Food, Glorious Food

Amelia has started solid food, but first I'm gonna post her first laughs with us. The video was recorded sideways, so sorry.

I think the cutest thing ever is her giggling under the cloth. It reminds me of a little child playing hide and seek. They always giggle like you can't hear them or something.

I thought that starting cereal would be kind of easy. Daddy kept telling me about y-cut nipples, and I was thinking that sounds really easy. And she'll be eating more filling food, so we won't be giving her a bottle as much. But the dr. nixed that idea. He said that if we used an "infant feeder" Amelia would blow up like the Michelin man. So we got home that night and tried it out. We haven't had a single good feeding. She doesn't like cereal or spoons at all. The only way we have been able to get her to eat the cereal is put some in her mouth, then put the bottle in her mouth to get her to swallow it. The only upside to this is that she doesn't eat as much formula at the cereal feedings. All I keep telling myself is that its two more weeks until she can have vegetables, and I'm hoping something that tastes a lot better will mean we'll have better meal times.

Bro

I met Bro this past weekend. Talk about little. Its not even that I'm used to toting around a 15lb baby, its that Amelia was never as small as Bro is now. I felt like I was holding a piece of paper the whole time. And its not just the fact that he weighs so much less than my little chunk, his entire body is smaller. I mean, his wrist is about as big as my thumb. And I just wish that Amelia's head had been as small as his. I probably wouldn't have had such a hard time delivering/recovering from Amelia if she had his head.

But all his "littleness" just makes him so cute. And what a sleepyhead. The only time I knew he was awake was when I heard him crying during his changing sessions. Everytime I saw him, his eyes were closed. He probably thinks "I didn't get my nap out in the womb, so I'm gonna finish it up out here." I'm so ready to see him again after Thanksgiving.

I'm An Aunt Again!!!

Jeannie was admitted to the hospital last night to begin induction. Gray started texting me this morning around 6:30 letting me know her progress. Lee Gray Turnage, III (Bro) arrived around 9am. He weighs 6lbs, 9oz and is 19.5in long. The last I heard, they were predicting him to weigh about 5.5 lbs. So it looks like he was able to put on a little more weight before his debut into society.

I will, hopefully, get to see him this weekend. Gray just sent me a picture, and he looks like most newborn babies, a little swollen and red. He does have a tiny looking little head though, which is probably why her labor was not as long as mine. Amelia has a big ole noggin'.

Congratulations Gray and Jeannie!!!!!

Elm Trees

Why do people have to be shady? Chris, Amelia, and family members are really the only people in my life that I don't consider to be shadesters.

On another note...I'm so ready for Christmas. I have already been listening to Christmas music. Today at the book store I was drawn to the little kids Christmas books for some reason. I can't wait til I can read stuff like that to Amelia and she can actually get some enjoyment out of it. I also purchased a felt stocking kit for her so that she'll have a stocking at Sugar's house. I don't know why, but Christmas just puts me in the arts and crafts mood.

Swingers

We finally broke down and got Amelia a swing. She will play on her back or stomach anywhere from 5 - 45 minutes. She will sit in her bouncy seat anywhere from 5 - 20 minutes. However, when the bouncy seat and palette no longer cut it, we have to hold her up so she can see things. And it isn't just propping her up on our knees or having her standing on our laps. She has to be held while we stand. Well it is very hard to cook supper, do dishes, do laundry, clean, take care of Eva and Heidi, and eat when you can't put her down, or even sit down. We wanted to test one out before we took the plunge though, cause swings aren't exactly cheap items.

We took our cousin's for a "test drive" when we were last in York, and she fell asleep in about 2 minutes. I told her babysitter about wanting to test one before we bought one, so she brought her swing down for Amelia to try. Apparently that's all she sleeps in during the day. Casey and Linda both have the exact same swing, so I was a little under the impression that Amelia would only like that swing. I got online to see if they still make it, and, if so, how much it cost. During my research, I found out that it is not sold in stores, just online. Well, we needed it asap. I wasn't willing to wait for it. So I went to Babies R Us yesterday to look. It took me about 20 minutes to decide on a swing (as they didn't have the one I looked up online). As I was looking, I still had the feeling that I would get home and she wouldn't like it because it wasn't that EXACT one. As I was assembling it, I was a little hopeful because she was very fascinated with what I was doing. The big moment came, and Chris put her in the swing. We strapped her in, and put it on the lowest setting.....She played and watched us for about an hour or more before she could no longer resist the call of sleep.

I was so happy that she liked it. I used to constantly worry about how I would get supper fixed and laundry done if I was at home with Amelia and she was fussy b/c she would want to be propped up on my shoulder. But no more. Some semblance of freedom has returned to our lives.

