Baby Fish's Birth Story Part 2

It's time to share Part 2 of Baby Fish's birth story!  Make sure to read Part 1 first, or else you won't really know what all led up to this.

When we left off, I had just tried pushing three separate times and Baby Fish's heart rate was dropping each time.  It was around 2:00 pm on April 7th, and the nurse went to go talk to the doctor about what to do next.

When she walked out, I turned to Joe and said that I was so miserable and couldn't take it anymore.  I told him that if they didn't suggest it, I was going to ask for a C-section to get this baby out.

The doctor came back in around 2pm and explained that it was time for a C-section.  She said that the baby wasn't descending like they'd hoped, and she didn't want to risk any damage to the baby by continuing to push with the heart rate dropping like it was.  I quickly said "let's do it," and the nurse began prepping me for surgery.

Side note: I am very thankful that I had the epidural already, because that was one less thing they had to do to prepare me for the C-section.  I think I would have been a horrible person to deal with if I had to get an epidural while I was dealing with that much pressure!

They began rolling me back to the operating room around 2:30, and Joe was holding my hand and walking with me.  When I got there, they made him wait in the hallway until I was all ready for the surgery.  At this point, I started mentally freaking out.  The fact that I was about to be cut open while being awake hit me, and I was really wishing I had Joe there to distract me from that.

I was moved on to the operating table, and there was so much going on around me.  I was getting more and more scared, and I'm pretty sure I shed a few tears at this point.  Luckily, the anesthesiologist could tell I was freaking out a little and began explaining what was happening to me to calm me down.  That was exactly what I needed at that point, and I am so thankful for him!!!  They also turned on the radio to the pop station, so I had some music to help keep my mind off things.

They finally let Joe back in, and the C-section began.  The OB/GYN made a comment about how rock-hard my abs are, which made it hard for her to cut in to me!  I told them about running 4 half marathons while pregnant, and everyone in the operating room was impressed.  It was great to have a conversation while they were cutting in to me, but it was also in the back of my mind that they had their hands in me!

I couldn't feel anything until all of a sudden, I felt pressure on my chest.  I thought someone was kneeling on me with the pressure I felt, which I later found out was not the case ;) Finally, at 3:01 pm, they pulled out Baby Fish!  Funny story: Joe was standing and looking over the screen at this point, and at first, he thought the baby was a boy.  What he thought was a penis was actually the umbilical cord, so when they turned the baby, he thought to himself "Where'd the penis go?"

Side note: Joe later told me that when Baby Fish was born, the song "Sugar" by Maroon 5 was playing on the radio.  I love that he heard and remembered that!!

They brought her over to the warmer to clean her off and get her measurements, and Joe was able to go over to her.  I could see them just past the screen, and I saw Joe put a finger on her hand, which she grabbed.  I definitely cried a little because it was such a special moment.  I so wanted to be holding her, but I was still on the table.

A few minutes later, Joe brought Baby Fish over to me so I could see her before they took her to the nursery.  I took a moment to just soak her in and gave her a kiss before they took her away.  All I wanted was to hold her and to be with Joe, but I still had to be stitched up.  Joe went with Baby Fish, and I was happy she had someone with her when she went in to the nursery.

Back in our room after visiting the nursery

They finished up with me around 3:45 and moved me in to the recovery room.  My nurse stayed with me, monitoring various things, and said Joe and Baby Fish would be in soon.  They came in around 4:15, and I was finally able to hold my baby girl!

As you can see in the picture, I was swollen and exhausted, but everything was ok once I was finally able to be with my husband and daughter (I'm tearing up thinking about the joy I felt as I write this).  We stayed there for about an hour before we were able to go back to the room that we'd stay in for the rest of our hospital stay.

Back in our room, around 7pm

And that's Baby Fish's birth story!  Obviously NOT how I envisioned the birth going AT ALL, since I was induced, I got an epidural, and I had a C-section.  BUT the important thing is that both Baby Fish and I are healthy after all of this, so that's what matters!!

I plan to do another post about my thoughts on having a C-section since that seems to be a "hot topic" to many moms and moms-to-be, so stay tuned for that!

Baby Fish's Birth Story Part 1

This is about six weeks too late, but I have a very special post to share with y'all today!  It's time to share Baby Fish's birth story!!

