1 Month Old

June 4th 2010

*You can see more pictures of Kailyn by clicking on the Abramczyk Family Photo Album link on the left top side of blog*

Weight: 9lbs 1oz

Height: 22 inches

I have been trying to post this entry since last Friday after Kailyn's 1 month Dr. appointment with no luck. I am now typing while she is laying in my lap. What can I say, she is a baby that likes to be held. At least while she is sleeping. But as many of you Mommies know, sleep anywhere, even if on you, is better than no sleep. We have had those day's where she will not take a nap and be up from 11am until 10pm. NOT good days! lol

So let's start off with Kailyn's Firsts this month.

Smile: 5/09 Although now that we have seen her real smile just recently we realize those first few week smiles were just from gas! ;-)

Hiccups: These pretty much started from day 1. She gets them all the time just like when she was in Mommy's belly. ♥

Lost her belly cord: 5/27 (i was beginning to think it would never fall off!!)

First real bath: 5/27

First time away from Mommy: 6/01 Mommy went to get her eyebrows waxed

First bottle: (breast milk only) I forget the exact day but she was about 3 1/2 weeks old and she HATED it. We tried Playtex VentAire slow flow nipple. This is what the Lactation specialist recommended in the beginning as to not cause confusion so she would still breast feed. We waited a few days and then tried again. She is now doing much better. Thank goodness because Mommy has to go back to work in less than 3 weeks. :*(

First time Mommy and Daddy ate out: Forgot exact date but she was around 3 weeks. We went to Olive Garden for lunch. I fed her in the car when we got there and she slept the whole time! We still haven't ventured out for dinner as that is when she gets really bad from what we think is Colic.

First Party: 5/30 One of the Firefighters Chris works with had his daughters 7th Birthday. Kailyn did great. She slept most of the time, then woke to eat. Then she started to get fussy so we went home.

Kailyn's "Love's and Hate's"

She hates her pack n play

Loves her changing table

Loves looking at everything in her room

Loves being on her tummy

Hated sponge baths but....

Loves real baths (she loves being able to sit in the warm water because she hates being cold)

Love/Hate relationship with her car seat. Sometimes she is fine and sleeps, other time's she SCREAMS!

Loves going on the patio or outside if it's not to sunny.

Loves to sleep on Mommy or Daddy

Loves to hear the vacuum, her white noise CD or the blow dryer

Hates everything in the evening. Poor thing is just so upset during these hours

Hates the pacifier

Kailyn's 1 month appointment went great. She got the second part of the Hep B shot. She screamed, Mommy cried again. I also cried when she had blood drawn at her one week check up. The doctor said twice how impressed he was with her head control! Mommy and Daddy were so proud. Mommy was also proud of her weight gain. Over 2 pounds in 1 month! So happy to know Mommy's milk is doing the job! At her 1 week check up she was almost back to her birth weighing 7 pounds. I decided to go for another weight check when she was 2 weeks and she weight 7lbs 9oz!! 9 ounces in one week! Dr. and Mommy were very happy with this. She does love to eat and definitely has a strong little mouth!! Her doctor even said at her 1 month check up she has powerful suck! (he put his finger in her mouth) I said believe me, I know!! Breastfeeding was very hard in the beginning and even now still have our days. She is tongue tied (tight frenulum) so she was making Mommy's nipples (TMI) a bloody mess!! My Mom paid to have a lactation specialist come to the house our 2nd day home. This was my Mothers Day gift from her. And boy was it worth it!! She was great and gave me renewed hope which is what I needed at that point. The night before I had a meltdown and could not stop crying. Breastfeeding is something I always wanted to be able to do for my baby and I was in such pain and did not know what to do. But this lady helped. She had me use nipple shields while my nipples healed and then I stopped using them as I taught Kailyn how to latch on as best as she could even with the tongue tie. The lactation specialist suggested getting her frenulum clipped. When we asked her Dr. he said he didn't feel we should, but if we wanted to he could send us to an E,N,T doctor. We decided not to. We have our good and bad days. If she hurts me I just use the nipple shield again for a day or two and then we start again. After hearing her weight gain at her 1 month appointment it really does make everything worth it! =o)

Things have been pretty hard at time's this first month. At exactly one week old is when the Colic started. What is Colic??

