Having a baby?

So the past four months have flown by. I think there is some kind of cosmic change in the universe when you have a baby and time starts to go faster than ever before. I'm working on a four month recap of our first adventures with little man, but while I'm still thinking about it, I wanted to share some little pieces of advice with all the pregnant ladies out there. If you're a dude reading this, I doubt you'll be interested. Or, read these and help the mama-to-be in your life out!

Seven Tips for Mamas-to-be:

1. Sleep when the baby sleeps. No matter what everyone told me, I did not "Sleep when the baby sleeps." If I had a nickel for every time someone told me to "Sleep when the baby sleeps!" I'd be rich, and you probably would be too because I could spare to give you $1 million dollars. So don't be like me. Try to sleep when the baby sleeps!

2. Make friends with good cooks. People will come from near and far to bring you home-cooked casseroles after baby arrives. It's the greatest gift ever. For awhile you won't be able to function enough to cook something for yourself much less other people. I'm pretty sure I did NOTHING in the kitchen after Robby arrived. (THANK YOU family and friends! And big thank you to Grandma Kathy for keeping our pantry and fridge well stocked!) I was all like, "Dinner? I do not know how to do this. I just had a baby. Someone help me. How do you use an oven?" The point is, try to arrange to not have to cook for awhile.

3. This is a biggie and I probably should have put it first, but Go ahead and google the side effects of pain medication and/or surgery...I won't elaborate, just be prepared. This is not a case where ignorance is bliss. Talk to your doc, phone a friend, ask your nurse, but whatever you do, get ready. Am I being too vague? Google postpartum issues. Trust me.

4. Pack your hospital bags six weeks ahead of time. I never really thought R would be early since everyone told me first babies are always late. My hodge podge of a hastily packed-at-4-am bag's contents looked something like this: Size XS Pajamas (Hilarious! Did I really think those were going to fit post delivery? I was just a tad excited/hopeful at the thought of losing the ginormo baby bump), iPad (Useless! No time for that because you are supposed to "sleep when the baby sleeps"), whole contents of makeup drawer (Laughable! I mean, you simply must powder your nose after being sliced open), and a variety of other non-essential items. Thank goodness the hospital provides most of what you need. That is, if hospitable gowns worn by hundreds of other people and XL disposable mesh underwear are your thing. And they were totally my thing. They even let me take some home. Thanks Baylor nurses for helping a girl out in desperate times!

5. Don't be afraid to tell people no. (Unless they are bringing you food or volunteering to get up for 3-am feedings of course). Everyone will want to come see you and visit the baby. It's all.about.the.baby! No one remembers that you've just been sliced/diced/ and/or stretched six ways to Sunday. Or that you are on an emotional rollercoaster of which you have zero control. When reality hits, you haven't slept, and you don't feel up to your 100th photo shoot, just tell everyone that "Now isn't a great time." It might seem harsh but people forget or just don't know how exhausting and challenging the first weeks with baby are and sometimes have to be told to SCRAM! gently reminded.

6. You may find yourself crying a lot, and for no reason. Or there may be reasons, but they only make sense to you. I cried because I thought I may never be able to bend over enough to shave my legs again. Then because I thought my dog didn't love me anymore. Then because I thought I'd never recover and Robby would have to be an only child. Then because we were out of chocolate. You get the idea. Pretty funny looking back now! Although being out of chocolate is a very good reason to cry at any given time. Not quite as good of a reason as being out of wine though.

7. Alright La Leche League, don't sue me, but.......have a little formula on hand. It is JUST in case. And in our case, we eventually needed it. When this need arises, it could be 2 am, and who wants to go on a formula search in the middle of the night? So just throw a little in your pantry now. Ultimately, you have to do what is right for your family and what is best for YOU. I struggled with this and had a huge sense of loss and guilt when things didn't work out-kinda hard to explain but the good news is, I eventually got over it and little man is thriving! Silver lining: Getting back into my vodka cocktails. Shout out to the makers of Similac Sensitive. My kid loves this stuff. And he seems SUPER smart already. Just Saying.

Stay tuned for my recap of little man's first four months!

 

Robby's Birthday

Well I finally started a blog! I meant to do it the entire time I was pregnant and never got around to it. Baby boy came 3 1/2 weeks early (on my Dad's birthday!) and things have been crazy ever since. What better way to start than going back to little R's birthday.

