One Week!

Our big man, Adam, is a week old today! Here's a recap of his first week.

Being in the hospital was hard. It was difficult to get any sleep between trying to nurse Adam and having so many hospital employees come in: the nurse, nurse's aid, OB, pediatrician, lactation consultant, nutrition, literacy promotion, child welfare callback program, housekeeping. I'm probably forgetting a few.    And most of these people come into the room several times a day. I felt like whenever we had a little downtime and were trying to rest, someone knocked on the door.  The hospital is not a restful place.

It was nice to finally go home, but a little daunting. If I had questions I didn't have the nurse or doctor to ask. However, I've been pestering Hannah with most of my questions and she's been very kind to answer all of them :)

Adam has been having more awake time as the week progresses. At first it was just cry, eat, sleep. Then we had a half hour of awake time without eating and no crying. And then an hour. And then a few times a day he is awake and is not eating or crying.  Wow, this little guy is fun to be around!

Breastfeeding is challenging.  In the beginning, I was establishing my milk supply.  Adam would nurse but only received a small amount of nourishment.  As this was new for both of us, I had no idea if Adam had a good latch or not (which is essential for good breastfeeding).  On the first day I asked the lactation consultant to come by three times.  She also came by every day we were in the hospital.  It is just so hard to know if breastfeeding is "working" and if we are doing it well.  The other difficult part is that I'm the only one that can nurse Adam.  I can't have Jeff feed Adam in the middle of the night in my place.  Roughly we feed every three hours for an hour at a time.  At night that means I can get an hour and a half or two hours of sleep before an hour of being awake.

Adam had a fantastic check-up yesterday.  Adam was 8 pounds 5 ounces when he was born and was discharged weighing 7 pounds and 11 ounces.  It is normal for babies to lose up to ten percent of their body weight and for them to take up to two weeks to regain it.  I was hoping that Adam was 7 pounds 14 ounces.  Nope! He weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces!  He is a champion nurser!

Yesterday's fantastic appointment was followed by Adam's first super fussy night.  He cried and screamed after each feeding and refused to fall asleep.  We were up for about an hour and a half to two hours between feedings.  That means we got about an hour of rest between feeds.  This made for a very tired Adam and mommy today.  Good thing we also both excel at taking naps.

It has been such a relief and joy to have my mom with us this week.  She lets me sleep longer in the morning and takes Adam.  A win-win for both of us.  It's great to have company during the day and an extra set of hands.  Plus she has been providing us with lunch and dinner every day.

We love having visitors.  It's been so nice to have people come by and say hello to Adam.  Here are some photos and highlights from the week.  Please come visit us!

Adam with Oma and Grammy Sue

Grandpa Hank and Opa

Sonneborn clan minus Matt and Nicki

Cousins, Keira Love and Adam Jeffrey

The attempted photo shoot at home

He won't ever be this little again

Sleeping beauty

With Dad

Getting ready for bed

Adam Jeffrey Sonneborn IS HERE!!!

Jeff and I are so in love with Adam Jeffrey Sonneborn, born on March 22 at 4:02am, 8 pounds 5 ounces and 21 inches long.

On Wednesday I called the OB office because I had developed a rash. It was actually a rash common to many late trimester pregnant ladies and I wanted to know how to treat it. In addition I was nervous for the induction Friday and wanted a chance to discuss that as well. Later that morning I started to develop strong cramps, possibly contractions that seemed more intense than my usual Braxton Hicks. These started in my back and radiated to my pelvis. I had to ask Emilie and Hannah if these were "real." After a short bit I decided to time them. At this point I was having them about every 9 minutes for 2 hours. I called the OB again and told him I was having timeable contractions that caused me to completely forget my rash. He wanted me to go in to labor and delivery for an hour of monitoring. They would decide from there if I would stay or go home.

I was excited and called Jeff right away but didn't want to get my hopes up. Labor can take a long time! We brought our bags but left them in the car, fully expecting to be monitored and sent home because I felt I was in the very early stages of labor. Low and behold when I got to labor and delivery my contractions were 5 minutes apart and I was dilated to 4cm. They were keeping me! Jeff and I called our immediate family to tell them the news. We then walked the halls to try and get more progress. My mom arrived and soon it was time for an epidural. Hooray for the pain relief! It took a few more hours for labor to progress. At 2am the nurse checked my back and my epidural site was leaking blood. Because of my low platelets, my epidural had to be removed. I was devastated and all I could do was cry. My doctor came and told me not to lose hope, in less than an hour she thought it would be time to push. At 3am it was time to get down to business. A few times I screamed and yelled to get through the contractions. Other times I cheered on Baby Adam to come on out. He made his grand debut at 4:02am and he was perfect. He was placed directly onto my chest and my heart swelled with love.

We enjoyed having so many visitors in the hospital, it made the time fly by!  Here are a few pics of our hospital stay. I'll post later about our first week with Adam.

He is here!!!!

Cute boy

Hannah and Keira came for a visit

Opa

Oma

Grammy Sue 

Grandpa Hank

 Uncle Jonnie

Proud Papa

 Proud Mama

Week 41

Well, Baby Sonny continues to grow inside my belly.  He is between 19 and 22 inches long and weighs between 6 and 9 pounds.  He is still approximately the size of a watermelon.  I know all pregnant women feel like they are going to have a big baby, but I think Baby Sonny is going to be on the large size.  My guess is that he will be 8 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long.  We'll see!

