Preparing for a little one: Birth stories link up!

Linking up with my sister's blog Five 27 Jones for "Preparing for a little one: Birth Stories"!

I love hearing other people's birth stories and I love sharing mine! My son is now 10 months old and it is all still so fresh in my mind, haha!

I had a pretty interesting labor with Hunter, my son. He tried coming at 34 weeks, before we or the doctor was comfortable letting me deliver! It all started on a night in May... I wasn't due until July 3! Anyways, I was sitting on the couch counting what I thought were contractions... but I wasn't quite sure. They were about every 4 minutes apart, but they didn't really hurt so I kind of just figured they were Braxton Hicks contractions. I had been having these braxton hicks ones for a few weeks already and they didn't really feel any different except a little pain in my lower back which made me wonder if it was the real deal. Since I was only 34 weeks I thought I better call the doctor on call and check to see if this was normal. He said come in right away. So, my husband and I went in and I was feeling kind of silly. I thought there is no way I'm really in labor because these don't hurt! To my surpise the nurse said I would probably be staying the night because my contractions were about every 2-3 minutes apart. I was super surpised and not ready for this news at all! I had no bag packed or anything! Luckily we live about 2 miles from the hospital though. Anyways, the doctor came up and checked me and I was at a 3-4 cm dialated! They weren't too pleased with this because we live in a pretty small town so they didn't have a nursery capable of handling a premie baby this early. So, they started giving me shots and all sorts of meds to try and stop contractions... nothing was helping. He wanted to come now! They finally gave me magnesium.... wow this stuff sucks. So sorry if anyone ever has to get this! Long story short, I ended up being there for 5 days! They finally sent me home when my contractions seemed to stop. They sent me home on very strict bed rest and on some pills to stop contractions. I was to take these pills for 9 days (until I reached 36 weeks) and then I could go off of them and baby was free to come! So, I tried following bed rest and when I hit 35 weeks and about 4 days I was just done and didn't follow through to well. I did keep taking my meds though. The day I went off my meds I started feeling the contractions again! At this point I was ready to get this labor and delivery over with! So, guilty, I went walking! Lets just say that night I told my husband I thought we would be headed to the hospital again. I contracted all day and night Tuesday June 5th. My husband had a soft ball game that night and I told him I could go watch and then we would head to the hospital, haha. I was pretty lucky that I didn't have very painful contractions....yet! So at about 10 p.m we headed to the hospital! The nurse looked at me like I was crazy when she said reason for being here.. I said "I'm in labor." She was probably thinking I didn't seem like I was in labor at all because I really was doing fine! I got up to my room and the nurse ticked me off right away! She goes oh hunny you are only 36 weeks so we will probably try and stop your labor again. I was like OH NO YOU ARENT! I AM HAVING THIS BABY! She said well if you are dialated past a 4-5 we will have to let you go but if not we are stopping it. I wanted to have a little party when she checked me and said I was at a 7!!!!!! WOO HOO! I labored all night and got a little sleep. The doctor came in the next morning to break my water. I was at about an 8 so was moving very slowly! I tried walking but they make you walk for 30 min then sit on monitors for 30 min so it didn't really do anything. Well a few hours went by and the nurse came in to ask about an epidural. I got nervous when they gave me an ultamatum on last chance if I wanted an epidural! I still wasn't in much pain but decided to get one just in case... BAD DECISION! They came in to do the epidural  and I was one of those lucky 1 in like a thousand or so that gets a bad epidural! The Dr. who put it in put it in wrong the first time, so he saw some fluid pooling back there and had to take it out and re-do it. Then the second time he did it, he tapped into the spinal fluid and caused me to have a full on spinal instead of an epidural. The difference is how you are numbed. A spinal is what they do when you have a C-section. So needless to say I was freaking out when I was numbed up to my neck! I got so scared from this feeling of not being able to feel, swallow, or move anything! My heart rate went up to 130 and my BP went down to 80-40. I was so scared!! Since it was a "spinal" and not a normal epidural they had to just let it wear off so that I could feel my legs again in order to push in just a few hours. SO, after ALL THAT, I didn't even get to reep the benefits of having an epidural! They didn't start my bag of meds that come with the epidural because they didn't want me to get too numb again... oh well. At least I got an hour relief from contractions out of it all because they were starting to pick up and get painful!

