Keepin' up with the Joneses: May 2009

Oh my goodness, life has been turned upside down since we've come home. I don't even know what day of the week it is anymore!!

Jaden will be 4 weeks old this Wednesday and I'm going to attempt to recap what has gone on since she was born.

Brief birth story:
My water broke on April 21 at 7pm. The midwife on duty gave me a couple of options if I didn't start labor on my own. We chose to wait it out as long as possible and went to the hospital the next morning. I still wasn't having any contractions :( We took our time driving to the hospital and had to make a stop at our favorite place...Starbucks! We arrived around 7am and I walked for a little while after being admitted hoping to start labor, but no such luck. I was bummed that they wanted to induce because I wanted to go all natural, no drugs, etc. They started me on Pitocin at 10:30am and I finally started feeling some contractions. By 3:30pm I wasn't enjoying labor so much and decided to receive Stadol. My midwife said that would take the edge off, but she lied (just kidding!). Really, it didn't do anything but make me feel drunk - the pain was still there. So there I am feeling like I drank 10 glasses of wine, couldn't focus on anyone, and I'm still in pain!! By 5:00pm I was ready for the epidural since the midwife told me it would be another 4 hours...there was no way I was going to endure this kind of pain for that much longer. I finally got the epi around 5:45pm and became a new woman!!! The next several hours were a breeze and our sweet Jaden arrived at 10:35pm.

Welcome Jaden:
Jaden Addison Jones was born April 22, 2009 at 10:35pm. She was 7lbs, 6oz, and 18 inches long.

Week 1:
We came home on Saturday after having to treat Jaden for a slight case of jaundice. It was nice to be home, but also a little scary knowing that we were on our own now! My mom came over on Sunday and stayed through Thursday. It was great having her around to help out with Jaden, cooking, cleaning, etc. When she left Thursday it was tough for me to say goodbye. It was great having someone to chat with when Jaden was sleeping. This week was interesting as I never thought I would be talking so much about poop and celebrating when Jaden pooped!! It was an important topic because the Dr. told us that she needed to excrete the jaundice...so we were on poop watch! LOL!!

She had her first check up this week and is back up to her birth weight. She's healthy and everything looked great.

Jaden under the lights to treat jaundice

Week 2:
This was by far the toughest week for me because I was really tired and had some serious hormone changes going on. I found out how important it is to stay in touch with friends and have a little alone time.

This was also the week I got to celebrate my 1st Mother's Day. I never thought my heart could stretch so much and be filled with so much love.

Mother's Day

Jaden got her first bath this week and she loved it. She's like her mommy and looovvees her baths :)

Week 3:
Okay, this was a tough week also but in a different way. I think Jaden is going through a growth spurt and wants to nurse constantly! She's been very fussy and doesn't like to sleep at night. Benny attended a conference in South Beach at the Ritz Carlton this week. Jaden and I went with him. NOTE: it's probably best not to take a 3 week old to a hotel! She was having some meltdowns and I was so worried that we would disrupt our "neighbors" at the hotel. Nights were good because we co-slept and nursed on demand. But the days were rough...she couldn't be satisfied and was extremely fussy. She didn't nap much either :( We were able to get out of the hotel for about 20 minutes and walked along the boardwalk. It is so beautiful there!

Jaden had a follow up Dr. appt this week and now weighs 8lbs, 4oz. She's growing :)

We are approaching the 4 week mark and have experienced so much. Jaden has had jaundice, clogged tear duct infection, bad case of baby acne, and a yeast infection. I've dealt with meltdowns (Jaden's and mine!!) and may have thrush - gotta love breastfeeding - it's one of the hardest things ever! I've been peed on, pooped on (projectile poop!), she pooped in the bath tub and pooped in the blanket on the way to the bath (and I had just changed her). As crazy as it has been, I'm looking forward to all the firsts we will continue to experience.

Hangin' with Daddy