I've been watching obnoxious amounts of Jon & Kate Plus 8 lately because all I do is sit on the couch and feed a baby it feels like... And when I'm not feeding a baby I'm sitting and staring at one, or just laying on the couch. But hey, I'm tired and slowly getting used to this schedule and each day gets better and better.
Anyway, Kate Gosselin has inspired me to be a better housewife. If she can do it with 8 kids, I can do it with a newborn. I don't want to hear anyone else's opinions because I think she's a great mom and even through all the crap she's gone through she stuck to her guns and did the right thing. Plus, Jon was weird anyway.
I made a great shopping list and am headed out to the grocery store tomorrow with my mom. Planned some delicious meals and cant wait to try some new recipes! Although I'm sitting here eating a Tostinos Pizza (because it sounded SO GOOD), I love eating healthy, it tastes delish and I feel delish after.
This plan will hopefully make my husband want to come home a little earlier for dinner each day and hopefully make everyone happier including my chill little boy sitting quietly in his swing just looking around. Scratch that last part, he's a very happy boy, I couldn't ask for happier.
EXCEPT when his dad puts his pants on before snapping his onsie so he knows he's wearing a gay unitard.
I could probably write a whole post about stupidness that happens between Aaron and Oakley... but i'll spare the judgment.
Sticking his belly way out. Watching TV with dad. Arms so relaxed!
Now that all of his "things" have fallen off we gave him his first bath in the tub! He looks sad, but he didn't cry too bad, just some wimpering. Much better than the kitchen sink baths.
Face Time, getting better at eye contact and not so cross eyed!
This morning after I fed him he curled up around my stomach and we both took a little nap.
I had some fun messing around with pse today. I was trying to mimic the Nashville Instagram action, I think I accomplished it and I learned a few things!
Valentines Day this year had VERY low expectations (as it always should). I had given birth 10 days prior and we were getting used to our new life.
My mom was in town and we decided to venture off and go to the fancy mall about a half hour away. It was a fun trip, O slept the entire time, and I surprised Aaron with a dressy sweater from H&M even though we had decided no gifts.
He surprised me with an iPhone! and because of that I have been neglecting a real camera and just using my phone. Lets face it, it takes decent pictures when the light is right (since I don't want to blind him with the flash)
So you've all seen these lists on Pinterest of "What's in my Hospital Bag." As a first time hospital stay-er I had no idea what to expect, but I wanted to be prepared! All these items seem very valuable... but I definitely over packed.
I have mixed feelings about this. I bursted all the blood vessels in my face from pushing so make up wasn't going to do much better. I didn't care, and I never used it.
No. 9- Toiletries
I ended up not washing my hair either.. apparently I am gross, but I didn't care, and I didn't feel dirty. My hair is used to going at least 2.5 days between washes so it wasn't a big deal. Plus I used the body wash the hospital gave me because things were very "sensitive"
No. 10- Flip Flops
I didn't pack these, i'm not a germ-a-phobe and our "birthing suite" was very very clean. The building we were in was new so I wasn't worried about nasty showers. Take it or leave it.
No. 11- Big ole Pads
The hospital better give you these because you'll be going through a ton. I also took a whole pack from them home. Take as much free stuff as you can!
No. 12- Cheap Panties
Forget about it. Those mesh panties they give you are awesome.. I actually took some home for the next couple days. The pads stay in place way better in those bad boys. You're definitely not trying to be sexy at a time like this.
No. 13- Non-Slip socks
Eh, I never wore socks the whole time, too hot.
No. 14- Nursing Pajamas
I stayed in my gown pretty much the whole stay, it was easier and I didn't mind. As long as you have a comfy nursing bra to keep from chaffing you're good.
No. 15- Notebook
I wouldn't have used this. Giving birth is a huge experience, I remember it pretty clearly still. I had plenty of time to write it down before I forgot. Plus, you forget some of those traumatic feelings for a reason, let it happen! The nurses are also really good at keeping track of everything for you if you thought you might need it for that.
No. 16- Nursing Pillow
I brought my Boppy. I never used it. Aaron did, but my baby was only 6.14lbs and we were still learning how to nurse so I just held him or used the hospital pillows that were overflowing my bed.
No.17- Nursing Bras
YES. Make sure to bring your most comfortable one. Mine looked like a sports bra.
No. 18- Lanolin
Use this after EVERY feeding, from the very first one. The hospital gave me this, so I didn't pack it.
No. 19- Nursing pads
I didn't need to use these until my milk came in and I was leaking all over the place. No need for them at the hospital.
No. 20- Baby clothes
I packed a couple jammies and he only wore one of them on the way home. I would suggest to pack a preemie and a newborn outfit, just in case. Oakley was too long for premie jammies but he was swimming in his newborn outfit, OH WELL!
No. 21- Blankets
I packed one to keep him warm in his car seat.
No. 22- Outfit For YOU
Cotton yoga pants and an Oakely shirt for me. I only needed one outfit to leave in, I packed a couple but kept my gown on so I didn't use them.
No. 23- Extra Tote
They did send me home with a lot of stuff, diapers, pads etc. They also put it all in a drawstring plastic bag so I didn't pack this.
Other crazy things I didn't use:
Robe, Slippers, Spray Bottle, Stop Watch, Birthing Ball, Diapers & Wipes (use the hospitals, you have plenty of time to buy these), Ear Plugs, Nursing Gown...
Maybe some of these would be nice if I would have been in labor more than 2 hours, but really you don't need much. A toothbrush, chargers, baby needs and an outfit to leave in is plenty!
