Eden, the 2-Month Old!

2-Month Check-Up
Wow, Eden is 2-months old already! And oh, how she has grown! Here's her latest stats:
Height: 23 1/4" (75th percentile)
Weight: 12 lbs. 2oz. (75th percentile)
Head: 15 1/2"


That is a weight gain of 2lbs in this past month and growth of 1.5". Eden checked out great and had her first shots. She cried a lot, but I was able to nurse her right away so that calmed her down. When Addison had her first shots, she slept the entire afternoon afterwards - I was hoping that for Eden, but instead, she was very fussy and wanted to be held most of the rest of the day. She did feel warm so I gave her a little Tylenol but she does not like that at all!
Her next appointment is in 2 months when she will receive a second round of shots.


Eating
Eden is a good eater. She eats fairly often - usually every couple hours and eats for about 20-30min. She does spit-up/vomit a lot but since she is gaining weight just fine, there is no concern...Just annoying/messy for Mommy!
I originally thought the cause of the projectile vomit was when I'd eat peanut butter, as that seemed to be an issue with Addison too. But I've given up peanut butter, and with Eden, these "belly emptying voms" occur at all times of the day so there's not one consistent food source I can chalk it up to. The only thing I can think is that she may be overeating. Like, when she eats for a very long time or has two feedings close together. So I'm trying to not "top her off" if she falls asleep during a feeding and try to delay feeding her again if her last feeding was less than 2 hrs ago. In this past week it has improved - so either she is growing out of it or it really is because of over-eating. Whatever, I'll take it - fingers crossed!
She has had to drink expressed milk from a bottle a few times when I've been out and she's done just fine, which is great as I will be returning to work in 2 weeks and she will need to eat from a bottle at least 3-4x while I am gone. We haven't had to use formula at all yet to know how she takes that. I am hoping we won't need to supplement with formula at all but I'm not sure how pumping at work will go, if I'll be able to provide enough for her. I've got some bottles frozen as back-up, though!


Sleeping
Eden's sleeping schedule is not entirely consistent yet, but she is getting a bit more on a schedule and we will need to establish a better routine once I go back to work in a couple weeks. For now, she's usually up til about 11pm. Her crabby time is from 9pm-11pm when there's not much we can do to get her to stop crying for long. She typically eats 2-3x between 8pm and midnight. If she eats closer to midnight then she doesn't eat again until 4am or so, but if her last feeding is earlier, then she tends to wake around 2am. She always wakes up around 5-6am to eat then sleeps solid for another few hours, til 9am at least. But in that time, Addison wakes up in the 7 o'clock hour so there's not much of an opportunity to sleep in :)
Eden used to take a long nap in the afternoon from the day she was born. That has dwindled and now she only naps for that stretch of time if we are out and about - which typically that is when I am out running errands.
So our goal is to establish a better nighttime routine around 9pm or so, after we get Addison to sleep and if she eats around 8 or so,that is good timing. To give her a bath every few nights, get her in her pj's, sit with her in the rocker with the music playing in the dark for a bit, and then lay her down. She still sleeps with us at night and we rarely ever are able to "put her down" to sleep. That would be a great improvement if we could get to where we lay her in the crib around 9pm to sleep until she wakes up for her next feeding.


Smiley
Eden sprouted her first smile around Week 5 and by Week 6 she was smiling on command. She is very smiley, often smiling all on her own but she is also very interactive and will smile back often to our smiling faces or if we say her name or sing to her. We've been able to get several pictures of her smile. It's a great reward to start getting to know her personality aside from just crying.


All in all, Eden is very easy-going especially around Addison who can be pretty loud and in her face. Usually, Eden just smiles and wiggles happily when Addison is bouncing around, singing and dancing in her face.


By the next entry,  I will already be back to work and Tim will be the primary caregiver of the girls, so he'll be the one to know the schedules and quirks better than me. I'm sad to be away from the girls for 9 hours a day, but it's a very easy transition to Tim staying home as there's nothing he needs "training" on. I've been keeping him posted on some tricks I've learned or things that don't work.
This has been a great maternity leave - I've done a lot with the girls but of course I feel like I didn't take full advantage of my time off as far as getting other projects done. But there's no comparison to simply spending time hanging out with Eden and Addison day in and day out.

1 Month Check-Up

April 19 (5 weeks old)
Eden's 1 month Doctor's appointment went very well. All this eating she's been doing has paid off so that makes it all worthwhile. Despite all her best efforts to keep the weight off (as in, she voms a lot!), Eden is gaining weight and growing, growing!


