many times. :)
8. Our TV was broken for much of the time, and the sound was either really low, or really loud. The maintenance guys kept coming in while I was breastfeeding and then never came back all day because we scared them away. We watched Khloe and Lamar at 2am when the sound was loud, and had to shut it off because we felt like the losers who watch reality TV at all hours, and blast it.
9. Plain and simple: Sister Time for 3 straight days. We couldn't believe, as we sat there in our half-asleep twilights, that Reilly now had a sister, and that she might be doing this with Reagan one day. I pray that they have what we have. I will work every day to show them how to have a wonderful sisterhood, because it is one of the greatest blessings of my life.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Night She Was Born (Part 2)
As we were waiting for the doctor to come in, contractions continued, and the nurse came back in. She has a bunch of paperwork, and said that we could start filling it out since she was pretty sure we would be sticking around. I wondered what she saw on the monitor that made her so sure.
With every contraction, I heard the baby's heartbeat loud and clear from the monitor. I didn't remember hearing that sound when I was in labor with Reilly (I later found out from my mom that I was right, and the sound on the monitor was turned down with Reilly). But that sound helped me so much. I closed my eyes and talked to my baby. I heard her heart beating, and willed it not to slow down at all as the contraction peaked. I would concentrate on keeping that heartbeat strong, as we fought through the contraction together. Then it would slow down, and the pain subsided. That was how I got through every single contraction...silently praying and talking to my baby. Telling her that it would be okay and we could do this.
The doctor came in and seemed kind of smiley in an odd way...if you have ever seen the Friend's episode when Phoebe gave birth to triplets, he TOTALLY reminded me of the Fonzie doctor that delivered them. He checked how dilated I was, as we waited to hear the verdict. Then his eyes got wide and said, "WOW! Guess how dilated you are!!" I looked at Hubby, confused, wondering why we were suddenly involved in some type of strange labor game show. I responded, "Umm..5 centimeters?" To which he, still with a goofy smile said, "NOPE! Guess again! Higher!"
Higher?? Why is this guy so strange? Who says this to a woman in labor? But I figured I would guess again anyway, what choice did I have?
"Um..8 centimeters?" I hardly believed that this could be true, but I was already caught up in this strange guessing game and I just wanted to know the answer!
"YEP!" he responded, with a huge grin. "Tell you what's gunna happen...I'm going to break your water, you're going to push twice, and we're gunna have this baby in 10 minutes." Then he left.
I responded with an expletive, which I won't repeat, and Hubby and I looked at each other, laughing with excitement. Proving, once again, that people can be in labor and still smile.
It was once again too late for an epidural, which I didn't even need or want. But the nurses kept asking me what kind of pain medication I wanted, to which I told them none, and they looking confused and kept working. A few minutes later, when I was in the labor room and out of triage, I kept fighting through the contractions. My mom was next to me by now along with Brett, helping me breathe. I kept asking where that doctor was who told me I'd have a baby in ten minutes. They wanted to let my body work a little but more. The contractions got worse, but not yet close to the pain I remembered with Reilly. By the time the doctor entered, I was flat out scared. I knew that as soon as he broke my water, the next contraction was going to be wicked. I knew that the pain would increase exponentially in the coming minutes. But I also knew it would be over soon, and I just needed to keep going. After all, what choice did I have?
My whole body started shaking, partially due to hormones and partially due to fear, I think. The doctor asked me if I wanted pain meds. I snapped at him. I said, "No I don't. Why does everyone want me to have pain meds so badly?!" He told me it's because they don't want to see me in pain. Oh. Well, that's nice then. But no thank you, let's just get this baby out please. As he got ready to break my water, I asked if I was 10 centimeters yet. He said it didn't matter, if I wanted to push I could push. I think my story of how Reilly fell out of me, which I kept telling everyone, might have made an impression.
So he told me to tell him when I was ready, and he would break my water. All the nurses were standing around, watching the monitor to see when the contraction was passed. I was terrified to say I was ready, but I finally did. He broke my water...and we waited. I knew I had only 3-4 minutes until the pain came. Everyone was facing me, looking from the monitor to my face, back and forth, waiting to see when it would come and how hard it would hit. My mom, being an obstetric nurse, told me later that normal contractions measure at about 80-90 at the peak of a contraction, and go down to 20 when they pass. She said that when my contractions peaked, the monitor said 125++.
