What's in a Name

I have received lots of questions about how we picked the name Audrey Piper. So here is our story.

Before my mom was sick EZ and I had a list of names and we both really liked the name Piper. EZ had said he thought that maybe a more traditional first name might be better and we could call her by her middle name Piper. His thought was in the future when doing professional type things, she might want a more professional type name. So we had decided that her middle name would be Piper. Then we both said what our favorite first names were and we had one in common: Audrey. So that is how we came up with her name.

After my mom got sick, I talked to EZ about changing her name in honor of my mom. But as much as I love my mom, I didn't really want to use the name Deborah. My mom got sick so quickly too that when I was up to see her before she passed away and told her the name and she said how beautiful it was, it was then hard for me to change it after that. To me I felt like she was the only one who knew the name and then changing it too would be defeating the purpose of us telling her before she passed away. So we kept the name.

So there you go...the story of miss APZ.

When my sister and Amelia were here she took some great photos (some of these are on her blog). But here are a few of my favorites:

All By Myself

Yesterday EZ went back to work and it was just me and Piper. How did things go???

We had a little snuggle time when she woke up (this was around 8am):



After that, the day was a blur...she slept a total of 5 hours from 8am until 10pm. Aren't babies suppose to sleep more? What could she be doing during those awake times??? It went something like this: feed me for 30 min, rest for 10 min then repeat. I kid you not...this child ate ALL day. I had a couple meltdowns as I was exhausted and felt like my boobs were failing me!

Then at 10pm when she went to "sleep" to what I was hoping would be awhile, I was blessed with the BEST night of sleep yet! She slept 3 1/2 hours (the most yet), then 2 hours then 2 and then 3 hours. Oh wow, I was so happy this morning and the feedings were relatively short (only 30 min each).

Today has been good so far. A walk this morning followed by our 2 week checkup at the doctor. I can't believe she is 2 weeks old already. She weighed in at 7lbs 6 oz so we are gaining lots of weight. They told me she was is the 50% for height and the 25% for weight, but that is all relative since she is only two weeks old.

Now that we had a little snack at the doctors...she is sleeping peacefully in the car seat:

Our first week at Home

Our first week at home has gone by pretty fast. We got home and my sister and Amelia came for a couple days followed by EZ's parents for a few days. Now everyone is gone and EZ and I have a few days to ourselves to hopefully get into a routine before he goes back to work on Monday.

I continue to be in awe of little Piper. I know all of us that have kids are all bias that we have the cutest baby, but I really do find her to be absolutely adorable.

Sleep is the only thing lacking in my happiness. Sleeping for a couple hours at a time just isn't conducive to functioning properly and have had a few emotional meltdowns where I was just so tired I needed to sleep. I know that it will get better though.

We had a weight check yesterday at the pediatrician and she is back up to 7 lbs already so by next week I imagine we will be back up to over our birth weight, so she is definitely eating enough!

I have been able to get out and walk everyday. It is getting easier and faster. I am up to walking 2 miles and feel good (other than it being really hot and humid out!) If all goes well the next few days, I might try jogging a few minutes next week.

Alright...enough updates. Here are a few pictures from the week:


Trying to crawl already??? :)


I love my daddy!


All bundled up after our bath.


Trying out the swing.

The Biohazard Baby

Our first few days with Piper in the hospital seemed to go well. We had done a lot of research on different options and I had even considered delivering at a birth center instead to have a more natural approach to things. One of the things we decided on in our birth plan is that we wanted to bath her ourselves when we wanted to. Meaning, we didn't want to the hospital to give her a bath. I had read that not giving a bath the first couple days was good for the baby, and helped keep their skin soft and moisturized.

I should say that the doctor did wipe her down a lot when she came out so it wasn't like she was caked in stuff but she wasn't perfectly clean either. :) They let me keep her for 1 1/2 hours after delivery and then EZ went with her to the nursery to get checked out and get her K shot and a few other things (this is where the bath would have been). So they proceeded to tell him that because she wasn't getting a bath she would be considered a biohazard and our room would be placed on contact isolation. What that really meant is that for all the nurses/doctors etc entering the room there was all this extra precaution they had to take (they were suppose to put on gowns and everything). It also meant that she wasn't allowed back in the nursery so anything that needed to be done to her had to be done in our room-which was perfectly find with us. Essentially this was an inconvenience for everyone but us.

