Nursing!

To be honest I knew I wanted to nurse Aspen, but I was so nervous. You hear horror stories about nursing. How it can be painful, awkward and really time consuming. I knew that there are lots of GREAT moms out there they can't or don't want to nurse, but I knew I still wanted to try it.

Well I am happy to say that I love it. It is not awkward at all and is actually very natural. I would do anything for my little girl. I love spending that one-on-one time with her. I love when she looks up at me. I love knowing she is getting the best food for her. But I was also lucky. Because of all the stress I went through I never got engorged. If I did I guess I was on morphine so I never felt any pain. I also have not gotten any infections or sore or cracked nipples. I am so lucky in that department. But there were other struggles.

When Aspen was underneath the bili lights she needed to eat every 2 hours. Since my milk was not in yet I had to try and feed nurse her, then feed her a bottle and then pump try and get my milk in. It was so stressful and took up so much time. Then when I was in the hospital I couldn't nurse Aspen because of the medications I was on so she had to take a bottle for all her feedings. I had to continually pump in the hospital and then dump the milk. I was so worried that Aspen would take to the bottle and not nurse anymore. As soon as I could nurse again I tried it and luckily she took to it again. But since I never got engorged I wasn't sure if my milk was in. So she would nurse for about 20 mins and still be hungry. So we went back to nursing, feeding her a bottle and pumping. Luckily within a few days I could tell my milk was in. So now Aspen pretty much just nurses. She still has about 3 oz of formula a day, but I am thankful for that. I am so happy she will take a bottle and nurse. It gives me more freedom!

Thanks to Tamara and Brooke who mentioned the nipple shield. Aspen would not latch on very well and I was starting to get sore. I remembered their advice to try the nipple shield and so I immediately sent Tyler to get me one. It works get! I suggest that anyone with problems with their babies latching on should get it. It helps the baby catch on to nursing and it makes it so mom doesn't get sore at all. I think I will use it with every child for the first few weeks!

I am still having trouble getting enough milk though. I pump for 5 mins after each time I feed her and that helps a little. Do you nursing moms have any other suggestions for getting more milk???

"She just pooped on me!!!"

Well Tyler is the cutest Daddy and just experienced the joys of being a father. I was sitting at the computer when he starts laughing! Then he screams "she just pooped on me!" Of course I did what any mother would do, take a picture and laugh! Then I blog about it! Aspen has such a tiny bum that she had squeezed out of her diaper. At least Tyler was the last one to change her diaper so he couldn't get mad at me for not putting it on tight enough!!!

What a week!!!

The birth of a baby brings about so many emotions! I have never felt this kind of joy before and love my girl more than anything. Before I go into details about the kind of week I had let me tell you that my little Aspen is as close to a perfect baby as you can get. She hardly ever cries and if she goes cry it is only becuase she is hungry. She loves to be cuddled, but does not have to be held, she is perfectly happy in her pack and play. She sleeps and eats great. I couldn't have been blessed with a better baby.

I have broken up the week into 3 different posts so it doesn't feel so long!

But to make a long story short my epidural only worked on my stomach and back so labor was very difficult. Then I hemorrhaged and had lots of blood clots for about 1 1/2 hours. That was actually worse than delivery. My recovery actually went pretty good. With lots of rest I was sure ready to go home on Sunday. Aspen had jaundice and had to be under a bili lamp for 3 days. Then on Wednesday morning I got admitted to the ER for chest pain. They found out that I had fluid in my lungs and a really low blood count. So they drained the fluid and gave me a blood transfusion. I had to leave Aspen with my mother in law, which was so hard. She was only 5 days old. But now I am home and starting to feel a lot better!!! I am loving taken care of Aspen and being a mom!

