Another doctor’s appointment

Hazel had her two week check up today and we have quite a bit of info to update you all on. At her last appointment she was 7 pounds 5 ounces, today she weighed in at 8 pounds 6 ounces- she has gained over a pound in 10 days! This is great news as it means that she is getting plenty to eat and that she is growing steadily. She is now in the 50th percentile for weight and height (she is already 20.5 inches long, an inch longer than what she was at birth)- and her head went from 13 inches, which was only the 10th percentile to 14.5 inches- the 75th percentile!!! It looks like she will have a big head just like her mom, poor girl!

At our appointment today we also learned about the vaccinations Hazel will be getting at her next appointment when she is 8 weeks old. Our pediatrician is very thorough and gave us lots of information and prepped us for what to expect at the next appointment. I have to say- I’m a bit nervous about Hazel getting her shots- she has to have 5! I’m sure it will hurt us more than it will hurt her!

After Hazel’s appointment we headed over to my doctor’s appointment- my incision is healing nicely, and I learned a bit more about what happened during labor and delivery. The midwife who has worked with us throughout the end of our pregnancy told me today that she knew I would have a difficult time the first time she did an exam- Apparently my pelvis is very narrow and angular which she knew would make it difficult for me to have the baby naturally. This is why she suggested that we do hypnobirthing- she wanted to give us the opportunity to try as best we could to do the med-free natural birth. She also told me that it was amazing that I got as far as 9 centimeters, and that I was able to make it through 16 hours of labor with very little pain relief. She also said that part of the reason my epidurals didn’t take was because the baby was taking up so much space in my pelvis that all the nerves were not receptive to the epidural medication. It was nice to hear from her that I did all that I could to have the baby naturally, and it was also nice to hear that for a next baby there is a 60% chance that we could try to opt for a vaginal delivery. Who knew?!

Last night was a loooong night- Hazel was very gassy again and Jered and I got very little sleep. Today we are extremely tired. We’re waiting for Hazel to wake up and eat, and then when we put her down for the next nap we are both planning on taking a nap ourselves!
Here’s a video that we made yesterday on Hazel’s two week birthday- Enjoy!

The 2 Week Update from esther benoit on Vimeo.

2 Weeks Already

To celebrate the first two weeks of our time with Hazel we have posted more pictures on our flickr account. Check out the pictures and stay tuned for some new video in the next few days!

Turning a Corner

It’s just a little after 1 am on Thursday morning- I’m usually upstairs trying to get a little sleep, but tonight is a bit different. This time two weeks ago we were at the hospital getting ready to meet Hazel for the first time. Our little girl is already 2 weeks old today, and while the days all seem to blend together at this point, time has gone by so quickly. In two weeks we have come a long way- we have been home from the hospital for over a week, and have adjusted relatively well to life with a newborn. Hazel has settled into what can only be described as a “routine”- not a normal routine, the kind that Jered and I are used to, but a “routine”- the kind where things tend to change from day to day, but generally follow a similar pattern.

So why am I up at 1 am writing a blog entry? Well… Hazel has had a rough evening- mom ate a bunch of edamame yesterday which still seems to be making its way through her system, and we are starting to think that Hazel might be a bit intolerant to lactose in my diet. All of the books on breastfeeding that we have perused have suggested cutting out dairy as the first step in trying to figure out what foods upset the baby. Starting tomorrow I am going to go dairy free for a week to see if that affects her gasiness at all. I find it somewhat humorous that I am restricting my diet more now than I did when I was pregnant!

In addition to Hazel being gassy, (and thus very fussy and quite inconsolable) tonight is a bit different from other nights because I had a bit of a mom moment with her sitting on the sofa in the dark. The past two weeks have been very hard- more difficult than anything I’ve ever done. This is not to say that we haven’t absolutely enjoyed every moment we have had with Hazel, but I won’t lie- there have been many a frustrated tearful mornings and evenings. I never thought that parenthood would be such an emotional journey. I realize that the dramatic shift in my hormones is partly to blame for this, but I am also keenly aware that much of the emotion we are experiencing is far from biological! After a quick nap during which Jered comforted our gassy lassie I came downstairs for the night shift. I decided earlier this evening that I wanted to stay downstairs with her instead of sleeping in the bedroom, just because she has been so fussy all evening. Sitting with Hazel, rubbing her tummy and burping her in every position possible- I expected to feel extremely frustrated, much as I had throughout the week when she would be fussy. Instead, something about tonight is different. I’m not sure what exactly is different, but rather than feeling frustrated and tearful, I just feel a strong sense of wanting to make sure that Hazel is well taken care of. I have felt this way before, but tonight the frustration and sheer exhaustion just didn’t stick around.