I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I have had people ask me if I planned to share it.  I decided that I will share the birth story for a number of reasons:

-I'm an open person and don't mind sharing.

-I want to have this written out as a memory for me to look back on for years to come.

-I had a lot happen while giving birth to Baby Fish, so I want to share it for others' benefit.

As I was putting this together, I realized putting the whole story in one post was EXTREMELY long.  So, I'm going to make this a two-part post to make it more manageable to read.

Warning: Since this post deals with birth, there may be some semi-graphic descriptions.  Just wanted to warn everyone before we get started!  It's also rather long with no pictures!

So, here we go...

Everything got started on the morning of Monday, April 6th at my OB/GYN appointment.  The doctor checked me, and I wasn't making any progress as far as dilation.  I think she said I was "maybe 1 cm."  Since I was 41 weeks and 1 day at that point (and I was DONE being pregnant and waiting on the baby), we decided to schedule an induction.  She said I could go in either that night, Tuesday night, or Wednesday night, and Joe and I quickly said "let's go in tonight!"

The doctor called the hospital to make the appointment, and we were told to be there at 10pm that night.  She also told me to eat a good dinner and relax.  We spent that day doing some house packing, relaxing, watching shows on the DVR, then going for Mexican food for dinner at our favorite restaurant.  Little did I know that would be the last thing I'd eat until Wednesday morning!

Around 9:30pm, we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital.  I made the comment to Joe that the next time we come back to the house, there will be three of us.  We both kind of soaked in that information in that moment, knowing that life was getting ready to change for us!

When we got to the hospital, they took us straight back to the room, told me to change into a robe, and that the nurse would be there shortly to get all the information they needed.  Fortunately for Joe, the TV had the NCAA National Championship basketball game, so he turned that right on (gotta make the dad happy too, right?).  The nurse came in and out a few times (there was another woman in labor she was checking on) taking a history, hooking me up to the monitors, starting my IV block, etc.  It was a bit of a process, but around 11:30 pm all of that was done!

At that time, the nurse got the induction process going by giving me Cervidil (click the link to see exactly what that is--I'll spare the details!).  This was supposed to get things going as far as dilation goes, and the nurse also said that it could give me contractions.  After that, she said she'd come in to check on me every 2 hours and to get some sleep.

Joe and I both went to sleep shortly after.  However, I was having issues fully sleeping for two reasons.  First, I kept getting up to go to the bathroom because I was afraid of when I wouldn't be able to get up anymore (yes, I was deathly afraid of going at inopportune/embarrassing times!).  Second, I started having labor contractions around 3 am.  I would get contractions that would wake me up about every half hour, so I wasn't sleeping very well after that.

Around 4:30am, I was so miserable that I decided to get an epidural.  My thought was if the contractions were that bad at that time, I would definitely want one later on.  I also didn't want to miss the time of being able to have one.  When the nurse came in around 5:30, I told her I wanted an epidural and she went and ordered it.

I got the epidural at 6am, and let me tell you, I was a new person after that!  I could barely feel anything below my stomach, and it was great.  Plus, actually getting it wasn't all that bad, just a little bit of pressure.

(Only downside: you have to have a catheter.  Not going to go in to that much, but yeah...that was not fun.)

Around 6:30, the nurse began step #2 of the induction and got the pitocin going.  I have heard that pitocin can intensify the contractions, so I'm really glad I had the epidural beforehand!  The doctor came around and checked me, and I'd made some progress to about 2 cm.  She decided to break my water at that point.  After that, the nurse would check dilation every hour.

Around 10:45 am, she checked and I was 10cm dilated!  We were all surprised; normally, first-time moms take a long time to dilate, but I was fully there rather quickly.  The nurse let the doctor know, and she told me that we were going to do some "practice pushes."  I got in to position, which took lots of help considering I couldn't feel my legs to move them, and got started with that around 11:15.  We did 3 rounds, and the nurse looked at the monitor with concern.  The baby's heart rate had dropped when I was pushing, so we stopped "practicing."

(Side note: trying to push with the epidural for me was really hard!  I couldn't feel my lower half, so when I was trying to push, I couldn't tell if I was doing it right or not.  Hard stuff!)

