Thursday, February 23, 2012

My baby is a month old





Where does the time go? My sweet, little baby girl is already a month old as of Monday. It seems just like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. We had her 4 week check up last Friday & she is now up to 10lbs 6oz & 22 in. long. She is growing like a weed & loves to eat. During the day she eats about every 2-3 hours depending on how long she naps for. At night she will go anywhere from 3-6 hours between feedings. Which is nice. Last night she went to bed at 10pm & didn't wake up until 4am to be fed. Much needed rest for this Mama. She is starting to be more alert during the day checking things out. We can almost get a smile out of her when we act super silly, but not quite yet...she's still trying to figure out how to turn those lips upright. She will make noises every now & then when you are talking to her. She fills my days with so much happiness, I just love her so much! She loves to stretch out on her changing table & could lay there forever, she also loves to fall asleep in her swing. No more newborn pants, socks, or sleepers for this baby...her legs are too long & her feet are too big. She is filling out 0-3 month clothes nicely. It seems as if she changes every day! She makes my heart swell!

Monday, February 6, 2012

1 week old
2 weeks old

Matti is 2 weeks old & is more precious than ever! She is not a fan of taking a bath or changing clothes. She eats, sleeps, & pees/poops all day long:) At night she sleeps 3-4 hrs before needing to feed again! Her favorite spot to sleep is on Mommy or Daddy's chest! She loves resting in her swing & she's great in her carseat for rides. We love seeing her bright eyes during the day & Mommy makes all kinds of silly faces & noises to try to get me to smile! We have been so blessed with this beautiful baby girl! We can't wait to see her grow!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Birth Story


I was admitted to the hospital on Thursday night (Jan 19th) to be induced. That night they were going to place cervadil to thin out my cervix more & then the next morning start me on Pitocin to help my body labor & dilate. When the Dr. came in to check me & place the cervadil she told me I was still barely a centimeter dilated & asked me if anyone had ever talked to me about my pelvic bone. She proceeded to tell me that I had a flat pelvic bone where most people have a curved pelvic bone & that she thought this would be to my disadvantage of birthing her on my own. She said we would definitely try, but to be prepared for a c-section. So, I basically took the rest of the time before I went to sleep to mentally prepare myself for a c-section. It was something I was not opposed to, but of course I would rather try to birth my baby.

We went to bed shortly after trying to get as much rest as needed, but all in all that was completely impossible for me. With my nerves, the anxiety, & having to get up & pee every hour due to the IV liquid drip I maybe slept for a good hour on & off. The nurse kept coming in to check on me, check the monitors, & see if I needed anything for pain. I kept telling her I was fine. Then about 3:30am I woke up with what felt like mild menstrual cramps & of course had to go use the bathroom again. I told my husband what I was feeling like & he said to mention it to the nurse. Of course I didn't want to because I felt like it was too early in the game to be asking for anything at all, plus they weren't unbearable.

Around 4am the nurse came back in & they were starting to get a little stronger. Once again she asked if I needed anything for pain. So, I told her what I was feeling & she said she had noticed the contractions on the monitor but just thought I wasn't feeling them. She told me she could give me a mild dose of pain meds in my IV that would help take the "edge" off & allow me to get some rest. She told me it would immediately make me feel drunk out of my mind but just to go with it & rest. She was definitely right and for the next hour and a half that was the BEST sleep ever.

Closer to 6am the meds started wearing off & they were getting ready to come in & remove the cervadil. I was starting to hurt again & asked hubby to come over & check the monitor to see if I was starting to have some real contractions. He told me it looked like I was but he didn't know exactly what he was looking at. At 6am they came in & removed the cervadil (which hurt like you know what) because unfortunately the Dr. forgot to leave the string hanging to pull out, so a Helga look alike nurse came in to "dig" it out for me (she was really nice, but she looked like a Helga) and that's just what she did...dug for it...3 times. By this time I'm starting to be in a lot of pain - from her digging to my contractions getting very strong; my emotions got the best of me & I started to lose it. Hubby helped me get focused again & then we had shift change of nurses.

