Paige: One Month

Well, the last month has definitely flown by. They always go faster when the baby is on the outside versus the inside.

I am super grateful my Mom was here the first couple weeks with Paige. I don't even want to think about how I would've handled life if she wasn't here. She is the most amazing Mother and it is evident how much she loves all of us. Thanks Mom!
Paige is so loved by her sisters! They are, sometimes overly, helpful with her and it makes me happy how much they adore her. Evelyn always wants "to see her" and will sing her Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star when she cries. Hayley wants to play with her and hold her as much as she can.
I feel that because Paige was 9 pounds that I missed that tiny newborn stage. She wore newborn clothes for two seconds, I'm kind of surprised they even fit ha, and only had newborn diapers in the hospital. We returned the box we had and got size 1. And that's fine, she just already seems so big to me. I hate how quickly they grow! Also because she was LGA (large for gestational age) for the first twelve hours after she was born she had her glucose levels tested before she ate to make sure she wasn't diabetic. Her levels were great for every test so we're good. She is just a big baby, more to love, especially those big cheeks!
She is a champ at breastfeeding, it has been so nice. For a day or two, she struggled to latch on the left side but has thankfully gotten over whatever was going on. She feeds every 3-4 hours during the day and 4-7 during the night (she went 9 once and it was glorious!). She spits up every once in a while. Poor thing has had her spit up come out her nose a couple times. I'm trying to figure out if it has anything to do with what I eat, but haven't been able to pin it on something thus far.
For about the first week she didn't sleep well laying on her back because she would start gagging. So I was a naughty Mom and let her sleep in her bouncer because it allowed her to be more upright, and I wouldn't worry as much if I fell asleep and couldn't sit her up if she'd gag. (Also, when did that become a bad thing? No one ever said anything when Hayley and Evelyn were babies, and suddenly I have heard multiple times since Paige was born that they shouldn't sleep in swings or bouncers.) She has since been moved to her bassinet and does great sleeping in it.
She has started to get a little baby acne, mostly around her nose and on her chin. I think she looks like Hayley, but then when I look back through photos of baby Evelyn I think she sometimes looks like her too. She definitely belongs.
I have gotten a few smiles out of her after she has been fed and burped. A handful of times she has made noises as if she's trying to figure out how to respond to me talking to her. I love just watching her make all the different facial expressions. Because I have two other sweet little daughters who need me when I have the time to just focus on Paige I soak it all up as much as possible. When I can, I hold her when she's falling asleep as opposed to just putting her down and letting her drift off in her bed. Because I have to split my attention between three, it has made me appreciate the little moments I get with each of them more.

Gotta start her young.

Love my October baby!

These girls are so blessed to have this beyond amazing Grandma in their lives!

Sunday best.

At her 2 week check-up, she weighed 9 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long. The Doctor told us to give her Vitamin D drops (apparently I should have done that with Hayley and Evelyn as well), so I've been doing that when I remember ha.
So grateful this little girl is part of our family. I get teary-eyed holding her sometimes because I'm so glad she is here. I love her with all my heart and soul.

Hayward, Party of FIVE! - Paige's Birth Story

Since my third trimester started I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions and cramping daily. At one point around 32 weeks, I thought I was going into premature labor because of how often they were happening. I thought there was no way I was going to make it to 40 weeks. And I technically didn't but I didn't think I would go as long as I did, I had Paige at 39 weeks and 5 days. We were just grateful she didn't come during either of Dan's big anatomy exams.

Even though this was my third time giving birth, I was still kind of dreading it. It's nice to know what to expect but I also dread it because I know what's coming ha. But I was still determined to do it naturally.
I started having contractions about 10-15 minutes apart on Monday night, October 21, for a couple hours (from about 9:30 PM-1:00 AM), but they stopped so I went to bed and when I woke up around 4:30 AM I was having them around 5-6 minutes. After a half-hour, I was having them about every 3 minutes. They weren't super intense but since they were so close together I woke up Dan and we were at the hospital around 5:30. The Doctor told me I was at a 6-7 and so after we were done with the admittance process we moved into our room where I would be doing the rest of my laboring and delivery. We discussed my birth plan and I was really impressed with the nurses and how they went through things with me and then honored them throughout my labor and delivery.
I got checked again at 8:00 and was at an 8 so we decided to let me labor a couple more hours before deciding whether or not to break my water. My water didn't break on its own with my other two so I figured we would just do that again with this one. I was super tired from not getting much sleep so I really worked on the hypnobirthing aspect during this labor and was able to almost sleep through some contractions. It was a fairly nice labor until we broke my water. They checked me again at 10:00 I was still at an 8 so that's when the doctor broke it... and the fun began.
My contractions got a lot more intense. I told Dan that that is when I wanted to give up because it became a lot harder to breathe through the intensity. I wanted to crawl out of my skin during the last of my contractions. I asked if I could give up and he just flat out said no. I love him for that. My nurse was also super supportive and helpful once things got intense. (I truly love labor and delivery nurses, I always seem to have amazing ones.) Thankfully I only had about 5 contractions after breaking my water and Paige was here.
My sweet nurse had to use the bathroom and so she stepped out and of course when she did that is when I could feel Paige moving down. That was some INTENSE pressure. I looked at Dan and told him that the baby was coming and was thinking he was going to have to glove up and catch her if someone didn't get in there quick. We paged the nurse's station and I told them this baby was coming out and then a plethora of people came flooding in and out she came at 10:27 AM. Oh the relief that pours over me once that baby is on my chest, it's an amazing feeling. I am so grateful Paige is here healthy. What a miracle and blessing she is! Dan and I both wanted him to catch Paige but I needed his hand and his focus on helping me. I am so grateful he was there and that my Mom was at home with our girls.

I did skin-to-skin with Paige while they stitched me up. I had another second-degree tear, which wasn't too surprising after I learned how much she weighed and that she came out so quickly. It was nice to hold her to distract me a little from the unpleasantness of being stitched up. That took about a half-hour, I got cleaned up, and then I fed her. She did a really good job of eating. After that, they got her weight, 9 pounds 3 ounces (to say I was shocked was an understatement ha), length, 20.5 inches, and head circumference, 14.25 inches. Everything is bigger in Texas.

We got moved up to the second floor where I stayed for the rest of my time in the hospital. Hayley, Evelyn, and my Mom came to visit in the afternoon. The girls already love their new sister so much. It made my heart swell to see them meet each other. I can't believe I am the Mom of three beautiful girls. I got to bathe Paige after they left, and then we had some awesome visitors, Wendy & Chris, who brought me some cookies. Dan stayed with me until the evening, then he left to go play flag football and get a nice night's rest at home.

I got to go home the next day in the afternoon. It was nice to only be in the hospital for one day, especially because UMC doesn't have a nursery (they call themselves a baby-friendly hospital or something like that). With our other two, I had them stay in the nursery at night so I could get some sort of decent sleep after giving birth and before going home where I wouldn't have that option. And after experiencing what it was like to not have that I am glad I did it back then because between nurses and doctors checking on both Paige and me, and her having some reflux, I think I got maybe two hours of sleep that night. Being home with my family, and having my Mom there, was extremely wonderful.

Going home!

A big thanks to Acute Moments Photography for our Fresh 48 photos!