Holidaze

Sleepy lazy, Christmas post time...  We were very lucky that both sides of the family made their way to our house and helped us with food and holding the baby.  Christmas Eve was just us three, it was so different but kinda nice.  I love hanging out with my hubby.  Claire had a few wardrobe changes because lots of people gave her Christmas outfits.  She got many cute outfits and toys and happily watched us open them for her!  It was a great first Christmas with our little bundle.

Here's a few pics from the holiday.  I have so many more, but BLEH Blogger takes forever..

We also had a few Dr. visits for little Claire.  At 3 weeks she was up to 8lbs 6.5 oz.  The Dr. would like to have another wiegh in in 10 days to make sure she's progressing well on just breast milk.  We also had an ultrasound on her little frank breech hips to make sure there's no problems from being in that position for months.  I bet we get the results soon. 

Claire is eating pretty well, but not sleeping that much.  Or at least for me.  Josh is the baby whisperer.  It does take us forever to get her to be sleepy, and if you set her down, sometimes it's all for not, and she is wide awake crying.  This baby be crazy.  She also grunts and kicks non stop.  Josh took a video.  It's really insane!  We may call the Dr and check to see if there's anything that could be up with that.  Anyone had a grunting baby? Haha, it's pretty funny.

Other than that, she's your typical pooping, peeing, eating, kinda sleeping newborn!  She is already looking around at mobiles and doing pretty well at her short tummy time.  I have a feeling with the kicking and everything, she's going to be pretty strong.

Time to go pump some milk and get to bed! Yep, bed at 7pm for me, then up for the night shift.  Man, I miss Josh now that he's working.  At least Shelby pup keeps me good company and loves her little sis, Claire, licks her milky hands clean =)

She's Arrived!

Introducing Claire Ellis Nowak

Born December 5th, 2011 at 7:41 am.

8lbs 1oz -- 20 inches

Claire is here! Claire is HERE!  I have had zero time to blog...I honestly don't even feel like blogging.  I should be nursing, diapering, and sleeping!  I do want to document the week though.

After barely being able to sleep and multiple bathroom trips, we were headed to Texas Women's Hospital for my C-Section.  My parents followed us there and walked us as far as they could, my mom hugged me and cried as we went through the Labor and Delivery swinging doors.

Josh wore cowboy boots (??) that would barely fit thru his paper scrub pants.  He looked so cute though, like all the baby shows where the hubby goes into surgery with the wife.  It was surreal, sitting there getting prepped for surgery.

The part which I had been dreading, getting an epidural, wasn't as bad as I imagined. Getting my IV in my hand hurt way worse!  I was laid on the hard table, got my catheter and Josh rejoined me.  Guess that's when Dr. P started going to town.

I think I shouted out every cuss word known to man when they were pulling her out.  I literally felt my ribs being crushed, tugging and pulling.  It was so scary.  I kept looking at Josh and telling him to please distract me...he didn't really do that. I asked Chad the aneths. asst. when it'd be over, he said "last big pull" and Dr. Plavidal said "Ok Josh here's your baby!" Josh snapped lots of pics and Dr. quickly showed her to me around the curtain then everyone went to the warming table to get her going.

I asked why she wasn't crying and got a little scared.  No one was acting panicked so it was fine and minutes later I heard her and started crying.  Josh was already over there snapping pics.  And when I mean pics, I looked at our camera in the suite later and he literally went to crazy town, it looked like a flip book of her first minutes!

We got a great first family picture, thanks to Chad and I got to hold her for about 10 mins while they did who knows what to me.  Josh DID look at my situation, even though he wasn't really supposed to, but the warming table was on the other side of the curtain.  He said it was nuts.  I'm glad I'll never know.

Seeing her was really surreal.  I had waited 10 months for this day and I was in awe.  I don't like the cliche phrase "I fell instantly in love..."  It annoys me. I would kinda describe it like.. 'so YOU'RE the one kicking me, YOU're the one I've been waiting for... meeting your child, your new baby and saying WOW, I made that?? It was a shock thing.  It was an amazing thing.  And I saw how happy Josh was, pure love in his face, made me so so happy.  When people "say we're in love," I believe you fall more and more in love with your husband that day and that first week for sure.  I'll expand on another post about the first 2 weeks.

Recovery has been really really hard.  Harder than I ever imagined.  The nights in the hospital were full of tears from pain.  I barely got to hold little Claire unless I was nursing her.  It was all almost too much for me to take.   We only had immediate family come by and visit at the hospital, it was a smart move.  My mom stayed with me sometimes and let Josh get rest at home, too.

