a month-old taco

I can't believe Lydia is already over a month old. In fact, she's five weeks old today! She has grown so much, too. Lifting her head is practically a piece of cake, and boy does she eat a lot. I would guess she's about nine pounds by now.



After three weeks of easy burps and seemingly drug-induced sleeps, Lydia's digestive system screamed, "Hey, I'm not ready for this yet!" and thus we entered the gassy stage. The Husband and I now work really hard to get out every last burp and sometimes that's still not enough, prompting Lydia to produce this nonstop wailing cry that absolutely tears at your heart and eardrums.



If any good is to find of my poor baby's gassy tummy, it's once she has worn herself out from crying, she will have a good, hard sleep of four plus hours. Last evening she slept from 7:30 to 12:00 with only a brief 'hold-me-now' moment.



I'm looking forward to the day when Lydia discovers her true superpower -- she can actually control her flailing arms and legs. Right now they have a mind of their own and their goal is to shake Lydia awake with their constant wiggling. Swaddling is her only defense.



A milestone was reached last week -- Lydia went with us to her first restaurant outing. She did wonderfully. It is no small feat to sleep while visiting an Applebee's during a loud lunch hour. She also visited the mall and Babies R'Us -- Mommy's favorite store.

She's also great for snuggling during movies. I think she'll be a snuggler for many years.

home with the taco

Lydia's been with us for almost three weeks now. Being home with her has been wonderful. In fact, so far it has been a bit easier than I expected. I'm not sure if that's because I had lower expectations or if Lydia is just an agreeable baby.

We came home late Wednesday night after she was born. The cats were ever so glad to see me, but they were stressed because I'd been gone so long and we brought home this screaming pink thing. The first time Lydia cried the cats scattered to the opposite ends of the house. Once Renton tried to reach through the cradle to touch her and The Husband gave him such a hard smack Renton saw stars. He hasn't tried that again.



The first night at home with her wasn't too bad. She was a very sleepy baby for the first week or so of her life, so we had more of a time trying to wake her up so she could eat. She slept for good three to four hour stretches the first night and I actually woke up rather rested.

The cats were much more calm the next day and we gave her her first sponge bath. At times she was not amused with the process.



Lydia had her first pediatrician's appointment that Friday and the doctors were slightly concerned that she hadn't started to gain weight yet. She was down to 6 pounds 3 ounces. They also wanted to make sure the little booty dimple she has wasn't connected to her spine, so we had to take her to Children's Hospital for a booty ultrasound the next Monday, then bring her back to the pedi's to re-weigh her.

Thankfully, her booty dimple is just that -- she did really well with the whole ultrasound experience. Her weight was back up to 6 pounds 10 ounces as well, so the doctors and us were very pleased.



During her second week Lydia became a little more alert each day. She began to focus more intently on our faces and was making tons of different facial expressions. Many of her expressions look just like her Daddy.

This week The Husband had to go back to work, so it's been me, her, and the two cats. At her two week appointment she weighed in at a hefty 7 pounds 5 ounces and even gained an inch in height!

The cats seem very used to her now. The main thing they really want is attention and loving which I try to give to them as often as I can. Whoever is holding Lydia tends to get a Hermione in their lap as well. Renton is happiest on his chair cushions.



The other day Lydia got her first piece of mail! It was from the government, of course -- every once in a while they can be quick with stuff. Inside was Lydia's bonifide Social Security Card, so she's officially here in the eyes of the U.S.A. I have a new number to memorize.

I do not miss being pregnant at all. I'm so glad she's finally here -- she's much more fun outside than she was inside. She never stops being cute. Hermione has finally met her match.

taco delivery

Now that we all know Lydia is here -- she'll be two weeks old on Monday! -- I figured I would write up how she got here. Be forewarned: this is the longest post EVER.

On June 10th at my OB's appointment my doctor gave me the option of inducing at 39 weeks because of my high blood pressure issues. My BP had been fine during the pregnancy but it could rear its head suddenly the closer we got to my due date. So we scheduled an induction for the morning of June 23rd -- The Husband's 27th birthday.

