Colic

Well, It's been a while, but I have a quiet moment. Liam is sleeping, Damon is playing video games, the dogs are chewing bones, and Liz and Brent aren't getting here for dinner for another 30 minutes. 

I don't think I will have the time to fill you in on all that has gone on in our lives for the last 7 weeks, but I will try my hardest!

Liam is doing wonderfully! We had a rough start though. The poor little guy had TERRIBLE (and I mean awful) colic for the first 4 weeks of his tiny life. I felt so bad for him because he was just miserable! His tummy hurt all the time (he would arch his back) and he had terrible acid re-flux anytime he would lie on his back. Any time he was awake it seemed like he was crying/screaming. He was gaining weight fine, which when we were in the hospital was one of the doctor's worries, but he didn't sleep, He was wanting to eat to pacify his tummy, only to make it hurt more. Also, he never really got the hang of breast feeding. He would get so frustrated when he wasn't getting enough milk fast enough so he would pummel my breasts (ouch) and pull away. We finally decided not to fight him anymore and I started pumping all he ate. I was pumping at least 4 times a day (very time consuming, but worth it if it meant he was getting all the milk he needed) but it still wasn't enough food for him as he was getting bigger. I'd done some research online and found out there is this thing called Gripe Water (an all organic tonic used to help with colic in newborns). We went to Mother Nature's and got some and immediately he burped about 3 times when he hadn't even been eating. It seemed to help a little but he would still be really fussy or just spit the gripe water up. He really liked the flavor though, which made giving it to him easy.

 At 4 weeks, I started supplementing in some formula (to my dismay! I had called my mom and just bawled because I felt like a failure that I wasn't producing what he needed) After the first day I noticed that when he had my milk, his tummy hurt and he would scream and scream and when he had formula he was calmer after feedings. I decided to go one whole day with just formula to see if there was a difference in behavior and he barely cried all that day! We thought maybe he was allergic to something I was eating and assumed maybe it was nuts, so I cut them out for days and tried again with breast milk to no avail. I don't know if he is allergic to something or just couldn't digest it well, but we switched him solely to formula and it's like having a different baby! He's happy; laughs even, and doesn't mind just sitting awake without someone consoling him. (actually, he just woke up and is happily cooing in his swing) 

He loves his car seat and he loves the bath - he can be screaming full on and hear the tub running and he calms right down. His smile is absolutely beautiful with that one dimple and when he sticks his tongue out at me my heart just melts :) He's starting to mimic our faces, opening his mouth when we do, sticking out his tongue, smiling at us...it's so wonderful to watch him grow but it's all happening soooo fast! I feel like he's changed quite a bit since that little boy we brought home almost 7 weeks ago. 

Well, baby is crying so I must go...will try to write again soon. Just know that if your baby is colicky, there may be a way to fix it instead of him being miserable all the time! 

Julie

Liam Anthony Petras

I have great news! Our little boy was born on November 2, 2012 at 12:22 pm by c-section. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and he is absolutely perfect :)

We are so happy he is here - even though the whole situation was quite crazy and very long.

I went into this pregnancy with the hope that it would be a traditional natural birth. I had a birth plan and I'm going to copy that here so that you can see just how unlike my plan the whole situation was. From the moment we walked into the hospital to register, not ONE thing on the labor side of my plan was taking place.

here's my plan:

Julie Petras - Expected due date 10/21/12

People welcome to attend the birth: Husband- Damon Petras and Mother – Elizabeth (Beth) Schippers

What I would like those involved in our care to know about us:

•I hate hospitals. My mom was hospitalized a lot when she had cancer when I was young and they bring back bad memories.

•I worry a lot and can get anxious.

•Damon is quiet and may need prompting to speak up.

•We want this birth to be as natural as possible with as little trauma on baby and mom as possible.

LABOR:

•I am going to try to labor at home as long as possible but it’s my first birth and I may get nervous and want to come into the hospital.

• I want an active labor
• I want Damon and my mom to be allowed to stay with me at all times.
• I will try to stay hydrated by drinking clear fluids instead of having an IV (Sometimes when I am in pain I can get dizzy or light headed and drinking water helps regulate my breathing)

• Please don’t offer me any medication unless I ask for it. I do NOT want an epidural.