Even John Jameson

Amelia goes to daycare tomorrow, and I thought that I wasn't gonna see the first time she rolled over. So I was hoping so hard that she did it before tomorrow. And she did!!! I still didn't get to see the first time (damn Wal-Mart trip), but I did get to see it later. I tried to record it, but she did it too fast for me to catch before she was flipped over. I'm sure I'll be able to get the whole thing at some point though.

Thank Ya Nice Lady

Not much going on. Amelia is still sleeping through the night. We've been working on trying to get her to roll over, but its slow going. The only time for her to practice is during tummy time, but she hates tummy time. So she only gets a little bit of practice b/c we have to put her on her stomach while she's in a good mood. Then she can only stand to be like that for a few minutes before she gets upset. She can pretty much turn in a circle on her stomach, and she can scooch like nobody's business on her back. I don't think it will be long on the rolling though. She starts daycare soon though, so I will probably miss her first time.

I start work soon. I don't really know if I'm excited about it so much as I'm excited about getting out of the house everyday and interacting with adults other than Chris and Daddy. The only downside I see is that I've gotten used to sleeping in every morning, and I know that I'm really gonna miss that. Its not exactly sleeping in cause I have to take care of Amelia around 7. But other than those 30-45 minutes that I'm up with her, I love sleeping til 11 or 12 every day.

HOORAY!!!

Amelia slept through the night last night!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Do you think that's enough exclamation points?)

I'm not looking for it to happen again anytime soon though. I think it was a fluke. We weren't even trying to get her to do it. I'm gonna venture a guess that it happened b/c she was so freaking tired. I nursed her around 9, but she wasn't really satisfied, so we gave her 2 ounces of formula after that. She still didn't seem satisfied, so we gave her another 2 ounces. So her total feeding experience lasted about 1.5 hours (including actual feeding, burping, and some cat naps). We put her down around 10:45 or 11. She woke up 15 minutes after she went down, but I went on paci duty. I was so sure that it was gonna be a bad night that I slept in a guest bed and closed the door to our bedroom so that Chris wouldn't wake up (not that he wakes up anyway). But after my one tour of paci duty, she went to sleep and stayed asleep.

I thought we were gonna have a horrible night b/c we were out of town this weekend. We had a hard weekend b/c she was in the room with us. This of course meant that we heard every little peep she made which made it hard to get a good sleep. She also got out of her "routine" a little because we were visiting people. They of course want to hold her at every opportunity which means she didn't get the little naps that she does get during the day. Or we were going somewhere so she would have to be bottle fed instead of nurse, which was bad on me b/c I felt like I was going to burst after not nursing or being able to pump. Since we came home yesterday, she slept in her carseat for about a total of 5 hours on the way home. And I just knew that she was gonna be raring to go by the time we got home. I guess a full stomach really does do the trick.

Paci Duty

I have found a way to get my child to sleep for 4 hour stretches at night. The only downfall...it requires me to stand over her crib for about 15-30 minutes to make sure she doesn't spit out her paci. But when she does, I'm right there to put it back in before she wakes up too much. You may say, "Why not just give it to her, go get in bed, and when she wakes up, go give it to her?" Well, I find that I am less frustrated if I just stand there instead of getting in bed, getting comfortable, then, right when I'm about to fall asleep, hearing the wonderful noises of her screaming in protest because she's lost her paci for too long of a stretch. And, if I can sleep for 3 hours instead of 1, then why not stand there?

So far I have been the only one to stand paci duty because I know that Chris doesn't have the patience to stand there until she's asleep. He'd give it to her, stand there til her eyes close, then come get in bed. Maybe I will be able to convince him to use my method soon so that we are both up at night, instead of just me.

Sigh

We finally found a pacifier that Amelia likes. And, surprisingly, it is probably the cheapest one out there. I tried the Soothies brand at first because Lucy still loves hers, and I didn't want Amelia to use a butterfly one b/c I was afraid she would get a rash on her cheeks from the contact. Then we tried the one from the hospital, but she didn't like it too much. Finally, one night Chris was trying to give her the Soothie, but she wouldn't take it at all. He didn't want to go downstairs to get the hospital one (which she liked a little better than the others), so I told him there were some like it in her dresser. He broke one out, and we were both surprised to see that she liked it, cause I was starting to believe that she just wasn't gonna be a paci kind of girl.

