Lovin' Life with Lucy!

The past few weeks have been full of fun! We celebrated Lucy's first month with us, my birthday, and our first family trip! 

We did it. We took a five week old camping. Not only did we survive, we actually enjoyed ourselves! We had a great time- we were also in a camper, no tents for us! We have been to Lake Rudolph's HalloWeekends for years now and so we also got to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters and ride the "haunted" hayride. We joined the fun as pirates with baby as our parrot, a very sleepy parrot. Lucy even got to meet Santa Claus!! When you are in Santa Claus, Indiana- you get to meet the man no matter what day it is! Santa loved Lucy (who wouldn't!?!) and Lucy loved talking to Santa too. 

                   

 My birthday was fabulous! Gran kept little Miss so Matt & I could go to dinner and a movie- Topp't and Miss Peregrines. Loved the pizza, loved the movie. I only once thought, "I'd like to smell Lucy right now..." during the movie. That's not weird, right??!  
We also enjoyed ice cream cake, my favorite! I got a necklace with her initial L, a pineapple and her birthstone. <3 Matt also showered me with flowers and some iTunes fun! :) 

Baby Lucy continues to show us her love by sleeping 5 and 6 hours at night. It is a beautiful thing. The only inconvenience is that I am often waiting for her to wake up to empty me or I will get up to pump to relieve my discomfort. A small price to pay for awesome sleep!! Nursing is now something I look forward to, which I had a hard time imaging those first weeks...It is so sweet. 

She is growing just right and we will visit her doctor next week for her one month check up. We are having fun dressing her in clothes that she can't argue with us about. We take about a thousand pictures a day...check Instagram for almost daily updates, feel free to unfollow me if I'm driving you crazy! ;) 
There are only 21 days left before I return to work, so I am gladly spoiling this little girl absolutely rotten, I will not hesitate to admit it. 

6 weeks of sweetness....

The first two weeks with Baby Lucy!

     She's figuring us out...we will keep trying to figure her out. :) 

First bath, sweet girl didn't cry at all!

After her bath, comfy cozy.

When we think we've got her figured out, she changes! Just in these first couple weeks, she has changed so much. She is losing her chubby cheeks and we are working hard to keep those. She eats all the time... and then some. She hated the pacifier until she took it yesterday at the parade. We held our breath thinking if we commented on it, she would toss it. She loves to be on her belly, and is rolling over from her back to her belly to get comfy. It is insane that she is only two weeks old!! She loves riding in the car, except the days she hates it. She does not mind headbands but we will see how long that lasts. She just figured out she has hands and loves to stick them in her mouth. She is such a sweet girl...until she's screaming. She makes the most adorable baby sounds. She continues those baby sounds all night long and she may be moving out of our room any day now! (Except I can't imagine not having her in her bassinet next to me.) 


   She sleeps so well, usually 5 to 6 hours a night! Most nights feeding is a quiet and dark activity and she goes right back to sleep. Right now, we are celebrating these victories because I know they may not last forever. 


I will mention that in the excitement of planning for labor and preparing my body for the main event, my preparation for feeding this baby was not a worry for me. I read a million articles and tips about labor and birth. Then I read a million more and talked to moms about baby's first weeks. I read a few articles about breastfeeding...and then we went full force into nursing and I read all the articles trying to figure out if it was normal that I couldn't breathe when she latched on for the first two weeks.... 

Turns out, its normal. :) Now that we are in the third week, I no longer want to scream when she starts eating. It took practice. It took patience. It took me realizing that me and this precious girl are now a team. I need her to empty me- I found out what a clogged duct feels like and whoa....that was not fun. She needs me to comfort and feed her. So we work together. Feeding her in the middle of the night is almost as much as a benefit for me as it is for her. She is gaining weight, still not up to her birth weight- but c'mon, she's doing all right. ;)  If you are a new mom, just know breastfeeding gets better. If you know a new mom, tell her that breastfeeding gets better!!! It was so great to have people that could give me pointers or just reassure me that we were doing it right. 

