Status Update

First I want to say thank you for all of the posts, emails, and phone calls I received regarding the breastfeeding. I feel like I was able to pull something from each of them, which was really nice. Unfortunately it is still a struggle. Believe me, I feel like I've tried all of the suggestions-letting him nurse as often as he wants in a 24 hour period without supplementing, eating more, drinking more water, etc. I met with one of the lactation consultants and we came to the conclusion that I just have a low milk supply--I've also found out that this is very common among women who struggle with infertility! Chalk it up to just one more thing that my body has a hard time doing:) One of the lactation consultants wanted to put me on a prescription medication to try and help to boost my production. I went ahead and filled it, but then after reading up on it and some of the possible side-effects I began to wonder if I should take it or not. Then we met with the pediatrician and when we mentioned it to him, he looked it up on his iPhone and told us that they didn't really recommend it because it was seen to pass through breast milk--so I decided to forgo that route! One of the other struggles with it is that Owen is just a bit of a lazy eater....which doesn't help the situation. I struggle to keep him awake--believe me, I've tried all of the suggestions on that end as well--which makes it really hard for him to get full. Over the Christmas holiday when Tony was home, I did a lot of pumping and he did a lot of bottle feeding, which helped to keep him awake and get his nourishment--believe me he was a much happier camper when that happened! Now, for the past few days since Tony has gone back to work, I've been nursing and then giving him a 1 oz bottle of formula, which has also seemed to make him happier--probably because he is full. He also generally gets a formula bottle before he goes to bed at night, which seems to stick with him a little longer and helps him and us get some good sleep. Then when he wakes up, I again nurse and supplement him with some formula before putting him back down. I'm not sure how long we will continue down this road, but for now it is working and he is getting full and doing some growing! Right now I take it a week at a time and know that he is still getting some of the good stuff from mom:)

Speaking of growing, at his pediatrician appt last week, he was up to 8lbs and was 21 1/2 inches--so he definitely gained some weight, but it might have been masked by the fact that he got longer! Still hard to imagine that he may not be back to the weight he was when I was carrying him around in my belly! We go again next week, so we will see how his weight is doing then.

Oh-and he went on his first trip to Hooter's with daddy, Grandpa Arms, Uncle Bill, Uncle Chip and Nick on Monday! He apparently was the star of the day--even got a picture with a couple of the girls, a bib, and an autographed menu commemorating his first trip! Daddy said he let him try the hot wings to get him started out on the right path.....hmm, maybe that is why his belly was a little upset:)

Happy Holidays!

It was our very first Christmas as a family--very exciting for us! We had a wonderful couple of days celebrating the holiday with our family. Owen went many places and met many new people! We tried to keep him safe and healthy and didn't let him get passed around too much--hopefully our family will forgive us by our next get together:) I've added a couple of pics--one of us in front of our tree at home and then a few more of Owen's first photo shoot. Some of you who received our Christmas Card/Birth Announcement got to see one of his pictures, there were a few to choose from, so I added them here. They are compliments of one of Tony's friends who does some photography on the side--he does a great job! (he also took some pregnancy photos that I never got a chance to post--maybe one day!) I will update on how everything else is going soon--time seems to slip by much more quickly with a baby in the house! Hope everyone had a great holiday--we sure did!

Hospital Picture

Of course we had Owen's picture taken before we left the hospital. I thought that we would get an email saying when it was up.....but I kept waiting and no email. So I finally went to the website and it was there! It is crazy to see how he looks--fat chubby cheeks--he lost those once he came home and we had the feeding crisis--makes me sad to see them gone:(

Anyways, if you want to take a peek at him, the website is http://our365.com

Breastfeeding = Nature's Way?

So I think I mentioned in my last post that I might talk about Breastfeeding....Nature's Way? If it is supposed to be so natural why is it so difficult for some people....especially me?!?!?! We had a very rough first night home-I'm not sure that anyone got any sleep. We were getting pretty desperate--Owen was VERY upset and we could tell that he was hungry. Even after nursing his little mouth was dry--it was very sad! We had an appt with the lactation consultant at the hospital at 11:30 but we were calling her at 8AM! When we were getting no response from her (she didn't come in until 10:00), we called Dr. B's office to see if the lactation consultant there was in. She was and Aunt Jill told us to come right over! We stopped to pick up some formula just in case he was going to need a bottle to help him over his hump. The lactation consultant was very supportive and helpful, telling me that I did have some milk and helping us to get him fed a little. I felt a little better after meeting with her and we were all able to come home and take a nap afterwards so that was nice too:)

Well, needless to say the lactation consultant from the hospital kept calling because we ended up needing to cancel our appt with her so we could get some rest--I was feeling pretty rough after everything. We finally decided to go and see her later in the afternoon. Well, they weighed him and he had lost more than 10% of his birthweight, so that was not a good thing. While we were there I didn't have any milk that was transferring to my little guy while trying to feed him. She told us that we really needed to supplement him with some formula to try and get his weight back up. I told Tony after we left that I knew it wasn't good when the lactation consultant walked in with formula! So for feedings after that, Tony sat at my side with a little syringe and shot formula in while he nursed. When we met with her on Friday he had gained back 5 ounces, which was really good so she told us we could cut back a little on the supplementing. Well, when I met with her on Monday he had only maintained his weight, which she didn't seem too worried about, but I thought he should have done a little better over the weekend. She thinks my milk supply is still not 100%. I meet with her again tomorrow so we will see how his weight is doing.

