Baby post

Well, life with a baby is definitely intense and more different than my previous life than I could have ever guessed. I never thought going from being a full time student and having a job to being at home all day with a baby could be so hard! I love Lily more than anything, but I have to admit - it seems like all I do is sit around and feed her. And then wait until she's hungry again. Granted, the fact that she's not supposed to go anywhere (doctor's orders) makes it way harder. Otherwise we'd be walking to the library every day. But for now, we are stuck in the house unless we go somewhere with dad and one of us waits in the car with her. I am getting more stuff done than I used to now around the house than before. It's hard for me to put her down, though! She is so cute. She has recently started smiling more and making little talking noises. So adorable. Although she also is spitting up most of what she eats! Yet she is still getting chunkier and chunkier.

Her sleeping is getting better. I thought we were going in a great direction when two nights in a row she slept for a 6 hour stretch. But last night she barely went for 3 hours. But that's better than the 15 minutes she sometimes slept before. So we are getting more sleep and hopefully she'll keep up the good sleeping habits.

First Bath/Walk

Today was a big day for Lily! She had her first real bath, in a tub, and she loved the water. She just sat there calmly while we washed her and just enjoyed it. But she did not enjoy being cold and wet when we took her out. But we dried her off quickly and put her in some fleecy pjs. She is so cute! Now she smells great.

After the bath we stuck around the house for a bit, then decided to go on a walk with daddy. We returned the dishes that the ward dinners were brought in. It was kind of a hard outing for me since I haven't really walked or done any exercise for almost 2 months. It felt good to be out though.

Here she is in her stroller.

Lily is so cute! We love her so much, it's crazy. Here's just a cute picture of her.

Life with Lily

Being a mom is nothing like I thought it would be. It's the most amazing thing I've ever done, yet I've never been more exhausted and emotional in my life. I'm hoping the emotional thing goes away soon, it seems I cry at least once a day. Breastfeeding is hard, with weird side effects that I was not expecting. But it's one of Lily's favorite things to do. Some nights are easier than others. For example, last night she wouldn't sleep in her bed for more than 30 minutes at a time. I finally just got some pillows and went out on the touch with her and she slept for hours in my arms. Which wasn't so bad except I can never sleep soundly when I'm holding her. Every movement and noise causes me to wake up and make sure she's ok. Brady thinks I'm crazy and a 'hover mother' because I never want her to go in the swing or stay in her bed if she's awake. Which, I'll admit, does make it hard to do anything but snuggle her all day so I'm trying to be better about putting her down once she falls asleep. I just love her to pieces and want to be with her all the time.

We put her in her room and have the monitor in our room now. I hate waking up to her crying but if she's in the room we never sleep. She is such a noisy sleeper! Makes noises non-stop. I guess it'll get easier. She's only just over two weeks old. And by easier I mean it'll get easier for me to put her in her bed when she's sleeping, etc. I doubt the sleep deprivation will get any easier. The lack of rest is finally catching up to me, I was on baby high for the first two weeks but now the late night feedings are really terrible. I can barely stay awake, which is ok, but mothers probably know what I mean.

But the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. When I pick her up from bed she smiles and after I feed her she looks up at me and smiles. She is just the cutest thing ever. Seeing her with Brady is so great. It's hard not to squeeze her to death! Anyway, life as a mom is still unbelievable. I can't believe I have a daughter and that I can now call myself a mom. It's fantastic even if we haven't really been anywhere but the doctor. She told us on Monday that we shouldn't go anywhere either, since it's flu season so I guess we're staying home. Although I think maybe we'll try to get out and go for walks soon since I'm feeling almost 100%.

She weighed 9 lbs 12.5 oz at her 2 week appointment. At her 4 day appointment she weight 8 lbs 10 oz so she is definitely plumping up! And she'd grown 1.5 inches. It's hard to believe she's already getting so big!

Lily is Here!

Lily Nicole Redfearn was born September 25th at 12:49am in the morning. She was 9 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches long. She was 5 days late, well technically 6 days. We went in on Friday to get a non-stress test to make sure the baby was doing alright. Everything looked good but her fluid was low, I think Brady said it was 2.8 when it needed to be 5. So the nurse who was doing the test said she was calling the doctor and that she thought I should be induced that day. We weren't expecting that! So we ran home so Brady could shower before we went over to the hospital. I was given pitocin at around 2 pm on Friday. It took forever for it to get me to a 4, most of the day actually, but once we hit 4.5 dilated it went super fast. The next hour when they checked I was a 6.5 and then the next hour the doc came in and said it was time to push. I pushed for almost exactly an hour and she was out! I did get an epidural and it was totally worth it. This is right after we got to the hospital.

