Why can’t my baby stay tiny forever?!

Where did the last 7 ½ weeks go? Yesterday my eyes were opened for the first time to the fact that my newborn baby is no longer a newborn, she is an infant. My family members have all been commenting for a few weeks now how she is getting bigger. At church yesterday lots of women were commenting on Deliah’s rubber band rolls on her arms and legs. I have been in Mommy denial. I want my baby to stay tiny forever! Is that too much to ask? You think I would have realized this sooner. There were signs. When one of my favorite outfits on her became a belly shirt. When sleep nighties that used to cover her feet now only cover to her knees. When she switched from newborn diapers to size one diapers. How she holds her head up like it’s no big deal. How she is trying to stand up, to which I reply that is absolutely not allowed! She is no longer my narcoleptic little baby who fell asleep in the blink of an eye, now she is kind of stubborn and will fight her naps. When I take her to the Pediatrician and the stats prove she has grown.

13 July 2013: 3 weeks

9 pounds 6.5 ounces
21 inches long

8 August 2013: 6 weeks

10 pounds 13 ounces – 73 percentile
22 ¼ inches long – 79 percentile
37.5 cm head – 62 percentile

Some more Deliah tidbits…

I really enjoy the bonding time with my baby while I breastfeed her. Deliah eats like a champion. She is the happiest baby until she thinks she is starving. It’s a very small window when she wakes up to when she likes her boob time.

Deliah let’s her Mom and Dad sleep a solid 4 hour stretch at night. Sometimes Deliah wants to have an awake party in the night, but 90% of the time she eats and promptly goes back to sleep. I’m actually real alert during her 3:00 A.M. feeding. I like reading my favorite blogs at this time. It’s when I’m awake again at 6:00 that I feel sleepy.  

This girl loves her baths, and I mean LOVE! Her first bath was quite the event in this house and we had 5 people all gathered around the kitchen sink wanting to be a part of it. She loves to be sprayed and just soak in the water. She only gets sad when we take her out. I see hours of bubble bath time fun in this babe’s future.

Deliah has a lot of awake time during the day. She will just stare right at you now when you talk to her.

Deliah is so SMILEY! I love how she would have spontaneous smiles when asleep, and now it’s a lot while she is awake.

The hiccup monster comes and visits her every day. Her Daddy thinks holding her upside down is the key to getting rid of them.

She absolutely hates it when she is gassy.

She is the MOST LOVED BABY in the world. Who knew that people would jump up to be the privileged one to change her poopy diaper.

She is told she is pretty over 1,000 times every day!

I’m a little sad at how fast the days are going by. You are warned, but it’s the absolute truth. Each time I hold her, bathe her, watch her sleep, put on a cute outfit, I want to capture that moment. She has to be the most photographed baby ever! Deliah’s giggles, coos, and pretty face melts her Momma’s heart on a daily basis. Someone please freeze the clock and let me enjoy this time forever!



Day 3 of life.

Look at those arm rolls!

My happy girl :-)

I can't hide from the proof!

 

 

 

Deliah Winnifred Fox

Deliah Winnifred Fox

June 28, 2013
7:41 AM
8 pounds 11 ounces
20 inches long
PERFECTION

My due date was June 27, but I was so confident that I would be having my baby girl early. I had a Doctor’s appointment two days before my due date where my Doctor actually asked me, “Why are you still pregnant?” After being dilated to a 3.5 for a week she was also confident that this appointment would be unnecessary. I was now dilated to a 4 and still at 80%. She told me that I had a ‘favorable cervix’, interesting compliment, and that I was a good candidate to have my membranes stripped. I had my membranes stripped, which will put 80% of women into labor within two to three days, and honestly thought it was going to happen that day. I was so eager to meet my baby and was very impatient at this point. Upon arriving in California I had done everything I could to motivate my baby to come. I was taking long walks daily. Every night I had Glenn massage magical voodoo oils into my back and feet that are supposed to stimulate labor. I was tracking the barometric pressure of an incoming rain storm. There was a rare super moon in my favor. And perhaps the most ridiculous, I started unbalanced walking. I would walk with one foot on the curb and one in the gutter. I wanted my baby to come and didn’t care how ridiculous I looked.