My recovery from the c-section was just fabulous! The Saturday after Lucy was born, we went to the Fall Flea downtown and bought a small table for her room. On Tuesday, she had her first doctor's appointment and I had mine too. I got my staples removed and went on my way! After her first week home, I mowed the grass. (I may have gone a little too far, lol) I am out and about and love it! I made pumpkin rolls today!! 

I have absolutely loved introducing her to all the people that helped us make her possible! She is already so loved. We love visitors so if you have a chance, text me and we would be glad to visit!!

I just know this girl is going to be amazing. She already has the best support system and pretty cool parents. She is going to make a difference. Heck, she already has. <3

Drumroll please!!! Introducing Ms Lucy Kathryn Bratcher!

She's finally here! As much as I was enjoying pregnancy, we were all ready to meet Ms Lucy. She took some prodding and poking to make her entrance into this world. I am impressed with how comfortable she was and how hesitant my body was to get her moving. I plan on letting our fertility specialist know what a fine job she did preparing my body. ;) 

We were scheduled for induction on Tuesday, September 13th at 5:00pm as long as nothing had happened yet. We waited and waited and waited some more and nothing. So Tuesday at 5:00 was the plan. It was the plan until the hospital called that day at 1:00pm and let me know that they were full. They were so full that they asked me to wait until 7:30 to call and see if there was an open room. So after waiting 3 years, 1 month and 13 days for a baby.....what's a few more hours, right? So at 7:30 we call and the staff says that they will call us back..... we wait until 8:30 with no word, so we call again. At this point, I am ready to wait until the next day to start. There was no medical reason to rush, which is why the hospital knew I could wait. So when we call at 8:30, the hospital lets us know that they can have a room ready at 10:00pm. So we hang out until they are ready and go at 10:00. 
It was quite the evening...... that's a lot of anticipation on top of excitement and anxiousness. 

So at 41 weeks and 4 days, we are at the hospital getting ready to induce. We didn't get things started until about 11:30, so it was almost Wednesday by then! Without too many details, this was almost the worst part.... it was awful. So we hung out and napped until the next day when we started the pitocin to get contractions started. That was a whole other adventure and another whole day. By 10:00pm, it was time to push- so push I did...until almost 12:00..... At this point my doctor gave me a list of options. I was doing everything right and Lucy was not in distress- yet.  I could keep pushing, take a break and try again or get prepared for a c-section. Ms Lucy was sure making me work for it!  After weighing my options, a c-section was the best choice for me. I was prepped and in the operating room by 12:15. By 12:28, Lucy had made her appearance along with comments from the hospital staff and doctors such as, "Good call on the c-section!" "She's the size of a toddler!" "Wow, we've got a big baby here." And my favorite, "The moment of truth, she weighs....10 pounds and 15 ounces!!" All while "Uptown Funk" played in the background


Thursday, September 15th. 

 So I am oh so glad I went with the c-section. :) When I got it together, Matt had taken care of Lucy and she was ready to be cuddled. What a sweet, sweet moment it was. I wanted to know, did she have tons of hair, did she have my short little thumbs, whose nose is that? All the fun questions answered! It was unreal. So we stayed up all night admiring her awesome-ness and it was perfect. 

The next day was all over the place. We were seen by every doctor, nurse and hospital staff in existence but every single one commented on how sweet and beautiful (and big) she was. Everyone loved on her and kept us comfortable. The staff was awesome to say the least! We were well taken care of, for sure. My favorite question- "Did you know she was going to be this big?" and my response- "My doctor estimated 8 pounds..."
We were discharged on Saturday afternoon. Home is the best place ever after using a hospital shower and sleeping in a hospital bed.  We are doing great and moving & grooving! Lucy has figured our where the food comes from, we are learning she can be a little demanding. ;) 

Big thanks to several people who made us dinners to warm up, it has been amazing to have one less thing to worry about. Thanks to all who have checked on us, we love you!!! 

Also, just know Matt is an expert diaper changer and carseat buckler among other talents now. He is rocking this role of super- dad! I couldn't have survived the hospital without him waiting on me hand and foot! He is the best. 