• Other pain managements I will be doing are massage, bath/shower, music, and breathing.

• I would like the lights kept low during labor.
•I would like to wear my own nightgown instead of a hospital gown.

• I do not wish to have the amniotic membrane ruptured artificially unless signs of fetal distress require internal monitoring.

• If possible I want to have intermittent rather than continuous fetal monitoring.

EPISIOTOMY:

• I would prefer not to have an episiotomy unless absolutely required for the baby’s safety.
• I am hoping to protect the perineum. I am practicing ahead of time by doing Kegels and perineum massage.
• I would appreciate guidance in when to push and when to stop pushing so the perineum can stretch.

•I would like only necessary staff in the room, no students.

DELIVERY:

• I would like to be allowed to choose the position in which I am comfortable in to give birth and to change positions if I feel the need to.

• I would like the baby to be placed on my chest IMMEDIATELY after delivery for skin to skin contact.
• I would prefer that the umbilical cord stop pulsating before it is cut.

•Damon does not know yet if he would like to cut the cord, please ask him when it’s time. If he says no, it’s ok for the midwife/nurse to do it.

• I plan to keep the baby near me following birth and would appreciate if the evaluation of the baby be done with the baby on my abdomen, with both of us covered by a warm blanket, unless there is an unusual situation. 

•If the baby has to be taken from me to receive medical treatment I want my husband Damon or my mother Beth to be with the baby at ALL times.

•I do not want an injection of Pitocin after the delivery to aid in expelling the placenta unless absolutely necessary.

•We do not wish to see the placenta.

CESAREAN:

• Unless absolutely necessary, I would like to avoid a cesarean. 
• If a Cesarean delivery is indicated, I would like to be fully informed and to participate in the decision-making process.
• I would like Damon to be with me at all times!
• If the baby is not in distress, the baby should be given to Damon IMMEDIATELY after birth.
• Assuming baby is fine I want to be able to breast feed in the recovery room.

POSTPARTUM:

• Unless required for health reasons, I do not wish to be separated from my baby.
• All newborn procedures need to be taken place in my presence and declined if we find necessary. 
• If I cannot be there at all times then Damon will be.
•I would like to wait one hour before the erythromycin (eye cream) is put in. I do NOT want the cream if it is silver nitrate.

•I would like to wait one hour before the vitamin k injection.

•We do NOT want our baby to have a HEP B injection or ANY other vaccinations.
• I would like the baby to room in with me at all times.

• I plan on breast feeding exclusively.
• Do not offer my baby formula, sugar water, or pacifier.

•We wish for him to have a circumcision.

•We are ok with a usual hospital stay of 24-48 hours.

Ok, so for those of you who want to know, here is what happened.

We went to an ultrasound Wed, Oct 31 at 9:30 am. During the ultrasound we discovered that Liam didn't have very much amniotic fluid and he wasn't stretching his arms or legs out. He got a 6 out of 8 for those things, and the Doc decided they would induce that day. I didn't even get to go home! We headed straight to the hospital side so that we could register and by 11 am we were in our room. The rooms were beautiful with a giant bathroom with a big jet bath. I was starting to get excited because soon I would hold my baby!

Well, we didn't even SEE the midwife until after 2 pm. It was the one that I really did NOT want.. I felt we never connected and she was just very different than me. She checked my cervix and I was not dilated or ephased

at all and the baby was negative 3 cm. Together we decided she would insert something called prostin to hopefully soften my cervix and maybe dilate me a little. She said we would't see any results for 4 hours so I had a wait ahead of me. All this time I am connected to a monitor to keep track of any contractions I may have and the baby's heartbeat. This meant I was stuck in a delivery bed - which was very UNCOMFORTABLE. It had a split mattress that I kept slipping into the crack of, and it was literally 2 inches thick. My tailbone and hips hurt so badly, I was just miserable. Well, the 4 hours I was told about turned into 14. So, at 4:30 am my midwife checked my cervix again and no progress. She decided to insert another prostin to hopefully get some results. At this point I was so discouraged. Damon was wonderful, he held me while I cried because all this time I was having contractions because of the medicine, but no progress at all. In the morning I was checked again and I had dilated 1 cm. Finally, something!

