meredith at one month

August 20, 2011

She: >Weighs ten pounds (!) according to my inaccurate bathroom scale >Lost her umbilical cord stump at three weeks which made me cry >Outgrew newborn diapers >Smiles a lot even though we’re not sure if it’s the real thing >Has crazy bedhead every morning >Likes to nurse A LOT and isn’t interested in a pacifier or bottle >Still has a mild eye infection caused by a narrow tear duct >Has a very calm personality, unless she’s hungry >Doesn’t particularly like baths, but then again she’s only had a few >Can hold her head up pretty well and likes to look around >Isn’t very good at crying, it’s more like grunting most of the time >Actually sleeps for a long time…
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Newborn Photoshoot

August 18, 2011

When Meredith was two weeks old, my friend Cio generously offered to come over and take newborn pictures of her. That was such a blessing, because already she looks so different and I want to remember her just as she was! Two weeks ago her hair was still pretty instead of thinning on the sides, sticking up crazy on top, and mullet-y in the back. She still had her umbilical cord stump. She still fit into newborn diapers. She was perfect, and still is. :)   More pictures here.

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meredith’s birth story, part three

August 15, 2011

Part one Part two I was stalled out at 6 cm and my doctor was telling me she needed to do something to help me along. I wanted to keep things natural, but I had been having terrible back labor for over ten hours after a full day of work, no sleep, and nothing to eat. There was only so much I could take. She listed several different things that we could try, including breaking my water, putting in an internal monitor to measure contractions, and giving me Pitocin. But first I knew that if I was going to have any of those interventions I needed to get an epidural. If I could have pushed anytime soon, I know that…
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meredith’s birth story, part two

August 12, 2011

Part one The first thing I had to do once we got to my hospital room was change into a gown, and the next step was for the nurse to check my progress. For that I had to lie flat on my back which was probably the most uncomfortable position I could imagine. At that point she told me that I was 3-4 cm dilated. I was really disappointed that I wasn’t farther along. My contractions were already extremely painful and frequent, and I had been having them all day. I discussed with David and Kelly the option of returning home for awhile, but we were 45 minutes away and I couldn’t fathom going through that car ride twice more,…
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meredith’s birth story, part one

August 8, 2011

Four days prior to giving birth Meredith’s due date was approaching, and I was becoming increasingly swollen and tired. I planned to work up until I went into labor, but my resolve was weakening. On Monday, July 18 I saw my doctor. She checked me and declared me to be 1.5 cm dilated, and my cervix was soft. She stripped my membranes, but said that they weren’t very well attached to the wall of my uterus so she wasn’t sure that it would have the desired effect of sending me into labor. I certainly didn’t feel like I was going into labor anytime soon. I started taking herbs and doing natural remedies to get things started, because one of my…
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Posted in: motherhood, meredith's birth story, motherhood, motherhood, pregnancy