Party in my crib- 3 o'clock

Well, I think Miss Reagan read my previous blog post.  Specifically the following phrase:

"Jerry gives Reagan a "dream feed" between 10-11. I try to go to bed around 9ish so I can get a good 4-5 hours of sleep. This really helps. Reagan usually eats and goes right back to sleep. This is so nice! I'm able to get 6-7 broken up hours of sleep at night. I am very grateful for this!"

As she read this she said, "Psh- 6-7 hours of sleep- let me see what I can do about that." 

This past week she has decided to become a little party animal from 2ish to 5ish.  I totally jinxed myself when I said she goes right back to sleep.  Sure she will go back to sleep.... when I'm holding her.  However, as soon as I put her down- oh my!  Lets just say she makes sure we know she is displeased. 

I've done a little research and several articles and books have said to put her on a schedule and stick to it.  Even though all I want to do is sleep at 7 am, I wake her up and start our day.  During the day she does great.  She follows a basic 3 hour routine of eat, play, sleep, repeat.  At night... not so much.

We did move Reagan into her room to sleep.  I realized when she would start crying I would rush her out of our room so Jerry wouldn't wake up.  This could be the cause of the 3 am parties.  Although the parties started when she was still in our room.  Who knows...  I'll keep you posted on how she does. 

Please don't get me wrong, Reagan is the sweetest and best baby ever!  I love reading to her and watching her big eyes look at me as I read.  I love it when she falls asleep on me---- I know, I know don't get into a habit of letting her fall asleep on me, but come on it's the best thing ever!  I love watching her do tummy time.  I even have started to love giving her a bath.  She is perfect!  She's so sweet even when it's 3 AM and she doesn't want to go back to sleep.  I should think of it as a compliment- she just wants to hang out with me ;)

I'm still not sure who she looks like, but lots of people say she looks like Jerry.  I love it! 

Here are some pictures:

Lovely day for a picnic!

 Best friends:

 Reagan meets Mamaw:

 Our first restaurant trip:

 All tuckered out from Tummy Time

Snuggles with Nonnie

 

 

I have also been much better about slowing down.  This past week and a half I have chilled out and body has definitely appreciated it.  I'm starting to slowly add daily activities.  Tomorrow, if it's nice I think we will go for a walk... maybe even Costco.  Watch out world!  ha!

Life with Reagan

Life is pretty great!  Today Reagan is 2 weeks old!  She's already changed so much!  I love everything about her.  I love how she makes an "o" with her lips after she eats.  I love looking into her pretty eyes.  I love holding her and having her fall asleep on my chest.  I love how everything I put on her looks so stinking cute.  I love giving her kisses on her forehead, cheeks, hands, and toes.  I love her beautiful, soft hair.  I love how she makes a soft "uh uh" sound when she's hungry.  I could go on and on.

Jerry is so great with her.  He loves to dance and sing to her and he's a complete pro when it comes to changing diapers.  Today he put her in her bouncer and gave her kisses and said, "I love you so much!"  Melt my heart!  Seeing him as a father is the sweetest thing.  He's always willing to help out- even in the middle of the night.  Reagan loves her Daddy so much already. 


We are somewhat getting our groove of having a newborn.  I say somewhat very loosely.  We follow a loose routine of eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day and eating every 3-4 hours at night.  Jerry gives Reagan a "dream feed" between 10-11.  I try to go to bed around 9ish so I can get a good 4-5 hours of sleep.  This really helps.  Reagan usually eats and goes right back to sleep.  This is so nice!  I'm able to get 6-7 broken up hours of sleep at night.  I am very grateful for this! 

I would say the hardest thing with Reagan is keeping her awake long enough to get a full feed.  Each day she gets better and better at this.

I'm also struggling with not over doing it. I'm a get up and go person and sometimes I have to remind myself that I just had surgery.  On Thursday I noticed I had a head ache and dismissed it as being tired.  I took a nap and got up with the same head ache.  I decided to take my temperature and it was 100.  I went to the doctor the next day and it turns out I have Mastitis.   Fortunately, I caught it early and it's easily fixable with antibiotics.  I feel like my body is all out of whack.  Hopefully, things will be smooth from here on out.  This week I'm forcing my self to sit still. 

We have been very spoiled with friends and family bringing over food and visiting.  I'm so grateful to everyone that has taken the time to visit.  I love showing off Reagan!  My mom has also helped out sooooooo much. She came over several days last week and did our laundry, cleaned, drove me to doctor appointments,  and cooked.  She even ironed our sheets!  We felt like we were staying in a hotel!  Thank you to everyone!

Here are some pictures of Miss Reagan!

Good night!

 Standing guard!

Reagan's first doctor's visit!

 Reagan's pediatrician- Dr. Rasmussen.  She is fabulous! 

That Friday Reagan weighed 6.11.  She went back in on Monday and weighed 7.3- way to go Reagan!  Keep on gaining!

