My waking hours

Are spent staring and loving on my beautiful daughter! I'm so in love with her!

Breast feeding tips

I've only been breast feeding for about 2.5 weeks and I've had some struggles. I'm not writing this as an expert. I'm writing this from my experience in the very very beginning (which I have found it difficult to find information about how to handle the very beginning g of motherhood)



- the football hold was the only thing that worked for me in the beginning... Selfishness took over and me and Adeline figured out how to make the cradle hold work for us (much more comfy and relaxing ) my wrists were killing me with the football hold!

- I love the boob pillow! Ok it's called utterly yours and you put it under your boob and it helps make it a little easier to bf one handed (in my opinion)


-Don't be afraid to use the nipple shield. I have a love/hate relationship with it. But ultimately my love for it wins. Without it my nipples cracked and hurt. Also Adeline and I are a little more sloppy when we don't use it.

- if you have to supplement like I did (she lost too much weight) for a little bit, and your baby fights "the boob" like mine did, keep trying, don't give up. She now goes between bottle and nipple like a champ! I was so close to giving up and just exclusively pumping, but I kept trying and every feeding she fought less and less.

- make sure your comfortable, then have baby latch. Sometimes Adeline can eat for 30 minutes.. If I'm not comfortable it feels like an eternity.

- drink 8 ounces of water every time you nurse! At least! I have never been more thirsty in my life! My lips are constantly chapped and my mouth always dry! I can guzzle 20 ounces in a sitting no problem!! The problem is refilling it and having it near me wherever I am! But seriously drink 8 oz every time you nurse if not more!

- shower/bathe daily. I don't always wash my hair or shave but I do always wash my body. I feel like I always smell like milk and bathing helps that, also my hormones have me dripping in sweat in the middle of the night ( and freezing 5 minutes later). It just helps with sanity all around to bathe.

- nursing tanks and zip up hoodies are what I live in. Oh and pj pants! I never realized with nursing how normal shirts would just be really inconvient!

- sometimes baby's want to eat every 20 minutes.. No joke. Let them, and they may surprise you with a 4 hour sleep streak in the middle if the night!

13 day old Adeline

Here are a few pictures of I took of Adeline when she was 13 days old. :) We chose to get her pictures professionally done by someone else, so we could get in the shots, and I couldn't be happier with that choice! It really took the pressure off me! And so I really only did take a few, because it became overwhelming for me to do anymore, plus our photographer is amazing, and I didn't feel the need to duplicate any of her work. :) 

Adeline's birth story 1-3-13 updated

It started on Wednesday January 2nd at 7:30 my husband and I headed to the hospital, not in a rush, we made breakfast, loaded up the car and talked to my mom on the phone. We got to the hospital and my contractions were 5-8 minutes apart. They were really wimpy. The midwife came in and checked me.. I was 2 cm dilated. She proceeded to tell me that since I had polyhydramnios (a medical condition where I had an excessive amount of amniotic fluid) they feared that my body wouldn't be effective in labor, since my uterus was so distended. She said its kind of like a water balloon- when my body contracts my uterus just squishes and then goes right back to where it was, therefore not dilating me, not moving baby down, etc. there was debate about sending me home but she decided she just didnt think my body could go into labor on its own (and actually do anything) so she gave me citatek-they insert it into my cervix to soften it. That made me contractions go to 1-3 minutes apart- the midwife checked me and I had only dilated a tiny bit more- which went along with her theory of my body couldn't do it on its own. She said we couldn't do another citatek because my contractions were too close together. So she and I decided to break my water and see if that helped my body dilate more. She didn't use the crochet hook looking thing she used something that looked like a finger condom with a tiny little hook at the end. She explained all she does is go up there and rubs my bag if water gently until it pops. Having my water break felt so strange! It made me laugh- which only made it gush out more. I continued to leak through my entire labor sometimes it still would come out in gushes randomly.. It totally ruined my cute labor outfit I planned on wearing. At this point I texted the birth photographer and let her know what was going on, so she headed our way. During the end of my pregnancy I developed high blood pressure (they believe it was caused by the polyhydramnios- that my body just didnt know how to handle all that extra fluid) and was put on bed rest. Well the nurse on the morning shift would hardly let me get out of bed bc she wanted my blood pressure to lower (so annoying.. The midwife told her not to worry even if it was a little over 140/90 I still could walk and go on the ball. The nurse didn't listen very well! She let me walk and go on the ball but made me go lay down every 20 minutes. At 3 pm I got a new nurse and she encouraged me to do whatever I wanted! I loved her! :) I walked, sat on the ball, stood, rocked, etc. I got tired and laid back in bed and my family started massaging me, which was nice. They checked me and decided to start pitocin because miss Adeline was still high and they thought maybe that's why I wasn't dilating very fast (my contractions were still 1-3 minutes apart.) the pitocin definitely intensified the contractions! I went back to walking, the ball and then they asked if I wanted to get into the tub, I loved that idea and I was so excited! It took about an hour to fill up. Up until this time it was Jordan, my mom, my sister, my dad and mother in law and photographer. Things really started to intensify and I don't think I opened my eyes starting at this point. My midwife told me that she thought everyone should leave except Jordan and the photographer. Since that's all who would be in the room when she was born. Everyone left and I got in the big inflatable tub, this is where I'm not sure on times anymore. The tub was awesome, but I got cold and wanted out after a while ( looking back I think it was me just really tired, I always get cold when I'm tired) I had been laboring for a long time! Around 1 or 2 am I caved and got the epidural - I was 7 cm dilated and had been laboring since 7:30 in the morning. My husband made sure I really wanted the epidural because it wasn't part of my plan, and he didn't want me to regret the decision. I am so grateful he made me work so hard for it because I loved it after getting it! Lol. I do believe if my labor wasn't so long I would have been able to make it. I mean I had pitocin which increases your pain and such a long labor the odds were stacked against me and I am so proud I made it so long! I also am glad I got it because I still had roughly 5 hours of labor left! Anyway... I got the epidural, we rested for a while, they came and checked me and I had a little bit of cervix left. They took my temp and it was elevated, they were worried that I or the baby had developed an infection since my water had broke so long ago, so they ordered labs to check my white blood cell count. That turned out fine but the baby's heart rate had started to get really high. My midwife told I had an hour to see if my body would completely dilate and if it didn't we would have to do a c section. I asked them to bring in my mom and I told her what was going on (you can see that in the video) they checked me a little while later and I was a 10 so she had me do some pushes, but I wasn't moving the baby at all. So she decided to wait a little bit longer again. We rested. She came back in the room and we started pushing. I was much better at it, and after talking to a few women I am almost 100% positive my epidural was pretty much off or worn off. Never once did I use the remote to add more to my body and the pressure I felt was INSANE! For real! So much pressure! And I felt the ring if fire too! The baby's heart rate was still high- in the 200s and nobody liked that. Something happened at the end, I believe her heart rate dropped from 200s down to 50- and my midwife told me "Tara you need to get this baby out right now" she had such a stern serious tone. I prayed and pushed with more than all my night, and she came out. She came out lifeless and my photographer said it was really scary. They had called in the special nurses for Adeline they cut the cord and passed the baby to them, they began working immediately. It didn't take long for her to cry and she didn't have to go to the special nursery!! Yay! Adeline at first had a hard time controlling her heart rate- it was still elevated but the more skin on skin contact she had with me the better it got! My husband was the most supportive, loving and amazing man anyone could ask for! I have never felt more connected to him. It was beautiful!