The nurse talked with the doctor, and they decided we'd move me into different positions for a little bit to try to get the baby to descend a little more.  I was already at a -2 station (around -3 or -4 is when the baby is actually coming out), so they were hoping the baby would descend enough that they could just pull it out.  So, after giving me oxygen and helping me move to my side, the nurse told me to call her when I felt enough pressure and couldn't keep from pushing anymore and we'd try again then.

Around 12:30, we called the nurse back in.  She checked me and decided to go get the doctor because she thought we could get the baby out this time.  She was at one knee, Joe was at the other, and we tried pushing again.  Once more, the baby's heart rate dropped with each push.

Now, I didn't know just how serious this situation was until this time.  Just after the third set of pushes, the charge nurse and another nurse came running in to my room.  They didn't know that the doctor was there and came running in to help my nurse when they saw my baby's heart rate on the monitor.  You know something's going wrong when your monitor causes two more people to come to your room!

At this point, they gave me oxygen again, turned me on my side, and told me once again to call the nurse back when I felt like I couldn't not push anymore.  Well, I was already to that point before the nurse left.  I was feeling so much pressure in my pelvis, and I was just so ready to get this baby out!  I also started to realize that if this happened again, I probably wasn't going to be able to do this vaginally and began mentally preparing myself for a C-section.

Around 1:40, I couldn't take it anymore and told Joe to call the nurse back in.  She came in around 2:00 , and we tried another round of pushes.  Once again, the baby's heart rate kept dropping with each push.  I got oxygen and turned on my side again, and the nurse said she was going to go talk to the doctor.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Birth Story tomorrow!

WIAW #53: Clean Eating Challenge

Good morning everyone!  Coming at you at little later this morning, but Baby Fish and I have just been having a good lazy morning.  She's so much fun right now, and I'm just soaking it all in!

It's time, once again, for a Wednesday blogging tradition!

Image Source

This week, Im participating in a clean eating challenge run by a fellow blogger, Katie, who is also a Beachbody fitness coach!  The goal of the challenge is to focus on eating a healthy, balanced diet with the accountability of the Facebook group.  Katie is awesome and has some meal plans pre-made, as well as shopping lists to go along with it!  How great!

Day 1 of the challenge was Tuesday, so today's WIAW will take a look at how I did!  Thanks, as always, to Jenn for the link-up!!  Head on over there to see what other bloggers are eating, too.

Breakfast

I made a bowl of plain oatmeal and decided to top it with a spoonful of peanut butter and a handful of fresh blackberries.  This breakfast kept me full for over 4 hours, which is a big deal for this breast feeding mama!  I also got in an extra serving of fruit, since my breakfast is normally just a bowl of cereal.

Side note: I LOVE blackberries in the summer!  I was so excited to see them at the store on Monday and picked up a big container.  I plan to enjoy them all week!

Lunch

I decided to change it up a little bit for lunch.  I hard boiled two eggs and ate them with some green pepper slices and an apple.  I normally have a similar meal at lunchtime (with either a sandwich or a salad as the "main dish"), but I normally include some sort of chips.  I thought I would be wanting something more after finishing this off, but I was surprised when I actually felt full and satisfied!

Afternoon Snack
So I derailed a bit for the afternoon snack.  My sweet tooth has been raging lately, and it hit in the afternoon.  I wanted chocolate and wound up having a bowl of ice cream for my snack.  I was all prepared to make a fruit smoothie, but knowing we had the ice cream made anything else not good enough.  That'll be an easy improvement to make for today, though :)

Dinner

Joe and I ate some spaghetti with homemade meat sauce for dinner.  The sauce itself is very healthy, made with ground turkey and turkey bacon (see my recipe here), but the texas toast was probably not a healthy choice.  It was yummy, though!

Workout
I was planning to attend a stroller fitness group at the park up the street, but a thunderstorm cancelled that for me.  It was probably good to take a break, though, since I was still sore from my run on Monday.  I gotta work on easing back in to this workout thing!

Overall, I'd give myself a 6/10 for the clean eating challenge for the day.  I think I made better choices that I've been making in recent weeks, and I have some easy fixes I can make for today.  This challenge is all about getting me back in the healthy eating mindset, and I think I'm going to get there by the end of the week!

