Everyone is always asking us to post more Cambry pictures, so here's some random ones from the last couple days!
We use a sleep positioner in her cradle to help keep her out of trouble. It keeps her in the middle of the cradle and elevates her head slightly. In the early days she was still coughing up amniotic fluid and we had a couple scary moments where she was choking on it. This device along with her Babysense monitor has given us peace of mind. She's able to handle her spit ups better now and get them out of her mouth.
This morning she had wiggled all the way down the sleep positioner and was crammed at the end of the cradle. She didn't seem to mind it, but I thought it looked pretty funny!
We have been settling in this week. We've got her on a 3 hour feeding schedule. At night we'll let her sleep up to 4 hours between feedings, but she's only made it a couple of times. She is starting to wake up more. She usually has 1 fussy period during the night where she's unhappy despite her needs being met. Usually she just wants to be held for a little while.
Her clogged tear duct seems to be getting a little better, but we usually still have to clean her eye a couple times a day. We read that it can last up to a year. I hope not, but we will feel very blessed if that is the only trouble she has. She has really been a good baby so far. We hope that will continue as she outgrows her newborn sleepiness!
Last night G and Pops (Halie's parents) came over to watch her for a couple hours while Halie and I went out for a little while. We ate at Blue Mesa then went to the mall to do a little shopping. It was good to get out of the house for a bit and take a break.
This morning Cambry went to the pediatrician to get weighed and check for jaundice. Our doctor is just down the road from us at Centennial which makes it very convenient. I dropped Halie and Cambry off under the awning because the weather looked threatening. And wouldn't you know it as soon as I parked the car the floodgates of Heaven opened up on me. Fortunately, Halie always has a small baby blue polka-dotted umbrella in her car. It was a proud moment for me.
Anyway, you would probably rather hear about Cambry. Cambry was 8lbs 7oz when she was born, but as we later discovered she was not eating enough and had dropped down to 7lbs 8oz by the time we left the hospital. They only like to see a weight loss of 10% or less. We had exceeded that so we began supplementing until Halie was producing more. Within a day Halie's milk was starting to come in and we no longer had to supplement. We started feeding her every 2.5 hours to make sure she was eating enough. I'm happy to say that since then she's had many a dirty diaper and she has almost gained back all of her weight - 8lbs 3oz. I guess she's a big eater because the nurse practitioner said normally babies her age eat about 1-2oz per feeding, but she's eating 2.5-3.0 oz. The NP said she didn't have enough jaundice to worry about testing her, so that's good.
Halie and I are steadfast in our desire to do BabyWise. So this week we've been working on making sure she's getting full feedings at every meal. We are also feeding pretty closely to a schedule. I think it's working because Cambry eats a lot at every meal, then she usually dozes off and then starts getting restless about 2.5 hours later like clockwork.
We gave Cambry her first bath at home yesterday. I was really excited because I got to get out my shark towel! Halie didn't want me to register for it because she thought it was going to scare her. But I did anyway and Halie's sisters bought it for me. :) She didn't really enjoy getting a sponge bath, but she liked having her hair washed under the faucet. Hopefully her umbilical cord will fall off soon so we can give her a real bath. I'm looking forward to that!
Thanks to everyone who came and visited us at the hospital. Cambry had lots of visitors!
We had the option of coming home on Friday or Saturday. We decided to stay the extra day so that we could rest a little more and make sure we had everything under control. On Saturday morning, we got Cambry dressed up in her going home outfit, loaded up the car, and headed off to begin our new chapter of life.
We're now awake. We both got a decent amount of sleep last night (me more than Halie) so we are feeling better. Thanks for all of your prayers for Halie, they really worked! We got her temperature stablized last night and then they moved us to a post-partum room. It's about the size of your freshman dorm room.
They gave Halie some medicine for her nausea which made her really sleepy. But late last night she was feeling more coherent. She was able to feed Cambry for the first time which made everyone very happy! Cambry was awesome at nursing she has a great sucking reflex. You could hear her making sucking sounds while she was waiting.
Halie is doing well now. We're trying to find a pain medication that doesn't make her sick. I am very proud of how she's handling everything. She has been through so much and never complains. Even through exhaustion yesterday she was able to take care of Cambry. Her know-how and intution about mothering makes it so much easier for me.
Here are a few pics from yesterday. These are just moments after she was delivered. Her initial swelling has gone down quite a bit. I already think she looks different. She definitely has her mommy's pouty lips! I'm in trouble!! :)
Halie is at 6.5 cm. We are hoping her progress continues but it's not going as fast as it was earlier. It's hard to watch her be uncomfortable or in pain and not be able to help her. Her nurse is taking very good care of her though. We're expecting Dr. Campbell to check in on us about 5pm.
I'm putting updates in separate posts now in case it's not updating our RSS reader friends.
Contractions are 3 mins apart! They are getting much more consistent and regular. She's starting to be able to tell when she has them.
9:32am
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Halie was put on Pitocin at about 7:30 this morning. The doctor also came in and broke her water. I ran home for a couple minutes after she was all settled back in. I called her 15 minutes later to check on her and she was already having contraction pains! She decided to go ahead and order an epidural since the pain was getting bad fast. She's now feeling good and feeling tired. Contractions are about 5 minutes apart it seems and she's 3cm.
