Friends & Family Visits at the Hospital

Here are some photos from our hospital stay and shortly after of friends and family who came to visit us and meet Henry. There isn't a particular order to the photos =)

Grandpa Dozeman & Henry

Grandparents Dozeman & Smolsky with Henry

Grandma Marilyn

Grandma Lois

Grandma & Grandpa Dozeman with Henry

Uncle Steve & Henry

Great-Aunt Mary & Henry

Great-Uncle Norm & Henry

Melanie & Bruco with Henry

Uncle Paul & Aunt Camla

What's that smell??

So things are improving in the Dozeman household. Henry has finally figured out when day is day and night is night. We're still not getting a lot of sleep but we're working with quantity instead of quality. According to most people with kids, we should just get used to this kind of sleep anyways.

Saturday we were grateful to have our parents here full time again. Lois spent the night and of course Henry was a perfect angel and didn't wake up every hour like he did with me on Friday night. Sunday we were starting to get the hang of things and sent the parents home for the afternoon. Mike and I made it through the night with little problems. Henry was a good boy and let us sleep about 3.5 hours straight and only kept us up for about 45 minutes before we had another stretch of 3.5 hours. We're adjusting but it's slow.

We're still struggling with breastfeeding. We have a crazy schedule. From 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. I will attempt to breastfeed. From 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. I will pump and Mike will feed just because it's faster at this point. When breastfeeding, it's a whole process for us to get it to work. First I use previously pumped milk to give Henry about 1/2 oz up front to kill the crazy hunger he has when he first wakes up. Then we attempt to feed and latch which takes a bit of time. Then when we think he's about done or he gets too frustrated to finish, I pump while Mike feeds him from a bottle the rest of whatever was left from my previous pump or he puts him to bed. I know it sounds complicated but we somehow have it down to a system. Unfortunately it seems like by the time we finish cleaning up from one feeding it's time to start over again.

Sunday we noticed Henry's diapers smelled really rancid. I didn't think they would start smelling until he started on solids. At first Mike thought I was nuts and then he started to smell it too. Finally we noticed the smell and Henry had a clean diaper so we were confused. Then, we smelled his umbilical cord. Oh. My. Gosh. Gross. The thing smells like what we will later hear and agree with, a dead mouse. Being the paranoid parents that we are we called the pediatrician after hours number and they told us to clean it with alcohol and make an appointment for the morning. We got an early appointment and took our stinky little man in to be checked.

Thankfully the cord looks fine and it's just a bit thicker so it's taking awhile to dry out completely. Because it is technically rotting flesh, that is what it smells like. Usually they tell people to leave the cord alone and let it dry out but with us we have to apply the alcohol with every diaper change until it dries properly. We will just have to live with the smell. It does improve a bit with the alcohol but it's a bit embarrassing to have our little guy stink and not be able to do anything about it!

After our doctor appointment we made another trip to the breastfeeding center and worked with their lactation consultant again. We were surprised and embarrassed to learn that Henry is not the problem - it's us. He's trying to feed and latch but we're making it hard for him and we're doing a heck of a lot more than we should to get him to feed. I was very frustrated with the lady got him to latch in less than 2 seconds when it takes me a full 5-10 minutes sometimes. We left with more tips and hopefully they will help us switch from the bottle-breast-bottle system we have going now.

We were very proud to make it through lunch at Steak and Shake with Henry. He slept through the whole thing and we were able to eat in peace. We did sit next to a family with two children and we watched one little boy tip over his plastic cup into his highchair table and knock the majority of it around splashing him and everyone around him before his mother could stop him. We're not quite ready for that phase of childhood yet... Baby steps.

Henry's First Few Days

Well the first few days home is going well so far. In the hospital we were spoiled with plenty of nurses to help us get through the night when Henry was particularly fussy. We survived our first night alone last night but it was a bit rough. Henry has his days/nights mixed up so he wants to be up from about 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. or he cluster feeds so he wants "snacks" every hour. For us it was rough to keep getting up and down all the time. I've struggled quite a bit with the up/down especially since my incision is still healing and doesn't like sudden movement! Mike is great about helping me by bringing Henry to me or helping feed by the bottle.

Right now we're also struggling with breast feeding. Henry has a great latch but he's too impatient to wait for the milk to flow. With the help with breast feeding consultants, we were able to do a combination of pumping and feeding. We have to feed him a little first so he isn't famished and then we kind of get him started on the breast by squirting the bottle on me and him so he gets that the breast is where he needs to eat. It's extremely time consuming but everyone says it will get better and I think it is as the days go on. Henry just wants to eat but he's not really fussy about where he gets food. He'll go from breast to bottle in a second if we want him to.

We had our first pediatrician appointment today. Overall Henry is doing great and in the normal range on everything. He has had an issue with jaundice though. The first three days they tested him once or twice a day to keep an eye on the level. On the day we left the level was still high so they wanted to check once more today to see if it continued to climb. Luckily the test came back better so he's out of the danger zone! We'll continue to watch it but according to the pediatrician we shouldn't have a problem from this point on.

In other news, I'm not sure Mike and I would have survived our first week with the help of our parents. Both sets have been incredibly helpful with everything. They took shifts going to our house to feed pets or take care of plants. My mom has been here every day trying to catch us up on laundry. It seems like the more she does the more we make but somehow she's getting ahead =) They have brought us meals and done quite a bit of shopping for us. We have plenty of food and they've taken care of the extra stuff like bottle returns and taking out the trash. It's a good thing they're helping because I'm not sure Mike and I could do much more than take care of Henry right now! It's overwhelming the amount of work a little 8 pound child needs.

