Naps...I love them, my child hates them :)

Barely 5 1/2 weeks old and my baby already hates naps. Actually, he just hates sleep in general. He will fight falling asleep until he pretty much passes out. We swaddle him at night and it helps, even though he fights that too (probably knows it will put him to sleep). Unfortunately, he's getting too strong for his swaddle and can easily wriggle his little arms out, so today is the first day I'm trying to help him learn to sleep without it. I'm starting with his daytime naps, figuring that if he learns to sleep in his crib without a swaddle during the day, it won't be such a fight when/if I try it at night. So far, that means he takes a 3 minute power nap, flails himself awake and then I have to help him calm down so he'll fall back asleep.

This might just be karma...apparently I hated sleep as a baby, too. My parents always tell me how I wanted to be awake all the time, afraid I'd miss something. Well, I guess that's hereditary 'cause that's exactly how Colt is. My baby boy is just too curious about the world for naps! :)

One month later...

...and I'm still madly in love with my little man. :)

I can't believe we've had him with us that long already! Time is flying by. My parents left on Sept 21, and then Bryce's parents, brother and sister came on Oct. 2 to visit for a week. The past couple of days have been my first "official" days as a full-time mom. It's challenging and tiring caring for a newborn, but so worth it. He has started smiling in response to my voice, which is the best feeling in the world. He also can lift his head up pretty high and hold it up there for quite some time. He's a very strong little baby! He's also doing pretty good at night. After his last feed at night, he'll sleep for 3.5 - 5 hours at a stretch, which is nice for Mom. :) After that, he'll get up every 2 hours or so. Lately he acts wide awake around 4am, but luckily I've been able to convince him to go back to sleep for a few hours!

I had hoped to update this blog more, but life with a newborn does not allow much time for anything besides the newborn! He prefers to be held all the time while awake (which Mom has no problem with!), but insists that I walk around with him. If I sit down, he fusses. I think he gets bored staring at the wall, couch or Mom's face while we're sitting. The only problem is that he is a big boy and my arms get tired! The plus side is that I'm getting some nice definition in my upper arms. He also likes going up and down the stairs, so at least I'm burning some extra calories! He's been having some problems with gas bubbles, so we got him some Infacol (the UK version of Mylicon). It seems to be helping him a bit (and helping Mom too so I don't get yelled at so much during meals!). I also started infant massage. He liked it at first, but I think I took too long (had to reference the book for some of the strokes) because he got fussy and we cut it short. I'll get better, though, and I think it will be a nice experience for us to share.

Colt's Birth Story

In the 12 days since my last post, I've had a baby! Here is the story of how he entered the world. :)

The due date came and went. On Friday the 10th, I went in for my last OB check-up. The news? No progress had been made since the last appointment. I was still only 1cm dilated. This was pretty disappointing and made the induction more likely. I know the end result is the same, but I had really hoped to go into spontaneous labor and let the baby decide when he wanted to come out.

The induction kicked off on Monday, Sept 13 with the placement of a Foley catheter balloon. This balloon is placed in the cervix and filled with water until its diameter is 4cm. The idea is that it mechanically opens the cervix to at least 4cm (at which point, the balloon falls out). It's a very weird sensation - not exactly painful, but not the most comfortable thing to sleep with. I was very excited when it fell out around midnight that night. Whoo hoo! Dilated to at least 4cm finally!!

All hooked up, ready to go!

The next part of the induction started at the next morning. We arrived at the hospital on Sept 14 at 0630. I was so excited - that was the day I'd finally meet our baby! I got all strapped into the hospital bed, with a monitor for Colt's heartbeat and a monitor for my contractions. They started my IV and got me all hydrated before starting the Pitocin at 0800. Then, we sat there and waited for the contractions to begin. I also learned that I was dilated to not 4cm, but 6cm!! We started to get excited, hoping our little man would be with us in just a few short hours. However...

