3 week update

so Lincoln is offically 3 weeks old. I can't believe it's been 3 weeks already. I still have dreams of that day when we first met our precious baby boy. I'm also still in disbelief that he is mine! It seems so surreal sometimes that I finally have everything I've ever wanted. A wonderful loving husband whom I'd be lost without and a beautiful baby boy who brings more joy to my life than can be expressed through words.

Well anyways, this last week has been a rough one. When Lincoln was born we were told not to swaddle him. Apparently it's a SIDS risk...all you have to do is mention those 4 letters and I will do the exact opposite, SIDS is my #1 fear, I honestly sometimes wake up just to check and make sure he is breathing!
So anyways we have not been swaddling. The problem with this is that Lincoln will sometimes startle himself awake so hard he would be almost inconsolable. However this only seemed to happen during the night. During the day he would sleep in the bassinet or lamb chair for hours without waking. But at night the only way he would really sleep for longer than 20 minutes was on my chest or next to me. Well that can be a danger because I could roll over on him and then he could suffocate.

So this week I pretty much was awake all night, my wonderful sister would come over round 9 or 10 and watch Lincoln for 3-4 hours while I just slept. I would feed him right when she said she was coming over and then hand him off and she would do homework, or even clean my house while I took my 3-4 hour nap. She was to say the least A LIFE SAVER! Well this weekend I knew that this routine could not continue, after all Stace starts her fellowship this week so she would not be around.

Adam and I debated the swaddle thing, talked many times about it. I discussed it with several friends and family members and it really honestly weighed heavily on my heart. Friday night I Youtubed how to swaddle and tried it with a couple of his blankets but they are all sort of thick and stuff and didn't really work.

Then someone suggested the happiest baby on the block and I remembered that my insurance company sent me a copy of the DVD when I first got pregnant. So yesterday I went to Target and bought a four pack of the aden + anais blankets. Then came home and watched my DVD.

last night at bed time I swaddled Lincoln, and then fed him and put him to bed. 2 hours later he woke up, I fed him and then put him back to bed. 2 hours later he woke up and I once again fed him and put him back to bed. Then 2 hours later I fed him again. Finally I fed him at 5 am and put him back to bed. He woke up 45 minutes later and I put him on my chest and he immediately calmed down, then he had a HUGE blow out, so I think his stomach was just upset.

Needless to say last night was the best night of sleep I've had since he was born. I know only about and hr and half of sleep at once doesn't seem like a lot, but it sure beats 20 minutes here or there. I still took a solid 2 hour nap today while Adam watched him but I'm so excited at the fact that he was able to sleep on his own for 2 hours or more at night!

So other than this grand swaddling debate Lincoln is doing really well. This week we have graduated to sleeping mostly at night and having our wake times during the day. This happened half way through the week after some great suggestions of friends, such as waking him up before bed with a bath or just water, and keeping this dim and quiet during the night and most importantly not changing him every 2 hours at night because this would wake him up. So positive improvements.

But He is a rather fussy baby I think. I'm not sure if its normal fussiness or not but to me he seems fussy. He sleeps and nurses a lot of the time, he is awake a few times throughout the day and when he is awake he is only happy for like 20 minutes max then he starts screaming! then will fall asleep or calm down and the whole cycle starts again. I'm not sure if this is normal or what.

I've done some reading on this thinking it was what I was eating but according to the womanly art of breastfeeding it's not. So I will continue to do some research, but for now the 5 S's of the happiest baby on the block is really working.

But thursday he had his 2 week doc appointment. He is 8lbs 12 oz. and 21 and 3/4 inches long. He is in the 55% for length and 35th for weight. This is down from his 5 day appointment but I'm not too concerned, he seems to be thriving the the doc was ok with everything. So hopefully he will continue to thrive. His next appointment is in 2 weeks so we will see. Overall my baby boy is growing and doing well!

