Tag Archives: Annabelle

Pregnancy #2: 4 Weeks Postpartum

24 Apr

I keep having good intentions of blogging but for some reason, whenever I have time to write a post, that’s the last thing I feel like doing. So even though I had wanted to do a postpartum update before now, almost a month has already gone by since I gave birth.

Physical Recovery

I didn’t need any stitches this time, which I was extremely thankful for, because I developed this horrible cough after being in the hospital. Coughing a lot is not what you want to do after giving birth, not only because it surprisingly involves pelvic muscles, but also because you need all the sleep you can get and laying in bed hacking up a lung does not help.

Similar to my recovery with Emma, I again found it hard to be up walking around for about a week after giving birth — I’m guessing that’s from the lack of ab muscles? Luckily, that resolved itself and I went for my first postpartum run last Friday, at 3 weeks postpartum. I took it really slow and conservative, but it was nice to be back out there. I am so ready to get back into shape! I’ve also done yoga and pilates a few times each. In the next couple of weeks, I’m going to put together my triathlon training plan and start crack-a-lacking once I get the official green light at my 6-week followup.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m more used to being sleep deprived or if I’m getting more sleep with Annabelle than I did with Emma, but I actually feel pretty energetic and awake most days (after the morning fog wears off). I have more energy now than I did while pregnant with Annabelle, which has been nice. But nursing takes up so much time, and Emma is so busy busy busy, that I’m still accomplishing next to nothing each day besides surviving.

Speaking of nursing, it’s going really well. Annabelle has gotten a little fussier as she’s gotten older, but nothing like Emma was when she was this age. Nursing still involves plenty of tenderness and discomfort the second go around, but it’s so nice to know what I’m doing and not have to fumble through the first couple of months!

The most lasting effect of recovery from birth is that I am sweaty all night every night while sleeping. It is getting old. I’ve tried wearing less warm clothing and putting a lighter comforter on our bed, but then I’m freezing. I’ve also had a few instances of extreme temperature swings — I’ll be shivering, teeth-chattering cold one minute and then roasting, peeling-off-all-clothing hot the next. Hormones are crazy.

Body Weight / Image

At 4 weeks postpartum, I’m about 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.
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Soft stomach aside, I actually feel pretty good and normal. But my pre-pregnancy pants beg to differ. None of my pre-pregnancy pants/shorts/skirts fit yet, even the ones that I bought at about 3 months postpartum with Emma. So I’m embracing the maxi skirt trend, and I also bought a new pair of capris that fit me right now. Hopefully once I get into tri training, my old clothes will start fitting again. Until it’s capri weather, maternity pants it is!

Emotional

The emotional adjustment to having another baby has been so. much. easier. than adjusting to the first one. Yes, it is challenging having a toddler with a newborn, but in my experience, it’s nothing compared to getting used to just being a parent for the first time. I had such a hard time adjusting to being a mother with Emma that this feels like a walk in the park.

The best part about not being an emotional wreck with a newborn is that I get to actually enjoy her! It sounds horrible, but I hardly enjoyed Emma at all during this stage because I was having such a hard time with everything. But Annabelle is such a good baby and so cute, and I’m so happy that I can enjoy her, even at the 2 am and 5 am feedings. And after dealing with a strong-willed toddler tornado that throws a fists-clenched tantrum over me not wearing the flip flops she picked out when it’s 40 degrees outside, even Annabelle’s little newborn cry is just adorable.

Travis and I are also handling this addition to our family better than we handled Emma. It helps to be getting more sleep! Since Annabelle nurses and goes right back to sleep most nights, I get up with her and Travis gets to sleep for a full 8-9 hours. For the relatively few times she doesn’t go right back to sleep, I ask Travis to get up and get her back to sleep, so that I don’t have spend precious night time hours doing something other than nursing. He’ll also get up early and take care of the girls so I can sleep in on Saturdays. It has worked well for us so far!

And that’s life at 4 weeks postpartum with baby #2!