6:09am
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Good morning! This is Steve writing. I will hopefully be able to provide updates throughout the day. Last night we came to the hospital about 8pm. After a lengthy check-in process and a battery of questions they got Halie hooked up to an IV and blood pressure thing. They put 2 straps around her belly. One to monitor Cambry's heart rate and another to monitor any contractions. She also got a cervix dialater thing (which is why we came the night before). Needless to say we didn't get a whole lot of sleep. At 7:30 they will start the Pitocin to induce labor. Thanks for all of the prayers!
I went to the doctor this morning for another quick check. My body hasn't really done anything since Friday so we are checking in tonight to the hospital at 8:00pm to begin the baby process! I will get a cervix ripener tonight and then tomorrow morning at 7:30am we will begin the induction process with pitocin and the doctor will also break my water then. We should have a baby in our arms by Tuesday evening, hopefully! We are super excited, but a little nervous too! We can't believe it's actually time!! Steve is planning to update the blog along the way tomorrow as the day allows him. So stay tuned...
Well, we officially missed our due date. I was originally due yesterday, April 30, but it looks like we will be having a May baby! I had my 40 week appt and sonogram today since I missed my due date. Dr. Campbell said that Cambry got an A+ on her sonogram! Praise the Lord!! She had a strong heartbeat, her little diaphragm was making the breathing motion so that she will be ready to take her first breath out of the womb, and she is measuring a whopping 8 lbs! I honestly thought she would have weighed more seeing as I am past my due date, but I do think 8 lbs is hefty enough! :) I am also dilated to 1 cm and 30% effaced. Even though my body hasn't done much, it was still encouraging to know something is going on...finally! We are still set to induce on Tuesday, May 5 at 7:30am unless she decides she wants to come before then. We are so excited to meet you, Cambry Brooke, and are thankful you look healthy and strong from the sonogram! Just a few more days...
Spring is probably my favorite season as it is starting to get warmer, it's flip-flop season, and it's flower season! LOVE IT! Every spring I get so excited about planting flowers in our flower beds out front. I knew if we didn't get them planted this weekend, it may not happen this year with a baby due anytime now. So, on Saturday morning Steve and I headed out to Calloways and picked out some flowers. The ones I wanted were sold out, so I settled for some petunias--Steve's favorite. We spent most of the day Saturday outside planting flowers, mulching, trimming hedges, etc. Yes, I did yard work and am 39 weeks pregnant, but I feel great! Our front yard is ready for the spring!
On Friday, Steve and I went to Build-A-Bear and made Cambry her first stuffed animal. We were wanting one to have to take a monthly growth picture of her with and thought it would be fun and special if we made one for her! We picked out a soft and cuddly rabbit and had a sweet lullaby song put it in one of its paws. We added it's little heart inside it and got it stuffed. We left it pretty basic and are going to let Cambry name it when she gets older. It was really sweet to see how excited Steve was...he is going to be a great Daddy of a little girl!
We finished Cambry's room a little while back but am just now getting around to posting some pictures/collages that Steve took of it. We are really happy with how it turned out and now we are just waiting on our sweet baby girl to decide when she wants to come see it!
Yesterday I had my 37 week appt. Everything is still going smoothly. We are just waiting for my body to progress some. I am not showing any signs of labor any time soon. The last 2 appointments I had the doctor said Cambry had dropped. But, yesterday when I went, she said somehow she has moved up some. She is still head down, but not as low as she was. So, we apparently are still on the 40 week plan, which we are just fine with. We are so thankful Cambry is now full term and whenever she decides to come, we are ready!
On another note, I finished my last day of work yesterday for the rest of the year! YAY!! It was definitely a bitter sweet time as I really have loved my class this year, but I am super excited about having 2-3 weeks to be able to get some final things done around the house, wash Cambry's little clothes, and just rest and relax some. I sure am looking forward to starting my new job as a Mommy!!
I had 2 more baby showers last week which I am so thankful for! On Wednesday I had my school baby shower. There are actually 3 out of the 6 of us pregnant on my team, so the rest of our team threw a triple baby shower for us. We are all having girls so they went with the theme "1st grade is Wild about Baby Girls!" It was so cute! I didn't have my camera but hopefully I can get some pics soon from a friend.
On Saturday, I had my family & friends shower in Carrollton. Two of our good family friends and three of my close friends/college roommates hosted it. It was decorated just darling in Cambry's nursery colors and had cute little touches of baby girl all around! I was definitely showered with many wonderful gifts for Cambry and shed tears of joy multiple times--surprise, surprise. :) My friends and family are such a sweet blessing! Thank you for such a beautiful shower, ladies!
I forgot to take my camera out again until the end, but here are a few I have.
I can't believe 35 weeks has almost already come and gone! We got to have a sonogram (FINALLY!) on Friday. Apparently, after the 20 week appt, they don't do anymore sonograms unless they are needed due to insurance coverage. But, my doctor said that near the end if there wasn't a need, she would "try to find a need" so that I could get one last peek! So, she said that I could have one and she would say it was to find out if the baby was head up/down, even though she could already tell. YAY! We got to see our precious Cambry and it was so amazing to see how much she had grown and developed since our 20 week appt! She was just beautiful and she had the chubbiest little cheeks that we are looking forward to kissing and squeezing in just a few weeks! They also confirmed for me that indeed she is a girl! WHEW! The sonogram showed that I am still measuring on track and she is estimated to weigh 6 lbs, 1 oz right now! That sounds big to me at this point, but they said she was in the 57th percentile, so I am hoping she won't have a huge growth spurt between now & delievery time. :) We are getting more and more excited each day, if that is even possible! We can't wait to meet our baby girl!!
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