Little Elf- One Month

Temperament: This little guy is SO chill and mellow. He rarely cries or fusses, and if he does it is for a very short time. He has had a bit of jaundice which makes him extra sleepy, and may contribute a little to his mellowness. But we're excited that he doesn't have colic!

Weight & Height: When he was born he was 6lbs 7oz and 17.5 in long. He lost 3oz while we were in the hospital. At his two week check up, he was 7lbs 3oz and 21in long. We aren't sure if he actually grew 3in in two weeks or if he wasn't fully stretched out when they measured him at birth! Then at an appointment when he was 4 weeks old, he weighed in at 7lbs 13oz. The doctor said he looked great! He's been in newborn sized clothing since birth, as well as newborn diapers. 

Sleeping: Like I mentioned before, he's had some jaundice since we left the hospital. That makes him really sleepy. To the point I have to wake him up to be fed. So I set my alarm for every 3.5 hours to wake him and attempt to feed him. Most of the time he'll fall asleep several times while he's nursing, so I have to try and get him to wake up. Sometimes he's out cold and nothing will wake him! Some of the things I've done are turning the lights on, stripping him down to his diaper, tickling his feet, face & tummy, sitting him up to burp him, gently blowing in his face (getting desperate here obviously, haha), and so on. Those work, ohhhh, maybe 60% of the time. And not for very long. His doctor says he'll be more alert as the bilirubin levels drop. 

Eating: He's been a little slow getting into the whole eating thing. In the hospital he was too tired to eat, so we would still attempt to nurse and then I would pump and feed him from a syringe. Once we got home from the hospital, my milk came in the next day. He's doing better at eating but has a hard time staying latched. And staying awake. So nursing takes a looong time. But I love the bonding time, so it's ok. 

Likes: He LOVES to snuggle. It doesn't matter if he's awake or asleep, his favorite place to be is on someone or at least in their arms. His favorite spot is snuggled on his tummy under my chin. He also loves baths.

Dislikes: Being in his carseat for longer than a few minutes. He also hates being cold. So diaper changes and clothing changes normally cause him to fuss. And if the room is too cold for him after a bath he gets mad too. 

Other: This little man spits up a TON. Like, pretty much everything he eats it seems. It changes consistency and color, volume, and speed. Speed meaning how fast it comes out of him. He has gotten pretty good at projectile spit up. To the point where in order to somewhat preserve our carpet, when I burp him I have a full size bath towel draped over my lap and onto the floor to catch it. We have increased our supply of burp cloths (large prefold diapers) to try and keep up with the demand. We also generally have to do laundry more than once a day because he only has so many outfits and so many burp cloths. We've taken him to the doctor twice about it. Once they suggested that he could have a dairy allergy and told me to try taking that out of my diet. So I did, but there was no change. When I introduced it back in, he didn't get better or worse, so we don't think that's the problem. After we tried that, the doctor prescribed Prevacid and Hyoscyamine. One for the reduction of acid and the other for tummy cramps. Between the two we've noticed some improvement, but he still spits up quite a bit. Just not projectile as often, so that's good! The nice thing about all of it is that he's what they generally refer to as a happy spitter. That means that he doesn't scream/cry/fuss/etc from the reflux. He usually doesn't seem bothered by it. Occasionally he'll be a little fussy from it, but thankfully not often. We also had to take him in several times in the first 3 weeks to the lab to have his bilirubin levels drawn. It was so sad! His poor heels were still bruised from the hospital, so there wasn't a "clean" place for them to do the draws. The first few times he was still so sleepy he barely moved, but then the last few times it made him cry. It's hard to see your baby in pain! Eventually the lab levels dropped down to an ok level and we didn't have to take him in for heel torture any more. 

Mom & Dad: We are adjusting to parenthood. Ryan went back to work the Tuesday after Tiny was born, so I've been the one doing the night feedings so Ryan could be rested for work. My mom has been here since he was born, and helps out a TON with everything. It's really helping with the adjustment. We're both still in awe that this tiny person is OUR child. We love him totally and completely, and can't imagine life without him now. I've been lucky to not deal with post partum depression (which I think is linked to doing the placenta encapsulation, but more on that later) which I was really worried about. Because he's such an easy baby, we're both doing pretty good so far with everything.

Welcome Noah- Pictures!

