Nobody tells you about the 1st month...

Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely smitten by this new addition in my life.  I wanted to literally squeeze him till my mom would insist I let someone else hold him, not to mention he was the most beautiful baby I had ever laid eyes on (I may be a little bias).  But what I was in store for the next month was going to hit me like a ton of bricks!  Need to mention however I did have a c-section, which could have made my recovery a little more intense.  

I ended up staying in the hospital a total of 3 nights and 4 days, which for those of you that don't know that's kind of a long time and I was so ready to get out!  I don't think Christian would have slept on that little so called bed which was really a couch/bench one more night.  The first 12 hours after baby was born I still could not eat!  I was starving...like literally going to eat off my right arm if someone didn't bring me a huge Sonic diet coke with vanilla and "real" maraschino cherries, and a Cafe Rio pork salad.  Non the less I made it...barely.  I also was not aloud to walk for 24 hours, that wasn't so bad though, Hubs did everything!  They wrapped these awful things on my calves that shook all night long to make sure I didn't get blood clots because I was still numb from medication... But I'm pretty sure it was to make sure the elephantiasis did remain in my lower half!  People I looked like a huge amazon person, my feet were painful to look at!  One sharp object to them and they would have popped I'm sure.

Ps. Hospital food= cardboard doused in sauce.

                                    

                                             Finally on our way home from the hospital!

   

Parks was actually a pretty great sleeper right from the get go.  I would feed him around 11pm, he would sleep till about 4am then sleep till about 7:30...Not too shabby. 

Breast feeding was a whole other story.  I had previously told myself through my whole pregnancy that I was going to nurse.  This might have been the hardest part for me.  I absolutely loved the "bonding" time I got to spend with him, but the pain, diligence and discipline I had to go through was quite a learning experience.  I ended up getting a pretty bad breast infection, which ended in having to get a prescription to clear up.  My "Boppy" was a lifesaver, made the strain on my back much easier!  Something I would highly recommend, as well as Lanolin cream, breast pads, and a nursing bra.  The true must have for me however was the "nipple shield", I wouldn't have gotten through week 1 without it.

Another difficult task for me was not only getting one person ready and out the door, but now two!  How was I suppose to take a shower?  Who was going to do my laundry and fold it?  With out fail the moment I got in the shower or took out the laundry Mr. woke up.  A serious schedule was something that definitely helped me.  This was something I definitely had to get use to, but by the end if the first month I felt pretty good being able to get me and babes out the door at least not in our PJ's! 

Parks was the most alert infant.  His eyes were wide open when he was awake and even looked right at you as if he could tell you we're talking to him.  People would stop me in public just to tell me how alert he was at such a young age.  He was very bald except for a small patch of hair on the back of his head that almost looked red in the sunlight.  He was perfect in our eyes.  He had to be swaddled before he would ever go to sleep, Christian was a pro at wrapping him just right.  Friends and family called him a little burrito.  

After the first month I really felt like I was getting the hang of things and I still had one more month before I had to go back to school!

                       

                        

                        

                        

The amazing Heidi Lee took our newborn pictures, here are a few of my favs!

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

        

       

                                        

    

                                     

Since I've been gone...

Well since I have a baby.... I decided it would only make sense to start blogging again!  Probably     should have started this when Parks was born.... But better late then never!  

 On the morning of Sunday January 27th I woke up to a very uncomfortable pain in my lower stomache.  I quickly woke up my zonked out husband next to me and told him, I THINK I AM FINALLY HAVING A CONTRACTION!!! I had asked everyone I knew what a contraction felt like... But no one seemed to be able to tell me exactly one felt like.  They continued to say "trust me you will know!" I now can truly say its true.

My mom (who I think knows all) had always told me never go to the hospital until your contractions are at the most 2 minutes apart for at least an hour.  So I continued on with my day stopping every 10-15 minutes to gasp for a breath, squeeze my eyes shut, and pause any conversation I was having at the moment.  Our very close family friends son was having his farewell this day, so I decided to put on the only dress/tarp that still fit and went on my way.  Maybe should have rethought this decision?  After church we went to my parents for dinner like always.  Around 5:00 my contractions were pretty consistent, 3 minutes apart and getting pretty intense...not to mention VERY uncomfortable!  I lasted till about 7:00pm then I grabbed Christian and said NOW...this baby has to come out!

