Fourth Trimester Beginnings!

Well my baby is two weeks old today. Two weeks and 51 minutes ago (when I started writing this blog) I brought this hairy little moose baby into the world, and as I write this said moose baby is curled up on my chest, tucked under my chin in the safest spot in the whole world for my child to be.
How did he get here? He woke me up half an hour ago rooting around to find some milk. I swear if he had teeth he would have chewed right through my nursing tank that I've been wearing for two days straight. I lifted him up and he got to eat. Breastfeeding is so rewarding to me. I love it. It's a perfect time for bonding and my baby is a really funny eater. I love his facial expressions when he eats, and when he grunts and snorts while trying to latch on. It's hilarious, and it brings much needed comic relief because my sweet boy has started to get fussy.
Which is why he is here under my chin. Sometimes all you can do is just hold your baby tightly while they cry. It's a horrible thing when you can't bring peace to your baby, but if I were him, I would cry too. The womb was a pretty great place, and in comparison, outside life is the pits. It's cold out here, and hunger exists out here. This hasn't been a problem for Uriah up till the last two weeks. So he is trying to make sense of his new world, and thank God for warm milk and my ability to store it.
I love getting to know my child now that he is earth side. I remember feeling vibrating movements when he was in my belly, and now I know that it was his tiny little butt chin quivering! That chin of his, I swear, I'll never get over it. It's one of the first things I noticed about him when he was born.
Speaking of which, I HAVE written out my birth story! I read it out loud to my husband and I realized, it is hands down the worst writing I have done in my whole life. There are many edits to be made to it, and I'm waiting for our birth pictures to get here to go with the story. I'm definitely saving the rough draft because it's kinda funny how bad it is. To give myself credit I have postpartum brain, and I only ever got to write one or two paragraphs at a time between feedings and diaper changes and all the visitors we've had.
As far as mommy (me) goes, I've been doing pretty good. If you've been following my blog you might have noticed I was really nervous about postpartum emotions and moodiness and overall recovery.
Well I'll tell you what, I did something kinda crazy. I haven't wanted to share about it for fear of being judged, or written off as crazy, or "too crunchy." But you know what? I don't really care anymore, because through Uriah's birth I learned how strong I am, and other people's opinions have really taken a backseat. I've already had some hurtful things be said about this decision, but I decided that someone else's opinion isn't worth me being upset and hurt over.
So what did I do? I got my placenta encapsulated, and then I took them as a way to help myself recover. Why? Because they have helped balance my mood. There are lots of other really great benefits to it, and if you're interested you can look it up and see for yourself, but for me, I did it for hormonal balance. And it worked for me. Every time I started to feel weepy or down for no reason I would take two pills and I would feel leveled. Let me tell you, it's better than anti depressants, and it's better than crying and feeling down when there is another option.
Physically, recovery has been relatively smooth! I only had one small stitch (that's right, 9 pound baby only one stitch) and it's pretty much healed by now. I was bruised internally, so it hurt to sit or stand for any length of time, but that is doing much better too. I had a cough for awhile, and it felt like a baseball bat to the delivery zone every time I coughed, but luckily it didn't hang around long. And Uriah didn't get sick either, thank you breast milk.
Breastfeeding has been a fun learning experience. It started out good, Uriah was a pretty easy latcher right off the bat. We only really need to work on his little lips curling out a little more. I got blisters the second day, but they were gone by the end of the first week, thank God! That first week was painful because when he latched not only did it hurt from the blisters, but it also caused my uterus to cramp (and I thought I was done with contractions) and it was just not the best feeling ever, but we nursed through it, and I'm glad we did because I love breastfeeding my little moose now. My supply evened out at the end of week two, so I'm not walking around ready to feed an entire army now. I would like to increase my supply a little so I can pump and have some back up. It would be really great if I got enough to donate, but I know that takes a lot of time and effort! Small steps!
Hopefully I will get on somewhat of a schedule and start blogging regularly again, but right now my priorities are feed baby, and sleep! I'll keep you all posted as I can! Oh and I apologize for all the mistakes on this blog, but I figure I should get it out there while I can!

40 weeks!

Well here we are! It's my due date. The good thing about babies is you don't get a fine for being over due. You are off the hook little fella.
This week has had some ups and downs, and I'm not talking about the 30 flights of stairs I've climbed. There were a few days where I was getting a little impatient, but I refocused and I've been feeling a lot better since then. At 39 weeks I decided that I was ready, but the funny thing is, it really doesn't matter when I'm ready. Hilarious right? Babies come when they are ready, not when mommies are ready, so here we are, still pregnant, still enjoying little Uriah kicks from within. I love my baby so much. I mean what's a few more days right? I've already been waiting a year (if you count when we started trying) to meet him, I guess a few more days won't kill me. Let's not talk about what a "few" means.
Zach and I have a special trip planned for Saturday, and it will be a lot of fun! I can't wait! We will be going to one of our favorite places that we haven't been to in forever! I've been trying to stay busy, but not too busy, doing fun things to fill my time, and it's been working, because I'm 40 weeks pregnant and I don't hate my life! We are calling it a win! I'm much happier when I'm not resenting my baby for not making his appearance yet. I get it son, my uterus is pretty fabulous. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Everyday is a decision to either be happy that my body is still sustaining my baby, or to be upset I can't kiss his little face! Some days that decision is a lot harder than other days. It is too easy to wallow in my prodomal labor blues. Lucky me I've had so many people praying for me and giving me encouragement, it has made a world of a difference! So thank you to those of you who have been helping me, it REALLY does take a village! And I will be thinking of all of you while I labor to bring my son into the world.
I had my due date appointment today, and it went really well, my midwife helped me talk through some things. I'm so thankful for her care! She told me that Uriah has dropped, which I had a feeling he had because he feels very very low! We can credit him dropping to my two hikes up Mt labor yesterday! I also got to spend two hours in the waiting room of a car dealership waiting for my car to be serviced, it wasn't fun having prodromal labor there, I'll tell you that much, but hey, new tires, so I guess there's that.
I also had a chiropractor appointment today. My massage therapist has really been helping with the pain in my neck/back/shoulder and I get to lay on my belly with the help of a pregnancy bolster. She also explained the adjustment that the chiropractor does to help induce labor, and as it turns out, it's really not that crazy. All it does is create space in your pelvis and help relax those muscles down there! I didn't have it done, but it would sure beat getting pitocin!
Trying to sleep really sucks when I'm having contractions (which is always) but sleep is about to be a foreign concept to me anyways, so hey, why not a little practice in insomnia? I just hope I can get a good night's rest before I go into real labor.
We will see when my little baby butt chin will make his appearance! Thank you for all the support, and for following my blog on this journey! I'm almost there!