Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas!

 

May you find everything you wish for under the tree!

 

I wish you many happy miles in 2013,

A Girl Named Sam

One Month

 

 

I can't believe it's been one month already!  It will be two more weeks before I'm cleared for physical activity but the little man is keeping me busy.  He's pretty consistent with his morning schedule so I am going to start getting up after his morning feeding to walk and eventually run.

 

Yoga is a little hard when it's just the two of us at home.  If I get one full vinyasa done before he needs something, it's pretty good. But interrupted yoga is better than nothing.  I tried doing push ups the other day and I could only do 5.  I tried holding plank pose and couldn't do much more than 10 seconds.  So that's where I'm starting.  But it's a start nonetheless.

Updates from Babyland

I can't believe it's almost been 4 weeks since Winston was born.  I keep meaning to post updates but I find myself one-handed most of the time I'm sitting down which makes blogging a little difficult.

 

The short version is we're doing well.  We went in to Children's Mercy to follow up on the fluid-on-the-kidneys issue they saw when I was at 38 weeks.  Unfortunately, it has not resolved itself yet.  We were told that in 70% of the cases, it resolves itself within the first 2 years.  There are a few different options and we will discuss it more with his pediatrician at his 1 month check-up next week.  But for now we were basically told not to worry.  Based on his diapers, the plumbing is working just fine, he just needs to clear out the excess fluid. 

 

My little helper

I am feeling much more human and have gotten up to 3 miles walking.  I have also started doing some easy yoga.  Some time between 1 and 2 weeks after he was born, I got up the courage to step on the scale.  I was pleasantly surprised I have less than 10lb to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and that includes the excess weight due to breastfeeding.

My pre-pregnancy pants are a little tight and I can't quite fit into my skinny jeans, but I can wear some of my normal pants.  Unless you've been pregnant, you have no idea how great it is to put on pants without an elastic waist.  Once I can start running and really working out again, I figure the pants will take care of themselves.

I was also worried about abdominal diastasis, which is a separating of the abdominal muscles due to pregnancy.  Less than a two-finger gap is what is considered normal after pregnancy.  Until the ab muscles go back together, you shouldn't do ab exercises like crunches because they can make it worse.  Last week, the gap between my abs was one finger, this week the gap has completely closed.  I started to some easy ab exercises to start getting them back into shape.  Still no crunches, but plank pose and other easy yoga-based ab exercises.  Not to mention all of the picking up the baby, who is close to 9 lb now.

My biggest concern right now is due to breastfeeding.  I have to wear a sports bra just to walk.  I think I'm going to have to get a few new sports bras once I start running again.  I'm also a little worried about the 70.3 in June.  I'll still be breastfeeding then and I think I might have to pump at T2 before running.  It probably doesn't matter since I'm not really trying to PR, but there's some logistics most people don't have to deal with.  I guess I'll worry about it more when June is getting closer.  Good thing the pump I have comes with a battery pack.

I'm working up to 5 miles walking before trying to run.  I'll probably give it the full 6 weeks my doctor recommended.  Besides, I can put Winston in our kid carrier and he sleeps, which is a nice time for us.  Once I start running, he'll have to stay home with Dad.

Winston the Impatient

Week 39

 

I worked almost a full week.  On Thursday, I worked until 3:00 and then left for my appt with my OB.  I had been having contractions all day but nothing consistent or serious.  My doc said maybe I was in labor, maybe not.  She was on call that day and said maybe she'd see me later.  I went home and took a nap.

 

At 7, John and I tried timing contractions but still nothing consistent.  I called my doula just to give her a heads up and a little before 8 I decided to take a shower and then go to bed since I thought it might be a long night.

 

Once I got in the shower, WHAM!  It was like a switch flipped.  I was most certainly in labor.  I called Catherine at 8:08 and told her I was definitely in labor and we were ready for her to come down.  She lives north of KC, so it would take her at least 30 min to get to the house. 

 

In all the classes, books, online, etc, they tell you not to go to the hospital until you've had contractions that are 1 min long, 5 min apart, for at least an hour.  My contractions were 2 min apart, but only 30-45 seconds and that didn't start until 8, so we weren't close to the 1 hour mark.

 

Catherine got to the house about 8:45, heard me caterwauling on the floor and decide we needed to leave for the hospital, NOW.  John and I were relieved to have someone else to direct us.  John called the after-hours number for my OB, loaded up the car and we left about 8:50pm.

 

At 9pm, my OB called back and we were still in the car.  She heard me in the background and said she was getting her clothes on and would meet us there.

