Baby Face

Caiden has been hit with baby acne :(

He had a few pimples sprout over the past few days, but when we got up this morning it was full blown. In fact, it was so bad I thought it might be a rash, especially since there are clusters on his eyelids and all around his eyes. We even went into the doctors office to check... but no, it's just acne! Usually it peaks at 4 weeks, so it's pretty early to be seeing this level of acne. Doctor said to expect it to get worse before it gets better. Hopefully it will clear up in a few weeks. Sad to see his sweet little face all red!

Baby Smiles

Caiden has been doing lots of involuntary smiling. I have been trying to capture it on camera, but it's hard- usually the smiles are so fleeting they are gone before I can grab the camera! Here is the best I could get. Unfortunately the flash ruined the best photo!

2 weeks!

Caiden turned 2 weeks old on Wednesday!! The time is really flying by.

We're still working on sleep. This little guy is usually wide wide awake in the middle of the night when these parents want to be sleeping! Hopefully he'll catch on soon! Lucky for me though, Nana Nan likes to come over and babysit while I take naps! Thanks Nana!

We're working on tummy time too! More often than not that just means more snoozing time for Caiden though!

Looking like Mom?

Here is a baby photo of me... I think in person Caiden does look a little like I did. It doesn't come across well in photos of him though

Family Portrait

Grandpa Hank took this family portrait last Thursday

Little Chunk

After a rocky start to breastfeeding, this little chunk has definitely caught up- and then some! At his 2 week appointment yesterday he weighed in a 9lbs 1oz. That's one pound heavier than his appointment 7 days ago! Yikes! To be fair, right after he was weighed he let loose and peed all over the scale and surrounding countertop. When I took him off the scale, 2oz remained on the scale. I think it's fair to say he gained less than a pound. But still, he is a little chunker! Nana Nan came with me to the appointment, and we ran into a friend of hers who was there with his wife and new baby, who was only 3 days younger than Caiden. Their baby was 6lbs at birth, and let me tell you- there was quite a size difference! Caiden looked like the incredible hulk next to that little guy.

Now that we're getting the feeding down, we're working on the sleep. Caiden is consistently wide awake from 11pm to 3am. The doctor, and pretty much everything I've read, says that at this point all we can do is keep things loud and bright during the day and keep things dark and quiet at night. Hopefully he starts to sleep better at night!
 

More family time!

We had a busy couple of days with visitors! Caiden is a lucky man to have so much family wanting to meet him!

He spent some time with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Hank on Thursday

He met his mom's cousin Tom and Tom's wife Elpi on Saturday. They were in town for the Head of the Charles.

He hung with Grandpa Jack and met his Grandma Madeline.  He also met some BTTers at the year's first SGR (Sunday Group Run).

Hanging with Mom

This Momma loves her cuddle time!

Family Time!

After Caiden's doctors appointment, Mom and I headed over to the Keery's house since Cathy was visitng. They made us a great lunch, and even sent us home with a yummy dinner! Caiden got some good snuggle time in with Aunt Elizabeth, Nana Nan, Great Aunts Laura and Cathy, and great cousins Anna and Katherine.

First Doctors Appointment

Nana Nan and I took Caiden to Concord Hillside for his first pediatrician appointment. Kind of fun because the same nurse that worked there when I was a kid was still there, and remembered our family. Same goes with the doctor! Dan had a field trip for class and unfortunately couldn't make it. Caiden checked out healthy, and he weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz. He continued the trend of peeing on exam tables (he let loose at the ER triage room as well). But hey, what can you expect when you leave a newborn undressed on an exam table for 15 minutes?

The doctor recommended a lactation consultant to us, as we're still having issues in the nursing department. She met me at Nana's house Monday afternoon, and worked her magic! Things have been much better since that appointment. Phew!

First walk

Here we are taking Caiden our for his first walk. It was a beautiful day for it! Caiden took a good snooze in the Bob while we walked out to the river.

