After Christmas

What a crazy week this has been. Christmas seemed to take a toll not only on baby girl but everyone. I am happy to report that everything was prefect. Lots of good food, many laughs, and lots of love all around. Two things to remember...snow does stick on occasion here in Texas and when you are trying to show someone how to take a cake out of a pan then you may not want to drop it on the floor. ;) Oh and laying a baby on a bed with no diaper can lead that baby to pee all over themselves and their outfits. (not to mention the bed/comforter) Grandma's don't you love them...hehe

Sophia was squeezed to ton like normal. Everyone had their turn. Though it appears that she has exhausted herself and is not liking to sleep anymore at night. I am trying to get her back on her schedule or something close to it because I begin working next week. I have for the last month been getting up with Sandro but I will have to get up earlier and I don't want to exhaust myself when I return to work.

Pictures this week:

2009 Collage created in Facebook

Sophia tried to sleep through the party..no luck!

Me and Amber

Uncle Igor and Sophia

Tenica and Richard and Sophia

Grandpa Zdenko with Sophia

Sandro playing Airplane

Nana playing with Sophia

Mom wanted me to take this picture...but it woke her up and Sophia was mega pissed. ;)

She loves her Nana!

Christmas Time is here

Sophia is doing wonderfully! 11 lbs 3 oz of pure muscle. She handled her shots like a pro. I did give her a tiny bit of Tylenol per rec of the Doc but I think she probably would have been fine without it. The Doctor gave her all thumbs up on her progress and was amazed on how strong she is. Sophia has gifted us since her 2 month birth date sleeping through the night. I hope she keeps it up. From what I heard the magic weight was 14 pounds but of course our baby is super strong and special that she doesn't always go with the trends. She is down at 9:00 up by 5:30. Mommy can deal with that. She does sleep a lot less during the day though and requires a ton of attention. I feel sorry for the daycare ladies. ;)

Pictures this week:

We took Sophia to Sandro's work and my Christmas party. Look at her stretch for Julie.

Wade took the Sandro's role for me at the party. He loves to sooth babies. He was singing to her in Russian and she slept in his arms almost the entire time.

Hail Queen Sophia!

Her favorite spot in the world!

Family Pic Preview

More to come!

Recovery

So recovery has been going well. However, at times I am still extremely weak. I am also as emotional as ever. It's as if my hormones still haven't went back to normal. They did tell me that I lost enough blood that it is if I have to start my postpartum recovery all over again. Which sucks because before the below happened I was back up feeling good again. At least time I am not sore down there.

Sophia is doing outstanding lately. She still gets cranky sometimes. But she enjoys the bedtime routine. She is out by 10 and wakes up at 2. She eats and then she out till 5 or 6. Sometimes she even sleeps late. She is starting to really dislike the formula. She spits it up a ton of times the last few days. It's as if she knows what is best or something. I just hope I keep producing. I feel sorry for the daycare ladies because she is going to have to have some formula during the day. I need to start building up a stash so when I return to work they have some breast milk. But I noticed there doesn't seem a way to calm her other than the "boob" which to me means she is using me as a paci. She is allowing me to use a real paci on occasion. Amber showed me a neat trick to get her to latch on but it's rare still and boob will put her to sleep after 10 minutes. So I guess you can say I am happy I stuck with it. It's a heck of a lot easier than it was a month ago. Hopefully she will have some good stats at the doctor this Wednesday.

Our Tree. The topper is crazy off. I am debating to get a new topper. Maybe a angel or something really pretty. After Christmas sales here I come.

This is where the dogs lounge during the day.

This morning after a quick feed.

Also from this morning. Maybe a half smile. She looks so much like her daddy here.

Cuddling with daddy!

Her sometimes favorite thing. She has to be in the mood for it.

Her latest bath pic. Here is one when she was only a week old.

The unexpected

So on Sunday I started what I thought was my period. I was feeling really exhausted and my typically PMS self for the past week so I thought for sure that when I started bleeding on Sunday that it was caused by that. It seemed like a normal period. However, on Monday I had two accidents where I was gushing. I thought for sure that it was just heavy because it was my first period after the baby. I had never had accidents like that before. Well it finally slowed down for the day and next day it was just normal again. Wednesday it started off so slow that I thought great that it was ending soon. Well it was snowing that morning so I should have realised that this may not be the typical day that I had had envisioned. It was the last day before I would have to return to work so I was being especially lazy that day.