Josh is absolutely amazing and has taken to her right away, kissing her all the time, talking to her... I love it!  And I love him and Claire, we're so happy.

Oink

Emily and I are getting ready for my parents to come tomorrow.  It'll be my mom's birthday!  Which will now be 2 days before Claire's birthday!  Heehee

We had some pink and black gel tubes, pink frosting, and M&Ms.  We tried all sorts of ways to make a pig...some better than others!

I think they turned out very cute!  Definitely don't look proFESH, but they were made with love, Muthy!!

 Just so you know, we aren't being mean, PIGS are her favorite animal, we have them all over our house in San Antonio =)

This sign will deter her from peeking before Emily comes over tomorrow, brilliant! "No Look Ma!"

Whew, big day today (for me).  Pre-Op appointment at the hospital went well, just got instructions (be there at 5:15am!) and took some blood.  Then had a lunch date with hubby at Cheddars.  It was delish!!  I'm obsessed with their spinach dip for real.  We had a day date since by 3pm I'm completely in pain and no fun.

**2 days and counting!!**

The calm before the storm

Just had my final check up with Dr. P! No progress, no change...and that's actually good.  With 6 days to go until delivery day, Dr. P said don't go doing anything crazy between now in then, like go into labor!  Ha, I'll try.  That'd be a disaster because an emergency C-Section is much more stressful than me walking in, no pain, chit-chatting with the nurses and plop myself on the table, ready to go.

I had a lot of questions, but that have moved more towards concerns for Claire, which probably are better directed towards a pediatrician.  With her being frank breech for so many months, I'm concerned about her hips and legs.  Of course Dr. Google has freaked me out a bit, but I've also heard from actual people whose babies were perfectly fine.  Dr. P said sometimes they have to double diaper the babies for a few days, to hold their legs in place... since they are so used to having their legs up by their face in a pike. 

Also, there could be a few ultra-sounds of her hips at weeks 3 and 6 to check for hip dysplasia ( a term I've only heard with Golden Retreivers!).  I pray and hope that her joints resume normal position and that it's not an issue, but damn you Google if you didn't show me some freaky pics.  AND Dr. P described in detail how he has to pull out a frank breech baby and it's a crazy dancing of the limbs.  Very interesting. Meh.

In other news, I was up +33 at the Dr... but at my house before breakfast it was +32.5 , I'm going to go with that LoL.  Stupid.  Some of my online groups have started the guessing game on her height and wieght.  Can't wait to see her little face and chub cheeks!!  My Pre-Op appointment is Friday morning where they draw blood and anethstisiology gives me instructions for Sunday night.

So, until then... I'll be hanging out in my new sleepin' suit, conserving energy for next week and beyond.  Thanks Mommy, luv it! Buttons down the middle for breastfeeding and incision check...PERF.

6 days and counting....!

Little Claire Bear's Cave

Her bow holder, had to add extra hooks, hope she likes bows!

Here's family pics, toys drawers, extra bibs and burp clothes, books, and accessory drawers for shoes and hats.  I like having the maternity pics around too.  Can't wait to frame her little face in here.

Here's just a peek at Jenn's closet dividers in action.

Little Claire chair where we'll take her monthly growth photo!

Her homecoming gown is on the chair if you can peep it. She'll probably grow up to hate lavender heheheh...

Guess Shelby already is on guard!

Love these letters from Auntie Chelsea!

A peek at Grammie's organizing skills...diapers, wipes and changing pad ready to go!

Here's her first taste of home...love this little car seat!  I had a Snuzzler in it to hold her better inside, cop who checked my car for me told me to take it out. Meh!

It's so funny how pregnancy goes... at the beginning you just have SO much fun thinking about what colors and themes and making things perfect... but by the end, you really just want it done and it's almost not fun anymore because you're ready for baby and done with planning!  I'm happy with everything and so thankful my mom helped wash and organize baby clothes, bottles, pacis, pump accesories... what would we do without our moms??

14 more days to go!

Suck-Tastic Weekend: Part 2

Monday morning, my sister graciously took me to my follow up appointment/ 36wk check up, baby Claire was doing just fine and I broke down in tears in Dr. P's office because he actually scheduled the C-Section for December 5th at 7:15 am.  I'm not entirely sure why I cried to him, but he took time to talk to me , reassure me how controlled it will all be and that it's the best choice for our situation.  I'm lucky to have such a nice and understanding doctor.

I got into Emily's car and texted a co-worker about our conference call I missed and she immediately texted back "Check your Email."  Turns out I was to be on a 12:00pm call... she was on a 12:30pm call.  That's how we'd know if we still had a job or not.