At 8am a new midwife came on shift (my favorite one!) and my spirits were lifted because she actually took the time to sit down and tell me this could take 3 days...My expectations changed and I decided to just do whatever she recommended. At this point, she decided they were going to manually dilate me by inserting a catheter and trying to stretch the cervix. This lasted about 6 hours and was extremely painful because they kept having to pull down on it to get it to work. All this time, I was having very strong contractions every 10 minutes. Finally, we were done with that and I had gained 1 cm making my dilation a 2. Discouraged, again. 

At this point, they decided I was going to be on a pitocin drip. This is what I absolutely did NOT want! At one point when I was at a 7 on the drip (the goal is a 12) I was having contractions almost non stop. I had a few seconds between each contraction. At about 3 AM, the 2nd of Nov I decided I couldn't handle the pain any more and asked the nurse what she thought of epidurals. She said she had very very rarely ever seen any one on pitocin make it without an epidural and that it was safer for the baby than IV pain meds. I asked if it was to early to get it and she went to check for me. She finally (probably only 5 minutes later) came back and said she had good news. Not only was it not too late but the anesthesiologist was on the floor! Within 10 minutes I couldn't feel my legs. That was a very weird sensation...I didn't like it at all but at least I was without pain. At around 9 am the decision was made to use internal monitoring for contractions and baby so my water was broken. Both monitors had to be done twice because the first attempts didn't work.  

At 11:30 things started to get scary. Liam's heart rate kept dropping from 135 to 100 during contractions. Midwife and nurses rushed in and put me on oxygen, switched me to the other side, and explained what was happening. The midwife then recommended that we have a c-section and the OB was brought in. By noon I was prepped and ready for surgery. Damon sat and held my hand and by 12:22 our little man was born! I was so tense from the surgery that I was kind of in shock and shaking uncontrollably but I remember thinking my heart was so full!

We were then switched to our recovery room and family came to visit. At this point I only had 3 hours of sleep since Tuesday night. 

We were up all that night with Liam waking up choking on Amniotic fluid. (Scariest moment of my life!) It happened almost every 20 minutes. The nurses finally decided to flush out his stomach and it seemed to work. 

We were having trouble getting him to nurse because he didn't understand the suckling sensation. He also started showing signs of jaundice so they ordered labs for blood work. While Damon went with the nurse to get the blood work, I texted my mom and asked for prayers. Because of not feeding, Liam was losing weight so I was manually expressing milk because the pump caused a blister (ouch). When they got back they were so excited because the nurse said Liam suckled on her finger the whole time so we put him to my breast right away and he fed off of me for the first time! We then fed him the expressed milk. His labs came back a little high, so the next morning they ran them again. Because he had finally started feeding, they were all normal except the jaundice one. 

We were kept in the hospital 6 days and my husband was there with me through it all. My mom was there during the labor, and I am so grateful for the support I have! 

We were finally able to leave today. Liam now weighs 7lbs 4 oz but he is gaining now and his jaundice is slowly clearing up. We are so happy to be home and now I'm just exhausted from the whole ordeal. Like I said, it was nothing like what I'd expected it to be but Liam is here and safe and getting healthier and that's all that matters! I love my son and husband and wouldn't trade all the stress and pain for anything in the world because it brought me my baby :) 

I know this is long but I wanted to share just what our expectations can do. I did tons of research and created a plan for what I wanted but when it was all said and done, nothing went the way I'd hoped. Yet, it was fine because the reward was so great! 

We are home. We are happy. We are healthy. We are together! Couldn't ask for more :)

Exhausted

Well, today I am completely exhausted and not feeling well at all. I've had a cold since Sunday and it's just knocking me out. How can your head feel completely clogged and yet your nose run like a faucet?! I don't know, but that's what's happening.

