Hudson's First Hospital Visit

Friday afternoon we had another dr. appointment to check Hudson's weight. At our appointment a week before that he was up 2 oz. from his last check, which the dr. said was ok, he just wanted to check in a week to see if it continued to go up. When we got to our appointment and weighed him he had actually gone DOWN another 2 oz. and was weighing in at 5 lbs 8 oz. Our dr. was on vacation, so we met with a different dr. at the practice who decided that we needed to go to the hospital and get Hudson hooked up to an IV for fluids.

I was pretty shocked at this response to the weight loss. Since it wasn't much, I just thought they'd have us start supplementing with formula to help his weight gain since he seemed to be breastfeeding just fine, I figured the reason he wasn't gaining was due to a lack of milk supply from me.

So we took the dr's advice and headed straight to Good Sam. We arrived and they checked his vitals and got us all checked in to a room in the Pediatric's Unit. The on call pediatrician determined there was no reason to hook Hudson up to IV fluids since he wasn't dehydrated, he just needed to get more calories in. We were relieved to hear this!

They started us on a strict feeding schedule at the hospital with me breastfeeding, then supplementing with formula after. The first night went fine and Saturday morning we expected to hear we'd get to go home on Sunday and spend Hudson's first Easter at home with family as we had planned. Unfortunately this isn't what happened. We continued a 3 hour feeding schedule through Saturday and the daytime nurse, Tristan was very knowledgeable and helpful in working up building up my supply. She started me with a breastpump and I started pumping several times a day to determine how much milk I was actually producing. We realized I was only producing about half of what Hudson needed, hence the reason for his weight loss.

Saturday night they weighed Hudson again and he was up to 5 lbs 11 oz, we were so happy to hear he had gained 3 oz since the afternoon before! We knew all that we were doing was worth it and we were happy to get him healthier :) Sunday we followed the same feeding schedule and weighed him again Sunday night when he was up to 5 lbs 15 oz!! The nurse said they fully expected the dr. to let us go home the next morning since his weight was steadily rising.

Monday morning, we woke up and followed the feeding routine until about 9 when I met with a lactation consultant. She was awesome with setting up a plan and getting us ready for what to do when we went home. I was basically going to follow the same 3 hour feeding schedule and document all the feedings before checking back in with her in a few days. After meeting with her, they checked Hudson's vitals for the final time and the dr. came in, checked him out and released us from the hospital!! We were sooo glad to finally get to go back home and continue the feeding routine there (since we knew all along it was something that we could've just been doing at home).

Unfortunately my milk supply still isn't in enough that I don't need to supplement with formula, but the prescription and Fenugreek are definitely helping a little bit with my supply. I'm still hoping and praying that my supply increases enough that I can exclusively breastfeed, but in the mean time I know I'm doing the best I can to keep my boy healthy and happy!!

We went back to Hudson's regular pediatrician yesterday for another weight check. His weight is now up to 6 lbs 4.5 oz, so just over his birth weight!! The dr. was amazed that he had gained 12 oz in only 4 days. He talked to us about what we would continue to do at home with breastfeeding and supplementing and we are content to keep following this plan until something changes with me :)

Officially in the 9th month of pregnancy!!

Me at 35 weeks:

Hudson's Closet (I think I have a shopping problem...)

The completed nursery:

Emily and Baby Carter at my work shower

The last couple weeks have been pretty busy. Last Tuesday my friend Nicole from work threw my work baby shower for me here at my house. There were only a handful of people that could make it, but we had fun playing a few games, eating some food, chatting and opening lots more presents. Baby Hudson and I were spoiled once again!! We got a few more much needed items off our registry and some other cute stuff :)

The next couple days I spent setting up and organizing the nursery as well as doing some more baby laundry. Now it's all set up and ready! I must have over done it though because I woke up Thursday and my legs and hands were REALLY swollen. I wasn't too worried about it and figured it was just a normal part of pregnancy, but Andy really wanted me to call the dr., so I did and they had me come in to check and make sure my blood pressure was still good. So I went in and everything was fine but my dr. wanted me to be on bed rest for the weekend. So I had to take my week off work and was on bed rest until this Tuesday when I went in to my appointment. Luckily the swelling had decreased by Sunday and I felt a lot better getting some much needed down time that I don't take enough of.

I had my 36 weeks appointment on Tuesday and all is going well. Since I had notice Hudson being less active the dr. did an ultrasound to check his fluid levels, so I got a bonus peek at him :) All his fluid levels looked good and his heart was beating at a nice steady rate. She also did my first internal exam, no dialation yet but the dr. said I am starting to efface (the cervix is thinning out), so at least that's a bit of progress! And, the best news I got at the dr. was that the hospital has changed their visitation guidelines!!! Due to H1N1 they had the delivery room restricted to the baby's father and 1 birth partner, they've changed it so you can have up to 3 support people and the baby's father and then after delivery we just have to "limit" the amount of visitors we have. I am SOOO excited that our friends and family will be able to visit us in the hospital and share in this special time with us!

