Photos of the birth & Breastfeeding

Today was our 7 day check up (a day early). Which means that we got our birth photos and slideshow! Bryan has to upload the slideshow portion, but here are a few pictures of the birth (none of the ones I post here will be actual birth shots since not everyone needs to see that much of me, these are mostly pictures of Griffin).

But first, the appointment.

G-Man weighed in a 8.8 lbs. The loss of weight is normal, and it wasn't as much as P's weight loss (she lost nearly a pound which was the biggest indicator of our breastfeeding problems).

We are having a few feeding issues, mostly revolving around positioning. Marlene and Kaleem helped us find a hold that works much better for us so hopefully feeding won't be as frustrating. He would pop on and off, which happens less in this new hold. Although a part of the reason for his frustration is that my supply, while adequate, isn't letting down fast enough to keep him eating. So I never feel fully "drained" and nursing sessions last 2 hours (literally). This is really difficult for me to cope with at night, especially since the holds we were using hurt my back. Side nursing at night is possible, but not really practical at this point. I have to use both hands and so it isn't very restful.

So I'm now on Fenugreek and More Milk tincture to help boost my supply. Once I let down more he should be much more efficient while nursing and we should both find nursing to be a much more pleasant experience.

Right now, I do not enjoy breastfeeding. But I'm hopeful that will change with the herbs, new hold, and with time. It is, after all, only day 6.

His gas issue might also be resolved with more efficient nursing. They're not concerned that he hasn't had a bowel movement since Monday, it's not uncommon for newborns (although I will admit that I was worried about it). The increase in supply should get his digestive system moving.

They also showed me a new way to burp, and hopefully that will help.

So things are good. Certainly not perfect, but what is? I'm nowhere near comfortable enough with nursing to do it in public, but that will come with time. For now we'll just hang out at home (although I am going stir crazy). We might go to MSN for music tomorrow, but that's not really "public" and I have no problem nursing in front of the ladies and kids there. They're practically family.

Anyway, here are some pictures. Enjoy!


LONG baby!


Kissing my baby boy


So happy :)


Love that face


Father and Son

Pictures and Growth Chart

So as promised, here are some pictures of Griffin and his growth charts. Most of these pictures have already been posted on Facebook.

Length:


Weight:

Griffin's birth story

Griff just fell asleep so hopefully I can get this finished before he wakes up and needs to nurse.

The week leading up to labor had been filled with irregular contractions, so I figured that I would go into labor at any time. I should have know better! Griffin, like his sister, was right on time. My midwives had 4/16 as my due date in my chart and I had 4/15 (using an online calculator). He was born 4/16 at 2:14am - right on schedule.

The day of 4/15, Bryan, his mom, and I took Penelope to the zoo to see if walking around could get labor started. It worked! At about 7pm contractions picked up and we called our midwives to come over. They got in at around 8:30 and set things up. I labored for another 2 hours or so before getting into the water. I spent some time on my yoga ball, took a shower, and walked around the house a bit to get the baby to drop - for while my contractions were strong and regular, he was still pretty high.

I got into the tub and labored for awhile before asking Marleene to check me. She said I was nearly finished and we could either wait it out or she could break my bag of waters. I opted for her to break my bag... I was ready for things to get going and I hoped that the breaking of the bags would bring the baby down further and I could get to the heart of labor.

It helped! He moved further down... but I was still having trouble pushing. Marleene checked me again and found I still had a little cervix left (like with Penelope). She pushed it back and helped bring him further into the birth canal. It was, without a doubt, the most painful part of labor. But afterward I was finally able to start pushing productively (and I finally threw up, I'm one of those that throws up once I'm ready to push - lovely, huh?). It wasn't long after that he was born! I think I had 10 or 12 pushes before he was out - they were much more intense than they were when with Penelope. MUCH more. I felt like a woman possessed, once he crowned it was 3 pushes and then he was out!

Turns out the reason that labor was more difficult (i.e. it took him longer to get into the birth canal) was because the cord was wrapped around his neck twice. 30% of babies have the cord around their necks, so it wasn't a huge deal - but it did mean that labor needed to progress a little more slowly. Although from start to finish it was a hour shorter than my labor with Penelope. On average a woman's second labor is about half of her first - I didn't quite get that, but if I had the cord/neck issue would have been much more dangerous. Marleene and Kaleem monitored him throughout the labor and his heart rate was always good, so he tolerated the whole experience very well.

