Newborns Make New Parents Go Crazy

I am the first to admit that David and I have been very spoiled when it comes to our post-baby sleep patterns. We have been able to sleep large chunks of the night since Sydney was born and we know that it is sheer luck that she sleeps as well as she does. As much as we do get a lot of sleep, we are still exhausted. Poor David has been going to work half asleep and I have been napping when I can with Syd.

One of the more entertaining results of sleep deprivation has been David's sleep walking. He has always talked in his sleep and gotten up to do random things in the night, but we have reached a whole new level. Since Sydney's birth one of us will often wake up thinking that we we hear her or thinking that she is in bed with us. We have also woken up at random times and gone to get her from her bed thinking that it was time for her to eat.

Last night was the icing on the cake. While I was sleeping, David woke up, got dressed, washed his face and got half way through his breakfast before he realized that it was only 12:30a. When he admitted this to me this morning, I nearly peed my pants laughing. We have officially entered a new state of crazy in the Eliuk house.

S

Syd Rocks!

Our child slept 8 hours straight last night and 9 the night before! She is amazing!

Our Families are Obsessed

Sydney has become the centre of the universe when it comes to our families. They love her so much and she is already massively spoiled. We have never had so many family visitors as we have had in the last two weeks. We love it.

As much as we love our daughter, it is nice to let other people hold her sometimes. Our families have also been incredibly supportive since her birth. I have struggled with postpartum pain and illness and we could not have survived without them.

As I write this right now my mom is passed out on the couch holding Sydney as she sleeps. It is moments like this when we realize how important it is to keep your family close and appreciate that a new child means so much to entire family.

S

Sydney`s Birth Story

Our story is long. Sydney took her time entering this world and it was not easy to get her here safely.

It all started on Monday, February 7th. I went in for an induction at 8a. McCubbin came in and inserted Cervadil to get things started. I was connected to monitors had to lay flat for two hours. Our friends Michael and Haley Shandro were also induced at the same time so once we were released the four of us went for lunch to try to relax a little bit.

 

After lunch David and I went home and waited for something to happen. We went to bed at about 9p and at about 10:30p I started having contractions. David was sleeping and I chose not to wake him until I knew that I was having consistent contractions. At about 12a I woke him up and we began timing them. I hung around the house for a while and tried to nap. I had a snack and a long hot shower to try to calm down. The contractions were painful but easy to deal with.

At about 5a I was having about 6 contractions every half an hour and we decided to go into the hospital. When you are induced with Cervadil they ask you to come in once you are experiencing more than 5 contractions every half hour.

When we arrived at the hospital I was put into the labour and delivery assessment area. I was once again hooked up to the monitors and checked. I was only dilated to a two but we were told to stay at the hospital anyway. Cervadil only lasts 24 hours and we would have had to return at 8a anyway to be reassessed.

At 7a McCubbin arrived to check on me. She decided to admit me and start me on Oxytocin to help kick start labour. When she decided to augment labour I was excited but upset at the same time. We really wanted a completely natural birth but we had decided that I would get an epidural if I was put on Oxytocin. It is a drug that creates very intense, painful contractions that are much harder to deal with than natural contractions.

We were set up in our massive L&D room and settled in. Because I have scoliosis, McCubbin ordered an early epidural. They started me on Oxytocin and I worked through contractions on my own until 10:30a. At that point I wanted the epidural. Getting the epi was terrifying but it was a huge relief! It was extremely painful but began to take effect almost immediately. It allowed me to rest and from that point on it was a waiting game.

At 4:30p Mccubbin arrived to break my water. It was like a tsunami of amniotic fluid. There was so much that McCubbin actually had to jump back to avoid getting splashed. Both David and laughed and I felt like I had peed myself. The nurses helped clean me up and we settled back in for more rest.

At one point I looked over at David and realized how pale he looked. He had not eaten or slept in a very long time. I insisted he drink some juice and rest and we called my parents to have them bring him dinner. They arrived and for an hour we almost forgot that I was in labour. It was nice to be distracted for a while.

