Dear Lilah: Three Months

Dear Lilah,
So Mommy is a little late writing this letter to you this month! I'm sorry! You have kept me very busy, little girl :) We went to the doctor last week and you gained 24oz in 3 weeks! (compared to 3oz in almost 2 weeks earlier this month.) So you were 11lbs 13oz (13 percentile) last week!! Mommy has had to be on an extremely strict diet to try and help you with eating! I cant eat dairy, soy, eggs, or nuts, but it seems to be helping :) We also upped your dosage of Zantac and I think the combo is helping :) We go back to the GI dr in a couple weeks... we will see what she says! But I'm pretty confident we wont have to start you on formula!
This past month you have started to enjoy your play mat/gym and actually started grabbing as well as swatting the toys! Your favorite toy on your gym is Mr. Octopus :) he was the first toy you put in your mouth by yourself! You also giggled for the first time last week! I was playing peek-a-boo with you and when i popped up you giggled at me! It was the best sound I've ever heard! We are still trying to get you to repeat it.. I know it will happen again very soon :)  You are getting very strong and doing well during tummy time! I know you are going to roll over soon! You also started sleeping on your side a night!
We went to Champaign for Aunt Lauren's college graduation! You did pretty well :) You got to hang out with Great Aunt Rose and Great Uncle Mike!!
You are still waking up one or two times a night to eat, but for the most part nighttime is pretty under control! You have also decided that you do not like taking naps during the day!! Which is rough on me, but we get an occasional cat nap in there every now and then! This upcoming month, we are gunna try to get you on a schedule! I'm hoping that since you are eating better and gaining weight like a champ, that a normal schedule will be obtainable. You still nurse every 2-3 hours.
You have become a huge chatterbox! You make all kinds of sounds, mostly vowels, with some consonants . And you have discovered that you can get very loud with your "words". Its so cute :)
(You are still in 0-3/3mo clothing and size 1 diapers)
Overall you are a blessing and a joy to be around! I love you so much and I miss you like crazy when we are apart! (This includes bedtime ;))

Love you so much sweet baby girl, 

xoxo

Mommy

Dear Lilah: Two Months

Dear Lilah,
This month has been challenging for all of us. The colic phase hit around week 5. At this point you also started crying during mealtime... everyone kept telling us it was just the age for fussiness and gas. At your 2 month appointment, the doctor said you have reflux and we put you on Zantac. I'm still waiting for the medicine to kick in so you wont be in pain while you eat.
You started smiling and being a little more interactive with us! You love to "chitchat" with daddy on the changing table! We started a bedtime routine that you love! We started bath time, which always makes you smile :) And then we read you a couple books! We moved you into your nursery last week and you are doing great in your crib! You still wake up around 2:30a to eat but you sleep great in between feedings :)
   We went to Champaign for Easter! You got to meet my side of the family! Everyone was so excited to meet you :) A lot of our friends got to meet you as well!
   You are really trying to figure out your fingers and how to suck on them! You make funny sucking noises too :) You are starting to prefer your fingers to your paci... you are growing up so fast :)
  You are very active! You are kicking and moving your arms like crazy! You like to stand on our laps and be upright all the time! You need to be moving constantly and you LOVE music! The black keys- tighten up, seems to be your favorite song! It's the only one that calms you down when you are really upset.
At your appointment you weighed 10lbs 1.6oz, you were 22.5in long, and your head measured 14 3/4in around. You are in the 19% for weight and 50% for height! (you dropped from 29% last month for weight which is one of the reasons we started the medicine.)

I'm looking forward to the next month! I love watching you grow and develop! I love you so much!!

Love, Mommy

Dear Lilah: One Month

Dear Lilah,
One month down! And WOW did it fly by! It has been an amazing transition into parenthood! It has been full of anxiety, stress, sleepless nights, lots of laughter, projectile vomit and poop, loads and loads of laundry, many midnight calls to the nurse, and lots of love!
Around one week, you started sleeping through the night (in between feedings, which were about every 2-3hrs). We finally got your days and nights on track!! By 2 weeks you were holding your head up when I put you up on my shoulder and you were turning your head from side to side during tummy time. You seem to enjoy tummy time, at least in short increments.
At 2.5 weeks old, we took you on your first road trip to Lafayette, IN for Cousin Adrienne's wedding! You slept the whole way (besides feeding time), during the whole wedding, and reception! You met your Great Grandpap and Grandma Pozonsky! They were so excited to finally meet you!

Daddy stayed home with us until you were almost 2 weeks old. Grandma Paula came and stayed for a week and then Nonni came and stayed with us for a week! This has been my first week alone with you and so far we have been doing great and having fun! At your 1 month appointment you were 8lbs 8oz and 21 5/8in long and your head was 14 1/4in around. You are still in newborn clothing. You are long and skinny :) Doctors say you are gaining weight beautifully! We are not having anymore problems breastfeeding! Your favorite place to fall asleep is on my and daddy's chest! You love your swing and bouncy seat! At one month you are only waking up once a night (2-3a) to eat! I greatly appreciate the extra consecutive hours of sleep! You are overall a very content, happy, sweet baby girl :)
We have had a great first month and I am looking forward to what this upcoming month brings!

Love,
Mommy

How It Happened: Birth of Lilah Annette

Sorry this post has been delayed. Adjusting to life with a newborn has been rough, but wonderful :)
I wanted to write down what happened last week and how Lilah made her arrival (more for my sake).

