Ledger's Birth Story

We went to the doctor for our 38 week appointment, which also had an ultrasound, Ledger was measuring ahead (as he had most of the pregnancy) so the doctor felt that it was best to go ahead and induce at 39 weeks.  We left the hospital knowing we would be on Monday (it was a Thursday).  We were full of excitement and nerves.  We spent the next days checking and rechecking our hospital bags and spending quality time together. 

We were set to be at the hospital at 5am on the morning of the 9th.  On our way to the hospital we got a call from a nurse saying they had had and extremely busy night and I wouldn't have a room until 7am.  Already being packed up and ready we stopped to eat breakfast where I thought I'd better check the paperwork one more time and realized it said not to eat...bummer.  My mom and Trinity had breakfast while I sipped on water.

We arrived at the hospital at 7am and and were quickly put into a room.  Lucky us, because a couple was behind us to check in for induction and Trinity said at 12pm they were still waiting in the waiting room for their room.  Ekk.   They started my fluids, but the doctor had forgotten to write the orders for my induction and they had to wait until they could get ahold of him to start my medicine.  Around 9am they started Pitocin. I felt the contractions speed up and pressure increase, but they pain really wasn't bad.  I went on like this for a couple of hours until I started to be uncomfortable (like grabbing the bed through contractions).  The doctor came in at this time and explained that he was going to go ahead and break my water to speed up the process.  Holy I don't know what, the contractions started coming fast and hard.  I wasn't getting 30 second to 1 minute break between contractions and I could barely breath through them.  At this point I had to lay still to let Ledger move down and I did this for about an hour.  I kept telling myself the contractions would be better once I could move around.  As time passed even moving wasn't helping...contractions were stopping me dead in my tracks.  Trinity was such a help doing a count down and having me look at him to help me get through them.  At this point I asked for an epidural (I never intended to go natural).

Once I got the epidural things calmed down a bit and I just laid around until the doctor came back in to check me.  Around 8cm dilated I started to feel a severe pain come back in my left side.  I explained it to the nurse and she turned me explain that epidurals are directional and I had been laying on my right side.  About an hour after turning the pain was only getting worse.  They determined that my epidural was wearing off...WHAT?!  Excuse me?  I had a huge needle stuck in my back just for the medicine to wear off?  No need to freak, Katelyn.  They were able to give me more medicine and in about an hour the pain was gone again. 

At 10cm the doctor came in checked me and explained I was going to start pushing.  While examining me he determined that Ledger was facing up and he hoped he would turn as he moved down.  I pushed with the nurse for an hour and a half and dear Lord pushing is hard work!  The doctor came back in at that point and said Ledger was still face up and his head was stuck on my pelvic bone.  He determined for the amount of time my water had been broken, etc. it was best to move forward with a C-Section.  I immediately began to cry feeling like a failure.  I felt like my body was made to birth a child, so why couldn't I do it?  Nonetheless, if the doctor said a C-Section was best for a healthy baby that is exactly what we were going to do.  It was no more than 15 minutes and they were taking me to a surgery room.  They prepped me and Trinity joined me about 15 minutes later. 

I was exhausted from such a long day (it was now 10pm) and I actually fell asleep and woke up when the doctor was yelling, "The heads out!"  At that point Ledger began to cry, which was the best sound I have ever heard in my life.  They took him over to clean him up and check him out and finish with me.  The part I hate about a C-Section is that Ledger had to go to the nursery (at least T got to go) while they finished stitching me up, etc.  About 20 minutes they took me to recovery and Trinity and Ledger were able to join me. 

Ledger arrived at 10:29pm and was 8 pound and 20 1/4 inches long. 

I wish we had taken more pictures in the hospital both before and after, but that is all in retrospect now.  I am glad that we have the ones we do, as they are the first moments of our sweet boy's life outside of my body.  P.S.His head now looks normal...I always think baby heads are weird shapes when they are first born. 

Life with Ledger- Month ONE

My dear sweet Ledger,
I can't believe how fast the first month with you has gone by.  You are such a sweet boy...I'm not just partial, everyone says what a good sweet baby you are.  I didn't know that I could love someone so much.  Honestly, the word love, the way I've used it my whole life, just seems like an understatement.  You hardly ever cry, and when you do all I have to do is pick you up and tell you its okay and you take a deep breath, sigh, and nuzzle into me and calm down.  I love the way you smell and the way you soft hair feels on my lips as I smell your head when cuddling you.  I love how if you are laying on me or your daddy you put you little tushy up in the air.  You sigh the sweetest little sighs as you go to sleep and eat.  You make me want to be better in all aspects of my life. 

