A belated first posting

So, I actually created this little blog of ours here about one year ago, right after Mike and I found out about the little miracle that would be coming our way mid-January 2010. But with everything that goes along with getting ready for a baby, on top of our regular day to day activities, and my pregnancy absentmindedness, I just never got around to posting anything until now.

I am going to try to summarize what's been going on during the last year to catch everyone up.

I had a fairly easy/uncomplicated pregnancy, and the only lingering effects are the stinking stretch marks that showed up on Christmas Day (yes, Merry Christmas to me!) and the 12 or so extra pounds I'm carrying around, but I'm completely ok with that. Little Peanut is absolutely worth every extra pound (and Mederma works wonders on those nasty stretch marks)!

And I certainly cannot complain about my labor and delivery, even though Mal was 2 days late! I went to work for a few hours after the long Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend to wrap up a few items before my loooooong maternity leave. I went for my 40 week appointment at 10:30AM and Dr. Margolis scheduled me for an induction the following day. I got home about 11:30AM, ate some lunch and got changed to go to my mani/pedi appointment (one last pampering). Not too long after that, I started feeling some pain/tightening in my abdomen; I did usually get some cramping after my appointments from them checking my cervix, so I didn't think much of it right away.

But after an hour, the pain wasn't stopping, so I cancelled my mani/pedi (I definitely did not want to have my water break in public!) and hopped in the bath to try to relax. Mike got home from the gym and came up to check on me. I told him "I think I am having contractions", so he got a watch so we could time them. From the time we started timing, they were coming 4-5 minutes apart. I labored at home till about 3:15PM when Mike suggested we head to the hospital. We got the Shady Grove around 4PM and I waddled my way to the maternity floor. We got admitted pretty quickly (though it didn't seem that quick while I was having contractions) and got moved to the delivery room around 5PM. I got my epidural almost immediately because the anesthesiologist was getting ready to go into a c-section and my wonderful nurse didn't want to take the chance that he wouldn't make it back in time to give me the epidural. Thank the Lord for epidurals because for the next 5 hours, I had complete peace

Around 11PM I started to feel some pressure like I had to push; the nurse checked my cervix for the thousandth time and sure enough, it was finally time to get ready to have our little girl! Mom and Dad prayed with me for everything to go smoothly and quickly and well, their prayer certainly worked. I was prepped and started my practice pushes around 11:20PM or so and within 15 minutes (though Mike estimates I only pushed for about 5 minutes), Mallory Grace made her arrival. She was 7 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long; She was the most beautiful thing in the whole world and Mike and I just couldn't believe it; those 9 long months had finally passed and it was time to enjoy our little girl.

It was a very quick delivery for a first time mom (or so I am told) and Dr. Wolfgram barely made it into the room in time to deliver her. The one downside to the quick delivery was the fact that I tore pretty badly, so I needed some stitches. Mike stayed by my side to try to comfort me, but I quickly told him to go take pics and hold little Mallory. I have to admit, I was pretty mad at him for the next hour since I couldn't hold her until they were done with my stitches. Finally, it was my turn to hold her and WOW! what an amazing feeling! I AM A MOM!!

We went home two days later and began our new life. All I have to say is that no one could ever explain to you how much work a newborn is. Waking every 2 hours to feed the little one was exhausting; thank goodness the Australian Open and the Olympics were on in the middle of the night! And those poopy diapers, YUCK! I tried my hardest to exclusively breastfeed because I know it is what is best for baby, but my body just would not cooperate. For the first month, she would just cry and cry and the only way I could calm her or quiet her down was to stick a boob in her mouth. At her 1 month appointment with Dr. Hirsch, she had gone from the 20th percentile for weight down to the 8th. This made me extremely nervous and Dr. Hirsch said we needed to start supplementing with formula.



We supplemented for 2 weeks and I started noticing she would nurse less and less and she was drinking more and more formula. I decided to skip a feeding and completely use formula to see if I my boobs would be uncomfortably full. I honestly did not feel uncomfortable at all. And that was the end of my breastfeeding experience. I was not engorged at all and dried up quick. At first, I was so disappointed in myself for not being able to give my child what she needed, but after a few days of complete formula feeding and seeing how much more satisfied and happy she was, I knew we had made the right decision.

The first few months of Mallory's life flew by so fast and before Mike and I knew it, it was April 19th and my 3 months of maternity leave were over (booooo!) but thankfully, I work for a wonderful firm and they are letting me work one day a week from home. That definitely helps with my separation anxiety. And I am so proud of Mike! He has Daddy Day Care 3 days a week and does such an amazing job taking care of our little princess!

We have experienced quite a few firsts so far: She can roll over in both directions, she smiles, laughs, coos, and most importantly sleeps through the night. Her normal bedtime is 8PM and lately she's been sleeping till somewhere between 5 and 6AM. We recently moved her from the bassinet to her crib, which has caused no problems for her, but Mommy misses having her nearby, so I'll get her in the middle of the night and bring her into bed so I can snuggle! (Yeah, yeah, I know) Her newest trick is rolling over onto her belly in her sleep, which totally freaks Mike out and he rolls her back onto her back multiple times most nights. Dr. Hirsch said it was completely normal and as long as she was rolling on her own, we shouldn't worry about it.

Mal started eating cereal about two weeks ago and is doing a great job at it! When she turns 5 months we are planning on incorporating some veges and fruits. I have stocked up on various fruits and veges and once we know whether she is allergic to any of them, I plan on cooking the majority of her baby food (hey, if I couldn't breastfeed, I can at least cook her baby food!).

Mallory got baptized yesterday. She wore my baptismal dress (kudos to Mom for keeping is so nice for the last 27 years!) and looked so cute. She was a perfect angel the whole time (like we were surprised)! And we had a wonderful lunch with our friends and family afterwards.

Ok, I think that's the highlights of the first few months of Mal's life...though I'm sure I will think of more to discuss tomorrow, so I will be posting again soon.