Anyway, we found a paci she likes. It helps her go to sleep, which has been a lifesaver these past few nights. My only problem now is finding out how to keep it in her mouth. She either takes it out or spits it out right after you walk out of her room, and of course starts crying to get it back. So a vicious cycle begins of going in to give her the paci, getting it in her mouth, getting her to sleep (by holding the paci in front of her face as she tries to spit it out), feeling comfortable enough in the belief that she's in a deep enough sleep to leave, leaving the room, getting in bed, hearing her cry, getting out of bed....it goes on and on. The only thing I have been able to come up with so far to keep it in her mouth is taping it to her cheeks, but I don't really think that would be looked on too well, and I really don't want to do it. So I'm extremely open to suggestions.

Alone At Last

I guess I really shouldn't say "at last" because I really enjoyed having some help here. My mom was here the first week, then Chris' the second. It was nice to have someone here to hold Amelia when I was hurting or just too tired. Its just good to not have to worry about "entertaining" someone when you just really don't feel like doing anything. I wasn't worried about that so much with my mom as I was with Chris'. I could just tell that she was bored out of her mind. We're also able to let Amelia cry a little at night now. I felt bad about her doing it while they were here, and its not like she could do it while Chris' mom was here. Sometimes she was in there with Amelia before I was even out of bed.

Amelia's starting to do a little better at night. We've had a couple of nights where she slept for 4-5 hour stretches. Those nights were so nice. I'd put her down fully expecting to be woken up an hour later, but, to my surprise, I would be woken up hours later. Last night, however, she was back on her 2-2.5 hour sleep stretches. She's not really on any kind of schedule, which probably isn't helping too much. But its hard for her to have feed/wake/sleep time during the day when she falls asleep right after feed time. And believe me, there's nothing that will wake up an infant when they don't want to be awake, short of pouring cold water on them. Everyone says "tickle her feet, rub her face, blow on her." Those worked for a little while, but she has caught onto that game. When she falls asleep now, she's asleep. And I'm kind of to the point where I don't really want to wake her up after she's asleep. And its hard to have feed/sleep time at night when she's still awake when she's done eating and then has gas for 20 minutes. Then after we finally get over the gas, she gets the hiccups for 15. She yawns the whole time with the hiccups, and the second they are over, she's wide awake.

Friday afternoon was our first time really alone. And it was not fun. I think she was going through a growth spurt or something. She was wanting to be fed every hour. Then she would be gassy, and I couldn't walk around with her cause I was sore. So she would be fussy in my lap. Then she'd need to be changed and fed and it all started over again. Finally after 4 hours, I'd had it. I put her down in the pack n' play, and ten minutes later she started crying. I of course was crying as well. I called Chris, and he came home to both of us crying. Hers stopped right when he picked her up. Mine continued for the rest of the night. I was really feeling those "postpartum hormones" that day. I think Amelia realized she had pushed me too far that day cause that was the beginning of her "good" nights.

We had our first full day alone on Monday. And I learned a very valuable lesson that day. Don't hold your child on your lap when they haven't pooped in over 24 hours. The result isn't pretty. I've got pictures cause I had to show Chris when he got home, but I won't post them. It would probably gross too many people out. This isn't the first escapade I've had with her and diapers though, its just the worst, so far. Now anytime we hear her having a dirty diaper, we put a changing pad or burp cloth underneath us and just ride out the storm, hoping that it won't get on us. I'm just glad that I didn't "get dressed" that day cause I would have been pissed if she got that on my jeans instead of my pajamas.

2 Week and 24 Year Birthday

Amelia is 2 weeks old today. She had her 2 week checkup, and the doctor gave her an A plus (but of course). She's got her days and nights mixed up right now. Although I don't really know if I can say that. She sleeps at night, very well. She just prefers to be held to go to sleep at night whereas I can just lay her down during the day. Chris is having to sleep on the sofa with her from about 1 to 4-5 every morning. His mom is staying with us right now, and she is up with Amelia from about 10 to 12-1. I, of course, am up feeding her at those switchover times. But they have been good enough to let me go back to sleep while they get her to sleep. It takes only about 10 minutes to get her to sleep after eating, but right when you go to put her down, she wakes up. We're gonna have to let her cry it out eventually. Its just so hard to do right now since she's so small and cute and the fact that we have company right now.

Amelia Adeline Williams

I had been having contractions off and on last week, building up to my induction date. They increased in intensity and frequency Wednesday morning, but I didn't go to the hospital because I was being admitted that night anyway. And I was perfectly happy to "suffer" through some minor contractions than lay in bed in the hospital on IV fluids and not be able to eat real food.

I checked into the hospital around 10:15, and what an experience that was. I've always been a pretty private person, but that all goes out the window when you are about to have a baby. People you have never met before and who you had no say in choosing for your care are now telling you to get completely undressed and poking and prodding you in places that, in some cases, no one was ever meant to touch. Any kind of modesty you might have had has no place in the labor and delivery wing.

