Thursday, March 27, 2014

1 Month!!!

I cannot believe it is has been 1 month of mommy hood! Vienna has changed so much in one month- she's more alert, taking everything in, and she's put on almost two pounds! At her one moth appointment, she was 10lb 7oz, 84th percentile for weight, almost 22in long, 79th percentile for height. Clearly she gets that from her daddy! The best news of all was that we can stop waking her to eat, let her settle into her own routine of when she wants to eat, and then I can start putting her onto a schedule. Our nights have been great- Vienna usually has one long 4-7hr stretch to start the night off and then a couple 3-4 hour stretches after that. Fingers crossed were onto a good schedule for night sleeping! Mom and dad like to sleep!

Heres Vienna showing off her neck strength in tummy time!


Here she is in her 1 month photo shoot (that mom did);





This last one is posing with her huge teddy bear... We will do comparison pictures each month to see how she grows! Hard to believe that eventually she will be taller than the bear!

Baby Gear

We are entering our second month with Ms. Vienna! Cannot believe how much she has changed in such a short period of time! Its exciting but I'm already sad it's flying by so quickly.

A couple updates... For those who asked, Uncle Dave was correct with the baby prediction- 2/26 and a girl... And Nadine Ocasio was spot on for the birth weight- 8lb 11oz!

So the purpose of my post; most handy baby gear so far! Our first month been a whorl wind of eating, sleeping, and diaper changing. Here are what we've found most useful so far.

1. White Owl night light.  This was a Christmas gift from Aunt Kristen. We leave it on at night for changing  sand feelings- so helpful! Buying info Here



2. Fisher Price Snuggapuppy swing. Awesome gift from Katie and Michelle. We use it daily for alert time (she tracks the mobile- it's so impressive!) and if she's fussy she sometimes likes the swing motion.

3. Halo sleep sacks. Being a winter baby, sleep sacks are a warm swaddle dream come true. She stays warm and wrapped up right, and I dont have to worry about loose blankets and the crib dangers they pose.

4. Fisher Price Snuggapuppy rock n play sleeper. For the first two weeks Vienna slept in her crib. Then at two weeks we had a couple episodes of vomiting right before bed. So she doesn't like the flatness of the crib. Instead, weve have her sleeping in her room in the rock n play. Now we are working to transition her back to her crib.

5. Cloth diapers. Used for burp cloths- a must now that Vienna has begun spitting up!

6. Ergo baby carrier. I've been using this during mid day when Vienna wants to be held, but I want to be hands free. She seems to like it, and falls asleep.

7. Motorola video monitor. Thanks to the fabulous staff at GI... This is Self explanatory- used every night!

8. Wubbanub pacifiers. Vienna isn't totally gung-ho about the pacifier, but it does help here and there for soothing and satisfying sucking needs (when she isn't hungry and has eaten recently).

9. Disney lullaby CD. This has become a part of our night time routine- it's a very nice instrumental mix of lullaby and disney songs played mostly on the piano. This was one of my favorite gifts from my Grandma- Viennas great grandma.

10. Fisher Price Snuggapuppy bouncer. During our morning alert time Vienna likes to hand out in the bouncer and look around. This is my opportunity to jump in the shower and get myself ready for the day.

As of now, these are my highly recommended items! I'll probably have a whole different list by the end of this month!




Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Welcome Vienna!

Vienna is two weeks old... I cannot believe it! Her birth seems so far away now. I wanted to post her birth story before I forget any of the details.

My due date came and went, and Tony and I went to the doctors for a post due date decision appointment. Sadly, at my 38, 39, and 40 week appointments, Baby W wasn't making any progress toward labor. So at our February 22nd appointment, we decided to schedule an induction for February 25/26. I prayed that the labor gods would intervene and get my labor going before our induction... Tony and I walked the galleria mall, took multiple walks a day, ate spicy food... No dice. So on Tuesday 2/25, I called the hospital to check that we could head in, and we left for the hospital at 6:30 that night. It was very anti-climactic, my parents brought us dinner and everyone knew baby W would be arriving in the next day. I was emotional... It was a nerve wracking thought that the time had come and our lives were about the change forever!

