Well – I had no idea she was into health until I saw her on Dr. Oz.  She said that she had an accident many years ago and has had chronic pain {RSD} ever since. She also says she has days where she feels inflamed and her joints ache. As soon as I heard this I became very interested because I suffer from inflammation and joint pain myself.  Paula says the first thing she does when she feels inflammation is refer back to a plant based diet. Her breakfast every morning is a green shake… something I also consume at some point just about every day!

I happened to have all of the ingredients in her recipe so I made it first thing the following morning. I took a little taste before pouring it into my glass… and it wasn’t my beloved peanut butter banana tasting green smoothie at all… but it was a nice change and actually pretty good. It tasted light, clean, refreshing, … and I don’t know how to say this so it sounds appealing… but it tasted really healthy!

There are two reasons why this shake is one of my new favorites! I had no joint pain for the rest of the day! I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have joint pain. That in itself would make me drink this shake everyday, but the second best thing was that it made my skin glow. I know lots of people say “oh this will make your skin glow, blah blah blah” but no joke… the day I drank this smoothie I noticed my features looked brighter and my skin looked great! I could really see a difference.  I actually notice this a lot when I eat a PLANT ONLY based diet…  which is half the motivation I had for becoming a vegan/raw foodie in the first place! Yes I realize what a vain statement that is, but I do want to look good.  And if eating just plants make me look half as good as they make me feel… well then I have my answer. Being completely vegan is a goal I am working to get back to… and I will admit, its hard sometimes. I love greek yogurt, egg whites, and blackened salmon. These are all foods I let back into my diet during my pregnancy and I will have a hard time saying goodbye to again.. so it will be a process weeding out the last few non-vegan favorites and returning back to my pre-preggo diet.  I plan on going a little slow with the transition so I won’t feel like I am being drastic, but in time and when I am ready I will get there.

Anyways… back to the smoothie. To achieve glowing beautiful skin – try drinking this smoothie by itself for breakfast and letting it digest before consuming anything else. And if you are feeling extra motivated, try eating only plants for the rest of the day… and check out your reflection from time to time throughout the day..  your skin will be so happy and you will have so much extra energy. So all you coffee lovers out there, go ahead and skip that cup of joe, you won’t be needing it after you drink this!

Forever Your Greens Shake inspired by Paula Abdul as seen on Dr. Oz

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh kale
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. hemp seeds (I used 1 tbsp. hemp)
• 1 tsp. chia seeds (I used 1/2 tbsp. chia)
• 1/2 avocado (I used 1/2 a frozen avocado)
• 1/2 banana (I used about 3/4 a frozen banana)
• 1/2 apple (I tossed the whole entire apple in, seeds, core and all… I did remove the small stem tho)
• 1 cup coconut water (I love “Taste Nirvana” Coconut water… its much better in my opinion than any other brand)
• pinch of stevia (I used two packets of stevia)
• 4 ice cubes

Directions

Put all ingredients into a blender and serve immediately!

P.S Don’t skip or skimp the stevia..

Here is the video clip from the Dr. Oz episode

xoxo Jennifer

Do greens scare you in a smoothie? 

Is your own vanity a reason you have for eating a healthy diet?

Do you like coconut water?

Have you also noticed your skin looks better when you eat a plant based diet?

Week four has been a much better week due to the fact that Hayden is sleeping a little better during the night (when she doesn’t sleep too much during the day), and that her little tummy is full. I am breast feeding her each time she is hungry before I offer the bottle, as I am trying to build my supply back up. She latches great and will nurse for about 10-20 minutes, but if its right after she wakes up and is really hungry, she gets frustrated after about 5 and pulls off with her fists waving all about.

The formula we have been using is the kind they had in the NICU… the kind I got upset with her caretaker for giving her without my permission. I chose this kind because its instant, no water needed and they are packaged in ready to go 2 oz. bottles that you just have to attach a nipple.