Weight: 10lbs. 2oz.
That is a weight gain of 2lbs. 4oz. since birth, and 2lbs. 10oz. since her first Doctor's appointment when she was 5 days old. This is great weight gain and puts her in the 75th percentile. To compare, Addison gained 1lb. 13oz. in her first month and weighed 8lbs. 13oz at her first appointment.


Height: 21 3/4"
At her first Doctor's appointment, they measured her as 19 1/4" even though the hospital measured her at 20". To stay consistent, we'll go by the pediatrician measurement to measure growth. So that is growth of over 2"! She is also in the 75th percentile for height. 


Head: 14 1/2"
Eden's head size measures in the 40th percentile.


Eden checked out great at the doctor. She goes again May 17 and will receive her first shots! 


Big Fat Baby!
It could be that with Eden being our second baby, we know how tiny little infants can be -but Eden just seems really big! She already feels heavy and sturdy and I can't believe just a month ago she was small enough to fit in my belly! It took longer with Addison, who, yes, was a whole pound smaller than Eden, but I remember her feeling so fragile and tiny in the first couple months. Again, perhaps we can chalk this up to being experienced this time around.


Man Vs. Food, Baby Edition (Baby Vs. Boob?)
Overall, Eden has been thriving and a pretty easy going baby. She gets crabby at night, but often times this is because she wants to cluster feed so at first we don't think she could be hungry since she just ate less than an hour ago, and try other methods of soothing her - but in the end, it's just Mommy she wants! 
It's hard now while I'm on leave since Tim wants to bond with her at night and that would work out nicely for me to get some things done around the house and be able to put Addison to bed (which end up usually being Tim's job). But once I go back to work, this cluster feeding and needing Mommy in the evening will be beneficial as I will be home to nurse her and bond with her since of course I will miss her! 

Often times she has a long stretch of sleep in the afternoons, which will be great when I'm back to work and Tim is home - to give him a break and have a longer stretch between feedings so she doesn't need as many bottles during the day. Hopefully she will keep this schedule up! Typically she eats every 2 hours so it can be pretty demanding. She has started sleeping for longer stretches at night. Last week, we even got one night of solid 6 hours! Typically the longest she goes is 4hrs. She eats around 11pm and I fall asleep after that, and then wakes at 1-2am then sometimes not again until 5-6am but many times wakes up again at 4am and then again at 6-7am. So some mornings I can be a zombie when  Addison comes bouncing in my room between 7-8am. This of course will be hard once I go back to work too as I will need to be up by 7am. Crossing fingers that Eden starts sleeping longer through the night in the next few weeks!


I will be going back to work after Memorial Day weekend, so I'm just enjoying my time with my girls now as the time flies by!

1st Doctor's Appointment

March 20 - One Week Appointment
Eden checked out great at her first appointment with the Pediatrician.
When she was born, she was 7lbs 14oz and 20" tall. She lost some weight of course while we were in the hospital and weighed in at 7lbs 8oz at the first doctor's appointment and they measured her height as 19 1/4".
This puts her in the 50th percentile for weight and between 50th-75th for height. Her head is 13 5/8" which is between the 25th-50th percentiles.


Eden's First Days
In the first week with Eden, she was more independent (if you can even describe an infant that way?) than Addison. In my time in the hospital with Addison I had to hold her most of the time, even for sleeping. Eden, I was able to put her in the bassinet to sleep, only getting her out to feed her. She was quite the night owl in the hospital and first nights at home. Her long stretch of sleeping was in the afternoon. This worked out well for visitors as it allowed everyone to hold her easily without any fussing or me having to take her away for a feeding.


Mini-Monica, Mini-Tim or Mini-Addison?
The moment Addison was born, Tim & I thought we were looking at Addison all over again. But even by later that night, we could see the differences. Her complexion was darker and Eden has stronger eyebrow features. In general, her expressions are more serious and she seems to study faces and items much more intensely than I recall Addison doing.
We still don't know what her eye color is, it changes several times through the day. There is a strong resemblance to Addison, despite some of the small differences. Her head shape seems a little less round like Tim's & Addie's, same with eye shape. Nose and mouth are hard to tell this early on. But even in the first few days, it was less of who she looked like - more that she just starting looking like her own little Eden self!

