Last week, I took Vera to her 15 month well-check. She is a healthy, normal and rotten child. Her stats were:
22 lbs. 50 percentile (20 lbs. @ 13 months & 20 lbs @ 12 months)
30.25" tall 25 percentile (30 inches @ 13 months & 28.5 inches @ 12 months)
18.5 " head circumfrence 95 percentile (17.32" @ 12 months)
Just a little peanut, but growing a little bigger counts for something! Unfortunately, she also got 2 shots this time, the Prevnar and HIB. I think she only has a few shots to go and she'll be done for a few years. This round of shots was just as difficult as the 3 month...she screamed so hard, but not for too long. She got two little band aids to make it feel all better!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Aunt Mandy's Baby Shower
On Friday, July 20 we threw a small baby shower for Mandy. It was at Grandma's house and it was mostly Mandy's high school friends, along with just a few aunts, sisters, and in laws. Mandy received lots of nice gifts that will help them welcome their new baby in October.
Vera ran around like a maniac the entire time. As she started to get more tired, the more maniac-like she became. She jumped right in with the older kids and played with them.
Vera ran around like a maniac the entire time. As she started to get more tired, the more maniac-like she became. She jumped right in with the older kids and played with them.
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| Part of my gift to Mandy was this diaper cake. I suppose Vera helped. As I was rolling the diapers, she grabbed one and played with it. Later on, Adam found her in her bedroom attempting to stuff the diaper in her Diaper Genie. She sure is no dummy... |
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| 6 months pregnant |
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| Vera Lou @ 15 months Aunt Mandy @ 26 weeks |
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| Vera playing with the other kids Marley, Grant and Regan. |
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| See what I mean? She was a little maniac running round! |
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| Vera helped. She mostly ran off with the gifts, especially the books. |
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| She loves her mamaw! |
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
First Coloring Book
We went to Target last week and I bought Vera the ColorWonder coloring book and markers. I thought it might be something to do on rainy days or afternoons when it's too hot to play outside. Plus, it could be handy for when I need to make dinner, fold laundry, take a shower, etc. And, it never hurt to start working on motor skills.
She sat and "colored" the other night while Adam hung trim and molding in our "new room." We needed something for her to do so she'd be out his way. All in all, it wasn't much of a success. She didn't really show much interest, but I'm sure with time and practice that will change.
She sat and "colored" the other night while Adam hung trim and molding in our "new room." We needed something for her to do so she'd be out his way. All in all, it wasn't much of a success. She didn't really show much interest, but I'm sure with time and practice that will change.
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| We let her choose the first color. She picked brown. |
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| Finished product Can you tell where mom and dad helped? :) |
Camping Trip with Mamaw
The weekend of July 13-15, my mom, her sisters and many of my cousins went camping at Loramie. I will admit that I was sort of nervous about taking Vera since she can walk now. I envisioned us chasing her all weekend...worrying about her getting hit by a car, lost and burnt in the fire. I'm happy to say that she surprised me and all of us! She was really good...probably because there were lots of people to entertain her all weekend.
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| She enjoyed swinging in the park.... |
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| Running in the stones |
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| Playing with trucks in the stones |
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| Played in the sand with grandma... |
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| Chilled in a perfectly sized chair |
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| And watched cartoons in mamaw's bed. |
First Face Ouchies!
Also during our house remodeling, Vera spent lots of time playing in the stones of our driveway. We found her with stones in her mouth and pockets. Lots of stones also went through the wash. One instance, she fell face first in the stones, and it resulted in lots of tears, and a mark to prove it.
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| What a ham! |
First Sidewalk Chalk
Through our remodel experience, Vera spent lots of time outside playing while we worked. Toward the end of the project, Adam got out about 2 sticks of sidewalk chalk, and we sat and played with her. She loved it.
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| It didn't take her long to catch on to how it works! |
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| Dad drew lots of funny pictures for Vera. |
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| Rotten girl! |
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| Dad traced her so we could see how big she is. Her arms looked especially short in the drawing! |
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| By the time we were done, it was on her face, dress, shoes and of course all over her hands! |
Vera's Birth Story
One of the things I've been wanting to document for umm...15+ months is Vera's birth story. I'm afraid that with time, I will forget some of the details, funny, and not-so-funny moments of our first child's birth. So, here's what I remember from 15.5 months ago...
Friday, April 1, 2011
I went to work feeling gigantic, but decent all things considered. For some reason, I distinctly remember wearing a dark red sweater with jeans. At this point I had very few shirts that fit over my belly. I walked into the mailroom, just as I do every morning before school starts. Like any other day, there were several teachers in there doing the same things I was doing. One veteran teacher, Viv, looked at me and said, "Today is your last day of work! You need to make today your last day so you can stay home and rest until you have this baby!!" I remember thinking that she was crazy. I did not want to stay home and wait for the baby. I was nervous that I'd get depressed and let my mind work too much. I must've looked worse than I felt. As I went through the day, I decided to get things ready just in case I didn't make it to work on Monday. I had every intention of coming to school on Monday if I were still pregnant.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
I don't remember much from this day. I do remember that there was a wing fry at the Goat Ranch that evening and that fried food sounded disgusting. I told Adam that I didn't want to go and be gigantic in such a small area with lots of people. So Mike & Rosie dropped Bailey off so they could go get some wings. I remember that Bailey was almost a year old and was a very active little girl. Adam mostly played with her because it took so much energy for me to keep up with her. I remember that I tried to sit on the floor and play with her and it was so uncomfortable. But worst of all, I had such a hard time getting up once I sat down. Bailey only stayed and played for about an hour, and then she went back to grandma & grandpa's child-proof home.
