Settling In

It's June 20th and Ida is over a month old already.  She will be five weeks tomorrow.  You probably know that I'm going to say "it's gone by way too fast" but it really has.  I can't believe I only have one more week left of maternity leave.  I work for a great company that offers 6 weeks paid leave for a regular delivery.  I could also take 6 more weeks of unpaid leave.  However, my job is busiest this time of year and I know I am needed back in the field.  It's been a rough year for wheat in Central KS.  I have heard the average will be in the 20s throughout most of the area but we will just have to wait until the combines start rolling.  Poor crops mean heavy claim loads for adjusters like me.  I don't really mind being busy but it will be interesting heading back to work with a 22 month old and 6 week old.

Ida has been a great baby so far.  She slept for 3-4 hour stretches when we brought her home.  At about 2 weeks old she would sleep for 5-6 hour stretches at night, usually from 11-5.  For the past week she has been sleeping from around 11-6:30!  I know I shouldn't be so tired but I still am.  Unfortunately we have been passing around a cold, sinus, cough, congestion sort of sickness since Ida was born.  Dan, Lorena, and I have been on antibiotics twice.  We also have all had viral infections.  Now Ida has a cold and a cough.  Lorena went to the ENT this week.  We are getting her tested for allergies.  We thought she may need her tonsils out but the ENT didn't think it was necessary just yet.  It will be nice when we are all well.  I am nursing/pumping for Ida and supplementing with formula.  I think I'm making a bit more milk than I did with Lorena but I'm still falling short.  It has been nice to have the nursing relationship with Ida because I didn't have that with Lorena.

Ida was only in newborn clothes and diapers for 2 weeks.  She is now filling out 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers rather nicely.  She is awake more during the day and her neck is getting much stronger.

3 weeks old

5 weeks old

We have had a ton of visitors the past few weeks.  We baptized Ida June 7.  Aunt Kate and Uncle Jeremy Olson are Ida's sponsors.

Look at cousin Will in the background!

We also had Linn Picnic the next weekend and my sister came to visit for 3 days.  I love Linn Picnic but was thoroughly exhausted after it.

This week my Mom, Aunt Becky, and Uncle Danny came to visit. They cleaned my kitchen, did laundry, and vacuumed.  It was good to have them here.

I feel like I've been living on caffeine for the last month.  I know Ida is an excellent baby but it is just plain tiring keeping up with a toddler and newborn.  I know parents have done it forever, but it is just a major adjustment especially for Lorena.  When we brought Ida home, Lorena was constantly climbing into the pack and play to get to her.  Now she leaves Ida alone for the most part and enjoys handing me her bottle or pacifier.  Lorena has been her normal rambunctious self and recently got her first black eye.  I'm sure she will have many bumps and bruises to come.  I also think she regressed a little bit with speech for a few weeks but is now talking as much as she was before we had Ida.  Her favorite words are cow, moo, milk, mom, dad, and cookie.

Ida's Birth

I had Ida at the Clay County Medical Center in Clay Center, KS.  Clay Center is about 30 miles away from our house.  I was skeptical of going to a smaller hospital to deliver but since I didn't have any complications during pregnancy, we decided it would be the best option for us.  Remember, I went to Omaha, NE (2 1/2 hours away from our house) to a specialist until my third trimester.  I did have the option of delivering in Omaha but I'm so glad we chose Clay Center and Dr. Susan Thompson.  It was a wonderful experience!  I highly recommend Dr. T.  She is the best!

My due date was May 15 and this is a picture of me on that day.  I couldn't believe I actually made it to that day!

due date

I started having some mild contractions May 16 which was one day past my due date.  Baby had been head down for a while and I had been dilating for a few weeks before hand and was already dilated to a 3 at this point.  

4 p.m. Leaving for the hospital.  Feeling good.

Dan did not want to take a selfie with me

By the time I got to the hospital that afternoon I was at a 4.  I really wasn't in any pain though.  I could feel some mild cramps but that was it.  I got checked into the hospital around 7 pm and after being checked a few hours later, I was at around a 5 or 6.  I had always planned on getting an epidural like I did with Lorena so that was on the agenda for the night.  Honestly, I wasn't an any pain up until this point.  The contractions were getting a bit stronger but just still felt like normal cramps and my lower back had some pain but that was it!  I was like "I thought this was supposed to hurt."  Back labor in the days leading up to Lorena's birth was much worse than what I was feeling this time around.  

Still feeling great.  At a 5 or 6 now and sitting on the birthing ball.  I also told Dan I would not post this picture but he hasn't read my blog in years so who cares!

Since Dr. T wanted me to progress some more, she broke my water at about 11 p.m.  I felt more pain after that so I got an epidural.  Getting the epidural was pretty much pain free too!  The epidural hurt so much more when I was in Topeka having Lorena.  I was able to sleep from 12 am to 2 am and then for another hour before 3 am and 4 am.  Dan also slept a while too but his snoring woke me up several times...typical right? :-)  The epidural took the edge off and allowed me to rest.  I could still get up and go to the bathroom and move my legs which is how they like them to be.  I still felt like I had some control over my body which was nice.  I definitely felt a lot of pressure and it did hurt during the contractions but it wasn't that bad at all.  I pushed for an hour and a half and Ida was born at 7:33 am on May 17, 2014.  

I always joked with Dr. T that it took 3 pushes to get Lorena out since she was so small.  Dr. T told me this one would take a few more pushes.  She was right.  Baby's head was 14 cm and shoulders were as wide as the head circumference.  She did have a bit of a cone and was stuck under my pubic bone for a while I think. Ida was still a beautiful full term baby.  Ida was 8 lbs and 7 1/2 ounces and 20 inches long.  Perfect.

