The second week

I can't believe he is already two weeks old! It seems like yesterday that we were in the hospital getting ready for his arrival.

This week we took pictures at JCPenney's for Josiah. I am hoping to get them up and scanned soon to show how cute they turned out. In the meantime, you can look at the previews here. He is still eating like a lumber jack, and I think he is entering a growth spurt. I noticed one of his onsies was a little tight in the feet, he's been super fussy the last couple of days, and eating non-stop. I think he is going to be a tall young man.

Here are a few pictures from this week.

Until next post,

Labor, delivery, and our PRECIOUS MIRACLE pt.2

The epidural medicine was given around 8ish, but the weird thing was that it numbed all the way up past my chest. The Anesthesiologist said he gave me less than a normal dose, and that he would turn it off for the next hour to let the medicine wear off a little. Since I now had an epidural, I was confined to the bed. I couldn't even get up to go to the restroom. This is not what I had planned my birth to be like. In the meantime, my Dr. came by and decided to break my water bag (well, what little fluid I had). She checked me and said I was 3cm. Not much progress if you think about it.

So the Anesthesiologist came back and by then the medicine had worn off completely and I was feeling the hard contractions again. He gave me more medicine, but this time it only numbed half of my body. I could still feel my contractions on the right side. He said he could move the catheter, but I told him no that it was fine. In some way I felt like this was a compromise. I could progress, but still feel the pain. I know call me a Masochist.

And so for the next few hours I labored in and out of sleep, all the while my blood pressure going crazy, and his heartbeat dropping at times.

Tuesday, September 7 - Happy Birth Day
Around 1:00am the nurse came in and said because the baby is under a lot of stress, they needed to give me a saline solution infusion. Just basically giving the baby some fluid to help relieve some of the stress he was going through. I thought for sure that at any minute they were going to tell me I was going to need an emergency C-section....but God had His hand on Josiah the whole time. Joel and my mom watched over me and the monitors while taking short naps. This was a long process.

At 3:00am the nurse came back in and checked me and said I was 8cm. I woke up Joel and had him call my mom (she ran down to her car for a short nap) Whoo hoo! Finally!!!!!! By this time the epidural had worn off completely and I was starting to feel the hard contractions again. The nurse said she would check me again at 5:30am to which she did, and found me at 10cm.

Showtime- 5:30-6:57 am
Immediately she started making preparations for delivery. She called the Dr to tell her I was ready. Sometime during all this, I started feeling like I needed to push. The nurse told me not to push and just breath through it. Right...tell that to your body when it just takes over. The nurses were running frantic as me and another patient were ready to push at the same time, and the other patient's doc was not there either and they had to call the ER doc to deliver her baby. I waited for half an hour for Dr. Chandler to get to the hospital, all the while needing to push.

She finally got there around 6:15. During the time I needed to push, I felt like I needed to pass gas. I was mortified, and so I told my Dr. and nurse, "I'm embarrassed, What if I need to pass gas?" To which they replied, "Hello, we've all had babies"....One more embarrassing thing, the pediatrician walked in to wash his hands....and all I could think about was pulling down my gown. It was rather embarrassing. I know they say modesty goes out the window when you have a baby, but not for me. When it came time to push, the nurse told me "okay you're having a contraction, you need to push"...but I simply told her "No I am not having a contraction, and I don't feel like I need to push!" We went round and round until she finally let me push when I felt like it. I was grateful. She was worried about the baby as he had a BM in the womb.

And so it began...

I pushed for 45 minutes with the best labor coaches you could ask for; my husband and mom! I couldn't have done it without them. When I felt like I couldn't do it anymore and I wanted to quit (yeah right...like you could really quit in the middle of it all), they encouraged me. At 6:57 am, Josiah entered this world as a newborn baby. As soon as he came out, I immediately forgot what the pain felt like. It's like, I couldn't remember. It was the weirdest thing.

I can't say that my first glimpse of him brought me to tears, because it didn't (that came later, and by myself), but I was happy . It moved me more to see my husband teary eyed as they put Josiah (all green and alien looking) on my chest. Joel didn't know what to do when they took Josiah to be cleaned, and so I encouraged him to go with the baby. He was as proud a father as any. My total labor was 28 1/2 hours, but so worth every second of it.

Giving birth to Josiah was definitely an experience that will never be forgotten, and though there were many complications, he is healthy baby boy. My heart fills with more and more love every passing day for the two men in my life; my husband and my son.

Until next post,

The first week

It's amazing how quickly 7 days can go by. I can hardly believe that he is already a week old. Here is how his first week went:

Tuesday

We had almost 30 visitors at the hospital stop by. It was a long and tiring day, but Josiah and I got through it. He took to breastfeeding like a champ and had no trouble with latching. He was very alert and wanted to pay attention to everyone. Joel and I changed our first diapers without puking. Let's just say, love has a way of plugging the nose...(no really it didn't stink). One of the most memorable things was when Joel turned to me (when we were alone) and said "I'm in love" and "We should have had kids a long time ago". The transformation in Joel is amazing to watch. Josiah was having trouble with his blood pressure, and so they kept an eye on it. He had to go several times to the nursery to be monitored.

