Friday, September 23, 2011

Newborn Photos

Taking a break from trying to select which photos I want to have enlarged prints of. We took Oliver in at one week old - on his original due date - to get his photos taken. It was rough getting out the door for only the second time and making it out to Hillsboro by 10 am. But we made it! Oliver did great, despite two peeing incidences. But what can you expect when you take a newborn's diaper off! I was convinced that he was being the worst baby ever, but Rebecca assured us that he was one of the easiest newborns she's worked with in a while. And the photos she took were amazing!! Hence the fact it is so difficult to select the photos to frame.

Take a look here at her blog entry with a few of his super adorable shots. And as she pointed out, I think he unfortunately inherited my wrinkly feet and palms. Would highly recommend Catchlights NW for newborn photos in the Portland area!




Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Stinky

Went to Babies R Us to pick up some things we discovered we "need" for Oliver. While there I grabbed a pack of disposable diaper bags. They're basically doggy poo bags, but branded for babies. I have plans to do a price comparison, because they're literally the same thing. Except for the fact that the baby ones are scented (I have no idea why they would be and the dog bags wouldn't be...) As I looked at my BRU store-brand bags, I noticed an overwhelming odor of baby powder. I couldn't figure it out for a moment until I realized it was coming through the box packaging of the bags. It was an overpowering scent, and while reminiscent of "baby," it's also kind of sickening. So I put them back and selected a more neutral Arm & Hammer brand.

Flash forward to diaper changing time when I go to apply our new Babies R Us (Vaseline knock-off) Petroleum Jelly in a tube. The only kind they had. To my horror, as I was about to place it on my son's freshly circumcised part, I realized it reeked of... you guessed it... baby powder. I thought, this can not be, it's just Petroleum Jelly... as the active ingredient. With "fragrance" as the only "other ingredient". In a very unofficial and incomplete study, I think every store-brand product that they sell is Baby Powder Scented!

Maybe it's just me, but perhaps one or two items should be scented baby powder if you want your baby to smell like that. Or possibly even just use baby powder?? I go out of my way to buy unscented products, so I found it just a wee bit frustrating...

Monday, September 12, 2011

Growing up too fast

Umbilical cord fell off today. What?? I think that's supposed to take a little while. Could Oliver possibly be 5 days old already? And of course I dug it out of the chair I was nursing in and saved it. Suggestions on what I should do with it? Frame it in a shadow box? Probably not - Mitchell won't even let me frame the x-ray of my back, which I think would make rather cool piece of statement art. Anyway, keep or toss the shriveled piece of lifeline?

Oliver also passed his first doctor's appointment with flying colors. Been a mellow day that has flown by here are the Wright household. Somehow, it is already 4 pm.

Oliver George Wright

Oliver joined our little family Thursday, September 8, 2011, at 7:57 am. He was 8 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches, with a 14 and 3/4" inch head circumference (We were told that is pretty huge and that I should be glad I had a c-section). He was delivered via cesarean one week before our original due date at Portland Providence because he was in a breech position. He had a nearly perfect "APGAR" score when he arrived and seem to have no issues being a week early. This score was assessed shortly after he emptied what appeared to be his entire bladder on the observation table after being delivered. He did the same thing when he received his circumcision on Saturday. His system seems to be working just fine!

Mitchell was able to be in the Operating Room with me - holding my hand during the surgery, and was the first to hold the little guy when he arrived. The surgery was super fast and it was very strange to be awake and just feel a lot of pressure on the other side of the curtain. I had a "spinal" anesthetic, which numbs everything from the chest down and took a few hours to wear off. My mom, Kerry and Alice were there we came out and had to "patiently" wait in the waiting room while we got settled in our room and had the first breastfeeding experience. Breastfeeding has gone really well, and the whole sleep schedule thing is a work in progress. I was pretty much out of it the day he was born from the surgery drugs, and have been just a touch loopy since then from the pain meds. We were in he hospital for 3 days and had several visitors over the couple of days, including all 4 grandparents and his one aunt. We watched the Duck and Michigan football games on the ancient TV in the hospital room.

The biggest complaint was that the first night the air-conditioning went out in all of the maternity rooms. The combination of the hot weather and my raging hormones caused a bit of a sweaty panic attack, but we rigged up a few fans and managed to make it through until the AC was reinstated.

We were able to come home today. Things have been smooth so far, although the dogs are still in transition mode and not sure what to think. We're so excited to integrate Oliver into our lives and introduce him to more of our family and friends. He's a cutie!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Thursday is the Day

New due date: September 8, 2011. Sorry mom, you will not be sharing a birthday....unless stubborn Oliver manages to flip himself in the next couple of days. If it makes you feel any better, I was hoping for a 9/10/11 birthdate, but no such luck.

That's right, Oliver is in breech position (heads up), and he doesn't look like he's going to move heads down any time soon.

Oliver was heads up at 34 weeks, which was the first indication of possible concern. A baby will flip all throughout pregnancy, but at a certain point gets to big to easily maneuver. So, I kept up with the yoga and aqua aerobics. Cat-Cow is supposed to be helpful.

At 36 weeks, Dr J was concerned enough to send me to an acupuncturist. I couldn't make it in until the next week, at which time the acupuncturist performed a "procedure" with Moxibustion (Moxa) next to the small toe, or Bladder 67. Total witch magic stuff. But, I was able to convince Mitchell to help me for the following 4 days to continue the practice. I had him watch this video and he was a pro. You have to do it outside because it's stinky. Basically, you hold this cigar-thing near the little toe until it gets really hot, I yell that it's hot, and then he pulls it away, and then keep doing it again for 10 or 15 minutes on each foot.

I had a doc appt after the Moxa was complete (5 days usually does the trick) and alas, Oliver's head was still up. I was actually pretty sure he had flipped, which shows you how much I know. So, we scheduled a "version" for that Thursday.

So, at 38 weeks, Mitchell and I went into the Labor & Delivery part of the hospital. Now, Dr J has a very casual personality, and I tend to be casual about these things as well, so I was not exactly expecting so much official fanfaire. They put me on the monitor to see how the baby is doing. The anesthesiaologist met with me in case the baby went into distress and they had to do an emergency c-section. I got in trouble for eating yogurt and Cheerios 4 hours prior, but perhaps they should have told me that 6 hours was the rule. Whatever. They took blood and urine samples. Then they gave me a shot to relax my uterus, and a pill to counteract the shakes that the shot tends to give you. The pill is supposed to make you drowsy like Benadryl. So then Dr J and another Dr from the practice came in and tried to encourage Oliver to shift down. They checked on him on the ultrasound, then tried to manually maneuver him one direction. Then the other. And when I say "encourage" and "maneuver" I do not mean to imply that it was gentle or fun. It pretty much sucked. Mitchell got to sacrifice his hand for me to hold, and the nurse actually insisted on lending her hand on the other side. Lots of pressure and it felt like I couldn't breathe. But, they decided that with his butt wedged in my pelvis and his legs piked in front of him, it was just unlikely that he was going to be able to get himself out of that position. So we called it. When I got home, I was so wiped I napped on the couch and then slept soundly for over 12 hours. Whatever they gave me fully messed me up.

So, we scheduled a c-section for 39 weeks. Which is September 8. They don't want to deliver the baby too early, but they also want to make sure that I don't go into labor before it's scheduled, which would result in an emergency c-section instead. I have a few last-ditch efforts planned, like another acupuncture appt Tuesday, fingers crossed, but Thursday is looking like the day.

Regardless, Oliver is almost here!