Living Joyfully: August 2013

August 26, 2013

Liam's First Month

Liam's first month flew by! It was spent with lots of time with family and adjusting to being a family of four!

Liam is very sweet little boy. He is a good nurser. It took us a little bit to get him latched on but we soon figured out what we were doing. At first he wanted to nurse every 1 1/2 hours during the day and 2-3 hours at night. He gained weight pretty quickly. He weight 7 lbs 8 ounces at birth. By his 2 1/2 week appointment he was 8 lbs 5 ounces. He is slowly outgrowing his newborn outfits by the end of the month and still using newborn diapers.

He was pretty much attached to me the whole month. I was the only one who could calm him. He slept in his rock n play sleeper next to me like Amelia did.

Amelia is adjusting to not being an only child. Amelia loves Liam but sometimes struggles if we are holding him when she wants to be held. She is also still learning how to be gentle with him. There have been burst of anger with him but we are working on it. She loves to find out where he is and say Baby!

Right after we came home from the hospital, my parents came for a few days to help us. We started getting the nursery organized, and really tried to love on Amelia as she was adjusting. Then we had a 2 weeks alone, one of those weeks I was home with both kids. Liam was a pretty good sleeper during the day then.

Joe went out of town on a mission trip with the students so my parents came back in town for a week to help. Then Liam started his fussy stage, especially in the evenings! I was starting to worry that he was going to be a colicy baby. The next week Joe's parents came to stay. We were definitely getting spoiled by the grandparents!

We love you William James! I sometimes forget what our family was like before you came because it seems like you were always there! We love your baby snuggles, daddy side eyes, and constant reminder that you are God's gift to us!

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August 23, 2013

Liam's Birth Story

Here is the story of Liam's entrance in the world (if this doesn't interest you, don't read!)

My pregnancy with Liam was not bad by comparison to many others I see at the hospital. I was just very tired for a lot of it. That could have something to do with a very busy toddler that I didn't get to rest as much as I did with Amelia. When I went to my 38 week appointment, my blood pressure was high. The doctor explained that with elevated BP the goal is to get to 38 weeks which I already was. I however was not ready to go ahead and have a baby then! We decided that I would go to work the next day and check my BP there.
The next morning I didn't feel well and my BP was a little higher at work. After a quick visit to triage to monitor my blood pressure and rule our preeclampsia, I was sent home to take it easy over the weekend and to see my doctor on Monday. I did try to keep it easy but had a nagging headache all weekend. Sunday when I woke up I felt even worse so I called the doctor on call who told me to come to the hospital and we would go ahead and have a baby. Joe was at church but I was home with Amelia! I quickly got things arranged and we left Amelia with a family from church. Funny note, I had arranged to buy a dresser off Craigslist that day so we made a quick stop on the way to the hospital to pick up the dresser for Liam's room.

After I was settled in at the hospital, the doctor checked me and I was 1-2 cm but needed cervidil (a medicine they put inside) which is to prepare my body for induction. I got that around 2:30 in the afternoon. I started contracting pretty quickly and as the evening went on they started to get more intense and closer together. My nurse gave me an ambien to help me sleep but I was in too much pain to fall asleep. I remember around midnight I was moaning with contractions but I knew they would take the medicine out after 12 hours and I could get up and shower. I kept trying to make it until then! But I didn't last that long and got my epidural.
After I got my epidural placed, it took extra medicine to get me numb. Finally I was blissfully pain free and officially exhausted! But I was only 2 cm then but at least very soft. But I guess my blood pressure plummeted after with all of the epidural medicine so then I received medicine to get my BP back up (ironic isn't it?)
Around 5 am they started a small amount of pitocin to get my contractions stronger. I was sleeping off and on all morning, but I was starting to get more nauseated. Around 9 am the doctor broke my water and I was 5-6 cms. Pretty quickly after I got sick. Then I started having lots of pain on my side, and Liam was tolerating my labor either. I was moved to my side, given oxygen but soon felt better with my epidural bonus button which made my pain tolerable and my legs incredibly numb.
I soon started feeling pressure but wanted to labor down as much as possible so I didn't want to tell anyone. My nurse came in after talking with Dr Moore, decided to check my dilation, and it was time to push! Now with Amelia, they used a vacuum which gave me a horrible tear so I was pretty adamant that would be a last resort! It took a few pushes to get the hang out of what I was doing and they brought a mirror in to help me see which helped! After about 15 minutes at 10:21 am William James Mayes was born on July 1st screaming weighing 7 pounds 7.9 ounces and 20 1/2 inches!!