It's getting better and better

I decided to go and buy a nipple shield to see if that would help Josh latch on better, and boy did it work. He does so much better with that and it has given me a lot more confidence in the whole nursing process. I did read that using one might make it harder for the baby to get enough milk, so I am not sure if that is going to be a problem. I will have to look more into it and see what I find out. My sister had to use one the whole time she nursed her first baby, so I don't think that it should be a problem to use it. I guess we will find out.
Tyler seems to be doing a little better. He slept a little better last night, he only woke up once, so that was good. I thought that I was going to go crazy with how he was acting, but now maybe I will keep my sanity, just maybe. Josh seems to be having some gas and constipation problems, so that hasn't been fun. I hope that with Josh nursing more that he will start feeling a little better.
We went to Tony's work today and showed off Josh and got some milk. It was nice to get out for a little bit. Maybe tomorrow we will go to Costco, good times.

Today was a little better

Today has been better. I was able to get Josh to latch on one side twice and even once on the other side. So I am feeling a little better about things. He still had to get topped off with formula, but at least he latched on and got some of the good stuff. I guess we will have to see what happens tomorrow. He really is a great baby and is doing really good.
Tyler has been having a really hard time sleeping these past couple of days. Even naps, he would wake up crying and not telling us what was wrong. It was really frustrating that he was waking up more then Josh and we were having to deal with Tyler all night long. Finally yesterday he told us that his teeth hurt. I thought that he might have a molar coming in, so that is why we asked about his mouth. But then he said it was on the other side that I thought it should be on. So we called the dentist today and Tony took him in. The dentist said that everything looks really good, but he has four molars coming in at the same time. He said that is probably why he's been waking up and why he hasn't been eating very well. So that really sucks for Tyler. I was beginning to think that this was how Tyler was dealing with having a new baby in the house and it was really driving me crazy. Now that I know that it is his molars, I am a lot more sympathetic to his cries. Hopefully they will come in quick so that he can get back to being the happy kid that we all know and love.

The trama continues

Well...she came last night and tried to help me. She did help and he did latch on one side really good and then he would have nothing to do with the other side. What is up with that. So she tried all her tricks and he ended up latching on for like a minute and then wouldn't have anything else to do with it. I guess he does something funny with his tongue so that he can't latch, it's weird. So, how am I doing today trying to do this by my self? Not good. I haven't been able to get him to latch on at all today. I have been pumping like a champ to try and get my supply up, but I have only been able to pump like an ounce at a time, if that. I don't know what to do? Do I call my lactation lady back? Do I call someone else and see if they can do something different? Am I just not going to be able to nurse him like I would like? I am so emotional and this is just so hard. I know that their is nothing wrong with formula or giving your baby the bottle, but I really thought that I would be able to nurse better with this baby. He really is such a good baby, and I guess if the worse thing is that I have to pump and give him formula in a bottle, then I am pretty lucky. I just want to be able to nurse so badly!

Why is nursing so darn hard?

I have a great baby. He is so cute and is such a good baby. He is happy and healthy and even sleeps well. But that kid really doesn't seem to care for my breast. I try and try and I just struggle with nursing. I don't know if I just don't hold him correctly or what I am doing wrong but he doesn't want to nurse from me. He nursed pretty good in the hospital, but not for every feeding and not every time I tried. Now that we are home it has only gotten harder.
He had low blood sugar at the hospital so they had to give him a bottle and then with his jaundice we had to give him more bottles so that he was eating more...so needless to say, he likes the bottle. I really don't mind him having a bottle, if he would have me too. That way I would know that he was getting the good stuff and getting enough to eat at the same time. I had a hard time nursing Tyler too, but I really thought that this time would be different. I had a lactation specialist come to my house after I had Tyler, and today I broke down and called her again. I was really glad that I got her help last time, and I hope to have the same results. She is going to come over after her work tomorrow night. I hope that she can help me and that Josh and I can get this whole nursing thing down. Other wise, I might just go crazy.

Baby Joshua is here!

Well it finally happened. Sunday night after we had dinner at Tony's parents house, we decided to go for a little walk to see if that would help start labor. It wasn't much of a walk because we had to stop at a couple of peoples houses, but after we got back I noticed that my lower back was starting to hurt, but I thought maybe it was just gas or something. 

So I got Tyler ready for bed and sat with him for a while and then decided that I would just go to bed. It was only 9:00, but I was pretty tired. My back was still hurting and I was trying to decide if I was having contractions or not. I kept thinking all night about all the things that I still needed to do before I had the baby and made plans for all the things that I would get done the next day to be prepared. I kept getting up to go to the bathroom thinking that that might make my back stop hurting. It didn't work. At about 4:00 am I had just gotten back to bed from going to the bathroom and then I felt a kind of pop "down there." Then I felt a little wet, so I went back to the bathroom and my bottoms were really wet. So I knew then that my water had definitely broken. So I texted Tony, who was already at work, and then started getting packed.