I woke up the morning of my due date, still pregnant and optimistic that today could be the day, although showing zero signs of labor. I know you are supposed to try and distract yourself so you don’t think about baby constantly, but seriously that’s impossible. All I wanted was my baby and right now! It was now 8:00 the night of my due date. We were swimming and when I went inside to the bathroom I saw I started bleeding a little. We went home and I started having contractions while I was in the shower. I was positive that this was my early labor. It was important to me that my hair looked good for hospital pictures and my contractions needed to be more consistent so I had Rebekah curl my hair to help pass the time. I’m bouncing on my balance ball, contractions are getting increasingly stronger, and I was really upset it took 45 minutes finish my hair. I thought I would be able to sleep a little, but that was not going to happen. Glenn started timing my contractions and they were gradually getting stronger and closer together. When I had a contraction that was painful enough to make me cry, Glenn said we were leaving for the hospital. We had been timing for an hour and a half and were about 4 minutes apart. We have a dinner bell that Glenn said he was going to ring to wake up people should I go into labor in the middle of the night, and he was so happy he got to ring it! My Mom and Rebekah come running downstairs and everyone was so excited that this was finally real. We pull out of the driveway at 11:59 PM. In the car I was still nervous that maybe I was wrong and they were going to turn me away. Glenn was so reassuring that they wouldn’t and was very calming in the car. He had me doing Zen exercises and was trying to get me to relax my body little by little.

When we arrived at the ER, I remember sitting in a chair having a contraction while Glenn is working on all the admittance questions, and hearing the other guy who was sitting in the waiting area say that I was more important. I was taken by wheelchair to my room and when they checked me I was dilated to a 5. Halfway there and the time between my contractions was closing in. The nurse started strapping monitors onto my stomach and I was so upset that no one told me I would have to wear these uncomfortable monitors all the way until I delivered. I didn’t want anything touching my stomach at all. Plus every time I had an intense contraction I had the urge to pee and then would have to take them off and put them back on. I thought I had the most unsympathetic nurse in the whole world and honestly am not sure how nice I was. She was strictly business and more concerned with my answering family history questions and getting my signatures on paperwork than the fact I’m in tears with pain. What is the point of pre-registration paperwork if I’m going to be asked the same questions again anyway, when I’m much more distracted?!

My contractions were coming right on top of each other and the frequency made it so I never had an opportunity to relax in between them. I was experiencing severe back labor and the only thing that helped me manage the pain was an electric massager we brought with us. While I was having a contraction I didn’t want anyone to touch me. But as soon as my contraction ended my only relief was having Glenn use the massager on my lower back to soothe me. I desperately wanted something to help me with the pain, and the nurse wasn’t letting me have an epidural yet. My Mom had reached the hospital now, somewhere around 1:30ish, and asked if they could give me anything else in the mean time and they finally did, but I don’t remember much difference in my pain level. I was not the type that screamed and swore because of the pain, I just cried a lot. I was so happy when the anesthesiologist finally arrived. Honestly, I was nervous to receive the epidural, I thought it would hurt. He was a little concerned by the scoliosis in my back and had to angle it to make sure that it worked correctly. Other than the tiniest amount of pressure I felt nothing and the relief was almost instant. Arnie was my new best friend! They checked my cervix again right after that and I was dilated between a 7 and 8. I was really proud of myself for laboring that far without it. Now that I wasn’t feeling my contractions anymore I was able to take a short nap. When I woke up I was itching like crazy and they gave me some Benadryl to help with the itchiness. My epidural started to wear off when I was a 9.5. The back labor seemed unbearable and I could always feel my contractions were coming by the shooting pain that would begin. Arnie came back and gave me an even stronger dose of epidural this time. Bless him!! This time I was completely numb and couldn’t move or feel anything. I was able to fall asleep again and when I woke this time I was a 10.

I was able to start pushing at 6:00. My water still hadn’t broke and since there was no Doctor yet to come break it the nurse wanted me to break it by pushing. I will say that my nurse became much nicer when it came to pushing and made me feel I was doing a good job with it. She thought I would have the baby before her shift was over at 7:00. Since I was so numb I wasn’t able to hold my knees up to my chest alone and Glenn and my Mom each had to hold a leg up for me while I pushed. My contractions slowed down, thus slowing the pushing process, and it was 40 minutes of pushing before my water broke. Glenn says that was the most disgusting part of the entire labor. I was pushing right at shift change and about 6:40 my nurse left and it was just me, Glenn, and my Mom for the next thirty minutes. I was feeling very neglected and thought I was deserving of a Doctor since I was so close. The epidural was starting to wear off again but I just had to deal because it makes you more motivated to push. Glenn was massaging a pressure point in my back that was particularly painful to help me withstand the contractions. I was encouraged when her head was visible and I was told about all the dark hair that could be seen. I was crying and just saying over and over that ‘I want my baby, I want my baby.’ A few more strong pushes and her head came out, quickly followed by the rest of her body. I was crying, Glenn was crying, my Mom was crying, lots and lots of happy tears. 

