Declan is 2 weeks old!

At his 2 week appointment, Declan weighed 7 lb 13 oz, and he was 21 inches.

Declan's second week of life was full of lots of time with his momma and daddy and lots of firsts!

We spent a lot of time snuggling!



We read our first book!


We had our first walk in the stroller!


We had our first bath!

PS: the little fish on his belly keeps him warm while we bathe him. It's a lifesaver - he quits crying as soon as we dip it in the warm water and put it on him. It's from Target, if you're interested!!

We went to Aunt Gen's birthday party!


It is so hard to believe that my baby boy is 2 weeks old already! I can't even express how quickly time flies when you have a newborn. I feel like I just had him. I'll probably still be saying that when he's 18 years old! But I can't even begin to think about him being 18 years old...

Declan is 1 week old!

On his first day of life, Declan did so well. By the time they brought him to me from the nursery, he was acting like a full term baby. Lots of the nurses asked me, "are you sure they didn't miscalculate the dates?" But they didn't - we are absolutely positive he was 36 weeks! He's just my little overachiever!

One of my great fears through the pregnancy was that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed. I was so relieved that he is a natural! He latched on immediately and perfectly, ate for long periods of time, and stayed on a pretty good schedule!

We were so excited (and overwhelmed!) to have a lot of visitors at the hospital the day after Declan was born - somewhere around 30 visitors!!!
Some of the people that came to visit:

{Aunt Courtney}

{Susan and Dave}

{My friend from school, Rachael}

{Uncle Mike}

We stayed 2 nights at the hospital, which was wonderful. The nurses were so great, and I was a little sad to be leaving the hospital!

{Leaving the hospital - we were only a little tired!!}

When we left the hospital, Declan weighed 6 lb, 13 oz.

He was starting to look a little orange, so the pediatrician checked his bilirubin - it was 9. If it had been 13, they would have kept him for the night and put the lights on him.

When we got home, the dogs were so excited to see us. We have a video of their introduction to Declan, and it's pretty funny. Surprisingly, they are doing great with him!

At home, we did a lot of sleeping any time we could. And a lot of learning to be parents.


Our first outing was on Thursday, when we went to our photographer, Lisa Mac's studio. She did such a great job, and I can't wait to see more!

We celebrated our favorite holiday - St. Patrick's Day!

We sat outside a lot, because it was beautiful, and the sun helped lower his bilirubin.

Unfortunately, the sun didn't help enough, though. By the time we went to see the pediatrician on Friday, Declan was a carrot. They checked his bilirubin - it was 19!!! We weren't too happy about that!

So the doctor had some bili-lights sent to our house, and our little boy had to be hooked up to lights 22 out of 24 hours a day for 3 days!


This was so hard for me, because we couldn't walk around with him, it was more difficult to hold him, and breastfeeding was a little more challenging with all of those cords and wires! We were also so worried that he was going to have to go back to the hospital if the lights didn't work!

So that was how we spent his 1 week birthday - hooked up to bili-lights! :(

At his 1 week checkup, Declan weighed 6 lb, 12 oz (down an ounce from when we left the hospital) and he was 19.5 inches long (down an inch from when we left the hospital). We were shocked to hear that he had lost an inch - but the nurse reminded us that he was born with a big old cone-head, and that had shrunk down!

The first week now feels like a blur. It went by soo fast, and we were so tired, all of the details just run together!!

Being a mom is super hard, but so rewarding! I just love him so much!

Happy Birthday, Declan!

Our sweet baby boy, Declan Thomas was born

at 36 weeks on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 3:50 pm.

He weighed 7 lb 7 oz
He was 20.5 inches long


Because I love to read other people's birth stories, I decided to tell my own.

If you read my last post, you know that I started having contractions pretty early (at 32 weeks). I continued to have contractions through the next few weeks, but they were always alleviated by my medicine.

At 35 weeks, I had some signs that labor was probably going to happen pretty soon. These "events" were pretty gross, so I will spare you the details! When my doctor checked my cervix I was 1 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. While many people can be 1 cm, or even 4 cm dilated for weeks, I had a gut feeling that my body was not going to make it to 40 weeks. I made sure all of my bags were packed and I was ready for this baby that week!