I didn't hear back right away from Tony, so then I called him. I got his voice mail and left him a message. Then I tried to call Tony's mom, but she didn't answer. So then Tony called me and said that he was on his way home and then he called his dad's phone and let them know that we would be coming by soon to drop off Tyler. 

We then finished getting packed and got Tyler in the car and headed to the hospital. Tyler was excited and said that he wanted to go "fast" and it was way cute. I was having some pretty strong contractions and half way there I threw up...so much fun. Luckily I had a barf bag in my car, so it wasn't too bad.

So after we dropped off Tyler we headed straight to the IMC hospital. We got there and checked in and then they got us our room and got down to business. They checked me and I was dilated to a 6 and 90% effaced. They started my IV and we were on our way. I tested positive for the strep B, so they had to give me an antibiotic and have it in for at least four hours before I had baby.

I was there for about an hour when we decided to get the epidural. The contractions were getting really strong and I didn't know if I would dilate quickly and didn't want to wait too long. After the epidural my contractions slowed way down and I stopped progressing. So after another hour or so my midwife gave me patosen to give me stronger contractions. I started pushing at about 11:00 am and Joshua Clark Steenblik was born at 12:37 pm. He was 8 pounds even and was 20 and 1/2 inches long. He was nice and healthy and happy to be here.

Tyler loves his little brother and does pretty good with him. He is doing some funny things to make sure that we still are giving him lots of attention, so that is kind of annoying when it is naughty things. We all have lots of learning to do.

Me and baby are doing well. We are both learning to nurse and what we are doing, but it is ALL GOOD. We are SO SO blessed and happy to have baby home with us.

Still kickin'

Tony has been working nights this past week. It is my least favorite of his schedules. Even though he is here in the mornings, it just feels like we don't see him much during the week. Since Monday is Labor Day, Tony has the day off, but because the dairy is closed he had to go into work today for 12 hours to dry the milk that they would have used on Monday. So it will be nice to have him home on Monday, but sad day today. Tyler and I are going to take him some dinner tonight, so that should be fun to go and see him for a little while.
I had my 38 week appointment yesterday. Everything is looking good. I am dilated to a 3 plus and 70% effaced. So that is exciting that I am progressing. I am still having contractions, so it will be interesting to see when I have this baby. I have been washing baby cloths today and getting the crib ready. We are getting very excited to have this baby come out and meet us.
After my appointment I went to lunch with a couple friends from my ward. They are so nice to me. They treated me to lunch and got me a couple presents for Joshua. We had a really good time and I think that we really need to do that more often.
Last night my parents block had a block party dinner and so we went and it was lots of fun. Tony took Tyler and Hayden (my nephew) to Murray and watched some of the football game and he really liked that and playing around on the practice field. Tony is such a good dad to take Tyler to see and do such fun things all the time. We sure are lucky to have him.

37 weeks tomorrow

I had an appointment today with my midwife. Everything is looking pretty good. It appears that he has dropped just a little bit and I am still dilated to a one and now 50% effaced. I talked to her about my concerns of having a big baby today. Both my sisters have had big babies (over 9 pounds) and even though Tyler was only 7 and change, it is still a concern that I have. So we talked about how long she would let me go before she would induce me, and we have planned for September 23rd to be induced if I haven't had the baby before that. I feel really good about that date and I am happy and relieved that I talked to her about that today. I don't want or expect that she would induce me before my due date -- honestly it bothers me when women are induced before their due date for selfish reasons, health reasons are different. So I now have a for sure end date in site. I do hope that I go into labor on my own this time before that date, but have no problems with being induced.
Tomorrow Tony's grandpa is getting married in the temple to his new bride. He is like 82 and she is 65 and never been married. They are getting sealed in the SLC temple and Elder Hale is going to marry them. I am really excited to be in the same room as one of the apostles and to hear his council to this older couple. It will be way fun and I am really exited that we get to go. My mom is going to watch Tyler while we are at the temple (THANKS MOM) and then we are going to go and check into our hotel. Tony and I are going to stay a couple nights at one of the Hampton Inn's for a little down time before this baby comes. We are going to take Tyler with us at first to go swimming and then we are going to leave him with Tony's mom at the reception that night (THANKS MARGIE). Then she will have Tyler for the next couple nights and we will get him on Sunday. We don't really have plans so it will be nice to just do whatever we want and have it just be Tony and me. I can't wait, what a fun weekend we have a head of our selves.

