He is here!

Oliver Wayne is finally here! We welcomed our sweet boy on Wednesday, June 3rd. We woke up bright and early and headed to the hospital for our scheduled repeat C-Section. It was a calm car ride.. but weird in the fact that we knew within hours we would be holding our son. I was really nervous for it all, knowing what to expect everything to be like.

When we got to the hospital we were greeted by really nice nurses who asked me about my previous birth experience and then made sure that this experience went the complete opposite. Everyone came in and introduced themselves to us, explained what their role would be in the birth, and then again, asked how they could make me feel comfortable. It was absolutely amazing.

Once all of the papers were signed, and I was prepped... I had to walk into the OR. I didn't know that would happen, but it did. It was intimidating walking into that bright white operating room. Funny part was that I was too short to climb onto the table. They actually had to find a stool for me to hop up there on. Once I was on there I was prepped and given the Spinal block. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I definitely almost jumped out of my skin when I felt the pinch of it. Thankfully my anesthesiologist was incredibly nice and good at what he did. He made me feel safe and in good hands. (My last experience, my anesthesiologist was a total b***h, honestly.)

Once I was numbed and everything was good, everyone else flooded into the room. It went from quiet small talk between the nurses and I, to a buzzing bee hive. I remember just wondering where Dillon was, and when he would be there. Once he was finally there it all began. Pressure, tugging, talking, then I felt the weight of Oliver's body missing from mine... and then there it was! His little baby cry! I was so happy and relieved to know he was Earth side! And even more comforting, my doctor had said, "this baby is posterior too!"...... I was instantly filled with gratitude and so proud of myself for listening to my gut. I could have attempted what the doctors even confirmed would have been a nightmare of a VBAC that probably would have still ended up in a C-Section.Although I have dreamed for so long of that natural birth experience, I am so thankful that I made the choice I did. I would have felt robbed again of my dream if things would have went south.

Once they checked everything on Oliver really quick they instantly brought him and laid him on my chest. It was awesome that my hands were not shaking and going crazy this time. Even more so that when I felt anything weird I could tell my anesthesiologist and he had some way to fix it for me. 

Getting to finally hold the little boy that was inside of me for so long was amazing. I was flooded with emotion and love. He was so cute, and to my surprise looked nothing like Opal. He was short and chunky, and looked like me! Every day he wakes up looking a little different and more like me. I love it! I held him for a few minutes, and would have got to hold him longer but I handed him off to Dillon because my eyes started to get really itchy and I couldn't stop blinking really hard. It was frustrating. But during this time Dillon got to go cut the umbilical cord, see Oliver be measured and weighed, and then we were all off to the recovery room.

Once we were there I got to nurse Oliver and cuddle him. It was the best moment. There's nothing like the first latch and that knowing that bond between you and the life you created is about to blossom. He did so well with his latch, and has only been getting better.

I'm not sure what it is about my body and birth, but I always have complications with bleeding. This time around I was passing baseball size blood clots after birth with a constant leaking of blood. Not good. But the DR stripped my uterus and after a while the clots stopped and the blood stopped leaking.

Once that situation was resolved I got to go to the mother-baby area and settle into my room. Once my legs were no longer numbed I got to go on a walk that evening before bed. My night nurse was on my nerves at that point lol. I was feeling really good, and I guess she wasn't used to that. I was taking small steps, smalllllllll steps!! And this woman kept telling me to slow down and that I was going too fast and that I should be in pain. I was so confused, like, was I supposed to pretend to feel worse than I did? Lol, anyways, walking was easy for me to do. It wasn't like I was speed walking or even walking at a normal pace... I was walking like an elderly woman who was very tired. The next morning my catheter was removed along with some monitor that was attached to my incision. I felt like a million bucks getting to use the potty by myself! And don't get me started on how amazing getting the IV removed was! It blew me away that this all happened on my first day post surgery!! None of this happened until day 5 with my last birth. I got to get dressed and do my makeup all on day 1!! It was so exciting.

My mother in law, father in law, and Opal came to visit after the surgery. I was incredibly nervous to see how Opal would take to Oliver. I didn't know if she would be happy, confused, angry... Didn't know. Thankfully though, she was amazing with him!! She came and sat next to me on my bed and kept saying "boy!" And "baby!" It was incredible! She kissed and hugged him a lot. You could see the love and adoration in her eyes. She is still doing great. We've only had 2 jealousy moments so far. I'm learning to balance how to spread myself between the two kids and my husband. Can you believe with 2 kids we've somehow still found time to cuddle and have quiet time to just talk on the couch. It seems so natural and easy, honestly.