It did make for interesting conversations with different nurses. Many of them thought it was crazy that they had to wear protective gowns (so they didn't) and those that did the first time, once they realized why they were doing it didn't put them on when they came back in the second time.

Our couple days in the hospital were rather uneventful. The first 20 hours Piper did a lot of crying and sleeping and then for about 12 hours did nothing but sleep. We starting getting extremely worried because we kept trying to wake her up to feed her and she wouldn't wake up. Even the nurses tried and it didn't help either. After that though she started getting into more of a routine and we were able to wake her up to feed.

The breastfeeding situation has been challenging but is starting to go well. I had latching difficulties so they had me pumping in the hospital and we were feeding it to her via an eye dropper so she could eat. Things got better when we came home but still were feeding her through the dropper. It wasn't until I tried the shield and all things have come together. It has been two days with the shield and she is doing great and I am producing more than enough and have been pumping lots extra. She is even now starting to do a little feeding without the shield. So we are 90% there.

Here are a couple photos of our first couple days in the hospital:




Before my mom passed away she had asked me to bring her home in the outfit she was brought home in (and I think I was too). It is a blue kimono (it was really big on her) that my grandpa had bought for my grandma for the birth of their first child. They didn't know if my mom was going to be a girl or a boy so my grandpa bought the blue kimono that had some flowers on it so it could be a little feminine too. Here is a photo of her dressed up in the kimono and then one of each of us holding her before we left:







Last but not least...all swaddled up after we got home:

The Birth Story

Welcome to the world Audrey "Piper" Zack!


Born Tuesday July 13th at 3:10pm
Weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20 3/4inches long.

When I posted on Monday the pictures of me on Monday I had a feeling that I would be delivering soon and that the pictures I took might be my last ones while preggers. I had started having contractions on and off and they were starting to become more serious and closer together.

Monday night EZ and I watched a movie and during the movie the contractions got stronger and somewhat regular. I didn't tell EZ this...just that I was having some. We went to "bed" at 11pm. I knew when we went to bed that the contractions were regular but thought I could maybe sleep a bit. I laid in bed for 30 min or so waiting for EZ to fall asleep so he could rest. I then got up and went downstairs and took a bath. This helped some and I listened to one of my relaxation cd's which helped too.

After that I laid down on our guest bed for awhile and listened to some more relaxing scripts. At about 2-3am the contractions were anywhere from 3-6 min apart and lasting anywhere from 45sec to over a min. I decided to make some cookies (not homemade or anything but had a package of premade cookie dough) for the nurses since I had read that would be a nice thing to do. I called my doctor at 3:15am and they said I should probably head to the hospital. I waited until 4am when I thought the contractions where getting even closer and I went and woke up EZ.

Our conversation went something like this...

Me: Eric, wake up.
EZ: OK
Me: It is time to go to the hospital.
EZ: OK.

5-10 min later we were in the car heading to the hospital.

By the time I was admitted to the nurses prestation it was probably about 4:45-5am. They checked me and I was 5-6cm dilated. The nurse there kept coming in and telling me that I would be admitted soon but they ended up taking other patients back bfeore me, because as the nurse said "I seemed to be handling everything very well...better than the other patients." By the time they brought me to an actual labor and delivery room it was close to 7am.

I remember walking to the room, getting in and getting settled, laying on the birthing ball and getting hooked up to the monitors. Then the doctor came in and wanted to check my progress so I had to get on the bed and I was almost 8cm. He told me that he needed to break my water since I was so far along yet it hadn't broken yet. I remember asking after if it would go faster from here on out and they said yes, that the contractions would be more painful too.

