Big Day Tomorrow for Miss Libby

Tomorrow Libby will have a busy day. Her Grandma and Grandpa Ackerman, Great Aunt Bea, Uncle Michael, and possibly cousin Chris are coming to visit her. She's met Grandma and Grandpa already but not anyone else. I hope she is in a good mood!

We've decided that the days we went to see the lactation consultant put her in a sour mood. She was fussier those days and the one right after that one than the days we haven't gone to try to get her to nurse. I'm disappointed but it looks like she's not going to take to nursing the way I'd wanted her to. Trying to nurse has been very emotional for me and switching to a bottle has actually lessened my stress level exponentially. She's 10 days old and is very strong willed. I hate to say that is a quality she probably got from me. Mike is stubborn but I think I am more strong willed and determined to get my way than he is. I really hope that as she gets older she develops his easy going and agreeable attitude.

TLA

Little Stinker

The Little Stinker acts drunk after she eats. She becomes so relaxed that her arms and legs just hang down at her sides. I wish I could become that relaxed after a meal!! She's still not eating quite the way we'd like (although she is gaining weight like a piglet) and that's extremely frustrating for us all. She's certainly got a mind of her own and is not going to let us persuade her otherwise. I hope this isn't a preview to her teenage years! The following pictures are very random, bear with me.



Daddy sleeping with Lib at the hospital - I keep telling him that he's having an affair with a much younger woman.




This is Libby's favorite toy so far. It vibrates and plays classical music. The bar across the top even lights up. She is starting to watch the lights and look at herself in the mirror toy that hangs down.


Just look how little her foot is compared to Daddy's hand!











And one of Mommy and Libby!
















TLA

Should We Have to Wake Libby Up to Feed Her?

Well, we survived one really bad night with Miss Libby on Monday night and last night was much much better. I talked with our childbirth educator yesterday and she told me that Libby was probably just realizing that she was in a new place and it scared her. Last night she ate so much before bedtime that she slept for 5 hours and we had to wake her up to feed her! I think she's getting used to us and the house now. We've also figured out a few things that she likes to help keep her calm. She really likes white noise so we've had a radio set between stations on when she sleeps and she calms right down.

Since it's been such a whirlwind week, we haven't taken many photos since we've been home. We'll take some soon and post more in the next few days. She really is a cutie though!

TLA

One Night Down....

We got through our first night at home as parents! We're still alive, alert, and doing pretty well. Libby's a little jaundice right now which is causing us a little problem with eating. She doesn't want to wake up to eat but she needs to eat to get back to a normal color and all. According to the lactation consultant we are working with, her poopy diapers (which I will spare you all the details about) are showing that she is starting to get rid of the jaundice so hopefully she'll be more alert soon. She's cute to look at when she's sleeping but I would love to spend a little time playing with her when she's awake!

TLA

The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

Today's the big day - we get to bring Libby home this afternoon! I'm going to head to the hospital in a few minutes to spend the morning with my girls, then we're heading to the homestead. I know that I'm really excited about this. We've got her room and all ready to go - let's hope she likes it!

One of the best things about leaving the hospital will be finally shedding our ID bracelets. Tricia's got about 3 of them (if not more), Libby's got a bracelet and a security sensor on one of her legs and a regular bracelet on the other, and I've got one on my wrist. I really appreciate the sense of security that they give you, knowing that you're taking home your child. They banded all of us in the OR a few minutes after the C-section and we have to show our ID numbers whenever we go and pick Libby p from the nursery.

All in all, I can't wait to get her home!

MK

More pictures...

Go to http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/hospitals/0783/babylist.asp and scroll down to Elisabeth Patricia. The password is Kosher. These are the pictures they took of her at the hospital. We were having a hard time keeping her hands out of her face and her eyes open!

TLA

No Words, Just Pictures

As promised, here are some more pictures of Libby. Enjoy!

MK

Tricia's Perspective

I am still at the hospital but I have gotten a little cabin fever in my room so I've wandered down the hall to the Ronald McDonald Family room to use the computer. I was reading over Mike's posts and his description of me having "uncomfortable" contractions was an understatement! I had been given an epidural and it was not working! I was in more pain than I ever could have imagined!!!! But it was all worth it because we now have a beautiful little girl. We're still trying to get used to her little cries and figure out what they mean but we have determined that she hates being cold and uncovered. She wants to be cuddled and wrapped up tight in blankets and have her little hat on at all times. She's a demanding little girl when it comes to those things but I think we can accommodate her. :)

TLA

24 Hours Old and Still a Cutie!

Good morning everyone! I don't have any pictures yet for Libby this morning (I've taken a ton though, don't worry!), but I'll upload at least one or two more this afternoon or evening. I really wanted to thank all of our family and friends again for thinking of us and/or sending us such nice flowers! Tricia's room really is brightening up with greenery!! Mom and baby are still doing great. I'll put some pictures up later on of the cutie!

MK

Introducing Elisabeth Patricia Kosher...but we'll call her Libby!!

Good morning to everyone! I have just made it home from the hospital and we'd like to welcome to the world Elisabeth (Libby) Patricia Kosher! Libby was born at 9:40pm on April 19, 2006. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 15.5 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are doing absolutely fantastic!!