The Arrival of Eden Diane O'Neill

It's March!
The first weekend of March, we were ready for Baby Punkin's arrival. The closing on the sale of my company (and celebration) had occurred on Friday, 3/2 so it was good timing for a last day of work.
However, that weekend I did come down with a bad cold so I was hoping the cold would pass or the baby would wait a few days because going through labor with a bad cold did not sound fun. I spent most of the Saturday in bed and sleeping, since there's really no drugs a pregnant lady can take for a cold. I did have a few contractions on and off throughout the day, but at night while watching TV, they became more consistent. They were about 10min apart for almost 2 hours. After those 2hrs I was going to start actually tracking the time (writing it down)  - and then POOF! they were gone.
On Sunday, I was still feeling sick, but antsy so wanted to get out of the house and try and get this baby on the move. It was cold and windy, so we took Addison to Stratford Square Mall. Tim took her glow-in-the-dark mini-golfing and I walked around for a good hour or so. I experienced contractions here and there, nothing very painful and not at all consistent so I knew it wasn't the real deal.
That entire week at work, both Tim and I were constantly asked by coworkers, "you're still here?" or "No baby yet?" - so of course that just added to our own impatience. I approached each day at work as it could be my last - which lead to very boring days since I wasn't about to start any projects and I had worked ahead for the several weeks leading up to my due date, so I didn't have anything due either.
Yet, each day passed and there was no baby. Didn't really have any promising contractions to note and so we set our sites on the upcoming weekend.


Due Date is Here
Armed with the knowledge (myth) that 2nd babies tend to arrive early, Tim and I couldn't believe we had made it to the weekend before my due date and Baby Punkin was still not here. With Addison, I was 4 days early so that would by Sunday, March 10 for Baby Punkin. That entire weekend there was very little activity from Baby Punkin. I went for 3 walks that weekend, totally about 4 hours of walking. My body ached, but just from the activity, not signs of labor. It began to feel as though Baby Punkin was never going to come. On Sunday night, we sat in disbelief that we'd both be returning to work the next day - and I had the awful feeling that I would finish out that whole week at work! At work, I had March 12 (Monday) on my calendar as the first day of my maternity leave so I could plan my work load around that and provide coworkers with the estimate of when I'd probably be gone. So it was hard to be at work on that day. On Tuesday, March 13 - I started feeling mild contractions after lunch. I didn't pay much attention for the first hour, but around 2pm I started to keep track. By the end of the day, the contractions were only about 5-7min apart. They weren't too strong, but definitely tightening. I texted Tim to warn him and he mentioned it to Lorie when he picked up Addison - that we may be dropping her off in a couple hours before bedtime. I got home, ate dinner while having a few more contractions, but then by 7pm - they were gone. This false alarm made it even harder to be at work the next day on my  due date. I was honestly shocked that I was seeing "March 14" on the calendar without Baby Punkin already in my arms.
I began preparing myself for the possibility of needing to be induced. Even though I had made some progress at my 40-week check-up, I had false alarms before so didn't want to get my hopes up.


Fashionably Late?
The night of my due date, I fell asleep wishing that I'd wake up in pain. But, no dice. My alarm went off and I got ready for work just like any other day. Finally, on my way to work, I started feeling contractions. Without paying close attention, they seemed to be about 5-7 minutes apart again. But of course I'd been fooled before. I had some contractions through the morning, but it wasn't until around 11am when I was helping to set up our St. Patty's Day pot luck lunch that the contractions became more painful. I could still speak through them so no one was the wiser. After lunch - around 12:30 the contractions were more painful to the point where I was uncomfortable and I had to take deep breaths through them. I started timing the contractions around 1:30pm and they were 5 minutes apart, lasting about :30 seconds. It was 80 degrees that day so the office was very stuffy, adding to my discomfort. 
I was 90% sure these contractions were the real thing. They had been fairly consistent and getting stronger since 8:30am - so a good 5-6hrs at this point. At 2:30, as one final test, I went for a walk with a coworker. I continued to have the contractions about every 5 minutes during the walk but they were not as painful. But once we got back to the office a little after 3pm, the contractions were much stronger - to the point where I would have to stop what I was doing and breath.
At this point I decided to call it a day - even if this was just a false alarm. I textedtexted Tim that I was on my way - that was a little before 4pm so he was on his way too. The contractions became much stronger on the 20min drive home to the point where I was gripping the steering wheel and turning up the radio to distract myself.
I got home and took a nice shower and finished packing the hospital bag. At this point, I knew this was the real deal. While I was getting ready, I had to stop what I was doing every time a contraction hit and lean against the wall or hold on to something.
Tim got home at 5:15 and he quickly ate, changed and packed up Addison's bag. In this time, he was tracking my contractions which were now 2-3 minutes apart. We were waiting for Lorie to drop Addison off around 5:45 to tell her we were headed to the hospital. So when they got here we told Addison we were going to meet Baby Punkin and that she was gonna have a sleep over with her cousins! She was very excited and so were the kids. We gave her a hug and kiss and then grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital.