Giving birth is such an amazing experience and is so different for each woman. As many video's and stories I'd heard about other birthing situations, nothing can prepare you for the unknown.
My Birthing Plan:
Vaginal, Epidural, No poop on table.
Little did I know that my vision of how things were going to go down, was not what my body had in mind.
It was Monday afternoon (Feb 4th, the day after my due date) and Aaron had decided to take the day off to keep me company (since I had a mad case of cabin fever and he could tell I was going legally insane). It was also our one year wedding anniversary and I wanted to make it as special as a nine month pregnant lady could make it. We decided to go to Smokey Point to Best Buy to get Aaron an iPad charger he needed and run to Costco to stock up on all the bulk we may need to be stuck at home with a baby. We stopped at Jamba Juice on the way and got an Orange Dream Machine smoothie for all the walking we were about to do. I had been having mild BH contractions all day (which I had been having for months) so I didn't think much of it. Once we got to Best Buy a little switch in my body flipped and things started to get a little uncomfortable. I continued pretending they were nothing and toughing it out as we looked at all the Apple products and Aaron found the cord he needed. I started to not be able to walk as normal and I figured I just needed to sit down for a bit. We went to a another store and I made Aaron just run in and get what he needed while I waited in the car and sucked down my Jamba. Aaron got back and I told him I was done shopping and wanted to go home because my back was starting to hurt and I wanted to lay down. Aaron begged me to let him go into Costco and get some pizza because he was starving, but I soon convinced him I was done, and we got on the freeway back home.
The next few minutes I couldn't talk through the contractions but I still wasn't convinced it was true labor. Everyone kept telling me "you will KNOW when you are in labor" but I wasn't certain. I decided to call the birthing center and see what they thought. Since my last apt showed I was already at a 3 and 80% effaced they said to come in for a check, but not to get my hopes up. We showed up at the hospital, I walked in and they sat me behind a curtain in a little closet looking cubby hole. It was 6:15p when they checked me and I was still at a 3 but 100% effaced so they made me lay there for an hour before they would check me again.
At this point Aaron ran home to get our bags and carseat since we had gone straight there and was back around 6:50p I was in a lot of pain by this point and showed it by gripping the side of the bed and smashing my face into the pillow. I told the nurses my pain level was at a 4 when I got there and about ten minutes later decided to change that number to a 9. They didn't believe me, they thought I was a wuss. At about 7:00p they decided I was squirming enough to check me again and I was almost fully dilated. They were in shock because "this is your first baby it won't be fast" and "yeah labor does hurt you're just going to have to find a way to cope." Little did they know there was a baby in my birth canal and I wanted a freaking epidural!
They then ordered the epidural, decided to officially admit me, and put in an IV which she did wrong and squirted blood all over the place. She tried to change me into a new non-bloody gown, but I was in back to back contractions of active labor and I would have rather been naked then try to put that stupid gown on.
Soon after they lost the baby's heartbeat (because he was WAY lower than they thought). They found it again, but it had dropped drastically. Nurses and doctors came flying in, stopped telling us what was going on, made me wear an oxygen mask because apparently I kept forgetting to breath, went flying down the hallway into the elevator Grey's Anatomy style and all I remember is a little boy in the distance pointing at me and my entourage saying "woah, what is happening to her."
Don't forget, all of this is happening during back to back contractions and I still hadn't gotten my epidural!
We got up to the room and the stirrups came out, they put a heart rate monitor directly on the babies head and it had gone back up. The nurses calmed down and they seemed to forget that I was still in labor. I felt like I needed to push by this time, and they told me to hold it in. To tell someone in labor not to push is like telling someone to stop peeing halfway through, you can't do it.
The anesthesiologist finally came in, a little too late, and apparently I yelled at him "you should have gotten here sooner!" (I don't remember this at all, but Aaron laughed and said the guy just looked at me and walked out). They gave me a shot of something to try and slow contractions which made me heart race like I had just drank 200 Red Bulls. The drug didn't slow it anything down, especially my heart. The doctor told me I was about to deliver naturally and it was about time to start pushing for real. I heard the nurse telling Aaron the baby would probably be born within the hour and I remember thinking to myself, I'm getting this baby out in the next five minutes.
Aaron said they had tarps on the floor and everyone was in their delivery get-ups which was great because remember that Jamba Juice I sucked down about an hour before... mix that with amniotic fluid and hard contractions..
.
Sorry, that was too much.
A few pushes later, bursting all the blood vessels in my face, and nurses telling me stupid things that weren't motivating...
Oakley Aaron Boren was born! 8:29p (about an hour after they admitted me).
6lbs 14oz 19 1/4 in long
The doctor told me I was about 30 seconds away from an emergency C-section, they were either going to see if they could make it to my room or go straight to the OR.
The true Birthing Plan:
Vaginal, 100% Natural, Did not poop on table
So the moral of the story is expect the unexpected. I can now testify that Orange Dream Machine Jamba Juice naturally enduces labor. There is a reason women forget the feeling soon after birth and the precious little boy in my arms gave me hope that someday (in a very very long time) I may have the urge to do this again (with an epidural for sure). I had just done the craziest thing on earth and Aaron was a witness. Before, Aaron had explained he didn't want to look or even cut the cord. He held my leg and ended up cutting the cord too. He said he had no choice in the moment and it happened so fast that he had no choice. We love our little cuddle bug and he is the best most sleepiest baby anyone could ask for. I still haven't heard him actually cry and he nurses like a pro. He has Aaron wrapped around his finger already and I can't even imagine life without him. But really, who could resist that face!