When we arrived at the hospital, we had a lovely nurse, Eileen, who got me going with paperwork and settling down for the night. Oddly enough, once I was hooked up to the monitors, it said I was having minute long contractions two minutes apart. Despite this, I wasn't actually in labor because I still hadn't made any progress. My midwife, Kim, came in to place the cervidil, an induction medicine, and Tony and I settled in for the night. In retrospect, this was the worst part. I hated the belly monitors, couldn't get comfortable, barely slept, had to pee constantly, and then finally started to feel some contractions. Honestly, I think Tony had it worse... A tiny pull out chair bed. Poor guy!

In the morning I felt much better, the cervidil was out and I was able to take a nice long hot shower before starting the pitocin. Throughout the whole labor experience, Tony was a lifesaver- kept me laughing and focused. It was quite comical when I started flooding the delivery room during my shower. After the shower, I got my IV hooked up (ug) and they began the pitocin. Real contractions started then.

By 10:00 things started to pick up. Kim suggested we try a foley ball to get me to dilate. I had dilated 1cm over night, and the foley ball would get me at least to 4cm. This combined with the pitocin got
things moving, and I had a solid two hours of real good labor. The first hour wasn't bad at all- I spent most of it standing at my bedside rocking and trying to use gravity to my advantage. I was still smiling in between contractions!


After about an hour I opted to sit on a birthing ball. And within a half an hour I was ready to lay down again.



The contractions were becoming much stronger and I had to really focus my breathing on each one.
After two hours I was begging for a change... I could feel the foley moving down on every
contraction, I just wanted it out. I either wanted to get up or get some pain meds. Luckily my midwife came in to check me at this point and to take out the foley. When she took it out, it had already been dislodged, my water had broke, and I was measuring around 6cm. A successful two hours!!


So after the foley was out, I worked through few more contractions. I was in some wicked pain and there were no more smiles in between contractions. With the recommendation of the midwife I opted for an epidural, just so I could at least get some rest before the real work began. About an hour later the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. The hardest part was having the first few contractions while he was getting everything set up and administering the shot. My first three contractions while he was get the epidural going caused more of my water to break- I felt like I was sitting in a baby pool filled with water. At first I thought I had peed myself, but I hadn't. Finally, I was numb from the waist down and feeling much better. The nurse kept flipping me to try to get baby W to drop.



An hour later, Dr. F came in... And in the two hours since getting to 6cm, I had stalled. At that point with the strength of my contractions and the rate I was going, I should have been ready to push. After discussion, we decided to give it one more hour to see if anything magically snapped into place, or else we would do a c-section. This was NOT what I wanted, and there were definite tears involved, but I knew we had to do what was best. Lo and behold, an hour later, and the baby only started to cone... Her skin was pulling downward but her body wasn't moving into place. So c-section it was!

Another anesthesiologist came in to give me more numbing meds before moving to the OR. Tony suited up in a dashing bunny suit. He was looking good! Our parents and sisters had arrived and were in the waiting room at this point. It was nice that Tony could run out to talk to them and let them know what was going on.

Around 4:00 I was rolled into the OR, put on the table, meds in place, and a team of doctors got to work on me. Tony sat with me at my head, and I was grateful for the medication- I didn't feel a thing except for some tugging and pulling. Within minutes, 4:16 to be exact, baby W was out, Dr. F announced "it's a girl!!!" I was beyond shocked and elated and cried with joy. Tony and I both said "Vienna Marie!" Tony stepped out of the room with Vienna, and they weighed her- a whopping 8# 11oz!



She had a head full of hair- definitely a mini momma! While doing the weighing and everything, Vienna took her first poop. Tony gave me the play by play while the doctors stitched me up. I was bummed we didn't get it immediately do skin to skin time, but I was stuck in crucifix position for about 20-30 min. Tony did get to hold Vienna the entire time they stitched me up, and I got to touch her with one hand.



By 5:00 we were back to our recovery room. I was dying to hold Vienna, but I was still shaking from the surgery. It was surreal being numb from the shoulders down- I couldn't move a muscle! I did finally warm up enough to hold Vienna and feed her. She was a natural! Then, our parents and sisters came in for a quick visit. I was near falling asleep and crashing from all the excitement. The Weisels visited for a bit while my parents went to dinner. We moved to the maternity ward and then my parents came back to visit until visiting hours ended.