Sunday, April 3, 2012
Nothing like waiting until the last minute! We had our baptism class at church in the morning. Nick & Amber Schellhase walked in to the class with us, which put me at ease a little to know that we knew someone there. The class was given by Bob Paulus and his wife.
After class, I talked Adam in to going to Bob Evans for breakfast. It was busy and delicious as usual.
Sunday I felt pretty good, but was tired and achy. Adam and I had talked a lot over the weekend about whether I was going to work on Monday. He told me that it was entirely up to me. I remember that I didn't want him to judge me if I stayed home and didn't have the baby for a whole week. I was leery about not going, but also was leery about whether I had the energy to teach up until the minute I went into labor. Would I have the energy to deliver a baby after working all day? What if my water broke at school? Looking back, I was crazy to worry about Adam judging me. It was definately the right decision to stay home.
Finally, around 7 that night, I decided I wasn't going to work. I called my boss and left a message on his voicemail because he didn't answer. I had previously discussed with him on Friday morning that I may not be in. I also called my sub and told him where to pick up with class. I went to bed that night relieved that I didn't have to deal with school, kids, and teaching.
Monday, April 4, 2011
I don't have many memories from this day. I rested and did a few things around the house. Looking back, I would've probably tried to be more productive. I guess that's easy to say now. At the time, I probably didn't feel like doing much. In fact, I know I didn't.
That evening I had a doctor's appointment. Adam went with. We talked to Bridget about last minute details of going to the hospital, having contractions, when to come in, etc. I remember telling her that I absolutely did not want to be induced if there were no real medical necessity. We scheduled a non-stress test for the following Monday afternoon in case I hadn't had the baby by then. At that point, I'd be 5 days overdue.
We kept up our baby doctor appointment tradition by going out to eat at the Mexican restaurant in New Bremen for dinner.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I decided as a treat to myself, I was going to get a manicure and pedicure. I scheduled the appointments on Monday and went in the late morning. I remember scheduling the appointment for later in the morning so I could sleep in, but as it turned out, I was so uncomfortable that sleep didn't come easy, let alone sleeping in.
When I got home from the mani/pedi, I started having weird pains. It wasn't intense, just noticable and uncomfortable. I tried to distract myself from the pains by browsing around online. That didn't help. I started to crawl around our living room on all fours. We knew that the baby was "sunny-side up," so Bridget gave me several exercises to try to get her to flip. Crawling around was one of them. The crawling didn't help. I started to realize that the pain was coming back regularly, so I decided to time them. I sat at the computer and kept a notebook paper with start times. Eventually there was a clear pattern. I text Adam at work and told him what was going on.
It happened to be a Tuesday night--the first night of Adam's golf league. I told him to go and play, even though I was having regular contractions. I knew he was excited about the first night, and it's tough to get a sub at the last minute. It was too hard for me to just sit still, so I text Mandy about a hair appointment time for her wedding. I also decided that we never bought a phone card for the hospital. Yes, it's old school, but I knew that our cell phones wouldn't work at the hospital so I wanted a phone card to be able to call family and announce our baby's arrival. I went to BP first. No luck. Next I went to the IGA with no luck. I ended up at the Dollar Store and I distinctly remember not being able to stand still. The contractions were getting stronger. So much so that I couldn't stand and look at phone cards through them. I walked around the store until the contraction passed. So I got what I needed at DG and started to drive toward home. I would wait at stop signs for my contraction to come and go. (Yes I know, I shouldn't have been driving.) I decided that ice cream sounded good, so I went through the drive thru at Tiger's Den. I got home and enjoyed only half of the ice cream when I decided I should pack my last minute things in the bag. My mom called about going out to garage sales with her. I remember telling her that I didn't feel well at all and we ended our conversation. Meanwhile, Adam was trying to text me. (The reception at the golf course is horrible.) I distinctly remember a message to him saying something like "Please come home ASAP."
Looking back, instead of getting icecream and texting my sister, I probably should've done more important things like cleaning up, and preparing the house to bring home a newborn baby. Live and learn.
Adam came home right away after golf and when he walked in the door I was in the baby room packing, and I was crying. He got his things together and he got me to settle down. We started timing the contractions more. He used the stop watch on his phone to keep track of times. I was trying desperately to just fall asleep with the thought that I could sleep through some of them and when the contractions got more intense and closer together, I'd wake up. Around 11, Adam called the hospital to ask if we should come in. We waited at home for about 2 more hours, and around 1:00 we decided to pack up. The ride to the hospital was memorable. Adam told me when we left the driveway that he'd get us there as fast as he could safely get us there. We took the Durango so that if I needed to move around, I would be able to easier than in the car. He helped time contractions on the ride there, and I squeezed a pillow through them.
We went in through the ER and was quickly taken up to OB. There were no other patients there, so they had everything ready for us. We were fortunate to get the room with the jacuzzi tub. That turned out to be a God-send. Debbie was on call and said that "they were going to keep me." They started my IV and I started getting penicillin right away. That was a relief. Adam and I were both really worried about the Group B Strep. I asked for something to help me sleep, and they gave me Stadol. It made me feel like I was drunk, and that was really the only time that I remember getting upset with Adam. He was carrying bags in from the car and his footsteps were amplified because of the drugs, and I snapped at him telling him to be quiet. Later on, we tried to walk the hallways, but I felt so much nausia that it was really tough. Adam was very patient. He wheeled my IV along and tried to encourage me to keep walking. I didn't last long.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
I labored through the night with little rest. By shift-change in the morning, I was in hard labor. My new labor nurse was Diane, and she was fantastic. I remember crying because I was in so much pain when Diane decided it was time for the tub. As soon as I sat down in the water, I felt immediate relief. For about an hour, I just felt pressure but no hard pain through the contractions. Adam sat by my side for the next three hours helping when he could. I think he started to nod off a few times while he was sitting next to the tub. The poor guy hadn't slept in 24 hours. Through the entire hot tub spell, I was having major back labor. It.was.horrible. Adam looked at me with about 30 minutes to go and said I really needed to think about the epidural. He said that I was exhausted and we were both afraid that I wouldn't make it to delivery. My absolute worst fear was a c-section. I told Adam that I did NOT want that. I begged him to please not let them cut me.
