Le Petit LaLa

Headlines: Week 3

lepetitlala — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:25:01 +0000

“Prozac in Mom causes infant stomach upset and extreme fussiness; breastfeeding temporarily discontinued”

“Antibiotics prescribed for newly acquired Mastitis”

“Infant sleeps for 6 hours straight…At night!”

“Despite reservations, parents proceed to feed infant formula”

“Pumping & Dumping: How to Depress Any New Mom in Two Quick Steps”

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Check in next week for updates and pictures of Livvy’s first month. . .

Phew! She’s Here!

lepetitlala — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:09:16 +0000

Olivia Moira Olson

Birthday: June 15, 2008.

Height: 21 inches

Weight: 8 pounds

T-5 Days Until Our Due Date

lepetitlala — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:59:23 +0000

Well, she finally turned last Thursday, just in time for our appointment. Which is only slightly obnoxious since we had a c-section scheduled for yesterday that we ended up cancelling since she’d finally found the right position. So, now, we’re waiting and seeing. The bags are packed and the car seat is installed. I’ve been practicing my breathing exercises and doing my prenatal yoga DVD (shhhh! don’t tell the doctor!). But, as far as I can tell, she shows no sign of makng her entrance any time soon. I’m kinda’ hoping it just happens all at once and we go into labor quickly and we don’t have to wait around for days to make progress. However, I’m not holding my breath about anything, since she is clearly the one in control.

As of last thursday, when we discovered she’d finally flipped I was not dilated or effaced at all. At this point it is all a waiting game.

Bed Rest

lepetitlala — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:27:54 +0000

Well, at 36.5 weeks I’m officially done working. I have been on bed rest for a week now. Last Tuesday I woke up with really bad cramping and nerve pain that was making me nauseous. As of my last appointment I haven’t progressed at all, but in the mean time I’m suppose to remain in bed or on the couch and not drive anywhere or do anything. When I stand or am active for too long (10 to 15 minutes is about my max) I start getting low cramping and heavy pressure from her butt in my back and then the nerve pain starts up again. We think this is a result of her very weird breech position and the fact that she is trying to drop her butt into my pelvis instead of her head. Regardless, it is extremely uncomfortable.

It took a few days for me to get okay with not being at work, but now that I’m not there I’m totally cool with it. It sucks that I’m going to spend three weeks of my maternity leave waiting for the baby, instead of with her when she’s here, but I’m trying to look at this like a mini vacation to rest up for having her here. Plus, the extra sleep is kinda’ great.

However, on the flip side, I am completely ready for her to show some signs of getting out of there. If I go into labor we’ll automatically be going to the hospital for a c-section before things progress too far. I’m kinda’ hoping I go into labor next weekend and we can just get things over with. Otherwise we have to wait until closer to the middle of June and as ridiculous as it sounds, I really don’t want to wait that extra two weeks. Pete thinks I won’t go into labor at all and that we’ll have to wait until the scheduled c-section.

I don’t care what he says. She’s totally coming sooner than that.

I hope…

An Update-35 Weeks

lepetitlala — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:44:11 +0000

Well, at 35 weeks I’ve managed to acquire a whole host of late pregnancy symptoms that are less than comfortable or flattering. Cankles and the sciatica on my right side are topping the list right now.

I am also completely tired and emotional on a daily basis. And when I say emotional, I don’t mean like crazy like I was in the first trimester when the emotions were induced by depression, chronic anxiety and a lack of medication. This feels totally like PMS emotional, which, comparatively speaking, translates into tolerable. It’s not my favorite feeling in the world, but at least I don’t feel like I’m losing my mind like I did 6 months ago.

In fact, when I think about it, the tiredness totally feels like PMS too. Ya know, like, the day before you start your period and you just totally need a nap, and you can come home from work and fall asleep and sleep until the next morning? It feels like that, but it’s everyday. Well, and I can’t actually sleep through the night because I have get up to pee so often. But, whatever.

Baby is still very breech and her head is in the right side of my rib cage. She wiggles a lot, but she is not moving into the head-down position the way she should. At our last appointment the Doc suggested we wait until our next appointment, on May 15th, and if she hadn’t moved we’d schedule the c-section, probably for the first week of June. She’s been breech for nearly the entire 3rd trimester, and she hasn’t moved her position much at all, so assuming there is a reason she hasn’t moved, the c-section feels like the best option at this point.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

lepetitlala — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:23:55 +0000

Impatient?

lepetitlala — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:54:47 +0000

Who? Me?

Never.

The next 45 days are going to be the longest 45 days of my life I swear to GAWD!!! I know she’s not turning around, I can feel her head in my ribs every morning when I sit down at my desk at work. She’s getting bigger because now when she moves it feels totally wierd, like her whole body is flopping around, even though I know it’s just a leg or an arm. Plus, the newfound water retention is not my favorite thing because it doesn’t go away. Earlier it did, now my ankles are just perpetually swollen. I feel like Mama the Hutt.