Wednesday

Our wonderful friend Siena made us breakfast. It was so good, especially when you compare it to the hospital food (though there really is no comparison). I made the mistake of drinking a Pepsi. Boy did I get a surprise. Later that evening/early morning, Josiah was up and I couldn't get him to stop crying. I tried feeding him, changing him, and I knew he wasn't tired, because he had just taken a nap. I tried everything!!! I was at my wits end, and close to tears, and so I called the nurses station, and told them my baby was crying, and I needed help. THANK THE LORD FOR NURSE REGINA!!!!! She was a life saver. She came in, and immediately said "Oh he's just gassy!" and she proceeded to massage his stomach. Josiah immediately fell silent. Apparently that Pepsi is what did it. I was so grateful for Regina. Josiah also failed his hearing test in one ear, and so they needed to re-test him in the morning. So we were not going to be able to go home until Thursday.

Thursday

We went home and was sort of rushed out. Apparently all the ladies decided to come in and have their babies at the same time. They were so packed that some of the ladies were laboring in the hall waiting for a room to be cleared. How sad! So needless to say we did not get a good going home picture. However I was glad to be back home. Sadie met Josiah for the first time, and she was not that happy. Curious yes, but not happy. I knocked out that night, I was sooooo tired. I think I went to bed around 6ish. Joel was a wonderful husband and took care of the baby as much as he could. My milk came in, and boy was that a blessing. He started feeling satisfied with his feeding. Josiah left the hospital weighing 6lb 2oz. for a loss of 8 oz. He also passed the hearing test.

Friday

I decided to venture out with a newborn. FAIL! I didn't realize how quickly a two hour window could be used up. I opted out of the Vitamin K shot in the hospital, and so I decided that I would just add it to my diet. My own personal reasons why I opted out. Well we were going out to get Vitamin K from the store, and decided to eat before....in the middle of us eating, Josiah was hungry too. So we had to cut out lunch early, and I had to feed him in the car. It was not a fun experience, and next time we go out, I will be better prepared.

Saturday

My mother and father-in-law brought us dinner. We also had Serena and the Lualhati's stop by at the same time. We had a mini-party as they all googled over Josiah. We gave Josiah his first sponge bath at home. He did not enjoy it. Also, a side note...I was able to fit my regular clothes again. It only took 4 days for my belly to go down. That's amazing!

Sunday

We went to church both morning and evening and Josiah slept through both services. It would be an understatement to say the people were happy to see Josiah....they were ecstatic.

Monday

We had his first Dr. appointment. He grew an inch (he is now 20 1/2" long) and went back up to his birth weight. I can't believe it only took 4 days for him to put on 8 oz. It was so funny, he needed to get naked to be weighed, and so when we took the diaper off, Joel said "I think he's gonna pee"...and sure enough, right all over the table he pee'd-not once, but twice. We also went by the Rushing's house to see Sis. Rushing. She broke her arm and had not been to church to see the baby, so we dropped by. We also went by Babies"R"Us and I found a killer deal on a BebePod seat. It's normally $59.99, and I got it for $22.98. Crazy Steal!!!

Labor, delivery, and our PRECIOUS MIRACLE pt.1

"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path."
-- Agatha Christie

Monday, September 6 - Labor day
I woke up with contractions at 2:30 am. I got up and decided to do some last minute cleaning, seeing as how I was not sleepy. They continued to come every 5-7 minutes apart. They were not that bad, but bearable...sorta like a menstrual cramp. Since Saturday's contractions only lasted a few hours, I figured it would be the same today, so I decided to wake up Joel if they continued on until 7:00 am. Well they did, and so I woke him up and told him that I had been contracting, and that if they continued we should go to the hospital around 9ish. I asked him to take a shower,and after his shower, would he mind timing the contractions for me so I could rest in between them. Of course he said okay, and after an hour of that I decided to get up and start cleaning the house/packing my bag and getting last minute things together. We ended up getting to the hospital at 11:15am. I was still hesitant to go to the hospital. I just didn't want to be sent away and be embarrassed, but Joel said it's better to be safe than sorry.

So we get there, and we are immediately hooked up to the monitors (baby and contraction) and for the next hour we are assessed and she checked me for dilation (1 1/2 cm). During this time, the machine also checked my blood pressure, and it showed it to be higher than normal. The nurse came in at around 1:00ish and said "Well since you're here, and the baby is overdue, we might as well send you downstairs and check your fluid"...and so we headed downstairs. To my further embarrassment, the technician was a male. However we got through it, and went back upstairs.

As we walked through the door, the nurse said to us, "Guess who's staying?"....at that moment, reality hit. We were about to have this baby soon; real soon! We decided to call my mom, as she is 3 hours aways. Apparently, I had low fluid. What should have been around 7-8cm of fluid was 3.5cm. Time to get the birth plan out right? Wrong!

