4 months- it's about time for an update!

Tomorrow Maisy is 4 months old already! Despite the fact she is teething, Maisy is such a joy and we're having so much fun being parents. Looks like the last time I blogged was at 9 1/2 weeks and the biggest change since then is that she has been sleeping through the night in her crib. She usually goes down between 11-12 and wakes up around 7 or 8 to eat, then goes back to sleep for another one to three hours. This has been going on since she was 10 weeks old so we feel really lucky. When we go in and get her after she wakes up she is super smiley and happy and it's the best feeling. The world could be crumbling around us and it would make us smile. (Cheesy, I know, but that is truly the feeling.)
As for other developmental milestones, Maisy has just started to hold things a little bit. She can hold onto things for a while now before dropping them, and is starting to lift things to her mouth with both hands. She loves grabbing my necklaces and glasses and is now very interested in toys. Her other new thing is screaming, just because she can, which was kind of cute at first. That cuteness got old really fast, so now we're teaching her the word "No!" :-P
There are so many new things happening with Maisy everyday that I am having trouble remembering them all so I'll just list a few more. Grandma and Grandpa Fredericksen bought her a jumperoo and last night she realized she could jump in it (before she just stood and played with the toys). She isn't a pro yet, but it is so funny watching this 2 ft tall little person trying to jump up and down. I can't wait to get some video of it. Her little legs are getting so strong, and when we hold her arms, she can push herself up into standing position. She also tries to sit upright when she is laying down slightly.
I'm betting this blog is a bit scattered, but I rarely get a chance to type with 2 hands and I want to get as much down as I can before Yo Gabba Gabba is over. That show is our savior!
Ok. I'm about to go but before I do here are Maisy's stats from her 3 month dr. visit. We're bringing her for her 4 month check-up tomorrow so we'll see how much bigger she got. :-)

weight: 12lb, 13 oz
length: 23-3/4 in

If you haven't already seen them, check out the new youtube vids!

9 1/2 weeks

Well, it's been a while. I wish I would have been more motivated to post updates these past several weeks, so I'll try and make up for it now.
Things are going well over here and we're settling in. It now feels like Maisy has always been here. The first 4 weeks were kind of rough, but I think we've found our rhythm. Maisy has been cooing and smiling a lot for the past 3-4 weeks. She also holds her head up really well now, and can turn it from side to side without it flopping all over the place. This makes life a little easier for us. About 2 weeks ago she discovered her feet and when she sits on my lap while facing me, stares at them while she kicks and makes funny noises. She also discovered her hands a few days ago. She had been reaching out to touch our faces for a couple weeks, but about 3 days ago I caught her sussing out those strange things at the end of her arms. She's grabbing for stuff a lot more now, too, which is pretty fun, because she wasn't interested in toys at all until she discovered her hands. One of her other favorite things to do is stand while we hold her. She's got some pretty strong legs, that little one! She likes to sort of walk while being held, like a little marionette. She also loves to sit in her swing and stare at the plastic toys sitting on the tray in front of her. First she was obsessed with the zebra (Or is it a white tiger? This is up for debate). I laughed everytime I saw her staring at it because she wouldn't look away the entire time she was in the swing. She kind of looked at it like, "Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?" After about a week the zebra got boring and she's moved onto the giraffe who is in color. Sometimes I catch her cooing at it.
So that's what's been going on so far. We're having lots of fun with little Maisy (aka "Pickle"), and can't wait until she starts laughing and playing more.
Oh, I should mention that at our 4 week visit to the pediatrician she weighed in at 9 lb, 4 oz, and was still 21 inches. We've got another visit next Friday so hopefully I can get an update posted after that appointment.

Maisy- 3 week pic

She's Growing!

Just a quick update on Maisy. She had her first visit to the pediatrician on the 28th and is doing really well. She now weighs 8 lb 13 oz, and is 21 inches! That's almost 2 pounds heavier and 2.5 inches longer! She has definitely been eating well and looked bigger to us, but it was very comforting to see the actual growth in numbers. I'll add more pictures with the next posting.

youtube link

Maisy has her very own youtube page! Check back often for the most recent uploaded videos.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Maisydavis

Welcome, Maisy!

Well, after a hiatus from blogging (due to a baby who is quite fond of the boob), I'd like to introduce our beautiful little girl, Maisy Marie, born August 5th at 8:05 pm! Maisy was 7 pounds and 18.5 inches and is very alert. Her eyes were wide open since the morning after she was born. She's very mellow, so we consider ourselves lucky!