Amelia must have known that she was about to be rudely thrust into this world cause she kicked up her contractions a lot more once we were in the hospital. At midnight, a prostaglandin tablet was inserted into me, down there. They told me it was just supposed to "prime" me for labor, but it did more than that. I was having contractions that lasted for what seemed like a minute every 3-4 minutes. I wsa able to tolerate the contractions, but they were just coming so close together. If I had had a little more time between contractions, it wouldn't have been so bad, but I wasn't really given a chance to rest between them which was really painful.

My nurses were trying to check my dilation, but they were unable to get it because I was "really high," whatever that means. Probably the most painful experience I had through the whole thing was when they tried to check me. I would go from laying in the middle of the bed to having my head pushed against the top of the bed because I was trying to get away from the pain. They were finally able to determine my dilation which was great news because I couldn't receive my epidural until I was dilated a certain amount. Well lucky for me, my nurses seemed to take pity on me and the fact that it was hard to check me, so my doctor told them that it was close enough and to go ahead and give me the epidural. It was hard to get it at first because I kept having contractions. The anesthetist was finally able to get it started between contractions, and I immediately felt better. They gave me the epidural at 2:45, and I was asleep by 3:15. It was so nice.

They moved me into the delivery room at 7 Thursday morning, and my doctor came in to check me around 7:30 or 8. I was at 6 cm, completely thinned, and at station 0. About 20 minutes later my nurse checked me, and I was at 8 cm. At 9 they started preparing the room for Amelia's arrival. My doctor had to go into an emergency c-section, so I was put on the back burner for the moment. But I was told that I would be next to deliver and that Amelia would be here before 10. At 10:15 she still hadn't made her arrival and another woman was put before me again. After pushing for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, my nurse left to tell my doctor that I would probably have to have a c-section because I just wasn't making any progress. When she came back, Amelia decided that she could come out, finally. She was born at 12:56 pm on Thursday, August 6. She weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long. She scored a 9.9 on her Apgar, but I've heard that doesn't really mean anything because some babies can score a 10 and then end up having mental problems. But I'm still gonna brag about it because she is perfect.

She did a lot of damage on the way out, and my doctor had to work on me for 45 minutes repairing her damage. I went into shock and had to receive 3 units of blood. I finally saw my daughter 5 hours after she was born, and she couldn't have been more beautiful.

I saw pictures of her when she was fresh, and she had really chubby cheeks. But when I saw her, her swelling had gone down and she didn't have as chubby cheeks as when she was fresh. I wish I had some pictures to post, but I haven't been moving around very well, obviously. I kind of limp around the house. I'm not allowed to do anything except hold the baby and go to the bathroom. I can't stand up while holding her. I can't go up or down the stairs while holding her. But everyone, including my doctor, is very surprised by how well I am doing. I've never been in this condition before so I don't know how I'm supposed to be doing. But the people who are telling me this would know, so I trust their judgment. I'm still trying to not do a lot though because I want the small amount of pain I'm in to go away very fast so I can start doing more with Amelia. Hopefully I'll get a little better soon and will be able to take some pictures of her so everyone can see.

It's Almost Over

First off, yes this is being posted at 5:45. And secondly, I have been awake since 2:45. People who tell you to get as much rest as you can the last few weeks are full of crap. They've been through it before, so they know exactly how hard it is to get any sleep when you are getting up to pee 6 times a night and trying to get comfortable with a basketball for a stomach.

I have gone past my due date (as you can tell by my baby clock) after 9 months of hopeful anticipation that she would come early. But, according to my doctor, I have just made her way too comfortable in there. But I had a checkup yesterday and have finally started to show some signs of labor (but we won't go into details). The best news I guess is that I will be induced Wednesday night, if I haven't gone into REAL labor before then.

And as you can probably tell, I have gotten really cranky as this pregnancy drags on and on. Lack of sleep can work wonders on a person.

What's In A Name?

I should've known it was gonna be hard to pick a baby name. I couldn't even name my own dog. My mom had to do it for me. It was hard enough to please two people with Eva's name. And now we have to deal with so many more people. Everyone thinks you should name the baby after them. Or if you pick a name, and it HAPPENS to be their name, they think you are naming the baby after them, no matter what you say. Or people have names they think will be just perfect for YOUR child. Whatever gave these people the idea that they had any say to begin with? The parents of the child are the only ones who have any control over it.