Since the last post was so long, I thought I'd put all the pictures here instead of making that post even longer!

 I miss feeling him moving around, but I can definitely bend over better without the big old tummy in the way!

 Oxygen power!

 Just waiting to weigh our little man!

 Hanging out with mom while Ryan went and got them lunch

 True love!!!

 Already making faces for the camera

 Big eyed baby!

 Mom's first snuggle with her new grandson

 Telling everyone that Noah had arrived while he was off with daddy getting his first bath

 Letting Grandma snuggle with Noah

 Daddy getting some diaper practice in

 She's as in love as we are!

This is daddy's new favorite hobby

Welcome Baby Noah Parker Deuel!

    As I sit here snuggling my sweet baby boy while he sleeps, I am continuously blown away by the thought that this is *MY* baby. That I helped create him. I carried him while he grew from just a few cells into this tiny little boy. That I delivered him into this world. And that it is my body that provides the nourishment he needs to thrive. It's surreal and amazing and incredible and a little overwhelming! I'm so grateful that I get this opportunity to be a parent. To be trusted with such a sweet little person. I am SO blessed!
    Ok. Sappy moment is over. Moving on. With Noah being two weeks old tomorrow, I figure I need to write out his birth story before I forget it. I'm going to want to share it with him someday, and I figured in the mean time I can share it with you instead! Here is the setting for the story. I was scheduled to see my OB on 3/20, and she had told me during the past appointment that if I was at 3cm dilated at the next appointment, she would discuss our options for inducing. I was at 2cm when she told me that. So Ryan and I had been trying all the tricks to get me either go into labor, or at least dilate 1 more cm. My mom was set to arrive from Texas at 9:30am on 3/19. Ryan had taken work off to be able to pick her up from the airport while I went to work like usual. So here is how it all played out. This all takes place on 3/19. 3, 2, 1, action!