Power Hour
I didn't think that when we arrived at the hospital, that Baby Punkin would arrive just over an hour later! We were admitted just before 7pm and at that point I could still talk between contractions, though during them, I could not. I was examined right away and was at 6-7cm, which is how far along I was when we checked in with Addison. This time, I was doing much better at that point, most likely because I had only been in labor for about 11hrs vs. 30hrs+ with Addison.
The contractions were getting bad, but I wanted to hold off on getting an epidural, hoping I'd be able to go drug-free. Well, thankfully, it turned out that the anesthesiologist was heading into surgery, so it was a "now or never" situation to get the epidural, but it worked out perfectly! They still got me hooked up with an IV for fluids and the "just in case" there was an emergency and I'd need to receive drugs quickly. This was the worst part of labor because I am NOT a needle person and they had to stick me 2x in one wrist and once in the other before they could get it to work. That was agony! They tried to do it in between contractions but they were coming one after another at that point so it was just terrible!
Once that was done, the nurses left us alone for 20min or so. Tim was going in between holding my hand through contractions and getting the phone calls/texts out to our family letting them know Baby Punkin was on the way!
I started to feel a lot of pressure and felt like I was ready to push and told Tim to get a nurse to come check my progress - right then a nurse walked in anyway to check me. I was 9cm and right after the nurse checked me, my water broke. It was 8pm at this point and the doctor was not even in the room yet. 
The pain spiked and I felt the urge to push. I had to use all my might to breath through the contractions and not push since I still had that 1cm to go. A couple minutes later the doctor came in and began to prepare for delivery. He checked me and I was at 10cm, so it was Go Time!
The big difference this time, with not having an epidural, is that there was no controlled pushing. With Addison, the nurse would watch the monitor and I would feel pressure so they'd tell me to push 3 times, count to 10. Then I'd rest for 20-30 seconds and then I'd push again. This time, my body was doing the pushing on its own, I couldn't control it - just help the process along.  There was really no down time in between the pushing, and minutes later, after about 4 pushes at 8:14pm, Baby Punkin was here!


It IS a Girl!
We were both surprised that Baby Punkin turned out to be a girl! With Addison, I was surprised I was right that she was a girl, with Baby Punkin I was surprised I was wrong. But of course, none of that matters when we saw our new little girl for the first time.
While she was getting checked out on the exam table, she looked identical to Addison. Later that night in the Mother/Baby room, however, she only resembled Addison, yet already had her own look. Each day since we've been home with her she's looked less and less like Addison and just more and more her own pretty little Eden self :)

Worth the Wait
All that anxiety, depression and impatience brought on by waiting for Eden to arrive, washed away immediately. Looking back, to say she was only one day late is really nothing! I can already laugh at how much I had overreacted. Now we've been home with her for 10 days already and I can't believe it's been that long!
Infant care came back to us like riding a bike and we're already so used to being a family of four. Addison has adjusted wonderfully and is nothing but in love with her baby sister, and so are we!

Week #40 Check-Up

Week #40 (March 14)
Blood pressure: Normal
My progress: 3cm dilated and 70% effaced. Last week I was 2cm dilated and still 50% effaced (which I have been since Week 35!). 


At this appointment, I had an ultrasound to check to make sure Baby Punkin is still thriving in my womb and that there is still enough amniotic fluid. Everything checked out just fine and it was nice to see Baby Punkin again, although I'd much rather see him/her not on a video monitor but in my arms instead! Funny thing is the tech was trying to observe Baby Punkin's movements, but Baby Punkin was sleeping so the tech had to keep jabbing my belly to get him/her to move. Baby Punkin is so lazy! :)
After the ultrasound, I was hooked up for a non-stress test. This monitors Baby Punkin's heart rate and well as some mild contractions I was having. Again, Baby Punkin was sleeping, so I had to drink cold water and the nursed used a little buzzer on my belly to get Baby Punkin to move. Finally Baby Punkin had some activity so that we could pass the non-stress test, thankfully!


