Harlow Wynter- 1 month!

 

June 13th, 2014 our little bug turned 1 month!

 

I will try to do more of these updates as she grows

 

-Weight:  At our last appointment, which was a few weeks ago now, she was 8 lbs 4 oz. She had initially struggled with gaining weight. She was born at 8 lbs 7 oz, and then lost a bunch of weight in the hospital (which is normal, but she was right at the 10% mark where they were concerned that if she lost more, than they would have to think of a backup plan (ie.supplementing). When we left the hospital she was 7 lbs 9 oz. So when we broke the 8 lb mark...that was exciting for us! We have a dr appointment on Friday, so excited to see her progress!

-Health:  Besides the struggle with her weight gain initially, she is a healthy, happy baby! She does so good everywhere that we take her, and people always comment on how wonderful of a baby she is!

-Sleep:  The very first night that we were home it was a struggle. She HATED her bassinet, and just wanted to be in her car seat the whole time. We had read so many horror stories of how you are NOT supposed to let your kid do that. Well, we decided after that first night, that we needed a Rock and Play. It is basically a chair, that sits her at an incline (mimicking the car seat) and kind of cradles her just like it too. We found one on Craigslist at SUCH a good price, in near perfect condition. We have been hooked! She sleeps so good! We start doing her bed time routine around 8 pm. We will lay down with her to do tummy time. Then, Tim will take her to bed, keeping the lights low and not talking to her at all. He will change her, and feed her/rock her to sleep. Swaddle her, then set her down in her Rock and play with her noise machine going, give her a paci if she wants, and then walk out of her room. She usually fusses a little bit if the paci falls out. We will go in and give it back to her without saying a word. She then normally sleeps until around 4:30 ish. Which at that time, I will wake up, feed her, change her, and put her back down. Where she then **usually** sleeps until around 10am. The first few weeks she would wake up around 1am, and then go down until around 5am...and we would follow the same routine. We feel so blessed to have such an amazing baby.

Social:  We have been on several outings. I understand wanting to "shield" little one from germs, but I can't just sit at home. I get cabin fever really bad, so anywhere we want to go, we just pack up the little one and head out. We have been told that we are so relaxed as first time parents, and honestly I feel like that is a small fraction of why she is such a good baby. Children seem to mimic their parents behavior (to an extent) and we are pretty relaxed about everything. Harlow seems to be too. We have gone to the zoo, and to Portland. We go on walks every night, and during the day when I am home alone with her, we usually walk anywhere we need to go. This helps me feel less like a caged animal and more like myself.

Diet:  We are doing both breast milk and supplementing with formula. Breastfeeding was not so  much working for us. So I decided to exclusively pump and if I was not keeping up with her demand- then I would supplement with formula. This has been a struggle. I feel like people are so judgemental when it comes to things like breastfeeding and the like. Every family/baby/mommy is different, and for awhile, I felt like if I didn't absolutely LOVE breastfeeding, than I would get commentary like I wasn't trying hard enough, or just keep with it and you will love it. No. I did not like it one bit. I didn't feel like it brought Harlow and I closer, I would feel resentment and avoid feeding because of how badly I was in pain. I went to 4 different lactation consultants, and just felt like I couldn't ever really do it to where it was comfortable. Pumping still hurts but at least she is getting breast milk. And that is all I am going to say about that.. Rant over :)

Clothes:  She is still in newborn clothes- however, some of her newborn clothes are getting a little tight. They were so big for so long, but now I am finding that some of the clothes that I had held off on putting her in because they were too big, are now getting a little snug. All brands are different though, but she is mostly still in newborn clothes. She is in Size 1 diapers as well. I thought they were running a bit big on her, however, I found a newborn size diaper in her diaper bag and put it on her, and it was definitely too small! I can't wait to put her in some 0-3 month clothes....she has the CUTEST clothes in that size bracket.

Baby Gear Love:  Of course the Rock and Play...we use that every single day! We also love her Soundspa Sound Machine. We have been using the Avent bottles and seem to really like those ones for the amount of milk that she has been getting. Also, the Mam pacifiers are her favorite, and her Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat and strollie we seem to use every day, and the stroller is so easy to push and take around.

