Hey everyone!! I'm actually posting on time this week:)
Our little girl is 3 weeks old today and she is doing great!!
Thomas left on Sunday for a week-long UAV seminar so I drove to Jacksonville to stay with my parents! I figured I better take advantage of having my momma so close and not have to take care of Lily by myself all week! It has been a wonderful visit! On Monday Lily got to meet all of her grandma's co-workers that just ate her up! On Tuesday she spent the whole day with Thomas' parents and got to meet a few people from our church! And today we spent some time with my great friend Kassi and her 5 month old son! It was so great to be able to share my blessing with so many people that loved and prayed for me throughout my pregnancy!! And to see Kassi's son and how big he has grown in the 5 months makes me so excited for Lily's future! I love her so much and think she is pretty amazing right now... I can only imagine how special it is going to be when she can laugh and play! I'm a lucky lady:):)
Thomas is flying home sometime Friday and we are very excited to see him again!! It's so hard to know that he is away from his baby girl, even if it is only for a week! But he is being so blessed at work and really learning so much and doing great things so we know that it is for a reason and that the separation will pay off in the long run!!
Lily has been sleeping in her car seat this whole time and is just starting to fuss around... so I'll see how many pictures i can get up before i have to change her diaper and feed her again! But I hope you are still enjoying the blog and checking in to see our pretty lady grow each week!! Thanks again for all the support and prayers!! It means so much:0)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Two Weeks Old!!
Time is just moving too fast!! I can't believe my little girl has been here that long! I guess since we've been so busy with family visiting off and on the whole time that it has just flown by!!
Thomas' mom, brother, sister and 2 friends came to visit over the long weekend! It was the most people we've had at our house at one time so I was a little overwhelmed! But it was nice to have everyone together since that doesn't happen very often:) We pretty much just sat around the house for a few days and enjoyed the company but once everyone left I had to get out of the house! It was tough just sitting on the couch for 4 days feeding the baby! So Thomas took me out to dinner. Lily does so great in public! I know it's only been a few weeks and that my time for a public meltdown is probebly right around the corner... but so far she has been so amazing to take out with us!! We have a sling that Thomas carries her in (my chest is too big at the moment for it to fit right lol) and she snuggles down in there and sleeps the whole time:)
Wednesday Lily had her 2 week appointment with the pediatrician! She made the biggest mess in her diaper ever right before we were supposed to undress her for the scales!! Thomas had a good time trying to clean that up!! You should have seen the look of amazement that all of that nastyness could come out of such a little baby when he walked out of the bathroom!!! It was priceless!! The appointment was basically just to check Lily's weight gain! And I am sooo happy to say that she gained 8 ounces in 8 days and is back up to her birth weight!! She looks cute too... with her big chubby cheeks like her momma!!
Everything is going smooth still! Nights really aren't that rough on us. She's sleeping with us in the bed and I think that is making it easier for me. I breastfeed laying on my side so having her right next to me means Thomas doesn't have to get up to get her everytime she's hungry, she can just whine a little to wake me up and I can dose off while she eats and then she can just fall asleep after she's done and burped! So that makes those 45 minute feedings a lot easier to do through out the night:)
She got a swing this weekend as a gift and she actually enjoys it!! She hasn't been in it very much because she's still a little small for it! But we put her in it a few times when she's awake and she just sits there and looks around:)
Thomas' mom, brother, sister and 2 friends came to visit over the long weekend! It was the most people we've had at our house at one time so I was a little overwhelmed! But it was nice to have everyone together since that doesn't happen very often:) We pretty much just sat around the house for a few days and enjoyed the company but once everyone left I had to get out of the house! It was tough just sitting on the couch for 4 days feeding the baby! So Thomas took me out to dinner. Lily does so great in public! I know it's only been a few weeks and that my time for a public meltdown is probebly right around the corner... but so far she has been so amazing to take out with us!! We have a sling that Thomas carries her in (my chest is too big at the moment for it to fit right lol) and she snuggles down in there and sleeps the whole time:)
Wednesday Lily had her 2 week appointment with the pediatrician! She made the biggest mess in her diaper ever right before we were supposed to undress her for the scales!! Thomas had a good time trying to clean that up!! You should have seen the look of amazement that all of that nastyness could come out of such a little baby when he walked out of the bathroom!!! It was priceless!! The appointment was basically just to check Lily's weight gain! And I am sooo happy to say that she gained 8 ounces in 8 days and is back up to her birth weight!! She looks cute too... with her big chubby cheeks like her momma!!
