Julianne is 2 months old!

I am going to try and post once a month to Julianne regarding her previous month of life. I have seen this a lot in blog land and think it is a neat way for us all to look back and remember what she was up to on any given month. I missed month one but plan to write about it when I get a chance.

Here are her 2 month stats (she is a little thing):

Head circumference: 14.5 inches (10th percentile)
Weight: 10 lbs (25th percentile)

Length: 22 inches (48th percentile)

Dear Julianne-

It is hard to believe it has been 2 months since you joined our family. At times it feels difficult to remember life before you and impossible to imagine what we did without you! In the last 4 weeks we have gotten much more acquainted and into a loose routine which has really helped your momma. You are learning new things every day and it is beautiful to watch you change and grow. I just wish time wasn't flying by so quickly. You are getting so big so fast!

Top 6 highlights of this month in no particular order:

1. You are starting to know us. At 5 weeks you smiled at me in recognition and my heart swelled with joy! Now you smile at us all the time and lock eyes with me often showing you know I am your mommy. I love it since up until now you didn't give us a lot of feedback.

2. Bath time is fun for you! At first you cried whenever we bathed you, but now seem to love a dip in the tub. I love how you smell like baby soap and lotion afterwards and you seem to sleep better on bath nights.

3. We go out now! This month we have been all kinds of places and explored all kinds of things. We make weekly runs to Target and Sprouts for groceries and venture to the bank and dry cleaners when needed. This month we also went to the arboretum and started going to church and small group. At first it was pretty intimidating taking you places with all of the required gear, but now it seems like old hat.

we even do diaper changes in the trunk of the car....

4. We overcame Thrush! Thrush is a nasty and very painful yeast infection we were diagnosed with at 2 weeks in your mouth and on my breasts. I made breastfeeding excruciating and your mouth sore. We fought it long and hard for 4 weeks treating your mouth and my chest through a long series of trial and error medications and home remedies. Finally it seems to have cleared up in both of us. Praise the Lord!

5. We are all sleeping more! You are sleeping longer and longer stretches at night. It makes all the difference to your Mommy to sleep more hours in a row. Like you, I get a little cranky when I am tired.

when you are not sleeping in your crib Daddy is ready with open arms to hold you when he gets home from work. You love your Daddy snuggle time! 

6. You are making new friends. Haddon is your newest friend born last week. Before we know it y'all will be playing together!

It scares me a little to realize how fast time is passing and how quickly you are changing. I feel like I am going to blink and you will be heading off to college. I am trying to cherish this time and soak you up now while looking forward to what you will learn and how you will grow next. Your Daddy and I love you so much!

Love, 

Mommy

Not sure where to start

I finally have a minute to sit and blog and feel overwhelmed by how to communicate all that has happened since I last posted. I guess it would be impossible to share everything we have been through in these weeks, so I will just write and see where I end up.

6 weeks in and we are rounding corners every day it seems. I am feeling less like a fish out of water and more like the new normal which is nice. Julianne is gaining weight and becoming more and more aware of her surroundings. Last week she even smiled at me for the first time and in that moment all of the long days and sleepless nights were so worth it. I love her so much! She can focus and follow things with her eyes now and I like to think she knows I am her mommy. The feedback is welcomed as before all she did was eat, sleep, and poop. Nights are going better too since she is able to go a little bit longer stretches between feedings. Last night she even made it a record 7.5 hours! I checked on her at 6 hours because I was worried we hadn't heard from her but she was snoozing away. I would love it if this became a habit for her, but time will tell....could have been a fluke thing.

I am also gaining confidence in going places alone with Julianne. At first the thought of taking her somewhere was very daunting. It is amazing the planning needed to get us both out the door with all of our gear. However, I seem to be getting better at it and it is becoming easier. Typically our ventures are limited to the grocery store or dry cleaners, but last week we made a trip to the Dallas Arboretum with our new cousin Amelia. My cousin and his wife had a little girl exactly 4 weeks after Julianne came so it has been fun hanging out. Major props to Amelia's momma Michelle who was able to get to the Arboretum with a 1 week old. I barely made it at 5 weeks. Below are some pictures from the day.

turns out the photo opportunities are limited with a sleeping newborn in the stroller.....

 At least she will know she was there that day

 awake for this one...I look odd but she is cute

With that I will end this post. I have a little girl who seems to be fighting her nap. It is humbling that some days naps go great yet other days she just won't go down. Meanwhile I am doing all I can to recreate a good day. Yet another reminder that I am so not in control. 

OK I am really done now. I will try to get back here more regularly so these posts that drone on and on do not become the norm. Thanks for your patience. 

Nathalie

Surviving

 

(All photos in this post courtesy of Sherah Witt Photography )

Julianne is here! I am 2.5 weeks late in posting anything about this monumental life event but I have been in survival mode for 2 weeks and am just now finding some time to share. I say that, yet as I type this I can see my little girl stirring getting ready for her next feeding. We will see how far I can get with this.