The next contraction came, and I started screaming. Prior to this, I was relatively quiet. My eyes were closed and I felt baby coming. The doctor said, "Help her! Tell her what to do!" I realized I never actually had to push, so I didn't really know how. The nurse told me to put my chin to my chest, and not to scream. Then they all counted as I pushed for counts of 10. I once again was talking to God/baby as I willed my body to get this baby out. After the second push, I could feel that she was almost there. I knew the third one would do it. I used every ounce of strength in my body. I was completely silent as I pushed baby out. My mind was not quiet - but outside I was. And then the silence was broken. The best sound in the world. She cried. Our baby was here, and she was a girl, and she cried.
Thank you, God.
Reagan Kate
Weight: 7 lbs. 5 oz.
Length: 20 1/4
Time: 1:37 am
Date: March 4, 1012
With every contraction, I heard the baby's heartbeat loud and clear from the monitor. I didn't remember hearing that sound when I was in labor with Reilly (I later found out from my mom that I was right, and the sound on the monitor was turned down with Reilly). But that sound helped me so much. I closed my eyes and talked to my baby. I heard her heart beating, and willed it not to slow down at all as the contraction peaked. I would concentrate on keeping that heartbeat strong, as we fought through the contraction together. Then it would slow down, and the pain subsided. That was how I got through every single contraction...silently praying and talking to my baby. Telling her that it would be okay and we could do this.
The doctor came in and seemed kind of smiley in an odd way...if you have ever seen the Friend's episode when Phoebe gave birth to triplets, he TOTALLY reminded me of the Fonzie doctor that delivered them. He checked how dilated I was, as we waited to hear the verdict. Then his eyes got wide and said, "WOW! Guess how dilated you are!!" I looked at Hubby, confused, wondering why we were suddenly involved in some type of strange labor game show. I responded, "Umm..5 centimeters?" To which he, still with a goofy smile said, "NOPE! Guess again! Higher!"
Higher?? Why is this guy so strange? Who says this to a woman in labor? But I figured I would guess again anyway, what choice did I have?
"Um..8 centimeters?" I hardly believed that this could be true, but I was already caught up in this strange guessing game and I just wanted to know the answer!
"YEP!" he responded, with a huge grin. "Tell you what's gunna happen...I'm going to break your water, you're going to push twice, and we're gunna have this baby in 10 minutes." Then he left.
I responded with an expletive, which I won't repeat, and Hubby and I looked at each other, laughing with excitement. Proving, once again, that people can be in labor and still smile.
It was once again too late for an epidural, which I didn't even need or want. But the nurses kept asking me what kind of pain medication I wanted, to which I told them none, and they looking confused and kept working. A few minutes later, when I was in the labor room and out of triage, I kept fighting through the contractions. My mom was next to me by now along with Brett, helping me breathe. I kept asking where that doctor was who told me I'd have a baby in ten minutes. They wanted to let my body work a little but more. The contractions got worse, but not yet close to the pain I remembered with Reilly. By the time the doctor entered, I was flat out scared. I knew that as soon as he broke my water, the next contraction was going to be wicked. I knew that the pain would increase exponentially in the coming minutes. But I also knew it would be over soon, and I just needed to keep going. After all, what choice did I have?
My whole body started shaking, partially due to hormones and partially due to fear, I think. The doctor asked me if I wanted pain meds. I snapped at him. I said, "No I don't. Why does everyone want me to have pain meds so badly?!" He told me it's because they don't want to see me in pain. Oh. Well, that's nice then. But no thank you, let's just get this baby out please. As he got ready to break my water, I asked if I was 10 centimeters yet. He said it didn't matter, if I wanted to push I could push. I think my story of how Reilly fell out of me, which I kept telling everyone, might have made an impression.
So he told me to tell him when I was ready, and he would break my water. All the nurses were standing around, watching the monitor to see when the contraction was passed. I was terrified to say I was ready, but I finally did. He broke my water...and we waited. I knew I had only 3-4 minutes until the pain came. Everyone was facing me, looking from the monitor to my face, back and forth, waiting to see when it would come and how hard it would hit. My mom, being an obstetric nurse, told me later that normal contractions measure at about 80-90 at the peak of a contraction, and go down to 20 when they pass. She said that when my contractions peaked, the monitor said 125++.