Adeline's birth didn't go how we planned it, but it was beautiful and I love her birth story! I will be honest labor and delivery was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. But worth it times a million! It was an amazing, amazing experience!!and I am so glad I had a photographer there to capture it all!! Truly priceless! And I'm not saying that because I hope to focus on birth photography. :) I mean it with all my heart!

Here is my birth video from my photographer

https://vimeo.com/56821536


I can't get it it link into this picture, since its on Vimeo- and I am not sure how! I hope you take the time to view it! it really is amazing!

2 weeks

Adeline is 2 weeks old today! I can't believe it! These past two weeks all mush together into what feels like just a couple of days! Looking back its unbelievable I went through labor and delivery! I am honored that I was able to experience it. It's something I've always wanted to experience so bad! And I just feel honored. That God has allowed me too.

we got her newborn pictures done already (when she was 6 days old) and have had visitors almost every single day!

14 days ago our life changed forever and I couldn't be more happy about it!! She is just so precious to us!!


What is she up to?

Feeding- Her feeding schedule is pretty much when she wants to eat and how much she wants. When we left the hospital she weighed 8 lbs 7 ounces. When the homecare nurse came and visited us 3 days later Adeline weighed 7 lbs 8 ounces. The nurse pretty much freaked out and told me how she might have to be hospitalized and have ivs! It really freaked me out. My husband came home from work and we brought her to the clinic. The pediatrician wasn't worried. Thankfully! he said she looked good, she just lost more weight than they like. he also told me that baby's come out over hydrated and that could be what the dramatic weightloss is about. To me tat made the most sense. During labor they kept pumping me full of fluids because of the epidural and then at the end they still were pumping me full of fluids to make sure I wasn't getting dehydrated. Anyways, the pediatrician said I had to supplement with formula after every feeding for a day, then go to clinic have her get a weight check- she gained weight so I could cut out the supplement feedings (I pumped and used that as a supplement) slowly.

After she fed from the bottle she fought me when I'd contact breast feed. Super discouraging! The next morning after struggling all night with her to feed on my breast I told my husband I was thinking of just strictly pumping. He told me he thought I should keep trying for a while longer. I listened and each feeding she fought less and less. I am using a nipple shield which I love, but I wish I didn't need it. (I feel me and her are really sloppy and not as productive when we don't use it) one of my favorite things she does during breast feeding is grab my finger. It's so sweet! It just melts my heart!

Her umbilical cord/belly button finally off at 13 days old!! Woot woot! I can't wait to give her a real bath now! :)

At 6 days old we had her newborn photos done!

Sleeping- we have our good days and bad days with sleep! Yesterday was a bad sleep night, but last night I got a good chunk of 3.5 hours! Yay!

If you made it through all this I am impressed! :)

she isn't a fan of not being held. :)

The first week of miss Adeline in pictures

I'm still working on her birth story but here are some pictures of her first week with is!

Adeline has arrived!

My daughter Adeline was born on Thursday 01/03/13 at 6;37 am! It was a long hard labor, but such an amazing experience and we are so in love with our daughter!! Birth story and details coming soon!