I love you to the moon and back,
Momma

                                                                                    
First Month Highlights:

• You eat about 4 ounces at a time.  You are breastfed, but we supplement with formula (something your momma had a hard time accepting at first, but we will do whatever we have to to keep you healthy and growing.)
• You sleep 3-4 hour stretches at night and just wake up to eat and then go back to sleep.
• You are in size 1 diapers, but could still wear newborn.
• You are in 0-3 clothes (mostly because of length) and have been for about a week. 
• At your 2 week check-up you were above the 95th percentile for length and 30th percentile for weight.  Will you be tall and skinny?
• You took your first real bath at 3 weeks.
• We gave in to the paci after a rough night and you have done fine, using it to self-sooth and letting it go after. 
• You cried and produced tears for the first time today.  Which resulted in you being rocked with me in your rocking chair for the first time.
• Our favorite book to read together is Guess How Much I Love You.
  
  
  
  
  
  

He's here!

Ledger arrived Monday June, 9th at 10:29pm.  He weighed 8 Ibs. and was 20.25 inches long.  

I'll be back to post more and hopefully give you something besides iPhone pictures onces I get this "mom" thing figured out.

Why I stepped back from blogging...

There are several reasons that I took a break from blogging.  Here they are...

1. I started work back from summer break and my extra time was gone.

2.  My house isn't always clean...you know those bloggers that have a Pinterest house and it is always perfect...yeah, that's not me.

3.  I'm not good at staging awesome pictures to put on my blog.

4.  My focus changed from losing weight to having a baby and I didn't know if that would be something my readers would want to read about.

5.  It was becoming work.  Hats off to those of you who blog 5 or more days a week...I just can't keep up with that.

6.  I started to compare myself to other bloggers and no matter if they were a lifestyle blogger, weight loss bloggers, etc. there is always going to be someone with better success out there in the blog world...a cleaner more picturesque house, cuter clothes, better staging, more weight loss, etc.

 

7. It's hard to come up with funny, well-written post all the time.

8.  I don't have a lovely patio that I can post pictures of my lovely drinks on.

9.  It a nutshell, it just made me feel blah there for a while.  I felt that no matter what I was blogging about it wasn't the caliber of some of my favorite blogs. 

With all of that being said, there are lots of things that make me want to return to regular blogging.

1.  I get inspiration from other blogs.

2. I love the community that comes with blogging.

3.  Blogging motivates me.

4.  It is a way to document my life, whether I am the only person who reads about it or not.

 

5.  If I ever had weight to lose it will be now...so, yeah.

 

6.  Blogging reminds me to take pictures and document things.

7.  My life is worth sharing and writing about and I just have to remember that.

I am truly thankful for those of you who stuck around during my hiatus and hope that you continue to follow along...here are some upcoming things:

• Ledger will be here soon!
• Nursery reveal
• Baby weight loss
• DIY projects
• Life in general 

Source

P.S. I am now opening up my personal Instagram to my blog followers...I just can't keep up with two.  If you want to follow along please do click here.

Pictures= Disaster Day

The story behind the disaster of a day...Let me start by saying that I wasn't crazy about the idea of maternity pictures to begin with.  If you have followed this blog you know that one thing I blogged a lot about was trying to lose weight...when your pregnant that can't be your focus.  I have watched the number on the scale go up for 9 months (and I wanted to lose weight before I even got pregnant).  What I am trying to say is that I'm not feeling the best about myself these days, much less picture ready.   Anyways... My husband was supposed to be off for the day that we had pictures, but he ended up having to work.  Him having to work was problem one...it meant that instead of him taking care of his stuff I had to.  He needed a new shirt for pictures and without him with me I was left to go to the store and do my best to guestimate his size..cue little helpful sales lady (NOT).  The sales lady comes over and asked about my husband's height and weight and INSISTED that I had selected a size that was too small.  Against my better judgement I reluctantly put my selection back on the shelf and took hers (I'm a people pleaser).     I proceeded to come home and think I had time for a quick nap.     When I woke up I took the shirt out of the packaging to steam it (with no time to take it back) and it was beyond HUGE.  I just started crying and panicking and the did the only think I knew to do...try to shrink it in hot water and then dry it on hot (it didn't work).  In the meantime of all this I had called the MAC location closest to my house (an hour away) and asked if I could get my make-up done for our pictures.  I should have done this sooner, but have never had a problem getting in there.  This is where problem two comes in...evidently it was every school's prom from here to Timbucktwo and they had NOTHING available.     This is where the panic really started to set in.     I decided to suck it up and get everything else ready.  I started to search for my husband's good jeans, you know the dark wash color that looks good in pictures?  They were covered in mud from our dog...evidently they jumped on him when he got home one day.  I didn't have time to wash them, so I had to pack his ugly light wash jeans that look awful on him (in my opinion).  Next, his shoes...couldn't find them ANYWHERE.     Can you see how this is getting out of control quickly with things going wrong?!  Let's recap...my husband has a huge shirt, ugly too big jeans, and no shoes....clearly a problem for pictures.  I wanted to cry (hormones), but knew I didn't have time for that...I just had to get ready.  Once I was ready I had to get the car loaded.  When we thought my husband was going to be off we chose a location an HOUR from our house for pictures (bad idea, don't do this).  So, I had to get all of my stuff, his stuff, etc. in the car for pictures...without wrinkling them, forgetting something, etc.  Well, both happened.  I wrinkled EVERYTHING, forgot my good strapless bra, my make-up for touch-ups, forgot T still didn't have shoes, etc....you get the idea.   Once I was on the road I thought I could relax...you know the whole screw it at this point attitude?  Well, I get about halfway to the interstate exit where I am supposed to meet my husband and run into standstill traffic.  Are. You. Serious?  At this point I called my husband a complete mess, hysterically crying (remember I forgot my make-up for touch-ups?).  I then told him it was all his fault because he was the one that had to work and ALL of this would have been avoided if he had just taken off---sorry T, I was hormonal and being dramatic. I finally got to him after calling the photographer to tell her we would be late.  Once we got to the park where we were taking pictures we noticed it was PACKED...remember all the proms?  Evidently this lovely, picturesque location was just that...for all the prom-goers and their families.  Trinity and I had to get dressed in our car...which being so pregnant was a disaster in its self.  Trinity puts his shirt on, I was paying no attention, and then I hear him say, "Katelyn, look at my pretty dress."  I kid you not, the shirt went down past his knees!  I was DONE at this point...wanted to turn around and go home and cry about it, but we had already paid for the pictures and pictures AREN'T cheap.   Other miscellaneous things went wrong...like not having the right bra I needed,  the INSANE wind that started as soon as she started taking pictures, the craziness of all the people to try to photograph around,  my husband getting a call about his dad who is in the hospital in the middle of pictures (which totally sped up the process and took his mind out of it...I don't blame him for this...just another hiccup in the day).   I'm pretty sure I am forgetting some thing, but at this point what difference would it make, you get and idea of how the day went.  So, with out further-adieu here are some of our maternity pictures.   