 

First ER visit

That didn't take long. We were back at Newton Wellesley the day after we were discharged. On Saturday, about 5 minutes after the home nurse visit, we noticed a strange discharge in Caiden's diaper. It happened again later in the day. So, we called the pediatrician, who recommended we go to the ER to have him checked out. So we headed over. The ER doc told us it was a normal side effect of the birthing process, but wanted to see a fresh sample. So, we hung out until BBH peed. He confirmed that all was good and we were able to head home. Phew!

Hanging on the hospital bed!

Hanging at home

We've been busy adjusting to our little man!! He sleeps a lot, and seems to have most of his awake time at night. We're pretty tired!! We are both totally in love with Caiden though. He is just the cutest little peanut!

Heading Home

We headed home on Friday October 15!! We spent the morning at the hospital to get some help nursing from a lactation specialist. But we wanted to be out by the afternoon so we would qualify for the early discharge home visit from a nurse. So we did just that! We were packed up and headed out at 1pm. We got our first of what will be many conflicting opinions. One nurse told us it was freezing outside and made us bundle Caiden up like this:

Another nurse came in shortly after and told us that was way too much clothing. So, we took off a layer and just wrapped the little guy in a blanket.

After a cludgy departure from the hospital (it was the discharge nurses' 3rd day, and she seemed a little overwhelmed!), we were off! That's probably the slowest we've ever driven on the Mass Pike :)

As we turned down the streets of our neighborhood it really started to hit us. Whoa... we are bringing a baby home!

First day

Caiden had lots of visitors in the hospital! Grandma and Grandpa Harjes, Aunt Margaret and Doug, Grandpa Jack, Aunt Elizabeth, Jen, Great Aunt Laura, Nana Nan, and Bob. His first day was a big one! He was closely monitored by the nursery staff as he had problems regulating his blood sugar for the first few hours after birth. But he rebounded quickly!

 

Happy Birthday Caiden!!

He is here! Caiden Thomas Harjes was born on Wednesday, October 13 at 5:08pm. He weighed in a 8lbs 3oz, 20 inches. And he is perfect, just perfect!!

It began on Tuesday night. I had been having random contractions for a few days, pretty much just at night. I hadn't been getting much sleep because of them, and was really struggling at work. On Tuesday I cried uncle and told my boss I was beginning my maternity leave the next day. Fast forward to 7pm as Dan and I are eating dinner, and I realize the contractions are getting close enough to start timing them. They were never a consistent length or interval, but they did gradually get longer and closer together. I told Dan to pack up stuff "just in case". We attempted to go to bed, but I was in quite a bit of pain and eventually got up. Contractions were still irregularly spaced, sometimes with as much as 7-8 minutes apart, others only 3 minutes apart. But, they were all very strong, I couldn't talk/walk through them, and most of them lasted a minute or longer. So even though I didn't really meet the criteria to call the doctors yet, I did. The nurse told me to head into L&D. I woke Dan and started to get things ready. As I did this, the contractions got really close together and incredibly painful. The car ride was excruciating, every bump sending me into a contraction, and I knew my plan of a natural birth was going right out the window.

We arrived at the ER sometime between 1 and 2am and got registered and wheeled up to maternity. We were sent right to antenatal where they started measuring my contractions. Realizing they were about a minute apart, some literally right on top of the other, they checked my cervix and noted that I was 3 cm dilated. "Congratulations, you're in labor". Whoop de doo, I was in so much pain all I could think about were drugs, and I told them as much! After getting an IV placed, they wheeled us into Labor and Delivery, got me set up in there, and eventually (felt like a lifetime) called for the anesthesiologist. They prepared me for a painful epidural, but compared to the pain of the contractions it was nothing. I mean, really nothing. I barely noted any discomfort... just enjoyed a lull between contractions when he did his work!

By this time I think it was 3am, and things were great. They set Dan up with a cot. I was in no pain and tried to sleep. That was unfortunately difficult because the blood pressure cuff stayed on my arm and was inflating every few minutes to monitor me. There were also people coming in and out of the room the whole night.

