1 Month Old

Teagan is already 1 month old!!!!! I cannot believe it......where has the last four weeks gone?!?!?!

Teagan is still as sweet and calm as she was the day she was born.  She is such an easy going and mild mannered, low-maintenance baby.  I hope this is one quality that doesn't go away.  Her favorite place to be is in her mommy's arms.  She is such a little snuggler, I just love it!!! And at one month her eyes are still blue, almost like an ocean blue (if that is even a color).  When we left the hospital she weighed 6lbs. 12 oz, and at her two week check up she was 8 lbs. 3 oz, and I'm guessing by now that she is all of ten pounds.  She is filling out really nicely, and her cheeks are oh so kissable.   Teagan is very alert and she has a very strong head, she is always lifting it up and looking around. 

Teagan definitely resembles Jack and has some of the same features as him.  They have the same round face, full lips and they make some of the same faces that Jack made when he was her age.  But she definitely has a lighter skin coloring and hair coloring, and she actually resembles my baby pictures.  I'm guessing the blue eyes come from my mom's side of the family because there are some Senica's with some blue eyes. 

At one month old, Teagan is still a wonderful little nurser.  She gets right to business and gets the job done.  Especially during her feedings during the night, she eats fast, she burps fast and then she falls right back to sleep.  Sometimes she might get the occasional hiccups that I have to help her get rid of, but most of the time she is right back to sleep.  She usually gets a bath every night, and then she is ready for her last feeding of the night by 8:00, and she is usually asleep by 9:00.   Some nights it seems like she wants to eat every hour and a half between 5:00-8:00, which does make it a little difficult to cook dinner, clean up from dinner and get Jack ready for bed, but we manage to get it all done.  She usually then wakes up between 12:00-1:00 and then again around 4:00.  Throughout the day she likes to eat every two and a half to three hours and she still sleeps a majority of the day, but I can definitely tell that she is starting to have more awake time.  We have definitely found out that she sleeps best in a noisy environment, so we have now started to sleep with our TV on and she seems to love it.  If the room is dead quiet she just can't seem to get settled and comfortable. 

I can't wait to see how this little girl grows and who she will end up looking like, but for right now I am not rushing this time away.  I am going to enjoy every minute of this stage.  

Here are some pictures from the last month......

Our First Couple Days as a Family of 4

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at IVCH, I decided to come home after 3 nights instead of staying for the fourth night.  We had signed up to have our celebration dinner on Monday evening, so instead of going home Tuesday morning we went home on Monday after our dinner.  We had actually been the only patients in the OB ward since Saturday evening, so it was really nice and quiet up there.  But as we were getting ready to leave on Monday it seemed like they had a ton of new patients in labor and all of a sudden it was crazy busy up there. 

Some pictures from our hospital stay.......

Can you tell how interested Jack is in Teagan

Ready for our celebration dinner

All dressed up and ready to go home.....shortly after this picture she pooped all over her tights and I had to change her into a sleeper

Testing our her Nap Nanny bed as soon as we arrived home

Jack was spending the night at my in-laws, so Nick and I would get our first night at home with just little Teagan to take care of.  She seems to have been on her own little schedule ever since we brought her home from the hospital.  The first couple of nights she would be ready for her last feeding of the night around 8:00, and then she would wake up every 3-4 hours to get fed throughout the night.  I was very pleased with this, I could definitely function and get used to this schedule. Right now she is sleeping in her Nap Nanny and some nights it is in our bed and some nights I put it in her pack and play that is in our room.  She sleeps wonderfully in it, I absolutely love it!!!! During the day the Nap Nanny is in our living room where we spend most of our time, and even with Jack making a ton of noise and with the TV on she still sleeps through it all.   

Jack really wasn't interested in his new sister for probably the first two weeks.  He actually didn't touch her until she was two weeks old.  But he would always comment on her, like he would say"Teagan is crying," or "Night Night Teagan".  And he would always laugh hysterically whenever Teagan would sneeze, obviously he found this quite amusing.  But he does enjoy giving Teagan high fives and knuckles and we will occasionally catch him covering her up with a blanket or a burp cloth, whatever is within his reach. The other day I actually heard him on the monitor when he was laying down for his nap say "I love you Teagan,", which was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard.  Everyday he is warming up to her a little more and I think he has finally accepted the fact that she is here to stay.  

