Long overdue update

This is Marley in her Santa outfit.

And a picture of our friends Scott/Jennifer's baby, Halle. She was born 3 weeks before Marley and looks huge in comparison.

Holy cow - I meant to post a very long time ago but I guess it goes without saying that I've been absorbed in baby feeding, diapering, pumping, etc. The days all blur together (I know I'm preaching to the choir for the moms out there).

Where to start . . .

I got pitocin at 4:30am, OB broke my water at 8am, started having pain right away, got epidural at 8:15am and started pushing at 8:30am.

The delivery was quick but ended kind of ugly because Marley was face up (and slightly turned to the side) and got stuck on my pelvic bone. I pushed and pushed (the epidural didn't take on part of my right side and then wore off after pushing for some time) and finally the OB asked if I wanted a c-section or the forceps. He used the forceps and it hurt like hell but she was out in less than minute and it was much better than the constant pain of trying to push her out when she was stuck. It took him an hour to stitch me up and then my stitches broke about 4 days later. OB said it was better to let it heal on it's own (greater risk of infection if you re-stitch).

Marley has not been gaining weight (she's still below birth weight) so I've been supplementing every feeding with breast milk or formula and feeding and pumping every 3 hours.

I've got some hormonal weepiness but am not sure it's baby blues. This is so hard and so good at the same time.

Thanks for everyones support and all your good wishes! Sometimes I still can't believe Marley is real and here - pure blisss!

Power bill is going up, but

the stress level is going down!

Baby Soothing 101.

Sun bathing with Grandma

Karen! Taking care of that

last little bit of jaundice.

Huckleberry standing guard!

Alert and ready to protect at

a moments notice.

Merry Christmas everybody!

I will post a full report shortly.

pictures

Marley Gardner, born December 09, 2009, 10:39am, 6 lbs 13 oz, 20 & 1/2 inches!

D-Day!!!

The call came at 9:30pm...report to the hospital at 11. Talk about a "full service hotel", my very good friend and nurse anesthetist extraordinaire Celeste met us in the hallway and carried my bag to the room. She is making extra sure that I have only the very best care. Talk about "its a small world", one of my nurses, Brandi, is friends with my friend Jennifer and went to nursing school with her husband. My other nurse is Lisa and they are both wonderful. Now to the good stuff:

1:10AM - I am 2 to 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced which means no Cytotek (to thin my cervix). They will start Pitocin at 4AM and then WE ARE HAVIN' A BABY!!!

Baby Shower

Many, many thanks to Julie, Dallas, Rebecca and Jennifer who gave the shower for us!

The fire was awesome.

Max had fun barking at Ruth.

Crime scene

Yes, this is a dog's tail with a bandage on it.

It looked like a crime scene at our house this afternoon. Huck had a cut on his tail. It took Justin a while to figure out where the blood was coming from, after seeing it all over the walls/floor and on Rufus. We later determined that probably Huck and Rufus were wrestling in the bedroom and maybe Rufus cut/bit Huck's tail? We think that the scene of the crime was the bedroom because there's blood splatter going 3/4 the way up the closet doors. So, Huck went to the vet and now has a bandaged tail. It's funny.

I had an ultrasound and non-stress test this week. They estimate Marley to be 6lbs 4oz. I have lots of amniotic fluid. She's still head down. I'm still scheduled to be induced and will go to the hospital the night of Dec 8.

I'm definitely feeling bigger and my belly has maybe dropped some.

The new chest in Marley's room is great - all the baby stuff is pretty much done. I think we'll put the car seat in my car this week - wow.