Waiting for the Pitocin to kick in

Last pic before we're parents

...the rest of the morning was actually pretty uneventful. My contractions did get more intense, but they were manageable. I had really wanted to avoid having an epidural, and I was pretty pleased with how I was doing with the pain so far. And then...my water broke. At 1:00, we heard a pop (Bryce even heard it) and then a huge gush of liquid. It startled me so much I almost started crying! The nurse advised me that my contractions would get more intense and painful, since I now did not have the amniotic sac to dull them. Boy, was she ever right. I tried to manage the pain with my breathing, but by about 2:30 I couldn't take it anymore and asked for the epidural. Now that was painful. In between contractions, I was getting poked in the back with needles and cords. The anesthesiologist had to do it twice because the first one only went down my left side, leaving me with lopsided, painful contractions on my right side. Because I had held out for so long (my midwife said I lasted longer than about 90% of women before requesting the drugs) and apparently have a high tolerance for pain, they had to dose me with quite a bit of meds to catch up to my pain. The result? Complete and total numbness from the waist down. It's quite a freaky experience - I had to try really hard not to think about it or I'd freak out!


Anyway, besides freaking me out about my legs, the epidural also rendered my contractions painless. Sweet relief! It also helped me dilate from about 7cm to 9.5cm in a few short hours, since I was so relaxed. At 7pm, they dialed the pain meds back because I started pushing! Since I couldn't feel anything, it was hard to know if my pushing was doing anything. After about an hour, I started getting some feeling back and it made pushing easier. Bryce and one of the nurses had to hold my legs for me, since I couldn't feel them let alone hold them up! After an hour and a half, I was really frustrated with what I perceived as a lack of progress. One of the nurses set up a mirror so I could see the action...and I realized I was much closer to holding my baby boy than I'd realized. I could see and feel the top of his head. This definitely helped motivate me, and at 8:59 pm Colt Bryce McCall entered the world.

Colt Bryce McCall

Our boy was a strapping 10lb, 3oz and 22 inches long. How this man-child fit inside my 5'6" frame, I'll never understand. But I'm so glad he did, because he is absolutely perfect. He came out with a good amount of dark brown hair, and so far his eyes are a dark bluish-gray. I think he has my husband's eyes and lips, and my nose and dimples. He's not chubby, like you might expect from his birth weight. He's very solidly built and perfectly proportional. We're not sure where his size comes from, because there is no history of large babies or tall people on either sides of our families.

Our new family

I instantly fell in love with this handsome little man. Nothing in the world matters to me when I have him in my arms. Going through this experience with my husband bonded us in a way I hadn't imagined - he was an amazing birth partner and already is an incredible Dad. My "Next Step" is finally here, and it couldn't feel more right.

The Waiting Game

Well, the due date has come and gone, and still no little man! I'm not too surprised, given that my original due date was 12 Sept and they changed it to 6 Sept after the first ultrasound. In fact, one of the OB docs told me I would probably go past the 6th - something about the providers being more confident in their ultrasound skills than trusting in Mother Nature! Which made me chuckle a bit, because I've had similar thoughts. That stupid wheel they use to set the due date assumes every woman has a regular, 28 day cycle, which is so far from the truth. And, when the provider set our due date of 6 Sept, it literally took her about 10 minutes to decide whether it should be the 6th or the 7th. Bryce and I sat there and looked at her while she deliberated with herself, trying to choose the date. We were like, Really? Does it require that much thought? 'Cause the chances of him actually coming on either one of those dates are slim to none. And, since today is the 7th, it's sliding more towards none. :)

While we're waiting, we're trying to show my parents what it's like living in England for us...which is a lot mellower than they're used to, I think! On the days that Bryce works, we're pretty much stuck on Feltwell since we only have one car. I can take him to work and keep the car for us, but I'm afraid to venture too far from base without Bryce ('cause if I went into labor, there'd be no one to drive us home!). I think they're adjusting to my sleepy home life - taking walks, watching TV (college football season started, so that's keeping my dad occupied), reading. At home they're usually go, go, go, so hopefully it's a nice break for them! They had their first pub experience on their second day in the country - fish & chips all around! We met our friends Kaitie & Austin, along with another England newbie, Carley, who had just PCSed into Lakenheath that day (literally - K & A picked her up at Heathrow and met us at the pub not long after they got back to the village!).

