Revisiting One Year Ago... Landrick's birthday!

A few days after Landrick was born I wrote down my labor/delivery experience so that I could remember it... and perhaps someday share it with Landrick. Here's a few parts of what I wrote...

November 7th 2009 –

I woke up on Saturday morning around 6:30 to get ready to work MSU’s open House. Sam dropped me off at ADUC around 8:30am and I spent the next two hours speaking to prospective students about MSU and financial aid resources. I did not feel very well that morning. Sam picked me up and took me home. When we got home I took a long (1.5 hrs) walk with Mom and Nikki. When we finished Sam picked me up at Nik’s house (I was watching the kids play in a leaf pile) and we went to Lowes. After going to lowes we stopped by Dairy Queen and got Chocolate Malts (something sweet to hopefully stimulate baby to move and break my water). I went home, drank the malt, ate lunch and sat on the birthing ball in the living room while working on homework and watching the UK football game.

That evening I decided to make a nice supper for Sam (homemade Chipolte style chicken burritos, a decision I almost immediately regretted once I went into labor.. hehe:). After supper I cleaned up the kitchen and went back into the living room to watch TV and hang out with Sam. Around 7:20pm I felt the first contraction and looked at Sam and said – I think I just had a contraction. I marked the time and then five minutes later I had another, another followed 5 minutes later and another 5 minutes after that. I called Mom and asked her how many contractions I should have five minutes apart before heading to the hospital. She said it would probably be a while, maybe a few hours and just to keep track of them. I got off the phone and a few minutes later Nik called and said that she was coming over. Once she got here she ‘watched’ me for a few minutes (10 or 15) (while I was still having contractions 5 min apart). I knew that these were the real thing because the ‘stopped me in my tracks’. (I was always secretly afraid that I wouldn't know when I had a contraction... that thought makes me laugh now!) Nik finally looked at me and said – yes, you need to go now. I decided to take a quick shower before we left. Once I got into the shower my contractions were 3 minutes apart and I knew it was definitely time to go. Sam was showing nikki the sound element on the pack and play and I finally had to tell him to put the stuff in the car (without freaking him out completely). Nikki then took some photos of me and my belly and Sam before we headed to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 9:30pm (after Sam was stressing about getting there in time and I was stressing about him driving too fast). When we arrived I’m not sure that the nurses or check in people really thought that I was in labor… they did not seem too concerned. When I got into my room the nurse told me to get my gown on and put my clothes in this clear bag (making sure not to leave it on the back of the bathroom door in case I forgot about it). I couldn’t get the gown on (even with Sam’s assistance) so the nurse had to help me.

She made me get in the bed and hooked me up to a fetal monitor and a toco monitor. She got my blood pressure and asked me a bunch of questions (while I’m having contractions – which was bizarre to me). She asked if I had a birth plan and I said no (still not thinking that I had to have one, but she seemed a little put-off that I did not). I told her that I was going to try to have the baby naturally and I did not want any statol (regardless). She asked if I’d had a natural child birthing class and I said no… just the class that was offered by Central Baptist. (I did not know that I should have had a natural childbirthing class). She then mentioned that someone would be back to give me an IV and I told her that Dr. O’Nan said I did not have to have one. She said it was hospital policy but did go and check. Another nurse came back and took my vitals and was going to give me an IV when the other nurse came in and said I did not have to have one (which I was happy about).