After the jacuzzi soak of about 4 hours, I was checked again and made it to 8 cm. Wow! I was pretty proud of myself for making it that far with no drugs at all...minus the Stadol...which I'll never do again. We agreed on an epidural and anesthesia came up fairly quickly. The doctor was "in a hurry" although when he arrived he didn't appear to be rushed. The idea of a doctor being rushed when sticking a large needle and cathater in my spine isn't so comforting. Diane, the nurse, gave me an awesome pep talk before the epidural, and she held my shoulders still while the anesthesiologist did his work. Within a short while, I felt some relief, and was able to rest comfortably in bed. By this time I had received my second round of penicillin for the Group B Strep. That also made me feel better. By now it was nearly noon, and the doctor had assured me that we'd have a baby within an hour or two. I started to get pretty excited. Adam tried to sleep a little on the pull-out bed and I did too. I can't say that I slept much though. My mind just kept going.
Diane checked me a little bit later and my water broke as she was checking me. I felt none of this. Bridget came up within a few hours, and this is when my concept of time gets a little foggy. She told me that we were going to let the baby labor down on its own since we knew it was face-up. She told me I could easily push through some of the contractions if I felt pressure, but we didn't need to get too excited yet. I remember telling Adam that I was going to start pushing in about an hour, and he was sound asleep.
Pushing during childbirth is nothing like I thought it'd be. You have to push SO SO hard. I never imagined the strength it'd take. But, I tried to keep my motto that "I have to get through this" going in my mind. I got really hot and started to get really tired while pushing. I remember saying "Help me please, I can't do this anymore." No one said much to that. I guess in hindsight they knew I was doing it. I was sweating so bad and was really miserable because I was soaked in my own sweat. Finally, Bridget told me to take her hand, and we did a "tug of war" through the contractions, which really got things going. I looked over, and Adam was on my left side holding my leg through the contractions. He had tears running down his face, and he was doing a pretty good job of trying to hide the fact that he was crying. I don't think he wanted me to see him cry. I asked him later why he was crying so much and his response was, "Because you were working your ass off and there wasn't anything I could do to help you except hold your leg."
The baby started to crown and Diane started getting excited. I remember asking what that meant. Haha...kind of embarrassing. Then everyone started to get ready. Bridget started screaming for her gown, the lights got brighter (I think) and some equipment and people showed up. I remember thinking..."You guys wait until now to get excited. We've known for hours that this baby is coming.
As I started to push more intensly, Bridget was pouring tons of olive oil on the baby's head to help avoid tears. They kept trying to slow me down through the pushing, but once I got going, I wasn't stopping. Then, Bridget asked Diane what color the fluid was when my water broke. She said something (probably normal colored) and Bridget shouted to call resperatory. The fluid was a brownish, indicating meconium. I started to get scared, and so did Adam, but I didn't have an opportunity to ask any questions. Just had to keep pushing. Finally, before I realized it, Bridget was holding a little baby and she said, "It's a she! It's a BIG she!" I remember thinking, "I already knew it was a she." Adam and I both thought through most of the pregnancy that it was going to be a girl. They laid her on my chest and starting flicking her feet. Adam said it was the scariest thing. When he first saw her she was bluish grey. After about 15 seconds of flicking her feet, he said she started to turn pink and cry. I didn't see any of this. They ended up cancelling resperatory, which was a relief. Adam got to cut the cord when Bridget showed him where. He was very nervous about doing that. I remember trying to catch my breath and gather my thoughts and somewhere in there I said, "Hi baby! Happy Birth day!" :) They took her from my chest and asked what her name would be. I said her name is Vera. We welcomed Vera Louise Pearson at 3:40 pm on her due date, April 6, 2011. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 3.8 oz. and was 21" long.
Bridget stitched me up, (not fun...epidural was wearing off. I could feel everything. She kept saying...just one more. Finally I called her out and said "You said that the last time." haha) I got to hold Vera after she was cleaned up a little. She had a hat on and was wrapped in a blanket. Adam leaned beside me and we began to fall in love with our daughter. We talked about how round her face was, how much hair she had, and how big she was! She cried a lot at first, and I asked Diane if we could give her a pacifier. She very firmly said, "That would not be a good idea." We learned later that her face was very swollen from being face up, and she probably had a headache. Aww... I tried to feed her with minimal success. We sent her to the nursery for a bath and Diane ordered my dinner. :)
I called my mom at work (yes, using the phone card) but we didn't talk long. Adam called his mom, and talked to her briefly. We had horrible cell phone service. I ate dinner, and wanted nothing more than to take a shower. But I still had the IV, and I had to pee twice before they'd take my IV out.
Before I knew it, there was a knock at the door, and Mandy was our first visitor. We had lots of visitors that night: my parents, Adam's parents, and Mandy. They were all very proud and excited.