   

I've been BUSY!

Hey Y'all, I know I have been totally MIA.  Last time I updated was 20 weeks.  There has been A LOT going on with work, family, etc.  So, I apologize, but I wanted to update you all with a sneak of our maternity pictures.  By the way, this day was a COMPLETE disaster...I'll be back to retell that story once I get the pictures back and can share some more.  For now, here ya go!

 

Blog world meet Ledger

We didn't do announcement pictures since I have been so nervous....

Blog world meet Ledger...
So, a while back...like December I said I would be back to blogging again and have an announcement.  Well, here HE is!  Ledger is due in June!  This picture is actually an older ultra sound picture (like between 13-15 weeks? so baby is quite a bit bigger now).  

How far along: 20 weeks 

Baby's Size: a bananas (and yes, I sang ba-n-an-as as I wrote that)

 

Gender: BOY!!

Weight Gain: 7 pounds, but I lost a few at first.

Maternity Clothes: I am in LOVE with maternity jeans.  Maternity shirts are still really funky on me.

Stretch Marks: Not yet...I feel like this question is made to jinx me.

Belly Button In or Out: In, hasn't really changed.

Sleep: Okay.  I wake up multiple times to use the restroom and have major hip pain if I lay on one side too long, but he's worth it.

Best Moment This Week: Having baby boy checked up on and seeing that so far, he is happy and healthy in there.

Symptoms: Having to use the restroom alllll the time and new this past week is an increase in appetite...I will have just eaten and literally feel hungry again.  And, if you can call it a symptom I am totally obsessed with making boy fashion cute...here are a couple outfits I've put together....Etsy will have ALL our money!

Worst Moment This Week: If this counts...anxiously awaiting feeling him move.  I have an anterior placenta (meaning it is in the front rather than the back and acts as a pillow between the baby and the uterus wall which is what you feel movement through), so the doctor said I wouldn't feel him until 21-24 weeks....but, I have been feeling a little tapping/thumping feeling every now and then when I am really still. 

Miss Anything?:  Oh, how I miss a nice bubble bath.  When we built our house one of my many only request was a jacuzzi tub and I got so used to using it often...showers just aren't the same.

Craving: Slushies for the win!

Queasy or sick?: Not recently.  

Looking Forward To: Nailing down some real finality to nursery ideas...I have some BIG ideas.  We will see.....

Mood: I cry at everything...don't even think about putting it on the Hallmark channel. But, overall I am happy...just need to get my crazy under control.

Movement: A little?!...waiting for it to become stronger and more consistent...but we checked on baby at my last appointment and he was moving all over the place, I just can't feel it yet.

Doctors Appointments: We went this week to have baby boy checked on because I was concerned about not feeling movement (my doctor rocks and does whatever to ease my mind) he's happy and healthy in there so far.  We also recently had his gender scan (biophysical check).

P.S. I'll work on an actual bump picture for the next post...I honestly haven't taken hardly any because I didn't start to show until the last week or so (and at work today everyone informed me I still don't look pregnant...does that mean I just look fatter or still the same?  They said same for the record, but my friend said her bump popped around this time, so I'm waiting for it).