Noah News
Blog Entries:
12/30/2008 01/02/2009 01/05/2009
12/30/2008
He's here!!!!
After waiting and waiting our little boy has finally arrived. Noah Robert Hildebrand was born 12/22/08 at 2057, weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces, 20.5 inches long.
Labor was …funny, nature has already taken away a lot of the painful memories and replaced them with ones of joy. Isn't it funny how nature does that to promote more kids? :) My water broke at about 7:20 that morning and we got to the hospital at about 9:45AM (I just thought I HAD to do some laundry and clean the house before we left). Since my water had broken they started Pitocin to augment the labor (they really want that kid born within 24 hours of the water breaking so we had to speed things up a bit). Well, I think what everyone has always told me about Pitocin is right…it makes contractions a lot stronger. After what Todd tells me was about 2 hours of back to back contractions (and seeing stars) I opted for the epidural. After that, while feeling plenty nauseated and weak, the pain was minimal. And with the exception of my right leg being completely numb, the actual process of giving birth wasn't that bad. 17 minutes of pushing and he was out!
Our hospital stay was great with the exception of one nurse I could have done without. The lactation consultants and lactation educators (many of whom were also our nurse for the shift) were FABULOUS and I can't say enough good things about them. They clearly love their job and put their hearts into it. Hopefully they enjoy the thank-yous and the plate of treats my mom made up for them.
Since then we've been on a pretty big learning curve. It's funny all the stuff you learn…RAPIDLY. But I'm happy to announce that after a few breastfeeding challenges and one inconsolable night, we're all doing well. Noah is already almost back to his birth weight so we know he is getting the proper nutrition and already growing like a weed.
Murray is proving to be a great “big brother” and is more protective of us than I have ever seen him. I think he's a bit sad that my attention isn't all on him anymore (sorry Murray) but I try to give him as much attention as I can and he's had a great time with family around to keep him running.
Big milestone for the day – Noah's cord stump fell off!!! I'm sure he's going to be so much happier without that thing sticking out and now we can probably start putting him in some onesies (instead of those darn t-shirts) to help keep him warm. Slight sadness though…the last remaining piece linking him to me officially fell off. (Hey – postpartum hormone lady – go away!)
Another big milestone for the day – Noah's first chiropractic adjustment. It was pretty interesting to see and I'm happy to report that he wasn't all that out of alignment from the birth process as I have heard some babies can be. A slight adjustment at the cervical vertebrae and a slight pelvic adjustment and we were set!
So all in all we are doing well aside from losing a bit of sleep. It's amazing though how long it takes to do everything. Simple things now take an incredibly long time, especially when you throw in a nearly hour-long feeding/changing/burping process. There just aren't enough hours in the day for all the MANY things I want to get done. Slowly but surely though I'm sure they'll all get accomplished…with FREQUENT cuddle breaks with Noah and Murray, of course. :)
We want to say thank-you to everyone for their warm wishes of congratulations. It's humbling to know we have so many great friends and family who care about us and want to wish us well in this new venture of parenthood. You all mean so much to us and although we might not be the greatest at returning voicemails these days, please know that we are thinking of you and appreciate you.
A special big thank-you to our immediate families who have tirelessly prepared dinners, consoled Noah, endlessly cleaned our house (WAY better than I ever could by the way), and put their lives on hold to be by our side in these first few days of parenthood. We couldn't have done it without you. Thanks for making this Christmas a great one! We love you!
01/02/2009
Well, here we are in the New Year already. It's so hard to believe that Noah is already 11 days old. At the last weight check at the doctor's office (last Wednesday) he was back up to birth weight, so that's just great! I have to say I've been a little nervous that he has been getting enough food, so it was nice to get that confirmation.
Every day continues to be a learning experience for the new parents. What we have figured out though is that there are really only so many things that can be wrong (especially after the confirmation from the chiropractor that he's in alignment so no giant headaches or pain to make him mad). So we change, feed, burp, and hold. After that… it usually takes care of it. Even if he has JUST been changed, check again. It's usually the case. (See, I'm not such a slow learner!) :) The real trick will be if I can do this alone once Todd goes back to work and once family leaves. I may need some extra prayers sent my way. :) Everyday, though, I think I learn a little more about what makes Noah tick - so things are getting figured out. Still no “schedule” to speak of but I do know that from 10PM – midnight is his fussy time. One of these days I'll learn to go to sleep at 8PM when he sleeps for 2 hours before his fussy time. (8PM just seems so early to go to bed though…I just can't do it quite yet)
Hope you all had a great New Year's. We brought in the New Year doing some feeding, so at least Noah got to have a drink to toast the New Year. I'm so excited for all the “firsts” this year will bring for Noah. He's only 11 days old and already has changed so much. We'll keep the pictures coming so feel free to check back here randomly to see the changes in him as we progress through this year. May this year bring good things to everyone we love.
01/05/2009
Well, it's been an interesting day thus far. Dear Noah hasn't been too happy today. This morning I think it was his belly that wasn't feeling so well. Now ???; maybe just hungry again (cluster feedings are so confusing and really throw me for a loop. Do “seasoned” moms worry about stuff like this? Or is it just us new moms?). It's amazing though how different I feel about his fussiness vs. how I think I used to feel when I'd babysit or something. Now I don't care that he's fussy; I just want to figure out what the problem is so I can fix it and make him feel comforted. I guess that's parenthood for you. J I'm just glad we're having the fussiness now, instead of at 3AM when my eyelids are at their heaviest.
Yesterday was the first trip ALONE to Target for Noah and me. (What a milestone huh?! Hahaha) It turned out OK. I was hoping Noah would just sleep through the whole trip but alas, we had some crying (does he ALREADY hate shopping?) It could have been a lot worse though so I feel lucky for that. And as I was walking into Target our daycare provider that we have lined up was also there. I'll admit it. There was a bit of comfort knowing she was also in the store. Today will be our first Cub trip (with Todd this time). We'll see how the extended shopping goes (as I pretty much ran through Target yesterday).
Todd starts his paternity leave tomorrow so Noah and I are greatly looking forward to having him at home for a whole two weeks. Too bad he can't be home for the entire time I'm home; THAT would be fabulous! Oh well. We'll enjoy the time we all have here together.