We sent Vera to the nursery that night so we could sleep. Adam and I were exhausted after being awake for about 36 hours. I got to sleep on my belly that night. It was fantastic!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
We were told that we had to stay in the hospital until the baby was 36 hours old. I wasn't sad about that. Vera had her photo session in the morning. I also got to take a shower, which was glorious!! In the afternoon, we worked on nursing, talked to the lactation consultant, and did some paperwork. Adam went home to get the mail, car seat, turn the heat up in the baby's room, and shower. Vera was a tired little girl after her delivery. She slept most of the day, and was very uninterested in eating. The lac consultant & one of the nurses told us Vera was tongue-tied. I didn't know for sure what that involved, but they explained that her tongue would have to be clipped. Her frenulum, the piece of skin that holds your tongue down, was all the way to the tip of her tongue. She couldn't stick out her tongue and had a hard time sucking. Dr. Kuck would not perform the procedure since Vera wasn't her patient. We were new to this, so we didn't really know what to do or what questions to ask.
That evening, we had more visitors: Brian & Kristina, Steve & Lindsey, Mindy & Sanchez, Nick & Jessica, Grandma Otte, & Grandpa & Grandpa Pearson.
Friday, April 8, 2011--Bailey's 1st Birthday!
I sat in the jacuzzi tub in the morning, which felt so awesome! We went through lots of paperwork and instructions for going home. Around mid-afternoon, Dr. Kuck checked her over again for discharge. Vera had lost almost 7% of her body weight since birth, and they were concerned that she wasn't eating. We were given glucose water to feed to her for 24 hours when we got home. They also tested her for RSV because she was wheezing and sneezing a lot. Adam and I almost cried. We didn't know what we were going to do if the RSV came back positive. They told us she'd be admitted to the hospital if it were positive. I prayed a little and tried not to worry. My emotions took over and I cried almost the whole time I ate my lunch. Thankfully, the RSV came back negative, but we had to come back the next morning for a weight check. I was still crying.
I ate dinner and we got Vera dressed to go home. As the nurse was wheeling me out, I started to cry. I had so much anxiety about going home. The RSV scare, the glucose water, tongue-tied baby, and a baby that wouldn't nurse well were just too much. Adam pulled up in the car, and he started to cry. By the time Vera and I were in the car, the nurse was also crying. She waved goodbye and told us we were going to be great parents. Wow!
On the way home, I noticed all of the daffodils in bloom. Everytime I see daffodils now, I am reminded of our daughter's first trip home!
That evening, we charted wet & dirty diapers, tried to nurse, and fed glucose water. It was the scariest thing. She kept choking on the water, even though she drank it. I was told to try to feed her every 2 hours, which was absolutely exhausting. We laid her in her bed when we got her to sleep, and Adam shut her door. I started to cry saying we couldn't close her door. I was too worried about her getting the blanket over her face, not eating, and just emotions of a post-partum, first-time mom. Around 1 am, I woke up to feed Vera and realized that there was no power in the house. I woke Adam up telling him I'd need some help since there were no lights. We both about started to cry. He found some flashlights and I fed Vera by flashlight. We couldn't go back to sleep because we were so worried about the house getting too chilly for Vera. The power did come back on at some point, and I don't remember what happened to cause the outage.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Adam helped me get some breakfast after feeding Vera, and while we were eating, he asked me if we needed to pack a diaper bag before going to the hospital. It was a weird realization, but yes, we did need to pack a bag! Thus, the beginning of many, many, many diaper bag days.
We immediately started getting ready for the hospital. I was moving extremely slow, and it took us all morning to get ready to go. Vera's weight at the hospital checked out ok, which was a relief.
That afternoon Kristina stopped by and brought us some yummy food. She told me how good I looked, and I remember thinking that I felt miserable. I was experiencing some major constipation, had a very sore hip from the delivery, my milk was coming in, and I was exhausted and worried. However, Vera did start to nurse a little better each time I tried, which was a little more comforting.
Adam was really awesome in our first days home. He did laundry and dishes. He made me something to eat. He tried to offer suggestions when I was sad or discouraged. I couldn't have made it without him.
My mom & Mandy stopped by to visit that evening.
Sunday, April 10, 2011--Steve & Lindsey's 1st Anniversary!
It was a beautiful spring day outside! But on the inside, I was miserable from horrible constipation. I ended up pulling some of my stitches because of this. My hip was definately out of position. I distinctly remember getting out of the shower and having a huge zit on my back and Adam asked me if it hurt. I said yes, but not nearly as bad as the rest of my body.
Rosie brought us chicken dinners for lunch, and I started to get discouraged because it was so nice outside but I couldn't enjoy it. Finally, Adam told me to just go outside and walk around for a few minutes. I walked around the house and looked at the spring perennials sprouting from the ground, and I cried. I never thought it'd be this hard!!
Meanwhile, the entire weekend, from Wednesday evening through Sunday, the Master's was on TV. Adam was thrilled. He watched it in the hospital and all weekend, so his heart was content with television and a new baby.
Monday, April 11, 2011
During the night for the first week or so, Adam would sleep until about 4 am. I would wake him up and he'd watch Vera until he had to leave so I could sleep a little bit uninterrupted.
As Adam walked out the door to go back to work, my mom walked in the door. She helped me get some breakfast and watched Vera while I showered. I was very slow-moving. We had to go to the hospital for our meeting with the lactation consultant. It turned out to be a very depressing visit. I had a fever, Vera was definately tongue-tied, my stitches had come out (and thank God they don't re-stitch!), my hip was out of position, and they were concerned about my sleep deprivation. They started to talk to us about the baby blues and it's seriousness. As we walked out of the office and waited for the elevator, I started to cry. My mom started to cry too and she gave me a big hug. I didn't even have enough strength to carry my baby in her car seat, and I hated it. I was in bad shape.
