OW BOOBIES!!

Well nursing is ummm...fun. We are getting the hang of it, but now "favorite boobie" as we've named it, is painful, bruised feeling and I am running a fever. Awesome. So off we go to the doctor in the morning to confirm mastitis. Hoping since we are catching it early this won't kill my milk supply! Will update on this lovely development tomorrow!

Mommy-dom 1 week PP!

1 week post-partum - I LOVE MY SON !!

Carson is such a good baby! He eats good, he sleeps good, and he is such a sweetheart! We are still working through our latching issues, but he is getting better and better with each feeding! Just a quick little update because this mommy is going to take a nap since baby is sleeping!

Here are my 1 week postpartum photos. I can't wait to hit the gym!!

Carson's birthday!

Well I've been a little busy these last few days, because the new love of my life has arrived!

Mr. Carson Bryant Gilmore was born on July 15, 2011

8lb 7oz - 20in

On Thursday July 14, 2011, my mom and I decided we were going to walk this baby out of my belly! So we went shopping...again! Around 10 am I started having irregular contractions about every 7-10 minutes, so we kept walking! We shopped until late afternoon and the contractions kept up, though they were painless. Went home hoping to get things started further and ordered pizza and wings. Sat on my exersize ball all evening and ate dinner around 7pm. We went to bed slightly disappointed, since the contractions were not becoming regular or increasing in intensity.

Around 2:30 am I woke up to go to the bathroom and coming back, I felt a little gush. I stopped...took a step, and felt another gush! I was pretty sure my water had broken, so we woke up my mom and headed to the hospital to find out what was going on! We got checked in and checked out and by 4am it was decided that I was indeed in active labor and my water had broken. I was still only 1 cm and 90% effaced at that point, and I labored for 6 hours unmedicated before deciding to go ahead with the epidural since I was not progressing very well, I had only made it to 2cm. With the epidural place I kept waiting for things to get better, but the pain never really went away. I thought maybe I was being a wuss, or just hard to numb so I was breathing through contractions. With little progress at my next check we decided that Pitocin would be needed to speed things along for the sake of the baby and the drip was started. My pain went from a solid 6 or 7 to a hot 10+ within two contractions. I was in hard labor with no working epidural. Things went on like this until 4pm and they finally checked my epidural and found that it hadn't been working at all, it had slipped out almost immediately after being set. So after 15 hours of natural labor the anesthesiologist reset my epidural and I finally had some relief. My labor at this point had barely progressed to 3cm. After all the work I had suffered with my epidural failing I was starting to worry it had all been in vain and I was going to end up with a c-section. Not only that, my little guys heart rate was hovering around 200+

Thankfully with the with a working epidural in place and bumping up the Pitocin drip, my cervix progressed to 10cm within 4 short hours. After 19 hours of labor I was ready to push and feeling the urge. We waited 30 minutes to let some of the epidural wear off so I could feel my legs a little more and Carson was born in 40 minutes of pushing, with only a very minor tear (3 stitches)!

They placed him up on my chest and cleaned him, and I fell apart and just fell in love with my beautiful baby boy.The stress of the prolonged labor caused him to be purplish at birth and unable to show us his full lung capacity, just tiny squeaking cries, so they pulled him out of the room to get him crying for us. In no time he was screaming like a champ, but he was still breathing really rapidly, so they took him to the nursery and got his breathing under control.

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5 days later we have been to our first doctors appointment and my little man is perfectly healthy and doing great!

We have had some trouble with breastfeeding, mainly latch, not that his latch isn't good, just that it is hard for him to latch and he gets VERY frustrated. My little boy is not a patient one, but he comes by it honestly, because I'm not either! Its something we work on at every feeding, and he gets a little better each time.

To help him out I am pumping a small amount and giving him a tiny bit at the beginning of each feeding to get his sucking reflex going and give him a taste of what he is about to get, and its helping him tremendously! That and we are using breast shields currently, but we hope to get away from those eventually.

My recovery is going great as well, each day is a little better and I am already starting to feel myself again!

This is me at 39 weeks

This is me at 5 days PP

Active towards the end eh

Look at me becoming a model blogger close to the end!

I think its because I am so ready to birth my sweet little parasite haha. I'm on pins and needles these days! It is officially okay for me to go into labor now, my mom is currently on her flight here from Texas! C'mon baby Carson, lets get this show on the road!

I unfortunately started getting sick yesterday...stupid allergies, but maybe this is a partial sign of impending labor? Regardless, I feel like having him will ultimately make me feel better so I say its going to be a cure all!

Of course once Carson is here I will move onto a more mommy type blog and lifestyle blog that I had originally planned before this one became all about my pregnancy. One thing I am looking forward to immensely is blogging my weight loss / get in shape process!

Hopefully my next post will be as a new mom!

Almost there!

How far along?: Almost 40 weeks :)

*Total weight gain: 50lbs

*Doctor's appt report: 90% effaced, 1cm(+) dilated, baby is at zero!

*How big is baby?: Watermelon! Doc estimated he will weigh around 7lbs

*Sleep?: Its getting really hard to sleep!

*How are you feeling physically? Things are getting rather exhausting! We are finishing up a kitchen & half bath reno, and everything just wears me out these days!

*How are you feeling emotionally?: Crying or laughing at the drop of the hat...feels like I'm on the crazy train lol

*Best moment this week?: It will be when my mom gets here tomorrow night...and then when Carson is born..he is SOOOOO coming out this week!

*Movement?: More rolls and body parts sticking out now than actual kicks

*Food cravings?: I crave sodas like crazy...its so bad! And ice cream!

*Labor signs?: Irregular contractions, lower back pain, & loose stool....eep! (and ewwww)

*What I miss: uhhmm....my pre-pregnancy skin, an ice cold beer, comfortable sleeping positions, energy!

*What I'm looking forward to: Birth!!

*Random Thoughts: Are we ready to have this baby??????????? I hope so! I'm a little nervous about being a mommy!

Next week!

I have turned into a horrible blogger as this pregnancy has progressed, but in my defense, we've been pretty busy getting ready for our little guy :) Here are some pictures of the latest happenings around here.

Me at 39 glorious weeks....ready to hold my baby boy :)

The nursery:

We have also been working tediously with contractors on our kitchen renovations! But I will wait and share those photos with you this weekend when it is closer to completion! I am definitely ready to have my house back to normal! All of the kitchen, dining, coat closet, and half bath is crammed into my living room .... it looks like an episode of hoarders in here!

As far as the baby, we had our 39 week appointment today and everything is looking wonderful! Baby Carson looks to be about 7lbs maybe 7.5lbs at birth; I am now 90% effaced and 1(+/-) cm dilated. Now waiting on my mom to arrive July 12th and efforts will double to get this baby out!!