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Easter 2015

14 Apr

Even though Miss Annabelle decided to arrive early, our Easter plans pretty much stayed the same and were executed with success! We ended up going to the second church service at 10:45 instead of the first one at 9:00, and only planned to stay for the worship at the beginning. Emma had thrown up the night before (from teething mucus we think) so we didn’t put her in the nursery like we usually do, and she doesn’t have a very good track record of making it through a church service. But when the worship was over and both girls were still content, we decided that we’d just stay until one of them started to crack. And we made it through the whole service! Annabelle ended up being held by Travis, and I had to entertain Emma with games on my phone but I was impressed that we were able to stay for the whole thing.

After church, we headed back to the house to pack up the rest of our stuff, I nursed Annabelle, we loaded up the dogs and girls, and were on our way to Nevis by 1 pm. We got there an hour later and poor Emma woke up the minute we parked the car, so her nap was very short. She rallied though and had plenty of energy to enjoy her new toys from G&G and Auntie, and do her first Easter egg hunt.

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She also went on the swing and slide.

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Annabelle met her Aunt Carolyn, Uncle Matthew and Cousin Drew for the first time.

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We ate Easter dinner around 4 pm. It was delicious. After dinner, the guys went out to move snowmobiles into storage and jockey boats. We bought Travis’ parents’ old fishing boat and were going to tow it back but didn’t have the right ball hitch. (We tried towing it back last weekend too but couldn’t get the trailer lights to work. I told Travis, one more strike and it just wasn’t meant to be. 😉 )

Around 6 or 7, we ate strawberry shortcake for dessert and then packed up our stuff to head home. It was a short but sweet trip! Both girls did really well.

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Without fail, Travis always makes a goofy face in the best picture of the rest of us.

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Annabelle Lyn: 2 Weeks

10 Apr

Our little Annabelle is 2 weeks old already!
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So far, she is a really good baby. She is nursing well every 3-4 hours during the day and usually gives me a 4-5 hour stretch between feedings once a night. The last couple of nights, she’s been nursing every 2-3 hours and hard to get back to sleep, but I’m hoping that just means she’s going through a growth spurt, and will go back to longer stretches soon. Otherwise, Annabelle sleeps pretty much all the time. She doesn’t seem to mind her carseat at all (yet…), is totally content to sleep in her swing with the vibration on both day and night, and doesn’t wake up even when Emma is yelling loudly and standing right next to her. I don’t get to hold Annabelle as much as I would like (since I’m chasing Emma around) but I’m thankful that she is as content as she is to sleep on her own. Emma wanted to be held all the time.

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Annabelle went to her first pediatrician appointment the Tuesday after she was born. She had been discharged from the hospital at 7 lbs 8 oz, and at her appointment was up to 7 lbs 9 oz, so we don’t have to go back to the doctor until she’s a month old. Her eyes turned a little yellow from bilirubin, but she is peeing and pooping a ton (which helps get rid of jaundice) so I’m not worried. I don’t remember this with Emma, but Annabelle’s farts/poops are SO loud and wet! I keep expecting to see a total blowout when I change her diaper, but there’s usually just a little squirt of something in there. It’s impressive that a person that little can make such a loud noise.

Annabelle doesn’t cry much (yet…), but when she does, it’s because she’s getting her diaper changed, her clothes changed (she really doesn’t like being cold), wants to be swaddled (loosely — she does not like a tight swaddle!), or is uncomfortable from gas or an air bubble. Most of the time, though, she wakes up to nurse and falls back asleep right afterward. When she does stay awake for a little while, she is mostly content to just look around, whether she’s being held or not.

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Big sis is adjusting to Annabelle well overall. Emma loves checking on “Baby” as we call her (since Annabelle is a little tricky) and is obsessed with making sure that Annabelle wears a hat at all times. She also loves to “hold” Annabelle — meaning I place Annabelle on Emma’s lap and hold her there while Emma “holds” her. Emma has been pretty good about being gentle, though there have been plenty of times already that she is too rough. I’m sure they won’t be the last. Nothing too serious though. Annabelle has only cried a few times from things Emma has done.