As we drove out of the parking lot, my mom convinced me to call the chiropractor. Somehow, through the grace of God, I was able to get an appointment within an hour. We ate Subway in the car in New Bremen. It was raining. I was worried about Vera while I was at the chiropractor, but looking forward to a little relief. It turned out to be a great idea to get adjusted and the doctor was really good.
My mom also convinced me to start making phone calls about getting Vera's tongue clipped. The sooner, the better, right? Dr. Elshoff wouldn't do the procedure, so we had to go to plan B. I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Phil, a pediatric dentist, at Minster Dental Care.
It was a really long day and I was whipped. I called Adam on the way home and told him about the day, fighting back my tears. My mom stayed and helped with laundry and Vera while I took a nap. I finally got to sleep for about 3 hours straight and it felt pretty good. My mom left that day really worried about me.
The rest of the week...
...was filled with doctor appointments, tears and lack of sleep. After Vera's tongue was clipped, life got a little easier. I did a lot of crying and praying that first week. My mom told me after the first day or two at home that the first week "really sucks." And, she was right, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I really believe that after you have a baby you just need help. My mom and Mandy helped a lot, Rosie brought us food and did Adam's laundry, and Adam helped every step of the way. Things started getting easier with each day, and by the second week, everyone was sleeping in their bed at night, and a slight routine (if we can call it that) was established.
We love our little tater bug to pieces and can't even imagine what life would be like without her! Fifteen months later, there you have it. Details I might forget, but an experience that I'm pretty sure I won't ever forget!
Friday, April 1, 2011
I went to work feeling gigantic, but decent all things considered. For some reason, I distinctly remember wearing a dark red sweater with jeans. At this point I had very few shirts that fit over my belly. I walked into the mailroom, just as I do every morning before school starts. Like any other day, there were several teachers in there doing the same things I was doing. One veteran teacher, Viv, looked at me and said, "Today is your last day of work! You need to make today your last day so you can stay home and rest until you have this baby!!" I remember thinking that she was crazy. I did not want to stay home and wait for the baby. I was nervous that I'd get depressed and let my mind work too much. I must've looked worse than I felt. As I went through the day, I decided to get things ready just in case I didn't make it to work on Monday. I had every intention of coming to school on Monday if I were still pregnant.
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| 39 Weeks 1 Day Wasn't I gigantic? This was the last pregnant picture we took. |
Saturday, April 2, 2011
I don't remember much from this day. I do remember that there was a wing fry at the Goat Ranch that evening and that fried food sounded disgusting. I told Adam that I didn't want to go and be gigantic in such a small area with lots of people. So Mike & Rosie dropped Bailey off so they could go get some wings. I remember that Bailey was almost a year old and was a very active little girl. Adam mostly played with her because it took so much energy for me to keep up with her. I remember that I tried to sit on the floor and play with her and it was so uncomfortable. But worst of all, I had such a hard time getting up once I sat down. Bailey only stayed and played for about an hour, and then she went back to grandma & grandpa's child-proof home.
Sunday, April 3, 2012
Nothing like waiting until the last minute! We had our baptism class at church in the morning. Nick & Amber Schellhase walked in to the class with us, which put me at ease a little to know that we knew someone there. The class was given by Bob Paulus and his wife.
After class, I talked Adam in to going to Bob Evans for breakfast. It was busy and delicious as usual.
Sunday I felt pretty good, but was tired and achy. Adam and I had talked a lot over the weekend about whether I was going to work on Monday. He told me that it was entirely up to me. I remember that I didn't want him to judge me if I stayed home and didn't have the baby for a whole week. I was leery about not going, but also was leery about whether I had the energy to teach up until the minute I went into labor. Would I have the energy to deliver a baby after working all day? What if my water broke at school? Looking back, I was crazy to worry about Adam judging me. It was definately the right decision to stay home.
Finally, around 7 that night, I decided I wasn't going to work. I called my boss and left a message on his voicemail because he didn't answer. I had previously discussed with him on Friday morning that I may not be in. I also called my sub and told him where to pick up with class. I went to bed that night relieved that I didn't have to deal with school, kids, and teaching.
Monday, April 4, 2011
I don't have many memories from this day. I rested and did a few things around the house. Looking back, I would've probably tried to be more productive. I guess that's easy to say now. At the time, I probably didn't feel like doing much. In fact, I know I didn't.
That evening I had a doctor's appointment. Adam went with. We talked to Bridget about last minute details of going to the hospital, having contractions, when to come in, etc. I remember telling her that I absolutely did not want to be induced if there were no real medical necessity. We scheduled a non-stress test for the following Monday afternoon in case I hadn't had the baby by then. At that point, I'd be 5 days overdue.
We kept up our baby doctor appointment tradition by going out to eat at the Mexican restaurant in New Bremen for dinner.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I decided as a treat to myself, I was going to get a manicure and pedicure. I scheduled the appointments on Monday and went in the late morning. I remember scheduling the appointment for later in the morning so I could sleep in, but as it turned out, I was so uncomfortable that sleep didn't come easy, let alone sleeping in.
When I got home from the mani/pedi, I started having weird pains. It wasn't intense, just noticable and uncomfortable. I tried to distract myself from the pains by browsing around online. That didn't help. I started to crawl around our living room on all fours. We knew that the baby was "sunny-side up," so Bridget gave me several exercises to try to get her to flip. Crawling around was one of them. The crawling didn't help. I started to realize that the pain was coming back regularly, so I decided to time them. I sat at the computer and kept a notebook paper with start times. Eventually there was a clear pattern. I text Adam at work and told him what was going on.