The next contraction came, and I started screaming. Prior to this, I was relatively quiet. My eyes were closed and I felt baby coming. The doctor said, "Help her! Tell her what to do!" I realized I never actually had to push, so I didn't really know how. The nurse told me to put my chin to my chest, and not to scream. Then they all counted as I pushed for counts of 10. I once again was talking to God/baby as I willed my body to get this baby out. After the second push, I could feel that she was almost there. I knew the third one would do it. I used every ounce of strength in my body. I was completely silent as I pushed baby out. My mind was not quiet - but outside I was. And then the silence was broken. The best sound in the world. She cried. Our baby was here, and she was a girl, and she cried.
Thank you, God.
Reagan Kate
Weight: 7 lbs. 5 oz.
Length: 20 1/4
Time: 1:37 am
Date: March 4, 1012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Night She Was Born (Part 1)
Reagan Kate came over 3 weeks early, on March 4, 2012. She was due to come on March 27th. You would think this would have been a huge surprise, but I knew she would be early. I felt it for a while, and then it was confirmed when I found out how I was already dilated so much! But nonetheless, it is still unexpected when everything starts unfolding right before your eyes. The story of Reagan's birth is similar to Reilly's, and was quite amazing. I hear a lot of labor stories, because I LOVE talking labor with other mamas. So it is not lost on me what a huge blessing my deliveries are. We are so grateful to God for how smooth the labor went, and how healthy our little angel is!
I guess the first sign of something out of the ordinary was on Friday night, March 2. The rib pain that I was experiencing was at it's peak. I had never had the rib pain so severe before, and it started going down my back as well. I couldn't even stand up, I needed to lie down I was in so much pain. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy, and those were getting much stronger. I was just in so much pain, and overwhelmed by fatigue as well. It was only 6:00, and I was passing out on the couch. After lying down for a little over an hour, I felt much better and the pain and subsided. I had no cramping associated with the contractions yet, and they were not coming consistently, so I knew I wasn't in labor. Once again I wondered, how much longer I would go like this. Could this pain last a whole month? All I could do was wonder, and pray, and plug on for my babies! And complain, sometimes I complained. Ha.
The next morning, Saturday the 3rd, we had an excited day planned! Mima and Poppy got Reilly tickets to see Sesame Street Live! I couldn't WAIT to see it with her. I was praying that I wouldn't deliver before this day. On the way there, I kept saying, "I'm so excited I made it to Sesame! Even if I only get to see her face for the first 5 minutes, and then go into labor, I'll be happy." We went to the show and had an amazing time (obviously a post will come soon!), and I may or may not have cried while watching Reilly's reaction to the magic of being in the same room as all her buddies.
As we were leaving Sesame Live, I mentioned that today would have been a great day to go into labor, because I had just blown out my hair. Clearly I was joking...maybe God thought I was serious! :) That day, I kept saying "Okay, I made it to Sesame, I'm good to go now!" With every pain that I would feel that day, which were not all that different than pregnancy pains I felt other days, I would pray that the baby come when God intended. I told God that I felt like the baby was going to come soon, and I really didn't feel like I could go too much longer, but that I trusted He would bring our baby at the perfect time. I have such a distinct memory of praying a lot that day.
We had friends over for an impromptu dinner that night, and everyone had wine. They all mentioned how they felt bad drinking in front of me, and I said, "No, I promise it's okay! I'm almost there, I see the light at the end of the tunnel." Little did I know, I was almost OUT of the tunnel!
A few short hours later, it was a little after 9:00 pm. We were watching Wedding Crashers, and relaxing on the couch. I felt a strong contraction come on, and felt a little pain with it. I just checked the clock, and made a mental note about what time it was, and kept watching the movie. About 10 minutes later, I felt another one. I still didn't say anything yet, because I didn't want to start any craziness unnecessarily. After I felt a third one about 7 minutes later, I looked at my Dad. My mom was sleeping on the couch, and Hubby had went to a friend's house for a little while. I said, "Um..Dad? I think I might be having contractions." He immediately woke up my mom, and I told them about the 3 contractions I had. But still, I said I wasn't quite sure if this was "it". We called Hubby, and told him not to freak out, but he should probably come home anyway. Two contractions later, I knew this was it. The pain was getting increasingly bad, and after one hour, my contractions were about 5 to 7 minutes apart. We had an hour drive to the hospital, so I wanted to get going right away before the pain became too unbearable. I had only had about 7 contractions, but I already needed to breathe through the pain and stop walking when I felt it coming on.