On Friday (35.6 weeks), I was leaving work and started having contractions. This was something I had grown accustomed to, but they were definitely stronger than they had been before, and they just felt different. I went home and immediately took my medicine, hoping it would get rid of the contractions soon. Unfortunately, I was up all night, every hour, with contractions.

By 4 am, the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and getting stronger. At this point, I got in the shower, and Patrick and I started preparing to go to the hospital. By 5:30, the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and painful, so we called the doctor, and he told us to go to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:30, and I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Unfortunately, we had to wait until 10 am (it was a Saturday) for the doctor to arrive at the hospital. Let me tell you, those 3.5 hours were MISERABLE! The contractions were so painful, and the only way I found relief was by walking the hallways and rocking during contractions.

Once the doctor arrived, I was 3 cm dilated, and they decided to admit me for labor!!!

By 11:00 Saturday morning, we were moved from triage to our own L&D room, they broke my water, gave me an epidural, and started me on pitocin.
Side note: Whoever invented the epidural is a hero in my books - I mean, it was life changing. Contractions are probably one of the most painful things I've ever experienced - they felt like severe menstrual cramps that had me doubled over in pain. The weird thing about them, though, is that you have complete relief in between and you feel like you are all better, until another one strikes!!


In the next couple of hours following my epidural, I was feeling great, couldn't feel any of the contractions, and we had lots of visitors in our room! We were so thankful to have close family, and my wonderful friend Courtney, there to share the experience. We asked Courtney to be in the room while we pushed and to be our photographer!


At 1:00, the doctor came in to check my cervix. We were shocked to hear that in only 2 hours I was 10 cm - I had progressed very quickly for a first timer!
Finding out we were about to start pushing, and that our little man would be in our arms in no more than a couple of hours, was a very emotional moment for Patrick and me.

After 2 hours of pushing, 1 vacuum, and a couple snip-snips later, our precious son was here!


Because he was 4 weeks early, my sweet baby had to be taken up to the nursery immediately for evaluation. Luckily, he received a clean bill of health, but those few hours he was away from me were the most difficult of the whole experience!!

I am not very good at expressing my feelings in writing, but I can say that my life changed the minute I saw "pregnant" on that little white and purple stick 8 months ago. I had so much love for the little nugget growing in my belly, and now I am so madly in love with this little boy, I could just stare at him all day. To create a little human being that is the perfect combination of me and the person I love most in this world is an amazing thing. I feel so unbelievably blessed!

What a Weekend!!

Patrick and I had an eventful weekend, to say the least!

I have been SO busy with school the last six weeks - working 65-75 hours a week, on my feet all day long. Saturday, when I got off of work, I was so excited to have Saturday night and all of Sunday off!

On Saturday evening, something just didn't feel right. I was super, super tired. We had planned on going over to some friends houses, but decided to get take-out and go home instead. When we got home, our friends Emily and Matt decided to stop by. While they were over, I started hurting, like a lot! I tried laying in bed and going to sleep, but that was impossible. I was cramping, and they were extending around my back. After spending 4 weeks on the labor hall in January for school, I knew what these were. They were contractions!!!

So we started timing them. They were regular and consistent, coming about 6 minutes apart. This is where we started FREAKING out!! Thinking - "I am 32 weeks pregnant. My baby weighs 3.5 pounds! I can't have my baby this weekend!!"

We drove to the hospital immediately. Didn't call the doctor, didn't pack a bag, didn't even think...just drove. By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.

When we got there, I was immediately started on IV fluids. We hoped that it was simply dehydration causing these contractions. The fluids didn't work.

Then I got a shot of terbutaline. Terbutaline is a drug that stops contractions. And makes you feel like you have had about 6 cups of double shot coffee. It's awful! But...praise the lord...it worked. Usually, they will give you 3 shots before they start working you up for labor. Luckily, I only needed 1.

After my shot, I went an hour without having another contraction. So they sent us home.