So, sitting here with Hazel at 1 am, I look down as she finally falls asleep and I notice that her little cord stump has fallen off. Two weeks to the day that she was born, and there it is- shriveled up and black, no longer attached to her belly. Call me overly sentimental, but it felt oddly symbolic- here we are, up in the middle of the night, both of us trying to make sense of our new roles, me as a mother and Hazel as a little person in a great big world, just doing the best we can- and the cord stump finally shrivels up and falls off. She is out in the world, no longer safe and protected inside me- and we are all three learning together how to make sense of it all. I think we may have turned a corner. I’m sure there will be many more frustrating and tearful days, but somehow, tonight everything is right with the world.

Now, I need to get some sleep- she’s finally out and I have no idea how long that will last!

A Big Outing

Today, Jered, Hazel and I went on our first big outing as a family. We had a few errands to run- some groceries to buy and some baby supplies to restock. We headed to the mall around 11 am after we fed and changed Hazel. She slept the entire way to the mall, and the entire time we were at the mall. After picking up the few things we needed there, we decided to go out for lunch. It was so nice to get out of the house and have a meal out! We went to Red Robin- it was so strange to have little Hazel with us, but she slept the entire time and we had a nice relaxing lunch and felt like we were human again! It’s amazing how being home-bound for more than a week can make you a little stir crazy!

After lunch we walked around the mall one more time- stopped by Borders, read a magazine, and then decided it was probably time to head toward home. On our way home Hazel fell back asleep, so we decided to stop by the grocery store and pick up a few things that we needed. The trip was a complete success, it got us all out of the house- Hazel was great and slept the entire time, and I felt like I was a real person again, and not just a 24 hour sleep-deprived snack bar!

The past two nights have been much better- we have figured out which noises need to be tended to and which noises we can wait to respond to. This has made a huge difference in the amount of sleep we have been getting. Initially we were responding to every little fuss, but we have figured out that Hazel likes to grunt and make noises, so unless she starts to really fuss or grunt for long periods of time we let her work it out. I still wish I could get a good 7-8 hours of sleep straight through, but i’m pretty sure that won’t be happening any time soon!

This morning, we weighed Hazel on our bathroom scale (weighed ourselves, then weighed ourselves holding her) and she appears to weigh over 8 pounds already! This means that she has gained back the weight she lost when she was in the hospital, and that she is growing steadily which is great because she sure does eat a lot!

This week we are expecting a few visitors. My friend Dana will be in town on Wednesday and she is planning to stop by to visit, which will be nice. Then later in the week, on Sunday, Grammy and Grampy Benoit will be visiting us! We are so excited for Hazel to meet them. This Friday we also have another pediatrician’s appointment, and I have my 2 week OB checkup to check my incision and see how my recovery is going. We will keep everyone updated on how things go this week and will post more pictures and videos as we take them.

Hazel, Day 10

As promised, we’ve uploaded more videos to our flickr account. The funny poop humor video I had planned to upload is just not working, so we are just going to post this cute one of Hazel making kissy faces. There are a couple more new ones on flickr- check them out!

Breastfeeding- darned if you do, darned if you don’t

After a rough day with virtually no sleep for either of us, Hazel went down for a 4 hour stretch of sleep last night that allowed Jered and I to catch up on some much needed sleep. This morning we both feel like completely different people- our outlook today is certainly more positive than it was yesterday!

One of the difficult things about being a new mom is getting the hang of breastfeeding. We have chosen to exclusively breastfeed Hazel for many reasons- nursing is convenient, healthy, free, and doesn’t require a lot of the equipment that is needed with formula feeding. That being said, we have learned that breastfeeding is also very challenging. We had the support of a wonderful lactation consultant at the hospital, and I truly believe that if we hadn’t gotten her help we may have already given up on nursing! One would think that nursing would be something instinctual and that mom and baby would simply know what to do- but it actually is a bit counter-intuitive. Initially it was quite painful as our little Hazel has quite the ability to latch and suck! Over the past ten days, things have gotten much easier, and we have started to get into our own little rhythm.

