Like Mother Like Daughter

Of course it's too soon to tell who Rylee looks like, but here are a few things I do know that are like me:

1. She sneezes 3 times in a row.

2. She can spread apart her toes.

3. She has dimples.

4. She is very impatient!

5. She's a light sleeper.

6. She likes to eat.

*Unrelated: Today I start my meds so Rylee is trying out some formula. I have to pump and dump for a week so I'm already thinking about what I'm going to drink (got rum?) and eat (the return of veggies and beans!). Sadly, she doesn't seem like she's loving this formula. She does seem to be less gassy, but more acid refluxy. Time will tell...

Update

Sorry to leave you hanging! Rylee is the same. Sometimes she seems a little better after the feedings that have the Pepsid, but that is only twice a day and she's still pretty gassy. The saddest thing is how discontented she seems when she sleeps. She grunts and moans and definitely doesn't get peaceful baby sleep. Poor baby!

I think the next step will be to get her off the breast milk for a while and try some lactose-free formula. It might be coming at a good time since I'll be finding out the results of my chest xray on Thursday and they'll probably want me to take some better stronger drugs. This way I can pump and dump while I get healthier and we experiment getting her healthier.

If she can't go back to the breast milk, no big deal. I'm not exactly going to miss being hooked up to the machine all day long. Whatever is best for her I'll do.

In other news, Rylee had her first real bath today and wore her first pair of footie pajamas. So cute!

Lucky #3?

Rylee is 3 weeks old.

She had her third visit at the pediatrician's office.

She has now seen 3 of the 4 doctors.

She began taking her 3rd prescription.


They say third times a charm. Let's hope this one does the trick! :)

Radioactive Girl

Yesterday I had my chest xray to determine what has been causing the nasty cough I've had since March 1st. I called the pediatrician because I was worried about feeding Rylee radioactive boob juice. Apparently I wasn't just being overprotective as they told me to pump and dump for the next three or so feedings.

I don't know what you other mothers would have done with this diagnosis, but I decided to DRINK! With the exception of 1 glass of wine I had last week to help with milk letdown, I haven't had a drink since New Year's Eve!

I had to send Jon out to the liquor store since he wouldn't let me drink even 1 jigger of his expensive rum. I argued: "I just pushed your baby out my you know where. Doesn't that entitle me to a little bit of rum?" Jon: "It's $75 dollars a bottle, you're not using it to make a mixed drink!" Good to know...

In the end, I had two very delicious margaritas and pumped and dumped until this morning just to be extra safe. Though it did pain me to pour that liquid gold down the sink.

Today, I'm trying Rylee out in the Baby Bjorn (actually the generic version, I was too cheap to buy the real thing). So far she's been hanging around my neck for the last two hours and I've managed to pick up a little, go through the mail, and blog (I can even type with two hands - while standing and jiggling of course).

Uh oh, she starting to stir. Gotta run before the screaming begins!

Return of Me

This weekend I took some time away from Mommying to recharge.

Grandma and I had a girls night out on Saturday. We had dinner at Bahama Breeze (complete with my fave drink: Ultimate Pina Colada - virgin style - still delicious!) followed be a little shopping. Sunday, Jon and I let Grandma babysit while we went to our friend's bowling birthday bash. Neither outing was very long as I timed them between pumpings, but it was still fun to get out of the house.

Bonus: I no longer have to wear maternity pants or tops! A few situps are still in order to tone up some excess tummy skin, but I am amazed at how the body can bounce back so quickly. Here's a shot of me (in my skinny jeans!) and Rylee sporting one of her cute running suits (first time in pants for Rylee also). Oh yeah, Jon's in the photo too. :)



In other news, it was back to the pediatrician today for Rylee, followed by a Publix run to pick up her second prescription in two weeks time. I thought breast milk was supposed to make babies healthier! :) She's on some new gas meds. Let me tell you, the nickname Little Stinker works for her on many levels.