So far, the hardest part about having 2 young kids has been Emma’s need for attention while I’m nursing Annabelle. Poor Annabelle gets her nursing sessions interrupted fairly often. Just today, Emma emerged from her room with a sheepish grin as I was sitting on the couch nursing Annabelle. I called Emma over to find out what she was getting into and discovered that she was buck-naked. I had taken her clothes off for lunch (we had spaghetti and I hate dealing with sauce stains) and she had then removed her diaper. Other problems during nursing have been Emma getting into lotion, toothpaste or soap (she is getting very clever in reaching things she couldn’t before!), wanting to sit on my lap or cuddle, wanting a refill on food or drink, or needing me to do something for her and refusing to be patient.

One thing we have done with Emma that has proven helpful is buy child safety knob covers. We put one on our bathroom, one on Travis’ office, and one on the door that leads to the stairs from the basement (so that she can’t go upstairs without me). I’m thinking about buying some more so that we can keep her out of the other two bathrooms and the utility room too. Otherwise, Emma can get into any room she wants and to truly childproof everything would be sort of ridiculous.

The dogs have adapted to a new baby well. Katy pretty much ignores Annabelle and Charlie just sniffs her every once in a while.

I plan to do a postpartum update soon so I’ll save the details on how I’m adjusting to being a mother of 2 for then, but for now I’ll just say that it’s going WAY better than I thought it would. I know a lot of that has to do with Annabelle being a good baby, but I think also that it’s easy to get overwhelmed thinking about a new situation before it happens, but once you are actually put into the situation, you find a rhythm or routine that works for you and your family, and realize you were freaking out unnecessarily. It’s also easier to respond to the specific reality of a situation when you’re actually dealing with it, instead of just thinking (and worrying) about all the different “what ifs” ahead of time. (And can I just say that after having an extremely busy toddler to chase after all day, the days that Emma is at daycare and I have only Annabelle seem like a walk in the park? That’s not meant to discredit the major life changes a new mom goes through — because I had a hard time with them myself — but to just muse on how different things are the second time around. Like that Luvs commercial where they contrast the mom’s actions with the first child and second child. First child: Require anyone who holds your baby to douse themselves in hand sanitizer. Second child: Ask the car mechanic to hold your baby while you write a check. They’re funny because it’s true!)

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Annabelle’s Birth Story, Part Two

2 Apr

If you missed it, here’s Part One.

The pediatrician came and checked on Annabelle at 8 am Saturday morning, at which point Travis and I decided to ‘get up’ for the day (which meant opening the blinds and ordering breakfast). His parents and Emma came and visited us for a couple hours around 10:30. Emma fell asleep on their lunch run and took a short 20 minute nap. She was more interested in the room, our stuff, and the balloon they had bought than in Annabelle, but it was still fun to have her there. I had missed her! She got sibling pictures taken with Annabelle.

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My parents came for a visit at 2:30 and left around 6:30.

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We ate dinner and got Annabelle’s pictures taken.

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Then our friends Brenda and Jake brought us ice cream. They left around 8-ish, at which point Travis and I watched a couple of breastfeeding videos (required… and awkward) and the end of the Wild game. After the nurse shift change at 11:30, we settled in for a night of Annabelle cluster feeding and only wanting be held. So that night was not very restful but that’s life with a newborn.

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The next day was Sunday and we were finally going to go home! My doctor checked on me around 8:30. The pediatrician came in around 9:30. Our parents and Emma arrived around 10:30 with coffee. I took a shower and packed up all our stuff. Travis and my dad made a run out to the car – we had so much stuff to take home! Finally, around noon, we were all discharged and ready to go.

I’d say that this experience of labor, delivery and our hospital stay far exceeded our experience in Denver. I think that having been through it once, I felt more empowered to ask for what I wanted (and knew what to ask for!), which made a huge difference. I also feel like the hospital made the experience very special with all the little ‘extras’ (like a free video monitor, photo session, fruit basket, birthday cake, etc). They also did a better job of leaving us alone during nighttime hours to sleep, but being available if we needed them. Or maybe the experience was better just because we weren’t first-time parents! Who knows. It was a great experience overall. And I’m still more than a little amazed that I gave birth with no pain meds. The doctor asked me what I thought about the experience of not getting an epidural, and I said, “I’m glad I had the experience and can say I did it, but I never want to do that again.”