I went to the doctor on Feb 18 (my due date and 40w) and they performed a non-stress test and an ultrasound to see how Lilah was doing since I was full term. On the NST I was contracting every 4-8mins. When I went in for the ultrasound, my amniotic fluid was VERY low. I didnt even see the doctor. They sent me straight to L&D. I of course had to go home and grab my bags and my husband, so we arrived in L&D about an hour or so after my appt. When we arrived, they checked me and I was 1/2cm dilated and maybe 25% effaced (very little was happening basically). They decided to insert a bulb into my cervix to manually dilate me to 3-4cm. It was around 2:15p when the induction started. (They insert the bulb inside the cervix and then fill it up with saline and wait until it opens enough to fall out.) They said it could take up to 12hrs. It was very uncomfortable and the cramps/contractions were awful. I could not get comfortable! About 3.5hrs later, the bulb fell out. When they checked me, I was only at 2cm. I was a little frustrated. I was contracting on my own every 4-5mins so they decided to let me contract and see if my body would naturally go into active labor before starting me on pitocin. It did not. So around 10pm they started me on pitocin. They started me off around 2cc and would go up as needed every 15min. The highest I got was 7cc and then they had to taper it down to 4 or 5cc b/c my body was contracting harder and more often then it needed to. I got the epidural around midnight because the pain was just to much and I knew it was going to be a long labor process. At that point I was still 2cm. They checked me again around 4:30am and I had progressed to 4-5cm and my water had broken on its own. Again at 7am and I was still at 4-5cm. During this time my epidural was not cooperating. The anesthesiologist came back in 2 or 3 times to give me an extra boost and it would only last a couple hours before I was in intense pain again. Around 10:30am the anesthesiologist decided we needed to redo the epidural since it was functioning properly. I was so thankful! The new one worked like a charm! They checked me again at 11am and I was fully dilated and 100% effaced! Lilah was only at a 0 station and she needed to be at a 2 before pushing could begin. They told me I needed to "labor down" until she dropped low enough into the birth canal. I made it to maybe a 1 before the urge to push was overwhelming, so they let me start pushing. it was around 12:10p when I actually started pushing. Almost 2hrs later, she made her debut at 1:58pm Tuesday afternoon! The NICU team had to be there because of the low fluid situation. So I didnt get to hold her right away. They checked her out, cleaned her off, and took her vitals. She was 7lbs 6oz and 20in long. She was perfect :)

She developed jaundice (levels were at a 8 at 2days old, went up to 11.2 by Friday morning). Her weight was down to 6lbs 9oz on Friday as well. We had to supplement some formula over the weekend to try and get her weight up and the poop coming! lol! On Monday morning her levels were down to 4.6 and she had gained 4oz! (The dr said they like to see a little less than an ounce a day of weight gain so she was doing FANTASTIC, 4oz in 3days!!) No more doctor visits or formula supplements!!! Everyone is excited about that! My milk came in Friday/Saturday so I think that had a huge impact on her weight gain. She hated the formula and we could barely get her to eat it.

Overall everyone is doing well and adjusting! We have had a few bad nights and a few great nights! We are thankful for the sleep we get whenever we get it! We could not be happier though! She is amazing and we are both head over heals in love with her!

Almost Here!

I've decided its time for another blog post. This month is almost over and I cannot believe how time has been flying by! Since my last post: We've made our last trip to Champaign (probably until May for my amazing sister-in-law's graduation!), had 2 baby showers (I cannot believe how blessed we are by the people in our lives), my best friend got married, and I've successfully made it to full term! Life has been so busy but incredibly great!
(Just a brief warning: I go into symptoms/side effects of late pregnancy so if you don't wanna know, don't continue reading... might be TMI)
Last week I had another ultrasound of baby girl. She has flipped and is in the head-down (correct) position for birth! No crazy interventions or a c-section scheduled! She was measuring in at approximately 5lb10oz at 36w2d. That puts her in the 24th percentile. Everything looks great! She was awake during this visit, so I got to see her move a little (there isn't much room these days). I got to see her put all of her fingers in her mouth and stick out her tongue. It was so cool to see her moving! She also has a lot of hair! I could see it flowing/moving in the amniotic fluid! I cannot wait to meet her and see her grow and watch her little personality develop! We have also started weekly appointments. In the past few days, my Braxton Hicks have been a lot more frequent. They aren't painful; they do make me lightheaded and I feel very low in oxygen or I get very flushed and warm. All normal apparently. The bathroom trips have gotten a lot more frequent, so I'm hoping that is from her dropping down getting ready to come! Sleeping has become a thing of the past. She actually never wakes me up from moving... its my body. Just gearing up to be a baby delivering machine I think (hip and back pain). These last couple weeks are going to be the hardest I think. Physically and emotionally. I'm not anxious or nervous about the delivery at all yet. My mind set has been very positive. My body is designed to do this and it knows what to do. I just need to relax and let nature take its course. So far I've been doing pretty good. Other unfortunate side effects of late pregnancy have been extreme swelling. I have pitting edema in my ankles. For those of you who don't know what that is: basically when I touch my ankles, I leave a fingerprint indent. Its lovely. Pretty much everywhere else is swollen too. My ankles are by far the worst.

The nursery is almost completed! (once EVERYTHING is done, I will put up more pictures... here is sneak peak.) I finished sewing the curtains yesterday morning and I went to the store and finished buying the rest of the stuff we needed. I still need to finish my wall art project and hang a couple things, but its ready enough for her when she comes. Plus she will be in our room in the bassinet at first. Most of her clothes (NB-3months) are washed, diapers and wipes are stock-piled, everything (bottles, pacifiers, toys) has been sterilized and cleaned, and the baby swing is set up. I feel like all the important stuff is done :) We also installed the car seat and had it inspected at the fire station! And the Go-Bags have been officially packed!  We are good to go!!

Hopefully I'll post before she comes, but if not: next time I write, we will be parents! I'm beyond excited and so full of joy and love!

<3