When my new nurse came in I told her I was starting to really hurt & asked when the Dr. would be by to check me. She told me that she normally made her rounds about 8 or 8:30am. It was 7am. She told me she could give me another dose of the pain meds & hopefully that would take the edge off until she could come in. So she did, but they did not work at all! I felt no relief & they kept getting stronger & stronger. It felt like they were coming every 2-3 minutes. So, I asked hubby to look at the monitor again, this time he could see the difference but still thought it was reading right because it said I had had 3 in the last 9 minutes lol. Oh it was definitely reading right because I was feeling it all. I had him sit on the bed with me & just rub my arm to try to take my mind off of the pain when it hit. That lasted about a minute so then I asked him to come rub my back & apply pressure when I was having one. Once one would hit I would grab the side of the bed, close my eyes, & breath really hard through it all while he would massage/rub & apply pressure to my lower back. We did this for quite some time until he went looking for the nurse ;) The nurse came & I told her I was very much in pain & either needed something or if she could call the Dr. & see what we could do. This was all before starting any Pitocin. So the good sign here was that I was laboring on my own. She made a call to the Dr. & she gave an ok to go ahead an order an epidural & she would be by very soon to check me. Time she had gotten there I was at 3cm & the epidural came shortly after. Epidurals are wonderful let me add. I was able to breathe through the contractions, but they were coming so fast it was hard to even have a minute of rest in between.

Then around lunchtime I was starting to have some pressure pain in my back again that was causing me to be uncomfortable. I laid there & tried to rest & tolerate it but again it kept getting worse & worse. I asked the nurse was this normal for me to feel pain like this with an epidural, she told me she would add a little more medicine to the epidural to see if it might help, but she couldn't guarantee it. I'm glad she did because it worked wonders. Then around 1:30 my Dr. came back to check me & meanwhile during all of the pain I had just experienced, I had laid there & dilated to 10cm. She then broke my water for me & it was time to get the show on the road. She said she would be back in just a few minutes & we would be ready to push! I was a little confused so I asked about my pelvic bone & all of the talk about having to have a c-section. She said nope, everything has worked itself out. You have done all of your labor on your own w/out meds having to help & the baby's head has already positioned itself below your pelvic bone. Praise the Lord! I was so happy! Hubby on the other hand was nervous out of his mind & couldn't believe we were at this point! I was very relaxed & wasn't feeling any pain at this point. I wasn't scared out of my mind like I had been the whole week before. It's like a calming had come over me.

Once the Dr. & nurse came back in we were all in our positions to start pushing our baby out. I pushed for an hour & out she came. The most beautiful baby girl of all! I was complete! She made that whole day worth the pain. During the whole process all I could feel was a little bit of pressure. My epidural was a good one & even though I tore a bit I didn't feel it at all. Of course until the numbness wore off :/ I was just thrilled to have her in my arms finally! She is just precious!

Hubby was a great coach, he thought he was going to stay at my head the whole time, but since he wanted it to be just me & him in the delivery he had to help hold my other leg ;) So he was in full action. He did great, he motivated me so much & helped me through it all! I couldn't ask for a better lifetime partner to share those moments with. We were both so proud & happy & we look at our little Mattilyn everyday & say to each other, she is perfect! It's amazing the love you have for your own!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

She's HERE....

Mattilyn Faith Zimmerman
Born Friday January 20, 2012 @ 3:07 pm
8lbs 4oz
20 1/2 in. long
Precious baby girl...I will be back soon with more pictures & a full post on her birth! Just wanted to let you all know she has arrived!!!!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

40 weeks & 5 days

Still waiting on Baby Z....went to the Dr. this morning, as of now we are 70% effaced, barely a cm dilated, but her head is resting really low & my cervix is very thin...induction is scheduled for this Friday morning. Say a quick prayer that everything will go smoothly for us!!!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Average size or bigger?

Ok, so I have been a slacker on the belly pictures. I actually have not taken another belly shot since week 35. With the holidays & being sick & just having no energy, but just a little bit to get some things done before baby girl gets here, I just haven't taken them. Plus, my belly doesn't look like it has changed much to me anyhow. But, of course then others make comments like, "Do you think you can get any bigger?" lol...this one always makes me crack up. Gee thanks, I don't know! Anyway, we are 38 1/2 weeks now, will be 39 on Thurs & next week is the actual due date. January 12, 2012. But, we shall see what will take place. Last Friday I had my Drs. appointment & everything still looks good with me & baby. However, the midwife started asking questions such as; "How tall are you?" "How big were you when you were born?" "How about your husband?" "How late was your mother past her due date?" So, with answering 5'3", 8.14, almost 10lbs & 2 weeks, they will be seeing me back this Thursday to do an ultrasound to measure & weigh baby girl & see what might be happening in the next few days. Also, they did a quick look on the monitor of her then & she is still head down, but face up. So, we will see if she's turned over too. I had a few braxton hicks contractions last night that I thought were real for about 45 minutes, but then they started getting farther apart & finally went away. Miss Matti decided she just wasn't ready I guess. I will fill you all in after Thurs. to see where we stand with baby's arrival! It's a little nerve racking with how close we are to holding our sweet baby in our arms!!!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Still here...

I'm still here...no baby yet! We have about 2 1/2 weeks to go, unless she decides otherwise. I've just been busy with holidays & having a cruddy cold...but I promise I'll be back with updated belly pics & news from our next Drs appt. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!!