We had another check up on Monday.  We had a non-stress test and uterine fluid level check and Baby Sonny again passed with flying colors.  We have one more check up on Thursday before the induction on Friday.  I'm still hoping that Baby Sonny wants to come out on his own, but at least we know we will have a baby by the end of this week!

This week I am officially on maternity leave!  Work has become exhausting and my doctor and I agreed that starting my maternity leave this week would be in my best interest and the best interest of Baby Sonny.  So far I can't complain!  I have been able to sleep later in the morning, something I won't be able to do for a looooooong time.  And Jack and I have enjoyed long walks and reading outside.

I think Baby Sonny is holding out for a special birthday.  If he came today he would be born on the first day of Spring.  If he comes on the 21st he would share his birthday with my grandfather.  If he comes on the 22nd he would share a birthday with Emilie, my best friend.  If he comes on the 23rd he would share a birthday with Jack.  And if he waits long enough and arrives on the 24th, he will share a birthday with me!  He is going to be the best birthday present someone could ask for regardless of the day he decides to arrive.

My posting next week will include photos of Baby Sonny for the first time!!!  I cannot wait!!!

Eviction, I mean induction date set

Today we had our 40 week appointment. My fingers and feet are swollen again, but my blood pressure remains healthy. Because I am technically overdue today, Jeff and I went to the hospital for routine testing.  Baby Sonny got a non-stress test; they hooked my bulging belly up to two monitors.  One monitor to check his heart rate and the other to check for contractions.  It's the same monitoring used during labor and delivery.  Jeff and I got to listen to his heart beat for an entire 30 minutes and we could also see my Braxton Hicks contractions on the screen. I also had my uterus fluid levels checked via ultrasound.  It was nice to have another glimpse of Baby Sonny.  The ultrasound tech could only see a small portion of him at a time; he seems huge!  Baby Sonny passed all of his tests with flying colors, he scored a 10/10.  He takes after his dad ;)

Today at our appointment we also discussed an induction date.  If Baby Sonny does not want to make his appearance naturally, Jeff and I have decided to tentatively set the induction for Friday, March 23rd.  We have our next appointment on Monday and will again be having the non-stress test and fluid level check.  Once any baby is past due, these tests are routine every 4 days.  We look forward to updating everyone on Monday (but I'm secretly hoping to update sooner)!

40 Weeks

This week Baby Sonny is any where between 6 and 8 pounds and 19 to 22 inches in length.  He is the size of a watermelon!  His lungs, brain, and the rest of his organs continue to mature and grow.

Right now we are just waiting for Baby Sonny to make his grand appearance!  Every night I go to bed wondering, will this be it?  Will I wake up in labor; will I be in labor tomorrow?  When will Baby Sonny be here?  It's wonderful to have something to look forward to, but it's also very challenging to be so excited and then a little let down at the end of each day because he's not ready to come out.

To entice Baby Sonny to come out, Jeff made labor inducing eggplant parm on Sunday night.  Three meals later and no labor yet...  I take the dog out for a mile long walk every day, I've eaten spicy food, I've eaten pineapple, Jeff rubs my feet every night.  Nothing yet :(  We are working around Baby Sonny's schedule now and won't meet him until he's good and ready!

I literally cannot fit much more baby in my belly!

 

20 Days

Dear Baby Sonny,

You have 20 days until you are forcefully evicted from Mom's belly. I know your due date is in 6 days, but you seem comfortable and content to remain where you are. Mom and Dad (and everyone else) can't wait to meet you. And we hope to do so before we reach 20 days!

Love,

Your anxiously expecting parents

Yesterday I had another OB appointment. My blood pressure has improved and it seems like some of my swelling has gone down. I went for blood work today and have my next appointment on Baby Sonny's due date. So far everything is still looking great. At Wednesday's appointment we will discuss setting a date for induction, which is typically 2 weeks after the due date.

I forgot to mention earlier that my toenails are bright blue for the impending arrival of Baby Boy Sonny!

Week 39

This week Baby Sonny is roughly the size of a small watermelon!  It is estimated that he weighs 7 pounds and is about 20 inches long.  He continues to build a layer of fat to help keep him warm after birth.  His brain is growing at an astonishing rate, a rate that will continue during his first 3 years of life.

This has been an exciting week!  Hannah and Matt welcomed Keira Love Sonneborn on March 3rd, 2012, coming in at 7 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches head to toe.

This is my favorite photo that Jeff took at the hospital

Some very happy grandparents

Keira doesn't have much room with my large baby bump

Celebrating PopPop's 100th Birthday again!

Happy, still-expecting parents-to-be

I continue to feel well this late in the pregnancy.  I am getting more tired during the work day and my feet ache at the end of the day.  But thankfully Jeff is fantastic, he cooks and even massages my feet.  He's such a great guy.  My work colleagues have also been fantastic.  My boss has asked for me to have a light work load and for my colleagues to offer me breaks throughout the day.  I have a small pang of guilt when I relax in the large brown easy chair in the office late in the morning, but not so guilty that I get up :)