Sleeping Beauty

I finally feel like I'm really starting to figure my baby girl out. I'm starting to just naturally know what each of her different cries mean. For awhile, about once every day, I would get to a point that I would feel so overwhelmed because she would cry for what seemed like no reason. She wasn't hungry. She wasn't dirty/wet. She wasn't too cold or too hot. Sleepy? I always thought that was not the case because you see, my baby girl wasn't really too much of a napper. Even from her earliest days she never napped. Ever!
I don't know what made me think to try and get her to nap one day, but that was the problem. Go figure, right? Now thinking back on it, the random crying for no apparent reason, was at the same time every day. 1:30/2pm. About that time every day Hadley girl needs her one and ONLY nappy!

One nap a day, for a 11 week old, is the craziest thing ever!! I've worked in daycares and was even a Nanny to a precious, wonderful little boy for the last 2 years before I had Hadley. I've never seen a baby this young not take 2 naps a day! BUT I guess, there is a small explanation for it.

You see, my little miss has been sleeping through the night since she was about 5/6 weeks old. She will sleep until about 6 am and get up to eat. Then she will lay back down and usually sleep until about 10:30 am. Most little babies (that I've been around, at least) wake up really early and stay awake then take a morning nap about 9 or 10 am. So I guess Hadley would take 2 naps, if she didn't sleep in all morning. But I'm NOT complaining. She likes to sleep in...just like Mommy! :)

Now that I have my little love figured out she usually takes her bottle about 1:30 pm and is laying down by 2 pm. She will usually sleep for a few hours. Like right now for example: I laid her down at 2 pm and it is now 4:43 pm and she is still sleeping away. This makes for a Happy Hadley.

Last week, I think she was going through a growth spurt because my little lady kept waking up at 3 am every night!! This was so unlike her that I knew something was up. She always was eating more than normal so growth spurt had to be the answer. Luckily, that only lasted a few days and my little sleeping beauty is back to her normal sleep patterns.

This weekend me and Hadley will experience our first road trip. And this trip will also be just the 2 of us. No daddy! I'm realllllllly nervous. I worry she will cry the whole way there because she hates sitting in her car seat. She hates it because it makes her so hot and sweaty. She is naturally so hot natured that sitting in her seat for too long makes her extra hot :-/ Poor baby. But I pray she just sleeps the whole way there. OR I would be ok if she talked to and laughed at her Elephant mirror because that's pretty cute too :) Wish us luck...

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Hadley sleeping throughout her days:

sleeping at Nanny's about 2 weeks old

First picture I got of her smiling...and it was while she was dreaming

Snug-bug cuddlin' with Mommy

She can't sleep without wearing her "Swaddle Me," but while she is sleeping she somehow manages to get her arms out.

8 weeks pictures (little late!)

Hadley had her 8 weeks pictures done....2 weeks ago! She is 10 weeks now. UGH, I know! I'm running so behind and wished I had posted them sooner. Due to crazy circumstances I'm just now finding the time! Here are just a few of my favorites :) Enjoy! (sorry, I do not know how rotate them! Someone please inform me how!!!)

2 months: little love letters

Hadley Ruth,

You are getting so big!!! I think you are starting to look more and more like your Daddy. I think you look like him, but with my nose and chin. Oh, and, we also think your eyes are starting to change colors. You see, everyone in my family has brown hair and blue eyes. Your cousin, Grace, and I are the only ones with brown hair and brown eyes. I just knew that with my luck you would have brown hair and blue eyes. Daddy hoped that you would have blue eyes, just to pick on me! But against his better judgement, I believe they are turning brown :)

You had your 8 week check up yesterday with the doctor. You were so happy and smiling when we got there. Poor girl, you had no idea what was coming. You had to get 3 shots, but you handled it like a champ. Well, for the most part! The first 2 shots, you barely cried. You squealed for about 3 seconds then you stopped. But that third shot, it was a doozy. You got so upset. You cried so hard. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen. I wish you never had to get a shot again. Really, I wish you never had to get a shot period! I didn't cry. I was strong for you. That was until Daddy was holding you and one of your band aids moved and he had blood on his shirt. You had blood on your leg. You had blood on your diaper. Then I lost it! When there is blood that means its a true "injury." Oh sweet girl, I felt so terrible for you. But luckily, once we left you fell asleep. When we got home you took a bottle then took a three hour nap. You woke up so happy and giggly. That's the sweet girl I was hoping to see. I was worried those stinky shots would cause you to run fever and be fussy. So far so good!!!