And just for fun, here's a cute picture of Baby Fish!

She fell asleep like that in my arms yesterday while I was on the phone.  How precious!!!

Question for you: What's a healthy choice you made in your diet yesterday?

Tuesdays on the Run: First Postpartum Run!

So, yesterday was a big day for me...I went on my first run since the Daytona 5K in January!!!

I was so excited to get back out there and hit the pavement after such a long break.  And, considering how long it's been since I've run, I think the run went really well!

Tequila came with me, and I decided we'd stay right in the neighborhood for a 2-mile run.  Our street is a half-mile circle with a cul-de-sac, so I decided to just run a few laps (with trips into the cul-de-sac), just in case I was having trouble.

Surprisingly, we ran the first mile without any walking breaks!!  I completed mile 1 in 11 minutes (including two doggie potty breaks), so I was pretty pleased with that time.

After two laps, Tequila was pretty tired.  I dropped her by the house and continued on for another lap, plus a trip down another little "extra" road.  I was feeling a little tired, so I decided to take a few walking breaks during the second mile.  My time for that mile was 11:37, which was pretty good considering the walking breaks and the stop of dropping the dog off.

I can tell I haven't run in a while because my quads were already a little sore last night!  Oh well, I'll get back to where I was.  The big thing is I completed what I set out to do and felt pretty good doing it.

Plus, this run marks the beginning of my training for the Peachtree Roadrace!  I'm planning to keep up with my spring/summer training plan, so that means that I'm goign to be doing another 2 or 3 2-mile runs the rest of this week. I'm already looking forward to getting back out there again on Wednesday for another 2 miles!

I'm linking up today with Erika, Patty, and April for Tuesdays on the Run!  Head over to these fabulous ladies' blogs to read other running related posts.

I'm excited to read the posts that relate to this week's theme about compression gear!

Question for you: How do you get back in to running after a break due to surgery/illness/injury/a busy time of life/etc.?

Life Lately

Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you to all of the service personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, as well as all active military and veterans for putting yourself in harm's way for us!



Well, goodness!  I did NOT mean to take a week and a half long hiatus.  There are various reasons for that, so let's just catch up by looking at what life has been like lately!

-My parents came to visit!  Last weekend, my parents flew down from Virginia to see our new house and tour our new city!  Oh, and to see the grandchild, of course.

We spent lots of quality time together, showed them around (including where both of us work/will work), ate lots of good food, and overall had a great visit.  Plus, on that Monday before they left, my parents helped me clean the whole house.  How nice of them!

-Baby Fish and I took a road trip! 

From Tuesday through Thursday, we were in Daytona taking care of some things to finish out our move.  I went to both schools so that everyone could meet the baby girl, as well as attended the coaching meeting so that the other math coaches could do the same.  We also went by the youth group meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday night so that the kids could meet her, too. It was pretty exhausting with so much running around, but Baby Fish was a champ!

-I got cleared by the doctor to resume all normal activity.
The whole point of going to Daytona was to go to my 6 week post-partum appointment.  I wanted to keep this with my OB/GYN that did the C-section since she knew what the incision looked like and everything.  She said everything looked great and that my scar should actually look good cosmetically, as well, because of how flat it is healing.  Woo hoo!

(By the way, Baby Fish's birth story is coming this week!  It'll be two parts, so keep an eye out)

-We went to the springs for Memorial Day
Baby Fish took her first boat ride!

So did Tequila!

It was fun to go hang out for a day and to get some sun!  I did actually wear a bikini for the first time since having the baby, so I'm making progress :)

-Baby Fish is becoming so much more alert and active!

We've had so much fun with her over the last few weeks!  Tequila has also gotten more in to being around her, too!

She's so cute and growing up so fast!  Crazy!!

And that's what we've been up to lately!  Today, we will probably head to the pool to get some sun and do some grilling this evening.  I hope y'all have a great Memorial Day!

Question for you: What's been going on with your life lately?

WIAW #52: Two Days of Meals

It's funny how I read Annette's about motherhood and fitness being rewarding because of the times of struggle.  Baby Fish had a bit of a rough day yesterday between spitting up a lot, having an accident or two, not napping for more than an hour or so, and falling still going to bed around 11.