Everything is going smooth still! Nights really aren't that rough on us. She's sleeping with us in the bed and I think that is making it easier for me. I breastfeed laying on my side so having her right next to me means Thomas doesn't have to get up to get her everytime she's hungry, she can just whine a little to wake me up and I can dose off while she eats and then she can just fall asleep after she's done and burped! So that makes those 45 minute feedings a lot easier to do through out the night:)
She got a swing this weekend as a gift and she actually enjoys it!! She hasn't been in it very much because she's still a little small for it! But we put her in it a few times when she's awake and she just sits there and looks around:)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
One Week Old!!
The week just flew by!! Our little girl is already a week old!!
Everything is going pretty smoothly! She is still on the same schedule as she was in my tummy... sleep all day, play all night! But it's not that bad! She sleeps for a good 4 or 5 hours between feedings! I know they say it should only be 2 or 3 hours but when she eats she eats for an hour or so!
We had a check up on Tuesday and the doctor said she looked great and was putting on good weight! But she still has about 9 ounces to go until she is back to her birth weight so we have to go back to have her weighed on the 3rd!
My mom was here with us until yesterday! She was a huge support for me! She made sure Thomas and I did most everything ourselves but was constantly reassuring us and spent every second she could snuggled up with her grand baby!! It was hard to see her go but we made it through our first night completely alone at home and I know we are going to be ok!!
Lily got a bath yesterday and her umbilical cord has already fallen off!! It made me pretty nervous (I worry about every little thing) but again, my mom assured us that it looked great! I can't believe it's gone already though! I guess that is just a little glimpse at how fast she is going to grow up! Seeing her without that cord there makes her look so much older! But I am so thankful for her health and progress!!
The dogs are doing great with her! I was worried that they might think she was a squeaky toy or something... but they are surprisingly protective of her already! Rocco could almost care less about her until she cries but Mya wants to be around her all the time! I don't think the cats have even noticed that she's here!
This weekend we're going to have a house full again! Thomas' mom, brother and sister are coming up tomorrow and staying through Monday and two of Thomas' friends from high school might come up as well! So we're looking forward to Lily meeting her Aunt Kelly and Uncle Zach for the first time!!
Thomas is on leave until the 6th but it looks like they will be sending him to a course that Saturday! We're not sure of all of the details yet like where or how long it will be but I was pretty nervous when he told me about it! His squadron is going to be sending him off a lot here soon... he will probably be gone the whole month of October for training in Navada and for a week at the beginning of November for some other course in California!! But that just means there's an excuse for me to go back and visit Jacksonville and show off Lily to everyone there!!
I'm not sure if I'll come at the beginning of September while Thomas is gone or if I'll wait until we can both come down together but I promise as soon as we get settled in here and get this whole "parent" thing down, we'll have her there for everyone to see!!
Everything is going pretty smoothly! She is still on the same schedule as she was in my tummy... sleep all day, play all night! But it's not that bad! She sleeps for a good 4 or 5 hours between feedings! I know they say it should only be 2 or 3 hours but when she eats she eats for an hour or so!
We had a check up on Tuesday and the doctor said she looked great and was putting on good weight! But she still has about 9 ounces to go until she is back to her birth weight so we have to go back to have her weighed on the 3rd!
My mom was here with us until yesterday! She was a huge support for me! She made sure Thomas and I did most everything ourselves but was constantly reassuring us and spent every second she could snuggled up with her grand baby!! It was hard to see her go but we made it through our first night completely alone at home and I know we are going to be ok!!
Lily got a bath yesterday and her umbilical cord has already fallen off!! It made me pretty nervous (I worry about every little thing) but again, my mom assured us that it looked great! I can't believe it's gone already though! I guess that is just a little glimpse at how fast she is going to grow up! Seeing her without that cord there makes her look so much older! But I am so thankful for her health and progress!!
The dogs are doing great with her! I was worried that they might think she was a squeaky toy or something... but they are surprisingly protective of her already! Rocco could almost care less about her until she cries but Mya wants to be around her all the time! I don't think the cats have even noticed that she's here!