 Reagan's first photo shoot!  We saw the pictures today- OMG- I highly recommend Paige Walker Photography!  I was so proud of Reagan, she slept the entire time and did not poop or pee on any of the props.  Paige said Reagan was one of her best babies :)

Posing with Dad! I will post the pictures as soon as I get the disc.  They are adorable!

 What a big girl!

 

How are Rowdy and Lucy acting?  Perfect!  Rowdy is always watching and checking on Reagan, but not in an annoying way.  He keeps his distance, but always makes sure she is okay.  He does not like it when she cries.  At first he would cry with her.  Lucy is great too.  I'll catch her going into Reagan's room and sticking her nose through the crib when Reagan's sleeping.  She also stays close to Reagan.  I think they take shifts in the middle of the night.  Sometimes I will have both dogs with me and other times it will just be one.  Either way, there is always at least one dog to keep me company. 

 Stylin!  Love the headband- Thank you, Cindy!

 This is us on Wednesday night when there was so many tornadoes. We heard the sirens and camped out in the bathroom for awhile.  Our area did not get hit, but Cleburne and Granbury were hit pretty bad.  Praying for those that were affected by the tornadoes. 

 

It has been so nice having Jerry off the past 3 days.  I don't want him to go back :(.  However, it's a short week so will be off this Friday and on Monday for Memorial Day.  Hooray for Reagan!  I love her so much! 

Reagan's Birth Story

Reagan is finally here!  We are so lucky to have such a beautiful and healthy baby!  So here is how it happened:

On Saturday, May 4 I was determined to induce labor.  I put clothes pins on my baby toes, ate jalapeno poppers, and had Jerry press pressure points on my legs.

 At 10:00 pm, Jerry and I decided it was time for bed.  I pouted and pouted because my strategies did not work.  Then at 10:30, I had a weird feeling.  I sat up and realized my water broke.  I told Jerry and he jumped out of bed.  He had the dogs put up and was ready within minutes. 

We were checked into the hospital around11:30 and were good to go.  I even had my epidural around 1.  Then the drama began.  At 36 weeks, I was tested positive for Group B Strep.  This usually is not big deal, you just get put on antibiotics whenever you go into labor.  Well, it turns out I already had an infection brewing and it was causing stress on Reagan.  I had a fever and Reagan's heart was racing.  I also had the shakes and was throwing up, which I dismissed as adrenaline. 

Dr. Glenn came in and said we were going to watch Reagan for 15 more minutes and the decide what to do from there.  5 minutes later she came into the room and said we needed to do a c-section.  My insides were really hot and we needed to get Reagan out.  From that point everything went super fast.  Before I knew it, I was in the operating room and Jerry was suited up in his scrubs. 

Next thing I know they are telling Jerry to get the camera ready.  They pulled Reagan out and he snapped this picture.  There she was!  Born at 4:28 AM weighing 6 pounds 13 oz and 20 inches long. 

I was so happy and waited to hear her cry.... But there wasn't a cry and then I noticed several people running into the operating room.  This is when I started to panic.  I knew something was wrong.  Poor little Reagan was not breathing and they had to give her several compressions ( I did not know this until later-which is a good thing.)  Finally after what seemed like forever, I heard the sweetest little sound!  Reagan was crying!  This was the most intense moment of my life-  I have never been so scared.  They cleaned her up and the nurse brought her to me.  I got to say hi and give her a kiss.  Then they took her straight up to NICU.  Here is first time I saw her:

 

They took her to NICU and begin assessing her.  Her blood sugar was very low (it was 20 and they wanted it above 50) and she needed to get antibiotics.  Jerry, my mom, his mom, and sister got to go up and see her.  I had to stay in labor in delivery and recover from the c-section for 2 hours.  This was the longest 2 hours of my life.  All I wanted was to see her and make sure she was okay.  Finally, around 7 I got to go up to NICU and see her.  I was still in the hospital bed and because of her condition we couldn't hold her yet.  This made me really sad, but I knew it was the best thing. 

 

 

 

Finally, around 1ish I was able to get into a wheel chair and see my girl!  I even got to hold her.  It was a pretty emotional moment.  Just looking at this picture and gets me choked up.  I was just so grateful that she was okay. 

 

The next couple days went by so fast, but so slow at the same time.  Our days pretty much followed this schedule:

 

 5:30 am- go to NICU and hang out with Reagan

6:00- feed Reagan

7:00- hang out with Reagan

7:30- go back to the room/ eat/ pump

repeat

Reagan was on a 3 hour feeding schedule.  So she ate 12, 3, 6, 9.  Here are some pictures:

 Jerry is so good with Reagan.  I love watching him interact and hold her.  He's already an amazing Daddy. 

 

 GiGi (Jerry's mom)

 Nonnie (my mom)

 Aunt Lauren

 On Tuesday we got the news we had been waiting for-  She would still be considered an NICU patient, but she got to stay with us.  We were soooooooo happy!  The NICU nurses still came by every 3-6 hours to check her blood sugar, but it didn't matter.  She was with us and we felt complete. 

 What a cutie!