So, after all that hustle and bustle was over it was about noon and I started feeling my contractions comin back. They got stronger and stronger and before I knew it I was at a 10 and ready to start pushin! I had a LLOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG hour and a half of pushing and then we got to meet our precious baby boy! The pushing was so horrible though. I had no idea I would have to push for that long! I had it in my head that the pushing part only lasted a half hour or so... But it was definitely worth it when they said "it's a boy" and we got to see him for the first time and hear his beautiful cry! What a little sweetie he is too! I can't get over the love you can have for such a tiny little thing you just meet! I was so tired and exhausted I didn't have the sobbing moment when they lay him on your chest thing like I thought I would. I have never been that exhausted in my life before. I could barely even hold him on my chest he felt like he weighed a ton.. I was just super tired, haha. He was only 6 lbs and 13 oz which was actually pretty big for being 4 weeks early! My little guy stole my heart in an instant :) Although I do remember telling my nurses and doctors that " I am NEVER doing that again." haha oh the things you say when you are in pain!

Unfortunately my pain didn't stop there though. Because of my epidural complications I ended up getting a spinal head ache/back ache after all that! THIS WAS HORRIBLE! I wouldn't ever wish this sort of pain upon anyone! Laying flat is the only way to get any head releif, and the back pain never went away no matter what I did. So, I had to go to the ER on Sunday morning (2 days after I left the hospital) and get a blood patch. This is where they take blood from your arm and insert it back into your spinal cavity where the air was pocketing which caused all my pain. So, once they filled that air pocket with blood I had instant relief. This was wonderful!

I think next time I will try for no epidural as long as I get lucky with my contractions not causing much pain again!

Here is our precous newborn!

and here he is now, 10 months old!

 

My advice is: don't think the pushing will be nice and short. This was a total let down for me as I kept looking at the clock thinking WHY AM I STILL PUSHING! They kept telling me "I can see his head" for like a whole hour! At one point I yelled, can you just pull him out then? I can't push anymore! I think I yelled I can't do this a million times! They did end up cutting me which I didn't even feel. The stitches at the end weren't bad either. I was most nervous about this!!

10.5 months

Ok I thought I would do another post because Hunter is growing up before our eyes! He now is taking a few steps! He thinks he is a big boy and walks along furniture and even let's go sometimes! He will walk holding one hand now too! The biggest change has been his voice though. He just must not have felt well enough to talk at 10 months when I last updated because now all he does is jibber jabber! He makes the funniest sounds along with saying dada a lot still and now mama too!!!. Today I said say bye bye and he did! He also repeated me when I said 'ball' the other day! Yay! I literally can't wait for this summer when he is walking more ad talkin more! Love love love this age!!! My little baby is almost a toddler!!

Sleep

Alright, I know I was one of the lucky ones who got a baby that slept through the night fairly soon... but that doesnt mean it's been bliss since! Just clarifying for those who have little ones or are expecting that just because they "sleep through the night" doesnt mean you will have perfect nights from then on! We had a few great months of sleeping... until the ear infections came... then we got tubes and then the teething started in... so we have good nights and bad still! Our good nights are 7:30 or 8:00 bedtime to his normal wake up time which is about 6:45-7:00 AM. Lately though ever since he got the tubes he hasn't been sleeping the best. He had the flu for a week so was up a lot with yucky diapers. Then he had a fever for a few days and I guess his teeth were just really bothering him because he was up a few times a night and not wanting to go back to sleep. IB profin and benedryl have been our friends. The doctor says he has allergies so to keep on him with the benedryl and claritin along with a nasal spray for during the day... and when his teeth hurt we do ib profin 2x through the night usually along with night time oragel. These things have helped, but we still aren't back to his perfect sleeping!

His naps however are getting shorter... they are usually about one and a half hours now. But we are still very grateful for this boy who loves sleep.. he just gets unlucky with ears, teeth, flu bugs, and allergies! I can't wait for the day when he can tell me what is hurting him! The guessing game in the middle of the night is the worst! And why can't they make pain medicine that kicks in quicker than 30 minutes!??

preparing for a little one link up: packing your bags!

I'm linking up with my sister's blog http://five27jones.blogspot.com/ and her link up series called "preparing for a little one". This week we were supposed to share what we packed for the hospital!

I had 2 hospital trips, so my first one was a practice run for the real one a week later! When I was there the first time I wasnt prepared to stay. So, I realized a few things that I wanted to make sure I had when it was really time to have the baby!

I would say the number one thing would be to make sure and bring your own towel! For some reason, our hospital towels were like hand towel size! Okay, not really that small, but they were very tiny!

Here is a list of other things I made sure I had on my second visit:
-comfy clothes- I had my son in the summer so packed some underarmour athletic capris and a t-shirt
-boppy for baby- you will be amazed at how heavy a 6-9 pound baby can feel after 2 hours of pushing I could barely hold my son up on my own!
-a mini fan- once again I had my son during a very hot time in June so this was helpful!
-charged cameras and video camera ready to go! (the first time I went I didn't have mine charged and ready!)
-I know you really want to bring the diaper bag, but it's not necessary. The hospital provides all the essentials for baby including diapers! Just bring an outfit for going home in and maybe a blanket... you will be going home with 5x more than you came with anyway!