More to come later!!!
#ThinkPositive
#BabyLucyisHere
#TheLifeofLucy

Luuuucy.... What are you waiting for? ;)

So here we are, 41 weeks and a day..... still waiting. 

     I checked in with my doctor on Friday and we are looking good. Too good. 
The fluids keeping Lucy healthy are just right, my blood pressure is great and her heart rate is wonderful. So we wait... with no medical reason to induce, we decided to wait her out again. 

     Last week, Dr. Lewis gave us the option of inducing on Tuesday (just 4 days past the due date) but we decided to wait because we had a ultrasound done and everything was looking good. At the time, I wasn't super uncomfortable so I figured- why rush her? I had "made a deal" with Lucy that she had to wait until September- she followed directions. :) So now it is time for a new deal...Let's go Lucy. The new deal is, you have to be out before we get to 42 weeks (Friday). So no matter her preference- we WILL have a baby by the weekend!! There is an end in sight to this stage. 

37 weeks, 39 weeks, 40 weeks

41 weeks! 

    


 Now, I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable... its like I can feel how heavy she is! I can't seem to stand up as quickly as I could just last week and rolling over is proving to be more difficult everyday. I am excited to think how healthy she will be and we are taking bets on how much hair she will have- with all this extra time to grow. 
 I am just imagining a very relaxed, calm and easy-going girl that is in no hurry to be bossed around. And I am okay with that. 

     I want to remember that we weren't just waiting at this point. Bouncing on an exercise ball while eating pineapple just didn't do it yesterday. Walking with the intention of getting things going wasn't much help either... I have purchased some raspberry leaf tea but haven't gotten to drinking it quite yet. We are ready!!!!

#LetsGoLucy

38 weeks and 3 days....

Yes...we are THAT close! The countdown continues. We are ready!! (at least that's what we are telling ourselves.) The nursery is packed full of the cutest clothes you can imagine, diapers, wipes and butt paste- hospital bags are packed for me and Lucy, the house is clean, laundry done and the yard work... oh the yard work is DONE! 

    Yesterday, we had "Landscaping Sunday" for the yard work and wiped out all the trimming, cutting, mowing, weed pulling, cleaning, picking up and edging.  Matt took over my mowing duty, which was tough to let go of! It looks awesome. BIG thanks to the wonderful ladies that helped us out! <3 Now we can ignore the yard work for several weeks and not feel bad. I was wore out last night!! (and that was after movie night at school on Friday!- I love that I can keep moving.)

    I had an appointment this afternoon and sweet baby girl is just as comfy cozy as ever! She's in no hurry to get here and I am completely okay with that. She can keep growing and I can keep sleeping for now. :) 
My only discomfort is the carpal tunnel in my wrists and hands. If you haven't received a 'Thank You' note...thats why. My hands are killing me most days and although my feet are swollen- they don't hurt. My hands on the other hand (hehe) are in so much pain! This is really the only discomfort, so I am doing just fine! :) 

 I am excited as ever about seeing her and wondering all the time what she will look like.  Here is a preview of me and Matt as babies! 

Too cute, right? :) 

I can't wait to celebrate with my school family tomorrow! I just keep saying it, but I can't find better words than "Thank you" for everyone's support and love! We would not be here without you! <3

Just one more picture of the pineapple shoes that I am obsessing over...I can't get enough!!! 

Pictures!

So the good news from the doctor is that the placenta has shifted out of the way! In fact, the ultrasound tech was surprised at how much it had moved in just a month. :)  So our plan now is to see the doctor every week up until Lucy decides it is time! We are still shooting for September 2nd even with my swollen hands and feet.....

School has started and next week is our first full week of students. I am already planning on propping my feet up after the buses pull out of the parking lot (and maybe every chance in between!)

Here are just some of the pictures Lane took! I absolutely love them and I just cannot thank sweet Lane enough for doing this for us. 

I am not a fan of how Blogger lays the photos out so I may be posting them on Facebook, too.

<3