The McMurray Life

Monday, August 3, 2015

evynn claire | the first week

We survived the first week! the first 11 days to be exact ;) I longed for these days; my entire pregnancy I looked forward to the days where I could just kiss a squishy face all day long. However, once it became a reality, Cody and I realized just how difficult these newborn days are. Big thanks to all my momma friends I've been texting for help and advice!

I treasure these moments so much! Evynn is so teeny tiny and I just can't help but kiss her sweet cheeks every time I pick her up! I absolutely love her facial expressions and learning more about her everyday.

We've learned that miss thing hates wet diapers, I mean screams at the top of her lungs for help but isn't phased by dirty diapers. She is very adventurous when it comes to lifting her head, she'll throw her head to the side or lift it way up unexpectedly, we have to keep a close eye on her! She is already working on rolling! I lay her on her back in the bassinet but she rolls on over to her side or scoots her way across the bassinet! She's started grabbing for my fingers while she nurses and holds a tight grip the whole time. and she had her days/nights confused...

this confusion started last Monday night and lasted just a few nights. She would be wide awake and screaming all.night.long. With visitors being here, Cody and I would go to bed around 9/10 and let our parents hold Evynn till they went to bed (about 11/12) then they would bring her to us. I would nurse Evynn at that time then she would rule the night until 6am when we would finally get to close our eyes. These were the worst nights, I had a few meltdowns and didn't understand why or how anyone survived! I kept in mind "these moments are short lived", "she'll only be this little for so long" but it was utterly exhausting. Finally after seeking advice, we worked on "flipping her schedule". So, bright lights, noise, activity during the day and we've been giving a night time bath and laying her down swaddled with a paci at bedtime. Once she falls asleep I take out the paci. And the last few days she's slept through most of the night and I've had to wake her to eat throughout the night! Praise the Lord! I truly struggled through the past few days not knowing how I would survive, but I do know that these moments have caused Cody and I to depend on our Lord so much more! We are so thankful for this little bundle of joy and love her so so much!

now onto my postpartum favorites as of this week:

sleep gowns these are a necessity! As much as I love footie pajamas, when you're changing 1000 diapers a day/night, scouting up the gown making changing diapers so quick and easy! portable bassinet this is what we chose to have her sleep in for the first 3 months. we bought it from target for $50, its portable and super lightweight. hand sanitizer it seems like a no brainer, but with so many visitors coming over to the house, we've set hand sanitizer around our house to prevent any germs to get to miss evynn! ahem and anais swaddle blankets i had always been told how great these are and i couldn't agree more! they are soft, breathable and big. we're able to swaddle her in them, use them as a blanket, and i used them as a nursing cover when we were out running errands the other day she reads truth app I've had the she reads truth app for awhile and had purchased a few plans. it's so nice to have a full bible study at your finger tips. it's even more convenient when you're up throughout the night nursing a wee one ;) nursing tank top this tank top is from target but these plenty of other great ones. I've rotated through a handful of nursing tank tops/stretchy pants for a week now but this tank top is definitely my favorite! it's so soft and comfortable and of course has the snap down nursing option.

so what have we been up to on our first week? after coming home from the hospital last sunday, my parents were here until Tuesday afternoon then Cody's parents came Thursday afternoon and stayed until yesterday. In the middle, on wednesday, a few of my best friends came over and i loved having an afternoon of baby holding and catching up! We also took newborn pictures on Thursday morning and that was quite the experience! I always knew newborn pictures were difficult but it was harder than I thought to keep a newborn calm and collected while moving her around into different positions. Also, since we had her naked for pictures, she peed on our bed and pooped on her daddy, oops ;)

lots of tummy time :)

snuggles with daddy

enjoyed time with nana and papa

sunshine time- she was a bit jaundice upon discharge and then stopped popping for us for 24 hours a time. we went to her 2 day check up and there wasn't much concern but cody and I prayed for evynn to poop more than we ever thought we would pray for that ;)

Saturday, August 1, 2015

birth story part 1 | his story

I decided it would be fun for Cody to write out his view of our labor/delivery to look back on, so enjoy!

Stephanie and I drive to the LBK fairly regularly, but July 23rd, Thursday morning was by far our fastest arrival yet. Not because we were speeding or panicked we just had so much going through our heads we didn't even talk to each other until we were five minutes away.

