6 Weeks

Isla is 6 weeks old today. While it has been a long 6 weeks, it has also been wonderful. I will admit that those first three weeks were miserable. The lack of sleep was worse than I could have imagined and the post partum healing wasn't exactly fun either. However, it was really nice having my mom here the first week and Ryan's mom here the week after. It was a relief to be able to hand Isla off after nursing (which felt like all I was doing) so I could go back to sleep or get something to eat.

Each week has gotten better and better though. We are starting to get into a routine, although I'm still not sure where most if the days go. It's like I look up and it's 4pm and I didn't accomplish anything that I had planned. I've basically learned to lower my expectations and just try to get one thing done each day, but sometimes even that one thing doesn't get done. I do try and take photos as much as I can because I know it will go by so fast. Here are a couple...










A lot of times Isla wants to be held in the afternoon/evening or else she screams. So I bought the Moby which is basically just a really long piece of fabric that wraps around you and the baby so you can wear your baby. It is a little hard to get used to but it allows me to get some stuff done while still keeping her happy. I would recommend buying it from a store though so someone can show you how to put it on. I never thought of myself as the baby wearing type, but I've decided I'm whatever type will keep her happy and QUIET!

Isla also really likes her bouncy seat and I would like to hug whoever came up with that one! The jury us still out on the Mamaroo. Sometimes she likes it and other times she just fusses and kicks her legs until I take her out. Maybe she will like it more later on.

Here she is in the bouncy seat.



Overall things are going really well. Isla is doing well and seems to be pretty happy so that makes us happy.


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Isla 1 Month!

Well I still don't have much time for blogging, but hopefully I will get caught up eventually. Right now I'm still using any free time to try and nap! Isla turned a month old last week. While it is hard to believe she is a month old already, on the other hand it seems like she's been here a lot longer. Here are some pictures we took this weekend. Thank you Great Aunt Stacey for the adorable dress!
















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Isla's Arrival

On Tuesday June 7th, I started having contractions around 6am. Ryan and I debated on whether he should go into work, but we decided he would work in the morning and then go with me to my 1pm appointment. By around 8 I was thinking my water had broken. I called the doctor's office and from what they described I figured I might just not be able to control my bladder due to the contractions. We packed our bags and took them with us to the appointment. Well my water had broken so I was admitted to L&D around 2pm. I was only 2cm at the time but I knew they would want me to deliver within 24 hours due to my water having already been broken. I made it to 5cm before getting the epidural, but really the contractions never got to the point where they were unbearable. Getting the epidural was no big deal compared to the scary idea I had in my head. Once I had that, I really didn't care what was going on. It is amazing! It did slow down my labor though so I had to get pitocin to speed things back up. I started pushing around 5am and Isla was born at 6:24am June 8th weighing in at 7lbs and 5oz and was 20" long. She is perfect and has a full head of hair! She was so alert that first day and it was amazing to watch her take everything in.

I'll try to write more as I get time and will get all caught up (eventually)!


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Week 39

Nothing much more to report this week. We've basically just been playing the waiting game. This was my first week of maternity leave and it was pretty nice. I was worried about being bored so I made sure I had something to do each day. I worked on cleaning one room of the house each day.The time ended up going by a lot faster than I expected. I did accomplish most of the items on my to do list though. Now I'm not sure what I will do this next week! Maybe I'll finally get caught up with Gossip Girl and read some books.

Isla is doing well as far as I can tell. I'm still doing a kick test twice a day. One day last week, Ryan freaked me out by telling me about a lady that was 8 days away from her c-section and lost the baby. So then I was paranoid that she wasn't moving enough. We ended up going out to buy a heart rate monitor to hear her heartbeat. I would not recommend this product. It was pretty much a waste of $30. We eventually found what we think was her heartbeat, but it took forever and we mainly just heard static. Also by the time we did all that, I felt Isla move the recommended 10 times so she was fine.