I called the doctor on call, and gave them my cell phone number to call back. I didn't know who the doctor was, and of course I had bad service and he tried to call me 3 times and I kept dropping his call. When I finally got in touch with him, he was so nice and said, "So why did you keep hanging up on me?" I was glad to have him be light-hearted in the the situation. I was all prepared to have to give him a speech about how I lived an hour away, about how fast my first baby came, and beg him to meet me at the hospital even though my contractions had only just started. But the first thing he said was, "So, you in labor?" I said, "Um..yes I am." To which he responded, "Okay, come on out, I'll meet you here!"
I hung up, relieved, and we continued on our way. I was holding Hubby's hand for some of the contractions, and concentrated on my breathing a bit, but the pain was not too bad yet. I was still able to talk and joke around the whole way there. We talked about how dilated we thought I was going to be when we got there, we were guessing and hoping for around 4 cm. I tried not to think about the pain that was ahead of me, but was getting a bit nervous anyway as the familiarity of the situation brought back very real and very painful memories. I mentioned that my bum was on fire, and my mom said, "That's okay honey, the contractions are getting stronger?" And I said, "No the seat heaters are on and I'm dying. I need the heat off." We all chuckled at the confusion.
When we arrived at the hospital, the security guard came out with a wheel chair and asked if I needed it. I said, "Umm..sure why not?" but wasn't in the extreme pain I had been with Reilly at that time. With Reilly, I pretty much fell out of the car vomited, and landed in a wheelchair. The ride up to the maternity unit felt like an eternity, and my eyes were closed for most of it. But that time, I was already at 8 cm. This time around, I still felt relatively good! The contractions were getting bad, and a definitely had to close my eyes and breath through them. But I was still smiling between them - I was getting excited! I remembered being told by the nurses with Reilly that I was "smiling too much" and "if I was really in labor, I wouldn't be smiling". My mom reminded my of this, as we went up to the ward, and was trying not to smile. I really didn't want them to turn me away again, like they did with Reilly! I was ready to have to beg to stay, and explain to them with urgency how fast and unexpectedly my first baby had came. They brought me into triage and hooked me up to the machines to measure the contractions and the baby's heart.
At this point I was definitely in a lot of pain with each contraction, grabbing Hubby's arm and dreading when anyone had to come in and touch me at all. I knew I wasn't close to transition yet, because I was still having conversations with Hubby and talking about various things between contractions. This was not as severe as last time yet at all. When the nurse came in to look at the contractions, she looked at the paper, and then looked at me with wide eyes. "Well...there's no doubt you're in labor...let me go get the doctor..."
I looked at Hubby, relieved that this probably meant we would be staying, and that this meant baby was on it's way! Now just to wait for the doctor to see how much longer it would be...
I guess the first sign of something out of the ordinary was on Friday night, March 2. The rib pain that I was experiencing was at it's peak. I had never had the rib pain so severe before, and it started going down my back as well. I couldn't even stand up, I needed to lie down I was in so much pain. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy, and those were getting much stronger. I was just in so much pain, and overwhelmed by fatigue as well. It was only 6:00, and I was passing out on the couch. After lying down for a little over an hour, I felt much better and the pain and subsided. I had no cramping associated with the contractions yet, and they were not coming consistently, so I knew I wasn't in labor. Once again I wondered, how much longer I would go like this. Could this pain last a whole month? All I could do was wonder, and pray, and plug on for my babies! And complain, sometimes I complained. Ha.
The next morning, Saturday the 3rd, we had an excited day planned! Mima and Poppy got Reilly tickets to see Sesame Street Live! I couldn't WAIT to see it with her. I was praying that I wouldn't deliver before this day. On the way there, I kept saying, "I'm so excited I made it to Sesame! Even if I only get to see her face for the first 5 minutes, and then go into labor, I'll be happy." We went to the show and had an amazing time (obviously a post will come soon!), and I may or may not have cried while watching Reilly's reaction to the magic of being in the same room as all her buddies.
As we were leaving Sesame Live, I mentioned that today would have been a great day to go into labor, because I had just blown out my hair. Clearly I was joking...maybe God thought I was serious! :) That day, I kept saying "Okay, I made it to Sesame, I'm good to go now!" With every pain that I would feel that day, which were not all that different than pregnancy pains I felt other days, I would pray that the baby come when God intended. I told God that I felt like the baby was going to come soon, and I really didn't feel like I could go too much longer, but that I trusted He would bring our baby at the perfect time. I have such a distinct memory of praying a lot that day.