And that’s Annabelle’s birth story!

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Annabelle’s Birth Story, Part One

31 Mar

On the morning of Friday, March 27, my alarm went off at 6 am. As I rolled over to get out of bed, I felt a pop and then a bunch of warm fluid.

“Trav, you’re not going to believe what just happened,” I said.

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied, waking out of a dead sleep. (He later remarked that my statement made it sound like something bad had happened, but my tone of voice was happy.)

“My water just broke.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Can you get up and get me a towel? … Now?”

As Travis got up to retrieve a towel from the hall closet, I thought, “What are the odds?” Only 10% of women have their water break before labor starts, and here I was, with my water breaking before labor started for the second time in two babies. Not only that, but I was in bed rolling over when my water broke with Emma too. I must’ve jinxed myself by saying repeatedly that I wanted labor to start spontaneously and to avoid being induced.

Continuing on with the similarities to Emma’s birth story, I was positive for Group B Strep again this time, and after my water broke, nothing much happened.  A glorious difference, however, was that my water broke at the sensible hour of 6 am instead of midnight. Also different, I was only 38 weeks and 2 days this time – last time, I was 39 weeks and 6 days (Emma was born on her due date).

Since this wasn’t my first rodeo with my water breaking and nothing happening, we took our time getting our stuff together. Travis jumped in the shower, took our recycling to the county disposal, and filled out his timecard for work. I washed the sheets from our bed, finished packing our hospital bags, took a shower myself, got Emma up and fed her breakfast, and tidied up the house a bit. We had called Travis’ parents after his shower and they were planning to be to our house by 9:30/10 to watch Emma, so we decided to just wait until they arrived to head to the hospital, though we did have a contingency plan with friends in case things started getting serious before his parents arrived.

Travis’ parents got to our house around 10 and after giving them the update on Emma and trying to put turkey decoys out in the backyard (ground was still frozen solid), Travis and I headed to Erbert’s & Gerbert’s for an early lunch. It was amazing. I had missed eating cold deli meat.

Around 11:30, we arrived at the hospital and got checked in. After testing to make sure my water had indeed broken (which it had) and checking my cervix (I was still only at 1 cm, 50% effaced), we were officially admitted and started talking about our plan for the day. I shared with our nurse, Valine, my experience in Denver since it seemed that history was repeating itself. I told her that I wasn’t opposed to Pitocin since I didn’t want to be there all day, but I also didn’t want things going gangbusters so fast like they had last time. She agreed and reassured me that I could call the shots when it came to being induced, and at what rate.

After walking around the delivery floor a couple times and bouncing on an exercise ball for a bit with no change in contractions, I told Valine that we could just go ahead and start Pitocin with my first round of antibiotics for the Group B Strep. So around 2 pm, we started antibiotics and Pitocin at a rate of 2. My contractions started getting a little more noticeable, but were still pretty worthless, so after an hour, I requested that the Pitocin be turned up. My new nurse, Jill, monitored the baby for a bit and at 3:30, increased my Pitocin to a 4.

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Travis and I ate a late lunch (I only had cottage cheese and peaches, and a Jello), and then I labored in the tub for a while. The jets provided a nice counter-pressure to the contractions, which had gotten more intense with the increase in Pitocin. While I was in the tub, the doctor that was on call came and introduced herself. I hadn’t met her before, but she seemed nice. Jill also started my second bag of antibiotics.

Around 6 pm, I got out of the tub and leaned forward on the exercise ball during contractions, both standing up and kneeling on the bed. My nurse had to put the contraction and baby monitors on me about once an hour, so I had to crawl back in bed for that every so often. The contractions were getting pretty intense at that point, and I was still on the fence about whether or not to get an epidural. So I asked Jill to do a ‘flush’ of my system (which was required and would take about an hour) so that I could request an epidural if I wanted one. The flush was started at 6:30 pm.

