We're Officially Parents

Wow! It has been a while since I have looked or even thought about looking at my blog. One of the reasons I started this blog was mainly because I wanted to share our lives with family and friends and post stuff about food. I love food. Well, now I think I have something that I love more than food... Henry. Yes, he finally came! 1 week late on January 2nd. When he gets older we may have to raz him a bit on how we missed out on the 2012 tax deduction. Oh well ;)
Many of you know my birth story, so I will spare the specifics, but I had to be induced because little Henry was apparently too comfortable hibernating in my belly. I was three centimeters when they started the pitocin at noon. By 9:30 PM I was 9, almost 10 and it was time to push!
Well, that was an experience. Thank goodness for drugs. I pushed the "button" multiple times. I loved my epidural. LOVED it. I have nothing to prove. I'm still a tough mama even though I didn't do it all natural.
I pushed for over an hour when Henry's heart rate started to drop. Additionally, he was face up instead of face down. Way to go Henry... ; ) My doc decided that we needed to do a c-section. I was now living my worst nightmare. I have never been in the hospital let alone had surgery...EVER.
I was TERRIFIED. Luckily, I have the most amazing doctor in the entire world. I began the journey to the OR with some serious tears and arrived with dry eyes and an attitude that I could do this.
God, she is a blessing. Zac was nothing short of amazing. He kept telling me I was strong and that I could do it. He was right. I could do it. They cut me at 11:25 and Henry was out by 11:28. The cord was wrapped around his neck, so either way I would have ended up having a c-section. My doctor spared me MULTIPLE hours of pushing with no result and I appreciate that. A lot of people have been telling me that I need to mourn the loss of my "ideal birth" There's no such thing. The ideal birth is our son entering the world 100% healthy. End of story. And really...I was able to experience both. I pushed for a while before they told me to stop. The ONLY thing that makes me sad to this day is that I was not able to see him for around 30 minutes after he came out. That felt like an eternity. I did get to hold him while they were wheeling me into recovery. He hasn't left my side since.

 

So cute, even fresh out of the womb.

 

 

Wow, I look stunning... hehe and look at him sucking on his hand. He was ready to eat the second he came out! What a chunker.

 

 

After the 5 days in the hospital, we ventured home. Some days I miss the hospital. They took such good care of us and Henry. It was "easy" in the hospital, with the exception of the pain from recovering. I cried everyday the first few weeks. Probably more than Henry. No one can truly prepare you for how hard it is to take care of a newborn baby. They do not come with instruction manuals. I wish they did... luckily my mom was here for a week taking care of me and helping Zac and I with Henry. Kris (my mother in law) came the following week and helped as well. We were incredibly lucky. Zac was able to stay home with us for 4 weeks! I'm not going to lie...that spoiled me. The first week he went back to work was rough. I didn't like taking care of Henry by myself, but now I have started to adjust. I feel like it took a solid 5 weeks for me to feel more comfortable and actually feel like I am getting the hang of this parenting thing. I'm gaining more and more confidence everyday and I think that helps so much. Henry and I go back to the hospital twice a week and attend mommy group as well as a breast feeding support group. That has helped a lot too. He LOVES going to class and I have been able to receive a ton of support and knowledge from these groups.

That's another thing. NO ONE prepares you for how difficult breast feeding is. I wanted to quit everyday for several weeks. Now, I feel like I have settled into my role as the milk cow.

Right now our issue is the bottle. He won't take it. Why would he?!? The boob is the best. One of the reasons breastfeeding, well feeding in general has been so stressful is reflux. Henry has severe refulx, but we started him on Zantac and he is a completely different baby. If you suspect your baby has refulx, make sure you let your doctor know and if they say no, to the medicine. Fight for it. Its totally worth it. He went from screaming in pain every single day to being happy. It hurt my heart everyday to see him in so much pain. On a happier note...Henry is sleeping wonderfully at night and has since day one. He gets up once usually between 2 and 3AM and then sleeps again until around 6 or 7. We are really really blessed on that end of the spectrum. I can't imagine what it would be like to be really sleep deprived like most parents. Don't get me wrong, we are tired, but we fully recognize that we could have it much much worse.

Henry fights naps a bit during the day, but I'm usually able to get two solid two or 3 hour naps out of him. One in the morning and one in the late afternoon. I have been using Baby Lite. A wonderful app on the iPad that helps me coordinate his eat, sleep, poop schedule. Many people told me not to put a newborn on a schedule. Umm yeah, sorry. These people don't know me. I need schedules. I need structure and I totally believe that Henry does too. Children, even babies like and and need structure. In my opinion, it helps them feel more secure. Being adaptable is important too, and I fully recognize that, so I need to work on deviating from the schedule once and a while without freaking out.

I plan to post a TON so family and friends from afar can catch up with Henry's happenings, but as you other parents know. It can be next to impossible to get anything done. I promise to do my best. 

I'm going to enjoy the next half hour or so while Henry is napping just doing nothing. I forgot how enjoyable it can be to just do nothing.

 

PS: Henry is 5 weeks old today. He will be six on Wednesday of next week and is currently 11 lbs. He's in the 75th percentile for height and weight.  He's going to be huge :)

 

I snapped this picture when he turned one month and plan to use the calendar each month. I think its a cute idea (thank you Pinterest) It might be harder once he is mobile. Hmm... didn't think that one through too well. Hopefully I will be able to get him to stay on the calendar. I'm sure we can figure something out.