2am Ramblings

I should be sleeping since it's almost 2am, but I just finished feeding Valarie and she fell asleep on me. . . she looks so adorable I don't want to move her yet. Speaking of feeding her. . . she is now strictly formula feeding. I wanted to breastfeed, but it just wasn't working out and pumping was exhausting and I kinda just gave up. I wish she would breastfeed because I wanted that bond with her, but it's ok. There's nothing I can change about it so I'm not going to sit and dwell on it.

I painted Val's nails again today. Baby blue. Seriously, super cute.

It is officially Tuesday, my baby is four weeks old! It's so crazy, I feel like her birth was forever ago, but at the same time I do not feel like I've had her for four weeks already! She's going to be a month old on Friday, time really does fly. She's already growing out of her newborn pajamas, it's kinda sad!

I can't decide if Valarie has colic or not. Some days I think it's just her being a newborn, but other days I feel like it HAS to be colic.

Shane and I both woke up super sick Sunday. We've never been sick at the same time and it was miserable! I text my mom to let her know that we wouldn't be coming over for dinner because we were sick, (we go to dinner at their house every Sunday,) and my mother, being the amazing mom she is, offered to take Val for the afternoon so we could try to rest. She and Brooklyn picked her up at 4pm and kept her until 11pm! It was nice, but not at the same time because we were both so sick we couldn't sleep. Monday we woke up both still feeling sick, but luckily it was Shane's day to work from home so he was able to still work. My mom and Brooklyn picked Val up again, this time at 8am, and kept her until 4pm! I actually slept this time and felt so much better later! It is now night and the only thing that still hurts is my head and a few sore muscles. Yay for getting better! And a huge, ginormous thank you to my family who so willingly watched my baby for two days! Having a baby is hard, but being sick with a baby seemed near impossible!

Having a baby is hard on the body physically! Haha! A post-baby belly is not a pretty sight, I think it's safe to say I will never look how I used to. It's worth it, but it's not easy to always look at. . . I'm working on trying to at least get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I know in order to look how I did before I need to tone. I have 8 more pounds to lose to get to pre-pregnancy, (but 25 to get to pre-marriage weight, which is ideal,) and A LOT of toning to do. SO, if anyone has any advice to help me get where I want to be, please please please let me know!

My Diet Coke craving has come back and it is worse than ever. Shane even mentioned the other day that my cravings now seem worse than when I was pregnant. HA.

This post is getting to be a lot longer than I intended, so I will close with this:

I love being a mom and I love my sweet little girl!!

Raspberry Branch Photography got a Customer for Life!

I never knew what exhausted was before having a baby. . . 

Our little girl has kind of put herself on her own schedule, and it's not one that mom and dad like so much. She sleeps from about 3 am to noon. . . waking up only when hungry or needing to be changed. But then she's super fussy and impossible from a little after twelve to about five. And from five to two she goes in and out of little naps. So when does dad sleep? Never. And when does mom sleep? From three to noon, which is not a schedule I can stay on. We need to find a way to get this baby our schedule, ASAP.

Baby is not a breast feeder, she refuses to latch and it's a bummer 'cause I hate to pump, but formula is so dang expensive. Arrrrrgg. . . .

. . . But isn't the way she holds her hands when she eats from a bottle adorable? I love it!

We go through about 12 diapers a day. . . there's at least one time every day when she goes through three diapers in five minutes. You'd think we'd know and be able to tell when she's finished doing the deed, but nope. She surprises us every time!

She makes eye contact with us now, and it's pretty cute and I love it!

Val is still a snuggler, and we can't get enough of it!

She got to meet great grandma Hermansen for the first time on Father's day, they loved each other!

I hate to admit because co-sleeping is one thing I said I would never ever do, but every morning after her 4am feeding, I let her sleep in my arms, mostly because if I try putting her back in her bassinet, she cries for an hour. But I do love her snuggling with me when she sleeps! The hardest thing about this though is that after 4am she wakes up around 7am to eat, and then she sleeps laaaaaate. Well, I don't get up at 7am so I let her go back to sleep in my arms, and then I find myself stuck in bed with a sleeping baby when I want to be up doing things. But how in the world can I move away from such a sweet little girl? I mean seriously, just look how cute she is sleeping! SO content!