The short version on the birth story. She came on her own and I was able to avoid the induction and c-section I was so fearful of. It was a miracle that I went into labor on my own as my OB was shocked to see us that Friday night. She was born on 1/29 at 12:29 PM. 7 pounds 6 ounces 18 inches long. She is a little thing and we are in love.

That said, things around here have been pretty tough the last 18 days. People tried to tell me how hard the first weeks are and I just didn't have any idea. There have been times I have felt completely overwhelmed and inadequate in this new role as mother. Tears have been shed but each day I build more and more confidence. Sleep is something I miss dearly and breastfeeding is harder than I thought. However, I am very thankful and feel so blessed to be Julianne's mom. She is lovely and precious and I am in awe that the Lord has entrusted her to us. Each day I discover new things about her and fall more and more in love.

I also adore my husband in a completely different way. Watching him love on our girl makes my heart swell in ways I didn't know were possible. He is great at this dad thing and it brings me much joy to see him lose his heart to another girl.

There is so much more I could write on this subject but I am simply out of time. I hope to post more about Julianne's birth and how I am processing being a mom soon.

Nathalie

39 Weeks...The final countdown

As much as I would love to already be holding my baby, today marks the 39th week of gestation. I have been trying to avoid the camera as much as humanly possible but Andrew talked me into taking this photo before we left for work this morning. He said I would appreciate having it later....I hope he is right.

The picture is particularly embarrassing but such an accurate representation of what I am dealing with at the moment. There are about 3 shirts that currently fit over that belly that are work appropriate. As much as I would love to wear Andrew's clothes to work, somehow I think that would be frowned upon. Also, I would normally care that my co-workers were seeing me in the same thing all the time, but surprisingly I don't. I realize that I look like a geriatric pairing my oh so lovely tennis shoes with my work pants. I know this looks terrible, I just can't wear any of my shoes anymore and it is too cold for flip flops.

Since I am already subjecting myself to the humiliation, here is a close up of the belly. Andrew commented last night, "it looks fake" and I can see what he means. I feel like I am wearing a Halloween costume or something. No wonder I get the "you're huge" comments and looks of pity all the time.

Nothing else exciting to report. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow to determine the next steps and see if any progression has happened. If nothing has changed from last week we are likely to be scheduled for an induction sometime in the first week of February. The end is at least in sight! Can't wait to meet this little girl!!

Nathalie

Not my Birth Plan!

Over the last months Andrew and I have been preparing for a natural birth. Not that I am against pain meds or anything, I just want to labor as long as possible before agreeing to any interventions or pain management. We have taken classes, and I have been preparing by staying very active throughout the pregnancy, creating a basic plan, learning breathing techniques, etc... At the same time, I have attempted to keep an open mind since I realize birth is different for everyone and there are many variables that can  change things. Because the pregnancy has been so normal and on track it never occurred to me that some version of my "plan" could end up not a reality.

Last week (37 week appt.) the doctor told me that I had not begun dilating at all and that the baby was still really high. I didn't know this before, but apparently high babies are not at all ready to be born and forcing the issue almost always results in a c-section. She was also concerned with how large I appeared. Great...now even my Dr. is telling me I am HUGE! She said to be sure she wanted to get an ultrasound at the 38 week appointment (yesterday) to make sure Julianne wasn't getting too big.
So I went to the Dr. yesterday and they did the ultrasound. First, I am amazed at what a big girl we have! I mean the last time I saw her she was a mere 20 weeks. Now all her parts do not fit on the monitor and she has beautiful chubby cheeks! Oh to kiss those cheeks I cannot wait! They predicted her to be 7.3 lbs but apparently this could be off by a pound either way. Obviously this is not a gigantic baby (unless she is really 8 lbs...hope not!) and fluids looked good, placenta good etc...

Bad news is I have not progressed at all (like NONE) and the baby is still really high and not engaged in my pelvis. This was very disappointing since I have spent a lot of the week walking and bouncing on an exercise ball to try to move things along. Seriously...nothing is different? I was shocked.

Next week if things are the same my doctor wants to discuss setting up an induction sometime during the 40th week. By this time if I have still not progressed, she feels the baby will be quite large and dragging it out longer would have no benefit. The problem is she said if things are still the same, I am going to need a lot of intervention and drugs to get labor/dilation going (not exactly natural). She also said inductions when babies are high more often end up in c-sections. This is not good news. I really wanted to go into labor and avoid as many interventions as possible. I also was hoping to avoid major surgery and recovery from major surgery.

So we wait....and see if this girl decides to descend on her own. Praying that this is what happens over the next week. I guess my ultimate prayer is that I could surrender all of this to the Lord and trust that his birth plan is best. Also, given we will likely have some options to consider, that we would feel confident with what to do. At some point I don't think I care how she gets here. After seeing those cheeks I just want to hold her and look at her and kiss her all over.

Nathalie