I wasn't nervous upon arrival just excited to hold my little girl later that day. I felt a little awkward because everyone was so excited to see their co-worker, aka my wife, going into labor meanwhile I was like an invisible ghost. I was like, "Hi, I'm the dad/husband of the pregnant woman you're hugging." I was still ignored. Sometimes Stephanie and I do a poor job of introducing each other to our friends in different circles. I really didn't have any expectations going into the induction. I just thought the medicine would cause her to dilate, thus breaking her water, thus bringing the baby.

For a long time this didn't happen. For hours Stephanie didn't dilate! I waited patiently, our families waited anxiously, Stephanie got annoyed. Stephanie sees 1 to 2 births every day she works her 12 hour shifts. Therefore, I know she has played the scenario of her own delivery in her head over and over and over and over. Our reality probably wasn't one of those scenarios. My wife is an anxious person, this causes her to be organized and well-equipped on any journey we embark together. However, it also causes her to worry about things that may or may not happen. Thus, this caused her to read her own baby monitor strip like a fortune-teller predicting what will happen in the near future concerning her delivery. As she monitored the monitor, I monitored her emotions.

Several times I had asked everyone to leave the room, so Stephanie could voice her concerns to me. We prayed and I continued to try to give her comfort any chance I could. I told our families to turn their phones on silent and to stop reporting verbally to all the text's asking "are we there yet?" (Our families were amazingly supportive and we could have never imagine the day without them. It's rare to have families who want to do everything they can to help their children and siblings have a memorable experience.) Stephanie multi tasked in our labor and delivery room being part nurse/part patient. More accurately 75% nurse and 25% patient. At about 7 o'clock after 13 hours of oxytocin, many contractions being one minute apart lasting 45 seconds. I was about ready to turn off the machine, so Stephanie could get some rest. We were faced with the choice: breakwater and speed up the process, or turn off all machines and get some rest. My vote was for the latter, Stephanie was undecided, and thankfully our wonderful doctor (who unfriended me on Facebook, inside joke) was on my team as well. So our folks got us food, we went on several walks, and got a terrible nights rest in the hospital like people always do.

Friday:

We started oxytocin again at 6 AM, Stephanie had not progressed since the day before at about 6 AM. Our little girl was quite comfortable exactly where she was. Dr. Devine came in at about 10 and broke Stephanie's water, consequently causing her contractions to amplify greatly in pain. Now I felt like I was in a movie pushing with a pregnant person for real. Stephanie squeezed my hand every two minutes, upon my request she cut her fingernails because she likes to inflict pain when in pain. I pray for my wife to repent of this action. I truly was just focused on Stephanie's comfort. I knew birth was an uncomfortable thing (Genesis 3:16), but I didn't know how uncomfortable until Stephanie's water was broken. After an hour of hard labor she requested kindly, "Epidural please..."

The epidural honestly made me nervous. I've heard too many stories about guys passing out whenever they saw the needle. I didn't think I was going to be in this category but I didn't know. Just as a precaution, I made sure to constantly bend my legs as the CRNA administered the drugs. I caught a glimpse of the needle and it wasn't bad. I also found out that I worked for the CRNA's friend at Covenant Specialty Hospital while I was in college. Stephanie took it like a champ! I was really proud of her! After this the labor was easy. She dilated from a four to a ten in just under 3 1/2 hours while napping! Thank you medicine, one of the few things you do right.

When Emily our nurse came in saying, "Let's have a baby," I was very emotional and tried to hold it together. The room kept filling up with people and being the flawed individual that I am it's hard for me to get emotional around people I don't know. Nonetheless, I was just overjoyed that our 32 hour journey was almost completed allowing us to see the result of Stephanie and I's love! She pushed for like 20 mins and then she came! She was beautiful! She cried a little slower then I liked, but since none of the medical pros were freaking out I tried to keep it together! I was so thrilled to see her beautiful face, and all 11 toes and fingers! Just kidding there's twelve. For the next hour I just stared at Evynn and kissed Stephanie! It was amazing!

Later, that night I was thinking why did we cry when we saw Evynn for the first time? Obviously, they were tears of joy, but why tears at all? Revelations 21:4 says God will one day swipe every tear from His children's eyes. I told Stephanie, deep down we know that this place is not our home and we long for the perfection of constant fellowship with Jesus our risen savior, therefore I think we cried because some joy is so close to heaven we wish all of life was like those moments! I am still overjoyed by seeing my wife care for our daughter and knowing finally I get to hold my sweet little girl in my arms.