This weekend we're going to have a house full again! Thomas' mom, brother and sister are coming up tomorrow and staying through Monday and two of Thomas' friends from high school might come up as well! So we're looking forward to Lily meeting her Aunt Kelly and Uncle Zach for the first time!!
Thomas is on leave until the 6th but it looks like they will be sending him to a course that Saturday! We're not sure of all of the details yet like where or how long it will be but I was pretty nervous when he told me about it! His squadron is going to be sending him off a lot here soon... he will probably be gone the whole month of October for training in Navada and for a week at the beginning of November for some other course in California!! But that just means there's an excuse for me to go back and visit Jacksonville and show off Lily to everyone there!!
I'm not sure if I'll come at the beginning of September while Thomas is gone or if I'll wait until we can both come down together but I promise as soon as we get settled in here and get this whole "parent" thing down, we'll have her there for everyone to see!!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Lillian Michele
I know you all have been waiting for these!! your first glimps of gorrrgeous Baby Whitten:):)
Lily's Birth Story!
Our baby girl is finally here!! She was born Wednesday (August 20th) morning at 4:46 weighing 7 pounds, 4 ounces and was 19 and a half inches long! She has a full head of daddy's brown curly hair! She couldn't be more perfect! We are so amazingly proud that we get to raise this beautiful baby!
Labor and delivery were a surprise! My water ended up breaking Tuesday morning while I was in bed!! And since the doctors usually like you to deliver the baby within a 24 hour window to reduce the risk of infection, I had to be put on pitocin to get my labor started. I was initially dilated 1 cm and was 60% effaced! Thomas and I walked the hospital for a few hours hoping to get the contractions coming on their own but we had no such luck! Our families got there as i was starting the pitocin around 7:30 but it wasn't working because my IV was done wrong earlier in the day... so around 8:30 they redid the IV and upped the dosage of pitocin! The contractions were constantly 2-3 minutes apart from the start and were mainly in my back! Everyone hung out in the room with me, watching the Olympics while I labored and Thomas and my mom helped me with my breathing and relaxing through the contractions! I was pretty tired from the start since my water broke a little before 11:00 and I had been going strong all day long... but labor wasn't all that bad and I was able to get through each contraction with their help!!
They cleared the room of everyone but my mom and Thomas around midnight and checked my cervix. I was only dilated to 2 and a half so they gave me an Ambien to try and get some sleep. But all that did was make me more drowsy and nauseous:( They eventually gave me some other medicine to counter the nausea and I was able to sleep between contractions for a while! I think I even slept for 4 minutes straight one time! And that felt wonderful!! Around 4:00 I wasn't able to sleep at all and it didn't seem like I was making very good progress so i wanted some IV pain medicine so that i could at least get an hour or so of good sleep since i figured i would be laboring for a lot longer. Once they gave me the medicine I started feeling a lot of pressure in my bottom. I figured I needed to use the bathroom since I was sure I wasn't ready to push. But the contractions got very intense and right on top of each other and my back felt like it was on fire! I asked to be checked again since the pressure was getting worse and I was dilated to 6 cm! I happy to have made some progress, but I knew had to of had a good 4+ hours of this hard labor ahead of me and there was no way I was going to be able to go through that for very much longer! My body started pushing but everyone was telling me that it wasn't time yet because I was only 6 cm... but I kept telling them that i either needed to push or they needed to let me go to the bathroom!! But I couldn't stop pushing so i asked for the epideral. I figured the only way I was going to be able to stop was if I couldn't feel the pressure any more! So the midwife checked me and I was already to a 9 and just had a little lip of the cervix left! I kept trying not to push, but was anyway and they checked a few minutes later and i was fully dilated and the baby was on her way out!! I pushed for maybe a good 10 minutes before she was born at 4:46! I had gone from 6 cm to birth in half an hour:):) The first dose of IV pain medicine never even had a chance to kick in! So I felt everything and in essence, had my pain med-free birth I had planned for!!
