Things I've Learned

In the last four weeks, I have learned:

* that Amelia's hair is kind of curly when it's wet - I hope that means she'll have some body to her hair.

* that this is Amelia's favorite position to be held .

* that I CAN function on less than 8 hours of sleep - who knew?

* that just because something works with Amelia one time, does not mean it will work a second time.

* that breastfeeding is harder than labor - only because the pain lasts so much longer. I've heard breastfeeding is "hard", "challenging", and other similar adjectives, and of course, all of the benefits of breastfeeding are always discussed, but no one mentions the pain. It's worth it, but oye!

* that I wish more of my "To-do" list could be done on the internet - I'd get a lot more done that way.

* that I'm enjoying staying home much more than I thought I would . . . and I'm not looking forward to going back to work - even part-time.

* that attending social events is not worth it at this point, if it disrupts Amelia's schedule - because then we end up with two grumpy people and it defeats the point of getting out for entertainment sake.

* that everyone has an opinion on anything baby related, and what works for 1 person doesn't necessarily work for someone else - so it's best to try what you want and forget everything else.

* that I love watching and holding Amelia while she sleeps, even if it means I don't get anything done or get sleep or food for myself.

No Anne Geddes

Taking good pictures of babies is harder than it looks . . . we are definitely not Anne Geddes or any of the other famous baby photographers . . . or skilled like my cousin, Kat . . . but here are a few of our favorites.

An upset

I was happily watching the NCAA games and looking forward to the USU game. Just as it started, the CBS station "Returned to its regularly scheduled programming". What??!! They broadcast all day long yesterday, and they stopped broadcasting today so that we could watch the Price is Right?!? (And to add insult to injury, they started re-broadcasting the games AFTER USU's game was all over.)

No worries, I think to myself, I can always watch the game at NCAA.com or find the game on multiple other websites. But, our horrible internet just refused to function well enough to even listen to the game.

So, I hurry to the gym to see if I can watch the game on ESPN or some other TV channel - but it wasn't on any other channel. So I didn't get to watch it at all.

And to add insult to injury, my USU Aggies lost by 16 points to Texas A&M. Maybe it was a good thing that I couldn't watch USU lose.

Randomness

* I haven't decided yet which is more important - should I be eating or sleeping when Amelia is sleeping? If I'm hungry, I can't sleep, but if I sleep, I don't have time to eat. Hhm?

* I love watching NCAA basketball - something I can do AND take care of Amelia. I couldn't watch the Olympics because it was on NBC (a channel we don't get), but the NCAA games are either on NCAA.com or on CBS - a channel we do get. I like to cheer for the lower ranked teams, even if it does throw off my bracket.

* I can't believe that Amelia is 2-weeks old today. Time sure flies when you're having fun.

* Amelia sleeps well on her own at night, but she has a hard time taking a nap in the afternoon unless she's laying on me - which means I can take a nap too, but then there is that eating thing.

* The funniest mascot I've seen so far in the NCAA? The "Mean Green" of North Texas. How mean can a color really be?

* Okay - what is the secret to keeping socks on a baby?

a - duct tape

b - Karo syrup

c - forget the socks - use sleepers w/ footies

* My boss called today to tell me he missed me - he reminded me that there was work I could do from home whenever I was ready. I feel no pressure to hurry back to work, but I am grateful for his flexibility and feel blessed that I can start earning income from HOME.

Food for Thought

*Friends from our ward have brought in meals for the last few days. I am so grateful for that. Ken is a great cook, but this has allowed him to relax as well.

*One of the food items that was brought to us was a box of gluten-free donuts. And surprisingly, to me, they were very yummy. The funny thing - the instructions say "Keep Frozen. Microwave or warm to enhance taste and texture." So this makes me think that warming them is optional - only if want "enhanced' taste. Funny

*Amelia is a great eater. I'm amazed that my body keeps producing all that she needs . . . at least I hope it's producing all she needs. I guess we'll find out in a week when we go back to the Dr. for another well-baby check-up.

*The challenge this week (and moving forward) is making sure I eat and eat healthy during the day.

Birth Story & Pictures

If ya'll don't care about the story, just scroll to the end for the pictures.

At 2am on Mar. 4th, I started to feel contractions. By 3am, the contractions were only 3-5 min. apart, so we called the midwives who suggested we come into the birthing center. We got there around 3:40am, the midwife on call, Deena, checked me and told me I was in transition, and dilated to about a 7-8. By about 4:30am (totally guessing on this time - I certainly wasn't watching a clock and neither was Ken), I was pushing. Amelia's heart rate started to drop, so with one big push, she was out - at 5:17am - with the cord around her neck - which was quickly removed - a puff of oxygen given - and Amelia was fine. I thought that was the end of the excitement, but it was actually just the beginning. We weren't there to see Amelia get weighed, but don't ya just love this picture? It reminds me of a stork. I'm glad the assistant, Emily, took the picture for us.

And now the rest of the story, in condensed form so ya'll don't get bored. After Amelia was placed on my chest, and we were relaxing, I started to hear panicked voices. I was bleeding quite heavily from a 3rd degree tear AND had not delivered the placenta. 911 was called, an ambulance picked me up and took us to the hospital. The Dr. there determined that I needed surgery to get the placenta out. The surgery went well and the tear was fixed, but I had lost half of my blood, so I got a blood transfusion and got admitted to the hospital. I didn't get to my room until after 10am, and by the time Ken got back with Amelia, it was almost 11am. 6 hours without my baby - but thank goodness for the midwives who were taking good care of her. So, it wasn't quite the birth story we had planned, but the end result was good - we have a beautiful, healthy baby and I am here to tell the story and am doing good - just sore - but isn't everyone after they've had a baby?

The proud father

The proud parents

Our baby - striking a pose!

The proud mother . . . and her little bundle of Joy.

Bored No More . . . She's Here

Amelia Joy Schnell arrived safely this morning at 5:17am, weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz. More pictures and birth story to come later. Mom and baby are both doing good.