From then on, I basically couldn't move. I laid on my side practically in constant pain. I asked about pain options and was told about an epidural or a medicine through an IV that would help that would last about an hour. I opted for the pain med since I thought maybe I would be getting close to delivery then. I probably got that around 8am. I still wasn't able to function really through the contractions and basically laid on my side curled up in a ball for most of that time. I was thinking in my head about how this is the opposite of what I needed to do...I was basically tightened up and I needed to relax but I couldn't. My contractions were so close together that I never had time to move or relax or anything. As that medicine wore off I told EZ I needed the epidural...there was no way I would have enough energy to push her out. They gave me the epi a little after 9am...then checked me and I was almost 9cm.

After that kicked in, I was like a new person. I felt no pain anywhere. It was quite interesting and remarkable at the same time. I sat up in bed and secretly ate a Luna bar (shush...I know I wasn't suppose to eat but really that isn't necessary, right!) I then called my sister and told her that baby zack was going to arrive today. She asked me how I knew and I said that I was sitting in the hospital bed and just got an epidural. :)

They checked me at 11am and I was fully dilated but the nurse told me that they wanted to wait longer and let baby zack come down more on her own. I was fine with that. We rested a bit and at 1pm the nurse told me that it was probably time to start pushing. I still was feeling practically nothing, occasionally pressure but that was it. So I "pushed" when she told me to and felt nothing through all of that too. It was quite surreal actually and pretty disappointing at the same time. That is all I can do to describe everything. They turned off the epidural and all that did was make my back really hurt through everything. So they turned it back on.

The doctor kept checking in on me and the nurse kept saying that it was going slow. When the doctor came in around 3 and started getting everything ready, I still thought that I was a long way from delivering. They had a mirror up so I could watch and her head was barely showing. Next thing I knew her head shoulder and everything came out. So in that aspect everything happened so fast and we had our beautiful baby girl!

Here is a picture of me after I got the epidural...before meeting our new daughter:



And here are a couple pictures right after she was born:








More to come soon about our few days in the hospital and our first few days at home!

Another Week

Well, BZ has decided that she is nice an comfy where she is at for now. If I make it to my doctors appt this Wed afternoon and I haven't given birth yet I might have a few choice words for the doctor. You can't get someones hopes up that the baby will come within the week and then not fulfill those words!

EZ told me last night that he was bummed that he had to go to work today...he had kind of figured he wouldn't be based on what the doctor said. I replied that it is his fault...he keeps giving BZ mixed signals. First he tells her it is ok to come then he tells her she needs to wait until a certain day (so he can watch an important stage of the tour). I told him he needs to commit and just tell her we are ready and she needs an eviction notice.

I still can't believe that my little ticker says 5 days. That seems so few. And both EZ and I are in this strange place of being excited but almost just like I am not pregnant to begin with. That we still just go about our daily routine like nothing is about to happen at any minute. Bit of a strange feeling I think.

I have been mostly good with working out too. I think I have walked 5 miles the past 4 days...of course this doesn't seem to persuade BZ either. And managed to do the elliptical for 15 min yesterday and today as part of my walk. I still feel pretty uncomfortable at times but it comes and goes, so I still feel pretty lucky.

Well...here is another photo...taken this morning, 39 weeks and 2 days (I think I look much bigger with the shirt down):

Slowing Down

The past few days have been HOT, extremely HOT. I don't go outside during the day but rather go out in the morning for a walk or swim and then EZ and I will go out again at night when the sun sets.

But I have been slowing down. My swims this week have been exhausting and I feel like I just can't move. I have given up the elliptical to just walking and now my walking has become more like a a turtle's walk. But I am still doing something every day. Although I am not sure how much longer that will last either.

I had a doctors appointment yesterday. They decided to do an ultrasound to check the fluid around the baby and get a guess on her weight. This was because last week I started measuring small and they wanted to make sure my fluid levels were good. I haven't had an ultrasound since 18 weeks when we found out we were having a daughter. This one was much different. You could hardly see anything since she takes up so much room in there.