A few minutes later she checked me and I was 7-8 cm dilated (which I think surprised her even though I told her I had been 5 cm dilated the previous Tuesday). Then we just kind of labored – Sam went and moved the car. The nurse got a birthing ball (I asked if I could walk around and she said no) and tried to find a rocking chair (which she could not locate). I was in the bed for a little while and then moved to the ball with Sam behind my back. I got back into the bed at some point and sat on my hands and knees (which really didn’t do anything for me, except make me feel a bit exposed;).  At one point (rather early on) I did look at Sam and say – I’m not sure I can do this – and he looked at me and said –yes you can. That was the only lapse of confidence during the laboring process that I had.
I then started having pressure in my bottom and feeling the urge to push. My water still had not broken and I was 10 cm dilated but had not thinned out completely. Stacy came in and checked me and said that I still needed to thin out a bit before I began officially pushing. A few minutes later I was fully thinned out so she told me that I could push and it would hopefully break my water. I pushed a bit and my water still did not break. Sam held my right leg and the nurse held my left. (Sam was awesome the entire time – very supportive and did exactly what I needed him to do).Stacy then decided that she would break my water herself to help me progress a bit. I had been pushing and the water bag was bulging but she had to break it because it would not break on its own. (Sam said that was kind of gross to him – but rather interesting too.) Once my water broke I was able to feel like I was making a bit more progress.
Pushing was hard (yes the contractions hurt but I had the hardest time with pushing). I felt like I was going to pass out due to having to hold my breath to push. The nurse started counting and I definitely needed that to keep me focused on how long I needed to push. She wanted me to get 4 pushes in per contraction but Sam said my first two were the only ones that really ‘worked’. I watched a little progress at first but then had to keep my eyes closes between contractions to keep me posted. It took about a ½ hour for me to get baby’s head out 1/3 of the way and another 30 minutes to push him out completely. I felt rather discouraged and kept apologizing for not being able to push better. It was also odd because my contractions were not regular once I began pushing – sometimes I had 4 or 5 minutes in between, which I thought was weird.) I also had severely chapped lips! I was thirsty but had a hard time with the ice chips because I worried that I would be eating one when a contraction came and would choke. Sam was so very encouraging and so was Stacy. She kept telling me that I was doing so well and said that I could teach a natural child birth class. She could not believe that I had never had any classes or anything. (Of course, that is exactly what I needed for encouragement, as I love to be the best at anything I try to do haha!)

I kept telling myself that the baby would come within the next 3 contractions… I could make it through three contractions. At one point I do think that I temporarily blacked out (or did go to another place almost like a dream) because when I ‘woke up’ and opened my eyes it took me a minute to realize that I was having a baby. Finally after about an hour of pushing we delivered Landrick at 2:00am. They placed him on my chest and it was awesome. I did not cry but it was the most amazing thing ever. I was super tired, but so very happy. They took him to clean him up and weigh him and Sam went with him while Stacy tended to me. Once I pushed him out it was instant relief. I did not have any more contractions. I did have a second degree tear and a bit of a bleeding problem so they had to give me two shots of pitocin and then another shot of something else (in the butt) a while later.

I had done it without any pain medication beyond a local shot before Stacy began stitching me up after Landrick was born. While in the hospital I had two motrin the entire time. One around 4:00am and another the night before we left to come home.

I was able to feed Landrick for the first time within an hour of giving birth and he latched on immediately. I fed him for 15 min on each side and then we brought the family back to meet him (about 3:30am). We then moved to the Mommy/Baby area around 4:30am.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Thinking back a year later there are only a few things that I would do differently next time...
 
#1 - I regret not having someone in the room to take photos as soon as Landrick was born.
#2 - I wish I would have brought something for the nurses to put Landrick's foot print on that I could take home with me to frame.
#3 - Next time, I would like to go into labor during the day... so I'm not so tired! haha. Although I have NO control over this one I just thought I'd throw it in there anyway! hehe
#4 - I wish that Sam had personally gone to the waiting room to share the news that we had a baby boy... and perhaps video tape the response:)
#5 - I would not have eaten chicken burritos if I knew I was going to go into labor.
#6 - Next time I will bring CHAPSTICK!!!
#7 - I wish I would have had professional newborn photos taken of Landrick... although we have LOTs that we took (and some are super awesome), I wish we would have had some with all three of us in them.
 
What I have learned in the last year... well just a few major things because I could write books on everything that I've learned... :)
 
- Just because you have a child does not make you an expert on parenting... before I had Landrick I thought that every Mom was an instant parenting expert.... I've learned that you'll always have lots to learn.
 