Giving birth was amazing! As soon as she came out I said "Oh my God, i just had a baby!"... I was a little loopy from being so exhausted lol! The midwife put her on my chest and she was just so beautiful! My parents and sisters and Thomas' mom were all in the room to see her come into the world! Thomas' dad and step mom didn't get back to the hospital in time for the birth since she came so fast but were there to see her shortly after! I was in and out of conciseness since all of the drugs were starting to hit me on top of me being so tired! The midwife followed our birth plan and waited until the umbilical cord had stopped pulsing (so Lily got every drop of blood God intended for her) and Thomas got to cut the cord! They took her to get checked up and cleaned off and she was great! She needed some time to get her temperature regulated and had a bit of a heart murmur... but those are perfectly normal since she was 2 weeks early and a few hours later she was fine!! Thomas got to give her her first bath and everyone passed her around and loved on her while I slept! I came in and out for a few hours until they moved us to our recovery room and then we all crashed!!
They wanted us to stay 2 days in the hospital since she was early. The first night it was just Thomas and I with the baby and it went really well! I was a little nervous about being overwhelmed but it just came so naturally to me! Lily and I learned how to breastfeed together that night and Thomas was so amazing!!
Friday morning they took Lily to get all of her blood work done so we could be discharged but it came back that she had jaundice so we were going to have to stay another day:( And she was going to have to spend it under special blue lights to help her levels go down! She had also lost 10% of her body weight so they wanted to check her levels and her weight the next day and hopefully let us go home! That was a pretty rough night. Lily had to be naked, except for her diaper and these cloth goggles so she was a little chilly and uncomfortable! We couldn't hold her any longer than it took for me to feed her and for her to get a diaper change! Saturday morning they came and tested her again. Her levels had gone down but not enough and she had lost a little more weight so again we had to stay. This time they were going to check her at midnight and if her levels were low enough they would take her off the lights and check her levels again around 6 in the morning! Saturday was a lot easier on us! Lily did so much better with dealing with the lights and she ate and used the bathroom like a pro!! We were all counting down the hours until midnight to find out if she was doing better! And when they brought my baby back to me all swaddled up and in her own bassinet I was so amazingly happy!! I sat up with her most of the night and couldn't believe how lucky i was to be her mommy! She is just so beautiful:) That morning they checked her again and cleared her to be discharged!! We had to sit around for a few more hours waiting to actually leave but once I signed those discharge papers we were off!!
Our first day and night home went very smoothly! My dad and Hunter are here now as well (my mom was with us the whole time in the hospital... she is an amazing mother to do that! It wasn't easy sleeping in the recliner I'm sure!) Thomas and I took care of her last night without any help! I fed her a billion times and he changed just as many diapers!! But this morning I don't feel tired... just blessed! She slept on my chest the whole time I wrote this and she is just the most beautiful example of love I have ever seen! Thomas is amazing with her and to see him love her makes me love him so much more! We waited for this for a long time and to have this little girl sleep right between us at night is truly a dream come true!
I just want to thank you all again for following me through this pregnancy! This blog really was a great project for me through the deployment and the last few months of pregnancy! The love and prayers we got from all of you was overwhelming!
Labor and delivery were a surprise! My water ended up breaking Tuesday morning while I was in bed!! And since the doctors usually like you to deliver the baby within a 24 hour window to reduce the risk of infection, I had to be put on pitocin to get my labor started. I was initially dilated 1 cm and was 60% effaced! Thomas and I walked the hospital for a few hours hoping to get the contractions coming on their own but we had no such luck! Our families got there as i was starting the pitocin around 7:30 but it wasn't working because my IV was done wrong earlier in the day... so around 8:30 they redid the IV and upped the dosage of pitocin! The contractions were constantly 2-3 minutes apart from the start and were mainly in my back! Everyone hung out in the room with me, watching the Olympics while I labored and Thomas and my mom helped me with my breathing and relaxing through the contractions! I was pretty tired from the start since my water broke a little before 11:00 and I had been going strong all day long... but labor wasn't all that bad and I was able to get through each contraction with their help!!