My baby was placed on my chest skin-to-skin and I was completely overwhelmed with emotions and tears of joy. There is no better feeling in this world than that moment meeting my baby for the first time. She was finally here and she was pure perfection! I was instantly in love and immediately felt like a protective Momma. She was perfectly pink, warm, sweet smelling, silky soft, and her head was perfectly round and her facial features weren’t smushed looking at all. She had lots of dark brown hair and deep grey eyes, she was beautiful!! I was so grateful that they didn’t take my baby away from me and just cleaned her up right there on my chest. I held her and nursed her for an hour and a half before anyone else got to hold her. Her Daddy was getting anxious to hold her and I loved seeing him with his little girl.

Her name was much anticipated and we were so excited to finally announce it. When Glenn announced to my mother that it was Deliah Winnifred Fox, my Mom says ‘seriously’!  We were keeping her name top secret and teased that we were naming her Winnifred. The nickname Winnie caught on and that’s what she was known as for months while I was pregnant. We were originally planning on giving her the middle name Elisabeth after me. While driving back to CA Glenn asked what I actually thought about the name Winnifred and we both loved it. After being Winnie for months it just felt right and we decided that it needed to be incorporated in her name. We love it!

I was so pleased with how my labor went and actually struggled more with the post delivery. No one told me that when you pee it was going to burn like hell! The first time I went to the bathroom I passed out and the nurse had to hit the emergency button. Glenn says six more nurses came in and they kicked all the visitors out of my room. Later I collapsed onto the floor and had to be picked up and placed on my bed. Just looking at and snuggling my baby girl makes all the pain and discomfort worthwhile. I know my body will heal and I’m not scared off from doing this again one day. I appreciate all the people who came to visit us in the hospital, but I absolutely loved that first night when it was just the three of us. I loved that first feeling of being a family and how right it felt to have Deliah here. I couldn’t bear to have Deliah in the bassinet next to me and slept with her in my bed all night long. I just couldn’t kiss her and snuggle her enough. We were both healthy enough that we only had to stay the one night and were able to go home the next day. I think I must be a little hormonal still because I find myself starting to well up with tears just by looking at her precious face. I am so in love and happy that this perfect little baby is ours forever!

 

Swimming just hours before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

39 weeks and my thoughts on pregnancy.

I am more and more in love with my enormously perfect pregnant belly every day. I’m at the point where every morning I wake up and feel like I can see the difference from the day prior. I don’t know how she hasn’t run out of room yet? This pregnancy has made me feel very womanly, like that Shania Twain song, ‘Man I feel like a Woman’. I am in awe of the way my body took to this pregnancy so naturally. I was able to walk a 5K at 37 ½ weeks pregnant! Your belly is quite the attraction when you’re that huge and I received so many comments: God bless you, oh wows, and just general looks of she is crazy. I finished in 57 minutes which is terrible, but I was so proud of myself for trying at all. I was able to really enjoy this experience with minimal discomfort and feel beautiful throughout. I never really broke down until about 8 months pregnant when I had to get dressed three times for church because nothing was fitting right. I realize now it’s crazy but I actually had to be reminded that my normal clothes aren’t supposed to fit right now. Honestly, for being six days away from my due date I feel so good. Too good actually! I walked almost three miles yesterday and wasn’t sore or tired in the slightest, just slow. Seriously? Not gonna lie, I feel like a pregnant Superwoman! 

I am a little, ok extremely impatient about what day she is coming. First thing in the mornings Glenn says Happy Birthday to our little girl. She is not listening. I’m having trouble distracting myself with ways to stay busy so I don’t think constantly about going into labor. Her clothes are all clean, hospital bags are packed, car-seat is installed, up to date baby bump pictures taken, and I’m walking everyday trying to convince her to come now. After my last few baby appointments I have had this feeling that baby girl will come early. I was showing lots of progress really early on and even my Doctor’s were saying I was off to an impressive start. I had an ultrasound at 36 ½ weeks that estimated baby girl was 7.2 pounds with her head in the 86^th percentile. At that rate we are suspecting a 9 pound baby! At that same appointment I was already dilated to a generous 1-2. At a day shy of 38 weeks I was still an almost 2. Then we took a 5 day, 2,840 mile road trip from North Carolina to California and wham I was 3.5 cm. dilated and 80% effaced at 38 ½ weeks. I am optimistic that making so much progress so easily will help me when I’m actually in labor. Maybe I have more pain tolerance than I thought? I have been having lots of practice contractions lately and they don’t really bother me too much. I’m ready for the real thing! Not because I’m uncomfortable, although I do look pretty ridiculous rolling out of bed. Baby D you can make your debut any time now, I’m ready to kiss and snuggle and hold you in my arms!