 

Oliver has already been out and exploring with us. We have gone to Eastern Market, grocery shopping, and to a park for a picnic. We even  went to lunch at a bakery I've been eyeing in Old Town Alexandria.

Recovery for me has been a breeze. With the last C-section I was miserable. I had so much pain, swelling and trapped gas. This time around I think the most painful part was my engorged boobies!! Hahah! They switched my medication this time around to one I wasn't allergic to, and then some ibuprofen also. I had been taking it all every 6-7 hours apart rather than the 2-3 that is suggested. I still have so much medicine in my bottles and have stopped taking them because I don't feel much pain. The worst of it is probably just moving in bed I can feel the pinch of the stitches on my uterus, but even that is only for a split second and it is gone. Amazing, right?

I didn't even have much swelling in my legs or ankles. The swelling and bloat on my stomach is fading fast too. I wake up every day and it is at least 2 inches smaller. I have no fear that it'll all go down and I'll be back to somewhat normal very soon. :-) no worries about that either though, just want to fit my shorts because it is too hot for yoga pants, haha!!

Since being home, our lives still seem normal. It feel natural to have this little baby nursing all day, along with a toddler who is getting into everything. Night time is actually fairly easy. Opal's toddler bed is in our bedroom. I nurse Oliver, wrap him up and place him in the bassinet. Then I lay a pillow on my lap/ chest and Opal climbs up into my lap and within minutes she passes out. I then move her to her bed and she's good for the night. I have been moving Oliver back into my bed and letting him cosleep with us because getting up and out of bed can be interesting with my stitches. It's much easier to just nurse him while sleeping, too.

So honestly, I've been sleeping normal too. The only thing I haven't been able to do as easily is cleaning up. I kind of just sit around in the sofa and Dillon cleans everything up. I'm so glad he's home to help me with everything. I couldn't do any of it without him. And bless his heart, he's been doing all of the diaper changes!! I have changed only around 5 diapers between 2 kids this entire week. I'm so lucky, lol.

I can't believe I am even saying this, but life with an eighteen month old and a newborn is going easy. I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but I'm just so thankful for it. I hope it can continue to feel this natural and amazing. 

And I know I have been saying for months that we still don't know what is going on with our future... And as of today... We still don't. But I will tell you what we do know.

We put in our 30 day notice and will be leaving Virginia at the end of this month.

We scheduled our move with DMO (TMO) for the last Friday of this month.

We are moving to my hometown in California as of now, but that shouldn't actually be our destination. We should find out our new duty station by next week, but can't change the TMO stuff until they cut us official orders.

I hope that sometime next week I can have a post all about our future. It would be nice to know where we will be moving to in 2.5 weeks. It has been and still is extremely scary and stressful to not know what our future holds. It's even scarier to know you're technically going to be homeless and jobless until someone finally decides to get to work on your stuff. We have been waiting and waiting, and then his application gets sent back to be fixed or changed, or a signature has expired... It's just all been a nightmare. I'm ready for it to be done. And as far as we know now, it is finally at its last destination and on the desk of the final part of this process. We are so close.

So until then, wish us luck and keep my family in your thoughts please! <3

37 weeks pregnant!

Hey Everyone! We are another week closer to my sweet boy coming Earth side! 

   

Oliver should be around 6.5 lbs so far, and gaining 1/2 a pound each week! He also is pretty much at his birth length around 19-21 inches long. His lungs should be matured, but that doesn't mean he is necessarily ready to breathe on his own outside of the uterus.

He is now considered "Early term." I know a lot of people consider this week as full term, but that has actually been changed! "The nation’s ob-gyns have redefined ‘term pregnancy’ to improve newborn outcomes and expand efforts to prevent nonmedically indicated deliveries before 39 weeks of gestation," according to www.acog.org. You can read more about that here.

I am having Braxton Hicks contractions (false labor- practice contractions) here and there. They don't feel like period cramps this time around, they're more intense and feel comparable to shorter active labor contractions. I continue to have pubic bone pain. My OB's have said that it is because the ligaments in my pelvic bones are now too soft and separated too much. It is called Symphysis pubic dysfunction, or SPD. (You can read more about that here.) I experienced this with my first pregnancy, and have had the pain this time around since 20 weeks. It is not pleasant at all! 

With my last pregnancy I was devastated to see my tummy gradually be covered in stretch marks. It was painful to see my body tear itself the way it did. By the end of my whole birthing experience and being over packed with fluids in the hospital, I had stretch marks cover my hips, inner thighs, lower torso and everywhere under my undies. I was stretched to the max and my skin paid for it. So, this time around I was very scared that it would only get worse. 

