Shawna’s Whimsical Weblog

Happy Halloween!

To celebrate turning 5 weeks old, Marshall decided to dress up in his spiffy Frankenstein hat from Aunt Molly. I had also received this black onesie from a group of hand-me-downs from my mom, which is a highly unusual color for baby clothing. But I’m thankful to have it, how else will Marshall be able to perform his baby ninja acts. He really looks up to this guy afterall.

You can really see how Marshall has grown (just look at the picture below from 2 weeks ago). When Molly bought the hat for him 4 weeks ago, his head was swimming in it. In a couple more weeks it will be too small for him (his noggin’s like an orange on a toothpick). I had wanted to get a picture of Marshall with his uncle Brian dressed up as the scary undertaker he plays for the Monster Manor each year, but Marshall decided to take an unprecedented 5 1/2 hour nap on Halloween night. And for our sanity’s sake, we are trying to encourage those long night naps. I still need a picture of Brian with Marshall. Stay posted, I’m sure it will be cute. In the meantime, the October gallery has been updated with pictures from Doug’s visit and more Halloween shots.

I only know one lullaby. As you might have gathered from the title, it’s “Hush little baby”. Since I only know half of it, I’ve started to make up my own lyrics. I figure a hockey stick is as useful to a baby as a mocking bird, diamond ring, looking glass and billy goat are. (Who writes these things??) I figure only knowing one lullaby isn’t such a bad thing. From my understanding, babies really like repetition. When Marshall gets older there will be plenty of time to permanently score “The Wheels on the Bus” into my brain. Oh the aural tragedy!

Marshall went in for his “1 month” doctor’s appointment with La Jolla Pediatrics today. We met with Dr. Warner, whom I really liked. This appointment was a little behind schedule, because we were waiting for his insurance card to arrive.

Marshall weigh-in on 10/30: 10 lbs 0 oz (+ 1 lb 5 oz)
Shawna weigh-in on 10/30: 146 lbs (-3 lbs)

Marshall has also gained 1 and 3/4 inches since birth, so he is now 22 and 3/4 inches long. I had noticed some of his clothing didn’t seem to be fitting as well and I know it won’t be long before he has outgrown some things. Apparently his height is 25% above average, while his weight is dead average. He has picked up the weight-gain pace. Looking at what he weighed two weeks ago, he averaged 10.5 oz per week. I think he had a growth spurt during his 3rd week and that is skewing the average. I’m don’t think I’ll head into the “breastfeeding support group” that some of the other gals I know head to to weigh their babies. As long as Marshall is feeding well, I can wait for his next weigh-in at his 2-month check-up. This is when he’ll receive 3 pokes and an oral vaccination for a lot of different viruses. Yowch! Poor thing.

I headed to my first post-pregnancy yoga class two fridays ago and sadly discovered yet another pregnancy triggered malady. I believe I have minor case of plantar fasciitis (heel and other foot pain) or inflamation/tearing of the plantar fascia ligament that runs along the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciitis can be caused by a number of things, but mine is likely due to 1) added pregnancy weight + 2) poor footwear (swollen feet = flip-flop wearing) + 3) high arches + 4) tight/weakened calf muscles. I don’t think my case is too severe as I only feel the pain on certain foot rotations and while in downward dog in yoga. But this likely pushes my recovery time past being able to play in any of the soccer games this season or go out for pick-up hockey in November. In an effort to be better to my feet I have vowed to head to the Good Feet store in Solana Beach to pick up arch-support inserts. With my recent propensity for foot problems, it’s time to go down this road before the next larger problem arises (be happy I didn’t say “is afoot”.) I cringe at what these inserts will likely cost.

Marshall weigh-in on 10/16: 8 lbs 11 oz (+ 7 oz)
Shawna weigh-in on 10/17: 149 lbs (-1 lb)

I’m 3 weeks old today!

There was a fair deal of inconsolable crying today. I can’t really express how terrible it felt to watch Marshall get circumcised. Even though Dr. Pickering did a very good job of explaining what was going on during the 20-minute procedure, I was still in tears knowing I couldn’t do anything to make the situation better for him. Marshall seems to have already put today’s events behind him and is sleeping and feeding with regularity. Here’s hoping that *I* can hold it together once the protective guaze falls off (in 24-48 hours) and I’m faced with his poor little oozing penis. Steph tells me it’s really gross

And despite our best efforts to snip pieces of Marshall off, he is still gaining weight. He’s up 7 oz from last week which is right where we would hope to see him. As I figured with my last entry in regards to turning me into baby, I’ve lost about a pound. Not exactly the quickest weight-loss program, but I guess that’s why I’ve never seen the “Breastfeeding your way to a size 6″ DVD for sale. This is why I hope to head back to my first yoga class on Friday.

