Feeling Good, Feeling Fine

Bryan, Seth, and I headed to the doctor's office yesterday and today. Seth had his two week check-up yesterday and was given a good report. He is healthy and he seems very happy. He is now back up to his birthweight of 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Breastfed babies tend to lose about ten percent of their body weight after they are born so our two week check-up basically was scheduled so they could check his weight. Last week, when we went to the pediatrician, we saw another doctor in the practice and he had recommended that Seth see a Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor because of him being tongue-tied. We saw our regular pediatrician yesterday and he said the ENT consult was not needed because Seth can put his tongue out beyond his gum line. We were assured that he would not have speech problems later (a huge concern for me) and he obviously does not have any problems with feedings. Should it become a problem in the area of speech we can have a ENT consult when he begins to talk and clipping the skin under his tongue would still be an option and an easy fix if it is needed. After being weighed, Seth managed to poop all over our doctor (yes, he made quite a mess). Then we scheduled our two month old visit and headed home.
Today we had to venture to the same building as yesterday, but to my doctor's office because today's visit was for me. Since I had a c-section, my doctor had to check my incision and hopefully give me clearance to resume normal activities. I am very happy to report that I am 11 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. That's right, 11 pounds lighter than the day that I found out that I was pregnant! I guess that gestational diabetes diet paid off for more than just a healthy baby boy. I was given the OK to drive again. Yay! I am still not supposed to lift over 25 pounds, but that is fine by me, since I do still have some minor soreness. My incision has healed nicely and I just have to report back in a month to make sure I am healed completely.
So with two good reports and one very supportive husband/daddy, we are feeling good, feeling fine!

Finding the Words

It's been hard to blog for the last several days. It's not because I have been too busy, because I have had plenty of time. I actually probably have had more time to blog than before because of all the time in between the 2-3 hour blocks of time between feedings. It's not because I haven't felt up to it due to recovery, because I have really felt very well other than some minor soreness. It's not because I have wanted to keep everything a secret, because I am ecstatic about our little man.
I haven't blogged because I haven't been able to find the words to describe what has actually taken place in our home since the birth of our son. I didn't go through what some people call the "baby blues" or anything like that but both Bryan and I have been filled with such strange new emotions. Never before have we ever been touched by something so deeply. I find myself just staring at the human being that came from both of us and being so filled with joy and awe. As I was going through some of the paperwork from the hospital, Bryan and I were both amazed at how much of an impact our son's footprints had on us. I tried reading a book the other night to Seth and I was barely able to make it through the tiny book without breaking down and crying because it was such a special moment. I know I still have a lot of wacky hormones going on right now, but this goes beyond hormones, I think. These deep feelings of joy and happiness and awe were unexpected but are so amazing. Sure I knew people said parenthood changes everything and that you cannot imagine how much you can love a child of your own, but I didn't expect for the new bond between Bryan, Seth, and myself to be so strong. So even though I have been silent for several days, big things are happening here at the Tillery household, and boy, those things and feelings are amazing!

Visit from Nana

This morning my mom left our house pretty early after spending the week with us. I cannot begin to describe how helpful she has been this past week. We not only got to spend some great quality time together but she made sure that I was getting enough rest and not doing too much around the house. I was sad to see her go and I wish that we weren't three hours apart. I can't wait for her and Pop (my dad) to visit in just a few short weeks. Thank you, Nana, for everything!

Day and Night Reversal

My suspicions were correct. I had a hunch that when Seth was still in the womb that he had his days and nights switched. I could feel him moving all night long and he tended to be pretty still during the day. This has apparently carried over to life outside the womb. He sleeps all day. He wakes to eat and he stays awake for a few brief minutes at a time. He is absolutely wonderful and content. When Bryan and I tend to like to sleep though, he chooses to be fussy and not so content. How can you be upset with someone so cute though?
Bryan can sleep through all the crying and so luckily he hasn't lost any sleep yet, because he has to go to work each day. I, however, have only gotten a few minutes here and a few minutes there during the night. It's not a huge deal right now though because my mom is visiting for the week and she kindly listens out for him for the good part of the mornings while I catch up on some much needed sleep.
I read somewhere that to fix this reversal problem, you need to make sure the surroundings are clear for the day and the night. I have almost every light on in the house along with all the window coverings open to make it apparent that it is day time. I have been trying to talk to Seth during all our feedings and he has even been spending some time of his napping time in his bouncer chair. Tonight my plan is to make sure to be keep the lights low while feeding and I am going to be very quiet in hopes that he will soon be able to realize that day is day and night is night. We'll see how long this learning process takes...