-Growth: Yesterday you weighed 10.2 lbs. You measured to be 23 inches long. The doctor says you are right on track! You are starting to out-grow most of your newborn clothes. Actually, you are just out-growing your newborn sized onesies. You are mostly wearing 0-3 month sized onesies. You seem to have broad shoulders like your Daddy, but a super skinny waist. You are also wearing size 1 diapers now. Once again, they are pretty big around the waist, but your little cute chunky thighs were barely fitting into the newborn size. Also, the you having grown a couple inches in length we have had to extend the straps on your car seat so you fit properly and they aren't digging into your little leggies! You're moving up, big girl!

-Eating: You are taking 4 ounces about every 3 hours. When you are sleeping you can go longer stretches in between feedings, but it better be ready as soon as you wake up! You're a hungry girl!! You are taking Gerber Good Start "Gentle." This has seemed to solve your tummy problems you were having before. You are no longer needing gas medicine. You are, also, now taking your bottles with a medium flow nipple. You get so angry with the slow and fast is way, way to fast. It is so fast it all just runs out of your mouth. Medium seems to be doing great, so far...

-Sleeping: YOU ARE SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! Woooooo!! You are doing awesome! You start getting ready for bed between 8:30 pm and 9 pm. You take your bath -- which is your favorite time of day -- Then you take a bottle. You usually lay down about 9:45 or 10. Then you will sleep, usually, until 5 or 5:30 am. Then you get up and take a bottle and you go back to sleep until about 10:30 or 11 am. Last night you slept through the night until 7:10 this morning!!!! You took a bottle and went back to bed until 10:45. I was surprised you did so well last night since of your shots yesterday. I was kind of expecting you to have a rough night, but actually it was your best night yet! You don't really have too much of a day time schedule with naps, but I'm ok with that since you do so well at night time. I figure you will get yourself into somewhat of a day time schedule as you get older.

-Play time: Most of your play time includes laying on a blanket on the floor "pedalling" your legs like you are on a bicycle. You also love to spend time with all your cousins. You love to watch them play and listen to them talk. You're pretty nosey!

-Strength/Movement/Tummy Time: You're holding your head up pretty solid now. You prefer to be sitting up so you can see everything. I try and lay you on your tummy more now. When I do, you dig your toes into the ground, pull your knees up and push around. You can scoot yourself off the blanket if you want to bad enough. If we keep working on tummy time, I have a feeling you will be crawling in no time!!!

-Events: Your biggest events so far have consisted of Mommy and Daddy being brave enough to leave you with people to go somewhere. So far you have stayed with Grandma and Punkin for a couple hours at a time. You have stayed with Nammy and Papa Brian a few times. You stayed with Nanny Wanda and Papa Ronnie once. And even cousin Shelby has got to watch you a few times :) You are really starting to recognize people now. When we get to other's houses you look around for a minute then you start to smile. You smile like you remember being there once before. You have also been to the doctor again. That wasn't a great experience, but you did pretty well.

-Funny/Cute Moments: You are still clicking your tongue all the time. You even did it once "on command" for Nanny Wanda! That was hilarious! Your newest "funny" thing when we are riding in the car you are happy until we slow down or stop. When we stop you scream your head off, but as soon as we start moving you are happy again! You also have become pretty particular about the music we listen to while driving. There is a certain JJ Heller CD that you like. BUT you only like the first 7 songs. The last few songs are too slow for your likings. I discovered your preference one day when you were screaming and I couldn't figure out why. As soon as I change the song you stopped crying and you never cried again. You already have your opinions and you're very vocal about it. Boy, we have our work cut out for us.

You are such a happy baby!! Sometimes I get overwhelmed when I don't know why you're crying, but you really are such a wonderful baby. You giggle so much and you're always smiling. You couldn't be happier! And we couldn't be happier to have you!

I'll love you forever and ever. I promise!
Love,
Mommy

What's in a name?

This little lady's name is Hadley Ruth.