Wouldn't you know, the 12:00pm call came around, my heart was beating SO fast, my contractions were def there... I was laid off, right then and there, along with hundreds of other sales people around the country on the call.  "Laid off effective immediately."  No more job.  I started hyperventilating and crying hysterically... Emily missed her turn and we ended up at the Port of Houston.  She was shocked too, and texted Josh "Erin's fired, please call."

I guess the rest of the day was mostly crying, feeling sorry for myself, accusing them of discrimination of a pregnant person...but the shining light in everything was my husband.  Josh was calm, he wasn't upset, he was ALL buisness.  He assured me everything would be ok.  He created a list of things we need to do... calls to make, arrangements to be made... He was really amazing, I was certainly a wreck.

Here's the logistics, I get a few more weeks pay, car and computer...then those are gone.  I get health insurance through December 31st. Thank God.  Did I mention I'm having a C-Section soon!  I was so relieved to hear that.  We're in the middle of Josh's open enrollment, another blessing.  He will add me and Claire to his insurance.  Yes, we'll need a car, computer, and brand new budget, but I filed for unemployment, updated my resume and talked to my sales recruiter already.

I'm already feeling better, there are many others in my shoes.  According to the news, many MANY others in my shoes, I'm just another number in the unemployment statistics now.  But everything happens for a reason, Claire needs me to calm down, forget about working and just be ready to take care of her ever need.  When and if we decide I should go back to work, I'm prepared and have a brand new outlook, I can't take this personally and we'll be OK.

I've already had so many friends call/text/stop by and it means the world to me...it's been a rough pregnancy, rollercoaster of emotions, losing my grandmother....totalling our car...getting so sick...losing job...But that's life!  I'm so happy to have friends and family that are always there for us and make me smile. And, for a healthy baby girl, who just happens to be wrong side up, but we still love her.

Count down to baby:  18 days!!

Suck-Tastic Weekend

So, Thursday night Josh says "You don't look so good"... that was around 8pm.  Then at 11pm I ran out of bed and threw up in the bathroom and got a little freaked out.  Maybe I ate something bad.  We called the after hours Dr just to be sure and he said get some fluids just watch it.  I had a few contractions after throwing up, so I was just a little concerned.

Layed back down, and like 10 minutes later...BOOM sick sick sick.... the works.  You get the idea.  The on-call Dr. said to go into Labor and Delivery... so off we went, almost midnight!

I was hooked up to an IV and monitored, Claire was doing fine, I had a slight fever and many many trips to bathroom, the vommiting WOULD NOT STOP.  The dry heaving was almost worse!  They tried 2 shots of phenergran which were SO painful in each hip.  They did nothing!  So they tried Zofran in my IV and that slowed the nausea down... but not all the way.  I got a second dose and everything had calmed down.  That was probably one of the worst nights EVER.

We ended up sleeping in that L&D room, which wasn't meant for overnight sleep, so it wasn't very comfortable, poor Josh was on this little couch and my bed was very hard!  Luckily in the morning when my sister came to visit, they moved me to a post-partem room, which was very nice and comfortable.

I was poked and prodded and monitored, everything under the sun.  It was bad viral gastritis, bad... I mean HORRIBLY TERRIBLE.  There were a number of Drs. from my OBGYN's practice that checked on me, too bad Dr. P was in New York!  He really missed some fun haha.  Being on IV drip for like 20hrs straight without peeing...so dehydrated, so scary!

I'm so glad Claire wasn't affected at all.  She was actually in the safest little place she could be!  It was funny watching the other Drs. check her and say, "Hey, she's breech!" or ... "Dr. Plavidal's got himself a brech one!". .. "She breech? Hmm!"  Yes , yes I know, naughty naughty baby.

Glad that episode is over.  Josh was wonderful and cleaned the whole house, beds, Lysol... and crossing my fingers he doesn't get it... it's already Tuesday, so it doesn't seem like it, which is crazy!

I think I got it from a doctor's office I went into for work. How scary!  Shelby is glad her mommy is home.  Ok, so no more hospital until December 5th, Claire's birthday!

The final stretch hurts

35 weeks and 4 days.  Ow.  I think I say that probably 20 times a day... most of which is after 2 pm.  It's 3:33 right now, I worked and ran 1 errand to Babies R Us and I feel like my back is on fire, how can I type laying down...

I thought my feet swelling were going to be the worst part, I've totally forgotten about them! I honestly had no idea about the back pain issues at the end of pregnancy.  They are no joke!!  I'm going to try the chiropractor and/or prenatal massage next week fo SHO.