Here's a brief recap of yesterday's events - went to the hospital at about 6:45am after about 2 hours of regular contractions. They quickly sent us to a birthing room to get the show going. Tricia's doctor broke her water at about 12:45pm. From that point until about 5pm, things could not have gone smoother. She dilated out to 6cm and was 90% effaced. We thought we had this thing kicked! Shortly thereafter the painful contractions began, and the doctors gave Tricia an IV pain medication. This really did not do the trick. She asked for an epidural, and received one about 30 mins later. The epidural took a while to get going. Meanwhile at her checks, she had not dilated anymore and the baby was still taking her sweet time to get down to the cervix. Our doctor came in at around 7:30 and said that a C-section was now definitely in play. Around 9pm we made that call - Tricia was still the same, the contractions were definitely making her uncomfortable, and Dr. Boulicault believed that since the baby hadn't come any further down, she was probably face-up (or in her words "sunny side up"). We made the decision to do a C-section, and it wasn't long before Tricia was headed back to the OR. I went back shortly thereafter and after about 3-5 minutes of me being in there (if that), Libby was born.

She is the absolute cutest baby - but of course what father wouldn't say that?? :) She cuddled with us most of the rest of the night (once Tricia was back into her birthing room and able), and has made such cute cooing noises. She's fussed a couple of times, but hey, she's a baby, that's what they do!

Thanks to all of our family and friends for their thoughts, prayers, and support!

MK (and in absence TLA and Libby!)

Update 2

We've been at the hospital since about 7AM this morning. Tricia's at about 6 cm and almost fully effaced. The baby should come soon. The doctor broke her water about 12:45 or so. She's handling this so well! Update as we can...

MK

Update 1

Looks like the contractions are coming about every 5 minutes or so now, and we're going to head to the hospital again soon. We're optimistic today to say the least. Our doc will at least be around today, so we're very hopeful! I'll do my best to update as the day(s) go on.

MK

Countdown... 10...9...8...

We went to the doctor again yesterday afternoon and my doctor basically said the nurse who checked us out was full of B.S. about my progress. She said that nurse rarely works labor and delivery and it seemed like she's heard complaints about her in the past from her response about what happened to us.

We are very very close to having this baby though. My doctor did a procedure called stripping the membranes which can help send a woman into labor. I have got to tell you that I think it's working because I feel terrible which is a sign of prelabor. I guess it could be at anytime now. My doctor also said that if I am still pregnant over the weekend of April 29th and 30th she will induce me then. So at most this baby will be born in about 10 days but it could be much sooner.

TLA

Isn't There a Dummies Guide for This?

If you've been to a Barnes and Noble or a Borders, or for that matter in any bookstore in the past couple of years, I'm sure that you've seen the "Dummies" guides to just about everything. We think they've missed the boat on creating a "Dummies Guide to Going into Labor". Seriously, for 1st time parents this would be a great thing. What does this symptom mean? Turn to page 77. What about this? Page 21. This cramp? Page 132. Best seller of the "Dummies" guides, I'm telling you.

A friend of ours was saying something to us a while back about having a bunch of books around about childbirth and labor, and we made a joke about that this is how nerds have babies - we read about everything prior to, cross-reference when we notice something different, and hope to all hope that what we have in our book(s) is what we are feeling!

We've got an appointment today...we'll update with new info later.

MK

Somebody's got a case of the Mondays

Well, here I am at work this morning and I can't say that I'm at all happy about being here. Contractions are coming and going with little to no regularity at this point. I'm going to go walking after work to see if I can help this along a little more. I'm pretty pessimistic about baby making an appearance anytime soon, so it probably won't do much of anything but at least it won't hurt me any and may help me feel a little better. My coworkers all think baby is coming this week but who knows for sure. The only thing I do feel pretty good about is that everything I've read says the baby drops about 2-4 weeks before labor and she dropped about 2 weeks ago. So, according to that, we have at most 2 more weeks to wait. But as we've discovered, there is little about having a baby that is cut and dry or methodical. Sorry for such a downer of an entry but that's how life is for the Kosher's right now...

TLA

Wish we knew...

Last night I was having regular contractions at about 5 minutes apart for about 30-40 minutes so we went to the hospital. It was a disappointing trip to say the least. The nurse that checked me out said I was only 1-2 cm dilated as opposed to the 4 my doctor told me on Tuesday. Anyway, we stayed there hooked up to moniters for about 2 hours and I was having contractions every 7-8 minutes but they sent us home because, according to the nurse, I had made no progress. I've had several contractions again today but now Mike and I are both pretty disappointed about baby's non-appearance. I'm actually starting to think that I may be pregnant a lot longer than I had thought last week and that's a very discouraging thought to wrap my mind around.

TLA

Saturday Morning Cartoons?

Saturday morning, 7:10am as I type this. Whatever happened to sleeping in on Saturdays? I was awake at 5am this morning, Tricia as well. We're so programmed to wake up early everyday that we struggle to not wake up around 6:30 every morning...ugh. I long for the days of sleeping in on the weekends and not having to deal with awful Saturday morning TV. I know, I know, when the baby comes we're not going to be sleeping in at all, but it's nice to dream right?