Nick took the first week off of work to spend time with us and help around the house. But really his main job everyday was to keep Jack occupied.  And he did an absolute fantastic job of doing just that.  So while Nick was home Jack became very attached to his Daddy.  And we also noticed that he might have had his nose out of joint a little that we brought home Teagan because when we were tucking him into bed at night, he would not give me a kiss or hug if I was holding Teagan, but if Teagan wasn't around he would give me a kiss and a hug.  Now this might not sound like a big deal, but to a hormonal mommy it was absolutely heartbreaking.  Hopefully he will get over this.  But that was the only negative behavior that we saw from him.  We really enjoyed having Nick home, and I was a little nervous to see how it would be to take care of two kids all by myself all day long, but so far I have done just fine.  I just try to get up and shower before the kids wake up because then I'm not sure if a shower will actually happen.  And so far I have showered and got dressed every single day.  

Right now, I still just can't get enough of my little Teagan.  I hold her and cuddle her as much as I possibly can.  The laundry, dishes and cleaning can all wait, because I know how fast she is going to grow, so I better enjoy this loving and cuddling stage as much as I can.  And while she is sleeping (as she does a majority of the time) I get to spend some quality time with Jack.  I definitely can see where life with two kids is more demanding, but I definitely think it is something we can handle.  But for now I am just trying to enjoy every possible minute that I possibly can with both Jack and Teagan.  

Teagan's Birth Day

I woke up bright and early the morning of the c-section, 3:30 to be exact.  I was running on pure adrenaline because I barely slept the night before, too much on my mind and too much to be excited for.  I showered, got ready, checked my bag for about the one hundredth time, had Nick take one last picture of my belly and headed for the hospital.  We had surprisingly had some snow during the night, so I captured a picture of that while we were loading up the car.  

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30, we were admitted and I was hooked up to an IV and sporting one of those nifty hospital gowns.  Now the only thing we had left to do was wait until they took me off to surgery, which was supposed to take place around 7:30.  Around 6:30 my parents and my grandma Marion showed up.  I was so hungry and in desperate need of some coffee, so I was definitely not all smiles when my dad showed up with coffee for everyone in the room, besides me because I couldn't have anything before surgery.  So needless to say that coffee was the first thing I asked for after I was settled back in my room. 

They took me into surgery at 7:30, and little did I know the excitement and roller coaster ride that was ahead of me. Dr. Guzman was nice enough to let my mom be in the OR for the delivery, along with Nick obviously.  And I was also lucky enough to have one of my friends that is an OB nurse in on the surgery and she was planning on video recording the entire thing. 

The first thing they did in the OR was attempt to give me my spinal to numb me for surgery.  Now I have had spinals before and they have worked beautifully.  But after they started poking around to see if it was settled in yet, they figured out that I was not numb and I could still feel quite a bit.  So after waiting a few minutes, they thought they would give it another try. At this time Nick and my mom had entered the OR, just in time for them to watch the second attempt at the spinal.  And to everyone's surprise I was still able to feel as they were poking at me and testing out to see if I was numb.  So then they thought they would try to shoot me up with a local injection throughout my stomach where they would be making the incision, and guess what.....I could still feel!!!! Crazy, I know.  Considering I am only 5'3'', I have no idea where all of this medicine was going.  At this point I was squeezing Nick's hand because they were poking at me pretty hard, especially at my old c-section scar which was sensitive to touch, and I just kept saying, "I can still feel that," even when they weren't asking if I could feel anything.  I also blurted at one point that it was totally fine by me if they had to knock me out.  Now keep in mind I was actually able to keep my composure during all of this and I wasn't screaming like a crazy woman, I was rather proud of myself for that.  At this point when I looked back at the poor nurse anesthesist, I noticed that there were 3 anesthesiologist that were all trying to figure out what the heck was going on.  Dr. Guzman then made the decision to knock me out, which sadly to say meant that my mom and Nick would not be able to in the OR for Teagan's arrival because they put a tube down your throat and they really don't want family members to see that. Before they put me under I did turn to the nurse and I told her that she could not let my husband name this baby until I was able to see her.  We really weren't agreeing on names and we were waiting to see what she looked like before we could make a decision on what her name would be.  

