Hensley's Week 2

Weight: We had a pediatrician appointment when she was 1 week and 3 days and she weighed 8lbs 11oz which is up about 6oz from birth! She is becoming a little chunky monkey! I think since her appointment she has gained even more weight...she has rolls : )

Food: Nursing is still going great! We haven't introduced a bottle yet, but will probably try this week. I've only pumped twice and find it hard to have time to pump and feed her. I'm hoping it gets a little easier when she gets a little older.

Clothes: I can tell she is growing because her G diapers a getting smaller! I got a pair of newborn jammies the other day and they fit her really well, but the 0-3 are fitting a little better these days.

Sleep: We tried the bassinet out this week! She slept in there for about 3 hours and then I kept her in the bed with us, mostly because I fell asleep nursing her. She is waking up about 3 times during the night, which is good. She had two nights where she was up almost every hour wanting to eat. I think she was having a growth spurt! She has been having a lot more awake periods during the day now.

Product we love: I'm really liking our cloth wipe warmer and cloth wipes! With using cloth diapers, it just makes the most sense to use cloth wipes. You don't have to worry about throwing the wipes away, you just dump them in the hamper with the diapers. Hensley really loves the warm wipes too, she hardly cries during diaper changes anymore! I am also LOVING the Moby wrap. I've mostly worn it when we go out. I hate carrying her in her car seat, not to mention that it isn't that safe! The other day I was trying to cook dinner and get the house straightened and she wasn't liking sitting in her swing. I put her in the Moby wrap and within minutes she was sound asleep!

Highlight: The best part of the second week was spending so much time together as a family. My husband got to take two weeks off and we had a lot of fun getting to know little Hensley and just adjusting as a family of four. I was sad he had to go back to work this week, but now we are getting adjusted to the new normal : )

Taelyn: She is doing well this week. She seems to be extra whiny these days and some days it seems she can't talk to me without her whine voice. She also wants us to get a "big girl" version of whatever the baby has...the Boppy, the swing, etc. I made a little pallet for Hensley to lay on the other day and Tae had me do the same for her (jealous much!?!) I know she is having to adjust to sharing the attention since she has been an only child for the past 4 1/2 years and I know she is doing an excellent job. She is definitely a sweet big sister and I can tell she loves Hensley very much.

Blessing this Week: We are truly blessed all of our family and friends. This week we had visits from my sister Jennifer who brought us dinner, Aaron's aunt Sherry who brought Hensley some cute outfits and Tae a lot of toys, and my dear friend Janean, aka "Aunt Janean". We love having visitors and having everyone meet Hensley!

Hensley's Birth Story

Hensley's birth was not what I expected, but ended up being almost exactly how I wanted it....

Sunday, June 9th was like any other typical Sunday. My husband and I stayed up to catch up on some TV shows and went to bed around 12:30am and I fell quickly asleep. I seemed to wake up more that night and was having some menstrual like cramps for most of the night. I didn't sleep very well, but didn't think anything of it, especially since I was only 38 weeks and a few days.

On June 10th, I woke up around 7am and started getting ready for work. My husband also got up with me because he was going to go over to my parents house with Taelyn to babysit their kitchen construction crew. At this point I was having more of the stomach tightening feeling and they were about 10-15 minutes apart. I remember sitting on our bed after I had gotten ready for work and thinking that I just felt different. I told my husband I didn't know if I should go to work or not and he suggested that I just come with him over to my parents house instead. I quickly emailed my office letting them know that I didn't feel well and that maybe "this was it". We decided we should probably bring our hospital stuff (luckily I had finished packing my bag the night before) and I rushed to throw Taelyn's stuff together, grabbing our toiletries, and packing some toys for Tae. We were supposed to be at my parents at 8:30, but we ended up getting there about 8:45 with the crew waiting to start work.