Oh and the highlight of the week. The St. Louis Cardinals winning the world series the year our Lincoln was born!!! :) yay!

going to church for the second time. I forgot to take a picture the first time

napping. This is how he would sleep for an hour or so at a time, during the day
part of why we didn't think we needed to swaddle

his second favorite sleeping spot. I love this outfit on him

attempt at tummy time

snuggles for auntie

mommy's lifesaver!

bath time, and all eyes!

awake and not screaming!

ready for game 7!!! GO CARDS!!!

all swaddled and peaceful!

two weeks

Lincoln is just over 2 weeks old and I can't believe it! I really can't believe that I have a 2 week old baby.

I know everyone says it goes by fast but they really aren't kidding. He has changed so much already. I find myself really missing those first few hours in the hospital when we were just getting to know him.

He for the most part is a really good baby. We are really rather lucky. He definitely is resembling more of his dad, but for the most part still looks like his papa Steve aka me. I think he has his dads eyes though.

Last week Adam's mom came to stay with us from Wednesday on. It was nice having her here and having her get to spend some quality time with her grandson since she lives so far away.

There were a couple of nights where Lincoln wanted to be held and was fussy from 2am to about 5am and mommy was so tired. Adams mom was gracious enough to hold him through those times so I could sleep. Needless to say she was a LIFESAVER! We were sad to see her leave.

Overall the week was pretty relaxed. I felt like I slept late during the day everyday but then again I stay up late. Maybe I need to sleep more in the early evenings! But it rained most of the week, actually Adam was sent home 3 days in a row, so we had him home as well. We didn't do much but just lounge around but overall it was a good week.

Here are some pictures from the week.

Sleeping with daddy

cutie baby

awake!!! and during the day

our first "bath" after he peed all over himself

my little man

a little angry?

getting love from Grandma Kim

How he likes to sleep

What he thought of tummy time

Chillin with Uncle Andrew

Mastitis is EVIL

Choosing to breast feed can be stressful, time consuming and exhausting. Not to mention any of the complications that can come with it.

First of all you have to wait for your milk to come in and its a little painful when it does. Then you have to worry about whether or not you are producing enough for your precious little being who relies solely on you for his/her nutrition. Then there is the possibility of blocked milk duct which could possibly lead to mastitis.

Well that is what I got this weekend.

Friday my mother-in-law and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. it was only about a half hour or so, and when we got home my head started to hurt. I sat down to try and relax, and my right boob really started to hurt. It felt painful to the touch and thought it might be a blocked duct.

I fed Lincoln on that side and tried to work it out, but the pain radiated to my back when I did that. Then my skin started to feel like pins and needles, which usually happens when I run a fever. At this point I began to think I had mastitis instead of just a blocked duct, but tried to continue to feed Lincoln on the affected side to try and unblock the duct.

By 2 am i felt like I'd been hit by a bus and I'd been up for hours with Lincoln. I decided to take my temperature. It was 100.4. I called my mom instead of waking Adam up because he only got 1.5 hours of sleep on Thursday because he was at the world series game and then went to work, so I wanted him to be able to sleep.

I called my mom to see what to do, and to let them know that we wouldn't be going to Purdue for the football game. By 4 am I still hadn't slept and asked Adam to help me out because it had been almost 24 hours for me without sleep while also feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. By this point poor Lincoln was being a fuss bucket and wouldn't stop screaming.

By 5 am Adam had, had enough and luckily his mom was still here, so she came and took over so Adam and I could get some rest. When I woke back up around 7 my temp was 100.4 still and my mom called to tell me that I should try calling my OB instead of going to medcheck because they might be able to just call me in a prescription so I wouldn't have to pay a co-pay. i actually didn't know I could that.

At around 8 am Dr. Cleary called me back and when I described my symptoms he told me that I had a classic case of Mastitis. He called me in a prescription for Keflex and told me I needed to continue to breastfeed especially on the affected side and that my fever would probably subside within 48 hours.

now 48 hours later my fever has subsided and the only thing that really hurts is my boob. When my fever finally subsided I felt so much better. now we just have to wait for the infection to subside and hopefully my supply won't go down in the process. it does hurt to nurse him on that side and even worse to pump, but I know it needs to happen.

So mastitis has been really uncomfortable, but honestly the worst part was my fever. Everything else is manageable. Hopefully the rest of the infection will clear up quickly, but if not at least the fever is gone! :)

Whats in a Name

We have gotten several people asking where we came up with Lincoln's name so I thought I'd just explain where it came from.