We had friends over for an impromptu dinner that night, and everyone had wine. They all mentioned how they felt bad drinking in front of me, and I said, "No, I promise it's okay! I'm almost there, I see the light at the end of the tunnel." Little did I know, I was almost OUT of the tunnel!
A few short hours later, it was a little after 9:00 pm. We were watching Wedding Crashers, and relaxing on the couch. I felt a strong contraction come on, and felt a little pain with it. I just checked the clock, and made a mental note about what time it was, and kept watching the movie. About 10 minutes later, I felt another one. I still didn't say anything yet, because I didn't want to start any craziness unnecessarily. After I felt a third one about 7 minutes later, I looked at my Dad. My mom was sleeping on the couch, and Hubby had went to a friend's house for a little while. I said, "Um..Dad? I think I might be having contractions." He immediately woke up my mom, and I told them about the 3 contractions I had. But still, I said I wasn't quite sure if this was "it". We called Hubby, and told him not to freak out, but he should probably come home anyway. Two contractions later, I knew this was it. The pain was getting increasingly bad, and after one hour, my contractions were about 5 to 7 minutes apart. We had an hour drive to the hospital, so I wanted to get going right away before the pain became too unbearable. I had only had about 7 contractions, but I already needed to breathe through the pain and stop walking when I felt it coming on.
I called the doctor on call, and gave them my cell phone number to call back. I didn't know who the doctor was, and of course I had bad service and he tried to call me 3 times and I kept dropping his call. When I finally got in touch with him, he was so nice and said, "So why did you keep hanging up on me?" I was glad to have him be light-hearted in the the situation. I was all prepared to have to give him a speech about how I lived an hour away, about how fast my first baby came, and beg him to meet me at the hospital even though my contractions had only just started. But the first thing he said was, "So, you in labor?" I said, "Um..yes I am." To which he responded, "Okay, come on out, I'll meet you here!"
I hung up, relieved, and we continued on our way. I was holding Hubby's hand for some of the contractions, and concentrated on my breathing a bit, but the pain was not too bad yet. I was still able to talk and joke around the whole way there. We talked about how dilated we thought I was going to be when we got there, we were guessing and hoping for around 4 cm. I tried not to think about the pain that was ahead of me, but was getting a bit nervous anyway as the familiarity of the situation brought back very real and very painful memories. I mentioned that my bum was on fire, and my mom said, "That's okay honey, the contractions are getting stronger?" And I said, "No the seat heaters are on and I'm dying. I need the heat off." We all chuckled at the confusion.
When we arrived at the hospital, the security guard came out with a wheel chair and asked if I needed it. I said, "Umm..sure why not?" but wasn't in the extreme pain I had been with Reilly at that time. With Reilly, I pretty much fell out of the car vomited, and landed in a wheelchair. The ride up to the maternity unit felt like an eternity, and my eyes were closed for most of it. But that time, I was already at 8 cm. This time around, I still felt relatively good! The contractions were getting bad, and a definitely had to close my eyes and breath through them. But I was still smiling between them - I was getting excited! I remembered being told by the nurses with Reilly that I was "smiling too much" and "if I was really in labor, I wouldn't be smiling". My mom reminded my of this, as we went up to the ward, and was trying not to smile. I really didn't want them to turn me away again, like they did with Reilly! I was ready to have to beg to stay, and explain to them with urgency how fast and unexpectedly my first baby had came. They brought me into triage and hooked me up to the machines to measure the contractions and the baby's heart.
At this point I was definitely in a lot of pain with each contraction, grabbing Hubby's arm and dreading when anyone had to come in and touch me at all. I knew I wasn't close to transition yet, because I was still having conversations with Hubby and talking about various things between contractions. This was not as severe as last time yet at all. When the nurse came in to look at the contractions, she looked at the paper, and then looked at me with wide eyes. "Well...there's no doubt you're in labor...let me go get the doctor..."
I looked at Hubby, relieved that this probably meant we would be staying, and that this meant baby was on it's way! Now just to wait for the doctor to see how much longer it would be...
Friday, March 9, 2012
Reagan Kate :)
Our precious little baby girl has made her arrival! We have two little girls. Reilly Belle is a big sister. Reilly and Reagan will be sisters the rest of their lives. This is what I love about being surprised about our babies, all of these fun realizations that we keep thinking of. The matching outfits! The manicure/pedicure trips! Oh, how Daddy's girls will spoil him with love. Our little Reagan Kate has been such a blessing, even in her first days.