I have another follow-up appointment on Saturday to make sure Baby Punkin is still doing alright in there, and I am scheduled to be induced next Wednesday - March 21 @ 8am.


So while I am relieved to have made some progress, I'm still discouraged - feeling as though this baby will never come! The Dr. however, does think I won't make it through the weekend. But two weeks ago, when I got to 2cm and 50% effaced, the doctor I had for that visit said he thinks I would go on or before my due date.


Needless to say, I'm feeling a tad depressed over going this long. I truly did think Baby Punkin would be here no later than March 12. I can't believe I am seeing my due date of March 14 on the calendar today and I don't have a baby yet.
I think it's harder this time than with Silly Baby because at that time, I wasn't working so spent most of my time by myself. Now, I am working so everyday I get "you're still here?" or "no baby yet?" 5x before I even get to my desk in the morning, on top of all the inquiries from family and friends and of course my own impatience! Plus, there's the myth that 2nd+ babies come earlier, so especially since Addison was 4 days early, Baby Punkin seemed to be a no-brainer to arrive early.
I know Baby Punkin will be here no matter what in a week. But if I make it that long, s/he will arrive in a way I never pictured - I will be induced. Having an appointment and just walking into the hospital not even in labor to have my baby just isn't how I ever pictured it. And what if my body just doesn't progress? I've been progressing, but just so slowly for the last few weeks - I have the tremendous fear of this ending in a C-section,which would just break my heart. I know in the end all that matters is a healthy baby, but it's a special moment in our lives too and I want nothing more than to just go naturally.
A lot can happen in a week, so my fingers are crossed. But I do need to start mentally and emotionally preparing myself for being induced so that I can be at peace with it.


Well, my next post will either hopefully be the announcing of Baby Punkin's arrival or an update on my progress over the weekend.
Let's go Baby Punkin! The world is waiting to meet you!

Week #39 Check-Up

Week #39

Blood pressure: 120 over 78

My progress: 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. Last week I was "1-2cm", and this was a different Dr. So who knows, maybe she was just throwing me a bone that I had some progress or her measurement is slightly different than last week's doctor. In any case, not much progress!

On Sunday we walked around the mall for awhile, and that evening I did have a good number of Braxton Hicks contractions, some fairly strong and lasted about 30-seconds, so I thought maybe on Monday or Tuesday I'd get the show on the road. But, instead, those two days I felt virtually no contractions! 
I've gone for two walks on the warm days this week over lunch and we even went out for Mexican food last night, but it just doesn't feel like anything's going to happen this week.


With that in mind - the only "plan" we can have is if I go a week past my due date (3/14) and need to be induced. I will have my 40-week check-up next Wednesday (my due date!). At that appointment they will measure Baby Punkin to determine birth size, in preparation to be induced on March 21, 41 weeks. Then, I will have a follow-up appointment on that Saturday to check that everything is still ok to wait until the March 21 inducing.


So, for all of  you wanting to ask me the burning question of when Baby Punkin is going to come - the only answer I can give you is by March 21!

 

Baby Punkin Hospital Information

Northwest Community Hospital
800 W. Central Rd.
Arlington Heights, IL
847.618.1000
SEE MAP (intersection)
SEE MAP (zoomed out)


Visitors: Where to Go
All visitors should park in the Visitor's Garage, located on Fernandez Drive, off Central Rd.
Enter the hospital through the East Entrance #4 and take the Women's Center Elevator to 4-South-Labor & Delivery or to 5th Floor-South-Mother Baby.


I am moved to the Mother Baby Unit about an hour after delivery, and will remain there for 2 days. The day of birth is considered Day 0, so, for instance, Addison was born on a Wednesday morning and I was in the hospital until Friday afternoon.


Other Visitor Information
-There are no set visiting hours in Labor & Delivery (accommodating for an overnight birth)
-General hours for Mother-Baby are 8am-8pm
-No children under 12 allowed (except Addison of course). 
Note: I believe my last hospital had this rule too, but my nieces/nephew were able to visit just fine. May depend on how busy it is at the time of the visit and the nurses' mood :) There is a nearby waiting room, but if you have children and don't want to risk having to take turns coming into visit, may be a safe bet to keep them at home.


This will be where we will finally meet Baby Punkin and spend our first days with him/her. Of course, if you don't make it to the hospital to meet Baby Punkin, you are welcome to visit us at home in the weeks to follow :)