Labor and Delivery

My due was technically July 25th, but I always felt I would have this girl early. So on July 10th went I felt a lot of liquid leaking out I went into the doctors office. They immediately told me that I was leaking amonic fluid and that I should head over to labor and delivery right away. I called Tyler and asked him if he wanted to a daddy! He met me at the hospital with a big smile on his face. They started the petocin around 5pm. I went into active labor around 10pm. I got an epidural as soon as I was in active labor and I have never felt so relaxed in my life. It was great. Then around 1am I started pushing. As soon as I started pushing I found out that the epidural was only working on my back and stomach and not anywhere else. I was in so much pain. But I don't think the doctor realized I was in that much pain. He kept telling me to push my happy button which would release more medicine into my epidural. After pushing it 3 times I finally gave up and concentrated on pushing out my little girl. At 2:17am Aspen came out with a full head of hair. Then the doctor had to knead out the placenta cord. That was almost more painful than delivery. They did do an episiotomy and while he was stitching me up I think he realized how much pain I was in becuase he finally gave me a local anesthetic. As soon as they put her in my arms I knew it was worth all the pain. She was beautiful. We thought everything was okay an Tyler went down to give her a bath!

Shortly after Tyler had left a nurse came in and was checking out my stomach. As she was pushing on it a large blood clot came rushing out. She immediately ran out and before I knew it 3 nurses and the doctors were working on me. They kept kneading my stomach and more and more blood clots came out. They gave me a few shots in my hip and some other medicine. They quickly hooked up 3 different IV's into my system. I didn't know it was possible to have that many people working on me at the same time. I didn't realize what was going on, but I did know the kneading of my stomach was way more painful than anything I have ever experienced. The organized chaos was crazy and I was so glad Tyler was not here to see me going through everything. Soon the doctor took a hook up into my uterus and scrapped out all the blood clots. By this time Tyler was in back in the room. As soon as they were finished I found out that I had hemorrhaged and lost a lot of blood. I didn't know how serious it really was until the hospital administrator came into to see if I was okay.

Recovery

Around 7am they moved us from labor and delivery down to the mother baby unit. After sleeping a little bit and a little medication I started feeling a little better. It was fun to have friends and family stop bye to see our little girl. The pediatrician came to check her out. His first words were did you have a C-Section. I told him no and asked why he thought that. He said it was becuase she had a perfect head shape and the no blemishes on her face. It was true she has a great head shape, and perfect looking skin. Her hair and lips are the first comments we got from everyone!

At night I made sure and followed everyones advice and let them take Aspen to the nursery. They just brought her in to for feedings. By Saturday I was feeling so good. I was a little sore, but not as bad as I thought I would be. I guess compared to the surgeries I had last summer this was nothing!

By Sunday we were ready to go. Right before we left the nurse informed us that Aspen had jaundice and that we she would have to go home on a billi lamp. Now I know most babies are born with jaundice and that it really wasn't that big of a deal, but the thought of not being able to hold my baby was a little to much and I started crying. Wow I can't believe how sensitive you are right after having a baby. As soon as we got everything settle we were able to go home!!! Hurray. I was so excited.

The next few days... (ER & all)

The next few day was kind of hard with Aspen being under the lamp. I could get her out for 30 mins at a time to feed her. Aspen was having a hard time feeding. We quickly realized that I didn't have enough for her to eat and the doctor suggested we put her on formula and that I pump to try and get my milk in. But other than that I was still feeling pretty good. I was happy that recovery was going well. I hoped for a little to much. Tuesday I started feeling a little sick. By Tuesday night I could hardly breathe. I got up at 2am and asked my mom to feed Aspen. I just was not feeling good. But I didn't want to go into the ER so I waited until 8am and went into Insta Care. They took some blood tests and did a chest x-ray. The doctor immeditaley came in and said I need to go to Utah Vally Hospital for more tests. I had a very abnormal chest x-ray and needed to get more tests. He thought I either had a blood clot or phenomena.

