This Girls Journey

10 days

I'm back to work in 10 days. I have had one heck of a maternity leave. Sort of... 12 weeks (3 months) of it was actual maternity leave, the other 2 months is the summer break I get from work anyways. Somehow Nola came at the perfect time, and allowed me to go straight from maternity leave right into the summer that I get off anyways. It has gone by so fast. I can't believe she's almost 5 months old. That is ridiculously old. I have an old baby. Darned near a toddler. Not really, but she's definitely not the infant I brought home from the hospital. I am going to miss not having to divide my attention between her and work. I am incredibly lucky in that I will not have to put her in daycare. So I am very grateful for that. I will basically be able to keep her with me while I work. I will of course need a baby sitter for a few hours a week, but nothing more than 5, maybe 6 hours depending on what I have going on with work.

The summer has gone by so fast. I feel like it's just got hot a week ago. Perhaps because I just had my A/C installed a week ago. Before that we were using one fan. Believe it or not, it wasn't a big deal. It was warm, but it was barely as long as there was no oven cooking, or running marathons. I'm going to miss my lazy days with Nola. Oh well. I can't complain. I have had 5 wonderful months alone with my baby girl. Getting to know her personality, and enjoying every minute of it.

 

Here is a pic of my Nola on the 4th of July looking like miss Liberty. The little red star in the middle flashes. That's Daddy in the background holding her. She is such a drooly little baby. Too cute.

what's going on?

Absolutely nothing. Nola is getting huge. As of 8 days ago, she weighed 10lbs 10 oz., and is 22 1/4 inches long. Which may not sound that big to some people, but to me, it's a lot considering she was down to 5lbs 11oz during her first week of life. So she has officially doubled in weight without me having to supplement. She has not had a bottle since... she had one at my friends wedding 2 weeks ago, and before that it had been about 2 oe 3 weeks. So she is gaining and growing very well.

In the past few weeks we have branched out of the house a little more and more. We have started attending La Leche League meetings. Which we have found to be very helpful and supportive for those people who decide that they want to breastfeed. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with other breastfeeding moms to discuss the challenges and benefits of breastfeeding. It was very helpful for me to see that I am not the only person out there who may be struggling with nursing. I highly recommend LLL to anyone breastfeeding, or even considering breastfeeding. The age range of babies is varied, so you do not have to have a newborn to attend.

anxiety

My baby's nursing causes me a LOT of anxiety. Is she getting enough? Do I have enough? Is she gaining enough? Should I wake her to eat? As I'm writing this, I'm debating on whether or not I should wake her up to eat. I generally do not like waking up sleeping babies. She will be 5 weeks old on Saturday, and I thought I would have had it all figured out by now, and would feel pretty good about nursing by now, but I don't.

One clue that she be good enough for me until our next Dr's appointment on whether or not she's eating enough are the amount of dirty diapers she has in a day. Nola has MANY dirty diapers a day. Which is kind of funny, because we had to stay in the hospital a few hours longer than I would have liked because they didn't think she was having enough wet diapers, and now her diaper is ALWAYS wet, and I'm always changing it. I thought diaper duty would bother me, but because of the hospital, and nursing ordeals I look forward to seeing a dirty diaper. It reassures me that my baby is getting something, and with the amount of poop and pee diapers she has in a day, my guess would be that she is getting a good amount of food (boobie milk) throughout the course of the day.

  

new mommy confessions part I

I smell her breath when she's sleeping.
I love the sound of her cry.
I wake up many many many times every night just to make sure she's still there and it all hasn't been a dream.
I nibble on her hands, feet, and ears.

10 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days

The past 10 1/2 months have flown by. It seems like it was just yesterday when hubby and I checked into the hospital for our egg retrieval, and shortly after that our embryo transfer. Two embryo's were put into my uterus, and 1 survived, and the result is wonderful. Two weeks have flown by since Nola's arrival, and I hate to think of what the next 18 years have in store for me. They have been the most difficult, and yet the most rewarding and best two weeks of my life. I can't believe that I am a mother. I knew that I would love my baby, but I never realized that I would be totally and completely in love with him or her and I am.

From this:

To This:

It's amazing to me what a couple of cells from two different people can create. Life is truly a miracle. Last week Nola had her first photo shoot. We do not have all of the pics yet, but here is a sneak peak. Nola Pics

I may be completely biased, but I think she's gorgeous, and no longer looks like a funky cell hanging out in a petri dish.

she's here!

Welcome to the world baby girl. She's perfect in every way. However, my opinion may not count since I may be a tad biased.

Nola Ann (6lbs 8oz, 19 1/2 inches long) was welcomed to the world on Saturday, March 21st @ 7:20pm in a beautiful unmedicated birth. Everything from start to finish was perfect. My water broke at 1:30am, and contractions started immediately.I labored mostly at home, and decided at around 5:30 pm that it may be time to go to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 6:30pm at which point I was already 9cm dialated. I have to give many thanks to my husband, doula, and OB for making the birth of my first child a beautiful and memorable experience. For my OB for letting me labor at home for as long as possible, and allowing my husband to catch the baby. For my doula for coming to my house and making me get up out of my comfy chair that may have been delaying the progress of my contractions. As soon as she made me get up they pretty much got to the point where they would not stop. EVER. For my husband for giving me space to breath, hit, scream, rubbing my back in the perfect spot, and telling him to shut up when he would decide against better judgement to ask me questions in the middle of a contraction. Bad idea Melvin!!!

I have much more to write about my birth which I will definately do once I've gotten more than 45 minutes of sleep.