I was hesitant to call anyone because I wasn't sure if I was in labor or not, but I decided to call my mom at 9am and just let her know that there was a chance I was in labor. The pain wasn't bad at all at this point and I was sitting on the living room floor answering work emails. I tried calling my Doula, Heather, at 9:30 and for some reason I had her number wrong in my phone. I ended up emailing her at 10am and luckily she called me right back! I told her the situation and told her not to come yet. My mom called me back at 11am and said she would be home at 11:45. My mom got there and started timing my contractions. They were about 4 minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds. They were getting a little more painful, but I was still able to manage them fairly well. We decided to head to the hospital around 12:15 (my contractions were 3 minutes apart and lasting about a minute at this point). I texted Heather to let her know to meet us at the hospital instead of my moms house.

We got to the hospital close to 1pm and was put into a triage room. I knew my midwife wasn't on call that day and I wasn't sure which one was. The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and had me change into the lovely hospital gown. The midwife came in shortly after and wanted to check me. This was something that I didn't want to do and was upset that they seemed to be so persistent. I told them I wanted to think about it and they told me I couldn't have a delivery room until I was checked. I think my husband was probably more frustrated than I was, but I was just trying to deal with the contractions. I did finally agree to the check and low and behold I was actually in labor ; ) I was dilated to a 7, thinned out, and she also said I had a bulging bag of water. At this point they actually asked if I wanted a hep lock, which surprised me since it is hospital policy, but they said I could refuse. I decided to get it since it would already be there in case of emergency. They also did an ultrasound to make sure baby was head down, which she was. After all this they quickly moved me into a delivery room : ) I remember feeling really encouraged when I heard I was dilated to a 7. I was thinking that this wasn't so bad and that maybe I could have done this at home! I had high hopes that I would have her quickly.....boy was I wrong!

They definitely had the easy part!

Checking in and getting the ultrasound

In the delivery room getting hooked up to monitors



On the way to the delivery room (which they make you walk like a mile) I think I had 5 contractions and had to stop in the hall each time. I felt a little weird breathing and concentrating with people walking all around. Once we finally made it to the delivery room, they got me all hooked up to the monitors. I only wanted intermittent monitoring and they told me I had to wear them for 20 minutes and then they would take them off (come to find out they never did take them off). Once we got all set up, my focus changed to dealing with the contractions. The contractions were starting to get stronger and closer together. They were definitely requiring more concentration. Heather was doing great squeezing my hips and rubbing my back. Aaron and my mom were also helping me through each contraction. They were making sure I was taking in plenty of fluids and remembering to go to the bathroom every hour. I drank some cranberry juice and kept drinking water with every contraction.

Tae kept saying "it's taking a long time!"

At 4pm they checked me again and I was dilated to a 10, but the baby was still high. I don't think she felt the bag of waters anymore and we assumed it had ruptured. At this point, the midwife suggested that I start bearing down to get the baby down into the birth canal. We tried several different positions. I tried kneeling while leaning over the birthing ball, leaning over the back of the bed, pulling on the squatting bar, and standing with the squatting bar. There was one contraction I was on the bed trying a different position and it hurt so bad I jumped off the bed so fast I think I scared everyone. The bearing down was probably the hardest part of the whole labor. The contractions were so strong and so close together, I never thought I was going to make it. I kept saying that I was done, that I was tired and I couldn't do it anymore. Heather kept telling me that I was doing it and both Aaron and my mom were encouraging me to continue. The midwife kept saying just 3 more contractions and then we'll check you. At about 7pm, the midwife had me lay down and she checked to see if the baby had moved down. All of a sudden I felt a huge gush of warm water and what felt like a HUGE relief. I heard the midwife say I had a hidden bag of waters and that things would be moving a lot faster now. I quickly jumped off the bed before another contraction came. They had the squat bar at the end of the bed with a sheet wrapped around it. It seemed like for the longest time I grabbed that sheet with every contraction and pushed with all I had. I know I had screamed during several of them and probably even said I was done. I remember yelling at them to "take the dang belts off", they were irritating me so bad. I'm so thankful I had several people there cheering for me and telling me I could do it.