The next few days ran into a blur. A brief summary;

Thursday: Over night Wednesday-Thursday we opted to send Vienna to the nursery. It was a great decision because we got a decent amount of sleep to prepare us for the marathon that was the rest of the hospital stay. Nurses constantly coming and going, trying to feed on demand, it made the days a blur! In the morning, the nurse came to take out my catheter, and I was begging to have my IV out. I was sick of it being in my hand! Luckily it was all out by noon and I was feeling much more like myself- except for the crazy swollen feet! I even started to walk around.. It was tough to stand up straight but at least I was moving around. And the more I moved the better I felt! We had a few visitors throughout the day- but it was snowy and frigid...single digits again! What a crazy winter!

Friday: Thursday to Friday night we opted to keep Vienna in the room. Beast feeding had seemed to go well for the first 24 hrs, but took a turn for the worse over night. I was in a lot of pain trying to feed, and we luckily had a phenomenal lactation consultant come work with us Friday afternoon. Her name was Alaine and she was magnificent! She got us back on track, and we've been going strong ever since. Friday was another blur of feeding, diaper changes, visitors, and me trying to walk around and get recovered. I even got to take a shower so I was feeling more and more normal. One thing I was grateful for with the c-section was the recovery- my belly was sore and walking was a little difficult, but bathroom time was a breeze compared to what I was expecting with a natural birth.

Saturday: We were so ready to go home! Vienna and I each got seen by our doctors, got our discharge orders, and then all of a sudden it was go time! We got Vienna dressed, Tony went to load the car, and the wheel chair for mom showed up. We were so happy to go home... And truly embark on our I new adventure!












Saturday, February 15, 2014

Just for funzies, 39 weeks of bumpday photos

Hello friends and fam,

Were 4 days from our due date, and many of you have lost the baby poll... Sorry guys! This kid is just too comfy in there. In the mean time, I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at all the weeks of bump pics... Growth of a human truly is  an amazing thing! Hopefully my next post will be a baby post!

Jennifer

Weeks 10/11

Weeks 12/13

Weeks 14/15

Week 17

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Week 22

Week 23

Week 24

Week 25

Week 26

Week 27

Week 28

Week 29

Week 30

Week 31

Week 32

Week 33

Week 34

Week 35

Week 36

Week 37

Week 38

Week 39

Friday, February 7, 2014

Nursery tour and baby waiting

Hello!

So we are two days Into predictions...sorry Andrea and Michelle, no such luck! Although I haven't quite made a specific prediction, I've thought I'd deliver late; now I'm thinking I'll deliver early. I definitely have felt *different* the past few days... Probably just my body saying "get ready!!! It's happening soon!" Unfortunately "soon" could mean any time in he next 18 days. We are 11 days from due date.. Some people have said it looks like I am dropping... But who really knows! The next predictions are from Kristen and Mat on Monday 2/10. Thanks for giving us this weekend off from predictions :)

In other super exciting news- our nursery is DONE! Ok, I still have one more window treatment to tackle, but everything else is DONE! Here's a preview!

Entering the room from the hall, you walk directly to the changing table. The changing table is a repurposed kitchen cabinet thanks to my talented husband.



The back wall with the crib and dresser. The crib was a gift from the grandparents and the dresser is a piece matching the changing table we refurbished.


The back wall with the rocker- a refurbished piece by mom that was once in my nursery;


The closet wall with our end table that was once a part of my great grandparents bed set, also refurbished by my mom;


Some more shots;




That's all for now! More updates later!!

Jennifer




Tuesday, February 4, 2014

It's Baby Month!

It's baby month!

Let the count down begin... Starting this Thursday we have predictions for baby Weisel's arrival almost every day! Officially we are 15 (HOLY MOLY) 15 days from our due date. Whaaaat?!?!

I've been looking over lists and things yet to be done before the big day... In reality we are 95%  ready; room is set (pictures to come once the chair and curtains are in), baby clothes are washed, car seat is installed, hospital bags are packed, classes have been attended, hospital is toured, house is clean (ish).... We are as ready as we need to be. A few of the last things that I'd like to have done;

~ Tax appointment- made for Wednesday. One less headache post baby!