I had already talked to The Husband about the possibility of Lydia arriving on his birthday and he was fine with it. He said she would make a good birthday present.

Even though we now had The Date, the only people The Husband and I told were work-related. We weren't going to tell our family until she arrived. I'm a rogue, a rascal, a villain, a thief, a scoundrel and a mean, dirty, stinking, sniveling, sneaking, pimping, pocket-picking, thrice double-damned no-good son-of-a-bitch; I know.

And so we waited in silence for two solid weeks. The last weekend before the 23rd was LONG, but our friends unknowingly kept us amused with a barbecue dinner and a trip to the Dairy Queen. I watched the sun set behind Oak Mountain on the 22nd while eating my hot fudge sundae at the DQ. Tomorrow was the day.

We arrived at the hospital bright and early at 6:30 a.m. and were led to the delivery room, which was very nice indeed. I gowned myself up and climbed into the bed.


I got an IV and the labor drugs started to course through my veins. Soon after, my doctor came in and broke my water, which was the weirdest feeling. There was quite a lot of it and it just kept on coming out since the IV was constantly putting fluids in me. I felt kind of unsanitary.

Most of the day was just spent waiting. At 10:30 a.m. I went ahead and got the epidural. Getting that didn't hurt at all -- the worst part was the intense scrubbing the anesthesiologist performed on my back.

Around 2 p.m. I reached five centimeters. Soon after that I started running a fever so they hooked me up to antibiotics. Lydia didn't like the fever too much so they gave me some oxygen for a while.



At 5 p.m. I reached seven centimeters and my fever started to go down. I was starting to guess we would be well into the night before Lydia arrived. The time frame was starting to present a problem because people were trying to get in touch with us to wish The Husband a happy birthday. We were calling people back when we got a chance and were monitoring the answering machine at home, but we were about to hit crunch time soon when most people would try to call.

The contractions were getting more intense and even though I had the epidural, I could definitely feel them. They weren't painful, there was just a lot of pressure that got more intense. There was a point around this time that it went from intense pressure to pain very quickly. By the time the anesthesiologist arrived to give me a boost in my epidural, I was in tears.

At around 6:20 p.m. I was ready to start pushing. I got kinda scared at this point because THE TIME HAD ARRIVED and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do this part. The nurse gave me some instructions that went in one ear and out the other, and we started to push. Even with the epidural the pressure and urge to push was incredibly intense. There were a few times when the nurses had me rest through a contraction and that was even harder than pushing.

My doctor arrived and her and the nurses felt Lydia would arrive by the 7:00 hour, but that time came and went. I had read that the time involved in pushing would fly by swiftly no matter how long it actually takes, but I definitely remember the time it took. Near the end, I would just about fall asleep between the contractions, muttering about how tired I was. What was really wearing me out was holding my breath so long. The Husband was excellent -- he constantly told me how good I was doing, how proud he was of me, and how much he loved me. He was wonderful.

A little after 8:00 p.m. Lydia was very close to arriving but we had to wait 15 minutes for my doctor, who had go perform a c-section first. That was a very long 15 minutes.

The doctor finally arrived and there was a whirlwind of activity around me as the nurses got ready for Lydia. By this time I just wanted to roll over and go to sleep -- I was so incredibly tired. Finally, at 8:26 p.m. after five hard pushes in a row, Lydia decided to arrive. I had pushed for two whole hours. She came three minutes before her Daddy's birth time of 8:29 p.m.

As soon as she was out I felt soooooo much better. They cleaned out her mouth and nose and put her on my chest, and there she was -- my little baby girl. I was shocked at how much hair she had. The Husband cut the cord and then they cleaned her up, weighed her, and brought her back over.



It was a wonderful overwhelming feeling to have her in my arms. The tiredness went away completely and I knew the entire experience had been absolutely worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.



We finally got to call our family and tell them about The Husband's birthday present. Never have I loved my husband more than when I saw him holding Lydia and I could tell he had fallen completely, irrevocably in love.

I feel wonderful and accomplished.