At 7:30, Jill checked my cervix and I was between 6 and 7 cm dilated. She remarked several times that I was doing great and that it wouldn’t be long before I’d be fully dilated and could start pushing. She paged the doctor to come to the hospital. Her confidence gave me the encouragement that I needed to hold out on the epidural just a little bit longer. I told Travis, if I’m not ready to push this baby out by 8:45, I’m getting an epidural.

That was one of the longest hours of my life. The contractions were so intense and painful, and were concentrated mostly in my back (though thankfully, unlike my labor with Emma, the back pain went away between contractions) that the only way I could get through them was bounce on the exercise ball, scratch my legs (I know, weird, but it helped!), breathe deeply and moan loudly.

At 8:10 pm, Jill checked my cervix again. I was at 8 cm. She could feel a little bag of waters that hadn’t completely broken so she asked if I wanted the doctor to come break it. Yes, please. So Dr. Rice came and did that.

Things didn’t progress quite as quickly as Jill expected but by 8:50, I was at 9 cm. A few more contractions and I started feeling pressure to push. The doctor came in and started getting dressed for delivery as a contraction came and I needed to push NOW.

I had heard the pain during pushing described as ‘the ring of fire’ so I honestly thought that if I could just get dilated to 10 cm without an epidural, I’d be home free. Ha. So not true. Whoever thought ‘ring of fire’ was an accurate description of pushing a baby out without pain meds is a liar or a man.

At 9 pm, I started pushing and immediately realized that this was going to be the hardest part. In addition to having painful contractions still, I now had to push a baby out too. And can I just say, there is no way to describe that kind of pain other than it feels like you’re taking the biggest poop in the world and it’s tearing your insides out with it? While I was relaxing after the first contraction of pushing (and screaming), I said, “Oh my god, that feels SO WEIRD. It feels like I’m taking the biggest poop ever.” The doctor, 2 nurses and Travis all laughed.

The next contraction was where it got serious. The pain was so amazing and different than anything I’d ever felt before that I got scared and started freaking out. I tried to straighten my legs instead of leaving them bent. I tried to get off the bed. I tried to feel if the baby was coming out so the doctor had to ask the nurses and Travis to hold me down. “Kathy, you need to push. We’re going to have a baby right now,” they kept saying. “I can’t! I can’t!” I screamed. “Yes, you can. You need to push.” In my dazed state, I finally relented and pushed through the pain – I honestly did not think I had it anywhere in me to keep going but somehow, I did. With lots of screaming I might add.

FINALLY, the baby was out. I laid my head back and for the next 10 minutes, even after they said it was a girl and put Annabelle on my chest, I just laid there saying, “Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.” The placenta took a little encouraging to come out (consisting mostly of painful pushing on my tummy) but it finally did, and I could breathe. I did it.

And it was a girl! I honestly did not think Annabelle would be a girl, but lo and behold, she was. After the initial shock of birth wore off, I told Travis I was hungry and wanted to eat the pizza I had ordered earlier. I also requested my phone for some reason, and played a round of Trivia Crack. Travis laughs about it now, saying my brain was fried for a while after that experience.

Annabelle and I did skin to skin for about an hour and a half after she was born. She nursed a little bit, but she honestly wasn’t all that interested in breastfeeding until she was about 24 hours old. After those first 90 minutes, I got up to use the bathroom and Annabelle got weighed, her first bath and her Hep B vaccine.  She was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20.5 inches long.

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By about 11 pm, the commotion had died down and we were left alone to sleep. My night nurse Megan came and checked on me once but left quickly when I said I was fine. Around 2 am, I called her in to ask if my bed went any lower (it didn’t), and if I could get a snack and more pain meds. Annabelle slept like a champ that night. I woke her up a few times to nurse, which she didn’t do, and put her back down in her bassinet. Unfortunately, after falling asleep for about an hour and a half right around 11, I was wired for the rest of the night. I couldn’t turn my brain off. So I had a hard time getting back to sleep, but I eventually did here and there.

Read Part Two.

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