Last weekend, we did try to pack in some sightseeing. On Saturday we went to Bury St Edmunds, since they have their market then. We toured the gardens and the cathedral, as well as showed them Asda (one of our favorite places to buy produce, lol). Sunday, we spent walking around Cambridge, checking out all the colleges and architecture. It's nice to do all this again with my parents, who are seeing it with fresh eyes. I guess we've gotten a little blasé about buildings that were built before America was even discovered, which is kind of sad to say. The other highlight of our Cambridge trip was lunch at Nando's - oh, how I love the peri-peri chicken at Nando's. Super delish. Bryce actually had yesterday off for Labor Day (often, the flightline workers won't get days off that the rest of the base does), so we had lunch with a bunch of friends at Webb's in Mildenhall village. Webb's is our go-to place for lunch at the vet clinic, and Bryce had never experienced it. Best paninis in the world. I'm sure the rest of their menu is phenomenal, but I've never been able to resist the call of The Italian to experience it. :)

Whoops, sounds like my man just snuck in the door a little earlier than I thought he would. Let's hope his son follows suit...LOL. Cheers!

My parents are here!

My parents arrived safely in the U.K. today! After some terminal snafus at Heathrow, we collected them and made the long drive back to Lakenheath. We gave them a quick tour of Lakenheath before heading over to our house on Feltwell. They're pretty exhausted after the 10.5 hour flight, so not too long after making it home they disappeared for a nap. It is so nice to have them here!!

On the baby front, we're making progress! I'm 1cm dilated as of the OB appointment yesterday, which is super exciting! I don't know when I'll go into labor, but at least I know my body is thinking about it! Now that my parents are here, I'm ready for him to come - bring on the long walks, lunges and squats!!

Preparations underway!

It's the last weekend before my parents get here! And that means...cleaning. Whomp whomp! :) Actually my nesting tendencies have kicked in, so I don't mind it too much. It's good to give the house a nice thorough cleaning before the baby comes anyway...can't bring the little guy home to a dirty house (he'll see plenty of that for the rest of his life!!). His room is pretty much set up - got the changing table arranged and made sure I had all the diapering necessities within easy reach. The crib will be in our room for several months - for his safety and also because his room doubles as the guest bedroom while my parents are here.

Our friends just had their little boy a few days ago. Bryce went to basic training and part of tech school with Adam, and he met Mallory over here in England. It was quite the shock the day we told those two we were pregnant...because their response was, So are we! Their little boy Nolan is so adorable. We went to see him when he was about 9 hours old. It was weird to hold him and think that we would have one of our own very soon. It made both Bryce and I all the more excited!

Having faith in the universe

One of my favorite quotations of all time is "Faith sees what the eyes cannot." I saw it on a church message board once and it just stuck. I think it stuck because I have a hard time with having faith and patience. I can be impetuous at times and get frustrated if I don't get what I want RIGHT NOW. I suppose that's human nature. :)

I try to remember that my life is running on a different timeline than the one I have planned for it. Death Cab for Cutie said it best in their song What Sarah Said: every plan is a tiny prayer to father time. We can make all the plans in the world, but watch out if those plans don't coincide with what the universe has planned! Any time things don't work out as I planned, I try to remember that the universe may be trying to tell me something. Like, when I applied to nursing schools for three years in a row and never got accepted, I realized that maybe I wasn't meant to be a nurse. Now I have 2 degrees in public health and I am enthralled with its study and practice. Most recently, I've been trying to find a job in my field of public health. Not so easy on an Air Force base, and after a year of applying to many different jobs, I've gotten one call back in July for a temp job that would have ended in September. So frustrating. Since I am about to have our first child, I'm wondering if the universe is saying that I shouldn't work right now; that maybe my place is at home with our baby. I like the idea of staying home with him; it's just that I've worked since I was 17 and I have a hard time not contributing financially to our family. But I think being a good mom is the most important job I'll ever have, so maybe I should listen to the universe again and quit trying to find employment outside the home...for now. :)