So, now that we're officially in the 9th month of pregnancy (how did that happen already??!!) we're ready for Hudson to be here!! The nursery is all set up, we have the pack and play set up to use as a bassinet in our room and we've bought the remaining items we NEED for before Hudson arrives. Now all I need to do is finish packing my hospital bag and we're ready to go!

Weeks 32 and 33 and our first Baby Shower!!

The cute favors

Overloaded with gifts, Hudson is one spoiled little guy!!

Opening presents

Me with baby Molly, isn't she too cute??!!

Katie and Molly

The weeks are just flying by. I can't believe I'm already 8 months along, how did that happen so fast?? Things are still going great. I'm feeling pretty good for the most part, still having back pain, but my weekly massages and chiropractic seem to keep that at bay for the most part. We had a Dr. appt on Thurs 2/4 and all still looks good. Dr. said I'm measuring right on track and my weight gain is on the 'low end' of her scale for normal weight gain .. I sure hope it stays that way, but who knows! This appointment also marked the first where we start seeing the dr. every 2 weeks instead of monthly! So we will be back on Thursday for another check up to make sure everything is progressing normally. :)

Friday morning Andy and I packed up the truck and headed over the mountains for a baby shower with Andy's side of the family. I had a great time with Andy's aunts, cousins and other family and friends visiting, playing a shower game and of course opening presents. We got a ton of great stuff including our pack and play/bassinet from Andy's mom, the high chair from Andy's sister along with a ton of 'feeding' items (bowls, spoons, etc.) and of course we got a ton of adorable outfits, blankets, toys and a few other things off of our registry. I am so thankful to have such wonderful people in my life to help us welcome our newest addition!!

In 'non-baby' news, this past week I took an Instructor Development class in Burien at the Criminal Justice Training Center (CJTC). It was a 40 hour class, Monday-Friday where I was bombarded with information on how to give presentations and was pushed out of my comfort zone by giving 2 15-20 minute presentations on Weds and Thursday and then a final 30-40 minute presentation on Friday. I was so nervous to even introduce myself to the group on Monday, but by Friday I felt so much better about talking in front of a group and giving a presentation. This class was a wonderful learning opportunity and will definitely help me as I further my career and start my journey at Valley Com as a CTO (Communications Training Officer).

Now it's back to work where my body is trying to re-adjust to working night shift after being up at 5 am all last week for class. So far it's not working very well, but hopefully I can get into a better sleep pattern this week so I start feeling better! :)

How far along? 33 weeks 5 days

Maternity clothes? Same ones I've had :) Although I got a few cute dresses to wear for my showers :)

Stretch marks? Still none...crossing my fingers!!

Sleep: Not the best..but that's mostly due to work not pregnancy

Best moment this week: My baby shower in Spokane!

Food cravings: nothing really

Gender: Still a boy!! :)

Pregnancy symptoms: getting full very fast now that he's taking up so much room, a lot of back pain and my feet are starting to get sore if I walk too much.

Labor Signs: None yet, thankfully!!

Belly Button in or out?BARELY in...it's gonna pop out any time now I think :)

What I miss: My body before baby ..

What I am looking forward to: getting the rest of the things we need and finishing the nursery organization

Weekly Wisdom: Don't take any moment for granted.

Milestones: Another week closer to my due date!! :)

Happy Halloween

This past week we had some fun with some festive Fall/Halloween activities. Last week I bought Maverick's costume (a shark) and of course had to dress him up in it right away, which he hated!! (but he was just soo cute!!)

Andy and I also decided to visit the pumpkin patch in Orting-Spooner Farms- where we got a pumpkin and some gourds, we didn't do any of the other 'activities' but it was still a fun thing to do, I always want to go to the pumpkin patch and we never end up going.

Tuesday night we had dinner with my mom and Dean since my mom had been gone in Vegas for the past 3 weeks taking care of her dad that was sick :( It was so nice to have her home and have a family dinner. After we ate we decided to carve our pumpkins. Although most of ours didn't turn out how we had hoped, we still had a lot of fun doing it!

And a quick pregnancy update--we hit the 18 week mark Wednesday and had our monthly checkup. Everything was normal, the doctor answered a couple questions I had, we heard the baby's heartbeat (at a nice steady 140bpm) then I was given the h1n1 vaccine and had some blood drawn for the Quad screen. I can't believe only 2 more weeks till we find out boy or girl and the pregnancy is half over!! Time is already flying and I'm sure it's just going to go faster through the holidays.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween, I will be at work dispatching all the 'fun' calls I'm sure we'll get... :)