Bug Life: 1 Month

Hi Bug- its your Mom. Today you are 1 month old. This will be a long post because I want to tell you about the day you were born. Your due date was May 3, 2010 but that came and went. In fact, I went to work on your due date and the day after that! I was really hoping you would be born on May 5 so your birthday would be 5-5-10. Well, the fifth came and went. That was my first day of maternity leave. It felt really weird to be at home with not much to do. I can't even remember what that was like! I waited out the rest of the week for you but you wanted to stay in. Your Dad and I checked into Seton Central Hospital on the night of May 9. I have to tell you- I was really disappointed because that was Mother's Day! I'm going to have to wait an entire year to celebrate Mother's Day.

Once we got settled into the labor & delivery room, I got some medicine to help ripen my cervix. I also took 2 Ambien because I knew it was my last night of uninterrupted sleep for a looooooong time! I fell asleep right away. The next thing I knew, it was 6:30am and I was having a really strong contraction. The contractions just kept coming. The nurses shift change was at 7am. The new nurse asked me if I wanted anything to help with the pain (narcotic) and I couldn't say yes fast enough. Around 8am-ish I had a really, really strong contraction and my water broke. I thought I had peed because the same thing happened on the next contraction. Your Dad asked for the nurse to come in and she was totally shocked when she saw the my water had broken. She checked me and I was dilated to 6cm! This was happening a lot faster than anyone had planned. She asked me if I wanted an epidural and again- I couldn't say yes fast enough! The anesthesiologist came in close to 9am and gave me an epidural. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. By the time it kicked in though, I wasn't feeling anything and the narcotic had kicked in too. I was actually falling asleep inbetween contractions. Around 10am-ish my doctor came over to check on us. She wasn't supposed to be on call for another 2 hours but you weren't going to wait that long. Around 10:30am-ish I was fully dilated and you were ready to come out. I started pushing but nothing really happened for about 40 minutes. After that, everything happened really quickly. The nurse had to call my doctor to come in and then a whole bunch of people came in. You came out about 20 minutes later- 11:34am. It was all such a blur- I don't remember everything. I hardly remember holding you for the first time. Your Dad went with you to the nursery to get you measured and cleaned up. I don't know how long it was but after a little while you came back in with Dad and you were all wrapped up. I remember being shocked by how much hair you have! You were a little wiggly but mostly pretty sleepy- I was pretty sleepy too. You weighed 7lbs, 15 oz and were 21 inches long.

We spent the next 2 days at the hospital. Your grandparents (my parents) and your grandmother (your Dad's mom) came to visit you. There were a bunch of different nurses that checked you and the pediatrician came by twice a day to check you. The first night with you was really rough. I didn't feel very well and neither did you. You cried a lot and there was nothing I could really do to help you. Eventually the overnight nurse took you to the nursery and we all got some sleep. The next day you were a little more alert- you would open your eyes for a little while. We started calling you Bug because you looked like a little bug when you opened your eyes and looked around. The second night with you was a little better- you stayed in the room with us. On the morning of the of twelfth, your Dad and I were soooo ready to leave the hospital. We got released around Noon. We were a little nervous about your first car ride home.

Your grandparents were all at the house when we got there. Daisy threw up all over the living room rug with in five minutes of us walking in the door and then you started crying. I think I started crying shortly after that. We all took a nap for the rest of the afternoon.

So here we are- one month later. I have to say Bug, this has been a long month. It has been pretty rough. I'm having trouble feeding you enough to get you back up to your birth weight- you have about 5 ounces to go. You cry a lot and it makes me a little crazy. You also poop a lot and you've had a couple of blow out diapers. I was starting to think you had a butt on your hip because that is the only way you can get that much poop out the side of your diaper! Pee diapers send you into a frenzy- you really hate them. We get them changed as fast as we can. In one month, you have gone through approximately 275 diapers!

Sometimes you smile at me and my heart just melts. Sometimes you make little coo noises and sometimes you snore when you sleep (you get that from your dad!). You have super long eye lashes and big eyes. We laugh at how long your feet are- I hope they get a little more proportional as you grow. You have already outgrown your little newborn onesies. It makes me a little sad because you will never be that little again. However, you have a whole closet full of cute clothes and I look forward to getting you dressed everyday.

I love you Bug!

-Mom