Yesterday wasn't all bad--we had a great walk at the park, where she started getting fussy but soothed herself to sleep.  She also slept until 11 am, so I was able to get some organizing done in our bedroom!

I love her very much, and I'm definitely hoping today will be one of the great-all-around days :)  Mainly because I have a lot I need to get done around the house today in preparation for my parents coming to visit this weekend!  I'm looking forward to having them and showing them around our new town.  Plus, it'll be the first time my dad meets Baby Fish.  I can't wait!

Ok, enough about that...let's get on to a favorite blogging tradition!

Image Source

For this week's WIAW, I wanted to show you two full days' worth of meals.  However, I forgot to take pictures of dinners both days, as well as some of my snacks.  So, I will share what I ate on Monday and Tuesday, posting the pictures that I do have! 

As always, thanks to Jenn for starting the WIAW fun and for the link-up!

Monday's Breakfast

I made some oatmeal and added a spoonful of peanut butter for some extra staying power.

Monday's Lunch

A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grapes, some Blackberry Chobani, and baby carrots.  Pretty well-balanced lunch!

Monday's Afternoon Snack #1
I had a bowl of Cookies 'n Cream ice cream.  Yummy!!

Monday's Afternoon Snack #2

Nature Box Raspberry Figgy Bar.  Pretty much a Fig Newton, but they are whole wheat!

Monday's Dinner
We ate a Chicken Helper Cheddar Broccoli meal.  I added another bag of frozen broccoli to up the veggies!

Monday's Evening Snack
I had another bowl of ice cream.  When that stuff is in the house, I just can't resist it!

Tuesday's Breakfast

I had a bowl of Special K Protein Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crunch (I restocked at the store on Monday).

Tuesday's Mid-Morning Snack

Nature Valley Greek Protein Bar.  These are a new flavor of the protein bars we normally have on hand, so I decided to try them out.  I really liked it!

Tuesday's Lunch

Back to salads at lunch!  Spinach, tomato, onion, cucumber, and an avocado.  I had a Chobani Pineapple yogurt on the side.

Tuesday's Afternoon Snack
Another bowl of ice cream.  Good news is I finished off the carton!

Tuesday's Dinner
I made jambalaya in the Crock Pot.  This recipe is so good and makes so much!  We had another couple over for dinner and still have enough for two more meals.

What to Consider When Joining a Gym

As I've mentioned multiple times recently, I'm so excited to get back to working out!  Before I can do that, I need to find a gym to go, though!  We moved to a new area recently, and it's just another one of the things that I need to find to replace my old gym.

Well, I wanted to share with you the things I'm considering while shopping around for a gym to join.  Everyone has different priorities for their gym, so I'll share what I'm looking for in many of the major considerations.

Child Care
Since I'm planning to work out after school, child care is a MUST for me!  Joe's office doesn't close until 6, so I'll have to make sure Baby Fish is taken care of at the gym while I work out.  That, or I'll have to make sure that she is able to stay at her child care until after I work out.

Side Note: It's weird to have to consider this now!  I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm a mother and responsible for another human!  (Don't get me wrong, I love it though!)

Group Exercise Classes
Again, another MUST for my gym!  Not only do they have to have group exercise offerings (which ruled out the gym that Joe joined when he got here), but I'm looking for certain things in the classes.  First, I really want the gym to have BodyPUMP.  There are other barbell strength classes, but I really love the way the Les Mills puts together the BodyPUMP classes.  Also, the classes I'm interested in need to be offered at times when I can make them.  Anything during the day is a no-go for me once the new school year starts in August.  I need classes I'm interested in to be offered either early in the morning (if I can make myself get up before work!) or in the late afternoon before 6.

Cardio Equipment
I'm looking for a gym with plenty of cardio equipment, particularly treadmills!  I also would like each piece of equipment to have its own TV.  All the gyms I've joined in the past have individual TVs, so I need that to keep up :)

Free Weights/Weight Equipment
I want the gym I join to have plenty of dumbbells to use, as well as plenty of space to complete exercises.  I'm not one that uses the weight machines much, so I want the equipment I'll actually use to be there!

Friendly and Knowledgeable Staff
I value good customer service, so I want the staff at the gym to be friendly and helpful when I need it.  I also think it's important that the staff know proper form and correct people when needed.  I hate seeing personal trainers and other staff just letting someone do an exercise wrong!!  No good!

