Rough mornings

Des says, 'That was one rough morning, better make that boob a double.'

Last night someone decided to want feedings every 2-3 hours, but that was alright because he slept 4 hrs in the last stretch til morning so momma was alright. He even gave me a few smiles when I got him ready to eat. That, my dear family, should've been my first tip off of what was to come.

Not five seconds after he began eating, I heard the familiar sounds of him making room for breakfast with an explosive poo. I wasn't worried, it was normal. Well I wasn't worried until I moved my hand to readjust my hold on him and felt slimy goo all up his back through his sleeper and, of course, all down my pjs too.

I got up to check out the damage in the bathroom mirror. Oh so much worse than I thought! There was no where I could hold him besides his feet that would avoid the poo-splosion. I called for Mark to come help, but there was no answer. Duh! He was already at work, missing out on all this fun ::)

Oh mind you this entire time Des was still hooked on eating away.

I go to the nursery and, with my toes bc my hands are covered in poo, grabbed the last blue hazmat bed liner we nicked from the hospital. You know the ones they have you sit on after your water breaks to save the bedding from getting wet? Yeah well we took a bunch as I figured they'd make great disposable liners for the changing table (read as less laundry). But I digress. I took that liner and wrapped up Des in it so the poo wouldn't continue to get everywhere. And no, he didn't relinquish the boob for a second to help me out here.

Once he was finally done, I said eff it and decided the only solution was for both of us to get in shower. Since he was wrapped in the blue liner I could put him down to get his poo saturated clothes and diaper off. Then we got in the shower. I was expecting the wails. I prepared for them. He is all smiles and cooing faces. Guess he likes shower time better than bath time!

Both of us now poo free, I turn the water off .... aaaand there go the wails!! The kid does not like to be chilled for a second!! So after the drying, lotioning, diapering, dressing, hair brushing, and of course more feeding, little Des-monster is now fast asleep again while momma has to wash some clothes in the tub before the orange poo stains set in to both of our favorite pjs. (The ducky sleeper!! Say it isn't so!!) 

One Month Already!

I can't believe we've already made it to one month! And we haven't broken the baby, lol! Sorry the posts have been ... well none, but we have been having quite a time getting used to our new little one.  He's a bit of a crier and colicky, so I'm not really sure where the days go with trying to calm him, but they do seem to be flying by. I'm told by 3 months this cry cage should be over. One down, two to go! We totally got this - yaaaawwwwwwn!

Thank God for visiting family help too! Honestly, I don't think I could have made it to one month without them. You are awesome Grands and Tita Maya!

Aside from the fact that Desmond dear is somewhat colicky, here are some highlights of what we've learned about our little man since we brought him home.

Our nights are still rather sleepless, but we are getting closer to more 4-6 hour stretches than not. Mark comes home from work ready to grab Desmond and make up for his time away and it couldn't melt my heart more. 

Oh, and most of the Evelyn pink and ruffly has been changed out for more appropriate boy colors and themes :) Thanks to everyone who helped with care packs!

Desmond Lewis Gibbs Makes His Debut

I know some people like to hear birth stories, or at least I couldn't get enough of them as I got closer and closer to my due date, so I wanted I would share mine. It's taken a few weeks to get posted I know, but we've been having so much fun (lack of sleep) getting to know our new little one that I've gotten behind in updating. Without further ado - Desmond's birth story!

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We arrived at the hospital at 8am Sun the 15th for the induction as there was concern regarding the baby’s heart rate. They got me settled in and started an NST (non-stress test) to see how baby was doing. This is where monitors are attached to my belly to monitor things inside. Turns out we failed it twice in the time they had us hooked up and had we waited until our regular NST scheduled for the next day, we would have been sent over for the induction anyway. This made me feel so much more comfortable with the decision to be induced!

I came in at 4cm/75% effaced. They started me on Pitocin and I labored like that with the pain at a very low level for pretty much all freaking day. I felt the contractions but they were completely manageable, even with the Pit on its max. The worst part at this point was my STARVING since I hadn’t eaten since 7am. Around 7:30pm they checked me and saw I still hadn’t progressed passed 4cm, even though I was 100% effaced at this point, so they broke my water.