All of the sudden about 2:00 pm I was right in the middle of feeding Sophia. I finished one side and I felt this HUGE gush. I was like shit. Not again. I am too freaking old to have these accidents. So I put babygirl in the bouncer and ran to the restroom. But this time it kept on coming. It was gushing and gushing. Filling the toilet to the top. I flushed. I tried to stand but I was bleeding down my legs. Not normal at all. I started to panic. I was standing in a pull of blood and conveniently I was out of toilet paper. So I put on a super thick pad and ran to get toilet paper. Well that pad filled up in 2 second flat. More panic sets in. This time I put on another pad super thick pad ran to get my cell phone and baby girl in her bouncer. She was screaming at this point.

Because the toilet was full and the floor was covered with blood.. I decided to position myself in the shower and put baby next to me on the floor. I was bleeding at the same rate and I could feel chunks going out. I was freaked out. I called Sandro and told him I am bleeding and it won't stop. He immediately left work and called 911. The issue though is that with the dogs being as protective as they are 911 could not get into the house. So Sandro had to get there first. I was in a panic. I felt the worse pain my uterus. I thought I was going to die and was worried he wasn't going to make it.

He gets there and they load me in the ambulance. At this point I could not even move I was so weak. They cover me with multiple blankets and I soaked right through those blankets. They where worried about taking me to far because at this point I lost so much blood and my blood pressure was really low. They took me to Baylor Carrolton and I was looked out immediately. I had two IV's inserted on both sides. The nurse was grossed out by all the blood that was still gushing out of me. She kept covering me. The doctor looked and immediately ordered a u/s and he consulting with the on staff obgyn and it appear that I had some retained tissue. So I had to get a D&C to stop the bleeding. Normally this procedure takes about 10 minutes. They have to put you completely out before they can begin. So they take me away to get the D&C and I was out in a matter of minutes. I woke up in ICU because I was in shock for about a hour after losing all the blood. Sandro was so worried because the doctor didn't get to come tell me that I was going to be okay. So he was looking everywhere for me. Finally they let him come back to see me in recovery. They get me vitals under control. I was getting a blood transfusion. The bleeding had stopped and it discovered that I had 5 CM of the placenta in my uterus that caused the bleeding. What is so strange is that normally this discovered immediately after birth. But my body as strange as it is decided to hold on to it (which it could have gotten infected) and not appear to week 7. I had already had my 6 week appointment and all was healthy. So this was such a unexpected surprise.

All I know is that I never never been as scared as I was that day. I felt so helpless and worried. Sophia stayed with Grandma Vesna. Vesna told me that she wouldn't sleep until 2:30 a.m. because she wanted mommy (or my boobies) I don't think I could have done much for her in the hospital as I was trying to recover from the blood lose. I was able to pump to keep my supply. It was funny that I learned just how much Sophia was able to get from me. I had pumped over 9 ounces. I tossed it because of all the drugs that where in my system. But I pumped every three hours and was able to produce a pretty decent amount. So it looks like my supply is slowly increasing.

I am just extremely thankful to be alive today and happy that I have health insurance to cover this crazy unexpected event. It makes you realise that life is way to short to and to appreciate all that you got. I now realise that the exhaustion I was feeing and the blood from that Monday where my signals that something was wrong. I just didn't get the clues.

Pics from this week. Well I only had a few. Vesna celebrated her 50th birthday yesterday. So most on from then.

Two grandpa's love their Sophia.

The snow from Wednesday. :)

Thankgiving Recap

The first trip went with out any hitches. Sophia slept for the entire drive up and for the entire drive back. She slept pretty good and didn't wake up everyone all night long. She did have a little trouble with napping and a few nights where she wasn't really in the mood to sleep. She was loved and kissed on by everyone. Grandma was sick though so she couldn't hold baby girl. I think I was more exhausted than she was.

