Ok, I need to start this post by expressing my extreme frustration! I have the Blogger App on my phone so I can post while I am not at my computer... sounds simple right? Well, I thought so... until I looked on my blog on my phone and it had failed to upload the last 2 posts I had written. I tried and tried and tried to upload them but it continued to tell me there was something wrong with the server. I finally powered up the trusty lap top... only to discover that it had DELETED the last 2 posts. the first one was my labor and delivery story and the second was an update on her first 2 months. I am furious to say the least. So, now that Afton is almost 4 months old and my brain no longer functions like a normal human being, I will attend to remember the last 3 1/2 months of my life. LOL :)
To start, I do want to try to recreate the post from my labor and delivery:
Afton was due on November 23, 2014. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving and because Paul's younger brother Cameron and his girlfriend Logan were coming we were PRAYING should would come on time, if not a little early, so they could snuggle with her while they were in town. I had gone to the DR 2 weeks before my due date and Dr. Culver told me that they would not even discuss an induction until I am close to 42 weeks pregnant. For those of you who experienced me being pregnant and clearly understood how much I detested pregnancy, he might as well have told me I would have to be pregnant for another year if I did not deliver on time, lol. They checked me and I was progressing a tiny tiny tiny bit. He did not seem very confident that I would deliver early but said that a lot can change in 2 weeks. The next week I went in and I had made very very very little change. I was very annoyed with my body because I was so tired and sore and swollen and even my maternity clothes were getting too small. I felt like an oompa loompa. I was trying everything to have this baby. I tried caster oil, raspberry leaf tea, primrose oil supplements, hot baths, walking and walking and walking, bouncing on my big rubber ball, walking stairs... I walked so much at the mall that think the people who worked there assumed Id have this baby next to the food court :) In the middle of me trying my darndest to deliver this baby, Paul's oldest brother became very ill. They were not expecting him to survive and called the family in. I was so terribly sad for the Quillon family and then I actually started to feel selfish that I was trying to have this baby asap because I did not want to pull the families attention away from Barry and his family. So, I quit trying to induce labor and realized she would come when she was good and ready or until we forced her eviction, lol. My due date came and went, the next week came and went and I was finally starting the 42nd week of my pregnancy. The team of OB's that I saw FINALLY agreed it was time to have this baby. I believe the date of that particular ultrasound was December 1. I had gone in that day for my regular appointment and they decided to check her size and her heart rate. She was a little booger that day and they were a little concerned about her fluid levels so we were sent over to the Martha Jefferson Hospital for more evaluation. Before we headed over they wanted to look at her size. The ultrasound tech said she was measuring almost 9 lbs and that she felt it was time to deliver :) At the hospital I spent about 2 hours hooked up to the monitor and this time she was a happy little girl and Dr. Owens said she looked great but agreed with her size we could SCHEDULE my induction. She had offered to have me come in that night or the next morning. THIS RIGHT HERE PROVES THAT I LOVE MY HUSBAND.... I told Dr. Owens that Paul had 143 cases in court the next day and that it would be easier to schedule it for Wednesday morning. After talking about Paul's schedule she said we could compromise and come in Tuesday night for my first dose of Citotec (sp?) and then go home for the night and come back at 6:00 am Wednesday morning for my 2nd dose and get the party started! I am so thrilled I believe I cried on my way home that day. I was FINALLY having this baby. The end was near and I was so incredibly thankful. Monday I made sure my house was 100% spotless. I had to keep myself busy because I was going stir crazy. Tuesday Paul went to court and I was SO relieved when he text to say court was over. He worked until 4 that day because we had to be at the hospital at 6:30. Since this would be our last chance to have a date night as a family of 2 we decided a steak was the perfect way to celebrate. We spent the early evening at Outback feeling so excited that we would be meeting our daughter soon! After dinner we drove to Old Navy to get a couple flannel onesies since it was December and it was a little cold. Then, off to the hospital we went!
When we arrived I told the woman at the nurses station that I was there to start my induction. Jessica, our assigned nurse came to meet us and told us she had our room ready and that she would be admitting me. Paul and I were both really confused because we were not supposed to be admitted that night. We assumed we were going home. Jessica said she would double check with Dr. Arnold but it sounded like we could be admitted if we wanted to. She got us hooked up to the monitor and I got my gown on and when Dr. Arnold came in he said that yes, they had originally thought they would send me back home to get some sleep but that since there were 8 empty L&D beds that night, I could stay if I wanted to. YESSSSSS!!!!!! I finally got my first dose of meds at about 8pm and when I was all settled in, Paul ran home to walk the dog and to grab a few things that I shockingly forgot to put in my hospital bag earlier that day.
(In my last post I went through the ENTIRE labor process but this time I am going to do a quick break down)
Tuesday Night
8pm- 1st citotec
Wednesday
1am - 2nd citotec
10am - 3rd citotec
5pm - Started my pit drip
(Although I was not at 4cm yet, they said I could have my epidural whenever I felt I needed it)
6pm pizza arrived! I was starving!!! I was in so much pain but I knew once I had my epidural, I could not eat anything else and I was not going to be happy about that. Contractions made me so sick I could only eat a little.
6:30 pm - Epidural, catheter and RELIEF!!!!!
Paul and I spent the rest of the evening sending updates to family/friends, watching tv and just relaxing. We both agree we slept so much better in the hospital than we would have at home!!!!!
Dr Culver kept coming in and checking me. His ultimate goal was for me to break my water on my own.
