Thursday, January 24, 2008
Photoshoot
The photographer we hired was nice enough to come to our house to get photos of Charlotte. And the shoot was fantastic! Proofs will be online early next week so be sure to check your email for a link and password! You can order a la carte 'til your heart's content!
Gammy & Granddad's Visit
Just wanted to let everyone know that we have uploaded some really great pics from Gammy & Grandad's visit (December 26, 2007 - January 1, 2008) and lots more!
Monday, January 21, 2008
One Month Check-Up
Just wanted to fill everyone in on Charlotte's one month check-up...she is now 9 pounds, 12 ounces and 21.5 inches long. Her clogged tear duct is healing nicely. And, the most amazing part - she turned over from her stomach to her back right in front of the doctor! Simply amazing!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Happy 1 Month Birthday!
Can you believe that it has already been one month since Charlotte was born? Sheesh. Time sure does fly.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Snow In Georgia
Some views around the house of actual snow in Georgia. This is quite a rare occurrence, people.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Funny Article
I had Stevens find this ESPN Magazine article online for me so I could share it with everyone - it's pretty funny...(Sports Guy & Gal column, December 14, 2007)
Since giving birth six weeks ago, I haven't picked up an Us Weekly, read pagesix.com or watched a movie from start to finish. My whole life revolves around nursing my son, or as I like to call it, "giving the boob." (We'll call it the GTB from now on.) With all the diets out there, I'm blown away there isn't a Hollywood Lactation diet. I mean, you lose 500 calories a day -- that's at least one sprinkles cupcake or a large Pinkberry with fruity pebbles on top! How come there isn't a breast pump for non-moms called the "Fat-Sucker" on QVC? If Britney had only known, maybe she would have given up the Vodka Red Bulls post-partem and hit the breast pump.
Unlike some new moms who wake up every two hours, I'm not losing much sleep because I sleep facing my baby. If he gets hungry during the night, I just pop open a button and he's ready to eat. Sometimes, I'll even fall back asleep for the rest of the night this way -- Bill calls it the "24-Hour Drive-Thru." Bill loves making breast-feeding jokes. If the baby is hungry in the morning, Bill shouts, "Give him the boobs benedict!" If he's crying in the afternoon, Bill says, "Give him the boobs marsala!" or the "boobs and chips!"
We have a good sense of humor about GTB in the Simmons family. Even when our daughter lifted up her shirt and tried to GTB her brother once, we thought it was funny and never considered having her see a psychiatrist. Another good thing about breast-feeding: When you leave your house, just bring a nursing frock and you're good to go. I know I'm upsetting the La Leche League here, but I'm in the Barbara Walters school -- you shouldn't GTB outside your immediate family unless you're being discreet. One of my male friends recently watched his friend's wife GTB right in front of him, without a frock, and couldn't even carry a conversation because he was so rattled. I felt bad for him, and not just because Bill would pass out in the same situation. Anyone who GTB's without a frock needs to get over themselves.
Lastly, you can multi-task when you're GTB-ing. In fact, I wrote this whole rant during a GTB session and probably burned 150 calories. Woo-hoo!!!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Recommendation
Just wanted to let you know that we highly recommend the Ultimate Wipes Warmer by Prince Lionheart. There is nothing more awful than a naked little lady screaming at the top of her lungs because something cold touched her tooshy...thanks Gammy!
Birth Story
I've been working on this for quite awhile...it all started on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007...
Stevens and I were headed to our weekly 9:45AM check-up (Week 39) and I just didn't feel quite right. I was irritable, uncomfortable and having odd cramps. As we were sitting in the second waiting room, a nurse noticed the look of discomfort upon my face and asked what was wrong; I explained and she sent us right in to an empty room. The doc arrived shortly thereafter and I explained, once again, to her what was up, to which she replied, "I think you are having contractions. Let's set you up to a monitor and check things out."
Sure enough, I was having contractions 5 minutes apart. But, I was only 1 centimeter dilated - argh! So they sent us to go walking with instructions to come back between 1 and 1:30 so they could recheck dilation.
Upon our 1:30 arrival I was still only 1 centimeter, maybe 1.5. As the doc was rechecking, I started to experience stronger contractions - more like 2-3 minutes apart. The doc explained our two options...
Going with option #2 (because we are 40 minutes away from the hospital in GOOD traffic), I was wheeled over, prepped and in my hospital bed at 3:15PM sharp. Stevens ran home to pack the dogs and a bag for himself. While he was gone the good doctor stopped by, broke my water and started to administer pitocin since there was still no change in dilation and my contractions were consistent.
Stevens returned just in time for my epidural. Mind you, I begged and begged the staff not to ring the anesthesiologist until Stevens came back as I was scared out of my mind to go through it alone - they offered me some real nice narcotics instead to take the edge off. Whatever narcotic they gave me really worked.
Around 6PM, the edge was surely back 100%, along with Stevens and I was more than ready to get the epidural. Let's just say, getting an epidural is unpleasant. It is not painful - the contractions while bent in half on the edge of your hospital bed are painful, but not the epidural itself. The most pain from the procedure were the little pricks for general anesthesia to numb the area. After about a half hour of squeezing Stevens' hand AND arm AND leaving marks that lasted for about 2 days I was able to rest painlessly - I didn't feel a thing.
