Lyla is a week old today!! What a week it has been!
We had a doctor appointment on tuesday at 4 o clock, and we found out that i was leaking some amniotic fluid.. our doctor said we'd probably have to go to the hospital to get tested there and to be given antibiotics, but then she came back and said that we were going to have our baby! So we headed home to pack a hospital bag and then went off to the hospital! It was so surreal, even when I got set up in the hospital I still wasn't fully convinced that I was about to have a baby! I got hooked up to some monitors and it turned out that I was having contractions that I couldn't even feel.. they broke my water the rest of the way bc it had ruptured a little already and gave me some pitocin, and soon i was definitely aware of my contractions.. I was having what they call 'back labor' and feeling all the pain in my back and my butt, like my butt bone was going to explode.. anyway, at about 10 o clock i decided to get the epidural, which was amazing! I could still feel the bigger contractions a little bit but nothing painful.. at about 12:30, I called the nurse in because I was feeling a lot of pressure and she said we could start pushing and that the baby's head was right there!!!! The pushing stage was surprisingly easy and painless, thanks to the epidural... it took about half hour and I didn't even really need to push a lot at the end, my contractions were pushing her out on their own! And Lyla was born at 1:12 am.. she was crying before she was even fully born!! I got to hold her right after she was born and she was so beautiful!! Erik and I fell in love with her immediately!! She weighed 6 lbs and was 19 in long.
We were in the hospital until Friday morning... Lyla had to get a blood test and we had to wait until then for the results (which came back fine!) In those couple of days we mastered some necessary skills like diaper changing and swaddling, had a couple emotional breakdowns over breast feeding, and spent time getting to know our baby! Lyla had lots of visitors in the hospital... Grandma and Grandpa, her Great Aunt Lois and Great Uncle Karl and Kenny, Auntie Britt, Uncle Alex, and Uncle Alex Martin.. she has met so many other people since then, too!
The first couple of nights at home were pretty difficult, I had a hard time sleeping, just because I was worried we wouldn't wake up to her crying, and I kept wanting to check her every time she made a little fussy noise. But now we are finally getting some good sleep at night, and then I can nap more during the day, too.
Monday was her first doctor appointment, and everything looks great! She had already gained 6 oz since Friday, which impressed the doctor a lot. She had no yellowing or anything like that, no other issues... and she was so cooperative at the office, only crying when they took off her diaper to weigh her.
Things at home have been going pretty well, although I still feel quite exhausted a lot of the time despite being able to sleep more at night. My mom has been here helping me during the day so that has been reaaally helpful.
I would describe Lyla as .. AWESOME!! she is such a quiet and content baby.. She doesn't really cry, except at bath time.. when she's hungry, she whines a little and eats at her hands, but no crying! She is also just really sleepy. She wakes up to eat, and then falls asleep while eating. When she's awake, she's very attentive and focuses right on our faces! In general, she seems like a very quiet, content little newborn!
Anyway, I declared today of rest for me, so I am pretty much staying in bed all day and napping as much as possible. I think my body wants me to get more sleep because i have just been soo tired lately, and I'm especially tired today because Lyla had me up a BUNCH last night!!!! So my mom is here helping out with Lyla and condo maintenance again.. My parents are here every day helping out, and I am so thankful to have them here, i'm not sure I could make it without them!
Back to napping!