It’s a blend of soy and cow’s milk. I would have grabbed non-dairy but the first time I picked these up I had rushed to the store leaving a very hungry and upset Hayden to be consoled by Grandma and Daddy. I just grabbed the first thing I knew to be good (because I remembered it from the hospital) and INSTANT gratification (I don’t know how to use the powders, and we don’t have a bottle warmer etc.), So to avoid trying to figure all of the powdered directions, I figured a soy blend would do and bolted home to get her fed. We introduced the bottle by placing it’s [Medela] nipple right up next to my nipple, held her in the breastfeeding position, and it worked! Thanks to Grandma for the helpful instructions on that.. getting a baby to take a bottle for the first time is another challenge in itself. Hayden drank two bottles back to back. She has now been eating on average 4 oz. every 2-3 hours. So we go through 2 packs of these little formula bottles per day. Its about $20 a day in formula. I just checked on amazon and they have some good deals…. but Im really hoping to just increase the supply nature has given me. I can think of a lot of other things I could spend $20 a day on… but if my milk doesn’t come back *tear* we will continue to buy this kind as Hayden likes it, and is no longer spitting up from it, nor does she have an upset tummy from it.

We bought this really cool bottle – the brand is called Como Tomo. Hayden loves this bottle… the bottle itself feels soft like a boob! It has a very wide nipple also very similar to a natural nipple. It also doesn’t let any air get through so we avoid gas and colic etc.

Hayden has been sticking her tongue out a lot this week. I like to give her little kisses on her lips and when I do she sticks her tongue out and licks my lips! It is so adorable! I kiss her little lips about 1000 times a day!

Her forehead is very dry and flakey and she has also lost all of the hair on the very top of her head.

She now only has hair in the back and the sides…. Chase says she has “male pattern baldness” I was unaware that was even a term men used when their hair was thinning… but we both find it pretty funny that if she didn’t have a pretty headband on her head she would have an old mans head at four weeks old. I was told this was very common with babies, and that it will grow back lighter and thicker.

This week she has been sleeping from about 8:30- 1 or 2, and then from there its who knows… some nights after she first wakes up its nearly impossible to get her back to sleep.. (and I think this is from her sleeping too long during the day) and other nights she will go back to sleep from 2- 4 and then she usually wakes up again around 6 and then she is up. When the sun has risen, so has Hayden. Its tough to find a compromise for her sleep times, because she either sleeps really well during the day or night but definitely not both. I like it when she sleeps during the day so I have time to get things done like showering, laundry, blogging, cleaning up after our other three babies (the dogs) or driving home from SD ~

Usually if I get a lot done during the day I get no sleep that night. hmphhh…

I do realize these months blow by so I’m just trying to take it all in and enjoy it instead of stress about not getting something done. That is life when you have a baby. Hell, thats life even when you don’t have a baby. We all just need to be more in the moment! I have to remind myself of that daily.

Well that is it for me… I got a lot of things done today… so guess that means tomorrow I will have bags under my eyes like the bags I pack when I go out of town for two days. And uhhh… women like me don’t pack light! Good night y’all!

xoxo Jennifer

Do you take naps with your baby?

Did your baby lose any hair? How did you help it grow back? How long did it take?

What is your favorite bottle? 

Thoughts on brands of formula?

Related articles

• The Dadspin Guide To Feeding A Baby (deadspin.com)
• Baby Hayden 1 Week Old (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Formula Feeding Your Baby (enfamil.com)
• We are BACK (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Birth Story Part II (sweetlyvegan.com)

( I wrote this post during week 2, obviously I wasn’t able to post it on time, but I would like to post it now for any Mommy’s currently going through week 2)

In case your wondering why she has a blue hand… its a bruise from the IV that she had while in the NICU and Pediatrics at the hospital. Poor baby

Chase’s had some business meetings down in SD, so we packed up the whole family (including the dogs) and went down to the Hard Rock twice this week. On top of all of that, Hayden has been pretty fussy this week. She will sleep from 11pm until about 3am just fine and then game over. We will sit in bed with her boppy and nurse, but as soon as she falls asleep and I put her in her bed she wakes up and cries. It seems like she wants to nurse or be held every moment of the day, and don’t get me wrong there is nothing I would love more than to just hold her all day but it is tough to get anything else done, much less sleep.  Showering and getting ready used to take me about an hour before, has become an all morning and half of the afternoon process. I can do my makeup with her in the K’tan (her favorite!), but I don’t want to blow-dry or flat-iron my hair with her in there. So I get ready in segments… a little bit at a time.