- You have to do whatever it takes to make it through and don't beat yourself up over it... as long as baby is safe, it's okay if you don't do 'what the books tell you' to do.
 
- Life takes on a totally different perspective and you suddenly can relate to what other parents have told you or talked about in the past.
 
- Priorities instantly change... for the better.
 
- As a parent you are in a constant emotional struggle between being so very excited for your child's next milestone, but at the same time so sad that they are growing so quickly.
 
- You can be having the worst day in the world, but just thinking about your child makes that day better in an instant.
 
I love being a mom.... it's the best thing that has ever happened to me.

New and improved 'jammies'

Last night Landrick, Sam and I went to eat with some friends. Although I was rather worried that he would not be on his best behavior, especially since we would be out a little after his bedtime... he was SUPER. He flirted with one of the girls who sat with us, he 'played' with some college kids at the table behind ours, he smiled and babbled the whole time and ate allllll of his supper! What a SUPER baby boy he was... and of course, I loved the fact that our friends (and some newly found friends) oooooooed and aweeeeeed over him... every mothers dream:)

We arrived back at the house about 8:15, which is 45 minutes after Landrick's normal bedtime, so I went ahead and asked Sam if he would change landrick and put some pjs on him while I got ready to feed him... a few minutes later I walk by Landrick's room and see Sam tickling landrick, hear Landrick laughing, and hear Sam saying 'my little gorrilla'. Curious I walked into the room and saw that Landrick had a black fleece outfit on... I immediately was confused, as I did not recognize the outfit (and as most mothers will attest... a mother knows every single clothing item their child has) so I asked Sam what it was. As the words escaped my mouth I suddenly realized what Landrick was wearing and began to laugh... a lot.

Sam and mistaken part of a pumpkin Halloween costume (the 'undersuit' per se) for pajamas....

Needless to say, Landrick slept in 1/2 of a Halloween costume last night!!! ;)

The other 1/2 of the pumpkin halloween costume!

Not-so-tasty bug

Well little man finally ate a bug (well the first one that we actually know of at least). Sam sent me a text message at work to let me know that Landrick threw up all over the ottoman... because he got choked on a bug that he ate. Sam saved the bug for me to 'inspect' (he's saved Lan's poo for me to inspect before too... just call me Mom/Inspector I suppose;). It appeared to be some sort of beetle bug... maybe around three quarters of an inch long. Yuck! It was probably alive when Landrick tried to eat it and maybe even tickled his throat on it's way down, thus causing him to puke. Or, maybe it was because he choked on it. Either way, that's just plain gross! ;)

11 months already

When I was leaving Jackson last night around 6pm I received a call from Sam... his first words to me were 'well, I committed a stroller faux pas'. At first I didn't know exactly what he meant, but his explanation quickly followed. Basically, he had forgotten to lock the break on the stroller wheel and when he went to shut and lock our front door the stroller rolled off of our porch (which is only about 4 inches off the ground), bounced sideways, and fell over... with Landrick strapped inside. Landrick escaped with a boo boo on his forehead.. but I think Sam walked away a little more shaken up. On a positive note... I'm sure Sam won't forget to use the wheel lock in the future.

Let's see... some interesting and memorable things about month 10:

Landrick still LOVES books. He's started to get so excited while reading that he will look up at me between pages and smile the biggest smile and shake his little body in anticipation/excitement.

He's started using the 'more' sign... just today actually... but has used it A LOT!

He's no longer drinking from a bottle. Although I think he doesn't get quite enough milk from the sippy cup, it's been an easy transition.

He's been eating more and more 'table' food... he loves pasta, sweet potatoes, salsa (yes I said salsa), garlic hummus, stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, chicken, mushrooms, beef, barley, rye bread, bananas... and lots more. He's not too fond of broccoli, but will eat it.

He's still crazy-obsessed with Toy Story and loves to play with his Woody doll. He still gives it kisses and the Woody on his play mat as well.