 

At 9:10pm, we arrived at the hospital with Catherine.  They brought out a wheelchair and took me straight back to a delivery room.  It was chaos - clearly things were moving much faster than what they're used to.  My OB wasn't there yet, so the hospital OB was paged and he was standing in the hall outside of my room just waiting.

 

At 9:20pm, my OB showed up.  I was pretty oblivious the whole time.  I had my eyes glued shut and was just surviving each contraction.  No pain meds.  Just ice chips.

 

At 9:45pm, Winston was born.  35 min at the hospital.  After he was born, I signed the "Consent to Treat" form.  There was no time at our arrival.  Thankfully, everything worked out.  I had a torn blood vessel, which would have been scary if we hadn't made it to the hospital in time.  Thank god for Catherine.  I can't tell you how much John and I both appreciated her there.  I would recommend to all expecting parents to hire a doula they like.

 





Baby Boy Kevern's first sponge bath.  We didn't have a name picked out yet.

Remember that I had been measuring small for several months?  Well, that was all baloney.  He was 7lb, 15.4 ounces at birth.  I prefer to round up and call him an even 8lb.  I think that's the least I deserve.

Getting weighed.

After all that, it was nothing but magic mommy sparkles.

About 10 hours old

So stinking cute

Heading home from the hospital

We're back at home and getting used to life.  He's going 3-4 hours between feedings, which is pretty good.  I am adjusting to my post-baby body.  I feel good, all things considered, but I think I have highly underestimated how long the recovery time will be.  But that's OK.  I'm enjoying all of the mommy-Winston cuddle time on the couch.

I would like to introduce...

Winston Thomas Kevern

Born 11/8/12 at 9:45pm

7 lb 15.5 oz, 20 in long

 

Mama and baby are doing just fine, more pics and details to follow.

Kid Toys = Cat Toys

Week 39

 

Still no baby.  But hopefully soon.  Mama's tired of carrying around a bowling ball.  Other than being tired, sore, and crabby, there's not a whole lot going on.  So here's some random pictures.

 

A few weeks ago, my friends threw me a surprise baby shower, which was completely unnecessary.  But awesome.  I don't have any pictures from the party but here's a picture of a monkey riding a diaper motorbike.  The monkey has been a big hit with the cats.

 

We finally got the crib set up and the baby's room situated.  So far, all of the kid furniture have been a bighit with the cats.  Portland has climbed in the bouncy chair multiple times and even plays with the dangly toys.  Both cats have been playing in the crib.  It's like an oversized laundry basket to play in.  Recognize the monkey?  Nera was dragging it around by a leg.

If it's new, it must be a cat toy.

Here's a picture of the new rocker.  It fits well with the baby room.  I really like hanging out in the munchkin's room.

And last, Portland even had to try out the changing table.  I was at work when this picture was taken, but I was told that he climbed up and under the strap himself. 

I dare you to try to diaper this one.

So we're still playing the waiting game.  Hopefully the next time I post, I have pictures of the newest member of the K family!

Oversharing

Week 38

Oh man oh man, are we getting close now!  OP is still as active as ever.  We've started calling him Lumpy.  He has lots of names - OP, Lumpy, Offspring, the Spawn, everything except a real name.

One thing John and I have noticed is the tendency of men to over share private information related to their wives giving birth.  One former professor shared in intimate detail of how far dilated and effaced his wife was.  He even charted it and had a trendline showing her labor progression.  The poor woman didn't even know he was sharing this information with grad students.

Then there was John's former classmate and his wife who recently had their third child.  He had no problem sharing with John how far dilated and effaced his wife was in the weeks leading up to delivery.

Just last week, one of John's co-workers was recounting when his wife gave birth (some 20+ years ago) and how "... it always took her forever to get to 3 cm, but once we got to 3 cm, it was whoosh!"  And the whoosh was accompanied by hand motions.

I forbade, FORBADE John from sharing with anyone any information regarding my cervix.  I don't think this is unreasonable.  I'd prefer if everyone thought a stork dropped the little guy off and we just had to go to the hospital to pick him up.  There is no privacy or dignity in giving birth but I'd prefer to keep the public display of body parts, functions, etc, to the medical professionals who are actually helping deliver my son.

The only excuse I can think of, is that all of these men are engineers and engineers typically digest numerical information better than other types of information.  Maybe charting labor progression and talking about dilation is the only way they can cope with the strange (and gross) miracle of birth.  Either way guys, seriously, STOP OVERSHARING.  Your wives would no be happy to know you are talking about their cervix with co-workers, friends, and acquaintances.

In other Babyland news, my friend J & B, who were due on Nov 14, had their daughter this last weekend!  It was good motivation for John to finally break down the spare bed and get the crib set up in the baby's room.  We're ready, or at least as ready as we can be!