The food was amazing as always. Grandpa made his classic turkey and we had all the fixings. It was great seeing everyone. It was nice to have a Palomares Reunion. Love all those people. Sandro and I did come home with a small chest cold but amazingly Sophia has not gotten sick yet. It seems to be finally disappearing a week later. I guess it could be all that breastfeeding that I have been doing.

This week I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves. :)

Slowly Improving

This week I am seeing some improvements in both myself and little Sophia. I think we are both learning and it's starting to feel like we are developing a bit of a bond. I am starting to notice her patterns. As in she sleeps way better at night if she has her naps during the day. Which means I need to make sure she gets them in. If she doesn't nap she gets over tried and will take double the soothing in the evenings to calm her.

Breastfeeding is becoming second nature. And I think I am slowly getting a increase. I do have some times where she is really starving and she wants to eat more than normal and she does...but it seems to be less and less as the days continue on. We where averaging about 3 oz every feeding time. Which was 8 times a day. But in the last few days I have she has cut this amount in half. Last night for instance she got up at midnight. I offered her breast as normal and she passed out (snoring) in 20 mins and didn't wake up till 3:30. But at 3:30 she was up to 5:00 a.m but went back down to 8:30 a.m. This type of schedule I can live in as long as she gives me a few breaks! :)

Yesterday we went to the doctor's appointment. It was my 6 weeks post partum appointment. She slept through that. Then we had to go her her 2 week neonatal screen. Yeah it's a bit late for that. But I didn't realize it was a must in the state of Texas. She handled it like a pro. Well she just slept through it. They poke her foot with a needle and squeeze blood out. Like 6 drops. she was oblivious. She had two really long naps yesterday.

She is starting to actually like to sit in her bouncer and even nap in her swing. So it's nice to have soothers that are working vrs only Sandro and I holding her. I do feel like this trip up to Oklahoma could be hit or miss. It's going to be a new challenge for us both. But I am looking forward to it because the entire Palomares/Tate/Kimbrough family will be there.

Here are the pictures of the week:

Instance cure for me needing a shower. Vibrating and seahorse lullabys.

Bath Time. This is before she started crying! :) I have some shots of those as well.

Playing with Dad. She loves to play with him.

Showing her neck skills.

Self portait.

Again. Mommy trying to get a shower in! :)

Baby Stats and Making Progress

So Sophia had her one month appointment and she is doing really well. Here is her stats from her last appointments:

10/29/09
H: 21 1/2" (90% percentile)
W: 7 pounds 9 oz (10% - 25% percentile) (the big concern since it was still below birth weight)
FOC: 13 3/4" ( 10%-25% percentile)

A week later had a weight check and she was finally over her birth weight.
W:8 pounds 5 oz

11/16/09
H:22 1/4 (75% to 90%)
W: 9 pounds 4 ounces (50-75%)
FOC: 14 1/2 (10-25%)

So Dr. is happy with her weight and length. She is overall healthy. They did want me to get the swine flu shot so they gave me the shot before I left. I already had the seasonal flu shot when I was pregnant. I know some people are against this shot, but I have to do what is best for her. It's a deadly virus for infants under 6 months and I wouldn't know what I would do with myself if I didn't do everything I can within my power to keep myself healthy. They want Sandro to get the shots but he is anti flu vaccines for various reasons. I told him that if he brings it home and she gets sick he would have to live with that. He understands. I support his decision. Going to knock on wood and say Sandro is really healthy and he has never "flu" sick.

Sophia is doing pretty good with going to bed. Sometimes it's a little hard to get her settled down but overall she is sleeping a long 5 hour stretch from 9:30-2:20 and then a second 3 hour stretch. Which to me is really great. I do accompany this to her hunger being mostly in the evenings. We do a bedtime routine..bath, massage, music, darkness/diming lights, food, starting about 8:30. We do a half swaddle at night (she likes her hands out.) She is still sleeping in the pack in play in the room but I would like to migrate her crib sooner than later.

Pictures of the week:

Dr Appointment outfit from 11/16. Getting a little meat on her bones.

Swing. Not sure if she likes it or not. It's good for about 5 mins.

Waiting on mommy as she blow dries her hair.

Don't you love her little pants.

Sandro with his two babies. Apollo loves getting attention.