On Wednesday, we were officially discharged by my doctor and Reagan's doctor.  Hallelujah!  It was time to go home!!!

Because Lauren is a Baylor employee she got to take me out!  This was very special!

 This is me trying to hold it together.  I was beyond happy and thankful Reagan was okay and healthy! 

 

So I have to brag on the nurses and my doctors.  Every single nurse I had was AMAZING!  From labor/ delivery, to antepartum (I got to stay in antepartum instead of postpartum because it was closer to NICU), to NICU the nurses were great.  The labor and delivery nurses were so sweet and caring.  The antepartum nurses were so patient with me as I was recovering from my c-section.  All of the NICU nurses, especially a nurse named Cheryl, were fabulous.  They were so supportive and kind to us in NICU.  They taught us so much and treated Reagan like gold.  Lastly, I owe everything to Dr. Glenn.  Things could have gotten really bad for both me and Reagan.  Thanks to Dr. Glenn and her expertise we are both healthy. 

 

Now we are home and enjoying being a family.  Reagan is perfect.  I love her so much and I love being her mom.  My heart is full.

 

 

A Tribute to Lucy and Rowdy

We are on day 6 of bed rest.  I bow down to the women that are on bed rest for months at a time.  I am constantly going back and forth between boredom and anxiousness. 

I have been to see the doctor a couple of times and here are the high points:

• Reagan is looking good- the sonogram technician says she weighs about 6 pounds 14 oz.  That day Reagan was exactly 37 weeks old. 
• My blood pressure has improved.  Dr. Glenn said it's on the high side of normal
• I am continuing bed rest
• My swelling has gone down

Enough about that, this post is a tribute to Lucy and Rowdy.  Yes, I am doing a tribute to my dogs...don't judge me :)

Let me first begin with Lucy.  Lucy has never been the snugly type- unless there is a thunder storm or it's REALLY cold outside.  In fact, I have what I fondly refer to as, "Mandatory Cuddle Time."  This is usually a daily ritual where I make allow Lucy to get on the couch and I hug her for 1-5 minutes.  She has learned over the years not to fight it, but to embrace the love.  < 3

I have often questioned how Lucy will react to Reagan.  I think that she will appear indifferent, but will be protective from a distance.  Meaning she will always be within eye sight or ear shot of Reagan.  However, when Reagan begins eating food, Lucy will have new best friend.  Everyone knows the way to Lucy's heart is through food. 

Ever since I have been on bed rest, Lucy has been very supportive in her own way.  She checks on me several times throughout the night.  She never did this before.  She'll walk over to my side of the bed and stick her nose my face until I give a couple of pats on the head.  After that she returns to her bed.  She also always stays in the same room as me.  Maybe I'm reading too much into this.... maybe I'm going a little crazy... but I really think she knows something is going on. 

 

My girl Loo-

Then there's Rowdy Hank. 

As you may know, Rowdy is the opposite of Lucy.  He LOVES to be loved.  He wants to be close- sometimes too close.  No need for "Mandatory Cuddle Time" for this little guy.  Rowdy far exceeds the daily 1-5 minutes of snuggling. 

I think Rowdy will be very curious about Reagan.  He will want to constantly be part of the action.  If she cries he will be right there trying to figure out what is going on.  As Reagan gets older, I think Rowdy and Reagan are going to best friends.  I have already given him a special spot in Reagan's room that's close enough to see what's going on, but far enough away to not be annoying. 

Rowdy has also been very supportive in my bed rest.   Wherever I go- he goes.  He's never more than 10 feet away from me.  Occasionally, he will even gently lay his head on my belly.  Even when he is outside, he stays by the door and watches me.  This could be just Rowdy being Rowdy, but I really think he knows something is up. 

 

My pal keeping me company while I blog:

 

And there you have it a tribute to the best dogs in the entire world (I'm bit biased).  I love them both very much and can't wait for them to meet Reagan.  

 

 

Do not get me wrong-

We know and are aware that things are different (not good/ not bad- just different) once a baby comes into the picture.  Additionally, Jerry and I will both be on high alert when Reagan is around the dogs.  

We are in your birth month!

Well Reagan, May has arrived!  Your due date is May 21, however all signs are pointing to an early arrival. 

Every little thing that happens, I'll think, "Okay, is this it??"  I have been given strict instructions to only call your Dad in emergencies.  I have a tendency to call and shoot the breeze.   Each time I call your Dad, he thinks it's time to go to the hospital.  I think he's a bit nervous ;)

I'm so ready for you to be here.  I can't wait to hold you and hear you cry for the first time.  Who will you look like?  Will you have hair?  What will your personality be like?  How big will you be?  The sonogram technician said you weighed about 6 pounds 14 oz.  That day you were exactly 37 weeks old.  I guess only time will tell.  No matter what, I know you will be perfect!

Until you decide to make your arrival, I will be anxiously over thinking every little movement and cramp.  Thankfully, I have your trusty best friends (Lucy and Rowdy) to keep me company and your Aunt Lauren and Nonnie to answer any questions.