 ~ Stock up on groceries and supplies. I found a great list from sweetorangefox.com - a pretty neat blog... One of the many I am obsessed with. I also joined Amazon mom and Amazon subscribe and save, which will be super handy for many of our bigger grocery purchases (paper towel, toilet paper, etc.). I have a list of bulk items that will automatically ship every 6 months. Less to add to the weekly/monthly grocery list!

~ Prep freezer meals- this is my main reason for posting today- ideas for freezer meals once we are home from the hospital and busy learning how to be parents. The less we have to think about beyond the realm of baby, the better! My idea is to have 10-14 meals prepped, in double servings, so we have about a month of food ready to go. In reality we will probably also order out once a week (we go to
John and Marys weekly for subs since it's around the corners as it is) Everything else I've planned is bake-able or crockpot ready... Y'all know how I love my crockpot!

So far I have: (and please ask me for any of my recipes- some are loosely based on ones I've found online, done with my own twist)

1. Chicken Noodle Casserole
2. Pork tenderloins and baked potatoes
3. CP taco chicken rice bowls
4. JalapeƱo popper chicken
5. Broccoli pesto ravioli
6. Scalloped potatoes and ham
7. CP sweet and sour chicken with pineapple
8. CP BBQ pulled pork sandwiches
9. Reubens (since st. Paddy's day is approaching)
10. "Pink" Pasta- baked like baked ziti
11. Spaghetti pie

I'm still looking for some other ideas... Please send them my way! I'll be spending this weekend devoted to meal prep- looking forward to it!

Until later.... Wishful and positive baby thoughts!

Jennifer

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Baby predictions!

Hey all!

So I figured I'd post in one central location pictures of the baby and such so you could view as you please :)

Today was our hospital tour.... It's becoming so real! We are 3 1/2 weeks from our due date of 2/19/14. Here are our baby predictions so far... I'll add more as we receive them.

Predictions:

2/6 Andrea 8lb 9oz, Boy
2/7 Michelle Switz 8lb 2oz, Girl
2/10 Kristen V 7lb 8oz, Girl,
        Mat  11lb, Boy
2/11 Nick M 8lb 9oz, Boy
        Cassie  7lb 8oz, Girl
        Brad 6lb 8oz, Girl
2/12 Mr Weisel "Opa" - 8lb 8oz, Boy
        Lindsay 8lb 9oz, Boy
2/13 Kristen D, 8lb 10oz, Boy
2/14 Katie 8lb 8oz, Boy
        Nadine 8lb 11oz
2/15 Jessica 8lb 6oz, Boy
        Emily Vic 9lb 3oz, Girl
2/16 Trevor 9lb 6oz, Boy
        Tina  8lb 6oz, Girl
2/17 Marisa 8lb 4oz, Girl
        Tony 8lb 4oz, Boy
        Nick D 8lb 6oz, Boy
        Grandma Sparkes, 7lb 2 oz, boy
        Grandpa Sparkes, 7lb 4oz, boy
2/18 Dad "Grandpa" 7lb 7oz, Girl
        Michelle Schwab 8lb 2oz, Girl
2/19 Uncle Rick 8lb, Boy
        Aunt Dianne 8lb, Girl
        Mrs. Weisel "Babci", 8lb 6oz, boy
2/20 Dan 7lb 11oz, Boy
2/21 Aunt Betty 8lb 4oz, Boy
        Megan F 7lb 10oz, Girl
        Aunt Sherry 8lb 1oz, Boy
2/22 Uncle Ben 9lb 4oz, Boy
        Sara Vic 8lb 5oz, Boy
        Mark 8lb 4oz, Girl
2/23 Aunt Therese 7lb 12oz, Girl
2/24 Lisa 8 lb 10oz, Boy
        Kristina B
2/26 Uncle Dave 7lb 10oz, Girl
        Stephanie 7lb 7oz, boy
2/27 Aunt Jeanne  8lb 13oz, Boy
2/28 Nora 7lb 2oz, Boy

So Stay tuned.... And Check back here for updates!

 <3 Jen