The Schusters Visit

Grandma ended up being here the week prior to Raya's birth and the week following.  She had booked her flight a few months in advance and the timing of it worked out great since it was unpredictable when Raya would arrive.  We scheduled for Auntie June to come a few days after my mom left to visit and span the help over a few weeks. 

Grandma cooked us some yummy meals and spent some QT with her first grandchild Zara (I'm still not sure if she was more excited for Raya to be born or to visit with Zara ;)  JUST KIDDING!)  Auntie certainly has a way with children and did not mind holding Raya time after time when she was just crying away and I needed to get something done or just get a BREAK.  It was certainly helpful to have extra set of hands early on when everything was all still so new to us (who am I kidding it is all STILL so new to us).  It was nice to visit with both my mom and sister and I admit it was very hard to say goodbye.  Both weeks seemed to go SO FAST, each day has gone fast since as well.  I know it is a hormonal time but I couldn't help but feel so guilty that I live so far from them and it is the first grandchild for my mom and first niece for my sister.  We thankfully all have iPads and have been chatting via Facetime frequently since but it's not the same as getting to see her grow in person :(  It still makes me sad but I am just going to have to season Raya to be a bi-coastal traveller early on!!  Northeast here we come...soon enough, I'm not going to rush it just yet!

With Daddy and Grandma at first doctors appointment

Chillin with Grandma at home

Giggles for Grandma!

Funtime with Auntie Juney



Auntie loves you SOOOOO much!!

LOVE LOVE the adorable hat from Auntie!!!!

Doctor Doctor

With mom and dad in the waiting room

6 days after Raya was born we went to her very first doctors appointment.  Overall she did GREAT!!  of course she wanted to eat before they called us in to see the doctor so we sat in a private waiting room and fed her enough to keep her quiet through the appointment.  Then we had to take her to the "weigh in room"where they do weighing and length check.  She was still right around 19" and her weight was back up to about 6 lbs 7 oz (she was down to 6 lbs. 3 oz. when we left the hospital).

Always such a lady covering her "parts"

Then we were taken to the doctors room.  We had picked the practice that was highly recommended from our OBGYN and teacher from parenting class, it is about 1.5 miles from us (SUPER convenient) but we had not been able to select our actual pediatrician because the one we thought we were selecting is not taking any new patients due to his already busy schedule.  So we were assigned Dr. Devan and we L-O-V-E her!  She is young, knowledgeable, thorough and super patient, everything I really need in a pediatrician! Raya was calm and relaxed as she was examined by Dr. Devan and had a successful check-up, everything is normal and after my list of questions and some words of advice from the doctor on what to watch over the next few weeks we were on our way!


Dr. Devan

Little did we know that Raya would be back at the doctor 5 days later for a little bought with thrush :(  I was SOOOOO SAD!  My mom noticed the day she was leaving that there was a few little white bumps on the roof of her mouth and we read up on thrush which explained that it was mostly noticed on the tongue and inner cheeks, which at that time there was nothing, sure enough by the next morning she had little white dots all over her tongue :(  Thrush is a yeast infection that lives in the mouth and she is so young and her immune system so fragile she had a little outbreak.  With thrush both mom and baby have to be treated because it can be passed back and forth.  My doctor prescribed an oral medication for me to take for 2 weeks and on  we went with Raya to visit Dr. Devan who confirmed that she indeed had thrush and prescribed us a liquid medication to give her orally 4x a day until it was cleared up.  She took very well to the medication and we are both now in the clear and HOPE it never comes back!  Poor thing!! 

Raya's Thrush :(

Home Sweet Home

We were discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning, they would have allowed us to leave on Wednesday night (24 hours from delivery) but we just felt comfortable staying there one extra night to get a little more help from the nurses and make sure that we felt OK with everything before heading home.  My sister (aka Auntie June or Juney, its a nickname I've had for her since childhood) bought Raya the most adorable Eiffel tower onesie for my NY shower, being that Raya's nursery has a french inspired theme.  It was the tiniest onesie I think I had ever seen but sure enough little Raya was swimming in it when I put it on her to take her home :)   

Thankfully the nurse walked down to the lobby with us to make sure we knew how to put Raya in the car seat and we definitely needed her to show us!  Tim is good with mechanics of things so he picked up quickly!

I BROKE down (in a good way) as we walked out of the hospital... I think it was that moment that hit me that "I am a MOM", Tim and I were now responsible for this tiny little infant and it wasn't until then that it felt real.  We set the car seat in the base and we were ready to go!  Raya had her eyes wide open during the short 5 minute ride home, she was taking it all in!