My new boots, size 8! (I'm a 6.5-7)

Well, big news is that Dr. P said baby Claire will make her grand entrance on December 5th!  He estimated her at 6.5 lbs so far and still frank breech.  It will be a scheduled C-Section, because she has not / will not turn.  Is this a foreshadowing of things to come?  No mom, I will not wash my hands.  No mom, I refuse to drink my millk.  And I'll know she's not joking, she refused turn back before she was even outta the womb!

For some wierd reason, I feel like I always knew I'd have the surgery instead of a normal delivery.  It may be because my mom had 2 CSections, maybe because I knew she'd be huge due to genetics of Josh (10.3 lbs) and I (9.4 lbs) at birth... I don't know.  I still went to the labor and birth class, but we even left early before the demos and lamaze practice stuff.

Not that it doesn't freak me out.  I've never had surgery and the thought of getting cut open really scares me.  I wish that she was normal sized and head down.  I'd rather do it the way I was made to function!  Luckily, I have many friends who had it done and have given me great advice and reassurance about the whole situation.

So, the appointment ended with him letting me know pelvic exams start next week, yippy!  So if I start to labor before Dec 5th, we'll go ahead and take Claire out early...eek!

In other news, I'm an alumni advisor for my sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and the other advisors threw me a surprise baby shower this week, it was SO sweet!  I teared up because it was so nice and it's serious hard to surprise me.

It's so sweet and makes me be so happy to be a Kappa, these ladies of all different ages and schools have KKG in common and I'm so lucky to be part of it! Claire is one lucky legacy! She bes Go Kappa.

Halloween Silly Fun with Josh

I know this is just ridiculous... take married 2 adults, no kids, lots-o-time on their hands and Halloween as an excuse...and THIS is what you get. 

I outlined the doodle with black eyeliner and Josh painted it!  I think he did an excellent job!

 Shelby just doesn't know what's going on, but it was SO funny... how different will next Halloween be?!

I think I just thought of a theme for Claire's 1st birthday...  can't wait to meet our little LadyBug!  Seriously. 34weeks and counting....tick tock tick tock...

A Case of the B.A.K.

Tuesday was 33 weeks ultrasound day! Finally, Josh went with me to the appointment, which I made a little later than I usually would so he could make an appearance at work.  Bad idea.  Apparently, my Dr was having a Murphy's Law sort of morning and was very late seeing us,  of course this only happens when Josh comes, he was not a happy camper.  I was just excited to get to see Claire again, so I didn't really care.  It's what I do all day as a drug rep anyways, wait in Dr. offices!  I'm good at that!

Anyways, he came in and announced what a crazy morning he had and hoped that I'd be an easy visit, just simple measuring here and there, check position and size...and out ya go.  Well... Claire decided to be difficult, causing him to take extra measurements to be sure what he was seeing was right!  He said that we had a case of the B.A.K.

BIG ASS KID.

Wait whaa?!?  So here is what he found (a couple times)... I'm 33 weeks... her head and abdomen measured 37 weeks and her legs were right on target at 33 weeks.  So, Bobblehead little one?  I asked what was the deal??  Why is her head so big??  He said that fat kids don't necessaritly have long legs...makes sense.

 

Here's two shots of her puff cheeks, face and nose if you can tell.

 So, he plugged all the measurements in and got that Claire is in the 87-90th percentile in size and estimated at almost 6lbs.  I have friends whose full term babies weren't even 6lbs!  Claire will most likely be 9+ by full term, so I was flipping out a bit.

Next, he told us that she's Frank Breech.  I found this pic on the internet to demo... I laughed at Good Baby vs Bad Baby!  She's so flexible!  Cheerleader for sure. Hehe.

I mean, it's not the end of the world, he measured fluid and there's plenty for her to turn.  Only 3% of babies stay breech, but if that happens, it's a C-Section for me...too much risk for baby and me to try to push out butt first.  That'd be a little disturbing anyways:

"I see the butt, I see the butt! Yes, keep pushing!"  No thanks.

So, B.A.K. + Breech = C-Section.  B.A.K. + Head down = My choice.  That's what is up so far.  I'm leaning towards a C-Section, based on what happened with my mom.  I was over 9lbs and she tried to push me out but it didn't happen and ended up with a CS.  I might as well have it planned on out if that's the case! 

Here's a few fun X-mas things that came in this week~~

 Our stockings that we have from Pottery Barn...

Here's Claire's!

Oh and with some of my Sophie Giraffe credit, got some swaddle blankets, I LOVE them, I'm kinda obsessed with them...and I used the PURE Baby laundry soap and it just smells heavenly!

Alright!  That's the latest!  See ya laterzzz