Robert Stewart Lombardi (We call him Robby) was born on March 9, 2013 at 7:22 am weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long. He wasn't due until April 1, and we had a C-section scheduled for March 26 because he was breech. About his name: Robert is Andy's Dad's name and also the name of an uncle who was very dear to me. Stewart is my middle name, and my maternal grandmother's maiden name. When it comes to baby names, I am all about using family names. I just think it is so special to have a name with personal meaning behind it. I love the idea of using names from the past to connect generations.....maybe I've been on ancestry.com a little too much!

At 4 in the morning on March 9, I got up to go to the bathroom and when I stood up, I was pretty sure I felt something trickling down my leg. I woke Andy up and told him I thought my water had broken. He thought I had peed my pants. I thought maybe he was right and I was just so pregnant that I couldn't hold my pee anymore. A few minutes later, it became very obvious when the "trickle" turned into a gush. The very first thing I did was take a shower and shave my legs. My priorities were definitely straight at 4am! Who wants to show up to the hospital not well groomed?! If I could help it, I was showing up squeaky clean and hair free. We ran around throwing things in bags and calling our families.

Andy took this right before we left for the hospital.

We made it to the hospital a little before 6am. They put us in a triage room and we waited to be checked. I wasn't in pain but had some mild cramping. The nurse was shocked when she found that I was already 5 cm dilated and didn't really feel much of anything. Apparently a lot of people are screaming at 5 cm dilated. They confirmed he was still breech and within minutes we were in the OR being prepped for surgery. This was moving WAY faster than I anticipated.

Waiting to be checked in triage.

I felt so nervous and was having a mini panic attack at the thought of being cut open awake! Andy had to leave while they did my spinal. The poor nurse that was holding my hand...I think I was cutting off her circulation. Within a few minutes I felt numb from the chest down. Andy came back in and they set up the drape. They did some tests on my stomach to see if I had any sensation before cutting. I was able to feel a little bit lower than they thought I should so anesthesia made an adjustment. Total numbness after that - Thank goodness! They asked Andy if he wanted to watch - he didn't. Although he later told me he accidentally saw my intestines when they were piecing me back together post surgery. GROSS! Major surgery y'all - they take your insides out people! I had no clue...but it sure did feel like it later.

When they started the surgery, I remember thinking I'd never felt so much pressure in my life. They were tugging so hard I felt like I might come flying off the table. (You are restrained of course.) I kept thinking it was taking forever and I wanted to hear my baby cry. Soon enough, we heard a loud cry and I looked at Andy and the first thing I said was, "He sounds so sweet!" (A few weeks later the 3am cries didn't sound as sweet - ha!) I got a quick glimpse of him and then he went to be checked out and cleaned up. He was considered preterm but thankfully was just fine, and in fact rather large for being 3 1/2 weeks early. The nurses laid him on my chest and we were wheeled into recovery. We passed our families in the hallway- they had all made it there after we went into the OR. It felt surreal that this was our son's birthday and everyone was here to meet him.

Meet Robert Stewart!

Andy meets Robby.

And so we finally meet!

In recovery, I started to get really loopy from the drugs. I wish it wouldn't have been that way but you need some pretty hard stuff after getting sliced open! I said some hilarious things - I even asked the doctors and nurses if they were glad I shaved my legs......EMBARRA! I was going in and out of consciousness and hardly remember getting to my room. The next few days and weeks were definitely some of the most challenging in my life but it was so worth it to see this little man we created.

C-sections are rough (I'm sure any delivery is, really)- If we have more children in the future, I might look into trying a VBAC mostly because I want to be able to be more mobile during recovery. It was SO frustrating to feel like I couldn't take care of my baby because I could barely walk. Recovery is so personal and different for everyone - I have heard of people who really bounce back quickly but I just had a hard time. Trying to breastfeed also complicated things...I seriously can barely say that word without breaking out in hives! Things got better with chocolate, wine, and sleep time, and 6 or 7 weeks postpartum was a huge turning point for me as far as feeling better goes. I distinctly remember that that was when I didn't feel so sore and stiff when I got out of bed. It was also when I said I might consider doing this again! It was a long seven weeks! Little R is so much fun now though that I can't imagine not having at least one more.

I am so grateful to my amazing mom who came and stayed with us for two weeks. We couldn't have done it without her - Thanks Marmi! And a HUGE thank you to all the friends and family who brought us dinners and helped us out over the course of two months. We plan on paying it back to all of you in some way!

Here's a little video of our first days and weeks as a family of three:

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