Crying:  She is more awake now than she has been during the day. I noticed yesterday, that when she didn't go down for a nap, she was so tired and cranky by around 3pm, that she would not stop crying. Queue me swaddling her...and by golly she was out within 5 minutes! She is SUCH a good baby, and usually only cries for a little bit when she does tummy time, when I put her in princess outfits, and when she is hungry in the middle of the night.

-Likes:  1 month old Harlow LOVES her Pacifier. She has formed quite a bond to it. She also loves her dog Sullivan Louise. Sully has really decided that Harlow is "her baby". She watches over her when she sleeps, and sometimes in the morning I will go into Harlow's room and Sully is just laying by her bed. She will come get me if baby starts to cry. Gotta love that girl. She is such a good big sister. She loves it when her daddy holds her, she just seems to calm down. She loves her Rock and Play, going for walks seems to calm her down. She loves her car seat, and of course milk!

Milestones:  What a difference 1 month makes! She has started to follow us with her eyes around the room. She rolls over onto her back when we put her on her stomach for tummy time! Such a smart girl we have. She also has given us a few smiles which I think are from us being funny...not just gas for this little one! I am so excited to watch her grow. She can also lift her head up for small periods of time- and is making a few more noises than just crying!

Postpartum:  Well the first 2 weeks I lost 30 lbs! Oh gosh, it felt heavenly! I still have about 20 more lbs to go until I can safely say that I am back at pre-baby weight. I have already felt such a difference in my energy level. I am still recovering though from my surgery, and have yet to get the go-ahead to be able to work out. I think all this walking though has been so good for me, and Harlow. I feel so much better, and I am looking forward to be able to work out and run like I was before I got preggo.

Looking forward to:  I am so excited to be able to start going on hikes with this little one! We bought an Ergo carrier, and it arrived today, so I am excited to test that out and be able to go out like we used to! I am also looking forward to seeing her grow, I feel so blessed to be her mama. I love watching her daddy with her, it makes my heart burst! Looking forward, to my doctor appointment on Friday to get the go-ahead to work out and see how far I have come form her birth until now. I feel like a different person, but excited to see this weight fall off. Can't wait to have my body back, even though it will take some time, I am happy with my progress so far, and can't wait to be back there eventually.

 

Newborn to 1 month to compare..

I was going to try and pretend this was newborn...and compare it to the 1 month in the chair...however this is actually like 2 weeks...sooooo there is that. I was living a lie..

 

xoxo

 



Newborn Photos!

So our dear friend, Tessa, came out to do newborn photos of our little one. She had taken our maternity photos and we wanted her to be able to capture a few photos of our new little one as well! She came out about 10 days after Harlow was born to be able to get these new pics of our little one! We had so much fun! She was so patient with Harlow and with having 2 little girls of her own, we knew that she would be able to bring what we were wanting in newborn photos-alive.

 

 

Here are a few of our favorites..

 

 

 

 

xoxo



TBT Things I did on my maternity leave...before Harlow

Sooo just because I found it amusing...I am going to give y'all a glimpse of what I did on my maternity leave....before this little bebe entered my life.

 

I decided to take off from work a little bit early so I had time to relax before baby got here... I realized that the unemployed life isn't so much for me...I got bored... fast.

 

 

 

1.) Wet my whistle with one of these babies...

Whats this you ask? A BSRL...

For those not well versed in Sbux lingo..that is a Blended Strawberry/Raspberry Lemonade... ERmergerd..DELISH.

Word of the wise: Don't let them make you a Strawberry Frap. This has happened to my seester and I on more than one occasion...

2.) Had a 7th birthday party for none other than Sullivan Louise

 

 

Mildred Jean also partook in the festivities

I'd like to think that she was thoroughly enjoying mums baking..not shunning it like this pic would suggest...

Clearly Selfies were not high on Sullivan's priorities

This duder is such a good sport with my crazy antics...pic with the birthday girl!

3.) Discovered that Millie Jean had no idea that Merriwhether existed...

once she realized...she spent ALL DAY like this...Who knew a fish could be so interesting. New besties.

4.) Disturbed Grandma Mill's slumber..

5.) Take Selfies with my newt and send them to papa Chim

 

 

Hope you enjoyed...haha xoxo



Going home!

On May 17th, 2014 we were discharged out of the hospital.