Colic is a term used to describe uncontrollable crying in an otherwise healthy baby. If your baby is younger than 5 months old and cries for more than three hours in a row on three or more days a week for at least three weeks (phew!), chances are he's colicky. Colic isn't a disease and won't cause your baby any long-term harm, but it's a tough thing to go through for both babies and their parents.

Tough is an understatement! lol She usually starts her fussy time around 6pm and it lasts until bed time at around 9:30-10pm. The hardest part is that nothing we do can make her stop crying. And sometimes she will REALLY scream. She shakes her arms and kicks her legs. I have noticed she usually gets warm (probably from the crying and shaking). We have tried SO many different things people have suggested. Nothing works. Some things take her from a full scream to a low cry, but nothing really totally helps. As it says in books, Colic is an uncontrollable crying. Often my Mom will come over so we can eat or take showers. Otherwise we take turns eating. My Mom is great with her and Kailyn loves her. During the day my Mom has her smiling constantly. But at night even my Mom can't always console her. The only thing that can stop her crying is to pacify herself on me. Which ends up making Mommy VERY sore and we have been also told is a horrible habit to start. It's a shame she won't take a pacifier because I think that would really help soothe her during this difficult time for her. She will now take the pacifier sometimes during the day but still not in the evening. And yes we have tried EVERY brand. lol
List of things we have tried:
Gripe water
White noise
Blow dryer
Putting her on the dryer
Stroller ride
Colic cradle hold
Rocking her
Warm compress on belly
Car ride
Pacifier (she gags and spits it out)
If there is anything we haven't tried we are willing to try anything. Let us know!

During the day she is usually such a good baby!! Any of those things will calm her right down if she is fussy during the day. Colic usually goes away anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. It also usually starts around 2-3 weeks but with her it started exactly at 1 week old. So we are hoping that means it will be gone sooner. And yes I do watch what I eat. Plus during the day she is usually fine. If she shows signs that her belly might be upset we give her Mylicon and that usually helps.I think the only left I didn't mention is sleep. The most important thing! lol Well we had a rough start with that also, but we are happy to say she is now getting on a schedule.
She would only sleep on us the first few weeks. And since she was colicky once she fell asleep on us we would just leave her there. We even went out and bought a glider that a friend recommended since she hated her pack n play so much. No luck. She would nap in it during the day but that was it. I know people have mixed feelings about co-sleeping but once you become a Mommy, as many of you are, you will see you will be making your own decisions what is really ok for your baby. Even my Mom who was totally against co-sleeping ended up falling asleep with Kailyn on her chest when she stayed the night her a few time's while Chris was on shift. Then 2 weeks ago our friend Katrina suggested trying the Miracle Blanket. Now we had tried swaddling her many times but she would get right out of it. Even the Swaddle Me blanket she would get out of. Katrina brought us over this Miracle Blanket her daughter used so we could borrow it. So we gave it a shot. At that point it was getting really uncomfortable for me to only be sleeping with her on me. Not to mention I couldn't get into a deep sleep since I was constantly checking her. So we wrapped her up that night. You kind of feel bad because it wraps them pretty good. Almost like a straight jacket! Here is the video if you want to check it out.
http://www.miracleblanket.com/indexb.htm
It even says on the website great for Colic babies. She cried for about 10 minutes once we wrapped her and put her in her glider. And then she was out! For 3 hours!! And we had to wake her. Then at her 1 month appointment we asked the Doctor if we should wake her at night to eat. He said no. She will wake when she gets hungry enough. So we stopped and the next night she slept 4 hours. Then five!! She does still have to cry herself to sleep sometimes (Dr. said this was ok also) but once she is asleep she sleeps GREAT!! I would definitely recommend this blanket! Thanks again Katrina!! I would also like to thank my Mom again for all her help that first month. I only hope to be that helpful for my daughter one day. ♥
**You can also click this link to see mobile upload pictures of Kailyn**
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nicole-Magrone-Abramczyk/591022306?ref=search#!/album.php?aid=156221&id=591022306&ref=pb