They said the fluid was good and they "guess" that BZ weighs 7 lbs 11 oz already. Then she proceeded to to tell me that there is a 1.5 lb margin of error. So really BZ is anywhere from 6lb 3oz to 9lb 3oz. That is quite a range there! Then the doctor did his thing and told me I am 3-4cm dilated and 90% effaced. A bunch of stuff that could mean baby is coming today or next week (or later). But he did tell me he would be surprised if I didn't deliver in the next week though.

Ahhhhh, music to my ears. After hearing my sister and EZ both tell me they thought I would be a week late, I have faith in the doctors that they know what they are talking about. And baby is in the best position for delivery, head down (low) and she is facing back (meaning her back is towards my belly). This is suppose to make for an easier delivery on my back. All great things.

I am sure that things will continue to slow down. I feel like I have hit the wall. If I can keep making it out for a walk every day I would feel that I am accomplishing something.

Can't wait to meet you BZ!

Looking Forward to...

Here are some things that I am looking forward to in the near future (after BZ's arrival):

1. Meeting our new daughter. This is by far the most exciting thing. I am super excited to see her!
2. Not weighing more than my husband.
3. Being able to tie my shoes.
4. Actually, being able to put on shoes more comfortably!
5. Sleeping on my back again.
6. Running, really running, none of this jogging/waddling business.
7. Cycling outside.
8. Drinking a nice top shelf margarita.
9. Seeing my feet again.
10. Not worrying that she is OK inside my belly.

Counting Down

I hit 38 weeks yesterday and I must say I spoke too soon about another level of uncomfortableness. :) In the past couple days I went from being OK to being past uncomfortable. For how much back issues I have had in the past and not had problems during pregnancy, that finally changed two days ago. For the first time since being pregnant I asked EZ for a back massage last night. I am pretty impressed that I made it this far without asking for one.

I even spend part of my day stretching my back (and other muscles too)...and yesterday I was doing some stretching on my balance ball and Newton decided he needed to cuddle with me:




This only lasted a few min, since having a 14lb cat on your back isn't the most comfortable. (I would have not lasted anything had it been Killer who decided to get up there).

I am still working out a good bit, doing something every day. I thought my days of running were over but I managed to jog 1 1/2 miles the other day. Then I found myself waddling around (in a bit of pain) the rest of the day and EZ told me that I might want to not run...something about loose ligaments, wider pelvis and a babies head jumping up and down might cause some what could feel like bruising, and yup that is about what it felt like that day.

We are also getting some last min things done around the house. EZ is working on installing a sensor exhaust fan in the upstairs bathroom for the kitties. Basically, when they walk to where the litterbox is, the sensor triggers the exhaust fan to run for a set amount of time. He did accidentally drill a hole in the wall coming through the attic though. So now it is a bit more repair work up there he has to do.

We have also been enjoying the cooler weather this week by eating outdoors on our deck and had another smores night on our patio which was nice. And What an exciting time for sports! World Cup Soccer, Wimbledon finals today, Dale Jr wins in the 3 car on Friday night, and of course the tour started yesterday and Lance totally rocked. At least there is something to keep my mind off the fact that BZ is still in the belly.

Alright...enough updates. Here is a picture of me at 38 weeks (+1 day). Enjoy all the 4th of July festivities!

July

I made it. It is now July...the official birth month. I know for a fact that BZ will be arriving this month. My doctor said after 10 days past due date they start talking the "I" word. I personally think she is still coming early but that could mean today or that could mean July 16th. All I know is that there isn't too many more weeks left until she arrives.

I am definitely having contractions now and I can feel them but nothing painful or anything and it seems they like to come in the afternoon to evening to the time I go to bed. But no pattern or anything like that. I am getting really excited to meet her. It seems like it was so long ago that I peed on that little stick. And even longer before that that we started trying to get pregnant.

EZ said to me that he is so use to me being pregnant that it is like nothing has changed. He is over the initial excited that we actually got pregnant and then didn't miscarry, and is over the fact that my belly is large, so it is just like any other day. Except that every day now is the day that that I could call him at work and tell him to come home.

Either way, my goal was to make it to July 1 with the baby. That she would be nice and healthy all cuddled up in there but good to come out too at this point. Nice to know that I can still be achieving goals during pregnancy.