Last night I tried a new approach with bed time. Sleep when your baby sleeps. I went to bed at 8pm right when Hayden fell asleep. She woke up at 1:30am, 4am, and 6:30am. Since I went to bed earlier I was able to get a few extra hours of sleep which is making me feel so much better today! Looks like my new bedtime is whatever time she falls asleep. I am not going to attempt a schedule for a few more weeks as I’ve heard it is best not to, and I would rather just go with the flow right now.

Hayden already has great control of her neck ~ I think from using the K’tan ~ she really likes to look around while she is in it. We have practiced tummy time several times now on her play mat, she will only do a few minutes before fussing but its a start! She really likes to look in the mirror at her reflection while in her playmat as well.

We took a chance and went out to dinner with another couple on a Friday night in Hollywood. Hayden loves the K’tan and every time I have her in it she is passes out, so I figured why not just wear her out to dinner. It worked perfectly. Hayden slept through our whole evening out (we were only out for about a total of 2 maybe 2 1/2 hours) Chase and I couldn’t believe how well our first night out with her went! YAY!

What was your first experience like eating out with a baby?

Sleep when baby sleeps? Or get things done? 

Do you use your carrier as much as I do? I don’t go anywhere without it!

Related articles

• We are BACK (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Birth Story Part II (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Baby Hayden 1 Week Old (sweetlyvegan.com)
• 32 weeks (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Introducing Baby Hayden Sophia Herro (sweetlyvegan.com)

This is going to be just a quick post for now, I will post again probably later today. Chase and I are getting ready to go back down to San Diego – Daddy has some work to do! Once again, we are staying at The Hard Rock! I love this place, but mostly just because they have a Pinkberry in the lobby of the hotel. Score.

Anyways, just thought I would share some pictures, and say hello. I feel like I have been gone for an eternity! Here is a little bit of an explanation: Hayden has been a very difficult baby for the past three weeks because I wasn’t producing enough breastmilk for her. I didn’t realize what was happening (Grandma helped me realize I wasn’t drinking nearly enough fluids), and she was hungry all the time- therefore attached to my boob 24/7 and not a happy camper!

Since we realized what was wrong (this past Sunday evening) we have started supplementing with formula. I have been pumping on the side, but between both breasts I can only produce about 1/4 oz. per pump session! Umm… TMI real quick ~ I went from leaking breast milk all over my pajamas and the bed.. to a Great Milk Depression. What went wrong?

Well, looking back…  this happened because I was so stressed having her on my boob nearly every minute of the day that I forgot to take care of myself. So ladies- if you plan on breastfeeding your little one, make sure you are drinking enough water. Buckets! All along I have been taking Fenugreek vitamins, my regular vitamins (D, b-12, Iron, Prenatal, & Probiotics) and putting down lots of nutritious smoothies, but I somehow overlooked the single most important thing- water (which also helps your body create breast milk) My body was dehydrated and so was Hayden’s. She hadn’t pooped in 10 days! We went to the doctor and they said she was gaining weight (7 lbs. 4 oz. now), and she had a soft tummy which meant she wasn’t bloated.  They weren’t real sure why she hadn’t pooped, however they said this was a common occurrence with newborns who are exclusively breast fed. So I went home and continued to unknowingly breastfeed my hungry baby about 1/4 oz. per feed. No wonder she was attached to me every minute of the day. Most babies her age put down 2-4 oz. per feed. Luckily, after we gave her the formula, she was able to fill her little belly up and she had a huge blowout poop! Needless to say, oxi-clean didn’t even get the stain out of those jammies!

