Can’t believe it’s been two weeks already…

Mother's Day flowers, they've grown a lot the past two months just like our two week old baby boy!

It seems like just yesterday that Ryan was born and now the little man is two weeks old already! Super crazy!

During the first two weeks of his life, Ryan has been a champ when it comes to doing what babies should do, which is eat, sleep, look around, pee and poop! The eating part is what he has down best because at our two week check-up Monday at the doctor, Ryan, drum roll please, gained one pound and one ounce since we were discharged from the hospital. On top of that, he grew a half of an inch for good measure. The doctor said that typically, they just hope that newborns will maintain their weight so the fact that Ryan has grown so much is pretty impressive! And yes, I'm a proud Mama, can't you tell! :)

There have been a lot of other milestones during the first two weeks of his life too. The biggest one of them all is how he holds his head up during tummy time already and even swings it from side to side. Then, when he’s about done holding up his head, he’ll plant his face in my, or Dave’s chest, and sigh from all the energy he just exerted. It’s freaking hilarious. I mean, he’s like all over the place and then wham, face plant! He’s also starting to recognize our voices and loves to look around as much as he can to check out what’s all going on. He even keeps himself occupied when we’re not holding him and will sit in his swing, or in his boppy, and will look around, just chilling. I mean, he’s so easy going that sometimes I wonder if he’s mine since I’m so high strung and always need to be doing something! LOL! 

My annoying bathroom friend!

Speaking of being high strung, it’s been extremely hard for me to just relax these last two weeks to focus on healing. However, I’ve done my best to calm down and not just go, go, go all the time. Dave has helped me get as much rest as I can, something that is very helpful when your body needs it. The first few nights we were home, he stayed up with Ryan and I slept like eight hours straight both. It was heaven to one, not be at the hospital and two, get a bunch of uninterrupted sleep! Thanks dear! I think that overall, my body has bounced back pretty well from being pregnant and for the most part, I feel pretty good. When I first came home, I was definitely hurting and was extremely uncomfortable. Now though, things have gotten a lot better and all I can say is, they, being all the medical professionals, don’t really tell you what you’re really in store for after you have a baby! There is bleeding to deal with, cramping, bloating that makes it hard to walk around, pain in places you didn’t even think you could have pain, and not to mention how you have to carry a freaking squirt bottle with you everywhere! Why? Well, after birthing a baby, a woman needs to rinse herself off with water every time she uses the restroom. Yes ladies, after you have a baby, you have to make sure you’re clean after you pee, or poop especially, because if you don’t, you could get an infection and then it will take you even longer to feel normal again. I’m on my way to feeling normal again, yet, it’s going to be quite some time before that actually happens, I’m sure! Oh, and speaking of poop, it’s scary after you give birth and that’s all I’m going to say about it due to the fact that I don't want to freak or gross anyone out!

Anyway, sorry for the tangent, but I needed to vent a bit! :) With that said, I want to go back to what I talked about at the beginning of this post and that is that it seems like just yesterday Ryan was born. It's just so surreal how fast time is passing by. Like, I was just in labor and now, he’s becoming his own little person. Hopefully, the rest of his growing up doesn’t fly by and it’s getting to the point where I don’t want to take my eyes off of him in fear that I’m going to miss something. Pretty soon, he’ll be rolling over all by himself and then before we know it, he’ll be walking, talking, on his way to preschool, and then he’ll be driving, graduating from high school and will be on his way to college. AHHH!

Okay, before I freak out even more about time flying by, I better shut-it down for today and go oogle over my little guy while I have the chance! Until next time, it’s Carla the tomboy, and new mom, signing off!

Baby Ryan is here, baby Ryan is here, baby Ryan is HERE!!!

Okay, so it’s been a bit since I’ve posted and I do have a very, very, very good reason for why I haven't been able to post. What is that reason you ask? Like you haven't already guessed, but that reason is because baby Ryan is HERE! Look at the little guy, isn't he cute:

Ryan's going home from the hospital outfit! Nike all the way1

Ryan Charles Lee was born on Sunday, July 8^th at 2:26 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. I experienced the first stages of labor for about a week prior to his birth and was actually at the hospital on two different occasions before I “officially” went into hard labor on Sunday morning around 3:04 am. If you’re wondering why I remember the time, well, it’s due to the fact that the pain I was having completely woke me up and the last time we went into the hospital the doctor told us to time everything out to the second to make sure I was really going into labor. So, I wanted to know exactly when the pain started and after three hours of constant intense contractions, we made our way over to Aurora and eight or so hours later, Ryan finally made his way into this world!