She went by the nickname "Baby Ruth" the entire time I was pregnant. Me and my husband kept her name TOP SECRET the entire time! Well, we tried to, at least. One of my sister-in-laws found out by accident when she found the onesie shown above.

We originally wanted to announce her name to everyone by putting her in the onesie then showing her to everyone for the first time. Then we realized we couldn't do that because they don't wash the babies immediately after being born. It is relatively quick afterwards, but the family and friends saw her before the bath. So then we came up with another idea. We would announce her name with a hat.

This isn't a great picture of the hat and you can't see the name, but you get the idea.

A lot of people didn't understand why we kept her name a secret. They didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Then they really didn't understand why we would tell her middle name, but not her first name. People would ask if we wanted to keep it a secret so no one would steal it? Nope, that wasn't it. But to be honest, there was no real great reason.

Early in my pregnancy I had a dream we had a boy and we named him something. We had many personalized items with his name. Then I had him and I realized that that name didn't fit him at all. So from that moment on I was freaked out that the dream would come true. Well obviously I didn't have a boy. But the name thing totally could have happened. This is when we decided to just keep it a secret so we weren't tied down or obligated.

I never imagine I would be one to keep the name a secret. And really, after so long I wanted to tell everyone once we officially settled on a name. But Lee really didn't want to tell. He thought it would be more exciting if we waiting. It was "one last surprise" we could hold onto until the day she was born. He was right and it was a secret well worth keeping.

Once we announced the name then of course everyone wanted to know how we came up with it.

Well, WE STOLE IT! 

I stole it from my our favorite t.v. show, HOUSE!

My favorite character on the show is Dr. Hadley. She is funny, whitty, smart. Ya know everything you base your child's name. Ha! She also goes by "13" on the show.

I had asked Lee several times, "What about the name Hadley?" He always said no. But I was persistant and kept asking him. Eventually one day he broke and said "Well you can name her Hadley if I can call her '13'." Maybe he was joking? Maybe not? But from that day on Baby G was now Hadley Ruth. Oh and it just so happened that little Hadley was born on the 13th of June. It was fate I tell you!!! :)

After agreeing on Hadley I immediately looked up the meaning of the name. My name, Heather, means a purple flower. Hadley means "a meadow of Heather." I was sold after I read this. How perfect and precious is that? Love.

Her middle name, Ruth, was chosen after my Mom.

Now that Hadley is Hadley and her name is no longer a secret, I can't imagine having to do that all over again. Picking a name is too exciting to not share it with everyone! :)

Oh and just in case you were wondering: Yes, Lee has actually called her "13" a time or two.

1 month: little love letters

Oh my sweet Hadley girl,

I intended to write you this letter on Monday (4 weeks), but here it is Thursday and you're now 4 weeks and 3 days. You seem to be taking up most of my time, but that's ok :)

These 4 weeks since you've been born have flown by so quickly. You're already changing so much. You're also losing some of your hair on the top of your head, but thats ok. We won't make fun of you too much.

You're already developing such a little personality and it's been so exciting to watch you everyday. Since the night you were born you have been smiling. I know, I know, everyone says most babies don't smile until they are a couple months old. Any smiles before that are "gas pains," but I promise -- you smile. The first time we realized you were smiling was when Daddy would hold you and kiss your little checks. You would smile from ear to ear. Now you smile all the time. Particularly, you smile a lot when you wake up from a nap. No one believed me until they saw this:

Now you can't deny that!!!

Since you're still only weeks old I don't have much to report about your growth or major changes. But this is what I have as of your second doctors appointment this past Monday (July 11, 2011):

-Growth: You were born weighing 7 lbs. and 10 oz and were 20 1/4'' long . When we left the hospital you weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. You also weighed this at your first "well child check up" 2 days after we came home from the hospital on June 17. As of July 11, at your 4 week well child check up, you weighed 8 lbs. and 6 oz and were 21'' long! You're moving right along.