By 9:30p we had barely made any progress. My body was beginning to swell closed as a result of the pressure that our very large baby was putting on me. McCubbin came in an announced that she was going to do a c section. She booked the OR and completed the paperwork. David and I were completely crushed. We cried together over the disappointment of not being able to delivery our child naturally and David called our parents to let them know what was happening. McCubbin came in to talk to us and we begged for another half an hour. She gave it to us but we were told that we had to make progress or I was going to have surgery.

When she returned to check on us I had progressed to a four! She gave us another hour and with a little bit of help from her (ouch!) I had made it an eight! Before we knew it, it was 11:00p and time to push! We thought that she would be with us the entire time, but after some instruction, we were left to push on our own. Our nurse would check in on us intermittently, but for the most part we did our own thing.

After making some progress pushing, I asked for a mirror to see how I was doing and from that point on, things began to happen very quickly. All of a sudden they were removing the bottom half of the bed and the room filled with medical personnel. McCubbin and her med student arrived and it was time to meet Sydney.

Sydney Anabelle entered the world at 12:45a. David cut the cord and found out that she was a girl. They put her on to my stomach and I was instantly in love. I looked at David and he wished her a happy birthday and told her what her name was. The rest was all a blur. She was weighed and measured and given to David to hold.

Labour, from the first contraction to her birth, was about 27 hours. It was worth every minute it was an experience that we will never forget.

S

Farts, Nights and Other Delights

Sydney is a great baby. We are super blessed to have such an amazing little kid. I have spent the last two weeks learning more about her and here are some of the fun things that I have noticed thus far:

- She is super observant. She is constantly checking out her surroundings and loves to listen to David and I talk to her.

- She loves to fart and poop when she eats. It makes for some pretty funny mother, daughter bonding time. The best part is how nonchalant she is about passing gas so loudly it would make a trucker blush.

- She will eat like a maniac and loves being burped sitting up. She will sit contently and check things out while I pat her on the back.

- She loves her fleece bear outfit. It is so warm and soft that she passes out as soon as we put it on her.

- She is most comfortable when she sleeps completely swaddled and on her side. I think it makes her feel as though she is being held. We roll up two blankets to keep her on her side and she will stay that way all night.

- She is a fantastic sleeper. She is awake for and hour and a half and then naps for an hour and a half during the day. She typically sleeps from 10p to 4 or 5a during the night. I will then feed and change her and she will go back down until 9a.

- She is starting to love baths. As long as the water is warm and she has a cloth covering her, she is happy.

- She loves her dad. She is so excited to see him when he comes home from work everyday. Once he is around, she will not settle down with me anymore.

- She has a full arsenal of adorable facial expressions. We love every one of them.

She is changing every day and we love learning about her. Our house is changing and adjusting and we are truly becoming a family.

S

Surviving 2 Weeks

We have made it to two weeks with our sweet Sydney.

Life is busy but amazing. We have been taking everything day by day and are enjoying every minute. David spent the last two weeks with Syd and I. We hung out as a family and learned to love each other even more. We also had to deal with my many health issues.

Three days after giving birth to Sydney, I developed an infection on my tailbone that turned into an abscess. I drove myself to the hospital in the middle of the night, only to be sent home with anti-biotics and no pain relief. I spent the rest of the week walking around in pain and struggling to sit to feed Sydney. On Friday afternoon David drove me to the hospital while my mom watched Syd. I was knocked out and they performed surgery to remove the infection. After one more trip back to the ER to have the packing removed and a few Tylenol 3's to help with the pain, it was done.

Over the last two weeks, I have also been dealing with itchiness of my PUPPP rash. It flared up even worse after delivery and it was a struggle to not itch my skin off. I am feeling much better now that I have dealt with my infection and I have a new prescription for steroid cream for the rash. I feel like I am now able to focus on my daughter.

This last Tuesday was my first day home alone with Sydney. David went back to work and the two of us were left to learn about each other a little bit more. We had our first scheduled paediatrician appointment on our first day alone and everything went well. I was able to shower while she napped and we survived our first trip out of the house with just the two of us. We have fallen into a bit of a routine and seem to be doing fine on our own.... but we both get excited to see David at the end of the day.

Sydney had an amazing doctor's appointment. She was dramatic as always. The second I got her clothes off for her to get weighed, she threw up all over me and then her umbilical cord fell off leaving me with blood on my shirt. On the plus side, she has gained 2oz bringing her to 10lbs. Her jaundice is also almost gone. She is VERY healthy and VERY strong and the doctor could not be happier.

