Surviving week one

So little Morgan has been home with us for a little over a week. What a crazy week it has been! I still can't believe that I am a mom. Luckily Morgan is a really good baby.....she really only cries if she is hungry or needs to be changed. (I think we have almost gone thru a whole box of diapers already. )

Learning how to breast feed has been a challenge. She falls asleep five minutes after I start feeding her, but everyone that I have spoken to says that is how it is in the beginning. I have been given several different ideas of how to keep her awake. Including, putting a cold wet washcloth against her skin and flicking her feet. I will try my best to diligently keep breast feeding, but it definitely is frustrating.

I now know what everyone means by the "baby blues". I hate to admit it but I think I have a mild case. I don't want to cause harm to my daughter and i'm not unhappy. I will however cry at the drop of a hat. Poor Kevin has witnessed this a couple of times, but thankfully he understands that my hormones are a little out of control right now.

Sleep deprivation....AHHH yes....that is one thing that everyone talks about with newborns. Kevin and I have had some rough nights, BUT somehow we have started our own little routine. I try my best to wake her up every couple hours during the day and keep her awake so when night time comes she is nice and sleepy. We try to get her tummy full by 10:00 so we can all go to bed. This little plan as worked out a couple of nights. Last night she didn't wake up again until 4:45 A.M. Actually, she might have slept longer I woke up and then I woke her up.

Everyone said that is better to have newborns sleep in your bedroom for the first couple of months because of how often you will be tending to them at night. We thought that would be a good idea. Especially since as a new mom you find yourself constantly checking to see that they are breathing. Anyways, we didn't have a bassinet and didn't feel like spending 150 dollars on something for her to use for only 2 months SO we got creative. We took two chairs and pushed them up to the side of the bed. Then we got a laundry basket and put a mattress type pad inside. It works great! Also, whenever I want to look at her and make sure she is ok I use the light from my cell phone. Gotta use what you got :)

 

Introducing!

Morgan Olivia Shaw

 Born on December 8, 2009 at 8:04 PM

She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long

Morgan was due on Dec. 1st, but just wasn't ready to make an appearance. My doctor recommended that if by the following Tuesday she hadn't shown up for me to be induced. I was really stressed about that. I didn't want to be induced. I wanted to try and have this baby as naturally as possible and I also heard that when you are induced the contractions are WAY more intense. To my disappointment I didn't go into labor on my own and I headed for the hospital at 7 AM on the 8th to start the induction process. So I checked into the hospital and they brought me to my private delivery room with an ocean view. I'm not kidding...I delivered at Hoag hospital in Newport Beach and all they have are private rooms with views. Anyways, At 8:00 AM my doctor broke my water and started me on Oxytocin to get my contractions started. As time went by I am started to feel pain stronger and stronger until after 5 hours of no pain medication I gave in. After the Epidural I was able to relax and my labor progressed pretty quickly. 4 hours later I was ready to push. (Which by the is extremely difficult to do when you can't feel anything from your stomach down.) An hour and 45 min later Morgan was here! It is such a surreal experience and looking back it seems like a blur. I am just so happy that she is heathly and that there weren't any complications. I am still a little disappointed that I had to use the Epidural. I have such respect for woman that can give birth drug free. HA maybe next time :)

Before Morgan was here everyone would ask us if we had a name picked out. We knew that we wanted to wait and meet her before we decided for sure, but our two main choices were Rylie and Summer. It took us until an hour before we checked out of the hospital to actually pick the name, but we just looked at her and felt like Morgan suited her better than either of the names we had picked out.

Now I just want to take a second and talk about my husband. He has truly been amazing these past few days. He has done a great job of taking care of both Morgan and me. He has done everything from running all over the place getting things I need or cooking and doing laundry. . I don't think I could have survived the last few days without him. He is so sweet to our little girl. I can hear him talking to her while he is changing her or comforting her and I can't wipe the smile off of my face. For someone who had no previous experience with babies he is a natural. I am so blessed to have him as my husband and I couldn't have asked for a better father for my little girl. Thank you Kevin for everything. I love you!

Maternity Shots

Last month my good friend Megan came for a visit. It was so nice having her here, but Kevin and I felt like the worst hosts ever...We had BOTH just gotten over a cold (well Kevin was still fighting it) and I was very pregnant. Therefore I wasn't feeling up to running all over the place being a tourist. We did, however, go to the L.A temple which I had never been in before so that was pretty awesome. I also tried my best to take her to some of our favorite restaurants that they don't have in Florida. Other than that we did what we do best. Hang out, watch movies and play games :)


Megan and her husband have started a photography business and she said she hadn't done any maternity shots yet....so of course I jumped at the chance to be her model. I'm not really into the naked belly shots with the silk scarf draped around you look (i'm sorry if I am offending anyone by saying this...if you are into it great..its just not MY thing) so we played around with some other ideas.Here are some of the pictures we got from that shoot.

I thought they turned out great! It was a lot of fun thinking of different poses and I'm thankful that I have such a great friend not only to fly ALL the way across the country just to spend time with me, but to take pictures for me as well. Megan you are the Best, I love and Miss you!

(oh Megan was also here for my baby shower...she took some pictures of that too. I haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure I will post those too eventually.)