It said the drops may cause drowsiness (promise?!) and that she shouldn't combine them with alcohol or operate any motorized vehicles so I'm really staying on top of her just to make sure...

P.S. I added some new photos to the slideshow. Enjoy!

3 Hour Tour

Things are going better here, but it's amazing how little time I have to get anything done (including peeing, showering, & brushing my teeth). I think I've mentioned this before, but my DHA deprived brain can't remember and I'm too lazy to check previous posts.

Anywhoo... I feel like I'm in that scene from "Three Men and a Baby" where Tom Selleck is trying to figure out the feeding schedule. "The book says to feed the baby every two hours, but do you count from when you start or when you finish? It takes me two hours to get her to eat and by the time she's done, it's time to start again, so that I'm feeding her all the time."

Same scenario for us, except we use every three hours. The main problem is that she only takes the breast milk from the bottle so in order to feed her it's a half hour of pumping at least (maybe more if I have to wash all the pump apparati first), then a half hour of bottle feeding, followed by an hour of rocking and cajoling to sleep. So if I'm lucky, I might have an hour before the whole process starts over again. In the middle of the night, that doesn't make for the best sleep situation. Nor does it give me anytime to blog as evidenced by the fact that I haven't posted anything in days!

Right now I'm in the hour window, but I have other things to get done too so I'm signing off. Later gators...

Exhaustion

So the exhaustion is setting in now that Jon headed back to work. He still helps out a bit in the night when he can, but I understand he needs to get his sleep. Last night, my shift was from about 11 pm to 6 am and I would say I slept about an hour and a half of that time.

Poor Rylee has been pretty discontented due to gas issues and her goopy eye. She will not go down by herself right now. The two times last night she did sleep some on her own, I was pumping and thus missed my window for sleep!

Speaking of pumping, I think my factory workers have gone on strike. My milk production has significantly reduced over the last couple of days. Gone is the engorgement (and the pain with it), and in its place is the pain from pumping nothing. I keep pumping though as I don't know any other way to stimulate production. I'm guessing my strikers are demanding better working conditions and probably increased health coverage...

Not much else is new here, just haven't had the chance to blog or read. I've barely had the time to brush my teeth! Keep checking back though as I do hope to get more photos up sometime this week.

Hope all is well with everyone and I apologize for sort of falling off the face of the Earth for a while. A couple more weeks and things will be much better...right?!

*Oh, I guess I won the due date contest by default as no one picked the correct date. Thank goodness - I need the extra money to keep Rylee in Mylicon gas drops!*

1 Week Later

Parental observations...

- Murphy's Law #1: Your child develops a goopy eye 4 hours after her pediatrician appt and 2 hours after the office closes for the weekend.

- Swaddling cloths: The process of swaddling causes bloodcurdling screams. The snuggly effect of swaddling equals 2-3 hours of blissful sleep (for both Rylee and her parents).


Post-delivery things I was so looking forward to...

-Not peeing every hour and a half: I might not have to pee as often, but now I have no sensation other than URGENT! (TMI alert: Also greatly looking forward to when the toilet no longer looks like a mini-scale scene out of a Jaws movie.)

- Sleeping on my stomach: Why didn't anyone tell me that my engorged milk makers would still make that impossible?

- Burning my maternity clothes: Close, very close. I could almost snap my fave pair of non-preggo capris today. Wearing/buttoning shirts is another story thanks to those before-mentioned milk makers.


Invention needed:
- Please submit your ideas for a hands-free breast pump. It would be much more enjoyable if I could press fast-forward on the DVR, eat, drink, read a book (luckily I have plenty of time for that during my sits baths), pay bills etc while hooked up to the torture device. (Murphy's Law #2: The telephone will always ring three minutes after you've hooked yourself up.)


Alerts...
- What happens in the Polich casa stays in the Polich casa: After a relaxing and calm visit with "Aunties" Erin & Jess last night, Rylee packed a lot of excitement into one hour. It's hard to remember the exact chain of events, but I think it included dinner, spit up of dinner, poop explosion, 2 pees, and another poop (give or take a diaper). We don't judge. All guests are welcome.