 Well I would love to post more, but Hayden just woke up and I need to pack for SD! I will be back later, promise

xoxo Jennifer

Related articles

• Birth Story Part II (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Expressing Your Breast Milk (enfamil.com)
• Baby Hayden 1 Week Old (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Bottle-feeding and Obesity Risk (scienceofmom.com)
• Choosing to Supplement (enfamil.com)

Still following me? I didn’t think so. Haha, anyways… YESTERDAY Hayden turned 1 week old!

We took her to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica for a little shopping, and she wasn’t a huge fan of her carseat on the drive there. Once we made it through about 5 years of traffic, we unpacked all of her things- i.e~ stroller, diaper bag, blankets, and the k’tan carrier. Hayden isn’t a very big fan of her stroller yet either, she prefers to be held. Thank God for the K’tan.

I just wrap her up and wear her everywhere, that way she gets to be snuggled in all close to her Mommy just how she likes it. How can you blame her? Snuggling is one of the best things to do, isn’t it?! More advantages: I get to be hands free, and I can check on my baby at all times just by looking down.

Hayden eats pretty much all the time right now. So right when we got to the mall, she already needed to nurse. Daddy needed to do some work on his computer, so we stopped for a coffee at The Coffee Bean and he used their wireless internet to get some things done while I took Hayden to the lady’s room. I am not a fan of nursing in public.  I stood by the diaper changing area in the lady’s room for about a half hour while I had a blanket draped over my chest and Hayden filled up!

Because she eats so often, she also needs her diaper changed often (about 10 times a day?!) Many times when she is nearly finished nursing she will let out what Chase and I call the machine gun… her poops just kind of sound like an explosion in her diaper. Breastmilk poops however are much easier to clean up than formula poops! Another perk about breastfeeding! Seriously, the benefits breasts provide…. just endless… and men like them too! More win-win! (just FYI breastmilk also helps with cradle cap and healing sore cracked nipples)

Hayden has been an easy baby her first week with us! She basically just eats, sleeps, poops, and snuggles. She does cry when her outfit or diaper is being changed.

• She likes her bouncer, for only about 5 minutes.
• She hated the swing until today, she has been napping in it for about two hours.
• She sleeps in her rock n play sleeper next to our bed, or I have her snuggle in bed right next to me. Like I said before she is the most content when she is being held or snuggled.
• The paci- she isn’t really a fan of, but I got her to take it yesterday on the way home from the mall while she was in her carseat.
• She sleeps for about 2-4 hours each night, wakes up to nurse, and goes right back to sleep. She has had several days where she cluster feeds, and also uses my boob as a paci- she just likes to have it in her mouth but won’t really be sucking.
• She loves to suck on her hands.
• She just started spitting up a little bit when she burps, doesn’t happen very often tho.
• We think her eyes are going to be blue! They look dark blue right now, so we are anxious to see if they are still blue in a few months
• Her belly button stub fell off when she was 6 days old.

Well that is about it for week 1 for Hayden! I can’t believe here I am doing weekly baby posts! I vividly remember the days when I thought pregnancy posts would never end!

Hayden’s week 1 baby pictures ~

Have a great Thursday!

xoxo Jennifer

Related articles

• Birth Story Part II (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Introducing Baby Hayden Sophia Herro (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Hayden’s Nursery Progress (sweetlyvegan.com)
• 33 weeks (sweetlyvegan.com)
• Birth Story Part I (sweetlyvegan.com)

This was the last day I was pregnant: (40 weeks, 2 days)

This is later in the morning the same day that I had the baby ~

This is day 2 postpartum ~ (at home after a day of running back and forth to the hospital to nurse)

Day 3 postpartum ~ (at the hospital in my room in the pediatrics department!)