In the nursery right after the delivery

 One of the strangest experiences I ever had was waking up in the recovery room wondering if I actually had a baby or if I dreamed it.  Thank God the anesthesist was there, so I quickly asked him, "Did I have the baby?" and "What did she weight?".  He also informed me that she was born at 8:11 am and she was light colored.  He also told me that she was 7 lbs. 3 ozs. and 19 inches long. Needless to say I just could not wait to get back to my room and finally get to meet our precious little girl.  

They brought her into me as soon as I got back to the room.  That is when Nick and I had our "Golden Hour" with her.  We just could not get enough of her.  It was absolute love at first sight. I was shocked that she had lighter skin and lighter hair than Jack had when he was born. At birth her eyes were also a very pretty dark blue color, so I am interested to see if they will stay blue or turn a different color.   I kind of assumed that she would have darker features like her brother and dad, but surprisingly enough she is on the lighter side like her Mommy. And we were both very pleased that she took to breastfeeding like an absolute champ.  It literally took a team (literally at one time there were 5 people helping me) to get Jack to breastfeed when he was first born, so for her to latch right on was a huge accomplishment.  

And oddly enough, we didn't even talk about what we were going to name her during this whole time.  And then we really didn't get to discuss it the rest of the day because we had so many visitors. I must say that I was rather sleepy from being put under during the surgery, but there was no way that I could bring myself to even shut my eyes for a little nap, I was just way too excited to finally have our little girl here with us. 

Big Brother Jack came up to meet his new little sister around 12:30.  He was all prepared and ready to go in his personalized scrubs.  

He reacted just as I thought he would, like he could really care less about the baby, he was more interested in getting some hugs and kisses from me.  And of course he wanted to climb up on my bed, which made me a little nervous considering I was pretty sore, but he was very careful and gentle.  

But Jack was pretty excited with all the big brother presents that he had received from our family members and friends. Jack didn't stick around too long because it was pushing nap time and he seemed to be pretty tired, it was definitely hard to hear him crying as he was leaving the hospital, but from what the grandma's have told me, he was crying because they wouldn't let him run up and down the ramp in the hallway, not because he was missing his mommy.  This doesn't surprise me one bit.  

Upset because they won't let him run up and down the ramp at the end of the hallway

 The rest of the night was spent visiting with family and friends, and then our favorite nurse Erica gave us a wonderful surprise, she was having us moved to the big corner "suite" room at the end of the hallway.  The room we were in was very nice, but we definitely were not going to turn down that huge room.  It was absolutely wonderful.   

We still can't believe that our sweet little girl is finally here and we are excited to start our new life as a family of 4. We love you Teagan and we can't wait to see what happiness and joy you are going to add to our lives.  

 

The Day Before We Became a Family of 4

The day before Teagan was born, I had many happy, yet sad emotions that I kept feeling throughout the day.  I was extremely excited to finally meet our baby girl, but I was also saddened at the fact that I would no longer be pregnant and that I would no longer experience all of those kicks and jabs that have entertained me for the past 20 or so weeks.  Now granted, the last week or so of the pregnancy was uncomfortable, but i really did enjoy being pregnant.  Especially since I was able to make it full term and I was able to stay off of bedrest.  I was also saddened/happy to think that starting that next day, we would go from a family of 3 to a family of 4, and I was anxious to see how Jack would react to all of the changes that were going to take place.  How would I handle taking care of two kids?  How would Jack react to this new little sister?  I just knew that there were so many changes that we were all going to experience. 

Jack was going to stay at my in-laws the night before the csection.  I thought about having him go to the hospital before I went into surgery, but since he has been so clingy to me lately I was nervous about how he would react when he saw me hooked up to the IV and what would he do when they wheeled me away to surgery?  And not only would he see Nick following me into surgery, but he would also have to see his other favorite person, my mom...a.k.a. Grandma Boo, also joining us in the operating room.  Dr. Guzman, being the awesome guy that he is, was going to let my mom be in the operating room for the delivery.  I thought that was so nice of him, especially since they usually only let the dad's be in there.   So the plan was for Jack to come up to the hospital around 11:00 or 12:00 after I was out of recovery, yet before he completely hit the wall and was totally in need of a nap.  I was sad when we dropped him off that night.  Never again would we be a family of 3 and I was going to miss him while I was in the hospital.  Granted he would be visiting us a couple of times everyday, but I would still miss being home with him.  He was going to stay with my in-laws Thursday and Friday nights, my parents Saturday and Sunday and then back to my in-laws on Monday night.  I really don't know why I was feeling so bad for Jack because I knew that he would be getting plenty of attention and love while the three of us were hanging out at IVCH. 

