I Think We're Alone Now...

Well, this was my first week where I was all by myself with the baby. Overall the week went really well. I did have to call my mother-in-law once to get laundry tips and I did call my mom twice this week to tell her how things were going. So I would say that it was a pretty successful week.

I even felt confident enough to take Lehna out of the house on Thursday to get the mail and to the grocery store. It was good because Lehna was asleep at the store, so that made the trip pretty easy. I did have two bottles prepared just in case though... I wasn't taking any chances. I did find that once you put baby in the grocery cart you have very little room for anything else... which could be a problem if I ever have to do any 'MAJOR' shopping on my own with Lehna. So that's something to keep in mind for the future. But I know that I'll get the hang of the whole baby thing soon.

Lehna is changing so quickly already! It is really amazing. She looks nothing like her baby pictures from the hospital and even pictures that were taken last week don't look anything like her. It's really crazy. She is starting to recognize both Tait and my voice, usually when one of us is holding her, we start talking, and Lehna starts to look around for the voice. She is also starting to hold her head up more consistently. Of course she's not perfect at it. And her head does bob around on occasion but compared to where she was 2 weeks ago she is really doing an excellent job. It's amazing!

Being a parent is such a crazy thing it's so wonderful but at the same time it's so challenging. I guess this is what I have to look forward to for the next 18+ years. Of course, when Lehna cries right now it's basically feed me, change me, or hold me. I think later it is going to be a bit more difficult to determine why she's crying. Lehna is now sleeping in her bassinet for the majority of the night. She sleeps for about 4 hours and then wants to be fed. But after she eats, she goes back to her bed and sleeps... of course during the day we are still working on it; but progress is progress.

I also talked to the day care this week and told her that her first day and found out what I needed to bring and that type of thing. After I got off the phone I was ready to cry... it really sucked. Tait was going to drop Lehna off her first day, but now it looks like I'm going to have to take her on the first day... which is going to be so very hard. I know that I don't really have a choice in the matter and she will need to be at day care, but every time I think about how much I am going to miss, it makes me sick to my stomach. But I know that I will need to be strong and take her there it will be really good for her socializing and I know she will be well taken care of... it will be just hard. But those are thoughts I don't want to think about just yet... Well, I hate to leave on such a sad note but baby is calling my name, so I'll update next week! Until then!

Aren't I a Doll?!!?

Lehna's Birth Story (G-Rated!)

I wanted to share Lehna's birth story so everyone knew the story. On Monday, March 28th, I was walking to my car after work when I felt this very achy pain in my sides it was a big enough ouchy feeling to kind of make me stop dead in my tracks. I thought that I was just walking to fast so I just kind of passed it off as nothing. Well as I got to my car I had a contraction. I didn't think much of it since for the passed two weeks I had been having contractions off and on and nothing ever happened. Well I of course called my mom on my way home and told her that I had this achy pain in my sides and mom just said that I should just watch it see what happens. Well during my conversation I had some contractions and I told her that, but again I really didn't think anything about it. Well then I called Jackie and told her what was going on and how I was feeling, then she updated the webpage to show code Yellow!

Well I was still having contractions and I started to time them and they were about 8 mins apart. After I got done chatting with Jackie, I called Tait to let him know that I was having contractions. I had decided that I was going to call the doctor when I got home only because I was having contractions and I did have those achy like pains. Well I also called Tanna and Teresa during my car ride home and told them what was going on and they just said to keep them posted. Well when I got home I had timed my contractions to where they were 8 mins apart for an hour. Well I called the answering service to get the on call doctor and the doctor called me back and told me that from what I was telling her she thought that it sounded like it was time and that I should come in. Well Tait and I were gathering things and that's kind of when the nerves kicked in b/c I was clumsy and dropping things and I couldn't find anything. Well I called all the family on the way to hospital to let them know what was happening.

Well we went to the hospital and got checked in and just kind of waited. Well the nurse that we had was WONDERFUL she was so nice and she talked to us about what was happening and it was determined that my water had not broken but I was having contractions. Well we were there for about two hours and still nothing major was happening. Helen and Tanna arrived within that time and was in and out. The nurse came in and said that since my water hadn't broken and I was only at 1 plus cm (not quite 2 cm) I had the option of being able to go home or stay and see what happens. Well I told the nurse that I wanted to stay one more hour just to see what happens. Well I called my mom to let her know what was going home. And Terry told me that she was on her way. Well I called her cell and talked to her and let her know what was happening. I was really hoping that something would happen because I knew that she was driving down five hours to be with us. Well during that last hour my water broke; boy was that a CRAZY phenomena. Helen and Tanna said that my face was hilarious, I don't know I was just thinking "what the heck?" Well I had called the nurse and she checked it out and she said that that was the case. So I called mom AGAIN and told her that I was staying b/c my water broke.