Forgive me, but I will be jumping around with this update, because I have so much to say! So much has occurred in the past five days, it's hard to believe that one week ago, baby wasn't even here yet.
Reilly's favorite sentence is "See Baby Reagan?". She just loves looking at her, and kissing her, and watching everything she does. She calls her umbilical cord on her belly button a "raisin". She loves pointing out different parts of her - "Oh, feet!" and "Oh, eyes!". Her cheerful screaming and playing doesn't even make Reagan flinch. She definitely remembers her sounds from my womb. I remember every morning I would have the monitor next to my bed, lying in bed awake. Then I would hear Reilly start calling my name and jabbering, and seconds later, Reagan would start kicking and jumping around in my belly. She knows her sister's voice. There have been some adjustments, as Reilly was a little more quick to be weepy on our first day home. But already, she seems like she has always had a sister. She is an amazing little helper already, and she isn't resentful at all. I am breastfeeding Reagan constantly, and she didn't even mention it at first! Then, yesterday morning, she said "Baby Reagan doin'?" while we were feeding. So Hubby said, "Baby Reagan is eating." To which Reilly responded, "Yeah. Eating Mommy's boobies." This has become her sentence now when she sees me breastfeeding. It's pretty hilarious. We have, of course, been giving her extra love and attention so she doesn't feel like it's all about the baby. Thank God, it's going very smoothly! Reilly is so proud to be a big sister, and we couldn't be prouder of how well she is falling into her new role in the family.
And as for Baby Reagan? Well, this little angel...I can't even begin to describe her. She is so unbelievably content. She will lay silently, not even sleeping, and just watch what is going on around her. She is sleeping at night for 3 hour stretches! 3 HOUR STRETCHES. I said to my mom last night, I feel like I'm getting more sleep than I did when I was pregnant. She wakes up in the middle of the night, eats, gets changed, and goes right back to sleep in her little swaddle. She is so calm, and so peaceful. She has yet to cry without being hungry or wet. Reilly was an amazing baby as well, but Reagan is just different. She is so quiet and serene. I am constantly checking her to make sure she is okay, because she sleeps so soundly already, without making a peep.
Breastfeeding! We had a little hiccup in the beginning, which I will write about when I talk about her birth story and our hospital stay. But because of her gestational age, being 36 weeks and considered premature, she was taking a little time in her first 24 hours to latch and stay on. Her glucose levels were low right after birth, as well as her temperature. I was pumping in the hospital, and feeding her through syringe on top of breastfeeding as much as I could. The lactation consultants said I was basically breastfeeding twins for the first day and half in the hospital. We did LOTS of skin to skin, so that she would not be wasting calories trying to keep herself warm and she would retain all of the calories she was taking in. And by the time we left the hospital, she was breastfeeding like she was 6 months old!! She latches immediately, and stays right on. She's not even very hard to wake up, which was the hardest part with Reilly in the beginning. She would keep passing out mid-feed, which Reagan does on occasion. But I am astounded at how well she breastfeeds for being so young. I think it definitely has to do with the fact that last time, we were both learning together. This time, I have lots of experience, and only Reagan had to learn. I am much more confident and relaxed, and it all came back so easily. I am so happy that she is breastfeeding so well, that I could literally cry.
We had her first weight check appointment at the pediatrician, and she is gaining already!! She was born at 7 lbs. 5 ounces (I know, hard to believe that she was so early and weighed an entire POUND more than Reilly!), then was 6 lbs. 12 ounces when we left the hospital. Yesterday, she was back up to 7 lbs. 1.5 oz! I'm so happy she is gaining so beautifully already. I am so thankful that she was so healthy for being early. Our doctor said she evaluated like a full term baby, you would never know she was premature. It's hard for me to even use that word, because she seems so healthy, I forget she was so early! Until I made her appointment for her next doctor visit, which is 2 weeks from now, and still a full week before my due date! So crazy.
Daddy is smitten with his girls. He was always meant to be the Daddy of girls, it's hard to describe how. But it's like he is filling a role that was always meant for him. He loves the infant stage, he has just been holding her and testing out different nicknames for her. And telling her not to get bigger. :) That is, when he is not running crazily around the house with our Reilly face.
Okay, I have to go wake Reagan so we can breastfeed. It's 7:35. She's been sleeping since 4:00 in the morning. This is crazy for a breastfed baby! Crazy crazy.
I could not be happier, or feel more of an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God for the family he has blessed us with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