Please bear with my horrid, swollen, very pregnant self.

 (For documentary purposes only!)

We got to the hospital where they checked me into triage, put me in a lovely hospital gown and laid me in a bed where I was to wait till the nurse came into check me.  Sooner than later she came in...I was dilated to a 4!!  Whoo hoo...everyone told me if I was at a 4 they would keep me.  She told me to wait for a hour, she would check me again and we would go from there.  1 hour later she came back... Guess who hadn't dilated?  Because of my stubborn body I was then instructed to walk around the hospital for another hour and we would check back in...is this a joke?  After the worst/longest hour and a half of my life(yes I went the extra, I was not going home!)they unfortunately told me I still had not moved... All she could do was give me a shot of morpheme and send me home.  I wanted to cry the hardest I have ever cried, but I bucked up and walked out the door.  Thank goodness I live directly across the street from the hospital, the morpheme they gave me intensified my contractions instead of making them more comfortable.  I lasted about an hour and I was back at the hospital.  It was now about midnight this time the nice nurse checked me right in to a room, the first thing i told her was "by the way I definitly want a epidural, ASAP" she laughed then imediatly called for the anesthesiologist. Around 2am the anesthesiologist finally arrived.  Now previosly in my pregnancy I was terrified of the horrible "epidural" at this point I was begging for it!  Ps. Not even bad at all... I would do that 10 times before going through even 2 intense contractions.  Besides the severe shakes that I got afterwards it wasn't too bad.  I finally was able to calm down and sleep... So I thought. 

 At 6am my doctor showed up to break my water hoping this would speed up my dilation, he also hooked me to a tube of pitocin.  The nurses continued to check me every hour but no dilation.  I was beginning to get very worried.  Not only was I not dilating but baby was more at a diagonal then straight down, which I could tell made the nurses a little hesitant.  Now about 3:00 in the afternoon a miracle happened, the nurse checked me and I had dilated to a 6(progress people) and with in two hours it was go time! I was so excited/exhausted/hungry/parched... I had now been in labor for 36 hours, had not eaten in almost 24 hours and they would not let me drink in case of a c-section, yet still very excited to meet this little one very soon now!

Yet another bump in the road... By now my 4th, yes 4th epidural had worn off, and after pushing for almost 2 hours with my husband and mom on both sides, I looked up at my doctor drenched in sweat, both legs in the assigned position and simply said "How much longer?" He then very nicely said "Hours, this baby does not want to come out." in the sweetest voice.  I then asked what I should do. You have two options:

1. Keep pushing for who knows how long
Or
2. Emergency C-section

I looked at my husband then my mom and I think they could tell by the look on my face I couldn't do this anymore.  I looked up and with a sigh of almost relief I said let's do a c-section.  Before I could blink people were swarming around me, they injected me with something and that's really all I remember.  My last image was my husband dressed in what looked like a bee keepers outfit holding my hand telling me everything was going to be ok.  They pushed me into the OR where the doctor told me I may feel a little pulling and tugging but nothing horrible.  It's true you can feel them pulling and tugging but not to painful, though that could have been because I was drugged up the wazoo.  Before I knew it the nurse was holding the baby right in front of me.  He was beautiful!  He made up for the recovery I would go through for the next 6 weeks... That's another story.

Therefore... On Monday January 28th at 5:36pm 

Parks J. Otteson was born.

Weight: 7lb. 11oz.

Height: 21in.

We were smitten...

He came out sucking like a champ...hungry as ever!

What I had waited my whole life for.

As Domestic as it Gets

My mom has always made home made strawberry jam...and now I don't like anything but...so It was only necessary that I learned how to make it myself.  So on Saturday morning of conference me and my mom had a "jam session."  It is actually a lot easier to make than I would have thought.  And now I can have it whenever I want...so I am happy and Christian is definitely happy.