We are looking forward to our first ladies morning out at Elerslie Baptist tomorrow morning. We will see how she does!

S

One Week Old

This week has absolutely flown by. We have officially been parents for one week and we are loving every minute of it.

Our little girl has stolen our hearts already. Both of our families are already madly in love with her and we get so many comments on how beautiful she is. We could not be any luckier.

Her daddy is already completely sucked in. He does everything for her and they spend many hours cuddling and sleeping on the couch. I love listening to him talk to her while he is changing her diaper or outfit and doesn't know that I can hear him. It is so sweet and melts my heart every time.

This week has not come without challenges. Breastfeeding has not been easy. She gets frustrated with me and I sometimes get frustrated with her. We are coming around though and things are looking up. I have had several health issues including the continuation of my PUPPP rash, an abscess on my tailbone and the regular post-delivery issues. I have been extremely uncomfortable.

Sydney is an amazing, calm little girl. She sleeps through the majority of the night and has already put herself on a schedule. We are so lucky to have such an easy baby. We can only hope that it continues on this way.

We cannot wait to see how she will grow and change in the next few days or months.

S

Meet Sydney Anabelle Eliuk

Our daughter has arrived!

Born: 12:45am, Feb 9th

Weight: 9 lbs 14 oz!

Length: 22 inches

More details to follow. But for now, enjoy a few photos:

Impatiently Waiting for Baby

Although we have not really talked about it much, we have officially begun the induction process.

This morning we walked in to the Grey Nuns Hospital for the first step in a potentially long process. We packed up last night in preparation for being admitted to the hospital. It was one of the most nerve racking experiences. We finished cleaning the house and loaded everything into the car.

Getting any sleep last night was almost impossible. Nerves and anxiety took over and it was really hard to relax. This morning we were up at 6:30a in order to have breakfast and a quick shower. We got dressed and were at the hospital at 7:45a.

After being admitted to the hospital we were given a private room. I changed and we got hooked up to the monitors for observation. Dr. McCubbin came in at around 8:30a and inserted a drug called Cervidil. After she left I had to stay in bed hooked up to the monitors for 2 hours to ensure that the baby was handling the medication. We settled in and David and I watched a couple of episodes of Planet Earth on the laptop while I was in and out of sleep.

Nothing was happening after 2 hours so they released us to go home and wait. We are now hanging out, watching bad daytime TV and waiting for something to happen. It is incredibly exciting and scary knowing that I could go into active labour at any moment.

But for now, I am sitting on the couch enjoying the slurpee that I just made David go out and get for me.

S

41 Weeks

Week: 41

Weight Gained: 50+ Pounds  

Belly Button: Popping out

Cravings: Cinnamon, Milk, Chocolate, Spicy Food, Slurpees

Sleep: My hips have been killing me during the night so it is tough to get a good sleep. I am having to roll over every hour or so and that is not easy with all of this extra weight.

Best Moment of the Week: David worked his last day for two weeks as of Friday. We now have two weeks to bond with our new baby.

Worst Moment of the Week: Going to my last OBGYN appointment on Monday. I was given my induction date and it was a really tough thing for me to deal with.

Thoughts from Dad: "I am thinking that this is not the last time you are going to get me out of work."

 

We are officially a week overdue. I am so massively uncomfortable that all I can think of is having this baby and getting on with life. David is getting super anxious about meeting Baby E and I can't blame him. The second we hit our due date he was ready.

 

We had our last OBGYN appointment on Monday and we have been scheduled for our induction. We are choosing to keep our induction date secret so that we don't have any added pressure of people waiting for the baby or calling us to see if the baby has arrived.

 

The countdown to induction is on and we cannot wait.

 

S

Baby E's Nursery

Since I am obviously overdue, I thought I would post about something other than when the baby will come or how anxious we are getting.

We have finally finished the nursery for Baby E! The majority of it has been done for a while but we had yet to complete all of the details. We went with a gender neutral owl theme and we LOVE it! The room is so calming and modern. Now all we need is a baby to live in it!

I want David to do a video tour of the room but for now, here are some of the photos I took last night:

Let us know what you think!

S