I woke up Sunday morning, still feeling a little crampy. So I drank A LOT of water. Really, a lot is an understatement. I probably had about 8 liters throughout the course of the day. And it really did help. I didn't feel anything at all. Until Sunday night. I started having contractions again. This time they were further apart and less strong. But, they were regular. So I called the doctor, and he had us go into the hospital.

We took our time before we left. I took a bath to try and relax. Patrick packed a bag. Bless his sweet heart, he asked if we should bring the carseat. I knew that if Declan came, he would not be going home with us anytime soon, so I told him we wouldn't need the carseat yet!

Once we got to the hospital, they put me on IV fluids. This time the fluids worked. No terbutaline needed! But they still wanted to check my cervix - it was closed! I was officially not in "real labor." After an hour of no contractions, and another cervix check, they sent us home.

Today, other than being exhausted from being at the hospital the last two nights, I am feeling much better. I haven't had a contraction all day. I went to my doctor today, and she said this is all probably from the stress I have been putting on my body at school. She did not put me on bedrest, but did say I was going to have to drink a lot of water and be a "lazy med student" for the next 6 weeks. She also gave me some medicine to take at home if I am getting regular contractions again.

While this weekend was the scariest I've ever had, I am thankful for the experience. I now know what to expect when I actually go into labor. I know that I am married to the most supportive man I could ever hope for. I know that no matter what happens, we will get through it!

My Little Miracle: 30 Weeks

How far along? 30 weeks

Baby's size? 18 inches, 3.2 lbs

Weight gain? 24 lbs

Sleep? Still ok! Going to sleep can sometimes be difficult because I'm so sore, and I often feel like I can't breathe, but once I'm asleep, I sleep fine. I do have weird dreams, though!

Foods I am loving? Ice, clementines (I eat like 5 a day), cupcakes

Foods I am hating? Nothing!

Best moment this week? Watching my belly move when he's moving around in there

Symptoms? Rib pain - OMG, it hurts sooo bad! Shortness of breath. Multiple trips to the bathroom.

Gender? A sweet baby Declan

What I miss? Right now, I'd love to just go for a run. However, since I haven't been working out through this pregnancy, I can't just jump out there and do it.

What I'm looking forward to? Meeting this little boy in 10 weeks!!

Emotions: Stressed about school, but so happy to have this little ray of sunshine in my life!

Baby Boy has a name!

We have finally decided on a name for our sweet baby boy!

His name will be:

Declan Thomas

St. Declan was a saint in Ireland at the same time St. Patrick was there. Since Patrick has a very strong Irish background, we always knew we wanted to name our first son something Irish.

Thomas is Patrick's dad's name.

We are so happy with his name!!!

Holiday Break

Top Ten Reasons Why Holiday Break Was Wonderful (in no particular order):

1. We were invited to lots of fun parties

{Tacky Christmas party, 2010}

2. I got to spend lots of time with some of my favorite ladies

3. We saw our precious baby's face, hands, feet on ultrasound, in 4D! I may be biased, but he is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

4. We shopped for family and friends for Christmas. In Christmases past, we were always both in school, so we didn't ever get to buy for our loved ones the way we wanted to. This year, we had so much fun buying for the people we love!

5. I spent lots of time with my mom

{We even accidentally wore matching shirts}

5. I spent even more time with my amazing husband, who I grow more and more thankful for every day

{Christmas Eve at Patrick's parents, 2010}

6. My belly finally started to get big! It seemed like forever before I looked pregnant, instead of just fat!


7. We worked on baby boys room a little bit. I have been planning on refinishing my great aunts dresser for his room, and we finally got it started!

{Before}

{Me and Courtney working hard}

{After - still needs handles and some touch-ups}

8. We decided on a name for our baby boy! More to come in the next post!

9. Baby boy got so many sweet presents from his favorite aunts, grandparents, and great-grandparents

{Opening our Co-sleeper from Patrick's parents}

{Cute little tennis shoe booties from his Aunt Allie}

10. I was able to rest so much. While it feels like we were really busy, I really did sleep a lot. I needed that so much having just finished my surgery rotation, and about to start Ob/Gyn!