It happened to be a Tuesday night--the first night of Adam's golf league. I told him to go and play, even though I was having regular contractions. I knew he was excited about the first night, and it's tough to get a sub at the last minute. It was too hard for me to just sit still, so I text Mandy about a hair appointment time for her wedding. I also decided that we never bought a phone card for the hospital. Yes, it's old school, but I knew that our cell phones wouldn't work at the hospital so I wanted a phone card to be able to call family and announce our baby's arrival. I went to BP first. No luck. Next I went to the IGA with no luck. I ended up at the Dollar Store and I distinctly remember not being able to stand still. The contractions were getting stronger. So much so that I couldn't stand and look at phone cards through them. I walked around the store until the contraction passed. So I got what I needed at DG and started to drive toward home. I would wait at stop signs for my contraction to come and go. (Yes I know, I shouldn't have been driving.) I decided that ice cream sounded good, so I went through the drive thru at Tiger's Den. I got home and enjoyed only half of the ice cream when I decided I should pack my last minute things in the bag. My mom called about going out to garage sales with her. I remember telling her that I didn't feel well at all and we ended our conversation. Meanwhile, Adam was trying to text me. (The reception at the golf course is horrible.) I distinctly remember a message to him saying something like "Please come home ASAP."
Looking back, instead of getting icecream and texting my sister, I probably should've done more important things like cleaning up, and preparing the house to bring home a newborn baby. Live and learn.
Adam came home right away after golf and when he walked in the door I was in the baby room packing, and I was crying. He got his things together and he got me to settle down. We started timing the contractions more. He used the stop watch on his phone to keep track of times. I was trying desperately to just fall asleep with the thought that I could sleep through some of them and when the contractions got more intense and closer together, I'd wake up. Around 11, Adam called the hospital to ask if we should come in. We waited at home for about 2 more hours, and around 1:00 we decided to pack up. The ride to the hospital was memorable. Adam told me when we left the driveway that he'd get us there as fast as he could safely get us there. We took the Durango so that if I needed to move around, I would be able to easier than in the car. He helped time contractions on the ride there, and I squeezed a pillow through them.
We went in through the ER and was quickly taken up to OB. There were no other patients there, so they had everything ready for us. We were fortunate to get the room with the jacuzzi tub. That turned out to be a God-send. Debbie was on call and said that "they were going to keep me." They started my IV and I started getting penicillin right away. That was a relief. Adam and I were both really worried about the Group B Strep. I asked for something to help me sleep, and they gave me Stadol. It made me feel like I was drunk, and that was really the only time that I remember getting upset with Adam. He was carrying bags in from the car and his footsteps were amplified because of the drugs, and I snapped at him telling him to be quiet. Later on, we tried to walk the hallways, but I felt so much nausia that it was really tough. Adam was very patient. He wheeled my IV along and tried to encourage me to keep walking. I didn't last long.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
I labored through the night with little rest. By shift-change in the morning, I was in hard labor. My new labor nurse was Diane, and she was fantastic. I remember crying because I was in so much pain when Diane decided it was time for the tub. As soon as I sat down in the water, I felt immediate relief. For about an hour, I just felt pressure but no hard pain through the contractions. Adam sat by my side for the next three hours helping when he could. I think he started to nod off a few times while he was sitting next to the tub. The poor guy hadn't slept in 24 hours. Through the entire hot tub spell, I was having major back labor. It.was.horrible. Adam looked at me with about 30 minutes to go and said I really needed to think about the epidural. He said that I was exhausted and we were both afraid that I wouldn't make it to delivery. My absolute worst fear was a c-section. I told Adam that I did NOT want that. I begged him to please not let them cut me.
After the jacuzzi soak of about 4 hours, I was checked again and made it to 8 cm. Wow! I was pretty proud of myself for making it that far with no drugs at all...minus the Stadol...which I'll never do again. We agreed on an epidural and anesthesia came up fairly quickly. The doctor was "in a hurry" although when he arrived he didn't appear to be rushed. The idea of a doctor being rushed when sticking a large needle and cathater in my spine isn't so comforting. Diane, the nurse, gave me an awesome pep talk before the epidural, and she held my shoulders still while the anesthesiologist did his work. Within a short while, I felt some relief, and was able to rest comfortably in bed. By this time I had received my second round of penicillin for the Group B Strep. That also made me feel better. By now it was nearly noon, and the doctor had assured me that we'd have a baby within an hour or two. I started to get pretty excited. Adam tried to sleep a little on the pull-out bed and I did too. I can't say that I slept much though. My mind just kept going.
Diane checked me a little bit later and my water broke as she was checking me. I felt none of this. Bridget came up within a few hours, and this is when my concept of time gets a little foggy. She told me that we were going to let the baby labor down on its own since we knew it was face-up. She told me I could easily push through some of the contractions if I felt pressure, but we didn't need to get too excited yet. I remember telling Adam that I was going to start pushing in about an hour, and he was sound asleep.
Pushing during childbirth is nothing like I thought it'd be. You have to push SO SO hard. I never imagined the strength it'd take. But, I tried to keep my motto that "I have to get through this" going in my mind. I got really hot and started to get really tired while pushing. I remember saying "Help me please, I can't do this anymore." No one said much to that. I guess in hindsight they knew I was doing it. I was sweating so bad and was really miserable because I was soaked in my own sweat. Finally, Bridget told me to take her hand, and we did a "tug of war" through the contractions, which really got things going. I looked over, and Adam was on my left side holding my leg through the contractions. He had tears running down his face, and he was doing a pretty good job of trying to hide the fact that he was crying. I don't think he wanted me to see him cry. I asked him later why he was crying so much and his response was, "Because you were working your ass off and there wasn't anything I could do to help you except hold your leg."