-Eating: We had a bit of trouble figuring you out at first. We were told that you should be eating 2 oz. We started realizing that you would eat 2 oz. then scream afterwards. I thought you had a belly ache. Your Nammy suggested we bump you up to 3 oz. and there you have it -- problem solved! You were just hungry. Poor little love. (Although, we are having to give you gas relief medicine with every bottle to help your little gassy belly.) Now we are feeding you 3 oz. about every 3 hours (longer, if you can hold off) Then we give you 4 oz. right before bedtime. We told your doctor what we were giving you and he said that you should really only be eating 2 - 3 oz. 6 - 8 times a day. But you sleep so much better at night with 4 oz. so we will just keep that our little secret! You don't seem to mind the extra ounce anyway ;)

-Sleeping: We are still trying to work out a good schedule, during the day, for you with naps and such. But at night we try and give you a bath about 9 pm and have you eating your bottle about 9:30 pm. Then whenever you've finished your bottle we put you to bed. You're such a slow eater that you could get to bed as early as 10 pm or as late as 11 pm. We've got to figure this out! Either way, once you lay in bed you usually sleep for the next 5 - 6 hours. Then you're ready to eat again. This is usually about 4 am. Then you'll sleep until 7 am - 9 am and you're ready to eat again. Once you're awake for this second feeding you're up for the day.  These past few days you have not been napping during the day. I would like to get you on a schedule so that you can get a morning and afternoon nap in hopes that you don't get so fussy come 7 pm. The only problem is is that you like to fight sleep. You're afraid you're going to miss out on all the action I suppose? We did figure out that you sleep best wrapped up in your green swaddle thing (I don't know the name of it). We also had to give you the boot! I know, you're still so little and tiny, but you're such a loud little sleeper that Mommy and Daddy weren't sleeping either. You see, whatever you dream about seems to be pretty funny because you laugh, in your sleep, all night long. So last week we moved you into your crib in your room. We have a video monitor so it wasn't that big of a deal. Although, the second night of sleeping in your room you slept through the ENTIRE night! Daddy woke up about 10 mintues before his alarm went off and realized neither one of us had gotten up with you all night. We both momentarily panicked, but quickly looked at the monitor and saw you squirming around just fine! Needless to say the sleeping through the night thing was a fluke...

-Play time: Obviously you don't do too much "playing" these days. Some of your favorite things include: laying on the couch stairing at the wall, watching the fan spin 'round and 'round, laying in your swing, looking at the decorative couch pillows, and listening to the dogs then trying to locate them with your eyes.

-Strength/Movement/Tummy Time: You've been holding your head up like a champ since the night you were born. Actually, you never lay your head down unless your asleep. Really! Even when you're laying down you push your legs on the closest stationary object and try and SIT UP! I never imagined I would have an infant that I would really have to say "lay your head down" to. You want to sit up so badly. When someone holds your hands you pull yourself up. You can get half way up right now. I'm sure by next month you'll have this mastered. I haven't really introduced "tummy time" yet. We have laid you on your stomach about 3 times now and every time you pull your legs and knees up like you're going to crawl away any second.

-Events: Some of your first (and only) events to date are: going to church and going to the doctor. Luckily, you seemed to enjoy both. The only thing you didn't like about church was being passed around from person to person. Everyone was so eager to meet you that everyone wanted to get their hands on you. You prefered to keep to yourself. Go figure! You have now been to the doctor twice. These have only been for check ups. You really like your doctor. We were nervous about how you would react to him holding you since you didn't know him, but you've done so well both times. He did warn us that next month you might not like him as much since you'll be getting your first shots! :(

-Funny/Cute Moments: So far only three things stick out in my mind. The first is, when you cry Daddy mocks you and you seem so confused by why he is making that noise that you just stop crying! Second, two days ago you started making this "clicking" noise with your tongue. You woke up that morning and I went in there to get you and you started doing it and you would smile at yourself. Now you do it all day, every day. And finally, you like to explore. Particularlly, you like to explore the basket laying on your changing table. You know it is there. It is always there. When I lay you down to change you, you always reach your hand behind you head in search for the basket. When you find it, you always get your fingers stuck - start screaming - I take them out - and you do it all over again!

Well sweet girl, I want to make sure I don't miss anything and never forget anything. Every little detail of your life is so important to us. We are so excited to watch you grow, learn, explore, change, and learn you precious personality. You're such a joy to us and we love you so much!

I'll love you forever and ever. I promise!!

Love,
Mommy

Birth Day!

My world was completely turned upside (and I haven't slept since) down June 13, 2011 at 8:33 pm when this little girl entered the world:

Hadley Ruth Gibson

6/13/2011

8:33 pm

20 1/4 in. long

7 lbs. 10 oz.