We had some friends over on Saturday evening. This helped to motivate us to really get the whole house picked up. Now if we can just keep it that way for another week or so. I also tried out some of the old wives tales for inducing labor. Ryan tried massaging the pressure points on my ankles and I made the famous lemon drop cupcakes that are supposed to start labor. So far nothing has worked. I'm pretty sure that Isla will arrive when she is ready and nothing we do will change that! I have a dr appt today, and hopefully my next post will be about Isla's arrival!


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Week 38

This week was my last week of work before starting maternity leave. We are required to start our leave 2 weeks before the due date. It will be nice to have the time off and focus on Isla's arrival instead of work. I'm also glad since I am so sick of my maternity work clothes. I can't wait to pack them away. I think I will start saving now so that when I loose the baby weight and go back to work I can get a new work wardrobe! It will be strange though to not be working for the next 12 weeks. I don't think I've had that much time off since I started working at 16! I know once Isla arrives there will be plenty to do, but until then I'm just trying to find ways to stay occupied.

Isla is still the size of a watermelon and may gain weight, but won't really get much bigger (thank goodness)!

Since we aren't supposed to leave the immediate area, we stayed home for the holiday weekend. I sucked it up and got a maternity swimsuit even though I swore I wouldn't. We went to the main neighborhood pool a few times and I was reminded why I used to pay extra to go to the adult only pool! It was certainly a different experience, but I guess we need to get used to all the screaming kids!

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Week 37

Well we are all still here! Honestly, it really would have sucked to make it through 37 weeks of pregnancy just for the world to come to an end. I would have been pretty pissed! We hit several big milestones this week. First, Ryan and I have been married now for 4 years. It is really hard to believe that 4 years ago we had just gotten married on Peter Island in the B.V.I. and our toughest decision was what cocktail to have next! Things have certainly changed. It's a little scary to think that our decisions now will affect more than just the two of us. Second, we made it to 37 weeks which means Isla is now considered full term and can be safely delivered any time now. Third, we made it to the three months that I needed to be at my current job in order to get the 12 weeks paid maternity leave! It is a big relief to have made it past that deadline.

Physically I'm pretty much feeling the same. My swelling hasn't gone down at all and I can't wait to have ankles again. I haven't had any contractions yet, not even Braxton Hicks ones. Any time I turn over or get up I usually make a noise and Ryan is on high alert as to whether it is a contraction. He says he is ready for Isla to come now. I'm not so sure. I think if she waits another 3 weeks that will be ok with me. It's still hard to fathom she will be here by then. That has always been something that will happen in the distant future and now it's more like the immediate future! Yikes! People keep asking if we are ready, which I guess we have all the stuff, but how can you really know if you are ready for something that will change your life so profoundly? But I guess, ready or not, here she comes!!!!

Week 36

This pretty much sums up how I am feeling most of the time now... worn out. I had a doctor appointment on Monday and everything was good. I was tested for Strep B which about 1/3 of women have. I haven't received the results yet, but if I do have it I will need to take antibiotics while in labor. The doctor also checked to see if the baby's head is down and it was. Hopefully she stays that way for another month. I am feeling her movements more and more now. I can tell she is getting stronger and running out of room. She usually gets in several good shots to my ribs each day.

On Saturday we took an infant care class at the hospital. It was a pretty good class. The teacher hit on all the high points like swaddling, diaper change, baths, and infant CPR. I'm feeling a little more confident but still pretty nervous.

I think I've started to get the nesting bug. Today I packed a diaper bag, finally took some bottles out of the package so we can wash them, and we made a run to Target to pick up the remaining stuff we think we need. The whole plan in going to Target was to use our 10% off registry completion coupon, but of course I realized I left it at home as we got in line to check out! We also put together a diaper change caddy for the basement and a bath caddy. We plan on using the kitchen sink for the first few weeks while we are doing sponge baths. I've started to pack for the hospital. I have most of my toiletry items packed and I packed Isla's going home outfit, blankets, etc. I can't believe she will be here in a month. Even though it feels like I have been pregnant forever, it is still pretty overwhelming that soon we will be a family of three!