We got home and I went in first to say hello to Zara, then brought her outside to meet her new sister.  She was DEFINITELY confused and a little startled at "this thing we brought home that squeaked, moved around and made noise but that she couldn't play with".  The first night she must have gotten out of her bed about 10x when she heard the baby make noises but now she has settled in and adjusted and is becoming very protective of her :) Very cute!





Postpartum

We got to our postpartum recovery room about 11:00 PM.  At that time the nurses took Raya to give her her first bath. I realize it is their job, but they were SO good at it and I have not had much success since being home to make it seem as easy.  Sure she cried and fussed a bit but they were quick and thorough and handed her back to me a clean beautifully smelling sweet little girl....who also was swaddled PERFECTLY, another thing I am still working on getting better at. 

Sleep was slim to none that night, between figuring out how to breastfeed and the nurses coming in for vitals, changing newborn diapers and trying to get comfortable, I'd be surprised if we got more than 2.5 hours of sleep.  Tim stayed with me at the hospital which was very helpful and comforting (he got a free pass from staying at the hospital with me when I had appendicitis because I told him when I had the baby he had to stay with me :)  I thought that was fair).

Raya lounging on daddy and mommy

The next day we had several visitors come meet Raya at the hospital, both Grandmas hung out for a bit.  Aunt Mary came with Cousin Ella and Ella wanted to play with Raya...soon Ella you guys will be able to play lots!!  Lauren, Amber, and Linnea (and Lucy) came to see you and were so excited Raya FINALLY arrived!

The board where we had to track baby Raya's daily routine, she obviously likes to eat!! ;)

Raya also got her hearing test done and she did GREAT!!!  She was so relaxed and peaceful looking during it and they said her hearing was right on target!  That nurse swaddled her up the best I have ever seen too!



The Happy Family! (so we aren't pros at the swaddling yet - ok!)

Recovery

After a little bonding time it was time for Raya to get her vitals taken. To say I was SHOCKED, is an understatement, when I looked at the scale and she weighed less than 7 pounds.  She is such a little peanut and I love her and am SO excited we get to use the newborn clothes we have!!!  I thought for sure being so late that I was going to have a baby that fit right into 3 month clothing :)





It was also time for Tim to change his FIRST diaper EVER!!  With a little help from the nurse he did a great job and just under three weeks later he is starting to hold his breath less and less each time he does it, I think he finally is realizing that her diapers don't smell yet so he needs to save that breath for when they do start smelling!!

While we were recovering, family that had been waiting in the waiting room were allowed to come in and visit.  The Altbaum siblings were there as well as Grandma Altbaum, everybody commented at all the hair Raya had and how little she was.  Tim's brother brought a bottle of some type of liquor and they were all able to share a shot together, I was glad he brought something because I felt bad we didn't have anything for Tim to cheers him as a dad and for being such a great and patient coach during the day.  To be fair the only time I kinda went nuts on him was when he was trying to find music to play and he kept a Christina Aguilera song on that I was NOT in the mood to hear, haha!

My mom was also there, which was extremely special to me (and her too).  Raya is her first grandchild and I am glad she was able to be a part of the day and that experience!

Three generations!

Delivery

I'll keep the gruesome details to a minimum ;) When it was time to start pushing, I am so glad Tim paid attention in our parenting classes to the pushing part, it took a few times for me to get it down...Breath in, hold breath in and push...I kept exhaling as I pushed until my FAB husband and coach corrected me and then I got the hang of it!  Thanks Tim!

My doctors shift was ending so after the initial round of pushing she introduced me to the doctor on rounds for the night who would be delivering, but told me since it's my first baby, it could take 2-3 hours...I was hoping for the sooner.  So for the next hour and a half it was Tim, my L&D nurse and me, pushing away.  As explained to me, every time I felt like I had to "go #2" meant it was time to push, so about every 10 minutes or so I'd say OK and Tim would hold my left leg and my nurse my right leg and we'd do 4 sets of pushes.  My nurse got called out of our room for a little to help the nurse across the hallway and left Tim and I to go it alone at the pushing...WHAT??!!  She assured us that the baby wasn't far enough down to push out.  So for about 20 minutes it was just Tim and I alone and pushing.

I did have them bring the mirror out so I could see the progress and what was going on, quite honestly when pushing I would look out of one eye scared of what I was going to see...but thankfully nothing embarrassing happened!!  At about an hour and a half in my nurse said "oh, it's time to get the doctor in here, don't push just hold it", wow...she is ready to come now...really??this is happening for real?? WOW!!  I have watched many tv programs with Tim and we both know that the doctor doesn't come in until "go time!".

G-rated shot of the pushing position and delivery room.