Day 5 postpartum ~

1 week postpartum

I have already lost 12 pounds and definitely still have a few more to go! Im going to try and lose an extra five pounds. So I have to lose 13 more pounds to get to my ideal weight! Breastfeeding burns about 500 calories a day, so since I can’t work out breastfeeding is burning calories for me. What a perk! Breast is best for baby, and it is best for helping mom return to her normal body shape. Win win situation here! lol. I can’t really start toning up for a few more weeks, but what I can do is pay close attention to my diet. No junk food, no processed food, no crap basically.

Here is what I have been eating:

• 7am Breakfast: Creamy Citrus smoothie (thanks to Kjirsten over @ Balanced Healthy Life I discovered one of my diet staples!)
• 10:30-11am Mid morning snack: Ezekial English Muffin with crunchy peanut butter
• 1-2 pm Lunch: Take out order of Blackened Salmon Salad from Caffe Primo (arugula, tomatoes, cucumber and a piece of salmon lightly seasoned with cajun seasoning and I use my own dressing from home – Garlic Expressions)
• 4 pm afternoon snack: medium sized Farm Fresh apple and a Cascadian Farms Dark Chocolate Almond Granola Bar
• 7-8pm Dinner: Kale PB2 Smoothie

This has been my typical diet since I returned home from the hospital. I honestly can’t get enough smoothies. They are so refreshing and leave me just the right amount of full (I always add vanilla protein powder) Plus they are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants so I know Hayden is getting a wide variety of nutrients!

Hopefully with just breast feeding and a healthy diet I can get my weight back to where I want it, and I am confident that I can. Toning up and making my deflated stomach look good again will have to wait, but you can bet as soon as I get the okay to start working out I am going to dive right in!

Please share your favorite smoothie recipes! 

What do you think is the hardest part about losing the baby weight? 

What do you typically eat when you are trying to lose weight?

Do you like drinking smoothies in place of meals?

Related articles

• Birth Story Part II (sweetlyvegan.com)
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So where did I leave off? .. right after I gave birth..

After Hayden was born we were taken to our postpartum suite. Chase took the comfy pull out chair bed (it was actually comfy!) and I of course had the hospital bed. Hayden and I spent the rest of the night skin to skin just holding each other. I had her snuggled right up on my chest and I would kiss her little head over and over. I studied her face and watched her hands and fingers holding me back. I kept thinking how is it possible that Chase and I made this beautiful baby? What a miracle it was that we had created this little girl and now she wasn’t just part of our imagination. She was a real live baby! And she was ours to keep! I feel so blessed to be given such an amazing gift!

Later that morning when we woke up (I had her at 3:53am, but we didn’t go to sleep until about 6 or 7am), Hayden’s pediatrician came in and checked her out. He told me she had some jaundice and wanted her to be placed in a light photo therapy bed. So the nurses brought in a baby crib that had blue lights and she had to wear a special outfit that was velcro’d to the crib.

She was supposed to stay in the crib as much as possible when not feeding so her jaundice would go down. Well Hayden already didn’t like being anywhere but right on her mommy, (like most babies, she loves to be held) and so the blue light bed didn’t really help much. The next morning the doctors decided to do some blood cultures on the baby. The results came back that Hayden had a high white blood cell count- which could mean she had an infection. They insisted that we put her on antibiotics just in case and that we send her to the NICU for 3-10 days while she was treated. I was heartbroken. There were lots of tears. I didn’t want our baby to be sick, and I didn’t want anyone to take her from me already! Of course I was going to do what the doctor thought was best, but it was so difficult to hand her off to strangers that soon. But Chase reminded me that I had to be strong. I couldn’t show Hayden that kind of sad emotion as we wanted her to get better as soon as possible.

Chase and I had one more day we could stay at the hospital, but since we had no baby in our room anymore (and I didn’t want to be reminded being in the postpartum section with lots of babies, that ours wasn’t with us!), we decided it was best to just pack up and go home.

We signed paperwork, birth certificates, and packed our belongings.