He loves to go for walks, even when it's chilly or hot outside.

He loves chimes... it makes him smile from ear to ear to gently 'ring' the chime in his bedroom.

He gets super excited to see his Mommy when I come home from work. If I don't almost immediately go over to him and love on him a bit as soon as I get home he gets quite upset (almost fit throwing).

He loves to play with the magnets on the fridge and tries to 'stick' them on everything else.

He stood on his own for the first time unassisted and is cruising like crazy!

He really is a super happy baby... loves to laugh and giggle!

That's all I can remember off of the top of my head... if something else comes to me I'll add it later! :)

Peek-a Who?

So Landrick is completely obsessed with books and I am LOVING every minute of it! When he was younger it was hard for me to grasp the idea that he couldn't sit still long enough to make it through an entire (short) book. But now (when reading the 'right' one) he will sit on my lap and let me read an entire book to him... multiple times. He gets SO excited!!! I LOVE IT!

Yesterday afternoon I put all of the books that he had 'read' the night before (there were probably 15) back on his bookshelf. I put his favorite book, Peek-a Who?, up last making sure that it wasn't easily seen... I was curious to see how long it would take Landrick to find it that afternoon.

Well the little man did not disappoint. I picked him up from the sitter, took him to his room, changed his diaper and then set him on the floor. He immediately crawled over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book. Not just ANY book... his Peek-a Who book!

All I can say is never underestimate how smart and attentive a baby is... I never realized just how much babies pick up on and retain until little man came along. Crazy.

Some of Landrick's other favorite books include, Ruff Ruff Where's Scruff, Baby Farm Animals, Peek-a-boo baby, and several more that I can't remember the names of!! ;)

Sickness...

Well I'm glad that we were at least blessed with about 10 months of a sickness free Landrick, as it appears that once he gets sick... he just stays sick. We've been dealing with him no feeling 'himself' since just before labor day. First it was Strep Throat... poor little fella. That was the most miserable that I've seen him. Of course, we went on antibiotics for the strep and on his last day of antibiotics, we noticed that he'd developed Thrush. We took him to the doctor again last Tuesday for Thrush and they gave him some anti fungal mouthwash and told his to swab the 'infected' areas twice a day for 7 days. Well it's virtually impossible to swab the tonsils and uvula of a 10 month old... so you just have to stick the q-tip in there, swish it around and hope for the best. Then squirt the rest of the dose in his mouth in hopes that he'll swish it around before swallowing. So we just finished the Thrush meds yesterday, but noticed for the past several nights that he's not slept well and had a cough.

Last night he couldn't breath out of his nose at all... it was quite sad to see him so very sleepy but so very frustrated at the same time that he couldn't breath out of his nose.  He just laid in the bottom of his crib and cried with his eyes shut. After about 10 minutes of rubbing his back and patting him (and him still crying) I picked him up and that seemed to help a little. He was still trying to go back to sleep but because he could not breath through his nose he was having a hard time of it. I turned the hot water on in the shower and sat in the dark bathroom for a little bit hoping that the steam would loosen things up for him. Then I sucked his nose out and applied some baby vicks... It helped a little bit but not too much. I think the congestion is no in his nose but rather his sinus cavity. I ended up holding him in the recliner and patting his back till he fell asleep (that was a first).

I'm a bit irked because he's had congestion problems since he was VERY little but the doctor shrugged it off as no big deal (maybe just a little allergy). In my opinion, however, I think it is a big deal when it keeps him from being able to sleep at night. I mean, if I was so congested that I couldn't sleep I'd probably try to see about getting that taken care of. Blah. It's times like these when I wish I was the doctor so I had the knowledge needed to diagnose the little fella... either that or I need a pediatrician that I know that will just tell me point blank whether or not I'm just being paranoid.

I guess I'll call the doctor and try to take him in for the 3rd time in 4 weeks... I just want him to feel better... even if the doctor thinks that Sam and I are just acting like typical parents act... sigh.