The whole experience was great.  The room was nice.  I could labor, birth, and recover in the same room and didn't have to shuffle to other rooms.  There are 3 maternity rooms in the hospital but I was the only one there so I got treated like a queen!

Dan and Lorena hanging out before we were discharged

The nurses and anesthesiologist were all really good to me.  Like I said before, Dr. T was awesome too.  She was very calm the whole delivery and it was truly an enjoyable experience.  She told me all along that this would be a much better experience than my birth with Lorena.  Having Lorena was such a scary time for Dan and me.  She wasn't supposed to come that earlier.  We were warned of all the possible long term problems she could have and that she could die.  I didn't want to hold Lorena when she was born, I just wanted the doctors to take her away and keep her alive.  Having Ida was so different.  We wanted her to come out, especially being 2 days over and having pushed for an hour and a half.  I wasn't scared to hold her when she came.  Dan got to cut the cord and she started nursing right away.  I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Dr T with Lorena and Ida - Dr T was supposed to deliver Lorena until I had complications and went to Topeka

My favorite picture of them!

 

Ida Mae Hiesterman

Ida Mae was born May 17, 2014 at 7:33 am.  She was 8 lbs 7 1/2 ounces and was 20 inches long.

My favorite picture

Dan looks more tired than I do!

Our first visitors were Dan's parents and sister Kate.  They brought Lorena.  She proceeded to ignore Ida and would cry if she got near me or tried to hold her!

The next day Lorena finally warmed up to me.

Clay Center provided a fancy meal for us before we went home.  We had cheeseburgers, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert.  

We came home the day after Ida was born, on May 18.  I was feeling good so there was no need to stay another night.

Lorena proceeded to get into lots of trouble once we got home. Her new thing is dumping toilet water on herself.  She also gets into lots of mischief while I'm nursing.  She stands on the end table and looks out the window and says "daddy".  She can see him working in his shop from our living room window.

My parents came to see us a few day after Ida was born.  It's always good to see them.  Lorena warmed right up to them and really liked the attention.

Overall, Ida has been a wonderful baby!  I will post all the details of the birth another day.  I also have a another post to do about having a full term baby versus a preemie.  Having a full term baby is a walk in the park once you have gone through the trials of having a preemie!

New swimming suit

Spring Update

It's been 3 months since I blogged last and my dad's been on my case to do another post so here it goes.  I'm not sure where the past 3 months have gone...pretty much the entire third trimester of my pregnancy.  I will hit the highlights of the past 3 months.

February is always kind of a long month for my Kansas family.  We buried my nephew Kaden 4 years ago in early February and this February Dan's Grandma Elsie Hiesterman passed away.  We buried her in early February too.  It was nice to have the family back together again to reminisce about her life.  She had been ready to go to heaven for quite some time to be with her husband Ervin (who passed away before Dan and I got married).

Checking cows on a snow day in February

Dan turned 31 in February and I turned 30 on March 7!  I always had pictured being on a beach drinking beers with my college girlfriends for my 30th but that didn't happen obviously.  Lorena came down with RSV over my birthday weekend and was in the hospital for 4 days recovering.  RSV can be very serious, especially in newborns and premature babies.  If she had to get it, I'm glad she got it this winter and not last winter when she was so tiny.

Stuck in the hospital crib

Lorena and I made a quick trip to Illinois to see my family in March too.

Henry, Max, and Lorena jumping on Aunt Maria

We also had a family wedding in March.  Dan's first cousin Luke Hiesterman married Megan Morris on March 1.  It was a very very cold day but it was a wonderful wedding.

Headed to the wedding, I'm about 30 weeks pregnant here.

I honestly was so run down after staying in the hospital with Lorena, it literally took me a month to start feeling normal again.  By mid April I got some energy back.  We decided to move Lorena to her big bed (on the floor) and put the crib in my office for Hiesterbaby.  I really didn't think she was ready to be out of her crib but Dan insisted that we try.  The first few nights were pretty exhausting but she loves her bed now.

Sleeping in her big girl bed.

We had some visitors in April.  My sister Maria came to visit and my cousins from Illinois and Missouri came to turkey hunt.  It is always nice to have my family come experience this life I live in Kansas.

Lorena is 19 months and I'm 35 weeks pregnant here.

Being silly

Lorena participated in her first Easter Egg Hunt this year.  We went to church and spent the day with some of Dan's extended family members for Easter.  Lorena and I had way too much chocolate.  Overall it was a good day.

On a mission for Candy

With Dad

with Mom

Lorena is so full of energy!  She is 20 months old now.  She loves to climb.  If I'm not careful, she ends up walking on the kitchen table and pulling things out of my china cabinet.

Checking cows

Climbing

 Some of her favorite things to do are play outside, check the cows, dig in dirt, bath time, and playing with her dog Jasper.  In April she weighed about 32 pounds and was above the 95th percentile for a girl her age.  She is a stocky girl...not going to be a petite little thing like we first thought when she was born.  She in in 2t and mainly 3t clothes now and size 6 diapers.  She can be kind of picky when she eats.  Some days she eats a lot and other days she hardly eats anything.  Some of her go to foods are eggs, any type of cheese, pineapple, strawberries, graham crackers, asparagus (yes she loves the stuff), fruit snacks, and animal crackers.  She can use the sign for "more" when she wants more milk or food.  She will fetch things like her shoes, my shoes, coat, and diapers if you ask her.  She babbles all the time.  Her main words are milk, mommy, daddy, puppy, cow, and moo.

This girl loves playing outside

 I can't believe I'm still pregnant.  My due date is May 15.  I got released from my specialist in Omaha in Mid February and have been going locally to Clay Center since then.  I'm so glad everything has been normal so far.  The end is very near.  I really appreciate all the thoughts and prayer for a healthy pregnancy.

End of April - I'm about 38 weeks here.