Despite a little fiasco where...umm we didn't have the clips to the car seat (queue us sitting there for 3 more hours while another car seat is found), we made it home in one piece and began our life with our new little family...our new normal

 

 

 

 

Gahh I just love her

I tried to dress her like a princess but she wasn't as excited about it as I was..

Harlow, will you please stay put?

I don't know why awful pictures of my daughter make me laugh...

Ruv

Ready to go mama!



Our first few days...

Throughout our hospital stay we were so well taken care of by both the hospital staff and by our friends and family. No amount of words of thanks would be enough or sufficient to tell them all how thankful we are for the support and gifts. To all the people who brought us things in the hospital...thank you. Or to the people who took such good care of our girls, the visitors...everything! Ahh I am overwhelmed by the love our family and friends have shown us.

 

 

Since I had a C-Section, we had to stay in the hospital quite a bit longer than if I would have had her vaginally. We went in on a Monday and did not leave the hospital until Friday afternoon. Besides being interrupted to take our vitals, our hospital stay was kind of nice. It was nice to have such big help while we struggled to figure out life with a newborn.

 

One of my struggles was the pain of breastfeeding. The pain of her latching on. I knew it would be uncomfortable..but I did not realize that I would want to scream out in pain. Oh my word. She latched great, that was not the problem. I think I am just very sensitive...and that area especially. Uff Da! So I would feed Harlow, she would be done, the nurse would take her out so we could get some sleep and then literally about 5 minutes later she would return and tell me that Harlow was hungry again. No bitch, she is not hungry. She just wants to use me as a human pacifier, and I am not going to let my poor nips go through that! This went on for a few days until I had a pacifier in my bag, and I gave it to Harlow and Voila!! She was perfectly content! It got to the point where the nurses would see us in the hallway or in our "Purple Crying" class...and be like oh is that Harlow? Room 7? Oh she needs her paci! Yes...yes she does. She has formed quite a friendship with it.

 

Well anyway, those few days that we spent in the hospital....I actually enjoyed. I was content. I didn't do much but sleep, and feed Harlow. It was nice to be able to be with Tim with our new baby and just enjoy each others company.

 

Just a few pics from those first few days...

 

 

Mama Carolyn's First grandbabe

Miss Harlow Wynter

 

Auntie Kristyyyyyyy

A hot mess and her child.

Ohana

Be still my heart!

Yittle toes

My poor chunky monkey and her arm full of IVs :(

At peace with her paci

Possibly milk drunk

I know a good dad when I see one..



Birth Story + Welcome to the world Harlow Wynter Otte

On May 12, 2014 I had a doctor appointment to check in and see how our little one was doing, especially since it was the day after our due date! May 11th had came and went, and even though I was anxious to meet our little girl, I was okay with that. I think part of me was terrified about labor and the actual process of bringing her to this world, so I think if that meant that I got some extra time by us going past her due date...then I was okay with that. I still don't think that I felt like it was real. I mean...yes I was hugely pregnant and felt disgusting, and could barely walk the last few days...but the fact that holy crap...I am going to be a mum after all of this....THAT hadn't really sunk in yet.

 

So anyway, back to our appointment. Tim drove me to our appointment, and it went just like any other appointment. They didn't check to see if I was dilated, because they had done that the previous Thursday, and since it was hugely uncomfortable and at that time I was 3 cm Dilated and 70 percent effaced, I didn't feel a need for them to check me again so soon. She felt my stomach and was like, " Wow! You are really ALL baby" oh yes...thanks doc, that is exactly how I am feeling! She said that we should schedule a stress test for 2 weeks out, just in case Harlow decides to hang tight. 2 weeks!?!? You must be joking. If she decided to wait in there for 2 more weeks, I would probably cut her out myself. You think I am kidding...but no...no I am not. But nevertheless, we had to schedule the appointments for 2 weeks out... puke..

 

Then, after we made the appointments, we were on our merry way! Tim dropped me off at home around 11, and he went to work. I was feeling absolutely exhausted, and was hungry so decided to make myself some peanut butter toast and cut myself up some strawberries. Little did I know that this was going to be my last meal for awhile!