Boy, was that a day. It was quite possibly the LONGEST day of my entire life. Well, no. I take that back. There have been plenty of other days in my life that have been deemed the "longest." But this day was truely the longest in the "most pain ever endured" sense! Here's how it all happened: (prepare this may be a long one...)

June 13, 2011: 5:30 am - check in! As I sat in the waiting room so early in the morning, I looked around and realized there were many other women there for the same reason. Lots of babies were to be born this day! (15 babies to be exact!) They called my name and took me to my room. And so it began...

The morning nurse was great! She got me all set up in the computer, told me how and when everything was going to happen. This nurse's shift was actually about over so I was slightly disappointed. I really liked her. She stayed long enough to start my IV. WELL, to attempt to start my IV. As she inserted the needle into the top of my left hand, she forgot to occlude the vein. I turned to look and blood was running everywhere at that moment. That should have been my first "sign" as to how the rest of the day was going to go. She took the needle out and let the next nurse try. The second nurse was the nurse I had until 7 pm that night. She tried on my right hand this time. She didn't want to do it on top because I am right handed. She said she was going to place in the side of my wrist between to bones. My husband, who is currently a paramedic student, said not do it there because it would be too painful to deal with all day. He insisted she place it in my forearm because you don't bend there. Thank goodness he said that and thank goodnesss the nurse listened (even though, she wanted to put it in my wrist!!).

My doctor came in about 8:30 am and broke my water. She told me that this would be the most painful "check" of the day. She wasn't joking. She did have trouble breaking my water. I'm not sure why. All I know is that it hurt. Bad! They had already started the Pitocin about an hour earlier. My doctor said that about an hour after she breaks my water I should start feeling light "cramps." Then about an hour or so after that I should feel "small contractions." HA! That's a joke. It was 15 minutes and I was having hard, consistent contractions 3-4 minutes apart. Shoot ME!

I was determined to wait until I was a 4 to ask for an Epidural. But the pain was already so intense I wasn't sure I could wait. The nurse suggested giving me Stadol. She said that it wouldn't take the pain away, but was supposed to "take the edge off." She said after giving me Stadol she would slowly start gathering everything for my Epidural. As soon as she gave me the Stadol my head started spinning. Apparently that is common. My head was spinning, I was sweating bullets, and shortly after started vomitting. I'm convinced that stuff did nothing for me except make me feel worse and the pain more intense.

About 30 mintues later the anesthesiologist came in to start my Epidural. This is where the fun begins...NOT! I was only a 3 (with my goal being a 4), but I could care less at that point. It was even 11 am, yet. Lord, help me! I felt sorry for the anethesiologist because you could tell he was b-u-s-y! They prepped me and began. He placed the needle in my spine and I hear "Ok, this one is too short. I need a 4 inch! Ok, Heather hold still and hang on we have to try again." The anethesiologist tries again. AND MISSES! He pulls the needle out. ROUND 3- He sticks the needle in and asks me if I feel it in the middle. I think I do? How am I supposed to know what the middle of my spine feels like? Whatever, dude! He says he will leave it and see if it works. He leaves and they start the Epidural medicine.

Thirty minutes to an hour pass and I realize that only the left half of my body is getting the medicine. I could still feel the contractions on the right side. Craziest feelinge ever. They prop me upward on my left side to help the medicine flow to the right side. I was this way for hours on end. I was so miserable. my back hurt. My hips cramped. Yet, I was told I could not move even the slightest bit because they were worried about the Epidural in my back moving.

Hours pass and I'm still in pain. The Epidural isn't working. Being propped up to shift the medince isn't working. Nothing is working. The anethesioligist comes back in and is very frank with me, "I'm not taking that catheter out of your back and trying again. If I place a 4 needle in your spine I will mess you up." WOW! At the time I didn't think anything of him saying that to me. Thinking of it now, it freaks me out. He came back in and said "I'm going to give you this medicine through your Epidural and we will see if it works." I ask what it is and he puts it so simply, "This is just a mixture that we give women to have C-sections." This was a mixture of Fentanyl and Lidocaine.