Then we went down to the NICU to see Hayden and again all I could do was cry. I remembered back to when we had the tour of the hospital, when they showed us the NICU. I had kind of brushed that part of the tour aside because I was so sure our baby would be healthy and never have that kind of fate. Well I was wrong. There we were – sterilizing our hands, scraping any dirt out of our fingernails, and walking past babies in incubators. Hayden was in the back of the NICU, the only baby not in an incubator, and being watched over by a nice man with a southern accent. When we got to her it was the hardest thing to keep it together. I really didn’t want her to see me upset. I had to turn around and walk away from her several times as the tears just kept pouring down my face. It was so hard to see our baby with an IV stuck in her hand, and band-aids on her hands and feet from so many pricks and pokes. Being in the NICU environment she actually looked sick, and we knew she needed the love from her parents more than ever.

The nice man watching her told me that I could breastfeed her if I wanted to, as she only drank a small amount of the formula he had already given her. FORMULA!? We were never asked if she could have formula. Chase and I were pretty irritated that he fed her formula without any permission- especially when I was still at the hospital and these doctors should know breast is best!

We explained to her caregiver that we were breastfeeding our baby and there was to be no more formula. I told him I would be there every three hours to feed her and I would go home and pump so they had a supply.

Anyway I breastfed Hayden one more time and then we said our goodbyes. That day I returned to the hospital every three hours for feedings. {I would pump in between the feedings but my milk hand’t come in yet so all i was getting was a few millimeters of colostrum, which wasn’t much of a supply to give the hospital – they sort of laughed at us for the small amount we did bring in! That made me pretty frustrated as I worked so hard for those few millimeters!}

The last time I went in was around midnight and at that point I was so exhausted and really needed some rest. Chase and I decided that for the night feedings (until my milk came in) Hayden would have to supplement with formula so i could regain some of my strength.

When I woke up the next morning I went right to the hospital and found out that she had been transferred to Pediatrics. Apparently the NICU had too many babies, and because Hayden was the healthiest baby there, she was the first to go – her care wasn’t intensive. They also informed me that in Pediatrics department, Hayden had her own room and I could stay with her! Yay! This meant that I could breastfeed no problem! I could bond with my baby and make sure she was in the best care possible. Her room only had a pull out chair bed for me to sleep, but I didn’t mind one bit.

While Hayden was in pediatrics she had her blood pressure checked twice a day, was given antibiotics several times a day (through her IV) and had more blood tests done. I didn’t know how long we were going to be in there, as I was only told 3-10 days depending on her blood tests. On Saturday afternoon the doctors informed me that three of her tests came back and news was good. Her white blood cell count had gone down, and her other blood tests looked good. They said this was promising, and if one more test came back the next morning with good results we could be discharged.

And surprise the next morning at about 6:45 am the doctor came in and told me we could leave! Hayden didn’t have any infection and was a perfectly fine healthy baby! I couldn’t pack up our things fast enough! We were going home! Finally life could resume and we would have our family back together again with us all at home! <3

I will be back tomorrow with her 1 week post. I will be doing her weekly posts every Wednesday from now on, I just got a little behind this week adjusting to our new life! Hayden was 1 week old yesterday! Time sure does fly, but I already knew that it would! Cherishing each and everyday with our baby girl! I can’t tell her enough how much I love her. Don’t forget to tell the people you love how much you love them today either! Life is so precious …. have a great Thursday everyone!

xoxo Jennifer

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Tuesday evening, May 1st, 2012, I went in for my induction @ 8pm. Once we got to the hospital, I filled out some paperwork and then waited for the nurses to get my room ready. Once we got into the room, it was nearly 8:45pm. The nurses gave me a gown to put on and took my blood pressure.

I laid down in the hospital bed, and they strapped a fetal heart rate monitor and a contraction monitor around my belly.

Chase made sure we had lots of entertainment (in case labor took an eternity), with movies pre-downloaded on our computers and his internet air cards..