I really had difficulty falling asleep that night.  I had received the phone call earlier that day telling me to show up at 5:30 am, and that I was not allowed to eat or drink after midnight.  Now I usually don't eat or drink after midnight bc I am usually sleeping, but knowing that you CAN'T do something makes you want to do it even more.  I knew I should eat something for dinner, but I was so nervous and anxious that I just couldn't get myself to eat anything.  I finally settled on some rice cakes and a smoothie while I was watching Private Practice.  Even though I was trying to stay relaxed and get some rest, I just couldn't stop thinking about what was going to take place bright and early the next morning.  I usually do ok with anesthesia, but this time I was really nervous about it, and I have no idea why.  I was worried about getting sick, or shivering through the entire surgery and hoping that I wouldn't get one of those terrible spinal headaches.   I decided to check and double check my hospital bag, and check and double check that the camcorder and the camera battery were both fully charged.  Then I sort of wandered the house and looked for little things to do, but to my surprise my nesting tendencies had already taken care of all of those last minute things. 

So I finally decided that I should try and get some sleep around 11:00.  I'm not quite sure when I fell asleep because even when I was lying in bed halfway awake, I refused to open my eyes and look at the clock.  But I can tell you that my 3:30 am alarm went off sooner that I thought it would.  But I quickly jumped out of bed and headed for the shower.  Finally, the day that we have been looking forward to is finally here!!!!

The Final Days Before the Arrival of Baby Girl Bazydlo

I really can't complain about how I have felt during this pregnancy.  I have been able to stay off of bed rest and I have been able to work up until my due date.  But it seemed like at 36 weeks, the big discomforts set in.  I tried to ignore them the best I could and I kept thinking to myself that even with these discomforts at least I was lucky enough to be pregnant and make it full term without any big bumps along the way.  It literally seemed like overnight I went from feeling pretty good to having swollen feet, fingers, lower back pain and on top of all of that I have lucky enough to experience the big H....HEMORRHOIDS!!!! I'm sorry, is this TMI for you???? There is no way to sugar coat it.  I just kept telling Nick that I had things going on with my body that would bring a grown man to his knees and make him curl up in the fetal position.  I also had a few nights where I was having lower back pain and I thought for sure that I might be going into labor.  And during these moments I kept thinking to myself, "I can't go into labor now because I have everything planned out for the 24th and all of my laundry isn't done." But I just kept reminding myself that it would all be worth it in the end. I didn't have all of these discomforts with Jack, but that also might have been due to the fact that he was born at 37 weeks, rather than 39 weeks like this baby.  I also had my bag packed with Jack a month or so early, and with this one I was packing it, and then pulling out items like comfy pants and shirts to wear and then re-washing them and re-packing it and so on, until it was finally packed for good the night before our scheduled c-section.  And once again, THANK GOD for leggings and long tunics for being in style right now because at least I was able to dress comfortably to work everyday.  And since my feet were swelling, my grey UGG sweater boots were the only shoes that fit as comfortably in the afternoon as they did in the morning.  They felt like slippers on my feet. 

I was originally planning on working up until the day I delivered, but then I decided for my own piece of mind, I better take off the day before just to make sure everything was in place, such as groceries, bills payed, etc.... And thank goodness that I was able to schedule a last minute cleaning session with my cleaning lady two days before I delivered.  That really took a ton of weight off of my shoulders.  It was so nice leaving for the hospital knowing that my house was all spick and span, and that it would be just as clean when I came home from the hospital.  

Jack must have sensed that something was going on because he was super clingy and only wanted his mommy for a week or so before Teagan arrived.  And usually he is totally fine with Nick giving him a bath or changing him or taking him to the store or whatever else.  But he always had to make sure that he knew where I was when we were home and he had to hold my hand or sit on my lap if we were at home or at my mom's house or anywhere else.  Which I'm not complaining about the extra love that he was giving me, but there wasn't as much room for him to sit on my lap as there used to be, so that was a bit uncomfortable.  This also made me think about how he was going to react to his new baby sister, especially once he realizes that she is actually living with us and that she is not going to go away anytime soon????? 

So these are some of the things that we were up to while we were awaiting the arrival of our precious baby girl.  I will post the story of her arrival and how we have been surviving as the parents of 2 children later, but for right now Jack is asking for waffles and Teagan needs to be fed.