Thursday
4 am - Called Jessica to have her come check me. I told her I thought I had felt something warm running down my legs and pressure and when she checked me, sure enough, my water broke on its own. I had flooded the bed, lol. I knew things would be moving quicker now. This was D day!
7am - I was dilated to 8 and it was time for Jessica to go home. Our favorite nurse Leitzle was on duty that day but they made her work in another area of L&D Paul and I were so disappointed she could not deliver Afton.
9am - I was fully dilated but Dr. Kilfoil wanted me to labor down as long as possible to make delivery easier.
10am - I finally started pushing
11:28 am - AFTON REBECCA was born!
I cried. I was so happy to finally meet her. She was so beautiful and I instantly loved her so much. Paul was such an amazing support through the entire process. We feel so blessed to have this perfect little princess as our daughter!
First 3 1/2 months :)
Our first month at home was a little rougher than I thought it would be. I knew being a new mom and bring home a brand new baby would be tough but there is a difference between tough and PPD. I cried and cried and cried and when I thought I could not cry and more... I cried. I had spoken to Dr. Arnold at the hospital before I was discharged about my chances of PPD being higher than others but I wanted to see how I felt when I got home. The idea of Paul going back to work made me sob. What would I do with a baby by myself. Then my mind would shift to the most horrible of horrible thoughts... what if something happened to him at work??? How would I raise this tiny baby by myself. I was terrified. I was exhausted and we were both frustrated. When he would seem even the slightest bit frustrated I assumed he was going to get fed up and leave and not come back. I was a mess. I was trying so hard to nurse and she seemed hungry ALL the time. It took 5 days for my milk to come in and ALL she wanted to do was nurse and nurse and I was so sore and bleeding and tired and crying... all the time. I would lay in bed at night feeding Afton and watching Paul sleep and all that would run through my mind was "I want so much to punch him in the face". Finally one night it had started raining and Harley was doing the potty dance. Paul was holding Afton so I offered to walk Haley. He informed me that it had just started raining and for some reason it seemed fitting that I would offer to walk Harley when it was raining. I hate being out in the rain... I loathe it. But, there I was walking the dog in the rain... crying. knowing I would have to go back inside and do the same thing over again... feed the baby and hold her and listen to her cry. She was going through a phase where she would start crying around 7pm and would scream until 10 or 11pm. I was walking the dog and anticipating the 3-4 hours of screaming I had in the near future. I wondered if Harley and I kept walking how far would we get before Paul sent the police looking for me. It was a good thing at that moment that I did not have my car keys and my debit card with me. I finally called my mom and she talked me through it. I knew I had to go see Dr. Arnold. I called the next morning to make the appointment and they got me in that afternoon. He was not at all surprised to see me. He listened to me talk about my fears and my sadness and then wrote me a prescription for Zoloft. What an amazing little pill. It took about 1 week to really start to feel better and after 2 weeks I was actually smiling again just to smile. My dear friend Kelley came to the house every day the first week Paul went back to work. She was such a support and she knew I needed the company even when I said I would be ok. I hope I can pay it forward to another new mom some day.
Once I got through those tough weeks life was totally different. We had an amazing lactation consultant who was a life saver in so many ways. We had Pauls parents who would come by and offer to hold her just so we could go walk the dog together... alone. Paul's dad help us give Afton blessings when she was having tummy problems and was terribly fussy and he would give us blessings when felt we were at our breaking point. But... we survived. I would tell a new mom, once you get through your first 2 weeks, everything changes! I am so thankful for my dear friend Polly who made herself available for me to call at 10 pm when Afton would not stop crying and I didn't know what to do. These were all Angels in our life that first month.
Afton is growing so fast! She will be 4 months old in just 2 weeks. She has rolled from her belly to her back once :) she wants to stand ALL the time. She has found her toes and is fascinated with them! She started laughing when we play "boo". she loves her jumperoo and she is fascinated with the Baby Einstein movies :) She babbles and babbles and babbles. She has already been on a plane. We flew to Utah for 10 days last month and next week her and I fly to St. Louis to see my dad. I'm anxious to see how she travels this time! She is no longer sleeping in her rock n' play. We have moved her into the pack n' play in our bedroom. We are moving her into her own crib this weekend. I wont lie, I''m dreading it. I hate the idea that my princess is growing up so fast. Afton got her ears pierced about 3 weeks ago and she looks so cute with her little stud earrings!!!!!!!!!
I promise I will update again in a couple weeks so my updates are no so dang long. I am going to make another post hopefully later today of just pictures. I'm trying to get G+ added to my phone so I can access the pix off my phone and put them on my blog.
Paul and Liz update:
We are doing great! It's hard to believe that next week will be Paul's 3rd Anniversary with the Albemarle County Police Department. He is still in the Traffic Unit and loves being on the motorcycle during the day. This summer he had a couple motor competitions we are really looking forward to. Once in Charlottesville and one up in DC. I believe he is also doing the 9-11 memorial ride up to NYC in August. I'd love it if Afton and I could make the trip but I don't know how that will work. This is the last year they are doing the memorial ride.
I'm loving my time at home with Afton. I wont lie, there are days when I am bored out of my mind but then other days she wants to be held ALL day (like today!). My 2 best friends in town are getting ready to move so I am trying to be more social so I can make some new friends, lol.
Well, baby girl is ready for a bottle and a nap! I hope this update finds everyone happy and well :)
EQ