A few minutes later the doctor came in and explained again how the induction was going to go. They were going to insert a tablet into my cervix called “Cervadil” which would dissolve and cause contractions over a 12 hour period which would help me to dilate. The doctor explained that its a slow process and most likely I would be fully dilated sometime late the following morning, and if I wasn’t we would need to try another Cervadil tablet and wait 12 more hours. If Cervadil wasn’t effective we would start Pitocen. After she explained all of this to me (about 10pm), she measured my cervix, which was finally dilated to 1cm! Then I received my first membrane sweep. After this, contractions had begun.

At around 11pm, they hooked me up to an IV. Then my nurse inserted the Cervadil. (fyi, to me Cervadil didn’t seem like a tablet of any kind, but rather a long stringy tampon looking thing that was stuffed up my cervix) About 15-20 minutes later contractions started getting noticeably stronger. I just laid in the bed and I would turn from side to side as the contractions hit about 5 minutes apart. Two hours had gone by, and the contractions were growing stronger and stronger. I was starting to feel some really heavy pain. I told the nurse measure my cervix again because these contractions are no joke! Now I was at 3cm! Each time the contraction would hit I would turn over to my side and grab onto the rail of the hospital bed and try to brace myself. I knew I shouldn’t get an epidural until I was at least 5cm. I asked the nurse for some pain medication because it was beginning to be too much for me to bear. She inserted 25 mg of Demerol into my IV. Despite the Demerol, the contractions grew even stronger and I didn’t feel any sort of relief. I asked her please give me more or something else, because its not working! So she inserted 25mg more of Demerol. She checked my cervix again, and I was at 5cm! My whole body was shaking! I even felt the urge to push! Chase had to keep reminding me to breath because during each contraction I would hold my breath almost like it would help fight the pain.

I told my nurse, please give me the epidural!!! She said, I’m sorry but we can not give you an epidural because we have to do that in Labor & Delivery. Labor & Delivery is very busy right now and they don’t have any room for you. You weren’t supposed to dilate this quickly, there is nothing we can do right now so you will have to wait! WAIT?! I was in so much pain I could.not.wait! I told her this baby is going to come out of me right now, BRING ME TO LABOR & DELIVERY!!!! So the nurse brought in a wheel chair and off we went to Labor & Delivery. Good thing because once we got there, they measured my cervix and I was at 8cm! My doctor came in and was so surprised that I was already in Labor & Delivery, said she had never seen anyone progress that quickly. I practically begged her for an epidural and she informed me, “Honey, there is not enough time. Your baby will be born before an epidural will even have a chance to run through your body and do its job.” That was the worst news for me as I felt like my body was going to rip in half. I didn’t know if I could handle anymore pain.

I kept having the urge to push, even though I wasn’t at 10cm yet. The doctor warned me, “You are going to tear if you push right now because your body isn’t ready yet! And if that happens I will have a huge mess to clean up down there and that isn’t good for you or me.”

I was so frustrated because I wasn’t trying to push, my body was doing it on its own. I couldn’t control it! But I definitely didn’t want to tear!

The doctor checked my cervix again and I was at 9cm, moments later 9 1/2.

My body kept having these convulsions and was pushing and there was nothing I could do about it. But finally I made it to 10cm.

The doctor said with each contraction you have to push. We will all (she, several nurses, and Chase) count to 10 and when we do, you push as hard as you can for all of those ten seconds. I had my legs spread apart and I was holding my knees in towards my armpits.

I pushed and pushed and pushed and finally when the baby’s head was crowning (and I was in between contractions) I felt like the baby’s head was going to come out of my butt. Her head was so low in my pelvis area and there was so much pressure right about where my butt was. I don’t remember this, but Chase told me I said to the doctor, “Wait, something is wrong! The baby is coming out of my butt! The baby is coming out of my butt!” hahaha! I definitely felt like my butt was going to detach from my body if I pushed one more time.

Nonetheless, I pushed a few more times, and at 3:53am Hayden came out with the cord wrapped around her neck. I had originally planned to let it pulsate and have all of the antibodies exit from the placenta into her body before it was cut, but due to it being around her neck we had to clip it right away. After they clipped it, Chase clipped it again closer to her body. They wiped Hayden down and then brought her over to me and placed her on my chest for skin to skin contact. Then the doctor then massaged the bottom of my stomach and waited for the placenta to come out. This also didn’t feel very good.

