Miles Day 1
Miles' first bath
Jake during his first fathers day with both his kids!
Me with Miles a couple days after he was born.
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We got there around 3am and first thing they did was check me to make sure I was dilating and that it wasn't another false alarm. When she told me that I was dilated to 7cm I knew that this was it. So Jake called my mom and she headed up. Jake set up the pack n play in the room next to the birthing room and put Jessica back to bed. She went back to sleep surprisingly well.
I then got into the tub which is where I labored for the next 1½ hours. After being in the tub for that hour and a half my water broke and I started pushing. It was then that I realized that the tub was quite uncomfortable to be pushing in so after about 10 minutes I decided I wanted to get out and move to the bed. By the time both feet hit the floor I realized that the head was coming out right then. I was not going to make it to the bed so they got a birthing stool and got it under me as I was leaning on the edge of the tub pushing the head out. Once the head was out I got a bit of a break at this point and then with the next contraction pushed the body out. It really amazed me that the total pushing time was only 18 minutes.
There he was, Miles Truman Foster, born June 19, 2010 at 4:59am. He was born at a whopping 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long.
Jake went out to the other room to get the camera and saw that Jessica had woken up and was standing in her pack n play probably wondering why I was screaming so loud. So he brought her in to meet her new little brother. Our plan was if I went into labor at night we were going to have someone come over and sleep at our place so we wouldn't have to wake her but I am glad it didn't work out that way. It was nice having her there and getting to take pics of all 4 of us together at the birth.
My mom arrived 2 hours later to get Jessica and take her back to our house so we could have some time with Miles. As surprising as it sounds, by 10am we were getting in the car and heading home, which was quite different from when I had Jessica. I was in the hospital for a whole week with her. I guess the fact that he was born 3 weeks later than Jessica made a big difference.
So when I got home I did a few comparisons to when Jessica was born. Jessica didn't reach Miles' birth weight until she was 7 weeks old and her head was 3cm smaller then Miles'. What is weird to me is that even though Jessica was so much smaller it took 10 hours to birth her and only 3½ hours to birth Miles. I always heard that second babies are usually born quicker but I figured this one would take longer because he was so much bigger. I guess I was wrong.
My mom said that the whole time we were gone Jessica was watching the window saying "mama?" "dada?" and when we got there she started screaming in excitement.
I have to say I thought that my experience with Jessica being born in Australia was great but the experience of birthing Miles here was far better. I am really happy with our decision to have him in a birthing center instead of the hospital. I felt more like a woman giving birth instead of a patient in a hospital giving birth. What was also nice was that the midwife, Traci, wasn't telling me when to push or what I should be doing. She had more of a 'go with the flow' attitude. 'Just push when you feel like it'. It was really nice. Also if we had gone to the hospital we would not have been able to bring Jessica with us and since my mom didn't arrive until 2 hours after Miles was born we would have been screwed. I really don't think things could have gone any better than they did.
Miles is 1 week old today and things are going quite good. He is on a 3 hour feeding schedule and is eating for about 10-20 minutes at a time. He spends most of the day sleeping so far with a few awake times throughout the day. I can't wait until he regains the weight he lost after birth and I don't have to wake him up at night anymore to eat. It kills me to have to wake up a soundly sleeping baby just to have to desperately try to keep him awake long enough to eat, and once he is awake enough to eat I then have to try to get him to go back to sleep. I end up being awake at each feeding time for between 30-60 minutes depending on how long it takes me to get him woken up.
Jake has been wonderful this past week!! He has been getting up with Jessica every morning and letting me sleep in with Miles. This morning I got to sleep until 10:30!! Before today I couldn't tell you the last time I slept that late. He has also been doing laundry and dishes and basically being Jessica's main caregiver. It has been so nice having him home every day. I will be sad when he has to go back to work after next week. Jessica will be too I am sure. They have had so much daddy daughter time that I am sure she will wonder where he is. At least her grandma will be here to take his place during the day for a week. After she leaves I don't know what I will do. I guess it is all part of the adventure of having kids.
I can't tell you how happy I am! I have the best husband and the 2 most beautiful children I could imagine! I am truly living my life's dream!
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Total weight gain: Just over 22 pounds
How big is baby?: About 20 inches from head to heel & weighs just over 7 pounds (about weight of a mini watermelon)
Maternity clothes?: They are all belly shirts now!
Stretch marks?: Not that I can see yet.
Sleep?: Not doing much of that now days. Between contractions and getting up to pee many many times per night there is not much sleep happening.
Best moment this week?: Getting to hear the heartbeat every week is pretty cool.
Movement?: Still very active! I expected it to slow down but it really hasn't.
Food cravings?: Salt & Vinegar chips!!
Labor signs?: Having a lot of contractions! Last Saturday morning we went in to the birth center because I thought my water had broken. When I got up to go to the bathroom water was dripping down my leg. They did some tests and it turned out to not be amniotic fluid. What they told me was that there are 2 layers on the placenta and sometimes there is fluid between the 2 layers and if the outer layer gets a leak it can seem like the water is breaking. That is probably what happened because by the time we got to the birth center it had stopped leaking.
Belly button in or out?: Far Out!
What I miss: Sleeping!
What I'm looking forward to this week: Again hopefully giving birth this week. I really don't want to go overdue!!
Weekly Wisdom: Drink water and rest!
Milestone: Only 1 week left until my due date! I am somewhat surprised to still be pregnant! I fully expected to go early.
Total weight gain: 21 pounds
How big is baby?: Just over 19 1/2 inches from head to heel & weighs about 6.8 pounds (about the length of a leek)
Maternity clothes?: Really running low on shirts that don't expose the bottom of my belly.