- For recreation: Topless sunbathing now open at the Polich pool.

Happy Anniversary!

9 years ago today, Jon became the luckiest man on the planet when he married me! :)

So let's see what amazing things we did to celebrate our love today:

- took Rylee to her first doctor appointment
- were late arriving (not due to Rylee - I got us lost, oops!)
- tried to look calm while she did her banshee scream through half the appointment
- cleaned the garage (Jon)
- took a nap (me & Rylee)

Pretty romantic stuff huh?

Let's move on to the gifts:

- Grandma Connie gave us groceries for an anniversary dinner (though they may have been charged to my credit card? - still it saved us a trip to the grocery store)
- Rylee gave us three hours of continuous sleep so we could eat dinner and watch a movie
- I "gave" Jon some Ebayed Castle Legos (don't ask)
- Jon "gave" me a new Coach purse (it's so pretty and it's a little bigger than my others - mommies need to carry bigger bags after all)

Okay Rylee is starting to wake up for her feeding and I haven't read any blogs in a week. I'd like to catch up if I can. I'll have to skim read, sorry!

Photos

Flickrs Photos isn't letting me in to update my slideshow, so I'm posting a couple and then hoping that Blogger will help lead me in. We'll see...





Okay, I figured out what the problem was: I didn't use Flickrs, I used Picasa Web! I thought after I delivered I would get my pre-pregnancy brain back... apparently not!

Momentous Occasions

I still have my labor and delivery story to post about, but I don't have time to get into that right now. (I only have a few minutes until Rylee's next feeding as evidenced by the little noises she's making in her swing.) Instead, here are some of the firsts we've experienced in the last few days.

First Projectile Vomit: All cute and content one moment, quite the exorcist experience the next. It was in my face, my mouth, my hair, down the front of my shirt, inside my shirt, possibly between my toes...I'm not sure. :)

First Car Ride: We didn't look nearly as incompetent putting her into the car seat as that couple we saw on our tour (it took them at least a half hour). She didn't fuss and slept the whole way home. We haven't yet resorted to car rides for sleep inducing, but we may have to...

First Rio Visit: Rio has been awesome! She is very gentle with Rylee, only occassionally coming up to sniff or lick her feet - who can resist nibbling on baby toes?! She likes to make sure she knows where Rylee is (unless she's crying, then she'd rather find a quieter place to sleep).

First Sleepless Night: No need for further explanation there.

First Sponge Bath: And it went amazingly well. I had anticipated her screaming like a banshee through the whole thing (as she does with new experiences or anytime she thinks something might be a new experience or anytime you change her or...), so I was quite impressed with her calmness. Especially since it took a while to wipe all the folds on Miss Chunky Monkey's legs.

First Angel Visit: For Angel dog, she has been on her best behavior today and only barked a few times. There might be hope for her yet. :)

There have been others as well, but I've already had to walk away twice during posting. Must publish while I still can.

Welcome Baby Rylee Elise

Jon is posting this for me so I’ll be brief. Rylee was born yesterday 9-6-08 at 5:12 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs 14oz and is 19 inches long. Lots of stories about her, the hospital, and the delivery to come when I get released. For now, know she is beautiful, healthy and strong! (more on that later.) Read MN mom for more info.

Baby Drama

So yesterday was my weekly exam (I'm now 1-2 cm dilated and 70% effaced), but things didn't go exactly as planned. First, it was a million degrees in the exam room and Jon and I had to wait a good 45 minutes before the doctor came in. TMI alert: By that time, my butt had literally melted to the table so when she asked me to scoot down and get into position, the stupid paper lining was completely stuck to my behind. I figure it's just the first of a huge line of increasing embarrassments I can look forward to during delivery.

Then we discussed how Jon and I should be prepared to camp out at the hospital should Hurricane Ike hit us (which is looking more and more likely). Cause I'd like my first delivery to be in a triage situation with all the other pregnant mommies in SoFla - great!