Canceled Discharge

Thursday evening after we had all of our belongings packed, we had practiced strapping Seth in the car seat, and we had even signed the discharge papers' a nursery nurse came in and told us that we actually couldn't leave. Seth had only fed five times during his first 24 hours and had not fed since his circumcision done earlier in the day, which we were told was to be expected. Apparently since he wasn't feeding all that great though, even with the help of some of the nursery nurses, they wanted to keep us one more night so that they could guarantee that everything was alright with his feedings. We were told that Seth had a slightly tied tongue (this just means he has an extra bit of skin under his tongue), it was not severe, but it could make his nursing abilities slightly harder. We were discouraged but wanted the best for our baby, so we endured the hospital setting for another night.
We met with the lactation consultant the next morning and got the ok to go from our pediatrician. We have had to do some pumping and feeding as part of our nursing plan, and things are going more smoothly but it is definitely a learning process for us all.
We were able to actually leave the hospital close to 11:00 a.m. on Friday and we journeyed home as a family of three. Seth was wonderful in the car and stayed sound asleep during the entire car ride. When we arrived home, Seth got a tour of the house, was introduced to Bella, and of course had to be loved on lots and lots.

Ready for the first car ride


Being wheeled to the car

Arriving at home


Our little gloworm trying out his bed for the first time

And Then There Were Three

After a very long induction process, it was decided because of Seth's increasingly slowing heart rate, that my water should be broken and if a c-section was needed then we would just have to go that route. Having your water broken is a very strange feeling. I can't imagine having that happen in public. It was very, very strange. The contractions continued and kept getting stronger, but there was still no progression. The head was not dropping.

It was decided that a c-section was our best option because we had to get Seth out. So close to 7 p.m. Tuesday evening I was wheeled down to the operating room and at 7:32 p.m. Seth Bryan Tillery was born. The whole c-section process wasn't as bad as I was expecting but I only got to see our baby boy for a few seconds before Bryan and several of the nurses took care of him during his skin-to-skin time. I was glued back together (that sounds funny but that is literally what happened) and then I was wheeled off to recovery for about an hour and a half.
When the three of us were finally all back together again, we couldn't have been happier. I was not in a lot of pain, Bryan was a complete natural, and baby Seth was just perfect. He is such a beautiful baby.

The three of us have been getting to know each other for the past day and a half and we get to go home tonight. This is going to be an amazing phase of our lives.


Proof that Bryan did not pass out. :)
Bryan was absolutely amazing and is the best daddy ever.


Getting cleaned up


One minute old, 7 pounds, 4 ounces, 20.5 inches long


They let me see Seth for just few seconds before his skin-to-skin time with Bryan.


The first time I got to hold our baby boy.


Right after the 3 of us were reunited. I could literally barely keep my eyes open, but I was still smiling.

Slow Induction

Last night we arrived at the hospital at 6:00 p.m. After an uncomfortable night, thanks to Seth's feet constantly shoving into my ribs during contractions, I was ready for the pitocin to get things moving along. After being on the pitocin for about two hours, I had still not dilated hardly at all and my cervix was still too firm to break my water. If my water is broken, we have to deliver within 24 hours whether it is vaginally or by c-section but it would most definitely be by c-section (something I really don't want) so we are just going to wait things out for now. We will know by lunch if we might have to do another round of the cervix softening medicine through the night again and try pitocin again tomorrow morning. If that is the case, then they will take me off everything at 3:00 p.m. and let me eat, and then start the medicine up again around six. So far the pain has not been too unbearable. I have finally figured out what a contraction feels like and the light ones have actually been happening for a couple of weeks and I just didn't realize it. So we are just hanging out for now...