 At about 8:30pm, I got in the bed to start pushing. I was feeling very irritated and didn't want anyone touching me. They kept asking if I wanted to them to hold my legs and I kept saying no. I didn't want anything other than the baby out. I tried pulling on a sheet with every contraction, but that quickly made me very tired. I finally started pushing with my mom holding one leg, my husband holding the other leg, and Heather pushing my back up. I could tell I was pushing well and they could all see the head with every push. We finally switched to putting my feet together which each contraction and then I could really feel that the pushing was working. I would say that at this point the contractions weren't super painful, I just had this great need to push and felt tons of pressure. It was almost relieving to push super hard. Every one was cheering me on. My sister in law was holding Taelyn down at my feet and I could hear Tae saying "go mommy, go mommy!". I remember reaching down and feeling the top of her head. This made me super determined to push with all my strength. The pushing became pretty painful when she started to crown. It definitely felt like the "burning ring of fire" you hear. Once I felt this sensation, I think it was only about 3 more contractions and I felt her come all the way out. She was born at 9:41pm.

 

 

I reached down to pull her up and I the midwife said something about a short cord. At the same time she said this, she said she wasn't going to be able to delay clamping because her cord had shredded. She had to immediately clamp the cord because blood was spurting everywhere. I was a little disappointed about this, but at this point, I was just happy that she was here!

 

 

 

 

 

My sweet little Hensley was perfect in every way. They did all of their checking while I was holding her. I just sat there and stared at her. The midwife was working on getting the placenta out. I started cramping pretty bad and had to push a few times to get it out. I ended up having a small tear that required two stitches which wasn't bad at all! Once the midwife finished up I got the chance to nurse.

 

 

Sweet Hensley latched right on with not problem! She nursed on both sides for about 15 minutes each. I was so impressed because it took Taelyn a lot longer to latch on (yah for drug free births!). After I finished nursing, they were able to get her length and weight.

 

 

 

We were all thinking she was at least 9lbs because she just looked so chunky! We were surprised to find out that she was only 8lbs 5.5oz and 18.5 inches long (smaller than Tae at 8lbs 12oz and 21inches long)!



Proud daddy!

Proud Grandma!

My dad and Taelyn (new big sister!)



My delivery was longer and harder than I ever thought it would be, but it was so worth it! There is something so empowering about delivery your child with minimal interventions not to mention the recovery time has been amazing! I am definitely proud of myself and so thankful of my support team. I think things would have been much harder without them!

Hensley's Week 1

I can't believe it has already been a week since our sweet little Hensley has been born! She is such a good baby and hardly ever cries. Even when she starts to get upset she doesn't have a huge cry.

Weight: She was down to 7lbs 14oz when we left the hospital (down from 8lbs 5.5oz at birth). We have her pediatrician appointment tomorrow so we will see how much she has gained.

Food: She is such a champion nurser. She latched right on after birth and it has been going great ever since. She will nurse for about 15-20 minutes on each side and then sleep for 3-4 hours. My milk came in while we were still in the hospital, so I was happy about that!

Clothes: She fits pretty well in 0-3 months clothes. The 3 months are too big yet. I put her in a 3 month gown the other night and when she woke up, both arms were out the neck hole! She would probably fit in some newborn size clothes, but we didn't buy any knowing they wouldn't last long!

Sleep: She sleeps really well! During the day we usually put her in the swing or laying on the Boppy. At night she is sleeping with us for now. I like having her close and it makes night time feedings easier. We will probably try out the bassinet this week though. At night she has been nursing around 12am and sleeping until about 2:30-3am, nursing again and sleeping until 5-6am and then nursing and sleeping again until about 10am. I really can't complain!