Here's the short version of what happened on Maisy's birthday:

Paul and I had our weekly visit to the obstetrician at 11am that day and were ready to duke it out with her again regarding a c-section. The baby was still breech and I was feeling unusually nervous, which I chalked up to having to deal with BS at the doctor's again. When the nurse took my blood pressure it was quite high. I will avoid going into the annoying details about that visit because if you've read previous posts, it's just more of the same. To make a long story short, due to the high blood pressure, we agreed to go to the hospital for monitoring and a blood panel testing for toxemia. After about 2-3 hours of monitoring, my blood pressure still hadn't gone down and one of the blood tests came back elevated. Since toxemia (preeclampsia) is so dangerous and could get worse in the snap of a finger, we decided that there was now a valid reason to have a cesarean. I was 3 days past the due date and was ready to fight for another week or so to see if the baby would turn or if I could at least go into labor first, but after a quick search on the internet about the situation, it was pretty clear that toxemia was nothing to mess around with. So, at 7:30 I went in for my spinal block and by 8:05 Maisy was born. She even pooped on the doctor who gave us so much grief the last several weeks of the pregnancy while she was being pulled out. Way to go, Maisy! So that is the short version of the story. I don't have time to write details about the surgery or hospital stay right now. Hopefully down the road I'll be able to write about that. As for now we're just trying to get used to being new parents and are taking it one day at a time.

2 days to go!

Before you read my latest rant I want to say I have reached the point where I am less worried about things like what kind of mother I'll be, how much life is going to change, etc, and purely excited about having this baby! I'm so excited to see her little face (though it feels less like a little face and more like a giant head considering she is breech and this head is right under my diaphragm!) and get to know her! Though we're getting antsy, we're taking things day by day now and trying to give her time to do what she needs to do in there and hope she'll want to join us soon.

On that note, due to laziness, I copied an email I wrote to a friend about our latest obstetrician saga rather than write up a whole new blog. Here it is below:

Still breech. Still only dilated a fingertip (for 2 weeks now, though slightly more effaced every week but nothing to write home about yet). Still fighting with doctor. Yesterday we went through the same old shit except this time she stepped up her fear tactics and threw in a little guilt for good measure. She said, "Let me ask you this. What happens if the cord prolapses or there are other cord issues and the baby ends up with brain damage or stillborn? Wouldn't you feel guilty??" Gee, thanks Lady! I'm not 40 weeks pregnant or anything and that wouldn't happen to be a sensationally rude thing to say to a pregnant woman, would it? Paul and I have done mucho research and found out that unless you have a footling breech, you don't have any more chances of the cord prolapsing than someone who is having a vaginal birth. (And this can only occurr if your water breaks). On the subject of her turning let me point out another inconsistency the doctor said. I told her I have found out about a load of cases where the babies have turned well past 39 weeks, some even after labor set in (which she dismissed as "impossible"). So she says it's impossible because the baby has no room to move, yet yesterday when I said it looks like things are still good because the baby is still in a non-dangerous breech presentation (no feet are down near the cervix), she said "but the baby could change position when in labor and the feet could end up there." But wait! Since 37 weeks she has been telling us that the baby is never going to turn and it is impossible for the baby to change position while in labor. Oh! I guess that's only when it's convenient for her to use that information. She keeps telling us she prefers planning things and prefers to do c-sections under controlled circumstances which is why she wants us to schedule. Though as "urgently" (I use quotes because both the baby and I are perfectly healthy at the moment so there are no issues to warrent the surgery at this time) as she wants to schedule a c-section, she doesn't do them on Fridays or weekends. So it's really just all about convenience for her. I like to plan things too, but perhaps planning a birth shouldn't be taken as lightly as planning a party or vacation? Two more things I should mention that didn't sit right with me. First, when she asked what the point was in waiting to do a cesarean I said, "Well, for one, I don't think she is ready to come out yet, and also I would like to see if I can go into labor first. 'The Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy' says that there is a hormone exchange that goes on between the mother and baby when you go into labor that prepares the baby to regulate its own blood sugar once detached from the palcenta, as well as help it breathe, and also reduce the stress of coming into the world." (Think about it... if you're in this nice, warm place for 9-10 months and then all of a sudden you're ripped out and in this completely different environment without any sort of preparation or forewarning, wouldn't you freak out?) When I brought this up she got annoyed and made a comment, something about how she wishes they wouldn't have written that. Why? So people can't get the information and use it to protect themselves and will just go along with any old junk they are being told? Then the other thing that didn't sit right with me is how she pointed out that she was documenting how we kept declining the "opportunity" for an "elective" c-section. Yeah, more quotes. Go ahead! Document it! But telling us that seemed like another fear tactic; almost a threat. I'm not loving or appreciating having to fight so hard for my baby to be able to stay in the womb when there is no medical reason she shouldn't be able to. It's just too tiring right now. I know people think I am being stubborn (including the doctor who told me so yesterday), but Paul and I didn't take deciding to get pregnant lightly, so why would we take the way our baby is to be born lightly?