That turned into a shit storm that is a bit of a blur. They didn’t turn down the Pit when they broke my water, but my body kicked into its own labor efforts when they did, so this resulted in a 15min long constant contraction that baby realllly didn’t like. They shut down the Pit, gave me a shot of something (terbutaline?) that relaxed my uterus to stop the contraction, but it gave me the worst shakes! Once it wore off my body kicked into gear with some insanely painful contractions! Mark helped me through them sans pain meds until 10:30pm or so when they came to check me again. I thought after all that for sure I’d be close, but no…4cm STILL. I broke down crying and got the epidural.

At first the epi didn’t work, my muscles were numbed but my nerves were not and I was barely handling each contraction. The anesthesiologist finally topped me off with something after Mark told him that the dentist has to give me 3x the lidocaine to numb me fully (epidurals are in the same medication type family). It finally started working around midnight and I slept for about 15 mins, although it felt like 3 hrs. I woke up and told them it was hurting around my hip in about a fist size spot so they checked me again and I’d gone to 9 cm!! I went into transition pretty fast after that as the baby dropped into my pelvis.

Next thing I know I was pushing, and about 1.5 hrs later they were raising the baby up for us to see. Mark says that there was a moment of silence, then I just said what everyone was thinking “That’s a boy!” We had a 6lb 6oz, 20.5in bundle of cuteness!!

As for choosing a name with this surprise sex switch, it was really easy to decide. We’d had it down to 2 boy names, one that he loved and one I did, before we were told the sex was a girl. When he came out he just looked like a Desmond (Mark’s pick), not a Daniel (my pick), so easy peasy!

The Waiting Game

Nope, the baby is still baking in there! Lol! Just a short little post to take my mind off of the waiting game :)

I love all the love family and friends are showing with their excitement over little Evelyn's imminent arrival! We've gotten a number of calls/texts/emails checking in on how we are doing and holding up with the wait. Evelyn is being a little diva though and staying put in there it seems as long as she possibly can.

Can you blame her though? Aside from the very cramped quarters, it's got to be a pretty awesome living arrangement going on in there for her. We just cranked on the heat here in CA,  so I can see her wanting to stay inside where it's nice and warm. Well, I can name a few people - grammy, G, me, her daddy, tita, grandma, the list goes on - who are extremely anxious and excited to meet her, however cozy she is inside me!! She does still has a few more days to bake before her official due date. Guess we can't rush her out too much yet. Our bag is packed and waiting by the door if she wants to come on along now though!

Reaching the Finish Line

I am officially full term, 38 weeks to be exact!

I was technically full term last week but as you can see by my lack of posts I haven't been too diligent about updating things on here. I know things will only be getting crazier in our lives very soon so I wanted to take the time to give a recap of what's been going on since the last time. One last (maybe) post before we have a new little one stealing all of our attentions!

So what's been going on in the lives of the Gibbs? Well, at the end of October I had some awesome friends of mine here in California throw me a great shower! It was a High Tea theme, complete with tea, cakes, and finger foods. Such a cute and novel idea! They put so much work into it and it came out perfectly. Here are a few shots of the day below. Oh! And you may notice some non-Cali folks in attendance. My mom flew in from Ohio and my aunt from Georgia for the weekend fun. Aren't they great?

All the yummy goodies

Belly rubs! Evelyn was not showing off and kicking for anyone, lol!

Here are most of the guests. Some had to leave before we got to photo time, and the boys showed up and the end to help clean so we let them stand in too :)

All but one of my lovely hosts! These ladies can put together a great shower!

The out of town VIPs! Thanks for coming Mom and Autumn!

I meant to write a longer recap of the shower but the 'fun' of the 3rd trimester caught up to me and I fell far behind with my updating intentions. What is this 'fun' you ask? Well let me tell you.