I woke up today after sleeping pretty well but still feeling yucky. I had no energy but had stuff I needed done... We have been doing a really good job of keeping the house neat because if I go into labor I don't want come home with a baby to a messy house. I did the little amount of dishes in the sink, vacuumed downstairs, folded laundry, picked up our top tier of cake from Simply Cakes (a free gift for our one year anniversary-our is just a little late - my fault) ran to the grocery for milk, bread and juice, and went to my midwife appointment. I was so tired at the clinic that I was falling asleep in the waiting room, where I had to wait 15 minutes...longer than I've had to wait before but not a big deal.

I've been a little worried because Liam just isn't moving as much yesterday and today as he has in the past. After listening to his heartbeat and giving me the assignment of how many times he kicks in an hour (should be 10 at least...usually for Liam it's 10 in 7 mins) she said his heartbeat sounded good and if I'm still concerned we can do a non-stress test. I think it's just because I don't feel good that he's quieter, not to mention his movements have changed from real kicking to more rolling around. I am keeping a close watch on him, but so far he's kicked at least 10 times an hour.

After my appointment I went home and took a nap because I was falling asleep in the waiting room. When I woke up, Damon was making dinner for us!  I love that man :)

There's really no way to describe how strong my feelings for this baby are. I love him so much already it's unbelievable. The idea of labor doesn't even scare me (c-section does for some reason though!). I wake up every morning and think, "will this be the day I get to hold my baby?" I know it will change our lives forever, but I think it will be in a good way. Hard, but good way. My goal is to really keep my husband first after Liam arrives. I know that's going to be hard but I will truly try! My marriage is very important to me and I know how easy it is for a mother to totally bond to a child and have the father feel left out or abandoned. Please pray that I would be able to do this!

Tomorrow I am going to clean upstairs - bathroom, vacuum, wash sheets, put away playpen (we babysat for our 1 year old nephew and 5 year old niece this weekend) and tidy up the nursery. I'm hoping I feel better.

I hope you all have a wonderful night!

Blessings

Have you ever been walking, kind of just minding your business, and all of a sudden you realize people keep looking at you funny, kind of like you're an alien? I feel like that is me all the time lately! I'm just pregnant...not another species! I really noticed it yesterday at work when I was walking from the hospital coffee shop to the clinic one before my shift started. It's either a "holy cow she is huge" look or a "oh, the miracle of life I'm gonna grin like an idiot" look. Whatever, it'll be worth it once he's here :)

37 weeks                                                        38 weeks

I can't believe how much my stomach has changed in just one week. I was comparing last weeks photo and today's photo and my belly is lower and bigger. I can tell it's bigger...not very many positions are comfortable any more. I did sleep really well last night which is wonderful! It always takes me a little while to fall asleep from being uncomfortable and it takes me about 30 minutes to wind down from the day, but after that, I was out cold. I think I only got up to go to the bathroom 3 times. Which by the way, I can do in complete darkness now, because I'm so used to the route I take! LOL. Oh the things we consider accomplishments ;)

Last night Damon and I went to our friend Liz and Brent's place for a wine and cheese night. It's kind of funny, there are four couples including us, and 2 of us women are pregnant so we can't even have wine! But we always have so much fun, and there is non-alcoholic wine for us to enjoy along with the cheese. I never thought I would have so many blessings in my life - God surely has given me more than I ever imagined! Damon, Liam, my family, Damon's family, our friends, our pets, we have a warm home to ourselves, food on the table, reliable cars, jobs, my list goes on and on! I've never been happier, even though my emotional ups and downs during pregnancy may fool you! ;)

My sister and I went to the Farmers Market today. Boy, was it cold! 44 degrees. I felt bad for all of the vendors - they looked chilly. Taylor has started this new GAPS diet so she basically bought them out of house and home today. I got some carrots, peppers, potatoes and 3 pumpkins. I always love carving pumpkins every year and even though Liam is due soon, I'd still like to carve them this year. I love the pumpkin seeds and always give some to my dad too - he says I make the best ones :)

So last night our friends Phil and Liz actually saw the high speed chase that took place! Cops chased him to the Culvers over by Wagner's Lanes and there was a shoot out and the man fleeing was shot. Stuff like that doesn't happen much here, it's crazy! It's such a small town, I hope we don't know the guy.