• 1-3ish am- I get up several times (3) to go to the bathroom, as usual. Ryan was still awake until like 1am, since he was going to get to sleep in before going to the airport. 
• 3:30am- went to the bathroom again, and when I laid back down in bed I thought to myself "hmmm...that doesn't feel like a Braxton Hicks contraction. Something is different. I wonder if that is a "real" contraction..." Then I fell asleep, but woke several times because of the contractions. 
• 4:30am- I woke suddenly because it felt like I had peed my pants. I thought that was random because I hadn't coughed or sneezed or anything that would have made me do that (and luckily I hadn't ever peed myself during pregnancy), so I started wondering if it was my water breaking. I went to the bathroom, again, to check what was going on. My garments were wet in the crotch, but that was it. So I put a pad on and went back to bed. 
• 5:00am- I woke up suddenly (again), feeling like I was going to throw up. Salivating mouth and all. So I went to the bathroom (apparently my favorite place in the world that night) to get the trash can, and started feeling the contractions again. I still figured that they weren't labor inducing ones because I could still walk and could have talked if Ryan was awake. The urge to throw up passed, and I remembered to check the pad. It was wet, but not soaked. So I headed back to bed to time the contractions. 
• 5:30am- after timing the contractions for a half hour, I saw that they were coming roughly every 5-6 minutes and lasting about a minute each. I decided that since they were getting stronger and I wasn't sleeping, I might as well go take a shower. That way if I wasn't in labor, I could get ready for work, and if I WAS in labor, then I'd be able to start out clean. So I took a shower until the hot water ran out, decided the contractions were getting stronger, and should probably go talk to Ryan. I did put my hair up first, but didn't bother with makeup. I had decided at this point that even if I wasn't in labor, I sure as heck wasn't going to work feeling like that.
• 6:40am- I went into the bedroom and leaned over the bed during a contraction, then told Ryan "honey, it's time to wake up now." To which he grunted and asked what time it was. I told him and he opened one eye looking at me like I was crazy for waking him up when it was his day to sleep in. So I added "I think I'm in labor..." So he opened his eyes, but didn't get out of bed. Then I added the last bit..."And, I'm pretty sure my water broke...." Finally he jumped out of bed, rubbing his eyes and asking what was going on. So I told him, and said that I was going to call the OB to make sure that going to the hospital was a good idea. I REALLY didn't want to go to the hospital just to get sent home. 
• 6:45am- I spoke with the OB, explained about the possibility of my water breaking, and she said to head to the hospital just to be sure. Because if it had broken, Noah would have to be delivered within 24 hours to reduce the chance of infection. So we started gathering the last minute stuff to add to the hospital bag and got ready to go.
• 7:05am- I decided that since everyone had said eat before going to the hospital, because once you get there you can't eat until the baby is born in case a c-section is needed. So I poured myself a bowl of cereal and then called my dad to find out if my mom was on her flight already. I was getting to the point where I couldn't talk easily through the contractions, so I had to pause several times while talking to him. Mom was already in the air, so I called and left her a message telling her what was going on and that we would arrange for a friend to pick her up instead of Ryan.
• 7:06am- I abandoned eating my still mostly full bowl of cereal because of the pain and told Ryan it was time to go. He thought I was crazy for trying to eat in the first place, so he was just waiting for me to give the go ahead to leave. We loaded up and headed to the hospital.
• 7:20 am- We got to the hospital and checked into the labor & delivery unit. Pausing several times on the walk for contractions to pass of course. 
• 7:30am- I was checked to see my water had actually broken. They have a special type of paper that detects the type of fluid. They stick that inside and then check the color. Mine turned dark blue, which was apparently the magic color! They said that my water had in fact broken and that I was about 80% effaced, and 3.5cm dilated. I had finally gotten to the desired 3cm, but obviously wasn't going to need to be induced! yay!
• 8:00am- The nurse got my IV started in my hand, which is the WORST place to have an IV. Then she started the fluids. One was essentially sugar water, to give me "nourishment" while they essentially starved me of real food. Another was regular saline solution. And the last was penicillin because I had tested positive for Group B Strep when they tested me for it a few weeks ago. It's a common thing to be positive for, but because it can be passed to baby they want to give you penicillin every 4 hours during delivery. And it sucks. It's refrigerated, so it's cold going in the IV. And it hurt my hand. I don't know how much of it was because it was cold and how much was because of where my IV was, but it wasn't a good feeling.  
• 8:05am- I told the nurse I was interested in getting the epidural, but I wasn't quite ready for it just yet. 
• 8:20am- I told the nurse I had changed my mind and it was definitely time for the epidural. The nurse added me to the list of people waiting for epidurals, and I waited for the drug doctor to come pay me a visit. 
• 8:50am- The anesthesiologist came and gave me the epidural. As soon as it started to work I was ready to kiss the man. Getting one was the Best. Idea. Ever. It allowed me the chance to enjoy my delivery experience. I know it's not for everyone, but it is certainly for me!!
• 9:00am- The nurse checked me for progress. I'd progressed from the 3.5cm on arrival to 5cm. She said they usually want to see about 1cm an hour, and I was on track for that. 
• 9:40am- I called my mom again, since her flight was set to land at 9:30 and I was hoping to be able to fill her in on what was happening and who would be picking her up. Between Ryan being on the phone with our friend Lindsay (who had so heroically volunteered to take some time off work to go pick mom up) and me being on the phone with mom, we were able to coordinate the pick up and drop off of my mom. Yay!
• 10:00am- My next check informed us that I had progressed to about 6cm. Things were still looking good. 
