Bryce's First Three Months and My Maternity Leave

To My Dearest Bryce,

Well three months has quickly come and gone.  I can't believe it has gone by so fast and I am already going back to work.  These past three months have been so much more than I ever could have asked for, but have gone by way too quickly. To my dearest Bryce, these first three months of your life have been the best of mine and I know there is only more to come.  You are the greatest baby.  No really you are.  Daddy and I really lucked out.  You are almost always happy, love to sleep (you started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks), you took so easily to breast feeding and then to a bottle when needed.  But besides all that stuff and most importantly, you are SO HAPPY.  You smile all the time and love to play.  At about two months you started laughing and it was the best sound in the whole entire world.  You light up our lives and I can't remember my life without you.

Now all of that said, this motherhood thing is still tiring and stressful (and we have an easy baby).  I worry about you all the time.  When you are napping I worry that you should be awake and playing, when you are awake, I worry that you should be napping.  Every patch of dry skin or little bit of diaper rash sends me to the computer googling to make sure it is normal.  I am always worried that you aren't eating enough (which if my mom is any indication that will never go away).  It is like they say "Its as if you own heart is walking around outside of your body."  I will never be the same person.

I worry that if I watch Law & Order while you are napping in the same room that I am exposing you to bad language and content.  Daddy and I had to stop watching American Horror Story all together...we are never going to find time to watch Game of Thrones haha.  I hope that I watched enough HGTV and Food Network during my maternity leave to make up for the Law and Order.  Looking back maybe I watched too much TV all together.  Guess that's what happens with a winter baby.

I constantly think about the type of person you will be and what you will want to be when you grow up.  I hope that you get all of the best traits of me and daddy.  I hope you get Daddy's fun loving attitude, outlook on life, driving skills, sense of humor, ability to always be silly, ability to always see the truth in every situation, his easy going attitude and ability not to let the little things worry him or slow you down.  I hope you get my love of the arts, my budgeting skills, my ability to laugh (even at daddy's silly jokes), my enjoyment of reading and my willingness to forgive.  I hope you have a kind heart, but the strength to fight for what you deserve.  I hope someday you find someone who makes you just as happy as your dad and I make each other.  I hope that you know that you have a very large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends who love you so much and would do anything for you and already have.  You are just as lucky as we are. 

There is so much that happened these three months that I can't even begin to list them all.  But I want you to know that I loved every night time feeding, every cry, every time you fell asleep on my chest, every smile, every laugh, every coo and every nap and I will always remember these three months as the best of my life.

Love,
Mommy

Pictures from the First Three Months of Your Life (I couldn't get them in order)

Labor and Delivery and Days in the Hospital

Labor and delivery was the hardest thing I have ever done.  I went in to Mass General Hospital on January 2, 2013 to be induce as the baby was just over 1 week over due.  Of course that was the first day that everyone was back on the roads from Christmas and New Years vacations and traffic was horrendous.  So naturally, Rob and I were late for our appointment.  When we got to the hospital I was swiftly checked in and given 1 dose of citotek (sp?) to help ripen my cervix, that was followed by two more doses ever 4 hours.  After the last dose I was supposed to get an IV of pitocin to start contractions, however my water broke on its own and I didn't end up needing it.  My water broke around 4pm and my contractions steadily got stronger and closer together.  They are right, when you are in labor you will know it, as opposed to the braxton hicks contractions that I had been having at home the few days before.

I was determined to go through labor and delivery without any pain medication or an epidural, however that didn't really pan out.  After around 9 hours of labor, about 4-5 hours of severely painful contractions I finally gave in and asked for the epidural.  Rob had to leave the room cause it was supposed to be a steril procedure, but my contractions were soooo painful that I had no idea how I was going to be able to stay still for them to put in the epidural, especially without Rob as he had been my rock.  I have no idea how some women do this on there own.  Rob was incredible the entire time.  He held my hand, let me squeeze his and said and did all the right things.  He was amazing.

At around 4 am, I was 10 cm dilated and had to start pushing.  I had to push for 4 full hours before the doctor informed me that the baby was slightly turned and there may be a possibility that I would need a c-section.  I don't think I have ever given anybody a dirtier look.  I would ABSOLUTELY NOT be having a c-section! At that point she informed me that they could use forceps to help pull out the baby, which in my opinion was a better option than a c-section.

So they used the forceps, and a little while later (not sure how long) I heard Rob say to me "Its a boy!" And Bryce Davis Iosua came into the world...it took a little while to hear him cry, which made my heart drop, but when he did I couldn't stop crying. After Rob went over and cut the umbilical cord, the pediatrician took him first and rubbed him down and made sure he was ok.  My perfect little boy was born.  Rob went over and hung out with our little man, until the pediatrician finally brought Bryce over to me and I was able to meet our son.  That was the best moment of my life, with Bryce on my chest and Rob holding my hand and hugging us.  We were together as a family for the first time.

The next few hours were a bit of a blur, as the doc stitched me up (I had a small 1st degree tear) which she said wasn't bad at all, and Rob and I got to know our son. We hung out in recovery for a few hours while I got feeling back in my legs and generally just bonded with each other.  I also breastfed Bryce for the first time. Bryce is a rockstar and took to breastfeeding right away.

A few hours later we were wheeled into our own room in recovery, where Rob and I both took a nap and then spent the rest of the afternoon with Bryce.  Later on that night both Rob and I's families came to the hospital to meet Bryce and visit.

The recovery over the next two days at the hospital was a lot harder than I was expecting and I was much more sore that I had anticipated, which continued to my recovery at home.  That said, I couldn't have asked for a better experience at MGH, especially from the nursing staff.  They were incredible.