Finally the end of Kailyn's birth story

I can't believe it has taken so long to finish!! Having a colicky baby leaves little time in the evenings for anything but holding Kailyn while she cries (usually from 6pm until bedtime around 9:30-10pm) and trying to comfort her. Then during the day we try to get things done around the house, ect..
Anyways back to her birth story. After they gave me the Pitocin I finally started to get some real contractions. They were bearable for awhile but after a few hours they started to get very intense. They were also so irregular. Sometimes coming one after another only a minute apart! By 10am I was ready to give up. I could barely walk, talk. I was so worn out from the intense pain. But Chris and my friend Lauren (she was helping coach also) pushed me to wait until 10:30am when the nurse would be checking me again. Telling me maybe we were in transition (7-10cm) and this was the worst part. Finally after what seemed like a few more hours the nurse came to check me. Barely 5cm. Over 10 hours after my water broke and just over 7 hours after Pitocin was started and still only 5cm. I was so disappointed and also felt that I just couldn't continue like this for another 10 hours or however long it would take me to get to 10cm. So I asked for the Epidural. So the nurse put in a call for the Anesthesiologist. Finally she came in to put in my Epi. My mom and Lauren had to leave the room but Chris was allowed to stay. I was having such bad contractions at this point one after another I was so afraid I would move if I got one while she was putting in the Epi. But when you have a needle that big being put in your spine you DON'T move!! lol AND I barely felt anything!! Maybe it was because my contractions were so painful but I didn't think it hurt at all. Well turns out that was a good thing because they ended up having to take it out and put in a new one less than an hour later because the first one got in a blood vessel and I could feel everything again. After they finally got the second Epidural working the nurse told me to try and take a nap so I could restore some energy for when it was time to push. Since my water broke at midnight it had been over 24 hours since I had slept. Well after hours of the most intense pain I have ever felt I fell asleep instantly. The nurse came back an hour later to check me and then I was awake again. After getting the Epidural I started to dilate quicker. Finally I believe around 3:45pm it was time to push.
If it wasn't for having the best nurse ever I don't think I would have been able to try as hard as I did. She was so supportive. She turned the Epi off right before I started to push so I could feel a little bit to push better. Usually it can take up to an hour to wear off. She helped me hold one leg while Chris held the other. And I pushed...and pushed....and pushed!! After almost 2 hours of pushing the doctor finally came to check things. Kailyn still hadn't even made it past my pelvic bones. I was also starting to swell really bad. The doctor let me push one time while he was there and I started to yell a little during this push because by this time I could pretty much feel everything!! It had been almost 2 hours since the nurse shut off the Epi. The doctor said, can you feel this?? I said YES! At this point he told us that he felt it was best to do an emergency c-section. She just wasn't coming out this way and after pushing this long she should have been out already. So we agreed whatever would get her in our arms safe and healthy.
He then left the room to set us up for an OR. I then started crying. Just for a minute. A C-section was the last thing I wanted but I knew at this point it would be best. It had been 18 hours since my water broke.
The C-section was not painful at all. Of course they started a new Epi and also gave me some morphine. I was scared but it all happens so fast. And it's crazy how you can feel everything. (but not painful) I could feel when they lifted her out of me. Then they called Chris over to see her while they were cleaning her and started sewing me up. Finally they brought her over to me. I couldn't believe this tiny perfect baby was really finally in my arms. They they let me try to breastfeed her for a few minutes before she was taken up to the nursery and I was taken to recovery. As soon as she found the boob she knew what to do.
Chris went with Kailyn and they finished sewing me up and wheeled me to recovery. They make you stay in recovery until you can lift both legs and your butt off the bed. My one leg would just not cooperate and I started to get very upset! I knew she might be hungry at this point and I just really wanted to see her! I kept complaining to the nurse but they have their policies and would not let me go. FINALLY they said they were taking me to our room. It was pretty late at this time so just Chris and his Mom were in our room. Once I got to the room a few minutes later they wheeled our beautiful little girl in. Of course she wanted to eat! And Mommy finally got to hold her again. ♥
Such an ordeal with the breastfeeding also but that is a whole post in itself. I am happy to say after bleeding nipples and everything I am still breastfeeding almost 4 weeks later and plan to continue.
I have added some more pics to Kailyn Marie album under our album link on left hand side of blog. Gotta go baby girl is waking up again! Time to feed her again.

**Special thank you again to my wonderful Husband for being such a great supportive coach. Also to my friend Lauren and my Mom for being there and helping me through it! It was quite a memorable experience and it wouldn't have been the same without you three there to help!♥**

Labor and Delivery of our Lil Pea.....FINALLY! ;-)

When friends said that a newborn will keep you busy they weren't kidding! And unfortunately they weren't kidding about the sleepless nights too! BUT the perfect beautiful little girl we created that I am looking at right now is all worth it! So let me get started before she wakes up again and of course wants to eat again. My new name is Mommy milk machine!
I will start with Monday, May 3rd. We went to have our post due date testing done @ the hospital. If you remember we were scheduled to go in Tuesday night to start induction and possibly have her sometime Wednesday May 5th. Little did we know Kailyn had other plans in mind for her delivery. We checked in to L & D triage area and I was hooked up to start the NST (nonstress test). Here is a pic from that day.

