Two Weeks

Where does the time go? Julien was two weeks old yesterday... amazing! In the past week, Julien has gained 1lb - he is now up to 7lbs, 15oz. Apparently, my milk came in full strength and he is getting plenty of it (even with the spitup)! He hasn't gotten any longer yet - still at 19.5in.


There are days where I think we're getting close to a "routine" - definable periods of sleeping, eating, and being awake/alert. But then we get to the next day and it is completely different. Unfortunately, like most babies, Julien likes to sleep more during the day and is up every other hour at night. Mom is tired, although I think I am getting used to the schedule and don't look so out of it (but you'll have to ask Guy.. I may have just forgotten what I used to look like!).

Doc gave us the OK to try out a pacifier. However, Julien will not take it. If/when it gets inside his mouth, he just pushes it right out. Maybe this is for the best - I'd hate to be trying to get him to give it up when he gets "too old" for one when I'm the one who pushed it on him in the first place. This does limit our pacification options tho as sometimes nothing else but getting that sucking reflex satisfied.

We had a good visit with Gamma Jill. She got into town on Wednesday and left this afternoon. It was nice to have some extra help in the day while Guy was at work, even if the help was just watching Julien so I could take a nap!!

Update - Day 6

For those of you following little Julien's health status, I am happy to say his jaundice has gone down to levels that are no longer a risk. When we went to the pediatrician on Tues, the total/direct level was at 12.9 (which was already slightly down from where it had been). We kept him on the biliblanket and went back again today. While he still has slight jaundice, the measurement is 8.5, which means the jaundice is no longer a threat. Yay! No more biliblanket!!

In addition to the jaundice going down, his weight is going up. He has already gained back the weight he lost after birth and surpassed it by an ounce. Yes, he is a little piggie when I can get him to stay awake long enough to eat!

Mom and Dad are doing well too, altho a little sleepy. I think I have finally lost that "glazed" look in my eyes and am not too sore from the c-section. Guy is great with Julien and a big help around the house.

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations and well wishes!

Julien has arrived!

If you haven't heard by now (and if you haven't heard, you must be living under a rock with no phone or internets), Julien Paul came into this world at 11:33PM on Friday, March 13th. At birth he weighed 6lbs 14ozs, 19.5in long with lots of dark hair. My first view was in an spinal haze across the operating room -- it would be a few more hours before I could be with him. Poor little guy had an elevated heart rate and was "grunting" (another term for having some breathing issues) so spent his first few hours in the NICU.

From the start of my pregnancy, I had hoped to have a natural childbirth. And up until the end, my labor was fairly "textbook" - contractions coming at regular intervals for the right duration, cervix dilating at 1cm / hour, etc. etc. However, towards the end it became clear that a change a plans would be needed. His heartrate was very high and on top of being occiput posterior, his poor little head was getting swollen from bumping into the side of the cervix instead of through the middle. While my doctor did offer up other options besides a c-section, I felt it would only prolong the inevitable and perhaps make things worse for Julien. For the RIGHT reasons, c-sections are definitely OK and I felt that this was indeed the right situation.

We spent 3 days in the hospital before being released Monday afternoon. My doc was ready to release me on Sunday, but Julien developed jaundice at levels that the pediatrician and nurses felt needed some extra observation and preventative measures. He's been on a biliblanket since Saturday evening and is starting to do better. Poor little guy has had his heel pricked so many times for blood :( At least he gets a break now until Thursday.

When I get more time (ha! what's that?!?) I will fill in more details on the story leading up to the birth and recent events. Until then, we will just be getting to know our new little bundle of joy at home.

Pineapple Express

Yesterday morning, I ate an entire pineapple for breakfast. Do you know how much pineapple that is??? Well, I'll tell ya... it's an awful lot! Why pineapple, you ask? The enzyme bromelian in it is supposed to soften the cervix and bring on labor. It has to be fresh, not canned, and it needs to be eaten in one sitting. Unfortunately, other than making my tongue raw, it didn't do anything :(

So today, on to the next installment of natural induction -- acupuncture. Will let you know how that goes. It can take up to 24 hours to take effect, so not expecting anything to magically happen this afternoon but ya never know!