 

36 1/2 weeks. Already smitten.

Pre 5K Abbie, Post 5K Ruth.

Glenn finished in half the time and then came back for me.



21 June 2013.

 

 

 

Heads Carolina, Tails California.

May 31 - I sent this text message to Glenn: “I want to leave now. I wanted to leave yesterday! Let’s pack up and just surprise our families in CA!” Glenn counters with concern about needing a hospital for baby. I tell him that any hospital will work, they all have doctors, and one day it would make an entertaining anecdote when she hears how she was born somewhere in the middle of the country. Today I still feel like I want to just peace out on Glenn’s last day of school and just start driving. Glenn thinks that my spontaneity will fade, but I really think that we would make it to CA in time, and having our families all be able to meet baby girl would make it worth the risk.  

Less than two weeks ago I wrote this, and today is officially our last day in North Carolina! With much conversation, prayer, tears, advice, understanding and also intense disapproval at my road-tripping across the country at 38 weeks pregnant we are leaving tomorrow. We are so content in our decision and know that this is the best move for our little family. The more we contemplated potentially moving for the summer the more we realized it didn’t make any sense to stay in North Carolina. With Glenn not having a job here in the fall it wasn’t worth staying and wasting valuable time that we could be spending time with our families, and it is the perfect window for everyone to meet baby girl. Especially since come fall we could be living anywhere.  

The stress came with the logistics of moving in such a short time frame. We literally came to an official conclusion about this one week ago. So many loose ends to tie up! All of a sudden we went from knowing where we were having our baby to urgently needing a new OB in CA practically the second I arrive in CA. Not to mention the vast safety concerns of making a 5 day journey in the car when I am so very pregnant. Glenn had some summer lighting and design gigs that he had to quickly and very apologetically back out of. We are stuck paying out the last two months of our lease even though we won’t be living here. The Fox furniture flipping business was in full swing and we had two large pieces we needed to finish. Packing, packing, and more packing. Choosing what’s coming to California, what’s staying in a storage unit here, and what’s getting free-listed to Craigslist. Not to mention all our goodbyes to the fabulous friends we made here. This was definitely the hardest part. I feel so incredibly guilty that I just had the most amazing baby shower, and all these women who were so generous and kind to me won’t even get to see the baby. Although it came as a surprise to most people, I really appreciate that when I was saying goodbye how understanding people are.  

After much preparation, probably pushing myself a little too hard, and likely making my husband slightly crazy, we are basically ready to go. I have done extensive research on traveling while pregnant and we know it will be pretty slow going with the amount of stops I will need to stretch and pee. We have a detailed travel plan with all our stops, and the distance to hospitals at any given time. More than anything we have faith that this is what we were supposed to do for our family. It was difficult for me to put aside other’s opinions and make the decision that was best for us. And as crazy and last minute as this was, we know it’s right! Now we just hope and pray that baby girl chooses to stay squished inside just a little bit longer, and I’m optimistic that she will. After my last Doctor’s appointment I was really worried that she wants to come early because I was already dilated to a ‘generous 1-2’. At my OB appointment this morning the Doctor was so positive that Baby and I will make the trip perfectly fine. I have low blood pressure, zero swelling, right on track with weight and measurements, practically perfect! His calm manner really helped any baby nerves I was having.  

I also need to give a huge thank you to Rebekah!! My sister flew out from CA and surprised me at my baby shower. I was SO surprised and emotional and couldn’t believe that she was actually here! She had a one way ticket and was planning on staying until baby girl’s arrival. Little did she know, or we know, that we were going to leave NC. Her vacation turned into helping us finish up projects and pack. She teased that we were slave drivers, and allowed us to pay her back for her assistance with donuts and NC Cuisine (aka, Cook Out and Bojangles). She flew out yesterday and I am missing her already. We seriously would not have been ready this quick without her!