I haven't even wanted to tell people the names we are thinking about because, as soon as you do, someone's got an opinion on it. And why do you have to tell me your opinion on the name anyway? If all you are wanting to do is give some negative feedback, that's just not right. If I like the name, then why do you have to ruin it for me? And even if you tell yourself you're not gonna let their words influence your decision over the baby's name, it will. Cause after someone says "oh that reminds me of such and such" or "I think of this when I hear that name," it is gonna be stuck in your head forever, and you can't get rid of it.

Baby Shower

I'm really bad at this blog thing. I never post regularly. I won't be boring and try to catch you up on everything since I last posted, cause nothing has really happened.

I had a baby shower this past weekend. The Women in the Church hosted it for me, which was really nice of them. A lady at my church has a catering/food preparation business and she prepared all of the food. (Of course you knew the pregnant woman was gonna talk about the food first.) She made shrimp and grits, petit fours, and some kind of sauce for the fruit. There were also sausage rolls (pigs in a blanket) and fruit plates. I of course had my plate loaded up with pineapple, strawberries, grapes, petit fours, and sausage rolls. Although, I can't really say that I got to eat all of my food because my niece, Lucy, saw that I was the first one with food and so was stuck to my side eating my petit fours and strawberries.

I won't even begin to list all of the wonderful things I received. We'd be here forever. When all the gifts were loaded in my car, there was barely enough room on the backseat for Chris' mom to sit down. And I didn't even have enough room on my kitchen table to sort through everything. Chris and I are so blessed to have so many people who care about us and the baby to want to help us as we start our family.

I was so glad that some of my family could come down for the shower. My Aunt Traci Jean, cousins Jennifer and Christina, and my brother's family were all able to make it. I didn't realize it til this weekend, but this might be the last time I'll see them til after Baby Girl is here. My cousin Meredith is getting married July 18, and I've been so wrapped up in whether or not I would be able to make it to that (which I've been told I can't, btw), that I've totally forgotten about not being able to go to York anymore. Hopefully I will be able to get in one or two more trips before the doc says "no more traveling." It was good to see everyone though. And I loved all of the time I got to spend with little Lucy.

While the chicks were at the baby shower, the dudes were at the casino. Yeah, I know, at the casino at 10 in the morning. But I can't really complain. Chris won $300 while he was there. And since it was the baby shower weekend, we might just have to put his winnings towards a college fund.

ELO

I can't believe I'm halfway through my pregnancy. I never thought I'd get here. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I could have told you how many weeks and days I was pregnant. Now its hard for me to remember the week. I guess with the horrible morning sickness I was just counting down the days til I got better in that magical week 17. The deadlines that I looked forward to at the beginning were so close because I was always wondering if I would make it to the next day and hoping that today would be the last day I was sick. I'm losing track of the weeks now because I'm waiting for that day that seems so far away, August 2. All I have to look forward to now are doctor's visits and registering for baby stuff at Babies R Us and Target.

But I'm keeping myself occupied by trying to get the nursery in order. I didn't realize how far behind I was until I noticed that a friend of mine already had hers completed a few weeks ago, and she is only a month ahead of me in her pregnancy. During my lunch break, I pore over everything on the BRU website, reading reviews and wondering if people actually register for some of the stuff that BRU tells you to register for. Some of it seems so embarrassing that I would much rather buy it for myself. My brother has promised to get me that kind of stuff though, so no need for me to worry I guess.

As I'm registering, I constantly wonder who came up with the stupid idea that girls have to wear pink and boys have to wear blue. Adult women wear blue and adult men wear pink. Why can't they do it as babies, too? And why do all of the clothes for girls have flowers and butterflies on them? Anyone who knows me knows that I would have a hard time putting something like that on my child, yet I know I'm gonna receive stuff like that for her. But my mother reminds me that it will be better to put my daughter in pink clothes, otherwise people will think she's a boy because you can't tell what a baby is just by looking at it.

It Must Be In The Water

Chris pointed out to me how long it has been since I've posted, so I guess its time to update.

Most everyone knows by now thanks to the diligent efforts of Virginia and Daddy, but for those of you who didn't know, Chris and I are expecting a baby in August. We found out its a girl, but we don't have any names picked out yet. My family was really hoping for a boy, just to switch things up a bit. Gray was the last boy born in my family. And before you say "Oh, that's not too bad," you need to know that my brother is 27 years old. My grandmother will have 7 great-grandchildren in August, and they will all be girls. How boring.

The only downside to my pregnancy so far has been that I won't be able to partake in the festivities of my cousin's wedding. She is getting married in July, and I will be big as a house by then. I'm hoping I will at least be able to make it to the wedding, cause what could be more fun than all the Turnages gathered in Oxford, MS for a shindig?