So that is basically the story. I was in labor about 11 hours, so not too bad. Lily is now 1 week and 3 days old. We had my parents here right after she was born and now Brady's mom has been here almost a week, she leaves on Thursday. Our fridge and freezer have never been fuller from meals that both my mom and mother-in-law have been making. I'm tired but not so exhausted that I can't function. It seems like I should be more tired. Maybe my body still doesn't know that it's supposed to be tired. Anyway, Lily is awesome. I still can't believe she's here! Brady can't either and is so cute with her! We're both doing well now and hopefully that'll continue. I feel better everyday and can't wait until I'm totally healed so Lily and I can go on walks before it gets too cold and rainy. Here are a few pictures of her, there are more on facebook.

3 Days Overdue

Yes, I am still pregnant, for those of you wondering. I went in to the doc on Monday and he said that I was finally dilated to a 1 and he tried, somewhat successfully, to strip the membranes so as to help labor along. I think I have had some contractions, finally, since then but they are sporadic at best. We'll go in for a non-stress test on Friday to make sure the baby is doing alright and then we'll have our regular appointment on Monday if nothing has happened by then, which I'm not optimistic it will. At that point he just said they'd try to do some encouraging things to my cervix. On the bright side, he said there are no health problems going on, which is why we didn't set an induction date I think, so we're just kind of waiting for her to decide it's time to come. The only thing wrong is that I'm not dilating. But, after weeks of nothing, it's a good sign that something is happening, even if it is small. I never know if this is too much information to put on a blog but I'm doing it anyway, so whatever. My blood pressure was way down too, almost back to normal. I think my body has forgotten it's pregnant. And no, I'm not really in that great of a mood because I'm still pregnant. Everyone I know that was due in September has had their babies, all of them weeks early. Except me. So, anyway, I guess we know that my little girl is stubborn and has a mind of her own and will not come out for anyone. Not even for mom who cries daily at her plight. I'll update again on Monday, as I will no doubt still be carrying this little girl inside me.

39 Week Appointment

Absolutely nothing to update. Still not dilated to even 1. Blood pressure is holding. So hopefully we'll see some action soon! Sometime this week, I hope. If not, we go back in on Monday and the doc said we'd probably induce about a week after my due date. Hopefully that means Friday and not Monday. Brady wants to have the baby on a weekend so he doesn't have to miss too much class, if any. So, if everyone could please pray that the baby decides to come this week that would be great. I have been having anxiety attacks from my nervousness about having the baby and not knowing when she'll come. Because of said anxiety attacks, and the middle of the night hunger that hits so badly that I'm nauseous, I've been up since 4:30 this morning! Lovely. I'm not even tired yet. I'm wide awake and feeling kind of crazy. Anyway, that's all. Boring, I know, but how do you think I feel? And poor baby is getting so big; I feel like she doesn't have any room in my short torso to move anymore! But I suppose if she doesn't like it she can decide to come out anytime.

38 weeks 2 days

Had my doctor's appointment today. Still only dilated to .5 (like I have been for the past 3 weeks). But Lily is growing like crazy still. She moves non-stop and it feels like she is trying to bust out. Yet I haven't had any contractions and I feel very far away from giving birth. My blood pressure is up a little more but still under the danger zone of 140/90. So, I have a feeling she'll either be right on time or late. No such luck for a week early. Which will be sad for my Aunt who is getting married on the 17th and my brother in law who is getting married on the 18th. Oh well. I doubt we would have gone anyway. I wouldn't want the baby around so many people right away. But this waiting game is hard! I just wish I had a strict date. A due date is pretty much worthless. And I want to hold my little girl. The doctor said she was a good size. I'm really hoping she doesn't get to 10 lbs like Chloe, but every day she's in there she's getting bigger and bigger! Well, we'll see. My mom didn't really have anything happening before she went into labor with us. When she went into labor the baby came within 7 hours. So maybe I'll get lucky and be like her! But it's probably too much to hope for. Anyway, another update next Monday after my 39 week appointment.