I also will consider the group exercise instructors.  They need to know what they're doing, be knowledgeable, correct form, and be energetic and friendly.  I've belonged to one gym with awesome instructors and another with mediocre instructors, and it REALLY makes a difference in the group exercise class experience!

Price
The price is definitely important!  My gym membership in Daytona was actually free through my insurance, so having to pay for the gym now is not going to be fun.  I'm looking for a good value for what I'm paying.  If I'm getting lots of stuff out of the membership fee (access to all classes, etc.), I'm ok with paying a little bit higher price.

Facilities
The gym needs to be clean, have a decent locker room, and be up-to-date/not run down.

After considering all of these things, I've narrowed down my options to 2 places.  I'm planning to go visit these two gyms in about 2 weeks to check them out, since normally they give you a free week to try things out and I want to be able to take advantage.

Question for you: What is the most important thing to you when looking for a gym?

Mother's Day Weekend + Training Log 5/11

Hey hey!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!  Whether you are a mother, a mother-figure, or someone hoping to be a mother some day, I hope you were celebrated yesterday!

Time to recap our weekend and my training from last week.

Friday
Joe worked at the office near his grandparents' house, so Baby Fish and I spent time visiting with them.

From their first time meeting her

When Joe got off, we went to lunch (gotta love a good buffet of Southern food!) then headed back home.  We went straight to the park for some exercise.

Our evening consisted of getting our new couch delivered, Joe grilling some steaks and watching some sports on TV.  Nice, relaxing Friday evening!

Saturday
We started Saturday by sleeping in!!!  Baby Fish did get up and eat from 7-8, but she went back to sleep until 9:45!  Woo hoo!  The rest of the morning and early afternoon were spent lounging around and watching movies!

We did some playing around on the play mat,

went for a short walk,

Not sure what to think about Tequila's excitement

then watched more movies and sports.  Saturdays with a newborn--exciting, I tell ya!

Sunday
Sunday was my first Mother's Day!  We went up to Joe's grandparents' house again to go to church with them.  My father-in-law and Joe's uncle and cousins were there, so it was great to see all of them!  The sermon was a good one about "motherly virtues", essentially good things about parenting.  Very appropriate for Joe and me at this time in our lives!

Love this even though it's blurry

Afterward, we went to lunch (another yummy buffet!) and visited until mid-afternoon.  It was nice to see some of Joe's family on Mother's Day.  I know his grandmother loved having us there, and everyone loved getting to see the baby (especially Joe's dad--it was so cute seeing him all excited and loving on her!).

We headed home to meet up with Joe's friend from chiropractic school, Carson, who was going to be staying with us Sunday night.  He beat us to the house, and we enjoyed catching up with him the rest of the afternoon.  Then, to celebrate Mother's Day dinner, we headed to our new favorite Mexican place for some good food!

Overall, it was a good Mother's Day.  I wouldn't have spent it any other way than with Joe and Baby Fish, surrounded by family.

Training Log 5/4-5/10
Here's a look at how my exercise went during the last week:
Monday-1.67 mile walk

Tuesday-rest day
Wednesday-2.17 mile walk
Thursday-2.4 mile walk
Friday-1.3ish mile walk at the park with Joe, BF, and Tequila
Saturday-1ish mile walk
Sunday-rest day
Overall, I'm very pleased with getting 5 walks in this week!  According to my training plan for the spring and summer, that's exactly what I wanted to do.  All of my walks included Baby Fish and Tequila, and we normally walk while Joe is at work.  It was a treat on Friday to have Joe join us!  It seems that's a new Friday tradition to go to the park and walk around on the track.  I hope it continues because I really enjoy it!

I'm also itching to get back to the gym for group exercise classes and weight training, as well as getting back to running!  This week, I researched gyms around here and look forward to checking them out when I can.  Also, these new clothes from Fabletics got me ready to get back to more intense exercises!

I'm hoping to get cleared by my doctor at my appointment next Thursday to do so!

Question for you: What did you do this weekend?

Baby Fish: 1 Month Update

It's hard to believe, but today Baby Fish is 1 month old!