One Week

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

~ Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

One week. Overdue... like a library book, that will be $1 please. To go...the countdown timer is on. Mom and baby are both perfectly healthy, but doc draws the line at 42 weeks. So, sometime this week Julien will either decide its time to come out on his own or extra measures will be taken. If I don't go into labor before Sunday at 7:30PM, we will be at the hospital getting induced. I've also talked to my doctor and doula about a castor oil "cocktail." While still not a natural way of going into labor, it is not a medical intervention which means a) we'd still be able to stay at home as long as its comfortable to; b) we wouldn't be on continuous monitoring; and c) we're not on the hospital's clock. So.... for those of you who know what castor oil does, yes, I'm not entirely looking forward to it. It may or may not get my labor going. But it still somehow seems preferable over cervidil (and possibly pitocin).

Even though I knew this was a very real possibility, I was a bit disappointed/saddened by the news this morning. Logically, I know it shouldn't bother me. I will be happy to have a healthy baby. But emotionally, I guess I am still hoping everything goes "normally."

Childbirth Education hits 100,000

well, my blog will probably never get 100,000 hits, but thats quite alright. I've kept it pretty private amongst friends and family. but kathy over at woman to woman childbirth education has gotten that many hits - yay kathy! to celebrate, she is giving away a copy of the book Breastfeeding with Comfort and Joy by Laura Keegan. This seems like a really neat book on breastfeeding - I might buy it even if I don't win it :) You can check it out here.

Friday Afternoon

What I'd like to be doing.... having a baby!!!

What I've been doing.... walking (and reporting the pool company dumping dirt in the empty lot to the city), laundry, getting things ready for the baby, eating, getting rid of unneccesary kitchen crap, wasting time on the internet.

Yes, I am "officially" 3 days late now. That's OK ~ ultrasound of amniotic fluid levels checked out good on Wednesday. Fluid needed to be at 5cm and its at 12. Still trying to figure out how/why they measure liquid in cm, but that's what it is. Go figure. Anyway, point being since fluid levels are good, doc will let me continue up to 2 weeks over. Not that I want to go two weeks over, but at least I'm not being induced, sliced or diced any sooner than that.

By the time I feel like nesting (oh, had a brief burst of energy last night that involved cleaning the refrigerator), everything will already be clean. Need to kill time somehow. Maybe I'll go shopping :)

In the home stretch

Well, here I am on the eve of my "official" due date. Went to the doctor today - fundal height, heartrate are both good. I will be going to get an ultrasound this week to check the amniotic fluid levels. If the fluid levels are good, then I'm set to go all the way to 42 weeks before other measures are taken. Oh yea - I am 90% effaced but have only begun to dilate a very small bit.

So to help the process along, here are some things I will be doing this week...
- walking. I wish the weather was warmer, but at least the sun is out. I walked 4-5 times last week, about 1mi. each time. Going to bump it up a notch this week.
- eat lots of fresh pineapple. the enzymes are supposed to ripen/soften the cervix. its also yummy, so either way can't go wrong!
- drink raspberry leaf tea. not a labor inducer, but good for overall uterine health.
- acupressure. there is a point above the ankle (about 4 finger-widths up) called spleen 6 which is supposed to help. also, the hoku point, in the webbing between thumb and index finger.

There are other means, not suitable for children, which I will not mention here.

I am open to other suggestions as well. Not planning on going the castor oil route unless I get really desperate... still plenty of time before I go there!

Pink and White

Back in January, my wonderful husband got me a gift certificate for a pedicure at one of the local Spa/Salons. I finally got around to going yesterday... figured I should have pretty feet for the delivery - ha! See... aren't they pretty?


I was the fourth pregnant woman there and the closest to her delivery date. Must be some kind of a trend going on... While I was there, it started sleeting, which quickly turned to snow that came down all afternoon and well into the night. Needless to say, I am quite glad I did not go into labor yesterday! The roads are suspect today as well, at least until it starts to warm up a bit later on in the afternoon.


JP, you are welcome to come into the world whenever you are ready, but give us enough time to navigate the roads to the hospital!