A Lot Can Happen In One Month

Abby affectionately called “Boo,” “Bean,” and “Sweetie” has had quite an interesting first month. In the first two weeks she mastered breast feeding and caught on to drinking from a bottle in the third. Most of her excitement was mine.

I ended up in the hospital again. On Abby’s 15th day I presented with chest pain and trouble breathing. In extreme pain and being stubborn I refused to go to the ER until Grandma K showed up that afternoon from Utah. The trip to the ER was hard for me because of the separation from Boo. Jason and I were in the ER from 3PM-11PM. Most of that time I was changing gowns due to all the milk leakage. (While there Abby’s umbilical cord fell off and I missed it). And most of the time in the ER was due to the back up with the CAT Scan/Radiologist. All I was told was that I had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). The treatment for me is to be on blood thinners for between 6 and 9 months. It was recommended that I be admitted to the hospital to make sure that the treatment and my pain were managed. I was told it would just be over night. My mom showed up to help me transition to the Hospital where I was admitted. Jason headed home to gather some items for my stay. Luckily the hospital was able to provide me with a breast pump. This helped with the milk leakage. I was constantly getting pain relievers and double checking that they would be safe for breast feeding. My Pain spiked that night. I was told by a nurse that I would have to stay longer than one night (generally 72 hours). I also got a UTI while there which caused me to have a fever. Luckily the Pain and Fever were manageable by Sunday and I was able to go home. During my stay the nurses arranged for me to move into a private room so that Bean could come visit me. By Sunday I wasn’t pain free but I was chomping at the bit to get home again. During the next week I went to the doctors to make sure that my treatment is going smoothly. I ended up getting another CAT Scan because “they saw something” in the X-ray that wasn’t there before. Well actually they were all mistaken. I found out that I had not only a Blood clot but also a Plural Effusion. The Blood clot was on my right side the whole time - this is not where my pain was presenting. Apparently the Plural Effusion was what was and still is causing me pain when I inhale. So to sum up I had a crappy experience where two weeks into my daughters life I ended up in the hospital with a plural effusion causing me severe pain and a blood clot in my lung. As of today I am at about 98% better which is good because I start my new job tomorrow.

As if giving birth and revisiting the hospital were not enough I found that it was necessary to look for work. I am going to miss all my co-workers, I really didn’t get a chance to say good bye. I know that some of them read this blog. Hi guys! Sorry I just blew out of there. Here is the scoop on my new employment. NHIA. I will be the sole graphics designer and during busy times they outsource to freelancers. I will design their conference materials, update the design of their website, and develop other collateral material. The first conference that I will take part in will take place in Savannah Georgia in Feb ‘07 which I will attend. In 2008 I will go to Phoenix Arizona. I am very excited about the travel, the work, and the new co-workers. I will finally work on a MAC. I will again have my own office (back at NSP with DynCorp I had my own office, door and all). The best part is that I am only part time for now and able to bring Abby into work with me. I start full-time on Sept 18th. The cons at the moment are that the commute is to Old Town Alexandria and that I have to pay for parking. There is a lot of flexibility of schedule and the possibility to work a bit from home eventually. I am so excited to not be a part of a corporation anymore. I will be one of 9 people in the office.

Back to Abby though. She has grown so much in one month. I know that once she is in daycare I am going to miss her terribly. She is so well behaved. A few nights ago she slept for 7 hours which threw me into a panic . . . but she hasn’t replicated this and I am saddened. It was really nice to have so much time all at once to sleep. We have also found that she HATES the car seat. She doesn’t fall to sleep right away like I used to, but instead she gets fussy and then cries her eyes out. This could be problematic for her coming with me to Old Town for two weeks. Perhaps she will get over her dislike in that time. Her visit with Grandma K was great. Abby loved cuddling with her outside on the Deck. We got Grandma K tickets for a return visit in December for Christmas. It was really hard for her to get on the plane to go home. Abby’s next visit to the Dr is on October 4th for her two month. She will probably cry then because she will be getting vaccines.

The First Two Weeks - In Brief

Abigail has been a wonderful daughter to us newbie parents. She caught onto breast feeding immediately and has feasted well in her two weeks of life. She has been deemed “perfect” by one Pediatrician and “wonderful” by another. At birth Abby was 8 lbs. 10.6 oz. she left the hospital two days later at 8 lbs. 2 oz. The next day at her first Pediatrician appointment she was 7 lbs. 15.2 oz. at her weight check three days later she weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. Today at her two week checkup she weighed in at 9 lbs. 2 oz. She has been getting high praise for such good weight gain. Both her dad and I are so happy that she is such a healthy baby and good eater. She is now 22.75 inches in length and almost 15 inch round head. We think that she has had two “growth spurts” since arriving home. Eventually I plan to type up a birth story, but I haven’t had the time nor energy to sit down and write it out. As I have been the sole source of sustenance for Abby. Finally, the Medela breast pump supplies came in today so that I can express milk and get some much needed rest at night if I can get Jason up to feed her. The weirdest thing so far in being a new mom has been the breast pump and expressing the milk. OMG that device is weird. But I must love the pump as it will give me much needed rest, maybe.

So two weeks into life and us happy parents are smitten with our little girl. We couldn’t have asked for a healthier more beautiful, wonderful, perfect little girl.

It's a girl!

It's official. (finally!) Abigail Elaine Kohles was born last night, August 2nd, at 5:45 pm. She was 8 pounds, 10.6 ounces, and 20 1/4 inches long. Mom and Baby are doing very well, Dad has finally recovered enough to send some announcements. :) Pictures can be found on our smugmug site, and there is a video of her first cries.

The Over-baked Baby - 5 Days Overdue

I have come to accept disappointment in the past few days. I was hoping that my baby-birthing hips would have assisted in my bodies ability to “let the kid go” by this point. It has been very frustrating that things are happening, but at the same time nothing is happening. Also, my goal that she would be born sometime in July (in order to have a Ruby in my mothers ring whenever I get it) has been demolished. All of these disappointments are superficial, I know. However, rationality and a pregnant woman don’t mix. Mostly I have come to accept the fact that in the morning, unless by some miracle I go into labor soon, we will be inducing the birth. Induction apparently has become a more common occurrence as studies have found that the longer the baby is in past the due date the more complications for the mother and the baby there can be. Or that is how I understand it anyways.

In my mind though induction seems a bit much, but I am anxious to have her out here with her family . . . hence the reason we chose August 2. I didn’t want August 3 because I wanted Veronica to have her special birthday all to herself and vice verse. I am not, however, delusional enough to think that this might not take all day tomorrow eventually ending in the baby being born on the 3rd after-all, but at least I have tried.

As tomorrow nears I am getting a little less bitchy and moody but in their wake I am getting a little more nervous about the pain that I know is imminent. Kind of like I will be walking to the gallows, but not really that dramatic.

I would like to say I thought of really interesting ways to spend my last few days as a non-mom. Alas mostly I have spent what is left of my pre-motherhood time working on a cross-stitch, watching television, browsing the internet, spending time with Jason, and reflecting on what is to come. So far I am halfway through the cross-stitch and won't have finished it before the baby arrives.

Thank you everyone who has respected my wishes to not be bothered with questions about how I and the baby are doing. And not trying to help. Hopefully if all goes well tomorrow, Jason and I will be official parents. Love to you all and look for an update sometime this weekend???? We will be sending out snail-mail announcements, emails, and phone calls once the baby arrives. So stay tuned!