One of the things I find amazing is how many mixed messages there are in the media about breastfeeding. Here in Virginia there is a task force that advocates for breastfeeding mothers- they run ads on all of the local tv stations about the benefits of breastfeeding. You can check out their website. In addition, there are also laws on the books in Virginia (and you can see other states at this site as well) that allow women to breastfeed in public. You can check out these laws if you’re interested.

With all this support for breastfeeding one would think that the state would provide more support for breastfeeding mothers through insurance HMO’s. I have heard that some women in states other than Virginia have had breast pumps covered by their insurance providers. We tried this with our insurance company, and even had our pediatrician write us a prescription, but we quickly learned that our insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of the pump (they can be quite pricey, the one we bought ended up costing close to $300 and we were really hoping our insurance would absorb some of the out of pocket expense!). I know that health care plans aren’t directly related to state government, but one would think that a health care plan within the state system would be congruent with state initiatives!

Today we are venturing out into the world with Hazel. We are going to run by the mall to pick up a few things, and it will be interesting if Hazel gets hungry while we are out. I have a nursing cover up, ready to go, but I can’t help but worry a bit about how others will respond to me nursing in public! Since Hazel has arrived I am surprised at how protective of her I feel, and I have a feeling that if anyone gave me any guff about it, I might get a little confrontational! We’ll see how it goes!

Look for more videos later today- we have a great little bit of Hazel poop humor coming up for those of you who are interested!

The longest day of the year

Today marks the start of summer and the longest day of the year. Last night it really felt like we were in for the longest night of our lives! Hazel was up and inconsolable for quite a while- but she finally went to sleep around 2 am and slept on and off until 7:30 this morning. The sleep deprivation is a force to be reckoned with- and despite what people say, it is difficult to sleep while she is sleeping during the day. There always seem to be things to get done during the day, and it just feels so strange to lay down for a nap at 10:30 in the morning. We are still figuring things out and making do the best we can.

We have been using a web-based tracking service called trixie tracker that allows us to track feedings, diapers and a bunch of other things, and the data we have gotten from tracking things has actually been very helpful to us in trying to figure out when Hazel tends to sleep for longer periods of time, and when her more wakeful times are. It’s also interesting to see patterns in her input vs. output- there is a definite pattern of nursing to diapers, which is great because we know she is getting enough to eat!

One of the unanticipated challenges of having a new baby has been trying to figure out how to balance our regular home upkeep (cooking, cleaning, making sure we don’t get written up by our crazy homeowner’s association) and the work of taking care of a baby who is completely dependent on us. My mom left this morning for Michigan, and we don’t have any other relatives in the area, so it has been difficult finding time to do things that normally aren’t a big deal. Jered has been wonderful in taking care of me- he goes out and resupplies our fridge, picks up diapers and does all of those types of things that I can’t do because I’m not allowed to drive for two weeks and I’m still less mobile than normal (another unfortunate and unexpected challenge brought to us by the c-section experience!). I can now see why it would be nice to live closer to extended family- not just for help and encouragement with a new baby, but for the support of being close to family. It’s funny how family becomes more important during these transitional times in our lives!

Jered posted a few videos of Hazel last night, and we plan to post more later this weekend as we capture more of her entertaining moments. Thanks for your continued readership- we appreciate the encourgement and support we get from our readers!

Clarification on Hazel’s name

I want to clarify Hazel’s name. In my excitement to tell everyone about the birth of my lovely daughter, I may have run together her first and middle names. Her first name is Hazel, her middle name is Madeline, her last name is… well… Benoit.

I’m sorry if my zeal to let everyone know about how amazing she is I caused any confusion. I’m sure she’ll respond,  like her father, to pretty much anything, including “Hey you!”

Videos as promised

Pictures and Video

We have been busy taking plenty of pictures and little videos of our Hazel and plan to do a major upload of those videos this evening. Please check back soon to see some footage of Hazel being her magnificent little self.