They cleared the room of everyone but my mom and Thomas around midnight and checked my cervix. I was only dilated to 2 and a half so they gave me an Ambien to try and get some sleep. But all that did was make me more drowsy and nauseous:( They eventually gave me some other medicine to counter the nausea and I was able to sleep between contractions for a while! I think I even slept for 4 minutes straight one time! And that felt wonderful!! Around 4:00 I wasn't able to sleep at all and it didn't seem like I was making very good progress so i wanted some IV pain medicine so that i could at least get an hour or so of good sleep since i figured i would be laboring for a lot longer. Once they gave me the medicine I started feeling a lot of pressure in my bottom. I figured I needed to use the bathroom since I was sure I wasn't ready to push. But the contractions got very intense and right on top of each other and my back felt like it was on fire! I asked to be checked again since the pressure was getting worse and I was dilated to 6 cm! I happy to have made some progress, but I knew had to of had a good 4+ hours of this hard labor ahead of me and there was no way I was going to be able to go through that for very much longer! My body started pushing but everyone was telling me that it wasn't time yet because I was only 6 cm... but I kept telling them that i either needed to push or they needed to let me go to the bathroom!! But I couldn't stop pushing so i asked for the epideral. I figured the only way I was going to be able to stop was if I couldn't feel the pressure any more! So the midwife checked me and I was already to a 9 and just had a little lip of the cervix left! I kept trying not to push, but was anyway and they checked a few minutes later and i was fully dilated and the baby was on her way out!! I pushed for maybe a good 10 minutes before she was born at 4:46! I had gone from 6 cm to birth in half an hour:):) The first dose of IV pain medicine never even had a chance to kick in! So I felt everything and in essence, had my pain med-free birth I had planned for!!
Giving birth was amazing! As soon as she came out I said "Oh my God, i just had a baby!"... I was a little loopy from being so exhausted lol! The midwife put her on my chest and she was just so beautiful! My parents and sisters and Thomas' mom were all in the room to see her come into the world! Thomas' dad and step mom didn't get back to the hospital in time for the birth since she came so fast but were there to see her shortly after! I was in and out of conciseness since all of the drugs were starting to hit me on top of me being so tired! The midwife followed our birth plan and waited until the umbilical cord had stopped pulsing (so Lily got every drop of blood God intended for her) and Thomas got to cut the cord! They took her to get checked up and cleaned off and she was great! She needed some time to get her temperature regulated and had a bit of a heart murmur... but those are perfectly normal since she was 2 weeks early and a few hours later she was fine!! Thomas got to give her her first bath and everyone passed her around and loved on her while I slept! I came in and out for a few hours until they moved us to our recovery room and then we all crashed!!
They wanted us to stay 2 days in the hospital since she was early. The first night it was just Thomas and I with the baby and it went really well! I was a little nervous about being overwhelmed but it just came so naturally to me! Lily and I learned how to breastfeed together that night and Thomas was so amazing!!
Friday morning they took Lily to get all of her blood work done so we could be discharged but it came back that she had jaundice so we were going to have to stay another day:( And she was going to have to spend it under special blue lights to help her levels go down! She had also lost 10% of her body weight so they wanted to check her levels and her weight the next day and hopefully let us go home! That was a pretty rough night. Lily had to be naked, except for her diaper and these cloth goggles so she was a little chilly and uncomfortable! We couldn't hold her any longer than it took for me to feed her and for her to get a diaper change! Saturday morning they came and tested her again. Her levels had gone down but not enough and she had lost a little more weight so again we had to stay. This time they were going to check her at midnight and if her levels were low enough they would take her off the lights and check her levels again around 6 in the morning! Saturday was a lot easier on us! Lily did so much better with dealing with the lights and she ate and used the bathroom like a pro!! We were all counting down the hours until midnight to find out if she was doing better! And when they brought my baby back to me all swaddled up and in her own bassinet I was so amazingly happy!! I sat up with her most of the night and couldn't believe how lucky i was to be her mommy! She is just so beautiful:) That morning they checked her again and cleared her to be discharged!! We had to sit around for a few more hours waiting to actually leave but once I signed those discharge papers we were off!!
Our first day and night home went very smoothly! My dad and Hunter are here now as well (my mom was with us the whole time in the hospital... she is an amazing mother to do that! It wasn't easy sleeping in the recliner I'm sure!) Thomas and I took care of her last night without any help! I fed her a billion times and he changed just as many diapers!! But this morning I don't feel tired... just blessed! She slept on my chest the whole time I wrote this and she is just the most beautiful example of love I have ever seen! Thomas is amazing with her and to see him love her makes me love him so much more! We waited for this for a long time and to have this little girl sleep right between us at night is truly a dream come true!
I just want to thank you all again for following me through this pregnancy! This blog really was a great project for me through the deployment and the last few months of pregnancy! The love and prayers we got from all of you was overwhelming!
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