I'm so glad we were able to have another successful homebirth. It really is the only way I would want to birth - we haven't left our house yet!

Official stats, 9.1 lbs, 22.5 inches, 38.5 cm head circumference! We decided on the name Griffin Walter Rodgers after about a day.

Penelope seems to be adjusting well, she wasn't happy when my mom was holding Griffin though :)

Ok, he's waking up - more later (pictures too!)

Owls and 39 weeks

The owls are done!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Sarah for letting me borrow her sewing machine today, I was able to get them finished during Penny's nap and after dinner. Here's a picture (and they look 100x better in real life, the camera doesn't do them justice - especially the yellow/orange one).



So one more thing to check off the list.

I also found out today that I passed TPA 1, which is super awesome. Now I just have to work on TPA 2. It's a lesson plan and I've always gotten high marks on those, so I'm not too worried. I do have to make some calls and e-mail people in order to figure out how they want me to submit the TPA... I should have e-mailed the lead professor on Monday, but it was one of those days. And then Tuesday just *sucked*. Bryan got some really bad news at work and I don't think I thought of school at all. I should have done it today, but I finished the owls. Excuses, excuses.

Tomorrow my Dad has Penny for the morning/afternoon so I'll be able to focus on school stuff. It's so much easier to work on school work when I'm not at home (I hit up Starbucks and spend the morning in their very uncomfortable chairs).

Anyway, TPA 2 is tomorrow's priority.

Tomorrow also starts the 39th week of pregnancy. So it's time for comparison pictures.

39 weeks with "&"


And 39 weeks with Penelope


Not quite the same angle, so it's hard to get a real comparison... but at 39 weeks with Penelope I wasn't interested in standing unless absolutely necessary. I'm much more active this time around, but probably only because I have to be - Penny doesn't let me lounge around in my sweats. She's so demanding :D

Speaking of which, here's a picture of her from Tuesday. Bryan's grandma sent her this really cute dress and I figured since we didn't have anyplace fancy to wear it, we might as well make Tuesday Dress-Up Day.





Sometime this weekend I need to go through P's closet and pack away all of her 24 month sized clothing. They don't fit at all - they're all much too short (although not too tight). Some of her 2T stuff is also a little small... today she wore a 3T outfit and it fit quite well. She's still mostly in 2T, but any new clothes we buy will have to be 3T. She's getting so big so fast!

Her next Pediatrician appointment is at the end of May and I wouldn't be surprised if she was close to or slightly over 36" by the time we go. I need to get her one of those wall hanging measurement thing so we can keep track at home.

Should be very interesting to see how the two kids compare growth-wise...

Baby Betting Pool

So it's getting close, and I've been meaning to set up a betting pool for this baby... we had one with Penelope and it was fun (my Aunt Allison won, bragging rights only, but still!).

I thought about setting up a pay account so people could actually win money, but that seems like a bit of a pain in the butt.

What do you think? Should I set one up this time around? Pay or free?

Head up, head down

So I've already posted this on Facebook, but since this blog doubles as the kids' baby books I figured I should post about it on here as well.

Wednesday was our 38 week prenatal appointment. Everything was pretty normal, but Kaleem was concerned that the baby seemed to be breech. Since I have a LOT of water, it was a little hard to tell, but the heart tones were up very high and the baby's movement had changed over the past few days. So we scheduled an ultrasound for today to double check and so (if baby was indeed breech) we could work on trying to turn him/her before delivery.

I was really nervous about the whole thing. For whatever reason I've had a lot more anxiety with this baby than I ever did with Penelope... I think it's because there's so much else going on. Grad school, unemployment, Bryan's weird work situation (short story: they suck), and not having insurance combine to make me a little on edge. So the possibility of a breech baby/delivery was really difficult for me to contemplate. A complication I really didn't need.

So Thursday wasn't a very good day for me (mental-health wise) and I was a bit of an emotional wreck. I got a lot of great advise from friends about yoga positions, acupuncture, chiropractic work, etc that have helped women turn babies, and Kaleem was confident she could turn the baby if necessary; but I was still a little freaked out and very stressed about the whole thing.