Doctors and more doctors

This last week I had three different doctors appointments. It all started on Wednesday with my semi-annual dental check up and cleaning. Not too bad, no cavities found, so that is really good. It is always nice to get your teeth cleaned.
Then on Friday I had my 36 week appointment with my midwife. Everything seems to be good there. I gained one pound, all my numbers look good and I have started to dilate, just to a one so far - but it is still early. My next appointment is on Thursday. I am not sure if I will have her check me then or wait for two weeks? I like to find out if I am progressing, but it kind of hurt last time and so I might want to wait. I guess we will see how bad I want to find out if I am progressing.
Then later on Friday I had my annual ear doctor visit. I have to see him at least once a year to make sure that the tube in my ear is still there and doing its job. I also needed a new ear plug. Tyler likes to play with mine and now it doesn't work as well as it should. So I got fitted for a new ear plug and my doc says my ear looks really good. So that is really good that I don't have to worry about getting surgery for at least another year, unless it comes out before that.
We watched our friends from our wards little baby today. She is just a tiny 5 month old baby. So so cute. It was a nice eye opener as to how Tyler might behave once the baby is here. He needs to learn to be softer and more careful with his toys and him self. He didn't do anything to this baby, but he wasn't as precious as I thought that he should be. He made me think, "what was I thinking?" This is going to be harder then I thought, having another baby. I am going to learn a lot. Lucky me. It will be great. I am sure hard at first, but great all together.

35 Weeks and counting

Well I am now 35 weeks a long. So very exciting. Still seems like I have a long time to go, but I know that it will go by quickly and I will wish that I had these days back. In general I feel pretty good, mostly tired. I know that I will be way more tired when the baby comes so I am trying to get as much good sleep as I can. That is just hard to do when you have to pee every hour and then my cute little alarm clock (Tyler) doesn't let me sleep in much. Tony is really good to me and if Tyler does wake in the night, he always checks on him for me so that I can sleep more. I am still having contractions every now and again. Sometimes it is pretty intense, but other times I just feel pressure. Totally weird and crazy. I do feel really big (as shown in the above picture). I am definitely bigger with this baby then I was with Tyler. Once he drops then I am sure that I won't stick out so much. I guess we will see.

Tyler has been so much fun lately -- okay he's always fun. He has been really into fishing and golfing. We bought him a plastic golf set that he really liked, but then ended up breaking two of the clubs. So then Tony found him a used real golf club that is made for kids his size and he really likes that. I was glad he found it for like $6 because a new set of little kid clubs are like $80 - and that is just nuts. It is a little scary at times because it is real, so the end is metal and I worry that he will hurt something, or someone with it. So far he has been really good hitting it the way he should and keeping it low. The picture is of Tyler sitting on our back porch with one of his golf clubs watching Daddy. It is so cute how he wants to be just like his daddy. Tony found some clubs at the DI for him to play with, so him and Tyler have fun hitting the balls in the back yard. I generally sit on the swing and play caddy for the boys, its hard work but someone has to do it.

I wanna go too....

I can't believe that it is already August. July went by pretty quick. I am about 6 weeks away from my due date. It seems like it is really far away, but I know that it is not. We don't have any plans or vacations coming up, so I think that is why I think that September seem so far away. Having the baby is the next big thing that we are looking forward to. Tony and I have talked about maybe getting a hotel for a couple days at the end of the month and having a little us time before this baby comes. So that would be fun. Tony's mom said that she would watch Tyler for the weekend so that we could do that. She is so good to us.
My family leaves to go to Oregon this weekend for the annual family reunion that they have there every year. We haven't been able to go since Tony and I have been married because between the two of us we either always had school or we could afford to go. This year we were totally planning on going, but then we Tony went to get the time off of work, other people had already requested the time off. So this year we aren't going because Tony couldn't get the time off (and it is cutting it close with the whole baby thing)...bummer. THEN, Tony's family is all going to California the week after that to go to Disneyland and since it is within a month of my due date, we can't go to that either. And I didn't think that would be such a good idea to be 8 months pregnant and walk around hot Disneyland for a couple of days. So sad, I could use a vacation.
I am a little bummed that everyone else is going on vacation and we aren't going any where. Tony's mom is going to take us to Disneyland in March, so we are really looking forward to that. It will be lots of fun. We will really need some time off by then.
So I have been having some pretty intense braxton hicks contractions lately. I never felt any contractions at all when I had Tyler until I was induced. So this is very different for me. I am mainly getting them in the evenings and it is just so different. I guess it is a good reason to slow down and rest. Yesterday I though my tummy was going to burst it was so tight. It is a pretty weird feeling. This baby is getting anxious to come out, but aren't we all.