Speaking of baby, we're definitely still on the watch. The house is basically straightened now - looks like my nesting is done. I came home about an hour early yesterday to get the grass cut...little did I know that I'd be cutting the grass in a record-setting heat day! Old record was 87, we hit 92 yesterday. Amazing for April. Anyway, Mike's nesting is done-at least I think I'm done! There've been a couple of contractions this morning, nothing with any regularity to this point. I will post updates as they come, so keep checking here.

MK

As promised, here's the absolute latest picture taken of Tricia and the baby. Who knows how much longer we've got, so here you go! This was taken this morning right before 8AM. Enjoy!

MK

It's 4:20 am and I'm wide awake. I've now been up for an hour. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to sleep soon so that I don't crash at work. This is the 4th time this has happened to me in the past week. I guess it's my nesting instinct kicking in but unfortunately I worry more about work things than about things at home. I have several loose ends I need to wrap up at work before I go on maternity leave. Unfortunately, many of them are things that leave others feeling forgotten when I leave work. I've been trying to prepare the kids I work with for the fact that I'm leaving soon but I think many of them forget or just don't understand that I will probably not be back this school year. I also have a lot of end of the year paperwork that needs to be completed before I go. That's what's keeping me up tonight.

This nesting instinct is funny because men don't usually get it, but Mike has been nesting around the house. I guess because he won't be gone from work for as long as I will the work stuff isn't bothering him as much. I will probably not be back at my job until the 2006-2007 school year so I really have to get as much stuff into the next week or two that I can.

For those of you who like pictures, Mike is planning on taking another shot of the growing belly today. Pretty soon we will have pictures of baby and that's exciting because that's why we started this blog in the first place!

TLA

Mike's Two Cents

It was a good visit to the doctor today. 4cm dilated at this point is quite a bit. If things keep going the way they are, we'll definitely have the baby sooner than later. Having said that though, we can't get our hopes up. As much as we'd love to have her this week, and even though the Doc said that we've got the 60% chance of having her before our next appointment (18th), we're still not getting our hopes too up.

The farther along we go, the more of a nesting feeling that I think that I'm getting. I want to make sure that the house is clean, the baby's room is straight and ready to go...you know, all that stuff. We're doing OK with that right now. I think that we'll definitely have things ready tomorrow...hopefully.

Today was also birthday #29 for me. The last one of the 20s...I've accomplished quite a bit this decade. Graduated from 2 colleges, finished a Master's program, married, baby, lived in 3 states...anything missing? Not too bad. Hopefully the 30s will be OK for me. If I can hold on to my hair for 1 more year, I'll be freaking ecstatic!

A television tip for everyone: watch Veronica Mars on UPN. It's on Tuesdays at 9/8 central. We're watching it now in fact. It's a phenomenal show, well written, smart, funny...but no one watches it. It barely was renewed from its 1st season and the ratings for Season 2 (current one) aren't the best. I'm telling you, it's really good...check it out if you can.

MK

We went back to the doctor today and I am now 4 cm dilated and still 50% effaced. Dr. Boulicault said that if she were to bet that there is a 60% chance that I'll have the baby before my next appointment. I'm trying not to get my hopes up because I don't want to be disappointed if I'm still pregnant in a month. But there is a slight hope that things will go smoothly and quickly.

TLA

I was up this morning at about 4:15 for no reason. Last week I had a few nights like that too. Other women say I'm nesting but I really don't have any energy bursts and do not feel compelled to do or clean anything. This morning I just got up and watched TV. I don't think it's nesting. I guess it's just nervous energy or something but I don't feel nervous. This has got to be the strangest month of this pregnancy so far. There's just too many things to be looking out for and some of them will happen but then they go away.

TLA

The pre-labor symptoms have subsided. I guess that means that baby is still a ways off for us. I think my doctor got something started last visit but I guess we're not ready just yet. I wonder if I'm going to go through this again after each visit to the doctor. It's not exactly fun so I hope the next time I start to feel that way that the baby comes soon after.

TLA

Today we've been on baby watch. I've been feeling really strange all day. I feel sort of like I'm coming down with the flu or something which we've been told can be a sign that labor is not far off. I've had some lower back pain which can also be an indication that labor is near. My school nurse told me to go home and rest this afternoon so I did. I can't really tell if I'm feeling better or not yet so I guess we'll see how the rest of the night goes. I know I've been saying that I'm ready to have this baby but I really didn't mean I wanted it this early!!!

TLA

We went in for our first weekly doctor's appointment for baby today. At this point she started to check to see how far along I am for labor and delivery by doing a pelvic exam. I am already 2-3 cm dilated and 50% effaced and my due date isn't for another month. My doctor said that the baby could pretty much come at anytime now. She said it could be a week or maybe a few more - it's really hard to tell. She did say that she'd be surprised if I make it to my due date though. We are very surprised to hear this information!!! We really thought baby would come later than earlier but it looks like that's not the way it's going to work out.

TLA