Penny week 2

Miss Penny Lane is now two weeks old!

This was a big week for Little Miss...we did lots of fun stuff. Penny went for her first walk around the neighborhood with Mommy and Daddy. It was a little chilly out, but she was bundled up nice and warm, and Daddy carried her on his chest in her Baby Bijorn. She was a happy little girl!

We had our annual Christmas dinner with our friends, and it was Penny's first time meeting her "Aunties" and "Uncles". Kelly, Smitty, Emily, Danny, Kim, and Christian all came over to visit our Little Miss....and she was showered with gifts! The girls all brought food so that I wouldn't have to cook (bless their hearts). We had a great night of eating and relaxing with Penny. Of, and if you are wondering why Christian is wearing a surgical mask...well, you can probably guess. He was just getting over a little illness, and his doctor gave him the clearance to visit Penny, but suggested wearing the mask. Gotta love Christian...the things he does for little ones!

Christmas Eve was Penny's first trip to Grandma and Grampy's house, and her first time meeting her Uncles! She was very good in the car ride down (slept the entire time), and she loved meeting her family. Uncle Jeff, Uncle Robby, and Uncle Mike took turns passing her around and taking pictures. She was even kind enough to sleep in her car seat while we ate our traditional dinner.

Christmas Day was Penny's first big family gathering at home. Grandma, Grampy, Uncle Jeff, Svetlana, Uncle Robby, Uncle Mike, Xiaodao, Nana, Great Aunt Holly, Great Uncle Keith, Bonnie, Ben, Great Aunt Maria, Great Uncle Mike, Mike and Lisa all came to visit. We had a restful relaxing day of eating, picture taking, and sitting by the fire. All family holidays should be like this.

Penny's first week

Most of you got my email with the update of Penny's first week home, but I'm going to copy it here anyway.

We arrived home last weekend to our wonderful family of Mom, Dad, Nana, Kel and Smitty, and Penny spent her first day home sleeping and snuggling in the arms of the people she loves. Her first night was a little rocky - Jason did a good job of entertaining our fussy girl, while I got a few hours of sleep. The next few days were spent with our little family, and Penny was beginning to adjust to life outside of mommy's belly.

We went to the doctor and hospital a few times for jaundice checks, but thankfully our little angel is better and home for good. Bilirubin levels were 14.1 in the hospital, 15.7 two days later, and 13.6 the very next day. All were under the "problem" number of 16. She came very close to having to stay at the hospital under the lights, but thankfully she came home!

Grandma came and spent the day with us on Tuesday while Jason went to work. Penny loved having her Grandma here! Grandma had a wonderful day holding her granddaughter, rocking her to sleep, and spending some special cuddle time. Grandma spent her first night with us taking care of fussy baby, while both Mom and Dad got some sleep. Grandma came back after work last night to hold her little angel for a few hours before hitting the sack. I must admit, seeing Penny sleeping in her Grandma's arms completely melts my heart.

The past few days have been wonderful, with Penny sleeping in her swing, or on Mommy or Daddy. She would sleep the entire day if Mommy didn't have to wake her up to eat every 2 hours! Nights have been surprisingly easy...Penny fusses a little during the late evening, but we've learned that she likes to suck on Mommy's finger, which calms her right down. She goes to bed relatively easy (again, after sucking Mommy's finger for a bit), and sleeps right next to our bed in her comfy bassinet. The past 3 nights have been good...no fussing or crying, and we wake her up about every 4 hours to eat. Daddy has been great about getting up and helping Mommy get settled when Penny eats.

Penny (and Mommy) have both been doing surprisingly well with the breastfeeding. It was tough at first, with lots of soreness and getting used to the eating schedule, but we are adjusting well. We had her on some formula to supplement her breastfeeding (to help get rid of the jaundice), but we took her off the formula a few days ago. Since she's been off the formula, she's had less gas, less fussiness, and never spits up after eating. I guess either that particular formula didn't work for her, or her little body just prefers breast milk. We have to go back to the doctor on Sunday for a weight check, and if she has gained weight, then we will continue on with the exclusive breastfeeding.

Just for the record (because I'll forget if I don't write it down), Penny was 7lb 15oz when she was born, 7lb 6oz at her first doctor visit, and 7lb 4oz on her last doctor appointment. Let's hope for some weight gain on Sunday!

So I'll leave you off with some things we've learned this past week:

- Penny's nails are VERY long, and if she didn't wear her mittens, she would scratch her face!