The doctor came in and got in her scrubs, another two nurses followed behind, they got their trays of tools ready and then it was time to start the official pushing.  Tim got the camera ready (G rated only) and the doctor said "ok and PUSH", it was honestly such a blur but within about 3 seconds out slides Raya on the first push with the doctor!!!  WOAH that was fast and at 8:03 PM she was HERE and joined the world!  My placenta came following right after her and Tim cut the cord.  I had a level one tear so I needed a few stitches, all the while they had little Raya resting on my chest and starting to take her first breaths of air.  I didn't know weather to laugh or cry, it was certainly a surreal, amazing, once in a lifetime feeling!

Daddy with his little princess, she's one lucky girl!

Labor

Everybody has a birth story and I have heard at least a dozen of my friends stories leading up to Raya's delivery.  Some easy, some difficult but one thing is for sure after having gone through it myself now, no two stories are the same, but I enjoyed hearing all the stories so I will share mine!

So EDD was April 14th which came and went with no delivery.  I saw my doctor on April 19th and I had made some progress but she wanted to talk induction plan just in case.  She scheduled me for induction on Wednesday April 25th IF she did not come on her own in the upcoming 5 days.  She also had me do the NST (non-stress testing) on Friday the 20th and Monday the 23rd.  I attended both and everything checked out normal, fluids levels were good and baby's heartrate was strong and normal...so I was sent on my way from the nurses with "we'll see you Wednesday".  At this point I had come to terms with the dreaded induction that was around the corner :( To make matters worse the ased me to come in for my induction at 5:00 AM and to call them at 4:00 AM to make sure there was room for me in a room...WHAT????  I am not going to be sleeping for the rest of my life and I have to get up at 4:00 AM, makes no sense to me :( Tim and I headed to bed Monday night saying "let's enjoy our last night of sleep for a WHILE!!"

Sure enough as nature would have it I was woken by contractions that felt like BAD period cramps at about 3:00 AM in the morning on Tuesday!  I had experienced some contractions earlier in the week but just as I learned in class and from my doctor, if I was able to go back to sleep they were not real contractions...well I was up and down to the bathroom about 12 times between 3 and 5 AM, everytime I stood up I had to pee again.  It was hard to keep track of the contractions becuase of how often I was frequenting the bathroom, I thought "Oh I must have dropped!!", I had been told about a bazillion times leading up to my due date that I hadn't dropped yet so I thought this must be what it that is??  Tim was mostly sleeping but knew I was in an uncomfortable state and finally at about 6 AM after much of my signing and complaining of cramping, he said OK let's start timing these contractions.  After about 40 minutes he said "I think it's time to take a shower".  According to his timing my contractions were about 3.5 minutes apart and pretty steady.  I was freaked out at this point (was I REALLY ready to do this??  after all the waiting and now I was nervous) and convinced him to let me take a bath to see if that eased up my pain.  The bath didn't ease up the contractions, but it did give me a chance to relax a little and shave my legs knowing that VERY soon I'd be heading to the hospital!  Tim was anxious and wanted to get going, I was taking my time since I didn't want to spend my whole labor in the hospital and I think I was stalling based on my nerves.

I had a small breakfast of toast and applesauce. I think it was about 8:45 or so that we headed to the hospital.   We were admitted to triage and right away I was checked and hooked up to heartbeat and contraction monitors.  Just as Tim had timed, I was contracting about every 3-3.5 minutes and at this point I was at 4.5 cm dilated.  It was really real when the triage nurse told me we are admitting you, looks like you are going to have this baby by dinner time.  WHOA!!!  Tim was sent to the car to get our bags and we were assigned a labor and delivery room.

I got to room 307 at about 11:00 AM and again got hooked up to the monitoring machines, I was still in a good place pain wise so I didn't want an epidural yet.   My mom and Tim's mom arrived shortly after and we just hung out and played the waiting game.  I had brought Moulin Rouge with me (one of my favorite movies) so I had Tim put that in the DVD player.  I used the exercise ball to open up my hips and tried to walk around. They told me that my contractions were stronger than I was leading on, which made me feel good, I wanted to go as long as possible before getting an epidural.  My doctor came in and checked on me a few times and at about 1ish my doctor broke my water and I was at about 6.5 cm dilated.  They told me that my contractions would start getting more intense and that was no lie!  By about 2:30 I almost couldn't concentrate and I told Tim I think it was time for the epidural.  By 3:00 PM I was feeling MUCH better and relaxed and  when my doctor came to check on me and I was still at about 6.5 cm, she ordered that I get some pitocin since I was stuck at 6.5 cm for a little while. 

Relaxing in bed, capturing the moments of the day

 Just before the pain REALLY started, laboring on the excercise ball

At 6:15 PM my doctor came back in before her shift ended to see what my progress was and I was 10 cm finally!!!  It was time to start trying to push, wow!!  crazy!!  HERE WE GO...