• The swelling officially kicked in. It started with just removing my rings to wear on my necklace, but I've started sporting some awesome cankles too! Joy.
• There is also the hip, back, everything aches and pains. Forget gracefully getting out of the bed for my n^th run of the night to the bathroom. Poor Mark's gotten used to me waking him up every time I even try to roll over. 
• Mostly it's the twice a week NST (non-stress test) appointments which began shortly after the shower that have really sucked my time and energy. These appointments can last 25-60+ mins depending on how cooperative baby girl wants to be. They basically just want to listen to her heart rate and make sure she's active enough in there. Most times she never stops being active, but this little diva I swear can tell when the monitor's on because she immediately decides nap it should be time. Le sigh.
• But there has also been some real fun of course - the nursery is ALL FINISHED. The house is as ready as it can be for Evelyn to arrive!

As I said up top, we are near the finish line! All birth classes are done. Mark and I are as prepped for this natural (read as med free) birth as we can possibly be. Now all we need is this little one to make her entrance into the world!! Every twitch and tingle has me wondering if this is it, the beginning of labor. Lol! I'm positive I'll know once it is the real thing. Now it is just the waiting game. 

Coming up...Grammy and Papa (or Papa-G, or just 'G' he hasn't chosen yet) arrive next week to (hopefully) meet their granddaughter! They'll be here for a few weeks so as long as she doesn't decide to stay in there until christmas they should have plenty of time to visit with her before heading home. 

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Not just that she comes before my parents have to leave, but that everything goes smoothly as our baby girl comes into the world <3

No Pulling Punches

Our baby girl hasn't been one of those chill babies. We were given a Kick Count Card to fill out daily. We are supposed to track the time it takes Evelyn to kick 10 times, the goal being that this take no longer than 2 hours. If so, we are supposed to call into a hotline. The options start at 10 mins and go up in 10-15 min increments from there. Ninety percent of the time, Evelyn gives me her kicks in bursts that won't even make it to the first 10 min marker.

I'm not complaining by any means! I love this reassurance that she is happily moving and grooving in there. Even if some of those moves have made me jump, wince, or even cry out in pain or just surprise. What I am complaining about is that for some reason whenever Mark goes to feel his baby girl trying to kung fu her way out of me, she immediately quiets down...that is until the second he removes his hand and looks away. *Grumble*

Well, today was a milestone in two ways. The first - I got Mark to leave the house to go buy one of my cravings!! It was chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies in case you were curious. This is a big one as until this point, my cravings have come at odd hours of the night and for very odd things that just aren't available right then, so he's gotten out of one of the quintessential roles of the husband to the crazy pregnant woman.

The second milestone is that due to said cookie craving, and my devouring way too many, little Evelyn is on a very big squirming, kicking, and punching spree. This means that Mark has finally gotten to feel how strong our little one is getting! And see that I'm not crazily overreacting to her 'love taps'. His face was somewhere between amazement and creeped out. Amazed that this is his little girl in there rolling under his hand and punching him, and creeped out because all he can think of is that scene in Aliens, lol!

I swear, I am falling in love with him more and more with each new step in this pregnancy! I can't wait until our baby girl makes her arrival and to see how he interacts with her for real. Soon soon!!

Pee Alerts

This post is at the suggestion of my lovely husband, who I think may be trying to give me another venting outlet for my latest pregnancy woes. He's dubbed the most recent as - The Pee Alert!

It's reached all sorts of new heights since we've crossed into the third trimester. Also, after my latest ultrasound this past week I was (mildly) reprimanded for not drinking enough water, so that doesn't help things.

Take today for instance. I was woken up way before I was ready by a bladder shot from our dear little one. Then, shortly after breakfast, another pee alert. I'm trying to stay active, so despite this new near constant need to run upstairs to the bathroom, I decided to make time for an actual workout - not just doing one flight of stairs every hour - and go for a swim at the university pool. NO, I did not plan on just tinkling in the water during my laps. :p

I finally get to the pool - it was very warm today to it took a bit to muster the energy to leave the a/c unit - and go figure, 45mins in the pool and no Pee Alert!! I was stoked! But as soon as my feet hit the hot pool deck - Pee Alert. :/ Ah well. I "go", then go home to shower off. This is where it got ridiculous. I hop in the shower, Pee Alert. Start to soap up, Pee Alert! Think there's time for a shampoo? Nope, PEE ALERT!! Seriously kid?!? I think she thinks my bladder is a trampoline/punching bag!

I've been warned to just get used to it, welcome to the final stretch of the pregnancy. Meh, I'm not a fan of this bit.