Is that Blood on the Baby? No... It's Jello

I really can't begin to describe all the changes to life in the last nearly three weeks.  But I'm going to hit the highlights...

Breastfeeding.  It sucks.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  Sure, it's free, but it's very inconvenient and it hurts!!  I've officially lost count as to how many people have seen my... well you know.  I've also been compared to a cow... but at least they're a lot more impressive to look at!

EVERY thing is harder.  Today I learned to put on makeup with my left hand while cradling/feeding the baby at the same time.  My 20-minute morning showers are a thing of the past.  Getting out of the house takes at least twice as long.  Eating is a whole new challenge.  If it's a one-handed meal that's not messy, I can handle it, but if it's not... (queue blog title) red jello on the baby... oops =)

I miss sleep.  I took sleep for granted.  I haven't slept for more than a 4 hour block in 18 days.  And it hurts.  It takes a lot of sleep to keep up my typical energy level.  Yuck.  It'll get better, but I didn't realize how much I needed those 9 hours!  What I wouldn't give for just one night...

Best diet ever.  Have a baby, lose some weight!  I've already lost nearly 30 pounds.  Can even zip up my pre-pregnancy jeans... but they definitely don't fit by any means.

Bodily functions.  Happened much quicker than I expected.  I've been pooped and peed on and it doesn't even phase me.  This one surprised me.  Now I cheer when my baby poops - go figure!

Insane worry.  I worried about a lot of stuff before, but now being solely responsible for an 8 lb infant... wow.  Responsibility kinda sky-rocketed out of control.  I worry about him more at night than any other time.  I'm still afraid I'm not going to wake up if he needs me.  He's having some choking spells after feedings - sometimes up to 40 minutes after he's done.  THAT is scary.  Not sure what's causing it yet, might still be learning how to breathe... tricky business that breathing.

Love.  Unconditional, love at first sight, stronger than anything I've ever felt before in my life love.  So completely happy, lucky, grateful, fulfilled... yay!

How could you not love that face?  

Watch out, he might have gotten some of my charming personality traits... looks like he's up to something! ;)

Baby Aiden is Here!!!

He's here!!!  And if I do say so myself, he is absolutely perfect.  He's cute as a button and totally healthy.  I know an update is long overdue, so let's start at the beginning!

I went in to be induced on Saturday the 3rd.   The first drug they gave me was supposed to take 12 hours to work, but instead it worked too well and they pulled me off of that at only five hours.  I got a little bit of sleep and they came in to start the petocin at 2 a.m.  The petocin worked really well too and they had to keep decreasing the amount I was given because contractions were consistently two minutes apart and the intensity was picking up.  There was some concern with the baby's heartbeat because it decreased every time I got out of bed - so they flipped me from side to side and kept a real close eye on us.  Later that morning I got the epidural (total non-event by the way - the botched IV I got hurt way worse).  However at about 7 cm dialated, the epidural wore off on the left side of my body and I felt every minute and a half contraction for close to 30 minutes.  I bawled my eyes out - they hurt so bad.  So they upped my drugs to the max and from there it was smooth sailing.  I did some "practice pushes" once I got to 10 cm, because they thought I wouldn't be able to push with all the drugs, but apparently "I'm a natural" - lol.  My doctor almost didn't make it and we had to skip a few contractions.  Baby was out in about 30 minutes.  The whole process took around 23 hours - which for an induction is pretty good I guess.  I think there was some scary stuff that happened with the umbilical cord when he was born that nobody told me about, but I plan to ask some questions at my 6 week checkup.  So was it as bad as I thought?  Short answer - nope.  The amount of responsibility that came once he was born is about a billion times more scary.

Since then it's been all about baby!  The first night home was rough.  Having only gotten about 7 hours of sleep in the previous 3 nights - I was getting a bit irrational (still am one week later...).  The nights are the worst because I'm so worried that something will happen to him while I'm sleeping.  I do wake up at every little sound, but I spend a good portion of the day sobbing about whether or not he's going to be ok.  Everything checked out at the pediatrician and he really is perfectly healthy, but wow I didn't realize how much I'd worry - like seriously...  But he's eating well, sleeping in spells around the clock and going through a whole lotta diapers! 

I was also worried about not having any nicknames for him, but I've already come up with a few - Mr. Stinky, Baby A, Mr. Bobblehead, Blue Eyes, Squirmy.....

But Aiden is the sweetest most precious thing ever and I am so so glad he's finally here.  I've still got a lot of hormones to flush out of my system, but I already love him more than anything ever.  He's a piece of me - all the best parts.

Striking a Pose!  Totally my kid. =)

Longest.Week.Ever.

In less than 48 hours I'll start the induction process to have this baby.

Knowing this is both a good and a bad thing.  Good for obvious reasons - I know at some point this weekend I'll be holding my baby in my arms.  Bad because I know the labor part is coming, and that's all I can think about... it's been a REALLY long week.  I did some google research and scared the crap out of myself reading other people's induction stories.  Work is wrapping up so that's not a real good distraction anymore either.  And everywhere I go people ask me about it.  Some random dude at Wal-Mart asked me if I was "smuggling in a basketball."  Ha.  Yeah, clearly that's what I'm doing!

I am a little nervous about how having a baby is going to change me.  Priorities, lifestyle, etc.  Again, goes back to the whole "having no idea what to expect."  I'm sure it'll be fine, just have to get there...      

I will point out that not only am I working up to the day before I get induced, I still take the stairs AND do the laundry.  I am woman - hear me roar. =) 

Overall I am crazy excited.  And hey I'll have my own stories and advice to blog about by the time it's all said and done.  Ya know, in all the free time I'll have between changing diapers and feeding. =P  I'm told there's not much... who knew!?  Regardless, next post will include baby pictures!!  Wish me luck!