I’m not going to lie; labor was tough and something that is very difficult to describe. It was gross, it was uncomfortable, it was intense and painful, and it was at times completely unbearable, so much so that I didn’t think I was going to make it through it. I even got all the drugs that were available to help with the pain, yet that only took the edge off and what really was unpleasant was how the epidural they gave me didn’t quite work like it should have. Not sure if that was the anesthesiologist’s mistake or what, but half of my lower body was well aware of what was going on and at one point, I was in total agony and the nurse actually brought the anesthesiologist back into the room to give me another dose. That helped a little and every 15 minutes; I was able to press a button to give myself a little more pain medication. Let’s just say, I kept pressing that button even when 15 minutes hadn’t passed. To the women who did, and are planning do this, without those pain medications, I salute you! I couldn’t even imagine what it would have felt like without getting those drugs!

When it was time to finally push, I was totally ready for everything to be over and I went into full blown athlete mode, forcing myself to give it everything that I had. I wanted Ryan to be here, so, I dug deep and pushed with all the energy I had left. After 20-25 minutes of pushing, Ryan was on the verge of being born. However, my body wasn’t quite cooperating and we needed some help from the delivery doctor who used a vacuum and an incision to basically get Ryan out. As soon as the incision was made, which Dave told me about later, Ryan was born. It was a moment in my life that I will never forget. Seeing him there, in the doctor’s hands was so surreal. In seconds, Ryan was whisked away by the on-call NICU doctor for a quick check-up since the umbilical cord was actually wrapped around his neck. The check-up took like two seconds though given that Ryan was fine and a few moments later, he was in our arms. His eyes were wide open and the little guy didn’t even cry. What a trooper. He went through a lot too ya know! Being able to hold him and love him for the first time was, again, another moment in my life that I will never forget and I’m getting choked up writing about it. Ryan is a little me and a little Dave all wrapped up into one. Man, life is so precious and beautiful. All the pain and the labor and the entire pregnancy was worth it when we got to hold him. :)

Ryan will be a week old tomorrow and there is so much more I want to write about, but with a newborn commanding my full attention, my schedule has been a little filled up at the moment. :) Before I go, I do want to thank the staff at Aurora. All the doctors were completely awesome and the nurse, Lisa, who guided me through labor process was completely amazing. There were a lot of other caring nurses who helped me recover as well and only one that I wasn’t all that thrilled with. Aside from that, my labor experience was an all-around good one, especially with my husband by my side. 

Dave and Ryan taking a little nap yesterday.

Thank you dear for your support and for helping me through it all. Your coaching during the delivery of our child and everything that you have done since then has been so wonderful that I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to thanking you. I love you so much dear. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you! I also want to thank my parents, my brother, Dave’s kids, and all our friends for their support as well.

With that said, I’m going to have to shut off the computer for the day. Ryan is due for a bottle any minute, but check back soon because I there are some fun posts coming up about a whole bunch of interesting stuff that I want to pass along! So until next time, it’s Carla the tomboy, and the new mom, signing off.

Birthing class scheduled…

I registered to attend a Preparing for Labor Birth and Beyond class today at Aurora Hospital and I must say, doing so is causing me to freak out a bit. Nope, I’m going to be honest, registering for this class is causing me to freak out a whole big bunch because it means that I’m going to be a parent sooner rather than later.

To be responsible for a whole other little life is something that I’m not going to take lightly and the fact that taking on that responsibility is going to be a reality really, really soon is starting to hit me. I’m excited for it and at the same time, a bit unnerved by it given that I have no idea what to expect. Is it going to be hard, is it going to be easy, or is it going to be somewhere in the middle. I just don’t know and because I’m a bit of a control freak, that not knowing part is what really gets me! So at this point, I’m going to heed the advice of someone who posted on my Facebook page a few weeks or months ago now and that advice was to not have any expectations at all. By not having any expectations, there won’t be any disappointment or upheaval, so, that’s what I’m going to try to do. Trying being the key word :0)

As for not having expectations, that’s not something I’m going to be able to do with this Preparing for Labor Birth and Beyond Class. Therefore, I’m going to speculate away. I know that I’ll probably end up becoming completely mortified by all of the information that’s going to be presented to me. Some of the topics that are going to be covered during the class include what’s going to happen in labor, options we’ll have for things, coping with labor, what caesareans are all about, and post-birth recovery. Dave is obviously going to go with me and all I can do is picture a room full of big bellied women with a man at their side who end up falling on the floor when they hear about what’s going to happen. AHHHHHHHHH! And as I scream AHHHHHHHH in my head, little Billy Bubby just kicked me in the diaphragm! Way to let me know you’re there little man! Or, maybe he’s freaked out about the birthing class too, who knows. LOL.

Anyway, I’m sure the class is going to be a treat and I’ll definitely share about how it all goes down afterwards. So until I blog again, it’s Carla the freaked out tomboy saying farewell!