I couldn’t believe I finally had my baby in my arms! I was just so shocked to finally be holding the little being that had been growing inside of me for the past nine months. I stared at her in disbelief. I just had a baby! She was everything I had ever dreamed her to be and more.

The doctor asked me if I wanted to see the placenta, but I said no. I asked the doctor if I tore and would need stitches and she said there was no tearing at all! No tearing, and no epidural – two of the things I thought would for sure be happening. My labor lasted about 4-5 hours total. Thank God it was short, because I don’t think I could have made it for 30-40 hours like some women. Props to women out there who had really long labors, if mine would have been any longer than what it was I might be dead! lol.

To be continued with Birth Story Part II …

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• Labor and Delivery (madelynvittetoe.wordpress.com)
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• Birth Story.. (1sttimemomm.wordpress.com)
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• Born This Way: Part Deux (epa82.wordpress.com)

For now I just want to let you know Hayden is a healthy baby, home with us, and we are so happy! Life is definitely busy, but has never been so good!

I want to share some photos (two are obviously color enhanced via instagram), while I write the birth story later this evening/tomorrow morning. I hope you guys don’t mind waiting a little longer.

Hayden was born early Wednesday morning, 5/2/2012 @ 3:53am. She weighed 6lbs, 6oz., and was 20″ long…

Stay tuned for the birth story!

xoxo Jennifer & Hayden

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I know I said I hoped 39 weeks would probably be my last pregnancy post … but I thought why not just finish with a bang and do all 40 weeks since I have in fact completed 40 weeks of pregnancy.

Here is what baby looks like in there ~

According to babycenter.com:

It’s hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. Her skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it’s a snug fit through the birth canal during labor. This so-called “molding” is the reason your baby’s noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it’s normal and temporary.

According to thebump.com:

• In month nine, the average fetus is about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds and measures about 18.9 to 20.19 inches (wow!). But you really won’t know exactly how big your baby is until his birth.
• She’s continuing to grow hair and nails.
• And she’s keeping up that lung development, too.

___________________________________________

As you might already know, yesterday was my due date. I had a doctor appointment in the morning and the doctor said that my cervix was still closed, but was 100% effaced, and the baby’s head was at 0 station. He recommended going with an induction because  he didn’t see my cervix dilating on its own. Following his advice, I scheduled my induction for tonight at 8pm. The induction will begin with the doctor placing a tablet inside my cervix that will dissolve and help move things along (dilate my cervix for me). After it has dissolved, it is a waiting game for a few hours for dilation and contractions.

So we should be welcoming baby Hayden either late tonight, or early tomorrow morning! We are so excited!! Cant believe she is finally going to be here. It is weird being so incredibly close to someone for so long, yet being so far away because you have never met! The anticipation is unlike anything I have ever experienced.. and to be able to finally touch her and hold her in my arms will most definitely make today or tomorrow the best day of my life! Makes me teary eyed just thinking about it!

So excited to kiss those sweet little lips!

I ate a whole pineapple yesterday around lunch time, including the core – which is the part that contains the most bromelain in it.  I did have some contractions last night, nothing significant or consistent. I also lost a few pounds over the last couple days, back down to +20, but I’ve heard that is to be expected at the end of pregnancy. Guess my body is cleaning house!

Baby Bump Pic (last one ~ this morning 40weeks +2 days pregnant!)

So as of right now… we have 10.5 hours until we will be starting my induction. About 10 hours til we leave for the hospital, 10 hours of me trying to not freak out! LOL! I might try to fit in some relaxing yoga today to stay calm and focused ….  I need those good vibrations!!

Again thank you all for following my pregnancy this far, and I will see you on the other side when I am officially a mommy!

Sending love to you all! <3

xoxox Jennifer

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