The baby started to crown and Diane started getting excited. I remember asking what that meant. Haha...kind of embarrassing. Then everyone started to get ready. Bridget started screaming for her gown, the lights got brighter (I think) and some equipment and people showed up. I remember thinking..."You guys wait until now to get excited. We've known for hours that this baby is coming.
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| Warming table with lots of instruments for a baby right after birth. |
As I started to push more intensly, Bridget was pouring tons of olive oil on the baby's head to help avoid tears. They kept trying to slow me down through the pushing, but once I got going, I wasn't stopping. Then, Bridget asked Diane what color the fluid was when my water broke. She said something (probably normal colored) and Bridget shouted to call resperatory. The fluid was a brownish, indicating meconium. I started to get scared, and so did Adam, but I didn't have an opportunity to ask any questions. Just had to keep pushing. Finally, before I realized it, Bridget was holding a little baby and she said, "It's a she! It's a BIG she!" I remember thinking, "I already knew it was a she." Adam and I both thought through most of the pregnancy that it was going to be a girl. They laid her on my chest and starting flicking her feet. Adam said it was the scariest thing. When he first saw her she was bluish grey. After about 15 seconds of flicking her feet, he said she started to turn pink and cry. I didn't see any of this. They ended up cancelling resperatory, which was a relief. Adam got to cut the cord when Bridget showed him where. He was very nervous about doing that. I remember trying to catch my breath and gather my thoughts and somewhere in there I said, "Hi baby! Happy Birth day!" :) They took her from my chest and asked what her name would be. I said her name is Vera. We welcomed Vera Louise Pearson at 3:40 pm on her due date, April 6, 2011. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 3.8 oz. and was 21" long.
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| First cries and breaths of life! |
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| Welcome baby Vera! |
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| First time really holding Vera. I was trying to get her to calm down. |
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| Making her way into the world was such a rough experience! |
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| Look at her sore, swollen little face! |
I called my mom at work (yes, using the phone card) but we didn't talk long. Adam called his mom, and talked to her briefly. We had horrible cell phone service. I ate dinner, and wanted nothing more than to take a shower. But I still had the IV, and I had to pee twice before they'd take my IV out.
Before I knew it, there was a knock at the door, and Mandy was our first visitor. We had lots of visitors that night: my parents, Adam's parents, and Mandy. They were all very proud and excited.
We sent Vera to the nursery that night so we could sleep. Adam and I were exhausted after being awake for about 36 hours. I got to sleep on my belly that night. It was fantastic!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
We were told that we had to stay in the hospital until the baby was 36 hours old. I wasn't sad about that. Vera had her photo session in the morning. I also got to take a shower, which was glorious!! In the afternoon, we worked on nursing, talked to the lactation consultant, and did some paperwork. Adam went home to get the mail, car seat, turn the heat up in the baby's room, and shower. Vera was a tired little girl after her delivery. She slept most of the day, and was very uninterested in eating. The lac consultant & one of the nurses told us Vera was tongue-tied. I didn't know for sure what that involved, but they explained that her tongue would have to be clipped. Her frenulum, the piece of skin that holds your tongue down, was all the way to the tip of her tongue. She couldn't stick out her tongue and had a hard time sucking. Dr. Kuck would not perform the procedure since Vera wasn't her patient. We were new to this, so we didn't really know what to do or what questions to ask.
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| Adam's sleeping quarters for three days. |
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| A lot less swollen today! |
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| Daddy & his baby girl |
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| The night nurse put her first bow in her hair. |
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| Our little family! |
That evening, we had more visitors: Brian & Kristina, Steve & Lindsey, Mindy & Sanchez, Nick & Jessica, Grandma Otte, & Grandpa & Grandpa Pearson.
Friday, April 8, 2011--Bailey's 1st Birthday!
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| Sweet girl! |
I sat in the jacuzzi tub in the morning, which felt so awesome! We went through lots of paperwork and instructions for going home. Around mid-afternoon, Dr. Kuck checked her over again for discharge. Vera had lost almost 7% of her body weight since birth, and they were concerned that she wasn't eating. We were given glucose water to feed to her for 24 hours when we got home. They also tested her for RSV because she was wheezing and sneezing a lot. Adam and I almost cried. We didn't know what we were going to do if the RSV came back positive. They told us she'd be admitted to the hospital if it were positive. I prayed a little and tried not to worry. My emotions took over and I cried almost the whole time I ate my lunch. Thankfully, the RSV came back negative, but we had to come back the next morning for a weight check. I was still crying.
I ate dinner and we got Vera dressed to go home. As the nurse was wheeling me out, I started to cry. I had so much anxiety about going home. The RSV scare, the glucose water, tongue-tied baby, and a baby that wouldn't nurse well were just too much. Adam pulled up in the car, and he started to cry. By the time Vera and I were in the car, the nurse was also crying. She waved goodbye and told us we were going to be great parents. Wow!
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| We both thought she looked pretty cute all bundled up. Adam's comment was that she looks like a tiny little bird in that big seat!! |
On the way home, I noticed all of the daffodils in bloom. Everytime I see daffodils now, I am reminded of our daughter's first trip home!