We were looking forward to skedaddling (I had baby CPR class), but my Dr. commented that my initial blood pressure check that day had been high. She wanted me lay to on my side and chill for 5-10 minutes and recheck. TMI alert: Goo running out of me, paper stuck to my ass, uncomfortable cot, picturing delivering during the hurricane with no rooms available, and an actual 30 minute wait did not produce the results she was looking for (shocker!).

So last night was our first 7 hour excursion to the hospital. She wanted me observed and the baby's stress level checked etc.

One funny thing: when we checked in through the ER, they sent someone down with a wheelchair to pick me up. We were sitting their waiting for our name to be called when a nurse yelled out "Liebechec." It took three more shouts before I realized that she was actually saying "labor check" and not a name - oops, that would be us! (I found enunciation to be somewhat of a problem for all the nursing staff. I had to concentrate very hard to understand sometimes.)

We were in a triage room with three beds, no place for Jon to sit, no TV, nothing to read or look at, so eavesdropping became our primary source of entertainment. Like when the lady next to me whined "I don't want to" about 70 times referring to peeing in a bedpan. Nobody wants to lady, but just shut up and pee or get off the bedpan already!

Urine test, blood work, ultrasound, fetal monitoring, and several hours of boredom later, my blood pressure had returned to normal levels and I was discharged and put on "strict bedrest." What?! A week ago, I was supposed to be walking this thing out, now I'm back to bedrest... real bedrest. I can only be up to pee, shower and eat, thus I write to you on my side and under my covers this rainy Friday morning.

I have to see my doctor today for another blood pressure check, so who knows what that will result in...

Oh, I was having contractions about 6-10 minutes apart, but they must have been Braxton Hicks because I couldn't even feel them.

Swollen

Too much fun in the last two days has caused me to swell up again...but it was worth it! Last night was book club (though we didn't spend too much time discussing our book as we all pretty much hated it and thought it was disturbing!). No prob. This left us more time for snacking and gossiping. :)

Today, we took in another cheap flick: Hancock. It was thoroughly entertaining. Love that cheap theater, but you never know what you're going to experience - last time torrential rain pouring in through the ceiling, this time a renegade cockroach potentially crawling on tops of our feet. It was spotted by a woman in front of us a few rows, but luckily didn't bother us. Cockroaches crawling on me would be the one thing that would diminish my love for my cheap theater!

Anyway, I have spent tonight resting and de-swelling my feet and ankles. My fingers are still a little sausagey, but maybe they'll go down overnight. Those every hour and a half pee breaks usually help some...

NUMB3RS

Last night while I was waiting for either labor pains to start or a visit by the dream fairies, instead of counting sheep I counted all the days in September to see which birth date I would prefer for MBP. Here are my results:

Good:
9-6-08 9 & 6 are both divisible by 3.

9-7-08 Rummy hand: 7, 8, 9

9-10-08 Rummy hand: 8, 9, 10

Better:
9-1-08 The numbers don't do anything for me, but it would be cute to say that she was born on Labor Day. She's gonna have to get started if we're going to reach that goal!

9-3-08 9 is divisible by 3. I was born on the 3rd.

9-11-08 Originally I thought this would be the worst day (Sept 11th connotation, Jon and my anniversary), but for the last year or so I've had an uncanny knack for always catching 9:11 on the clock (even in the oddest of moments). According to a numerology friend 9 & 11 means that something is about to happen so maybe it's been preparing me all along.

Best:
9-9-08 This is my fave since my bday is 3-3. She would get a 9-9-09 bday next year!

None of the other dates do anything for me so it looks like I need to get her out by the 11th at the latest. :)

Now I need to check these dates against the days of the week. My mom posted a little poem about what the day of the week means on her blog.

**Just checked and 9-6-08 needs to get bumped. That's a Saturday - work hard for a living- no one wants that!**