So we got her newborn photos done when she was one week old at Fotofly. . . they were cute, but we weren't impressed and probably won't be going back. The most frustrating thing about it was that it was a timed session, so the more she fussed and cried, (like all newborns do,) the less time we had to get shots. So in the end we didn't get much. But we did love the one with the flower on her head, that one was great!

Anyway, we weren't happy with them, I was really bummed. So my mom surprised us by getting her photos done by Raspberry Branch Photography when she was two weeks old. Not only were these pictures cheaper than the Fotofly session, but they turned out ten times more amazing! We haven't gotten the cd yet, but we got to see a sneak peek, and holy crap, I made a gorgeous baby. 

I'm not kidding, if you need photos done, not just newborns, any photos, go to Raspberry Branch Photography. Danielle is amazing and her pictures turn out perfect! I have the fussiest baby who never has her eyes open, and Danielle not only got a picture of her eyes open, but she got one of her smiling! And her prices are super affordable, I can't believe she doesn't charge more! Really, I cannot say this enough, Raspberry Branch Photography is for sure the place to go, and I will never go anywhere else for photos!

My Baby!

I love this little girl! 

We Are A Happy Family

At my 37 week prenatal appointment, I learned that Valarie had gone from being head down to head up. Most every doctor will not let you give birth vaginally if your baby is breech, and since that was my plan, we wanted to do everything we could to get this little girl to flip. So the next day I went to the hospital and my doctor performed an external cephalic version. (I was given medicine to relax my uterus, and then the doctor kneeled and kneaded my belly to try to force baby to turn.) It was extremely painful and I could only stand so much of it. After trying for a little over five minutes with absolutely no success, we decided to schedule a Cesarean Section. . . 

The night before May 28th was the hardest night of my life to sleep. I was tossing, turning, worrying, getting excited, thinking, etc. I got almost two hours of sleep. Once 7am hit I could not force myself to stay in bed any longer, so I got up and got ready to go. Shane got ready at the same time, but he was able to nap while I finished getting ready.

We were ready super early, so we took a few pictures and made a couple videos, trying to pass the time until we had to be at the hospital. 

Finally 9:45am rolled around, and we were out the door!

Once at the hospital, I got really nervous. I was terrified, mostly of the spinal, (I do not do needles.) I was also worried something would go wrong and either me or Valarie wouldn't be ok. Shane did a great job calming my nerves and took lots of pictures to force me to put on a very happy face.

Once noon hit, we were walked back to the operating room, where I was given my spinal. It wasn't near as bad as I'd expected. It was only a burning sensation that lasted about a minute. Once it kicked in, I felt so strange! From my chest down, I got really hot, super tingly, and then, I couldn't feel a thing! I was trying so hard to wiggle my toes, and they just sat there, as if they weren't mine at all! It was the most frustrating feeling and honestly, I never want to do it again. 

Once I was lying on the table, they prepped my belly for surgery and pulled the curtain up. I could feel pressure, it felt as if they were massaging or kneading my belly, but it didn't hurt. After a few minutes I asked the anesthesiologist when they were going to cut into me and begin. He laughed and told me that they already have the baby's feet out! 

In a matter of minutes, I heard the crying. The cutest little cry I had ever heard in my life! My baby was here! The little one I'd been waiting for was finally here and I couldn't be happier! They lifted her up to show her to me, but I wasn't really able to see her because a gush of amniotic fluid had spilled out all over my pillow and barely missed going all over my face. 

After about five minutes, they had her cleaned up enough that they could show her to me. She was beautiful. She was perfect. I'd never been as happy as I was at that moment. 

(Not the most flattering picture, but this was the first time I got to look at my baby.)

Valarie Violet Anne Randall was born on May 28, 2013 at 12:23pm. She weighs 7 lbs 9 oz and is 19 inches long. She has a full head of black hair and her daddy's eyes. 

Once I was sewn up, we were wheeled into the recovery room, (and slammed into the wall twice. The doctor was not a good driver.) I held my baby for the first time and got to give her lots of loves! (Unfortunately, I couldn't kiss her because of a cold sore.) 

Over the next few days Shane and I got to spend time getting to know our new little girl. We learned that she loves snuggling, getting burped, being talked to, and her hair being played with. She does not like breast feeding, baths, getting changed, and bad jokes. :)  She's also a night owl. 

Since being home, life has been perfect. We love having her here and couldn't be happier. She is the best little baby and makes our life complete. I can't wait to continue to raise her with the love of my life.