 

I settled in to watch 16 and pregnant...since um hello? What Else would I be watching on my maternity leave? My stomach started cramping a little bit shortly after I sat down. I was thinking to myself, that it was probably upset from the creamer I had in my coffee earlier that morning. I didn't really pay much attention to it, just kept thinking that my stomach is really upset and gahh I should really avoid dairy.

Around 12, my stomach was still really upset, but decided to call work to clear up some last minute insurance question things. As I was talking to my boss, I was finding it hard to concentrate on some stuff that she was saying, but the pain would come and go, so I still wasn't really thinking much of it. I decided to make Tim some macaroni and cheese so that way when he came home for lunch, he would have something to eat and we could have some lunch together. After I hung up the phone, I went back to the couch with my bowl of macaroni, and took one bite before I was keeled over in pain again. UGH These cramps really better go away. I decided to google If labor feels like severe period cramps. Hey what do you know...they apparently do! I called Tim in tears and told him that my stomach was hurting really bad, and I could neither confirm nor deny that this was labor. He asked if he should come home, but I told him no, because I didn't want him to come home and have it be a false alarm and have it take away from his sick time. Good thing, he knows me, and knows that I am stubborn and decided that he should probably get his ass home! He called the Doula and told her what I was experiencing, and she decided to call me to see how I was doing. When she called I was in tears and the cramps seemed to be increasing and more severe. I told her not to come because It was probably not labor, but based off te pain I was feeling she decided that she should probably head over. I am so glad that both of them went against my advice because by the time Tim got home at 1:00 I couldn't fathom going through those "cramps" which I now realize were contractions by myself. The doula told me to get in the tub, because it could probably help ease the severity of the contractions. Tim drew me a bath, and rubbed my back the entire time. My contractions were about 5 minutes apart at this time. When the doula got there around 2pm she took over rubbing my back while Tim packed up the car. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart by around 3pm, and I was in so much pain that the Doula and Tim decided to take me to the hospital. I was still in denial and convinced that I was going to be sent home for "false labor". I don't know why It wasn't ever "real" to me, but I was convinced that this was not happening.

 

We loaded up the car, and the doula told us that she would meet us at the hospital. We drove the 10 minutes from our house to Good Samaritan Hospital. We checked in at 3 ish, and they wheeled me upstairs. At this point, I felt like my pelvis was getting hit with a ton of bricks. We got admitted to our labor and delivery room- and it so happened to be the same room we had toured in our birth class! We set up our stuff and since I was in so much pain they immediately hooked me up to the two monitors- and tried to do an IV. I wasn't expecting it to hurt as bad as it did, so I jerked and of course ripped out the IV. They had to calm me down and had to redo it, this time in the crease of my arm- I was a crying mess- it hurt so bad! After the IV was in place, they started discussing different ways/methods to handle the pain of labor. Such as different positions and the option of the water birth (that, before I felt like a MAC truck had hit my pelvis...seemed like such a great option). I was in so much pain however, that I could not even fathom getting off the bed to try and do the labor that we had envisioned. I wanted/needed the epidural!

They called in the Anesthesiologist, and luckily he was already on his way! They had me sign some sort of waiver, and Tim held my hand while they administered yet another needle. Hopefully this would bring some sort of relief. Well long story short, it did...but it didn't work as well as it should have. I still felt so much pain-every contraction felt like I was getting blown to pieces by cement blocks...not a good feeling f you ask me.
I was progressing nicely for the first few hours of labor- and when they finally got the epidural in I felt so much better! The difference was night and day! I could actually sit through the tests and screening and checking of vitals without wanting to rip my hair out! I progressed until 6cm and then stalled for about 8 hours. Lovely. During that time, they were telling me that I needed to get rest and for Tim and the Doula to turn off the TV because I needed to rest. Well hello...kind of hard to rest when they come in every 5 minutes to check my vitals. My mum got there about 11pm. She had flown from California to Portland. Hopped in a rental car and drove down to be there for the birth of Harlow! So amazing. Also my seester Kristine (you know the one from the previous post had basically just gotten home from her tournament and her and her man Cory packed up the car and drove down to also be there. This meant the world to me! They arrived...I think around 11/12pm as well? Its hard to say I was so drugged up and in so much pain that I have a hard time piecing this together. So I tried sleeping to no avail- I was in so much pain that I couldn't...I also could hear this lady screaming down the hall. Terrifying. I am glad I had the epidural even if it wasn't working so well, to take the edge off.