Adam and I met almost 6 years ago and both of us claim it was the typical cliche "love at first sight". From the moment I met him I knew I'd found the person for me.

Now I have to say that because this next part may sound a little weird. On our first "date" we were talking about how we wanted to have kids and how both of us had names picked out. When I asked Adam how many kids he wanted he told me 3 and they would all be boys and their names would be Lincoln, Landon and Laiben. I quickly vetoed Laiben, but the other two I liked.

So when we more seriously started dating and talking about our future and having kids, we both agreed that our first boy would be named Lincoln.

Now when it came to the middle name that was a little bit more difficult. I had always said that I wanted to name my first son with the middle name of Robert, after my cousin who passed away. Adam always wanted to have the middle names after the grandparents. Well as it turned out his dads name was Robert so that made that really easy.

Now you are probably wondering why we added Knox to the mix. Well I'm obsessed with my kids having the same initials. and with our second boy the middle name would be Richard after my dad.  but if we were going to have a girl her middle name could have been Kimberly, Ann, Janet or marie. Now nothing against my mom but I don't like her name. Janet is just an odd name and marie is too popular and really the same with ann. So we were going to use the name Kimberly as the girls middle name. Now obviously the K and R wouldn't be the same initials so I had to come up with a way that all my kids could have the same initials and the only way to do that was to have two middle names.

Coming up with the K name for our boy was a little challenging. But Adam is from a county called Knox and I thought that was a cool name, so we went with it.

So the final name was Lincoln Robert Knox Chafin. It was a challenge coming up with his name, that honestly started nearly 6 years ago. But I think we did a great job naming him!

One Week Already?!?!

Well this is a day or so late but I can't believe my baby boy is already a week old! Time sure flies when you get little sleep!

While in the hospital we had lots of visitors and it seemed like every other hour Lincoln was taken away for another test of some sort. Because he was so tired his first day he wasn't eating really well which meant that they had to test his glucose level. He was one point low, which meant that I had to feed him and then they had to check it 30 minutes later. When he passed that one, we then had to test his glucose 30 minutes before he ate, 4 times in a row and if he failed any of those then we had to start over. Well he passed his first 3 and then on the 4th one he failed it. I started to cry and the nurse decided to warm up his foot (they had to stick his heel each time to test it) and try again and THANK GOODNESS he passed.

After all of that they tested his bilirubin levels which tests for jaundice. Well he failed his bilirubin test and we ended up having to supplement with formula because I guess the way to get his levels down is to increase his bulk so he can have more dirty diapers. This broke my heart and caused several tears on my part but in the end it was what was best for him. They had to check his serum bili levels every 6 hours (another heel stick each time! my poor baby) In fact his bili levels were high enough that we weren't sure he was going to be discharged with me. This caused me MAJOR anxiety the whole second day to the point where I couldn't really focus on anything else. I did learn to pump and spent time with my sister while Adam took a nap in my bed because the "cot" he got wasn't really doing the trick for him. He was such a trooper though.  Then at 8pm that second day we got the awesome news that Lincoln could go home with us. I don't think I've ever seen Adam move so fast in my life.

We got home late monday night. Since Lincoln was born at 10:12 pm we were not discharged until 11:15 pm. That made for a LATE night! Plus he didn't sleep all that well, we think it was because he was cold and it was a new environment but either way it was rough. I resorted to his pacifier to try and help him sleep I was so exhausted. I honestly longed for the hospital because he had slept so well there!

On Tuesday I we had several visitors including my sister, cousin and a couple of friends. It was a nice relaxing day for Adam and I because there were all sorts of people around to hold him and change him. Poor aunt Stacie couldn't change his diaper without having him pee all over himself!!! she tried several times.