On an unrelated note... Landrick has been grinding his teeth. I first noticed him doing this on Saturday while we were at the Arts Festival. It's quite funny because when he does it he looks like a little bulldog. I try to get him to stop, as it can't be good for his teeth, but that's a little tricky.

Tub Time

A new post has been loooooooong over due... in the past (almost) month since my last post Landrick officially hit the 10 month mark, had Strep Throat, attended his first wedding (while suffering Strep), REALLY started loving books, started squatting with his bottom off the floor, lets go of things while standing and stands on his own for several seconds, slept through the night (and did it 5 nights in a row), learned how to open the cabinet doors in the kitchen (and pull everything out;), and currently has Thrush (thanks to the Strep antibiotics). Shew! I'm sure that's not all, but those are the things I could think of in the last 20 seconds! Oh... and he's starting to eat/try more and more 'table' food. (He love, love, loves rye bread!)

Tonight, however, one of his actions warranted a post... so here I am, about to brag on my baby boy.

After eating supper (and getting it everywhere) I gave Landrick a bath. As previously noted in other posts, he wants to stand up in the tub CONSTANTLY. Tonight was no different; therefore, after telling him to sit on his bottom multiple times I decided bath time was over and removed the plastic lid that I use to stop up the drain (the little metal thing is jacked up and too much of  headache for me to deal with). I placed it in the pitcher next to the tub that holds some of Landrick's bathtub toys, etc.

As soon as the water started draining, Landrick sprinted (well... crawled quickly) from the other end of the tub to investigate. He frantically swiped his hand back and forth over the drain and then immediately pulled up on the side of the tub, reached down and grabbed the plastic lid (aka drain stopper) and tried to put it back over top of the drain.

When he started to pull up I almost scolded him for the 100th time to sit on his bottom... but then realized what he was reaching for and decided that I would let it play out to see exactly what he did. I was quite surprised that the clearly knew where I kept the drain stopper and exactly what it's purpose is... wow. I'm impressed. Of course, I don't doubt his intelligence, but he is after all only 10 months old.... I guess he was motivated by the fact that he was not ready for bath time to end!

Love, love, love that baby boy!!!

Brave baby boy

Well lots has happened in a short period of time... so I'll just post some random thoughts/milestones just so I don't forget them later on.

As of last Saturday morning, Landrick is the proud new owner of two top front teeth. The next two (outside of the front two) are swollen and ready to poke through any day as well. Sam looked at Landrick's little top teeth, got a worried expression on his face and said 'um, they are really far apart'. I had to reassure him that that was normal.

Landrick had his first successful bath in the 'big tub' this week as well (Monday night) and tried to literally jump out of the bathtub. Luckily, I caught him before his head hit the floor. He was just squatting there in the tub with his arms over the side when he decided to jump toward some of his toys that were on the bathroom floor. I had been prepared for him to pull up and slip over, but the whole 'jumping' aspect caught me a bit off guard!

Later on that night Sam was trying to get him to sleep... after 20 minutes of unsuccessful attempts, I walked into Landrick's room where he was standing up in his crib. When he saw me he said 'meme meme meme' and lifted his arms up (like he wanted me to pick him up)... so I guess that means that I'm 'Meme'.... it was really cute.

Today was his nine month check-up and we saw a 4th new doctor... Landrick was 18 lbs 11 oz and 29.5 inches long. Still super high on the height chart, and way below average on the weight chart. Nothing to worry about though... just a string bean of a boy. The doctor did tell Sam and I that we needed to establish a set bedtime... and eliminate his 'middle of the night' feeding. She looked at Sam and told him that meant he would need to get up with Landrick when he woke in the middle of the night... we'll see how that goes over. Sam's not gotten up with Landrick in the middle of the night since he was probably a week old... so I'd imagine it will be a bit hard at first (for both Landrick and Mommy).

