Links to Amazon are affiliate links.
Zach and I took the available classes and I read several books on the subject so we felt pretty prepared. Well, even preparation doesn't prepare you for the reality! My problem with breastfeeding really is that "they" make it sound easy. Every book talks about how wonderful it is and that it "shouldn't" hurt. With childbirth, everything makes it sound awful. People talk about how painful it is. Books discuss how to mentally prepare yourself. So when childbirth actually came I was expecting it to be horrible! This made it seem BETTER to me because it wasn't half as bad as I was expecting. With breastfeeding, it's been the opposite. I expected it to be easy, wonderful, and something I'd love. Instead, it's so so hard and I think people should go into it knowing it's HARD so you're prepared for the work and will therefore enjoy it more. I see why so many people give up because they expect it to be awesome and when it's tough they t...
I heard many, many horror stories about the postpartum period. I am not saying that I have had a textbook postpartum period, but this is my experience! I'm now 15 days past the date of delivery so I feel like it's the appropriate time to cover this stuff! I'm also including things you should buy for this stage as I wish I would have bought more in advance instead of having to rely on other people to run errands and get this stuff for me! Stomach: Everything I read before having the baby said that I'd look about 6 months pregnant after he was out of me. Well, I looked more than 6 months pregnant for sure because at 6 months, you could hardly even tell I was pregnant! I think all pregnant women want to know what the post-pregnant belly looks like! Well, you know me, I don't care...so here are some pictures of the belly after the baby :) This is 2 days after delivery: This is 5 days after delivery: And 15 days after! Not too bad...when I take him on walks no...
Before leaving the hospital they weighed me! I'm lucky in that I had my check up the morning I went into labor so I know exactly how much weight I gained overall. 39 lbs! Thank the Lord I had Kye the day I did or it for sure would have gone over 40 haha! Well when they weighed me I had lost 20 lbs in ONE DAY! So awesome! I had never planned on telling Zach my "number" but he was in the room when they weighed me and I said "Dang 20 lbs!" So he could do the math...let's just say it was a number I never ever hope to see again!!! Even though Kye didn't get done with his circumcision until later than planned and I had to feed him before we left and we waited a million years for someone to come cut our hospital bracelets off, we still got out of there before 9:00. I know a lot of people will think I'm dumb for coming home that late but I don't care. I really really wanted to get HOME and I'm so thankful I did! Mom, Mr. Rusty, and Mrs. Charlotte...
Disclaimer: I am not as good a writer as my wife. My Incredible Wife First of all I would like to talk about my amazing wife. When she puts her mind to it she can do anything she wants. When she came to me towards the end of the pregnancy and told me she wanted to do the Bradley method, I was nervous. The method meant more responsibility on my shoulders and I had to basically be a coach slash Drill Sargent in the delivery room. Well I LOVE control, but all the horror stories I have heard all my life about that room made me scared. I sure you all know the story off when and how we started the training for Bradley so I won't go into it, but my wife was determined. She began to read and train, and tell me to read and help her train and she never looked back. The most amazing thing about the pregnancy part was the fact that even with all the criticism, her conviction that she could accomplish the natural childbirth never wavered. I can not even count the times we tried to ex...
So after blogging, Zach walked in and I busted out crying. We decided to break the rules and go to Jacksonville for the weekend...I mean it's only an hour and a half away! After he left again I started looking up some cheap hotels and woosh...felt a bunch of leakage. I stood up to go to the bathroom and it was a TON more. Ran in there and took off my pants and it went through my undies (completely soaked) and my jeans. It was clear so I was pretty sure it was my water breaking! I called Zach and he came back home and smelled it and said it's odorless. I called the dr. just to check and while waiting for the call back I felt a lot more contracting. Nothing where I'm doubled over in pain but enough where it does hurt. OF COURSE Stacy is gone...and something I didn't think about when she left was that I may NEED her. When the dr. called me back she said I needed to go to the hospital. That is NOT my plan lady!!! I told her Stacy said I can stay home as long as it's cle...
Tomorrow I will be 39 weeks pregnant! I usually don't take pictures of my tummy every week but this week you can really tell a difference. If you compare these to the ones taken last week you can tell that the baby is lower for sure! Some changes I have noticed this week: My hands feel numb a lot and look a lot more swollen. Especially after I go walking. I haven't even tried to wear my wedding or engagement ring for a couple weeks now. I've gotten more stretch marks. I now have some on each side of my stomach and several small ones on my chest. Like I mentioned above, the baby has dropped more. Zach and I got back from walking Sunday night and I lifted up my shirt and felt an "emptiness" at the top of my stomach. Where I used to feel the baby's butt and legs pressing against me, I instead feel stretched skin over an empty void then, if I feel lower, I can feel the baby. So I thought that was a good sign! My feet, like my hands, are swollen. I do not eve...
I would say that this face accurately portrays my current emotional state: Am I crying? No. I'm not crying at all. In fact I haven't shed a tear except for that little hour span of time back on Friday I think. I am just very, very numb. I feel like I'm going through the motions but not really alive at all. I'm not mad the baby isn't here. I don't care one way or the other right now. It's hard to even make it feel like a reality that I will be having a child at some point. It's hard for me to even crack a smile or be nice to Zach (who totally doesn't deserve this). I feel EXTREMELY anti-social. I don't want to talk to anyone. See anyone. Even respond to anyone on Facebook. I have become a hermit. I don't even feel like leaving the house. Today I woke at 7:30 went to the couch and didn't leave there all day except to pee and eat. Literally. Finally I showered and I still don't feel any better. I think part of the anti-social feelin...
Yesterday I totally had a case of the pre-baby blues...if there is such a thing. I just felt so discouraged and frustrated and upset with the world! I have NOTHING to do to occupy my time and ended up crying feeling so lonely and isolated. I guess this is normal? I ended up having a good solid cry and after venting to Zach and Mom (through email) I did feel a little better. I laid out for about 2 hours and re-read one of my favorite middle school "chapter" books ( The Face On The Milk Carton) which put me in a better place! Plus it was SO nice out...warm but just windy enough to not be hot...so that helped. Ashley and I also talked for a long time and she made me feel better too. I may have felt lonely but I'm really not alone! I decided to quit thinking about being pregnant. I thought I'd just pretend like I'm "normal" Emily and that it would help me feel better...b/c after nine months of being the "pregnant girl" I'm soooo ready to b...
I realized the other day that throughout my pregnancy I haven't really had that many "pregnancy symptoms" or at least if I have had them I haven't noticed. Well, those days are over. I'm in the third trimester now and am being hit like crazy with a million different things to deal with here! First here are some updated belly pics. I'm going to try to take these more often because I think there are much more drastic changes in the size of the belly now! I'm 30 weeks and 2 days in these. Here are some of the changes I've been noticing lately: Baby's Movement: Before it was just kicking, and sometimes I'd feel a tough one to the ribs or something but now it's not really kicking it's JABBING. At pretty much any given moment if you felt my tummy you'd be able to find at least one really tight spot where Clover is pressing a foot or hand or something really hard against the wall. I can also feel hiccups (in the lower belly sinc...