People talk about your kids growing up so fast, and I can attest that this past month sure has flown by!  Between getting used to having a newborn to moving to a new place and getting settled in to a new house, we've been quite busy!

Packed and ready to move to Georgia!

I decided I'd do a monthly baby update filling y'all in on how she's doing, and I may even talk about how I'm doing.  I hope you're ok with that, because really, it just gives me an excuse to share cute little pictures.

(Side note: I do plan on sharing her birth story.  I just need to get it all written out!  Look for that sooner rather than later!)

Measurements (as of last week):
Height: 22 inches (90-95%)
Weight: 10 lbs, 3 oz (90-95%)-although she did have a dirty diaper when they were weighing her, so I'd guess she is right around 10 lbs.
Head Circumference: 15.25 inches (90-95%)

Eating
Baby Fish is definitely a good eater!  We are breast feeding exclusively, which is a good thing considering she does not want to take a bottle.  She eats about 8-12 times a day, usually 2-3 hours apart.

Post-eating cuddling

She has done what's called cluster feeding, where she will eat every hour.  That hour means between the start times for feedings, so sometimes she'll start eating at 9am, finish around 9:35, then want to eat around 10am!  The first time this happened was the 2nd night of her life, and let me tell you, it made me VERY overwhelmed for the future!  Luckily, the lactation consultant at the hospital mentioned cluster feeding earlier in the day, so when it was happening, I looked it out and found it was totally normal. The pediatrician said this should slow down in the second month.

She has been spitting up more lately, which I think means we aren't burping her very well.  Any tips from mamas on burping would be much appreciated!

Otherwise, things are great on the eating front.  She is getting what she needs and is definitely growing.  I'm really happy that breast feeding is working out for both of us.

Sleeping
The question I get most often from people is, "how does she do at night?"  I'm happy to say that Baby Fish is also a really good sleeper!

She goes to sleep around 11 pm (I'd like that to be earlier, but we'll work on that!) and she sleeps anywhere from 3-5 hours before stirring.  She'll eat, then go to sleep for another 3 hours, and want to eat again around 7 am.  She normally sleeps for another 3 hours and is up by 11 am.  Not bad!!

During the day, she usually takes a 3 hour nap starting around 2-3 pm with another hour nap thrown in there somewhere.  Other than her late bedtime (which I've read is normal for newborns), I really can't complain about her sleeping!

She is also very expressive in her sleep, making strange faces and moving her arms and legs around a lot.  It really cracks me up!

As far as where she sleeps, she has been in our room for hte first month.  That's going to change tonight, though, as I've finally gotten her room (mostly) together and the video monitor set up and charged.  We have her in a Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play Sleeper, which I LOVE!

We take it out in the living room during the day, then put it back in our room at night.  So portable, and the rocking and music definitely helps her fall asleep when she's having trouble.  We will transition her into a crib as soon as we pick it up (a friend of ours is giving us one, which is so nice!).

Playing
Over her first month, Baby Fish has become quite alert!

She has started to look at us more, and we've also gotten her to play a little on the activity mat.

We've done some tummy time, too, and she's getting good about trying to lift her head!

It's pretty neat to see her looking around and discovering things.  She's also starting to turn to our voices, which is really special!  She seems to enjoy being read to, which we will definitely start doing more of since she's awake more often now.

Joe gets to play with her after work, and let me tell you, it just melts my heart to see them together!  I think seeing him with her makes me fall in love with him more and more each day.

Baby Fish Likes:
-Eating (and right then, too!)
-Looking at lights
-Playing with her activity map
-Sleeping on our chests
-Her Rock 'n Play
-Our voices and my singing
-Being in her car seat and riding in the car (unless she's hungry)
-Strolling around on walks with us (and Tequila!)

Baby Fish Doesn't Like:
-Waiting to eat (AT ALL)
-Being cold
-Bath time (probably a cold thing)
-Getting her diaper changed (again, probably a cold thing)
-Being put in her sleeper after falling asleep on our chests
-Transitions from person to person--she's gotten better with this, though

Some websites I've found helpful when needing parenting advice:
12 Great Newborn Mom Tips
TheBump.com's baby-by-week emails (sign up on the website and enter the birth date to receive them)
Everyday Family (another site where you can sign up and receive e-mails based on your baby's age)