I want her OUT OUT OUT!!! Not because I hate being pregnant, just because I’m kinda’ ready to move on to the next step. It’s happened all of a sudden in the last few days. I’m just ready to meet her and for this part to be behind me. I can’t wait to see her and touch her and hold her and I know Pete has felt that way for months.

I’m sure I’m not the only pregnant woman who has ever felt this way, but it isn’t aided by my tendency to become completely impatient and irrational as I approach the finish line of, well, anything. Ever. I am sure this is part anxiety and part excitement, but it still makes me crazy that I can’t just turn it off sometimes and just wait without making myself nuts.

Even with everything that has been going on lately, two lovely baby showers, one at my office and one with my friends, which was really nice, and my birthday coming up and another baby shower and Pete doing all kinds of work on the house, and all of the pre-baby chores to complete, all I can think of is getting her HERE instead of in THERE.

I know it really isn’t that long, but seriously, today it seems like that 45 days is just going to stretch on forever and ever and ever.

Decisions Decisions Decisons

lepetitlala — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:50:00 +0000

So, having a baby means making a ton of decisions. Most of which you are not even remotely prepared to make unless you’ve had a kid before. Because we haven’t obviously had a kid before, trying to make these decisions has required a buttload of research and reading and mostly just deciding what we value and feel comfortable with.

In a nutshell, here are a few of the big ones…

We are breastfeeding exclusively. Our goal is to use nothing but breastmilk for the first year and wait until after the first birthday to introduce cow’s milk. There are a bunch of reasons, but really it comes down to the fact that breastmilk is best. How much we will actually be nursing and how much of that will be pumping is entirely up in the air. We have a pump and are planning to start pumping right around the one month mark.
We are using G Diapers. They have the benefits of breathability like a cloth diaper but are flushable and completely degrade in the trash in about 90 days. They do not contain any wierd chemicals or plastics and use a cover much like cloth diaper. Initially we will use disposables to get started since everything we’ve heard is that the smaller newborn size is hard to fit accurately. However, after she reaches 12 pounds we will be using the G Diapers system.
We are not co-sleeping. She will room in with us for the first little while, but she won’t be sleeping our bed. With the way we both flail and move around we would totally smoosh her. Plus, it just seems like it would be too difficult to stop later on.
She will be exposed to Scout & Blazer. Our dogs are part of the family and are loved very much and we want her to learn to love and care for them. We also want them to love and get use to her being in our space as a family. Plus, studies show that kids that are exposed to animals in their home at a young age are less likely to develop pet allergies.

T-60 Days…

lepetitlala — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:17:48 +0000

Well, the end of the eighth month was puctuated by a visit from the Vomit Fairy aka The Stomach Flu of Death! Um, yeah, I’m not really exaggerating here.

The stomach flu is awful, but when you’re pregnant and there is a little being pinballing around in your belly it is possibly the worst ailment on the planet. In between bouts of heaving I actually came to the conclusion that if childbirth felt anything like the stomach flu for an extended period of time I was re-evaluating my no-drugs policy. I don’t really think childbirth will be like the stomach flu, but I’m just covering myself in case I have to change my mind because I don’t know that I’ve ever felt that bad in my whole life. The Baby, on the other hand, seemed to be just fine the whole time and never really stopped flailing her little appendages.

In other news, we have 60 days left. Ack! That doesn’t seem like very long. Oh wait, that’s probably because it ISN’T. But, on the up side, we get to start doing stuff now instead of waiting around to do the stuff sooner to the EDD. We are now close enough to the EDD to finish organizing the nursery and cleaning the car out and putting the car seat in and packing for the hospital and all that good stuff. I so love the steps involved in being prepared. I’m such a nerd. Pete thinks I’m a goober for wanting to get all of this stuff done, but I don’t want to worry about it when I feel ridiculous and huge the day before I go into labor. Plus, he loses his keys at least 2 times a weeks, I don’t want to be that girl when we’re rushing to the hospital with no bag or carseat or anything because SOMEBODY wanted to wait.

As the pregnant person in the house, I am officially pulling rank. Let the mad planning commence!

Just Like Menopause…Only Pregnant

lepetitlala — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:45:51 +0000

Hello Night Sweats!

For the last few weeks, actually starting when I had my cold, I would wake up several times in the night completely sweat through PJs and sheets and parched. I get up, go pee, get a drink of water and go back to bed only to wake up in another hour and a half in the exact same situation.

How come this isn’t one of those symptoms that’s plastered in every book and on every website? I know pregnant women are suppose to be warmer toward the end of pregnancy, but nobody said anything about dehydrating every night from all the sweating. Blech! With as much as I’m up every night it’s a miracle Pete sleeps at all. Poor guy.