Wednesday we had to get up early to go have Lincoln's serum bilirubin levels drawn again. This was the condition to him getting discharged, his pediatrician wanted to be able to keep an eye on his levels. So my poor baby once again had to have his heel pricked. talk about breaking a new mom's heart! We then had his car seat check which was extremely helpful and we learned a lot. We then went to lunch at my dad's office so he could meet my aunt and his Godfather. Plus his papa steve and GiGi were happy to see him too! By the time we got home we were pooped. Then MiMi had to come over late  that night to get her Lincoln fix.

Thursday he had his first pediatrician's visit and he was already above his birthweight and he is in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height...imagine that one.  Then we came home and just relaxed the rest of the day, or what was left of it.

By friday we felt like we were getting the hang of things. And my aunt was having my grandma come in town because it was her birthday and we wanted her to be able to meet her first great grandSON! she has 4 great granddaughters but Lincoln is the first boy! it was nice getting to spend so much time with our family. Although Mommy had a bit of an emotional breakdown because they were talking about daddy having to go back to work and I can tell you that I was not wanting him to go!!!

The weekend was the busiest yet. Between breastfeeding support groups, Adam playing golf and spending time at my parents house, it left this mommy tired and ready to be home with my little family. Sunday was a great day because while Lincoln slept mommy and daddy were able to get to spend some good quality time together watching football.

Overall our first week as parents was full of visitors, little sleep and a lot of much needed time spend with each other. Being that Adam and I rarely spent time together before Lincoln was born made last week all the more special. I love my husband more than anything and getting to see him be such a doting and attentive father was heartwarming.

I truly love being a mom and and so grateful for the wonderful blessing God has bestowed on us in Lincoln. He is a beautiful little boy who I love  more than life it's self. He is going to have more love than he will know what to do with. I truly feel blessed to be his mom. I apologize to those reading this because I know this is long, but I wanted to make sure I am able to remember everything that happens! He has already changed so much and I a part of me longs to be back in the hospital when he was just a day old and remember him just like that. because time is going just too fast.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week.

clearly smitten!

Daddy and his baby

looks like a little man already!

my little angel baby

such a handsome man who Daddy loves oh so much

my peaceful baby

I'm a Mommy!

Ok so I realize this is a little bit late, but it's been quite an adjustment being a mommy. SOOOO here is the story of how Lincoln came to this world. And for those wondering, yes I was able to do it natural without the use of an epidural. Although I must say that it would not have been possible without the great support of my husband, our parents, my sister and my wonderful Doctor who was my cheerleader through it all!

Last week I had been having an increase in contractions each day. I was getting nervous because for work I was still waiting to be changed to my RN job code. I worked on Wednesday and shadowed a nurse for the first time. By the end of the day I was just exhausted, 12 hour shifts were hard 6 days from my due date. I had talked with HR and they ensured me that I would be changed in the system by the end of the day. I knew that little one was waiting for that to happen then he/she would come soon after.  I got word on Thursday that I had in fact been changed in the system so it was just a matter of time.

On Thursday I called my doctors office because I had to change my appointment for the following week, in doing so I found out my doctor was on call all weekend. I remember calling adam immediately telling him that I was going to have the baby this weekend! and we needed to do EVERYTHING in our power to ensure that it happened.

I forget now what we had for dinner that night but we went on a walk where my contractions increased to about every 6 minutes, but they didn't last longer than an hour.

Then on Friday I was rushing around the house trying to ensure that EVERYTHING was cleaned, I did our sheets, vacuumed the whole house, and did 3 loads of laundry (nesting much?). All day I was having on and off contractions, and a little bit of bleeding. Finally at like noon Adam convinced me to call my doctor.  She said for me to monitor my bleeding to see if it eased up a little bit in 2 hours or if it continued to get worse or stayed the same. When I called her back it had eased up and so had the contractions. SAD :(

So we went on with our evening, making SPICY tacos, and trying the age old remedy that is said to be fool poof ;) no joke about 5 minutes later my contractions were 8 minutes apart and regular. by 11pm I woke Adam up and told him he should start timing them. They were still about 7 minutes apart and were stopping me in my tracks. They were a bit painful so I started to walk around the house and told Adam we should pack a bag just in case this was it. While up and moving my contractions were anywhere from 6 to 1 and half minutes apart. We decided we would wait to call the doctor until my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart while standing or laying down.