To make a long story short, that medication did end up working for me --- but only for about 2 hours at a time. You see, the anethesiologist came back in and said that since I am so short (4' 11'' 1/2'' - the 1/2'' DID matter) he wasn't sure that he even had the Epidural in the right spot. When it only worked on half my body, then the C-section medicine only lasted 2 hours he realized it was in the right spot, just not far enough in!

Two hours later I got a second dose of the C-section medicine. Then a couple hours later ANOTHER dose of C-section medince. This 3rd dose of medicine did NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. I did not even touch the pain. But they didn't want to give me anything else. They explained that a person's body can quickly build up a resistence to Lidocaine and that they were afraid that's what was happening.

With the 3rd dose not working, this was OF COURSE the time I was in the strongest labor of all. And I was practically laboring with no medication. I was sweating, vomitting, crying, screaming. Everything. It was embarrassing. I did NOT want to be one of those crazy women you hear about or see on tv acting psycho because of the pain. But I was. And I couldn't help it. (I later, repeatedly, apologized to the staff for acting crazy.)

So to add it all up: throughout the day I got 3 Epidurals and 4 (yes FOUR!) doses of C-section medication. The 4th dose of C-section medicine was given to me by a different anethesiologist around 7 pm. He came in and acted concerned that previous 3 doses weren't working. I explained to him that they did work they just didn't last. He then informed us that the other anethesiologist was only giving me half doses each time. The 4th dose of medicine was the most glorious thing I've ever been given. Honestly, it changed my life. The nurses were more excited than I was that it worked! LOL. They said you could hear me screaming down the hall. Again-- embarrassing.

The medicine got me through the end of my strongest contractions and I finally got to a 10. They called my doctor. I originally said that during delievery I only wanted Lee in there. At the last minute I decided that I wanted my Aunt and Mother-in-law to stay. They were both over joyed to say the least.

I was so numb when I was trying to push that I couldn't feel anything. They ended up having to use the vacuum/suction thing to help pull her out because we both got tachicardic and my oxygen level was 89. Either way, after 15 minutes of pushing. She was here. Finally.

She scared everyone a little bit because she wouldn't cry a lot. She cried a little, but not a lot. Come to find out everything was fine, she just didn't feel like crying.

Tracey resorted to covering with a towel. They said the a/c was turned to 62 because I was so hot!!!!

Contractions were the death of me. This was an "in-between" moment.

Me getting to hold her for the first time.

Me looking at her wearing her "Hadley" hat. This hat is how we announced her name!

First time rocking in her glider at home. Hanging in her nursery is a picture of Tracey holding Lee and my mom holding me from this same position/angle.

I will not have another kid. I can't. LOL. She is pretty perfect. She is enough.

40 weeks!!!!!!!

~How far along: 40 weeks TODAY!
~Weeks remaining: 0!!
~Size of Baby G:  "Watermellon." I was told she was weighing 6.9 at my appointment last Thursday. But the doctor said she could be "off" by a pound either way.
~Weight Gain/ Loss: 19 lbs total
~Maternity Clothes: MAXI DRESS :) maternity shorts
~Movement: She doesn't "kick" so much anymore, but I hear that's normal the further you get into pregnancy. She mostly just rolls, tosses, and turns!
~Cravings: Nothing specific
~Symptoms: lower back stiffness and burning; cramping all the time
~Newest Discovery:  I am pregnant with the most stubborn child...EVER!
~Biggest Accomplishment: Making it to 40 weeks!

It is kind of weird. I actually made it to be 40 weeks pregnant. No one thought I would be able to do so. Well, of course, except my doctor! She insisted I would go to 40 weeks easily! Recently, I've known very very FEW women who make it to their actual due date much less longer. Everyone around me "just knew for sure" I wouldn't go until 40 weeks. I'm so short that there was "no way possible!!!" Yet here I am today, 40 weeks pregnant! Since turning 35 weeks until NOW I feel like I've been made out to be some freak because I was still pregnant at 35 weeks, then 36, 37, 38, 39!!!! Heaven forbid someone ACTUALLY go to 40. People are supposed to go 40 weeks. Chill out. Geeez. All I know is that I'm pregnant with the most stubborn child in the entire world. She doesn't like it when people (even me) touch my stomach -- Much less come out and people wanting hold and touch her. She is pretty content. Leave her be! I'm being induced Monday bright and early. We can see her then.