The First Month

It's amazing how much life has changed since Henry arrived, yet it feels as if he's always been here! This may be an overload of Henry but I'm a bit behind {3 months} and need to catch up on everything this little man has been up to!

Always crying! :)

Looking back at those first few weeks, I cannot believe how far we've come! Henry had a hard time learning how to latch, so nursing was a dreaded event that came every three hours! I was at a loss until my sweet friend, Amy Kneistler, suggested I attend a lactation workshop at Henry Mayo. The women there are AMAZING and, along with my wonderful mother, gave me the confidence and tricks needed to get Mr. Henry eating like a champ! 

All tuckered out after a good feeding. 

It's amazing how predictable he was those first few weeks. His day pretty much followed the same routine - eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep...you get the point. Slowly he began staying awake after feedings; at first just a few minutes and later up to an hour! I spent countless hours snuggling with him on the couch, listening to his little snore. It took him a while to figure out his nights and days. We would try anything to calm him down and get him to sleep. One trick was to run the kitchen faucet and sway him back and forth. I remember doing this at 3am, the room completely dark, but I could see his big bright eyes staring right at me. 

Henry grew so much this first month. Nursing is no longer an issue and he's figured out his days and nights. He's still working on his eye control, but we love his little cross-eyed look. His personality is starting to show and he's started smiling at us. What a joy sweet Henry is!

Introducing Henry

Well a lot has happened these past three months; our family of two became a family of three! Here's a recap of the day we first met our sweet boy and the months that followed:

October 30th

Today I had yet another doctor's appointment at Kaiser with Dr. Rao. I was four days away from my due date and extremely pregnant. I had decided to keep working as long as I could, although I switched to working only in the mornings to allow myself the afternoon to rest. Dr. Rao said everything looked good, I was at 2cm, and could expect to feel contractions at least by the weekend. It being only Tuesday, I was hoping that I wouldn't make it to the weekend. I was tired of being pregnant. I went back to work and began feeling what I thought were some mild contractions. By the time I got home, they had stopped and I decided to do what I did best - plop on the couch and watch another episode of Fraiser. I eventually fell asleep and woke again around 10pm to another contraction...and another......and another. I decided to time them using my trusty iPhone app and to my surprise, they were coming every 3 - 4 minutes. I decided to let Ryan sleep {since I figured we'd be up all night} and got to packing my hospital bag. Yes, I waited until the last possible second to pack my bag. I don't know why; I think I was terrified of the birthing process and by not packing my bags, I was telling myself that I wouldn't have to go through with it. Ridiculous, I know. 

Anyways, I packed my bags and as I was walking around the house the contractions got stronger. I woke up Ryan, he packed up the car and we sat on the couch to wait. It wasn't long before my water broke and we were out the door. We called both of our families to tell them we were on our way to the hospital.

October 31st 

1am we arrived at the hospital. At this point the once mild contractions were totally overpowering. I thought to myself, surely I had dialated to 7 cm in the 20 minutes it took us to get to the hospital. I felt like a champ - I can totally get through this labor medicine -free! When the nurses checked me in and checked to see my progression, I was thoroughly disappointed to find that I was only 3 cm!! So, like all rational women who are at the point of squeezing their husbands fingers off because of the pain, I asked for an epidural. I would like to take a moment and describe how much I love the epidural - both the medicine itself and the woman who administered it. LOVE!

My spa day

Anyways, hours went by and I finally made it to 10 cm. Those hours were wonderful - I couldn't feel a thing and I received frequent hand and foot massages to get my contractions going. I was given extra oxygen and a warm towel for my forehead. It was like a spa, only without the mud bath. But my spa day ended and the midwife said it was time to push. So I did....and pushed....and pushed........AND pushed.

Ryan suiting up for the operating room.

4 hours later, it was obvious this little {big} man was NOT going to come out. So a c-section was the way to go. The drama continued in the operating room when I could still feel the lower half of my body as they prepared to slice me open and take out the little man. "I'm sorry ma'am, but we're going to have to put you under and intabate you since the epidural is not effectively numbing you." What!?! At this point I turned to Ryan and said, "This is the worst day ever!" Ok, I was being a little dramatic, but 18 hours of labor, 4 hours of pushing, and the prospect of having a giant tube inserted down your throat will do that to you. 

Thankfully, my wise husband asked if we could wait a few minutes to see if the medicine would kick in and I wouldn't need to be put under. And thankfully it did work after a little while and the next hour was a bit of a blur. I felt tugging, I heard a cry, I felt a lot lighter, and then I took a nap. I remember them bringing Henry to me in the operating room but my blood pressure had dropped and I was a little out of it. About an hour later, our new family of three {plus our wonderful nurse} sat in the recovery room and we marveled at the little {big} man that was once inside of me and now lay in my arms. 

Born at 5:07pm, 8 lb. 12 oz. and 20.5 inches long

Oh Henry! He was perfect! Looking equal parts his father and his mother, although he did not receive the webbed toe trait from his mother. I just stared into his dark eyes and told him how much I loved him and how thankful I was that he was healthy and strong. Soon our family and friends came in - first my parents, then Ryan's parents, then Allie, David and Stephanie, and finally Susi and Jonathan. It was wonderful! They had waited all day long to meet this little man and now he was finally here. 

Sweet Henry sleeping soundly