Our nurse for the night checked my cervix at some point and said that I was completely dilated, and would likely deliver before her shift was over at 7am. I got Dan roused from his nap as it looked like the time was approaching. However, the doctor checked me and determined I was only 7cms. The rest of the morning is a blur. Dan slept, I started to update everyone on what was going on and tried to relax.

The day creeped on, and progress was slow. I started to feel pain again. A few shots of extra drugs didn't really help. The anesthesiologist began talking about removing my epidural and placing another one. I started to feel everything. I was shaking uncontrollably and began to vomit. My doctor came in and told us that before they placed a new epidural we needed to talk about a potential C-Section. I was progressing so slowly that she was not optimistic that I would be able to deliver vaginally. She said if they gave me the second epidural, that they would not be able to give me a spinal block and therefore if we went to c-section I would need to be put under general anethesia. She was willing to give me another hour of labor if I wanted to though. I could barely handle this decision under the pain I was in... I completely melted down sobbing. I told her I wanted to do this vaginally and would risk it. Luckily, she ended up being wrong about the spinal- the anesthesiologist said that even with a 2nd epidural they would be able to place a spinal block. Phew! I had made the right decision.

A little while longer and although it was not nearly as bad as before, I was still in pain. I was given a dose of "c-section quality" drugs that made my lower body go numb. I couldn't feel my legs at all. I had to actively think of other things to keep from panicking about that feeling.

I was checked for dilation again, and still was not fully there. On one side I was fully dilated, but there was still a rim of cervix on the other side. They tried to flip me on my other side, but BBH hadn't been handling that side the entire labor. His heartrate would fall during contractions. We started to creep back towards the c-section route. Lucky for me, my BTT teammate Elaine, another OB at Newton Wellesley, was working with my doctor that day. She suggested trying to check the pressure in my uterus or something. If the pressure was there but I wasn't progressing, it meant I was not capable of going vaginally. But if it was not there, there was hope it would develop. I really had no idea what she was talking about, but trusted her. She began the procedure, and while she was in there she noted that the baby's head was turned to one side. She was able to easily turn it, so she did. I think that was the magic trick, because 30 minutes later I was fully dilated and ready to go!!

Time to push!! The strong drug was just beginning to wear off, so I felt a little contraction pain (and also unfortunately some low back pain).  This probably helped with the pushing though. Pushing went on forever. They didn't page my doctor until more than 2 hours into it. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, my doctor arrived and I knew we were getting close. After more pushing, BBH finally came out! He pooped upon exit, creating a terrible mess, and after a quick stop on my chest he was whisked away to be cleaned up.

The doctor delivered my placenta, and stitched me up while I was peering across the room to try to get any glimpses I could of my new son. Finally he was brought back to me all cleaned up. Really, truly, love at first sight. I couldn't believe this little guy had grown in my belly.

It was a long and painful day... but more than worth it!!

Practice Run (week 40)

Otherwise known as a false alarm!! We knew it would be a false alarm before we left for the hospital. I had a few days where I was wondering if I was leaking amniotic fluid. I brushed it off until I did research online and realized it was potentially dangerous because I had tested positive for Group B Strep at my 36 week checkup. After waiting for a decent hour this morning I finally broke down and called the OB's office. The on-call nurse said it sounded like nothing, but because of the Group B she told me to go get it checked out. Better safe than sorry.

Off to Maternity we went on a beautiful, cool Sunday morning. We got checked into Antenatal where the first order of business was to get a non-stress test, blood pressure check, and temperature check. All came back good, and it was actually Dan's first time hearing BBH's heart rate. He's seen it on ultrasounds several times, but this was the first time listening. Next we got settled into a room and had the on-call doc check me out. At first glance she said "yup, looks like your membranes have ruptured". She took a PH test to be sure, but it came back borderline. So she took a sample and looked at it under the microscope. That came back negative for amniotic fluid. Since they were getting conflicting reports, they sent us to have an ultrasound to determine whether there was a sufficient amount of fluid in there. The ultrasound tech did a full check on BBH- took measurements, checked position, watched for good movement, and estimated the amount of fluid. All came back clear on this test too. BBH is now up to 8 pounds 9 oz, 75% percentile, "give or take 20 ounces". Yikes. Hopefully it's not give.