Product we love: During the first week we of course are trying everything we have gotten during the 9 month wait! There are so many things I'm really liking so far! She really seems to like her swing (although she will sleep anywhere). I of course am loving the Boppy. It makes breastfeeding so much easier and even just holding her. Taelyn really likes it too and has been using it like a "ski" to slide down the stairs on : ) Taelyn didn't like to be swaddled so I was a little hesitant with Hensley. I got several swaddling blankets and tried them out a couple nights. She seems to really like it and sleeps more soundly!

Highlight: I would say the biggest highlight would be coming home from the hospital! When you only expect to stay 24 hours and are there 3 nights, it really stinks! It was so nice to finally come home and settle in as a family. Another big highlight would be giving Hensley her first bath! We didn't bath her in the hospital because we wanted to get the most of her Vernix coating (it's so good for their skin). She didn't like the bath too much, but didn't really cry. Taelyn even helped wash her!

Taelyn: I am so proud at how well she has been adjusting! She stayed with my parents for those three nights we were in the hospital so I think the hardest adjustment was coming home. She has been really sweet to her sister. She will come up and rub her tummy or the top of her head. She doesn't really like it when Hensley cries, but she is no longer asking for ear plugs ; ) She has also been having fun with all of Hensley's things. She wanted to try out the swing, she loves the Boppy, and some of the baby toys too!

Blessing this Week: There are so many things to be thankful for this week! My parents were definitely a blessing for taking off work and keeping Taelyn for us. They also brought us food while in the hospital and my mom made us 10 frozen dinners to take home! One of my sister's friend brought us dinner when we came home from the hospital and it was definitely a huge blessing!

*Still working on my birth story, so hang in there! Hopefully I will have it posted soon!

Hensley Elyse

Today would have been my 39 week bumpdate, but Hensley decided to make her arrival early! She was born at 38 weeks and 4 days!

Hensley Elyse was born at 9:41 pm on June 10th, 2013. She weighed 8lbs 5.5oz and was 18.5in long. We are so in love with her already!

My birth story ended up being nothing like I expected, but almost exactly what I wanted. I will be working on my birth story in the near future and can't wait to share it with you all.

Bumpdate: 38 weeks!

The ugly side of pregnancy!

Weight Gain/Loss: 20 lbs

Baby Size: A Pumpkin (18.9-20.9 in, 6.2-9.2 lbs) *Gaining about 1/2 ounce per day!

She may have about an inch or so of hair already. She's slowly shedding that white goo on her skin (called vernix caseosa) but you might see some of it at birth.

Symptoms: Oh the swelling! As you can see from the picture above, my poor feet have been suffering. The swelling isn't anything serious, my midwife just said it comes with the territory. My blood pressure has been about 110/70, which is great. My hips have been pretty painful. Laying too much on one side, I end up with a lot of pressure. I've also started having shooting pain in my pelvis when I walk. This is probably from the baby dropping low.

Movement: She definitely doesn't move as much as she used to, there just isn't enough room in there. She still gives little jabs and slight movements though.

 Gender: A girl!

Maternity Clothes: I can't wait to be able to wear regular clothes again!

Cravings: No cravings really! Still drinking tons of water, icy cold too! I really haven't been all that hungry lately. Probably because there isn't much room in my stomach for food.

Sleep: I had some sciatic pain for two days and those two nights were really hard. I didn't get much sleep at all. Now that it is better, I have been sleeping better. Still getting up, but getting used to it by now.

Best Moment This Week: Had my midwife appointment this week and guess what? I'm measuring 41 weeks! The midwife couldn't believe it and measured me 3 times just to make sure. She also felt the baby and guesses she is about 9 lbs right now! I am a little sad to say that she is back in the posterior position. I am doing the "Miles Circuit" in hopes we can get this baby turned the right way. I can't believe that she could be here any day now. I can't wait to finally hold her in my arms!

Taelyn: She has really started loving giving my belly kisses. Every time I'm leaving she has to kiss my belly and then me. She also rubs it a lot and talks to Hensley. She is very anxious for her sister to arrive. She did tell me the other day that she was going to be the babysitter and that she would even do the wiping! I think I'm going to take her up on that ; )