- Penny loves sucking on fingers, and isn't crazy about pacifiers (although we bought her a new one yesterday that may do the trick)

- Penny only cries when there is a *problem*...like gas or hunger. Other than that, she will sit very content

- Breastfeeding is a lot of work! It seems like she is always eating

- I never thought we'd be so excited to see poopy diapers

- We never knew she would sleep so much...she would sleep for 8 hours at night if we didn't wake her to eat

My Labor

Ok, so let's start at the beginning....my labor. Sorry for the details folks, but I wanted to write as much as I could remember about my labor, so I would remember every detail of those 24 hours and 39 minutes. If you're bored, skip this section and move on to the good stuff!

Early in the morning of Wednesday, December 12th at about 2am, I got out of bed to pee (like I did EVERY night at 2am for the past 2 months!). As I got out of bed, I felt a little gush, and at first I thought my bladder gave out on me and I peed my pjs. But then my "mommy mind" took over, and it occurred to me that I may have, in fact, broken my water. I hate to admit this, but my first thought was "oh no, I'm not ready to go into labor...I want to sleep-in late one more day!"

So I woke Jason up - he was sleeping in the back bedroom because of his snoring - and I told him that I think my water broke. At first he just grumbled and rolled over, but then he must have registered what I said and he hopped out of bed.

We called the doctor, who told us we have the choice of going into the hospital now, or we could wait until the morning. Since my contractions were very light and far apart, we decided to stay at home until morning. We then spent the next hour finishing up packing our suitcases (we over packed, as it turns out) and getting the house ready for us to be gone the next few days. After we finished, we *tried* to fall asleep (Jason had success - but not me) and we got up at 8am.

So we kissed the cats, packed up the car, and took one more look at our house, knowing that we would come home in a few days with Wormeck family member #3. Off to the hospital we went.

After a nice smooth check in, I got changed, met my labor nurse, got my IV, and waited for the doctor. It turns out that I was dilated about 2 centimeters, and my contractions were light and about 5 minutes apart. Doc Kaflamarian (otherwise known as Dr. K) started me on a very light dose of Pitocin to get my contractions regular. That did the trick.

At about 11am, Mom got to the hospital. The 3 of us spent the next few hours playing cards, watching tv, playing checkers, and pausing through my contractions, which were getting more and more painful as time ticked on.

I hate to think back on this next part, but unfortunately as my contractions got closer and harder, my attitude and temperament went down the tubes. My poor mom bore the brunt of my misery, and I exiled her to the waiting room. I spent the next half hour crying about kicking her out, but the nurse assured me that "this type of thing happens all the time!". So, again, I'm so sorry Mom...you were a trooper for sticking in there the entire time I was in labor (even though I made you wait outside!!). Love you.

At 3pm, I couldn't take the contractions anymore...I had enough of my lamaze breathing and moaning (Jason can tell you some funny stories about my moaning and groaning). At this point I decided it was time for an epidural.

Everything went fine with the epidural (yes, it hurt a little...the novocaine shot hurt the worst) except for immediately after when my blood pressure dropped. For about the next hour, I had a room full of medial professionals trying to get my blood pressure back up. They loaded me up with 5 bags of IV fluid and gave me more medicine in my IV before they decided that the blood pressure cuff may be too big, giving me a false reading. Either way, after the hour passed, my blood pressure went back to normal.

At about 5pm, Kelly and Smitty came by to visit, and they both spent some time with me and Jason before retreating to the waiting room with my Mom. After they left, I spent the next few hours resting, laboring, and getting ready for the end.

All of a sudden, at about 10:30pm, I started feeling intense pressure, and I knew it was about time to start pushing. So push I did...for the next 3 hours! Jason was a trooper, holding my leg with each push, trying to keep me comfortable.

I don't really remember much about those 3 hours except that I felt like it would never end. Both the doctor and the nurse said they have never met anyone who could hold their breath for as long as I could! Instead of holding my breath for 10 seconds per push, I would hold it for close to 20, and they had to remind me to breathe. I guess I figured that the longer I held my breath per push, the less pushing I'd have to do. No such luck.

So after 3 hours of pushing, and begging the doctor NOT to give me an episiotomy (which she didn't), Penny Lane was born at 2:39am. Jason cut the cord, and little Penny was here.

So in the end, I was surprisingly ok. I didn't have any major complications, I only had 2 little stiches, and I was up and about just a few hours after giving birth.

Would I do it again? If you asked me that during my 3 hours of pushing, I'd probably say no. If you ask me that today, I'd definitely say yes.