Well all evening there wasn't much progress; just contractions and nothing major. Well the nurses kept saying that whenever I wanted pain medications just let them know. Well it was about midnight and I was kind of sleeping on and off between contractions. Tait fell asleep in the chair that was in my room. During the night Jackie, mom, and Teresa had come down and eagerly awaiting the baby.

Well about five o'clock a.m rolled around and by then I was in A LOT of pain and I ordered some pain meds and they checked me again. Well they said that I was only at 2 cms and was very thinned out. And I kept thinking was ONLY 2 CMS ARE YOU KIDDING! Well after that exciting news I was thinking that this was going to take ALL DAY. Well the nurses came in by this time I had new nurses (and I got this one nurse from HELL that felt it was her job to boss my family around... and me, which made me want to inflict bodily harm) So that kind of sucked! Well they said that I was going to get my epidural at 8 am because there was a c-section that was scheduled and I needed to have it before then, so I was excited but nervous about it. After I got my epidural I was just thinking to myself "what the heck was I worried about? It didn't hurt. It wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be. Well after that they just kind of let me hang out for about an hour it was now 9 am. The nurse from hell decided that I needed to sleep even though I had slept for 4 hours that night! So they kicked my family out and laid me down... they didn't even give me a choice the lady literally moved my bed down, closed the windows, turned off the TV, and told my family to leave (Tait left too)! I felt that was a BIT extreme. Well, before they laid me down they decided they were going to see if I had made any progress and I was at 8 cms! In an hour! They went to go get Tait... Tait had just stepped downstairs to get a magazine at the gift shop so they were searching for him. Jackie called Tait his cell phone and told him to get upstairs fast since I was at 8 cms. Well during that time they had checked me AGAIN and this time I was already 10 cms! I had progressed from 2 cms in like 15 mins! They said that it was time for me to push... by this time it was 9:30 am. Well Tait came in and they were getting my mom in the room too. Well I had the urge to push and I started to push. Well soon after 30 mins of pushing baby was HERE! It was CRAZY!

The nurses just kept saying how fast that was and after things started happening and to be honest I was happy things went as fast as they did, but it was like nothing that I had previously imagined. But they announced that we had a girl and it was all just amazing as she just lay there on my chest. As you can see from the pictures Tait was pretty amazed by the whole process as well. He was VERY protective after she was born and was sticking very close to her side. The baby was healthy and very sweet and we were glad to FINALLY have her! But over the last week and a half we have been learning how to be parents and learning how to take care of the baby. Things are a little rough around the edges but I know that over time things will work out and we will become good parents. I want to thank Jackie for all of her hard work on the site and keeping everyone informed. I am hoping to keep this more updated but you know how it is with a newborn! Also thank you to all the family members and friends that have come to see Lehna and also that have helped us take care of her. Tait and I are VERY grateful for all of your caring and help.


Another little update:
Lehna was tested for Jaundice on Saturday April 2 and she had an elevated level and she was ordered a billyblanket to help take care of her jaundice. We took her to the doctor on Monday April 4 and her levels were back to normal and she no longer has to have the biliblanket. Which I am so relieved that she doesn't have to have it any more. So over all things are still going really well. On Monday and Tuesday night of this week Lehna had about two 4-hour spans of crying straight which we linked to colic episodes. Last night was MUCH better she only cried for about 15 mins and then she slept pretty much the rest of the evening. We are hoping that the other nights were kind of a fluke but we'll see what happens we'll keep you posted. Overall she's changing already and growing so quickly. Tait still calls her his little angel. Which is of course SOOOO sweet it could melt sugar. Mommy and baby and doing really well. We had some issues breast-feeding so we have decided to pump and give baby bottles. We are also doing formula to get her used to the taste of it. I have to say though when we went to go see the nurses about breast-feeding they are like CRAZY RADICALS about the whole breast-feeding thing so that kind of sucked. But baby Lehna doesn't mind having bottles and I don't mind pumping so both mommy and baby are okay with the situation. Well I'll keep you posted on anything else that progress! Talk to you all soon.

Home is Where the Sweetheart is!

This is Aunt Jackie filling in for Stephanie one more time... Lehna went home Thursday, and is just finishing out her first weekend in her own bed. Lehna is doing well; she has to have a biliruben(sp?) blanket to combat a little case of jaundice. It is so cute! She wears it under her clothes when she sleeps, and Uncle Marcus says she looks like a glow-worm!

Stephanie will be sending me her next post soon, but for right now, here are pictures of Lehna and her nursery. There is also a 0-1 Month Photo Album started that you definitely don't want to miss!



Lehna is looking up at her friend, the singing giraffe!


Nursery


Lehna's Crib


Don't worry, Lehna's not alone! Mommy is just outside of the camera shot!

Lehna and her family

wish everyone a wonderful week!