And so preparations were made to get me into active labor with Pitocin. I told the nurse I did not want pitocin, but she told me that sometimes we have to think what is best for the baby, and the reason why we needed to get pitocin started was because we had such low fluid, and that was not healthy for the baby. So I consented.

Around 5:30pm my mom made it to the hospital, and boy was I ever glad to see her. There is just something so comforting about seeing your mom. Joel was getting hungry, and so I told him to go get something to eat. He went out to eat with a few friends (and they stopped by to say hello before heading out to bring me back my "After I have this baby dinner" of Chipotle) I was determined to have this baby before 10:00 pm...lol.

I labored for 17 hours (of which 5 were with the pitocin being increased every 45 minutes)before it started to get really bad. I decided to wait until Joel got back before I made any decisions. I wanted this birth to be as natural as possible, but the way things were going it was far from my birth plan and what I wanted. When Joel came back around 7:00pm, I waited another half an hour. The nurse came in to check me (only at 2cm...WHAT! You mean this pitocin isn't working?...all this time of laboring has been for nothing??) and said she needed to up the pitocin...I just couldn't handle it. My body was shaking so bad from the contractions, I was unsure how much more of the pitocin I could handle. She told me she had to up the pitocin in order to get my body to dilate or we would be laboring like this for 2 days.

I was left in a dilemma. Do I up the pitocin? Do I just get an epidural? Can I handle this? What about my birth plan? This is not what I wanted!!!

In the meantime, my blood pressure was all over the place and that kept making the babys heart beat drop and he was stressing out. I had to think about the baby. So I consented to an epidural....

I felt like a failure...all I did was cry through the whole thing and kept saying I did not want this. Joel was trying to be comforting, but it just wasn't working. Then in the middle of the needle being put in my back, my nose starts running. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am super self conscious....and so I asked the nurse for some tissue because of my nose. I am sure that they were all looking at me like I am weirdo...here this needle is going in my back, and all I can think about is my nose running...lol

Ten perfect little toes and fingers

Josiah Daniel Willoughby
Born: September 7, 2010 at 6:57am
6 pounds, 11 ounces
19 1/2 inches long


This picture is taken when he was minutes old.


He was 1 day old in this picture. What a dramatic change from the two.


He's perfect...but doesn't every mother think that about their baby?

More details to follow, I am super exhausted right now, but thought I should at least update something.

Until next post,

It's time....

Yay! We were admitted. Details to follow...

Playing the waiting game..."patiently"...lol

Well, it's been an uneventful weekend for labor, but have been glad that at least I was having some contractions. Here's how my weekend went:

Saturday, September 4th:
I had contractions for about 4 hours that were pretty consistent..but they stopped shortly after the 4 hour mark. So Joel and I went to my Dad's for an early Labor Day BBQ. While there I had more contractions, didn't time them, but they weren't that bad, so I wasn't too worried. Had a late dinner with friends, still more contractions, but nothing too painful, so I went to sleep. :(

Sunday, September 5th:
Went to church in the morning and evening. During the evening service I had contractions, but again, noting too painful. The difference with these though was that it felt like someone was pushing down on my belly. It was weird, but I got through it, and went to sleep later that evening.

Monday, September 6th:
Labor Day, hopefully it will be a true labor day for me...lol. Woke up this morning around 2:30 and started having regular contractions again. These ones are a bit more painful, but like I said, nothing too painful yet. They are about 7-8 minutes apart still...I'll see if they keep up till about 7 and then wake up Joel. If they are still regular, maybe we'll head over to the hospital to check our progress.

I just don't want to be one of those ladies who show up at the hospital and get checked and then sent home. That is so embarrassing just thinking about it.

Today just might be the day...hopefully.

Keep checking to see if there is any progress with the baby!

Until next post,

Nope...not yet

Title says it all. Grr...I know, I know. He'll come when he wants to...but quit playing with my emotions. I thought for sure that today would be the day. Oh well, guess it doesn't really matter. Besides, the day isn't quite over yet...just mostly over.

Well a few contractions this morning...

Not sure if this is it, or just false labor, but I have had regular contractions since 6:00am this morning about 7-8 minutes apart and for about 30-45 seconds long. They don't hurt, more like a menstrual cramp. Hope it is! Today would be a good baby to have this baby.

Check back often to see what's new with the baby!

Until next post,

We are officially due!

So today is our Due date. We are officially 40 weeks today, but no baby yet. I had a doctors appointment this afternoon. Another ultrasound to check the fluid, she said it was fine, and should be okay until next week. Fundus was measuring the same as last week at 36 1\2cm. His heartbeat was in the 150's again. She also checked me for dilation. I am at 1cm, and she also mentioned that the cervix is still thick, but she did not say the effacement. Not much going on there I guess. Then again you never know...

However, I made another doctor's appointment for next Tuesday. She will check again for dilation and also give me a NST test (see link for more info), and if the baby does not come on his own, she suggested that next Thursday we come in for inducement and hopefully by next Friday, we will have a baby in our arms.

I have been a little crampy today after my appointment...but nothing painful. I am hoping that he comes on his own. I do not want to have to be induced.

So check back often to see what's going on with the baby.

Until next post,