This week Landrick's started eating some 'real food' and toddler snacks (wagon wheels, little crispers, etc.) It's sooooooo cute to watch him eat these... He'll pinch them with two fingers on one little hand and then as he approaches his mouth he'll tilt his head back a bit and reinforce the hand that contains the food with his other hand and then rapidly shove the food toward his mouth. He still misses 4 times out of 10, but he gives it a great effort. Most often we'll find food stuck to him in random places now... it's funny.

Landrick's also learned how to 'beat the system' when it comes to his teething rails on his bed... he simply chews on the bottom of the rails and pulls on the teething covers with his bottom teeth. He's a smart little man, that's for sure.

That's all for now... I think. ;)

Big Boy Bath and A New Little Tooth Sprout

Well after struggling with bath time for the past few weeks (Landrick wants to stand up every 3 seconds in the tub) I finally took the advice of a friend of mine and bought a rubber bath mat and just put him in the big tub with about 2 inches of water. He seemed to really like it. After he got is 'sea legs' he was happy as a little lark. For the majority of his bath time he tried (and tried and tried and tried) to pull the drain lever down. Fortunately for Mommy it wouldn't budge... to be honest, I can't even get it to move so Sam has to let the water out of the bathtub. Landrick was very diligent in his effort... but didn't get mad when it didn't work the way he wanted (which is always good).

After at least a week or two of seeing Landrick's top four front teeth bulge under his little gums, I finally felt his top right front tooth peeping through his gum line. I know the other three are not far behind... I'd prefer for them all to come in at about the same time and just get it over with... but we shall see. Last night it was the second night (after the first little tooth popped through) that was the roughest... so I guess we shall see!

The Little Adventurer

I blinked and my teeny tiny little baby boy grew into a nine month old big baby boy who can crawl like nobody's business, jabber all day long, play with toys like a little 'human', pull up on anything taller than he is, and almost stand on his own. What happened???!!??? It's almost like life hit the fast-forward button on me... it's crazy. He pulled up for the first time on July 20... and then that Saturday crawled for the first time (trying to get to the vaccum). Now he's crawling from room to room with ease, crawling over any obstacle that gets in his way, pulling up on things and letting go as if he thinks his mommy is ready for him to be standing on his own. Wow... that's all I can say.

Landrick has started eating the little gerber finger 'snacks', which is SO very cute. He works will all of his little might to pick them up and get them to his mouth, only to miss his mouth most of the time. Then he chases the little bits around his face and hands and onto the high chair tray with his little tounge out. It is so very cute and so very funny.

He does not like 'chunky' baby food, as it makes him gag. My great little eater has turned into a rather picky little eater. We're trying to get him to embrace the sippy cup, but he's not quite on board with that either. (Of course, this is left primarily up to Sam since I still nurse him when I'm home.)

He's started to recongnize his room as where he sleeps, which means that sometimes he gets a little fussy in the evenings when we go into his room to play... I think he realizes it's getting close to bed.

Bathtime is hard because he wants to stand up in the tub ALL THE TIME. I find myself repeating 'you have to sit on your bottom in the tub' over and over and over... and I have to chuckle. This baby boy is brave... are all baby boys like that?

All four of his upper front teeth are quite swollen and I expect them to pop through any day. I know that they have to be bothering him, so although I'm not ready for him to have so many teeth, I know he'll feel better once they've come in.

He's getting better at giving kisses and I love it! The other morning he was playing on his Toy Story mat and leaned down and gave Buzz a kiss and then crawled over and did the same to Woody. It was sweet... he is sweet...

We've moved him to a bigger carseat in the 4Runner (still facing the rear though of course) and he now always sits up like a big boy in carts and resturant high chairs. Although, he looooves to twist around and sit cockeyed in the buggy, hiking one leg up (normally his left) into the seat with him. But, this is how he normally sits in the stroller as well.... with his left leg propped up on the 'arm rest' thing.

The other day Sam and I watched some video of him that we filmed the day he was born... and we both cried. Although it feels as if he's always been with us, it feels like just yesterday he was born.