Stretch marks?: None visible yet.
Sleep?: Getting lots of practice getting up in the middle of the night...now it is to pee but soon enough it will be to feed the baby.
Best moment this week?: Again...not much happened this week.
Movement?: Not as much as before but I am sure it is because it is getting tight in there. His kicks are getting very strong and sometimes painful.
Food cravings?: Nothing special
Labor signs?: Lots of Braxton Hicks and a few painful ones this past week but nothing serious.
Belly button in or out?: Very out!
What I miss: Being able to walk normally.
What I'm looking forward to this week: Going into labor.....Please!!!
Weekly Wisdom: Take it easy. Try to relax while you still can.
Milestone: I can't believe there is only 2 weeks left until my due date...and really I could go into labor any time....crazy!
Total weight gain: Just over 18 pounds
How big is baby?: Just over 19 inches from head to heel & weighs about 6 1/3 pounds (about the length of a Swiss chard)
Maternity clothes?: Continuing to grow out of them.
Stretch marks?: None as far as I can tell yet. But I am super itchy so maybe they will show up after the baby is born.
Sleep?: Still getting up many times per night to use the bathroom.
Best moment this week?: Not much happened this week.
Movement?: Still a ton of movement and his kicks are getting quite painful!
Food cravings?: As much chocolate as I can get.
Labor signs?: I thought my water may have been leaking on Friday but I got checked and it wasn't. I still continue to have contractions....some painful, some not.
Belly button in or out?: Staying out!
What I miss: Being able to sit, walk, lie down or stand comfortably.
What I'm looking forward to this week: Hopefully having the baby!
Weekly Wisdom: Drink lots of water and try to take it easy!
Milestone: I am full term! So basically everything I experience in the next few weeks will be new to me since Jessica was born at week 36.
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Total weight gain: 18 pounds
How big is baby?: Just over 18 1/2 inches from head to heel & weighs almost 6 pounds (about the weight of a crenshaw melon)
Maternity clothes?: My belly hangs out of the bottom of most of my shirts now.
Stretch marks?: Not that I can see now but we will see once he is born.
Sleep?: Getting up to pee about 4-6 times per night.
Best moment this week?: Mom came up for a couple days. See labor signs as for why...
Movement?: This morning there wasn't much that had me a little worried but it picked back up and he has been moving like crazy ever since.
Food cravings?: Nothing special.
Labor signs?: Tuesday I had my weekly appt and was told that I had dilated to 2 cm, I had become quite soft and the head was down and in the low position. Which basically means labor could start at any time. I wasn't having any contractions but just in case I called all my people who were planning to help me when labor started and told them that it could come early. Then on Thursday morning shortly after Jake left for work I started having somewhat painful contractions. When they didn't stop I decided to see how far apart they were. After timing about 10 of them and seeing that they were every 2 minutes I called my midwife who told me to go straight to the hospital. They were getting worse as time went on so Jake came home from work and Leila came over to watch Jessica and I called my mom. She left work and drove on up here. Traffic on I5 was horrible. I was sort of freaking out in the car because I assumed that contractions that were 2 minutes apart meant that I was getting close and not knowing if I had dilated more had me worried that I could give birth in the car. Well, we made it to the hospital with quite a greeting party of about 8 midwives and nurses. They took me in and between contractions they checked me and found that there were no changes since my appt on Tuesday. This surprised me quite a bit since that meant that I wasn't really in labor although the contractions were telling me different. I continued to have contractions every 2-5 minutes all day long. Throughout the day they did 2 more exams on me to check for changes and since both of those checks showed no changes they sent me home. I kept having contractions through out the rest of the day although they were not as close together and not quite as painful. They gave me a prescription for sleeping pills so that I would be able to sleep through them which worked like a charm. Friday I still had some painful contractions but they were much farther spaced apart. Today I have just had a few painful ones so I am hoping this whole thing is coming to an end and the contractions will be gone by tomorrow. My mom left this morning since things seemed to calm down. Since I am hoping to give birth in the birth center instead of the hospital I have to hold out on going into labor at least until this coming Thursday.
So there you go....my exciting week.
Belly button in or out?: Very very out.
What I miss: Painless contractions.
What I'm looking forward to this week: I have my appt on Tuesday to be checked again. So I guess possibly giving birth.
Weekly Wisdom: Relax, no lifting heavy stuff and keep baby in until at least Thursday.
Milestone: I have reached the gestation at which Jessica was born. I guess that means baby could come at any time.
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Total weight gain: Almost 16 pounds
How big is baby?: Just over 18 inches from head to heel & weighs 5 1/4 pounds (about the weight of a honeydew melon)
Maternity clothes?: The clothes that fit me at the end of my last pregnancy are too small for me now....arg!
Stretch marks?: None yet...but we will see.
Sleep?: I have to prop myself up on pillows and have them on both sides of me too....then I sleep ok...otherwise I barely sleep.
Best moment this week?: Had a relaxing weekend at Anderson Island with Jake's parents and celebrated his birthday.
Movement?: Oh yes and the kicks are getting pretty hard!
Food cravings?: Chocolate...chocolate...and more chocolate!
Labor signs?: I am pretty sure this isn't a labor sign but it feels like the baby kicks my cervix every so often....very painful! Also still having a lot of Braxton Hicks Contractions and quite a bit of round ligament pain...also very painful!
Belly button in or out?: Waaaayyyyy out!
What I miss: Being able to have Jessica on my lap!
What I'm looking forward to this week: Got my doc appt on Tuesday!
Weekly Wisdom: Relax and don't do too much yard work.
Milestone: Seriously...only 5 more weeks to go??? Where did the time go?
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