• 10:30am- There were some decelerations in baby's heartbeat during contractions showing up on the monitors. The nurse had me switch sides that I was laying on in hopes that his heartbeat would go back to normal. 
• 10:45am- She came back in saying that the weird things his heart was doing had gotten worse since switching sides, so she wanted me to go back to my left side. After I had rolled back over (with her help seeing as how I didn't have full feeling in my legs), she put an oxygen mask on me. She said that sometimes if the placenta has decided that its job is done before it really is, baby could benefit from some extra oxygen. So I got to wear that until he was born. 
• 10:55am- My mom arrived! Her side of the story is that she landed and almost didn't turn her cell phone on. But she did and saw that she had a voice mail, but after listening to it realized that it didn't give a time of when it was left. All she knew was that I was in labor and she needed to get off the plane fast! Now, I have to insert here that my mom is a very quiet lady. We make fun of her for being a "quiet mouse" because she rarely raises her voice. So I was very proud of her after hearing what she did next. She said that after hearing the message, she stood up, gathered her things, then exclaimed loudly "My daughter's water broke and we're having a baby!!! I need to get out of here so I can get to the hospital!!!!!" The response was several congratulations, and everyone parting like the Red Sea to let her off. Way to go Quiet Mouse!! You did it! My second call to her caught her walking to baggage. I was able to reassure her that baby wasn't here yet and she would probably make it to the hospital on time. She was thrilled with that. 
• 11:10am- The nurse checked me again and said that I was just about to 7.5cm, and that I was still contracting well. 
• 12:10pm- During this check she found that I was fully dilated and fully effaced. She called my OB and came back to tell me that they were going to wait for an hour to allow him to descend, and then we should be ready to start pushing around 1:15pm. 
• 1:00pm- I started clock watching, getting more anxious and nervous knowing that very soon I'd be delivering this baby. And once he was here, everything would be different. I tried not to get scared about the actual delivery, but it was an unknown and therefore a little nerve-wracking!
• 1:15pm- The nurse came in and got me into delivery position, just without the stirrups. She held one leg and had Ryan hold the other. She said that the amount of pushing time ranges from woman to woman, and it could be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. So during the next two contractions she had me push. After the second one she said "Ooook, we're not going to have you push anymore. This baby is ready to be born! He's about ready to crown, so I'm going to go call your OB and we'll deliver this baby when she gets here!"
• 1:18-1:40pm- Every time the urge to push came, I'd look toward the door hoping to see the doctor walk in. It felt like she took foreeeeeever getting there! Even the nurse started pacing, worried that she might have to call a different doctor in since my baby was ready to be born!
• 1:41pm- My OB finally arrived and got gowned up and got everything situated. She got filled in on the funny heart rhythms and guessed that baby probably had the cord wrapped around his neck. She had them put my legs in the stirrups and she got into position. 
• 1:45pm- During the next contraction, she had me start pushing. I could see his little goo covered head start to appear in the mirror and it was crazy!! I was actually delivering a baby!! She said that his heart patterns showed that he was NOT liking this process, and she wanted him out on the next contraction. 
• 1:49pm- When the next contraction hit, I started pushing again with everything I had. I watched in the mirror as his head came out, and she unwrapped the cord from around his neck. Then she had me give a little push to help with his shoulders and then BAM! I had delivered a baby!!!!
• 1:52pm- After his nose and mouth were suctioned, they laid him on my tummy to wipe him off. He was so tiny and blue! And he wouldn't cry. He made little baby noises, but he just didn't want to cry. After a moment they took him over to the table to make sure he was breathing ok. Everything checked out. The nurses kept making comments about how his breathing was perfect, and his heart sounded great, and he must just be a mellow little dude. They gave him the eye drops and the huge giant vitamin K shot (that looked like the needle was long enough to go all the way through his leg an into the table) and still no crying. They took him to the weighing table and weighed and measured him. 
• Noah Parker Deuel- born 3/19/14 @ 1:50 pm.
• 6lbs 7oz
• 17.5 in long
• 2:00ish pm-They brought him back to me so I could snuggle him on my chest for awhile before taking him to get bathed and such and moving me down to a recovery room. It was an amazing feeling to have him there on my chest, able to look into his eyes and snuggle him close. He still hadn't cried, and was content just to hang out. He was just perfect and I couldn't get enough of him. It was so sad when they took him away. Ryan went with him, and I got moved down to recovery. I was given some food and was excited to eat, but really couldn't feel just right until they brought my baby back!
• Remaining hospital stay- Noah cried during his first bath, but not at all for him remaining shots. They didn't mention if he cried when he was circumcised, but he only cried (very softly) during one diaper change afterwards because he was stuck to the diaper (ouch!). He remained very mellow and chill the whole time we were there, which was a total of 48 hours. He was VERY sleepy (more than a usual newborn), so after each attempt to feed him I had to pump and then feed him with a syringe. Whatever works!

To summarize,  I had an easy pregnancy (minus a few scares & that horrible pain at the end) and an easy delivery, and now I have an easy baby. I have been SO blessed. I'm so very grateful for these experiences that I've had. My mom said it's Heavenly Father's way of giving me a break after everything I've been through (mainly the broken body from the bad accident). I'm ok with that theory. haha. This little man is such a blessing and I can't believe that I've been entrusted with raising him. Basically, we are totally & completely in love with him! He's perfect!!