Misery

Cheese

The view from our room

 

Room 4103- Labor Room

Anyway, they kept coming in and trying new doses of medicine and things because they kept saying..you shouldn't be in this much pain...well thanks...but I am. Also, they kept checking me to see if I had progressed at all. Nothing. During this time, they decided to break my water to try to move things along. This didn't work. I also developed an infection and developed a really high fever. This meant I also had to be on antibiotics, and when Harlow finally came...she also had to have an IV of meds just in case I passed this infection to the baby.
Around 7 am on May 13, they decided to check me again, when I hadn't progressed they decided to start me on Pitocin to see if that could kick my dilation into gear. They decided they would give me some time to hopefully dilate. They checked me again around 10 am. I had dilated to 8cm. I was thinking hooray! Almost there...however, my body stopped responding to the Pitocin- they took me off the Pitocin, and my body had gotten used to it, so then the contractions stopped. The baby went into distress...so the only other option was a C section. I couldn't believe it...after all this...it was ending in a C section after all...the only thing I didn't want. I burst into tears...I have never been into surgery before...I was so scared. Luckily, Tim and the Doula and my mum were so sweet and amazing with it all. Telling  me what to expect, and what I would feel (nothing). I am so thankful to have such amazing people in my life!

Doula and Mum...mum Is showing me a picture of my swollen feet...haha

They came in to take me in to surgery and Tim kissed me and told me that he would be there in about 5 minutes and he would be there through the whole thing! As they wheeled me into the Operating Room, I remember I could barely keep my eyes open...I was so exhausted from the previous day and being up all night, having no food at all and just the stress and toll this was taking on my body. They wheeled me into this bright room, and there were just swarms of people...I guess there were a ton of residency students...so about 15 people in the room. As they prepped me and placed the oxygen mask on  my face, I just remember thinking about my baby girl that I would meet soon. I couldn't wait...but I was just so scared. Tim and the Doula came in and sat by me and talked to me about anything to keep my mind off of it. I can't remember exactly what they were saying, because I was fading in and out, but I remember singing Pocahontas songs to calm me down. I used to do that when I was a kid when I was nervous about something. For some reason, " Just around the River bend", is soothing. Just me? oooookkkk

So anyway, I didn't feel pain just tugging and tugging and tugging. I wondered when that would end. ( I guess after talking with the Doctor later, she exclaimed that my C-section was one of the hardest she has seen, and Harlow would not come out...hence..the tugging that would not end). After what seemed like an eternity, and about the 6th go around of "Colors of the Wind", I heard them exclaim, " OH mY GOSH, Look at all that hair"! Followed by, " A little girl? boy?" I remember thinking to myself, " If it is a boy after all this so  help me God".
And then I heard, " Oh wow this is a big baby".
And then...the sweetest sounds ever...our baby girl crying!!
Harlow Wynter Otte was born at 12:07pm, 8 lbs 7 oz and 20.5" long!

I was so relieved, Tim went over to see her, and get pictures and just burst into tears. He came over to me and told me she was perfect and amazing, and he loved me and her so much! I have never felt so much love in my life, than in that moment. I don't think I could have loved him anymore....until I saw him hold her. I can't describe the feeling, and it is one that I am assuming you will never know until it happens to you. I love him more now than what I ever thought possible. I had no idea I could love someone so much, and feel so incredibly blessed to have him in my life. I love him now more than I ever thought possible, and it just gets stronger every day seeing him with our baby girl.

So anyway, after we got to see her, they had to take her away to do a bunch of tests on her, because of my infection. After that, Tim got to take her out to the waiting room to meet her grandma and her Auntie Kristine and Uncle Coro...and I think Tim's mum was also there at that point. I had to stay and get stitched up...and then wheeled into recovery. I don't remember that at all actually. I don't know how I got from that operating room to my room. It is all a blur.

 

We love her so much. Our family seems so complete somehow...I feel so blessed that I get to have this amazing man and perfect little one by my side through life. What an amazing feeling, and I don't know how I got so lucky to be chosen to be her mum...but I am so glad I did.

 

xoxo