So, it's been almost three months since Gunnar was born and let's be real, I'm probably not going to write his full birth story here. I am still trying to write in down in my journal...
But here is the quick and dirty version followed by our picture documentation of the day.
Cheers!
The Birth of Gunnar M Schwemmin
The story really starts on August 3, 2014. This feeling came over me in the evening that I needed to have everything in place for the baby. I needed the house put together, his stuff ready, everything in its place. Kevin decided to take his teacher's extension so he didn't finish his homework. I told him he should finish it if he could. He asked "why? Do you know something?" I said no, that we just needed to not put stuff off any more...
I woke up at 2am with cramping. I googled "thrid trimester cramping" and figured it was Braxton-Hicks contractions. Yay! Things were starting! I could have a baby by the end of the week! I decided to go back to sleep and call my doctor in the morning. At 4am I had to go to the bathroom. Something came out that was unusual. I googled "mucus plug" which confirmed that I lost mine. Awesome! I was definitely going to have a baby by the end of the week! I went back to sleep. Thirty minutes later I was running to the bathroom. I sat down and my water broke. This is when I started to freak out. There was no doubt about it, I was in labor! I sat there for a few minutes calming my self down and trying to make sure that it really was my water breaking. Yes, there could be no doubt! But how was I going to get up and tell Kevin?! He was already getting ready for work and I couldn't move without making a mess. I remembered that my mom wrapped a towel around hereself and waited for my dad so I grabbed my least favorite beach towel and went to get Kevin. My contractions starting hurting now and Kevin heard me cry out a little and met me at the door. I said "I think my water broke". His eyes went wide and he started running around the house packing a bag for himself, grabbing my bag, dealing with the dogs... We finally got everything in the car and headed to the hospital.
We got there at 6am and the nice security guard wheeled me up to maternity while Kevin checked in. There weren't any LDR rooms available so I went into a triage room. There would be 7 rooms opening up later, so it wasn't going to be permanent. The midwife came and checked me around 10am and said I was 6cm dilated. We were all surprised to here that. I decided to get an epidural and when that was finished, they moved us to an LDR room. Then, I waited. And waited, and waited. The epidural had slowed down my labor and it took the rest of the day to get to 10cm. Finally I was able to start pushing. I pushed for three and a half hours with no progress. I was exhausted when the midwife said that he wasn't moving. I would need a C-Section. I was crushed. And scared. They wheeled me to OR. They started working on me, Kevin was holding my hand, I was so afraid, and the anesthesia wasn't working very well. The next thing I knew, I was cold and seeing colors. They had knocked me out. I started to wake up and heard sounds and commotion. I heard Kevin and the nurse calling my name but I couldn't see anything. My eyes weren't working right. I asked if the baby was ok over and over again and they said open your eyes, look at your baby. I started crying because I couldn't open my eyes. They put Gunnar on my chest and I couldn't see him. Kevin was there, I was still crying, but holding my baby. Finally, I could open my eyes and see him. And he was beautiful. But still didn't have a name. :)
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| First family photo! |
With a last name of Schwemmin, clearly we are German. I was so excited to take Gunnar to his first Oktoberfest. Kevin and I go every year and we want Gunnar to appreciate this part of his heritage too. Someday, we hope to catch the real Oktoberfest in Munich...
Cheers and check out that baby leiderhosen!
While Gunnar Bear has changed so much over the last two months, in my opinion, I have not. My recovery has been slow. I still have pains around my incision and it's still numb above it. I stopped bleeding after about 4 weeks, so that's good. My stomach still looks like hell. It bothers me. I can't wear anything that I used to wear before Gunnar, including underwear. I had to go out and buy giant granny panties. They are the only thing that stay up over my incision. It is completely demoralizing. I haven't been able to exercise because of the heat or rain. It's just starting to cool off now, so I hope to take Gunnar on walks in the neighborhood. When he gets a little older, I want to get a jogging stroller and complete a couch to 5K program.
Despite the fact that I really don't have time to eat, I haven't lost any more weight. My feet are still swollen, but I can fit into more shoes. My fall boots still don't fit which breaks my heart. Not that I could wear them anyway since I don't fit into any jeans.
My skin is very, very slowing getting back to normal. I have a feeling this will take a long time. I just have to be patient. My one pregnancy perk, thicker hair, is starting to go away too. It's not coming out in clumps like some people have mentioned, but I can see that it isn't as full as it used to be. I'm sad to see this go, but as soon as my hair is back to "normal", I'm getting a hair cut. Already have it picked out and everything.
Still not as regular as I was before getting pregnant. I think I have worked the hardest on this. I don't have to take Miralax anymore, but I think I will be on a steady colace-a-day for a while. I'm kinda surprised that having a baby has messed up my system this much...
I knew that having a baby would be hard on my body, but I had no idea it would damage it so completely. I have days were I feel so ugly and not even looking at my sweet baby makes it better. I want to start working out, and have the ok to do so from my doctor, I just don't have the time with the baby, my job, Kevin's school, the pets and this crappy Florda rental. Plus, I wonder if it will even make a difference...
Here are the some of my favorite shots from Gunnar's newborn photoshoot. He was about 10 days old. It was hard to pick just these few pics...
Cheers!
All photos by Danielle Love Photography
Time is flying, just like everybody said it would. My maternity leave is almost over. Gotta squeeze every little bit out of this time...
And here's a fun one because he was really happy that day. See, he does smile. And when he does, it melts my heart.
Some things about our two month little cub:
- Still has blue eyes!
- Kicks all the time now and even tries standing when I hold him up
- Getting better with diaper changes. I think he figured out he can torture Mommy at this time, he grins and smiles now while he makes it difficult for me
- He yells when he's mad. His hits this specific pitch that hurts our ears
- Favorite toy is his crinkle star
- Got his first big round of vaccinations. I think I cried just as much as he did.
- First big event: Oktoberfest!
- Stays awake for longer periods of time. Learning to sleep more at bedtime than during the day.
- So close to holding his head up on his own. I feel like any day he'll do it. I can't wait for this milestone, it will open up a whole new world for us.
- I think I got a real smile, like one he meant for me. I died.
- Loves to suck on his fingers
- Has the most long and beautiful eye lashes
Cheers!