10 months!

We are on our way to feeling back to normal! We have had a ROUGH winter! After all the mess with the ear aches and tubes... Hunter got a nasty flu bug the day Jared and I left for Spring retreat. He started showing symptoms Friday about 4 and finally... THURSDAY he is feeling himself again with just a little bit of diarrhea still. The bad news is Jared started feeling sick Wednesday morning... I just hope it doesnt take him a whole week to recover like it did Hunter boy! This was a rough virus he had! I took off work Monday to stay with him and went ahead and went to the doctor for myself because I had a sinus infection! The doctor gave us some diaper rash cream for Hunter and we were on our way. I'm telling you... rough rough rough winter! Doctor says its because Hunter has been on so many antibiotics for his ears that he basically had no immune system left and I, being a teacher, brought home every sickness out there. A friend told me about these little packets called culterelle probiotics that seemed to help him get over it. You can buy them at a pharmacy if you ask for them. They are little individual packets of a powder that helps upset stomach and it also helps re-build the colon with good biotics! So, after a day or 2 of these in him he was finally feeling better!

I am loving this 10 month stage, but not the attitude that came with it! Little mister is getting his own tude these days. If he wants to walk (you hold his hands) and you don't let him he will scream. This isn't a little baby scream its a pretty loud toddler like scream! Not havin it! He has already had a few smacks on the hand! He has started this fake cry thing when he doesnt get his way too. It's not a real cry with tears... its a scream cry.... not a fan!

At 10 months Hunter is: 23.8 pounds and still 29 inches
-wearing size 4 diapers still
-wearing size 12 month pants and 18 month shirts mostly
-wearing size 3 shoe
-has been pulling up since right after 9 months...
-was found standing in bed!
-no longer likes to walk with one hand... he is getting scared and has to have 2 now
-still not too close on walking (can't stand on his own yet)
-walks on his tippy toes- uhh! He even stands tippy toed in his walker and exersaucer!
-whispers... its so funny he will crawl around the house whispering. I'm not sure where he got this!
-doesn't seem to say dada as much as he used to because he's too busy whispering, haha
-will still eat stage 3 baby food (the ones with chunky stuff like pasta) but prefers whatever we are eating
-can drink out of a big boy sippy cup with no handles!
-has 5 teeth! 3 top are slowly coming down and he has 2 bottom
-needs a hair cut! He has such fluffy hair and it is getting so long! I will probably schedule his first hair cut soon if I can't talk Kay into cutting it some day! (I'm a firm believer in if they need it cut, it gets cut... there is none of this "wait till his first birthday" attitude from this momma. I've seen too many baby boys with long nasty hair, haha- sorry!) I already look back at his 3 month pictures when he had patchy hair for a few weeks and wonder why I didn't just shave it! *** next kid!
-used to drink water just fine out of his sippy but he's getting a little spoiled and thinks he has to have juice now. I really didn't want him having any juice if it wasn't necessary... so we'll see if we can get him back to water soon.
-He isn't our little chubs anymore! As he gets older he is seeming slimmer and slimmer! I don't like this because he seems like such a little boy... I can't believe only 2 more months until his birthday! We love you little man!

This face describes how he felt.. miserable!

I actually got him to smile even though he had a yucky flu bug!

Mom, I'd rather stand and eat this bear anyday!

All of his top teeth coming in at once!

Getting into everything as he pulls up on stuff!

10 month teeth

Holy cow are we gettin some teeth! Hunter had just 2 bottom teeth as of last weekend. When I took him to the doctor on Thursday she said his top 6 teeth looked like they were all coming at once, poor kid!
As of Sunday this week he had one of his top middle teeth break through. As of yesterday morning I saw another one on the top, not his other middle one, look like it was about to break through. When I got home from work yesterday I felt and it had just popped! I figured his teeth has been what's waking him at night. He has been sleeping fine but he will cry out once usually around 1 or 2 and he falls back asleep on his own... so I know its not his ears and somthing of less pain, like his teeth!

I can't wait for him to get all his teeth in but I know he will look like such a little boy! He's almost 10 months old already!!