So, we just pretty much chilled in our L&D room. I watched some of the DVDs that Stevens brought from home while he got some work done with his boss - they set up shop right next to me.
Fast forward to about midnight - I am starting to feel some pressure but nothing compared to before. My night nurse comes in to check my dilation and sure enough I am at 10cm. She sent for the doctor, who checks my dilation once more and 10cm sure enough - it was time to start pushing.
I really thought that streamers and glitter and balloons would appear out of nowhere since it was FINALLY time to push. But, no. It was simply just time to push. Just another day.
To wrap things up, I pushed and pushed and pushed for an hour. I was so exhausted - never felt anything like it. I was in tears and begging and begging for the doctor to help in any way. So, she made a deal with me - I was to push real super hard for another three rounds and then she would try the vacuum. Well, I did what she said and they, of course, had to prep for the vacuum. Three more pushes (and some pulling) later, our little lady finally made an appearance. It was simply amazing. And, you know what? I would do it all over again (of course, not for awhile just yet, but it really is so worth it).
Even better — she was born on her daddy's birthday. What better present could anyone ask for?
Stevens and I were headed to our weekly 9:45AM check-up (Week 39) and I just didn't feel quite right. I was irritable, uncomfortable and having odd cramps. As we were sitting in the second waiting room, a nurse noticed the look of discomfort upon my face and asked what was wrong; I explained and she sent us right in to an empty room. The doc arrived shortly thereafter and I explained, once again, to her what was up, to which she replied, "I think you are having contractions. Let's set you up to a monitor and check things out."
Sure enough, I was having contractions 5 minutes apart. But, I was only 1 centimeter dilated - argh! So they sent us to go walking with instructions to come back between 1 and 1:30 so they could recheck dilation.
Upon our 1:30 arrival I was still only 1 centimeter, maybe 1.5. As the doc was rechecking, I started to experience stronger contractions - more like 2-3 minutes apart. The doc explained our two options...
01. Go home, ride it out through the night and call her every half hour freaking out and return in the morning...
-or-
02. Get wheeled over to the hospital right then.
Going with option #2 (because we are 40 minutes away from the hospital in GOOD traffic), I was wheeled over, prepped and in my hospital bed at 3:15PM sharp. Stevens ran home to pack the dogs and a bag for himself. While he was gone the good doctor stopped by, broke my water and started to administer pitocin since there was still no change in dilation and my contractions were consistent.
Stevens returned just in time for my epidural. Mind you, I begged and begged the staff not to ring the anesthesiologist until Stevens came back as I was scared out of my mind to go through it alone - they offered me some real nice narcotics instead to take the edge off. Whatever narcotic they gave me really worked.
Around 6PM, the edge was surely back 100%, along with Stevens and I was more than ready to get the epidural. Let's just say, getting an epidural is unpleasant. It is not painful - the contractions while bent in half on the edge of your hospital bed are painful, but not the epidural itself. The most pain from the procedure were the little pricks for general anesthesia to numb the area. After about a half hour of squeezing Stevens' hand AND arm AND leaving marks that lasted for about 2 days I was able to rest painlessly - I didn't feel a thing.
So, we just pretty much chilled in our L&D room. I watched some of the DVDs that Stevens brought from home while he got some work done with his boss - they set up shop right next to me.
Fast forward to about midnight - I am starting to feel some pressure but nothing compared to before. My night nurse comes in to check my dilation and sure enough I am at 10cm. She sent for the doctor, who checks my dilation once more and 10cm sure enough - it was time to start pushing.
I really thought that streamers and glitter and balloons would appear out of nowhere since it was FINALLY time to push. But, no. It was simply just time to push. Just another day.
To wrap things up, I pushed and pushed and pushed for an hour. I was so exhausted - never felt anything like it. I was in tears and begging and begging for the doctor to help in any way. So, she made a deal with me - I was to push real super hard for another three rounds and then she would try the vacuum. Well, I did what she said and they, of course, had to prep for the vacuum. Three more pushes (and some pulling) later, our little lady finally made an appearance. It was simply amazing. And, you know what? I would do it all over again (of course, not for awhile just yet, but it really is so worth it).
Even better — she was born on her daddy's birthday. What better present could anyone ask for?
7 Hours
Holy cow. Charlotte slept a full seven hours last night. Of course, I won't hold my breath and wish for that every night just yet but, boy, it was refreshing!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Flickr Updated!
Just wanted to let ya'll know we updated our FLICKR site with lots of pics (use the link on the right to access)! We have also been working on a couple of posts and will publish those as soon as they are ready! We are all quite well and Charlotte is growing quickly — already up to 9 pounds!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
1st Post Preggo Purchase
So excited! Went out and bought my first post-preggo jeans! No elastic! Woohoo! Thanks for the help Mom! Lucky Jeans rock; everyone should have at least one pair!
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