I have been using Palmer's cocoa butter stretch mark tummy butter on it every day, and thankfully they have not gotten darker in color. Until this past week I actually hadn't been itchy or in pain. My C-section scar is starting to feel overstretched, sore and is now dark in color. the stretch marks that run through it are welted and swollen. They hurt to touch at this point. I hope this changes after my delivery.

Lastly, I am starting to really experience forgetfullness. I have been starting sentences and then I guess I just stop talking. My husband has been constantly asking me what I was going to say... and I don't even remember. I forget everything I need to take places with me, time and dates, etc. It is really getting annoying. I know this wont end soon... Exhausted mommy brain is going to be hitting me even harder in 2 weeks.

 I have been trying to make myself feel better every day by doing something for myself. I paint my nails a new color every other day. I try to have my hair done at all times. I try to sneak in long showers during nap time at the expense of cleaning my house. I do my makeup every Saturday and Sunday. I wear perfume nearly every day to smell and feel pretty too. 

It is ALL about self confidence this pregnancy. 

I am loving myself just as much as my children and husband love me.

This is the very end of my pregnancy, and this is what we plan to be my last pregnancy. We still plan on expanding our family- just not biologically. The plan for a couple years down the road once we are done with school will be to open our home to foster kids and hopefully adopt 2 more children. Ideally we would be bringing in a set of siblings to keep them together. That is my dream and something I really hope happens. We have so much love to give, I know we will be great foster and adoptive parents.

I actually opted out of my weekly visit for this week and just scheduled my next visit for my 38th week.  I will be scheduling my C-section at that appointment, so I will have more info on that next
Wednesday. :-)

On another note- the pregnancy cravings have shifted from breakfast foods (donuts) to milkshakes and french fries. Did you know that Five Guys is testing AMAZING milk shakes at certain locations? Well, you're welcome! They're delicious!!

xoxo, Chelsea.

My pregnancy at 29 weeks.

As I type this I am sitting at the foot of my bed eating half a bagel topped with mixed berry cream cheese... Oh, and it's about to be 3 am. Sigh, I really can't sleep and my hips are hurting so darn bad!! I got this uncontrollable urge to eat a bagel while I was using the restroom for the 5th time tonight... This is pregnancy at its realist. I don't even feel bad.

I was actually once a sleeper. I slept peacefully every night... But then I had my daughter. And I haven't had a regular night's rest since.. What was I thinking when I decided I was ready for #2?! I know, I know... That they're so amazing I had to have another! Some day I will sleep and this will all have been worth it. It is worth it. Even with Opal waking up an hour after I lay her in her crib like clockwork. And then, when she cries in her sleep because of teething and growing pains and bangs her little noggin into my mouth or forehead... All while my hubby is sound asleep snoring 2 ft away from me. #mommyneedsavacation #imsotired #buticantsleepbecauseimpregnant

I hope you guys can read between my rant that is drowning in dry sarcasm and see that I'm just kidding. Well, not about the hashtags! Those are serious business. :-) 

I finally got all of my insurance sorted out and saw my OB not too long ago and was told I can attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I am so excited that I look up successful VBAC stories daily and read them like they're game plans or something. I just feel so empowered through the experiences of other c-section mamas finally getting to do things the natural way. Its inspiring!

Next week I see my OB again for my 30 week check up, and will ask her some questions about it all.
I'm confident I will be alright as long as he isn't sunny side up like Opal was. I just don't think I could do it all again just to end up in a c-section. Which would suck and is pretty much not what I want at all. I hated the healing process, how long it took for me to be able to do just about anything alone, the trapped gas in my chest that made me feel like I was dying -literally. It was all torturous. I'd give anything to be able to go to the hospital, push a couple times, and have my baby born.. Then leave the next day. My week long stay last time was also a nightmare. Oh gosh, okay I'll stop rambling about that.

Anyway, my pregnancy is going by fast. Too fast if you ask me, ONLY because we're not ready for our PCS move... Or possible EAS move. We still have yet to hear back from the AR program that my husband applied for. Waiting game has been so dreadful for us the past 10 months. Sometimes the military life is really hard and really sucks. But, it is what it is, right?

Well, here's to being tired and stressed! xoxo, Chelsea.

-Here are some belly shots from my phone, don't wanna forget these gems down the road.-

We're expecting!

So I just realized that I never shared on my blog one of the biggest events going on in my life!

My husband and I found out that we are expecting a little baby in June!

I wont type out a big thing about it all, I'll let the photos from the past couple weeks share our excitement.