Easter in Georgia

We celebrated Easter in Georgia this year! Hunter and I were the only ones that went because Jared didn't have off work, so he stayed home. Jen and her boys, Kate, my mom, and Hunter and I left on Thursday at 5:30 p.m and after a very long night of riding in the car with 3 kids under 3... we finally made it to my grandparents house at 4:00 in the morning! We quickly tried to get in the house, settle down in bed, and fall asleep before the kids would be up for the day. Hunter was up at 5:30... uhh!! So, needless to say we were all very tired on Friday! It was a great visit though! So good to see all my family down there that we don't get to see very often. The little kids got to color Easter eggs and have a hunt as well as help grandma ice some cupcakes! We had lots of bonding time with great grandma and grandpa Weeks! We got to go shopping without the kiddos on Saturday, check out their church on Sunday, have a great Easter dinner with all my cousins and aunts and uncles, and even played some hilarious games with eggs! It was a lot of fun! We shared many laughs together! It will probably be a year or two before we have a chance to get down there again, so I'm really glad we got to go.

Hunter has been a little terror since we've been back though! He is usually the happiest kid just playing by himself! I think somebody got a little spoiled while we were there! He got so much attention and had very little floor time that he wants nothing to do with it now that we are home! I am hoping to break this of him very soon so I can get my content baby back! He was constantly running around in the walker with the other kids chasing him, or being held or played with by many family members whom he had never even met yet. So, you can imagine the attention he got! We will be working on this! Tonight at dinner he was yelling at me and I told him he wasn't too young for a little smack on the hand, haha. We are going to be sticklers on disciplining him when needed! I know that the fun years of toddler fits are coming and I'm just not sure I'm ready!

Biggest Loser

In January I started going to our local free fitness club on Monday nights. I hadn't been there very long and they advertised they were starting a biggest loser competition. It was 30 bucks to enter. I really had to force myself to enter because I knew if I paid the 30 bucks I would most likely stick to it. I knew it wouldnt be easy, but since I was already training for my half marathon, I figured what the heck... might as well!

So, I went the first not and got weighed and measured. Measurements don't lie... let me tell you! After 4 weeks of eating 1200 calories a day and working out 5 days a week, I had lost nearly 20 inches from my body! This was good motivation that it was working! I had no idea if I was losing a good amount of weight compared to others or not, but I kept going. It got harder the longer I was in it.. I started to crave sweets! I got discouraged one week when I only lost .2 pounds... thats point two, not 2! So I let my cravings get the best of me. I bought some junk food, ate it.. and then felt terrible, haha. All that hard work for nothing?! So, I then busted my butt and ended up still losing 2 pounds for that week! So, it went to show me that one or two mess ups isn't going to make me fat... just like one or two healthy meals isn't going to make me skinny. For me, its all about portion sizes. If I'm going to eat what I cooked for my family for dinner... that's fine as long as I don't get double portions. I continued to use my fitness pal (an awesome app) on my phone to track calories for each day. Towards the last week, I got to the point where I didn't need to use the app anymore.. I just kind of tried to keep my breakfasts to 200-300, my lunch to about 400-500 and save the rest for supper which is always the most calories for us!

The final week came and I was feeling good! I made sure to wear some shorts for my weigh in despite the snow on the ground and 30 degree weather... I didn't want those yoga pants weighin me down ;)
Drum roll please.... I WON!! I was the winner and won $200!
I lost a total of 14.6 pounds and a total of 26 inches! The inches broke down to this:
Chest 38.25 to a 34
Waist 36.5 to a 29 (YAY!)
Hips 43.5 to a 38
R Arm 11.75 to 10.5
L Arm 11.75 to 10
L Thigh 24 to 20.5
R Thigh 23 to 19.75

I can really tell that my pants are looser as well as my belly fat is disappearing... I didn't say it was gone by any means! I still have a lot of work to do! I would like to lose another 15 by summer!

I recently ordered Shakeology chocolate meal replacement shakes. I just ordered a one month supply to try it out. I have heard good things about it and seen some amazing results of the shakes plus workouts from beachbody. My workouts were a combination of beachbody's Hit 15, Hit 20, Low Hit 25, Low Hit 30 and most commonly Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. That was my cross training days for my marathon training. The other 3 days a week I ran. My running was usually 30 minutes on the treadmill twice a week and then one time a week I did a long run outside. My long runs are getting longer! I did 6 on Saturday... my personal best!

I have realized through this whole thing that eating what you want while working out does not work. You have to make a lifestyle change... eat healthy AND workout! 30 minutes a day can make a big difference as you can see from my results!
Some things I ate were: fruit for breakfast... or a greek yogurt
A snack of a cutie, or a banana mid morning
Lunch: lean meat like tuna or turkey sandwhich on 45 calorie bread, or a wrap with lettuce, avacado, tomatoes, and grilled chicken, along with a greek yogurt or cottage cheese usually.. another favorite was an apple chopped with a half cup of granola and a container of flavored greek yogurt... yum!
Dinners varied but I tried to stay under 600 calories for dinner.
 I have also been drinking 64 oz of water a day!