By 1 am I was exhausted, I'd been up since 8 am Friday morning so I tried to lay down a little, my contractions got worse with laying down but I was able to "fall asleep" between them. By 3 am I called into work because I was going on zero sleep and was hoping that my little one was going to be born soon. Then by 5 am my contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting about 1 minute each. so we paged the doctor but it took her about an hour to call us back. Finally at 6:15 she called us back and told us to come to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital I was 4cm and 90% effaced...YAY! We called both parents and told them we were being admitted. Baby Chafin was on his/her way!  My parents and sister arrived at around 8:30 I was almost shocked to see Papa Steve there since it was a Saturday and there was a home Purdue game, but everyone was there to support me through all the pain. Everyone took turns holding my hand and breathing with me through each contraction. But Adam was a constant by my side! (remember I was determined to do this natural)

By 11:30am I was checked again and I was 6cm and 100% effaced. yay I was making progress. my contractions were about 4 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each. Adam was amazing through each one. He was standing by my side, holding my hand and massaging my neck and head. My mom and sister and dad were taking turns holding my hands too, and during those times Adam was rubbing my feet. I felt so supported and loved it was truly awesome.

I don't remember when I was checked again, but I was 9 cm. and then we hit a road block mentally at about 2:30. I was having contractions that would last about 6 minutes long and every 2 minutes. I was in a lot of pain and couldn't catch a break. I was tired and just ready to be done. (keep in mind I'd been up since 8:30 the PREVIOUS morning) I talked with my doctor about what the options were with pain medicine because I knew there were options other than an epidural. They said they could offer me Nubaine. Adam and I talked it over for like an hour almost 2 before we made a decision.

When my contractions weren't easing up and I was almost in tears through each one from pure exhaustion more than anything, Adam agreed that I should try the Nubaine since we were told it wouldn't slow down my labor and that all it really did was take the edge off for about an hour. So the resident wanted to give me a full 10 mg, but with my history with pain medicine I asked to have half a dose, which I must say WAS PLENTY! I'm honestly a little worried to see what a full dose would have done for me. with the Nubaine I still felt each painful contraction but the difference was that I was able to relax between them and almost fall asleep.

At around 6:30 my doctor came in to check me again and there was no change. She said at this point since it had been 4 hours with no change, she needed to brake my water. I was nervous about this because I was already exhausted and wasn't sure I could continue, and then to break my water which probably meant the contractions were going to get worse, but at this point I didn't have much of a choice. She said that breaking my water would make things go faster and I was all about getting to meet my baby and be done with all the pain!

At 7 the nurse checked me because I was starting to feel the urge to push and I had an anterior lip of cervix left, but baby was still at zero station. Baby needs to be at +2 before I could push. My nurse was awesome and offered me different positions to hopefully move things along, I sat up forward over a squatting bar and in about 45 minutes she rechecked and I was 10cm and baby was FINALLY at  +2!

She called the doctor and the doctor told her it was ok to start coaching me through pushing. So a little after 8 pm I began my 2 excruciating hours of pushing. I must say that those 2 hours were the most painful of my life. Pushing was such a weird sensation in itself. I won't go into all the details but it felt like it took forever. I was exhausted and I remember thinking this baby was never going to come. My doctor was awesome through it as were Adam and my mom. I had decided to let my mom in the room because after my water broke she was by my side praying the Our Father and Hail Mary in my ear and it was really calming and knew I would need that through the pushing.

I will share this. As painful as pushing was, the pain I felt when his head came out and then his shoulders was the best feeling I've ever felt in my life. It hurt like hell and it burned but It was also such an amazing feeling all in one. I wouldn't have traded any of the pain for that moment.  when it came down to the end the nurses and my doctor kept asking me if I wanted an mirror and i had to say no because i knew that in pushing and focusing on watching my baby be born I would loose my focus.

Finally the moment came for me to see my baby. I had passed the head and shoulders and my doctor told me to reach down for my baby. I pulled the baby on to my chest and was overwhelmed with emotion. I was now a mommy!!! Adam immediately lifted the baby's leg and screamed. "IT'S A BOY!" he was on his side on my stomach.