I had a heart to heart with "&" before bed on Wednesday and Thursday and told him/her that Mommy would really appreciate it if he/she would flip back and get ready for labor. I know I had told the baby last week that I wasn't ready for his/her appearance, but flipping back would really make Mommy feel better. I also told "&" that he/she could come whenever he/she was ready - I wasn't finished with all of my work, but that was less important than his/her safe arrival.

Movement Wednesday night and Thursday was all over the place and frequent. Friday morning it seemed as though baby had changed position, but I though he/she might be transverse.

Before we went in for the ultrasound, Kaleem felt my belly and told me she was pretty sure the baby had flipped and was now head down and in the perfect birthing position.

So we went in, the tech spent a few seconds checking and confirmed - baby is head down!

PLUS, he/she is in the perfect birthing position. There are a few ways babies can present, but one is ideal for delivery - and "&" has positioned itself perfectly. Mommy is so proud!

It was a huge relief - for everyone! But it really helps my stress level. I still have work to do, but I'm ready for the baby to come whenever he/she is ready. I know I can get my work done on time no matter when this baby decides to show up - so I'll just let baby be my guide.

My contractions and the pressure have increased throughout the day, but I don't think labor is imminent. A couple days, a week, two weeks... who knows? I'll get as much done as I can and then I'll finish things up after baby arrives. My Mother In Law will be out to help, my mom will be here, my dad is always available, and Bryan should be able to take some time off. I know everything will get done... eventually. And the most important thing is a healthy baby and delivery, and the timing of that I shall leave to "&".

Mommy is ready whenever you are baby!


Oh - and we've narrowed our names list. So here it is:

Girls: Isadora, Calliope, Athena, Jolie (that one is new)
Boys: Dexter, Milo, Griffin

Introducing & and many other things

So a few days ago we decided that no matter what the gender, we'd name New Baby "&" so we could still be PB&J.

The symbol.

It was, of course, a joke. But the nickname has stuck and New Baby has been re-christened "&". So he/she shall henceforth be referred to as such... and the poor thing will likely be stuck with the nickname well after birth.

Little & is doing quite well, he/she is moving around a lot especially when I'm holing Penelope. The extra pressure on his/her ever shrinking home (well, it's not shrinking, he/she is just getting larger) can't be very comfortable. I try not to hold Pen too much, especially since holding onto her for more than 5 minutes becomes an exercise in arm muscle endurance.

So I'm currently uploading a ton of video... some is of Penelope watching various Muppet Show clips on my laptop - there's some she find absolutely hilarious, there's also some of Christmas, and of Penny WALKING!

The last few days Bryan has been working with her on walking and she's getting really really good. That's probably the only video that I'll edit and upload. The rest will be dumped onto the external hard drive and Penelope can look at it when she's older. The Muppet stuff may end up here, but the Christmas stuff isn't too terribly interesting. She enjoyed herself at Christmas, but wasn't super excited - 12 months is a little early to understand the whole present concept. It's mostly just Penny & I opening her presents, not exactly thrilling :)

Christmas Eve & Christmas went well - Penelope certainly had a good time. X-Mas eve was at my grandmother's house, x-mas morning was at my parents, and then we drove up to Reno to spend x-mas day with Bryan's family. The drive was quite pleasant in the new Rav4 and Penelope slept the whole way there (and the whole way back - yea Pen!). She got a lot of clothes and toys that she loves, although I think her favorite is a book called The 12 Dogs of Christmas - it's pictures of a bunch of dogs. Surprise, surprise, she LOVES it. She'll turn the pages, say "dawg" and then laugh - it's pretty cute (well, nearly everything she does is pretty cute).

Oh, and her top right molar is peeking through, just a few of the points right now but I'm going to count it. If I can feel actual tooth then it's an official tooth :) She now has 11 teeth and there are two more making their way in. At this rate she'll have a full set in a few months! All this teething means she ends up in bed with us nearly every night - usually right around 1am. But it's ok, teething won't last forever and one day Bryan and I will get our uninterrupted sleep back (the day after which I will probably go into labor and then we'll be screwed on the sleep-front for another year plus).

Alright, so here's video of Penny walking... I'll also upload to Facebook since for whatever reason when this blog is automatically uploaded to my Facebook page the video doesn't transfer. Enjoy!