So, where to from here? For me it is EXTREMELY frustrating that this is yet another thing that is seeming to not go right! I've feel bad that I cannot provide for him like I am supposed to be able to. Since Tony went back to work on Monday, I've been doing the syringe supplementing myself. I love the time that we are able to spend together while he is nursing, but if he is not getting what he needs then what is the point in continuing? I've tried to just nurse and not supplement, but it is abundantly clear that he is not as satisfied as when I supplement. I know some breastmilk is better than none, but oh how things would be easier to just whip up a bottle and feed him that way. So I feel that we are at a crossroads......everyone says that the first 2 weeks of breastfeeding are the most difficult.....I figure we will continue to try for a while but I'm not sure how much longer it will be going. Oh--and Tony has been wonderful throughout this whole ordeal--up with every feeding to supplement until I told him to just stay in bed:) and telling me that no matter what happens with this feeding thing.....everyone will end up just fine:) Thanks again honey--not sure I would still be sane throughout this past week or so without you!

Introducing.....

Owen Anthony! Born December 5, 2009 at 5:19PM. He weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. We finally got to come home yesterday, so I've finally had a few minutes to get on and post some pictures for everyone to see:

We think he is perfect.....everything that we ever hoped, wished and dreamed for! Delivery on the other hand was not so perfect. It took over 35 hours for him to be born. We started the day on Friday with Pitocin but it wasn't doing the trick. We then moved on to stronger drugs--got 3 different doses of it--finally things were moving, although still slowly. My water did break on its own and then I did go for the epidural--after more than 24 hours of contractions I wasn't sure how much longer I could go on. Finally around 3:15 I began pushing--pushed for over 2 hours but he wasn't budging past a certain point. The doctor decided that a forceps delivery would be my only option before a C-section, so we proceeded forward. When Owen finally made his entrance into the world, the doctor declared him a football player-large and mommy a petite, so we weren't matching well in that department. He was born perfect with no other issues during the process-unfortunately for me, a forceps delivery was not pleasant and then my placenta then decided that it was not going come out. To leave all the gory details out, the doctor worked on me for over an hour after he was born. When it was all said and done I had lost a significant amount of blood and was not doing the greatest. I was/am also extremely bloated due to all of the fluids that they pumped me full of during the induction--I still don't think that I look like myself! We had several people waiting to meet him, but because of my complications we had to turn them all away and they had to come back on Sunday. It took me a long time to recover and I actually ended up needing a blood transfusion to help push me back up in order to be discharged--which was finally yesterday. So we are now home and trying to find our way around!--what a job that has been. Breastfeeding will probably be the topic of my next entry!

Lasts and Firsts

Well we had our appt with the OB yesterday......still no dilating or effacing, but we are moving forward with the induction tomorrow. We have to be at the hospital at 6AM for the process to start. She again warned that it could be a long day, but she hoped that she would be wrong. She is going to start me with Pitocin and see how I progress during the day. If I can start making progress then she will break my water and we will move on from there. If I go all day with little to no progress, then they will shut the meds off, let me eat and sleep and start with some new and stronger meds on Saturday. Lets just say that I hope we make some progress tomorrow! She also stated that she is starting conservatively because she doesn't want to put any extra stress on me or the baby during the process--He's too precious to take any chances (her words!!). Hopefully things go well and we end up with a baby sometime tomorrow--and hopefully not by C-section, but I know we will have to take things as they come......

So since we got official confirmation, Tony and I have been talking about things in lasts and firsts. Like today was my last breakfast, last day of work, last loads of laundry, last bill paying session, etc. before becoming a mom. Today was Tony's last day of work, last time he'll take the garbage out, etc before becoming a dad. Some of our lasts are a little more profound....we had our last date out for dinner with only saying there would be 2, today is the last day that I will have him always with me, feeling his little movements on the inside:) and today is the last day that our family will only consist of only 2 people (not forgetting about the animals!!). Then we start to think about the firsts that are coming.....the first time we see him, touch him and hear him. There will be the first time we hold him and kiss him--things that we have waited for so long to do are just literally around the corner! I never thought this day would come and I'm so happy that we are going to be able to share in it together. I can't wait to start this new chapter in our lives--the first chapter of our family story--I just know that it will be amazing!