My mom took pictures through the last part of the pushing process and she was crying and couldn't focus our new camera but the expression on Adams face watching his son be born was priceless and makes me feel so proud.  This is probably my favorite picture of everything that happened because it captures the raw emotion Adam and I had and the excitement of being parents.

So this is the story of our precious Lincoln Robert Knox. It's been an adjustment getting used to him. But i'm beyond thrilled he is finally here. I feel so lucky to be his mom, although it doesn't quite seem real yet. 

Also I have to say that all my fears of what having a baby would do to Adam and my relationship have been subsided. We are closer and stronger than ever. I can honestly say that before Lincoln my love for Adam grew daily, but since Lincoln's birth my love for Adam has more than doubled in the last week. To see him as a father, and be so attentive to me and my needs is overwhelming. I've never felt so loved in all my life. I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful man in Adam. 

Tomorrow is my first day being mommy on my own so I will hopefully be able to update on our first week at home. Although there will probably be many tears shed by both Lincoln and I, I'm hoping it will be a success. I just wish Adam could stay home with us forever and that neither one of us ever had to work. A girl can dream right? 

Introducing

LINCOLN ROBERT KNOX CHAFIN

Born October 8th at 10:12pm

8 lbs 0 oz. 21.5 inches long

Baby boy and mommy doing well

Birth story to follow; but we are over the moon!

1 week to go!

Week of OCTOBER 4th

How Far Along? 39 weeks

Due Date:  October 11th

Total weight gain/loss: Well this was just depressing. At the doctors office yesterday I was up 4lbs, but this morning I was down 2 of those 4 so I think I'm right at 44lbs total..eek!

Maternity Clothes? yup and I'm not looking forward to going back to regular clothes!

Stretch Marks? Yes, I hate them, i don't want to talk about it further!

Sleep?  Not at all anymore! I get MAYBE a 2 hr stretch before I have to get up and pee, luckily with school being done and I am able to try to sleep till round 9-10ish which is helpful. Adam has been really restless so he snores and tosses and turns which just keeps me up even more. We did clean out the spare room of cat stuff so if I keep him up he will have a place to go instead of the couch. 

Best Moment of this Week? Feeling baby move more normal again! And reaching the month where we will be meeting our little one!!!

Oh and I got a prenatal massage on Friday thanks to my sister and her boyfriend!!! It was the best 50min of my life!!! I got to lay on my stomach for like 30 minutes...maybe next pregnancy I will invest in one of those tables so I can get some sleep every now and again!!! PS anyone who is pregnant should definitely get one!!!

Movement? we are back to normal movement!! THANK YOU GOD! I prayed every day that we would not have to be induced due to little one not really moving and he answered my prayers. While little one doesn't move as much as before, he/she is moving more on a normal schedule again, which I am grateful for. It's so nerve wracking being pregnant! 

Food cravings? ummm i did have apple pie everyday...thanks mom!

Food aversions? nope but vegetables haven't sounded appetizing for weeks...

Gender? last few days I'm feeling boy...but I'm kind of scared that one day he/she will read this and think WTF mom you thought I was the opposite sex...ohhh well sorry sweetie...I LOVE YOU!

Labor Signs?  not enough. only about 10-15 contractions a day. At my appointment yesterday I still 2 cm and 75% effaced but still really posterior. But she did say that my cervix doesn't determine when I go into labor, my body does. She said I could go anytime!!! I think baby knows he/she has to wait until mommy gets put into the right job code so she can afford to stay at home with him/her. I think once I know that, baby will come pretty soon after! Such a patient and good baby already!!!! LOL

Belly Button In or Out? Still in and I really don't think it's going to pop out, but there are now stretch marks everywhere

What I miss? sleep and a pain free neck/back

What I am looking forward to:  meeting my baby! and getting RN PAY!

Size of the Baby:

Baby's now the size of a watermelon!
Baby's brain is still developing rapidly, and his skin has taken on a paler shade thanks to a thicker layer of fat around the blood vessels. (Don't worry; he'll change color again soon after birth.) He's now able to flex his limbs, and his nails might extend past his fingertips..