Marshall weigh-in on 10/9: 8 lbs 4 oz (+ 1/2 lb)
Shawna weigh-in on 10/11: 150 lbs (-30 lbs)

Someone really would have lost their head had Shawna had to deal

with another week of swollen feet

Marshall is 2 weeks old today. The nurse that stopped by yesterday from “Welcome Home Baby” says that he looks great! It’s good to see his cheeks rounding out and we’re now able to put Marshall in the Baby Bjorn (he had to be 8 lbs)! We celebrated this fact by taking Marshall out in the Bjorn to do our regular trek around the park. It’s easier than having to take the stroller to go for a walk. However, Marshall passes out when put in the Bjorn (which he didn’t always do in the stroller).

I’m progressively getting better day-by-day. I still have a striped pooch in front, but I’m not overly concerned about it. It takes time for a uterus to shrink back down to normal size. While breastfeeding, you’re supposed to consume an extra 500 calories per day. It’s crazy to think I turn a 1/2 lb of me into baby every week. Thanks Marshall for helping mom out with those extra pounds.

I’m pleased as punch that my feet are actually foot-shaped again. I had actually forgotten how small my feet could be. The shrinkage comes just in time. It’s getting a little chilly out and I’m going to need to be able to wear shoes again. Additionally, no more acid reflux! Danielle, the saint, brought me over my first post-pregnancy beer on Monday. Sweet sweet beer. This weekend I look forward to eating sushi again. I know I might sound crazy being happy over these minute things, but I figure I should focus on the little victories. I realize that my stitches will take the longest to heal. But I am beginning to walk a little bit more and a little bit faster. I’ve even set a goal of 3 more weeks to be back up and running. Yes, literally running. If I can manage that, I should be able to play Tuesday night hockey in November. I haven’t missed hockey that much, but I do have a hankering to pass the ball around. That or I can make the last few matches of my soccer season. I just don’t want to overdo it and end up injuring myself like Sanna did.

It only took me 12 days to finally find the time to catch up with my blog. And during that time I spent some time setting up a photo gallery to showcase Marshall. Technically Doug did the server installation, therefore a resounding “Thanks Doug!” is in order. I’m making the gallery friends and family only. If you’re interested in seeing the pictures, e-mail me and I’ll send you the website link and password. If you want to go one step further and be able to print out pictures through Shutterfly, I can set you up with a login to do so.

I have to say that parenting is grand. In the first week, I found it was more difficult to be recovering from my episiotomy, than it was in being a mommy. Marshall slept a lot and cried only a little. Little did I know he was lulling us into a false sense of security. This is evolution at work. That first week the baby is so cute, you bond with it and THEN when you’ve decided to not leave it to fend for itself, that’s when they start to cry. Tricksy baby-sies.

It would seem that child-rearing is just one milestone after another. These milestones help monitor the health and development level for children. And wouldn’t you know it, I was on the late end of the very first milestone. My breastmilk was slow to come in (just past midnight on the 5th day). The doctor’s at the hospital were concerned because at the weigh in on the 4th day, Marshall was down 10%. Babies typically lose 5-8% of their initial weight before regaining it back. Thus, I begrudingly sent Tim to the store to get formula that afternoon. After just one feeding of formula, wouldn’t you know it? My breasts got jealous and kicked themselves into gear. On the weigh-in on Monday, Marshall was on the upswing. He weighed 7 lbs 8 oz. Next Monday we will have another weigh-in when a registered nurse from the “Welcome Home Baby” project stops by to check in on us.

Last weekend our first set of helpers arrived. Angela brought by a load of meals for us on Friday night. On Saturday, Auntie Molly arrived to stay with us for the week. Molly was super helpful being an unseen, but much appreciated house-cleaner, food prepper, and baby-handler. Hopefully now that I’m more ambulatory, we’ll be able to handle it from here. The next big step will be when Tim heads back to work, which should be sometime in the next 2-4 weeks. We count ourselves as very lucky to have such good friends. Various other “aunties” have come by with food and baby items. There is a definite advantage to having the last baby being born in the year behind Connor and Mattias. Hand-me downs! (Thanks guys!!)