So we rushed to the ER. They did a cat scan and took a bunch a blood. When the C-Scan results came back they ruled out both a blood clot and phenomena. Both the did find out that I had a bunch of fluid in my lungs. The specialist came into to tell what the 3 things they thought it could be. The worst possibility was that I had a heart diease and wouldn't be able to have any more kids. The middle possibility was that I had a problem with my lungs and the best option was that I had a low blood count and fluid drained into my lungs.

So they had to do more tests. I had an EKG, Echo on my heart, and more blood tests. Then they put me on a water pill to get all the liquid out of my body. They admitted me to the cardio floor and told me to plan on staying the night. In my heart I knew I would be okay. They hardest part was that I couldn't have Aspen staying at the hospital. So my mother in law took her home for the night. My baby was only 5 days old and I couldn't even be with her. It was so hard.

Later that night a nurse came into to tell us that the doctor had left and we wouldn't know the results until the next morning. I freaked out. It had already been about 8 hours since they told us our three options and I was so nervous about not being able to ever have kids again. Luckily the nurse came back in about an hour later to tell me that the doctor had called and said it was definitely not the heart disease. My heart was really healthy. This was the best news of the day!

The next morning the doctor came back in with the rest of the results. He told me that I had developed pre-cleamsia. That would explain my high blood pressure. He also said that since my blood levels were so low that my body couldn't move all the fluid from the pre-cleamsia to my legs and feet and it had drained into my lungs. He also said that I would have to have a blood transfusion. The good news is that I had no permanent damage and that I would be able to go home that night (Thursday night).

So I got back yesterday. After draining the fluid from my lungs and the blood transfusion I started feeling a lot better. Now I am home and it feels great to finally be able to hold my daughter. I am so excited for the days to come. She is such a sweatheart and I just want to hold her all the time. I LOVE BEING A MOM. IT IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!!!! I will post more pictures and keep you all updated. Thanks for all your prayers!

Aspen is FINALLY here!

I'm new to this whole blog thing so this is my first post. Tiffany asked that I come and tell everyone that Aspen is here. She was born on Friday at 2:20 am weighing in at 7 lb 13 oz and was 20 inches long. She has a full head of hair and a cry that will rival an older baby, however she hardly blesses us with that squeal. She is a beautiful baby and that's not just a bias, everyone agrees. Well more to come later. T&T

My bags are packed.

My doctor told me to pack my bags and be ready to go any day now. I am dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. Aspen has completely dropped and the doctor could feel her head. He will be surprised if I make it to Friday! I pray he is right. If I don't have her by Monday they will strip my membranes and hopefully that will help things along!

4th of July

4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love spending time with my family for a whole day and playing outside in the sun. We started off the day with breakfast at Janei'a and Rob's. Then we went swimming and had a BBQ. After that we were all tired so we went home for a quick nap and to get ready for Stadium of Fire. Can I say that this years Stadium of Fire was probably the best I have been to. This year they transition through everything much quicker and left lots of time for the headline events. I cried as the wives were able to talk with their husbands over seas. One of the women had an 18-month baby and was pregnant again. I can't even imagine Tyler being gone for that long while I was pregnant. The Blue Man Group was extremely funny and I loved Miley Cryus! It was the perfect way to end 4th of July! Now Aspen can come for sure!

The waiting game...

I always heard the last few weeks of pregnancy were the hardest. I thought it was becuase you were so uncomfortable and I am sure that is part of it, but I think its becuase of the waiting game. I wake up everyday wondering if today will be the day. I am now 37 weeks so I have a little longer to go, but the doctor said he wouldn't be surprised if I go in the next week. I lost my mucus plug yesterday and am dilated to a 3 and I have been having lots of contractions. Aspen has also has dropped. I hope my doctor is right. I am sure ready for Aspen. In the mean time I am trying to stay busy with teaching tennis and getting the house ready. This weekend will be fun with Rob's (brother) Kaia (niece) birthdays and the 4th of July. We have tickets to Stadium of Fire, but I not sure I should go. Sitting for that long is really hard...