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| Welcome to your home little Vera! |
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| One of my many crying episodes. In this picture I remember sitting as tears ran down my face thinking about how lucky we are to have such a perfect little girl! What a blessing! |
That evening, we charted wet & dirty diapers, tried to nurse, and fed glucose water. It was the scariest thing. She kept choking on the water, even though she drank it. I was told to try to feed her every 2 hours, which was absolutely exhausting. We laid her in her bed when we got her to sleep, and Adam shut her door. I started to cry saying we couldn't close her door. I was too worried about her getting the blanket over her face, not eating, and just emotions of a post-partum, first-time mom. Around 1 am, I woke up to feed Vera and realized that there was no power in the house. I woke Adam up telling him I'd need some help since there were no lights. We both about started to cry. He found some flashlights and I fed Vera by flashlight. We couldn't go back to sleep because we were so worried about the house getting too chilly for Vera. The power did come back on at some point, and I don't remember what happened to cause the outage.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Adam helped me get some breakfast after feeding Vera, and while we were eating, he asked me if we needed to pack a diaper bag before going to the hospital. It was a weird realization, but yes, we did need to pack a bag! Thus, the beginning of many, many, many diaper bag days.
We immediately started getting ready for the hospital. I was moving extremely slow, and it took us all morning to get ready to go. Vera's weight at the hospital checked out ok, which was a relief.
That afternoon Kristina stopped by and brought us some yummy food. She told me how good I looked, and I remember thinking that I felt miserable. I was experiencing some major constipation, had a very sore hip from the delivery, my milk was coming in, and I was exhausted and worried. However, Vera did start to nurse a little better each time I tried, which was a little more comforting.
Adam was really awesome in our first days home. He did laundry and dishes. He made me something to eat. He tried to offer suggestions when I was sad or discouraged. I couldn't have made it without him.
My mom & Mandy stopped by to visit that evening.
Sunday, April 10, 2011--Steve & Lindsey's 1st Anniversary!
It was a beautiful spring day outside! But on the inside, I was miserable from horrible constipation. I ended up pulling some of my stitches because of this. My hip was definately out of position. I distinctly remember getting out of the shower and having a huge zit on my back and Adam asked me if it hurt. I said yes, but not nearly as bad as the rest of my body.
Rosie brought us chicken dinners for lunch, and I started to get discouraged because it was so nice outside but I couldn't enjoy it. Finally, Adam told me to just go outside and walk around for a few minutes. I walked around the house and looked at the spring perennials sprouting from the ground, and I cried. I never thought it'd be this hard!!
Meanwhile, the entire weekend, from Wednesday evening through Sunday, the Master's was on TV. Adam was thrilled. He watched it in the hospital and all weekend, so his heart was content with television and a new baby.
Monday, April 11, 2011
During the night for the first week or so, Adam would sleep until about 4 am. I would wake him up and he'd watch Vera until he had to leave so I could sleep a little bit uninterrupted.
As Adam walked out the door to go back to work, my mom walked in the door. She helped me get some breakfast and watched Vera while I showered. I was very slow-moving. We had to go to the hospital for our meeting with the lactation consultant. It turned out to be a very depressing visit. I had a fever, Vera was definately tongue-tied, my stitches had come out (and thank God they don't re-stitch!), my hip was out of position, and they were concerned about my sleep deprivation. They started to talk to us about the baby blues and it's seriousness. As we walked out of the office and waited for the elevator, I started to cry. My mom started to cry too and she gave me a big hug. I didn't even have enough strength to carry my baby in her car seat, and I hated it. I was in bad shape.
As we drove out of the parking lot, my mom convinced me to call the chiropractor. Somehow, through the grace of God, I was able to get an appointment within an hour. We ate Subway in the car in New Bremen. It was raining. I was worried about Vera while I was at the chiropractor, but looking forward to a little relief. It turned out to be a great idea to get adjusted and the doctor was really good.
My mom also convinced me to start making phone calls about getting Vera's tongue clipped. The sooner, the better, right? Dr. Elshoff wouldn't do the procedure, so we had to go to plan B. I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Phil, a pediatric dentist, at Minster Dental Care.
It was a really long day and I was whipped. I called Adam on the way home and told him about the day, fighting back my tears. My mom stayed and helped with laundry and Vera while I took a nap. I finally got to sleep for about 3 hours straight and it felt pretty good. My mom left that day really worried about me.
The rest of the week...
...was filled with doctor appointments, tears and lack of sleep. After Vera's tongue was clipped, life got a little easier. I did a lot of crying and praying that first week. My mom told me after the first day or two at home that the first week "really sucks." And, she was right, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I really believe that after you have a baby you just need help. My mom and Mandy helped a lot, Rosie brought us food and did Adam's laundry, and Adam helped every step of the way. Things started getting easier with each day, and by the second week, everyone was sleeping in their bed at night, and a slight routine (if we can call it that) was established.
We love our little tater bug to pieces and can't even imagine what life would be like without her! Fifteen months later, there you have it. Details I might forget, but an experience that I'm pretty sure I won't ever forget!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Here We Go!
I have been thinking about starting a blog for a long while. It's probably something I should've done a long while ago. I have some reservation and anxiety in starting this endeavor. I'm worried that I will start out with really great intentions, and then as I go back to school and life gets busy, I will forget to post. But, in any case, I have good intentions. I think this will be a great way to archive and share Vera's life and milestones, so someday she can look back and (hopefully) treasure documented events, photographs, funny stories, and her mother's reflections. My mom did an awesome job of keeping up a photo album of my life from birth through graduation. I really treasure that album of old pictures. Because of that, I have also started an album for Vera. I also have done a pretty good job of keeping up her baby book. Unfortunately, her baby book only goes through the first 12 months, and there's definately plenty to document after 12 months. So I think this blog is going to be a great way to remember the details as Vera grows and our family changes. Here we go...
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