Next we went upstairs to Radiology to have the ultrasound done to make sure our Lil Pea was still ok in there. Everything looked fine, placenta was still good and I also still had a good amount of amniotic fluid. The tech told us her EFW (estimated fetal weight) was 8 pounds 9 ounces!! Of course that freaked me out! That's a pretty big baby. But of course we all know now that the tech was COMPLETELY wrong. They say they can be off by up to a pound. Well this one was off by even more! I should have known since the tech happened to be a man! lol
After that we went home and talked about what we would do last minute around the house on Tuesday during the day before we went to the hospital. Well Monday night I was on the phone with my BF until about 11:30pm. After we hung up I went to lay on the couch (at that point it was more comfortable than my bed). I was just drifting off to sleep finally when I heard a weird little "pop" noise. Then I felt a weird crampy feeling. I had no idea what that was all about! I even thought maybe it was my pelvic bone because she was getting so big! All of a sudden I felt like I really had to pee so @ 12:20am on Tuesday morning I got up to use the bathroom. Now for some TMI (I'm sure you knew this was coming! lol). As I was peeing it didn't stop! But I still felt like I was peeing and at the same time I knew there was no way I could be peeing that much. Finally I put my hand down there to see where this fluid was coming from. Maybe I was still half asleep, I don't know. That's when I realized this was NOT pee. That pop noise was my water breaking!!! And then I started to freak. I screamed Chris's name and can't believe he heard me as he was all the way on the other side of our house. He finally stood in the doorway half asleep still and saw me still sitting on the toilet pouring water out. Now there was water also on the floor too. I told him my water broke. And then his eyes popped wide open! Then he was gone and running around getting things ready. I had also text mailed my BF Dana who lives up north. She has had two babies recently and is one of my go to girlfriends for advice. She is also a nurse. She called me back and asked for my stats. I told her my water broke but my contractions were very mild. This happened to her with her 2nd child. She told me I should call my doctor but I might as well try to stay at home for awhile since she knew our plan was to try and labor at home as long as we could and then head to the hospital. She also told me our bodies continue to replenish the amniotic fluid so I would be leaking for quite a while. And boy did I! Before we left, Chris had to mop up the bathroom floor (he was a little grossed out!), I soaked up two bath towels AND 6 pads! Not too mention how much came out while I was taking a shower. Which I decided I needed to do before we go to the hospital. I had planned on washing my hair the next day before we went in for induction, which was obviously not happening now! So after washing my hair I started to blow dry it when I realized I wasn't feeling her move anymore. She went a little crazy after my water first broke but now she wasn't moving. Of course I freaked out. I had Chris get my Doppler which I hadn't used since I was probably 20 weeks pregnant. I didn't even know where to put it to find her. I finally found a real faint heartbeat and calmed down a little. This is when I realized we needed to go to the hospital. I was just too worried since my water broke and my contractions were still very mild that things weren't progressing as they should be after your water breaks. Also when I called my Doctors office the service said to go to Labor & delivery and then they will call the on call physician. So I still wasn't even sure what my doctor had to say about my water breaking. I finished getting dressed and we got all our bags together and headed out the door to the hospital.
Once we got there we went in through the ER (because it was 2am). They then sent us up to L & D triage where we had been just been the morning before. After they confirmed my water had broken they found us a room and sent us over to the Labor and Delivery floor. Once there the nurse's came in and took some blood. Then one of them checked me. Barely 2 cm dilated!! And it had already been almost 3 hours since my water had broken. She then said she would have to call my Doctor to find out the next step. She said they would probably want to start Pitocin. And this is when I had my first cry. Pitocin was the last word I wanted to hear since our teacher had told us to try and avoid this induction at all costs because Pitocin & Epidural often go hand in hand. This drug brings on contractions that tend to be very irregular and more intense and painful than natural labor. But because my water had already broken and I was still only 2cm dilated the doctor told the nurse to start me on Pitocin. And this is when the real labor began.

*More to come, time to feed and bath Kailyn*