Damon's Dad and brother are on their way into town, they're going to go to the gun show in Chippewa, and I need to run to the grocery to get some spaghetti sauce for dinner. We are having spaghetti and homemade garlic bread for dinner. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Stay warm!

A glimpse of me

As I have been reading my little sister's blog, it has inspired me to start my own. Mainly I think this is going to be me sharing my journey through the remainder of my pregnancy and my experiences as a mom for the first time, and maybe just me sharing random thoughts on my daily life. Just so you know, I may get into TMI and I apologize now because I've decided that the more TMI I can learn from others, the more prepared I'll be for birth and motherhood.
So here goes! Be patient with me...

On Thursday I will be 38 weeks pregnant, and let me tell you, I am ready for my little man to make his appearance! I think 'uncomfortable' is my middle name lately. Sleep is difficult and standing or sitting in one position for extended periods of time are a bear too. Never in my life have I ever fallen asleep on one arm only to have my other one fall asleep. HELLO PREGNANCY, now I have!

My dad warned me that the half way point of pregnancy is the ninth month and I didn't believe him then, but let me tell you, he was right! You should see how graceful I am when I try to roll over in bed, or even just try to get out of bed to go pee for the 100th time in the night. I can't believe Damon doesn't wake up every time. Another fun thing is trying to buckle the seat belt in the car, or bending over when you drop something, which happens often because all your ligaments in your body are loosening in prep for having a baby...so a good grip is history. Or putting on your socks..

I do have to admit that this pregnancy has been rather easy. I had morning sickness (why do they call it that when it lasts all the time!?) for the first 4 months, but since then it's pretty much been easy peasy. My main ailments now are sore back (pinched nerves), being emotional, and heartburn.

Tums are pretty much my best friend...they are in my purse, in the downstairs bathroom, and by the bed. I was on my way to an appointment with my life insurance agent today and had terrible heartburn so I took a tums and the whole way there I was trying to get that chalky white substance off my tongue. I'm sure I looked lovely. I'm not sure if I was successful in getting it all off, that stuff sticks like glue!

Another thing that is crazy; especially at the end of pregnancy, is dreams. I've had quite a few where I go into labor and am no where near a hospital and can't get there, and then the baby is born breach. I've also had dreams where he is born and can talk and walk already. In one, he was arguing with me about his name. In one I had a dream where my (may be TMI here) boob exploded and milk went everywhere. YES, this was my dream. I told Damon that one and his reaction was "EW" I told my sisters and mom and they just laughed. Typical!

On another note, (see, I told you this was going to be random) Yesterday was Damon and my 1st anniversary! I got home from work to find he had gotten me beautiful flowers, a card, and cheetos!

He really put a lot of thought into it because he said the flowers reminded him of our wedding day and the card reminded him of when we were in Florida on vacation. He also got me a 35mm lens for my SLR so that I can take close up shots of Liam once he is here! It was an annibirthababyversery present he said :) I think he decided he wanted Ammo for his present.

He took me to Olive Garden for dinner and then we headed out to my parents new ranch to watch the Bears/Cowboys game. On the way there, we saw a fawn (about 4 months old is my guess) lying in the road. It had been hit by a car but they hadn't stopped to make sure if it was OK or not. Well, the poor thing wasn't OK. It's back had been broken and he was struggling to get off the road. I called my dad, not exactly sure what to do but not having the heart to just leave it there to suffer. Dad gave me the none-emergency number to call and the sheriff came out and met us. He put the fawn down, and let us take the carcass.  Dad, Jon (brother-in-law) and Damon skinned it and Dad butchered it this morning. It's sad that the fawn had to die but it made me feel a little better that he wasn't wasted. I understand things happen, but if you hit an animal and it's still alive but in pain, please, be decent enough to do something about it!

Well, I think that's enough rambling for one day, I'm off to an appointment with my midwife. I love hearing that little heartbeat every week and can't wait until my boy is in my arms.