We returned to Antenatal to have the nurse up there review the ultrasound report and give us the all clear to go home. All in all we were there for 3 hours, not too bad. It was a little bit of a let down- for a few minutes there we thought we'd be checking into Labor and Delivery (and on 10/10/10 too!). But, BBH is doing well which is all that matters. Hopefully he doesn't get too much bigger over the next few days!

I'm still going in for another non-stress test on Tuesday, but I'm supposed to keep an eye on things and call my doctor with any changes.

Happy Due Date! (week 40)

Well, it's here... a day I thought would never arrive... the due date! It's been a very, very long 9 months. It seems like ages ago that we were in Park City reading those pregnancy tests. Even though BBH still hasn't joined us out in the real world, at least there is no more than a week to wait, no more than 4 days left at work, no more than a few days until I can eat a cookie (or a brownie, or a muffin, cupcake, pie... you get the picture)(and okay, that's not a huge priority, but still something I am looking forward to). I can't wait to see him, to get to know him, to start our new family. It's so surreal!

We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate the due date and to celebrate an award that Dan received from Draper on Wednesday. It's the second year in a row that a team Dan has been working on has been acknowledged and awarded for their outstanding achievement. The awards banquet on Wednesday made for a long day, but it was worth it to see Dan get recognition for all of the (very) hard work he puts in for that company.

Yesterday was the first Non-Stress Test. I got to sit in a super comfy reclining chair in Maternal Fetal Medicine for a half hour with sensors on my belly. One to record any contractions (haha, fat chance), and the other to monitor BBH's heart rate. I had a little clicker that I had to hit any time I felt a movement. They needed to see his heart rate go about 15 beats per minute above the baseline a few times. It was very relaxing lying there and listing to BBHs heart rate. It's a soothing sound! Funny to hear the thumps
 whenever he bumped against the sensor too. His HR was hovering around 140 for a baseline. I have to say, I really like everyone in the Maternal Fetal Medicine department. They are all so friendly, cheerful, and chatty.

Only one trip left to Newton Wellesley before induction day!! Just one more non-stress test... and then just the big trip left!!

More appointments (week 39.5)

I think I can navigate Newton Wellesley in my sleep at this point... I feel like I am there every day! This week, there will be 3 trips! I had my last trip to my OB's office this morning. She scheduled me for two NSTs (Non-Stress Tests) in Maternal Fetal Medicine- for this Friday and next Tuesday- and since they'll take my vitals at those appointments she deemed it unnecessary to return to her office since the induction is next week.

No progress since last week- still dilated to 1 and "thinned out". I predict he's not going anywhere anytime soon (the doctor wasn't too optimistic either). Although I am beyond ready for him to get here (and to not be pregnant anymore), it's a good thing that he's hung in there this long. I can now ride my maternity leave through New Years, which I really wanted. Everything looked good, my blood pressure was 110/60 and his heart beat was strong.

BBH is constantly on the move in there, and unfortunately it can be uncomfortable. Punches to the bladder are downright painful!

Last GD appointment!! (week 39+)

Today was my last trip to Maternal Fetal Medicine... hooray!! These appointments drove me nuts and I am so tired of recording everything I eat, so I am very glad to be officially discharged from the GD clinic (of course, still need to monitor blood sugar until BBH gets here). Blood pressure was good, got the stamp of approval from the endocrinologist, and met with the GD nurse to discuss postpartum stuff. Nothing that I didn't already know... GD should go away after the placenta is delivered... I'm scheduled for a glucose test in several weeks to be sure.... have to get checked for diabetes annually.... need to get checked early for GD in any future pregnancies... have to stay active and healthy to avoid regular diabetes. Got it, now let me get out of here!! Now I should just have two more OB appointments before the 15th rolls around. Here's hoping the time goes by quickly!