In other milestone news, Marshall is doing well with “tummy time”. He has already been able to lift his head and turn his head from one side to another. He really enjoys sucking and is soothed by a pacifier at naptime. What I’m really looking forward to is when he recognizes our voices/faces. I’m not sure which is going to happen first.

My first baby with his Epidural shirt

As I had come to expect from Marshall, I indeed did go into labor within 24 hours of passing my mucous plug. My water broke around 4:30 P.M. on September 25th (Monday). As per UCSD instructions, I called up labor and delivery and they asked me to come in in the next 2 hours, as I wasn’t yet having any regular contractions. After a shower and a bite to eat (which was a mistake), we were on our way to Sav-on. I had decided to pick up a puzzle book to “have something to do” while waiting for labor to really kick in. Tim took the opportunity to pick up a burrito from La Posta.

We arrived at the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest around 6 PM. The place was packed and we were asked to take a seat outside registration. Tim and I cracked open the puzzle book and proceeded to work on a few. That’s when the contractions started to kick in. They were still very far apart (8-10 minutes and only lasted about 30 seconds). We joked about delivering the baby in the waiting area.

About a half hour later we were moved to a secondary holding pen. Here we waited for a doctor to verify that my water had actually broke. After a few more painful contractions, a doctor came by and determined that in fact my water had broken. I was sitting at about 3 cm dilated. They asked if I wanted an epidural and I reassured them I did. We would now have to wait for a delivery room to open up. We then joked about delivering the baby in holding pen area 2. However as the contractions were getting stronger, I wasn’t becoming so jokey anymore. I was thinking “Where’s the anesthegiologist?!”

Finally, *ha hee ha hee ha hee ha hoo* (short breaths for contractions) a room opened up. It was about this time that I threw up dinner. They really weren’t kidding about eating nothing but ice chips once labor had set in. Silly me for thinking “I’ll need this for my strength…” Thankfully the next visitor was the anesthegiologist. He gave me a practice dosage and within 5 minutes I wasn’t feeling the contractions anymore. It was incredible! They also set up pitocin to regulate my contractions to occur every 2 minutes. However the epidural made my blood pressure drop too low, so I was put on ephedrine to raise that back up. Our nurse Andrea was the bomb (at 7 AM replaced by the likewise kick-ass Gena). She would check in on us every few hours, and remind up to get some sleep. I was too anxious to sleep though. I knew I had many hours of labor still to go, but I don’t know how anyone would be able to sleep when on the precipice of first time delivery.

By 8 AM, I was 10 centimeters dilated. I asked Andrea how long would you expect delivery to be once you reach 10 centimeters, she said 1-3 hours. Doh!! They had me do a few practice pushes and didn’t like what they saw. Every time I pushed, Marshall’s heart rate would drop. They had me try a few different positions (which I was more than happy to do, since I was sick of laying on one side for monitoring purposes). However, no matter what position I took, Marshall’s heart rate would drop upon pushing. They took me off the pitocin to let the baby drop a bit more in the pelvis (to a +2 station) and go for an episiotomy with a forceps extraction. Then they started up the pitocin again and kicked me into a 3 minute contraction. It was then time for more drugs to stop the contraction. By this time it would seem that every doctor and nurse in the place was stopping into our room. One of them was Dr. Simpson, a forceps guru. This was humorous due to the fact that the tool used in delivery is actually called “Simpson forceps”. Needless to say, I was happy he was batting for our side.

At 10:10 AM we headed off to an operating room. Jessica Kingston had stopped by to see if she could help out. After all the other hockey mothers’ glowing delivery reviews, I was happy to have her there. More anesthegiologists arrived for the episiotomy and it was game time. At 10:15 I was instructed to start pushing with the contractions. Everyone in the room was cheering “push push push push push” with the exception of one doctor who was chanting “harder harder”. If I could have knocked that one doctor over the head with something heavy, I would have. Then, “Bam!” 15 minutes later Marshall was born. I was totally dazed (mostly from the drugs), but also because delivery went much quicker than I had realized it would. I must have pushed 6 times tops. But lo and behold I could hear a screaming baby on the far side of the room and there was a teary-eyed Tim beside me telling me what a good job I had done.

The reason Marshall was showing fetal distress on the pushes was because the ambilical cord was wrapped twice around his neck. However, he was looking great now, scoring a 9 out of 9 on his Apgar test. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 12 oz and measured 21 inches long. With 10 fingers and 10 long monkey toes, Marshall had arrived and he was perfect. A few more labor pictures (nothing graphic).