Every day is getting better though. Mike and I are so attached to this little guy. He's demanding and what most would consider a "fussy" baby but somehow just seeing him watch us closely or sleep soundly makes it all worth it. I'm still sore on the labor part and swearing I will have a c-section next time no matter what but I feel pretty confident I would go through it all again for our little boy. We're also learning more about his personality and that's making life with him easier. So far we have learned the following about our son:

Henry:

* Does not like to wait for food - ever
* Likes to eat - a lot and often
* Will not sleep if he isn't full, clean and at the right temperature
* Does not like his diaper changed
* Will sometimes remember he needs to pee mid-diaper change
* Does not like to be waken up or moved mid-nap
* Loves to be held/cuddled

Henry's Birth Story

Well the remaining weeks at work went well. It's still overwhelming but I'm really excited about the opportunity. The week of my due date (May 27th) I was done being pregnant and told my boss May 28th would be my last day. The doctors appointments were telling me that baby was fine but we were no where near labor and/or dilation. It was depressing.

After my last day of work I spent some time trying to relax and get ready for baby. Saturday Mom and Mike worked on getting flowers planted around the house. I watched from a chair and crossed my fingers something may happen while they were there. Of course nothing did and after the flowers were all planted Mom went home and Mike and I got ready to meet up with Cam and Paul.


Cam and Paul came up from South Bend to spend some time with us since the little one was running late. We had a super nice dinner and then went to see Robin Hood at the theaters. Mike and I didn't get to bed until midnight. At 2:30 a.m. I woke up having a contraction. I didn't get too excited because I've had a lot of false alarms. I got up and tracked the contractions and they were consistently 3 minutes apart. I woke up Mike at 3 to let him know things started. I labored until with consistent 3-5 minutes apart contractions for a few hours.

Around 5 a.m. I started having back labor and it was excruciating. We did all we were taught to in our classes to help turn the baby but by 8 a.m. I was in what is considered the transition stage of labor. I was pretty rough. We decided to go to L&D to get checked. After hanging in a little room laboring for another hour, they determined I was BARELY at 1 cm. They had us walk around the hospital to see if labor progressed.

Two really, really long hours later they checked me again and I was just at 2 cm. It was depressing. At this point in time we were still hoping to have a natural birth. Although I admit I was wavering. The doctors offered to admit me and start on pitocin but I was against any drugs to make the contractions worse considering I thought they were all I could take as they were. In the end we decided to go back home to labor some more and come back later when I would hopefully be further along.

Six long hours later and many sobbing sessions, frequent position changes and consistent 3-5 minute back-labor contractions, Mike took me back to the hospital. About this time I had been in "labor" for 17 hours. When I was checked in the room I had made it to a grand total of 3 cm, only 1 cm better than when we left. I was pretty broke down at that point. I told I Mike could not do it anymore and I needed something, anything to take the edge off.

After being admitted they gave me two doses of IV drugs to take the edge off. I have to say they were crap and did NOTHING for my pain. I felt in pain AND buzzed at the same time which didn't really help anyone. In the end I was demanding an epidural and Mike finally gave in. He was supposed to keep me away from them (for birth plan) but in the end he agreed the pain was too much for me to handle when I still had 6 cm to go.

After the sainted anesthesiologist gave me the epidural I was in heaven. I could still feel the contractions but they were nothing compared to what I had gone through so long. Doctor broke my water and stripped my membranes hoping to progress labor now that I was calm. Three hours later they came back and I had dilated to 4 cm. It's about 9 p.m. now and they decided I wasn't going far on my own. At 9:30 they started pitocin. By midnight they checked me again and I had made it to 5 cm. I was highly discouraged and the doctors were warning me it wasn't looking good for a vaginal delivery.

In a last ditch effort, they increased my pitocin again and gave me another 3 hours to dilate. In the end they actually waited 4 and when they checked me at 4 a.m., I hadn't changed a bit since my last check at midnight. I never made it past 5 cm.

At this point they said it's obvious the baby is either too large to fit or he's in such a position that he just can't come down anymore. I was immediately taken for an unscheduled c-section and 40 minutes later the whole thing was FINALLY over.

Henry Michael Dozeman
Born May 31, 2010, 4:53 a.m.
8 lbs 1 oz
21 inches long

I'm thrilled our little man is here, healthy and doing well. I'm struggling with the breastfeeding but so far so good. Henry is a great latcher and sucker but kind of lazy so we have a lot of latch and relatch stuff going on now. I hear it's supposed to get better and after all, the little guy is only a few days old. He has a lot to learn and so do I =)

Tomorrow (Thursday) I will have my staples removed and they will send me home if all is still going well. I'm looking forward to my home environment but it is really nice having 24 hour help AND room service =) I will miss the extra help...

I have to give a shout out to Mike. He's been great about all things baby. He supported me throughout the labor and through the hospital process. He asked a lot of questions and always kept baby and my health first. After Henry was born he's been constantly taking care of him (especially when I was out of commission and barely able to sit up). I wouldn't say he's a pro at diapers yet but he's definitely getting the system down. Mike has spent every night at the hospital. Sometimes he's gotten less sleep than me just so he could watch the baby and give me a few hours reprieve. I'm going to really miss him when he has to be go back to work and I'll be on my own during the day =(

New Job Progress

Well my first week on the job was overwhelming. My new boss is really supportive but super busy so I don't see her much. So far there isn't much to report yet because I haven't done a lot on my own. I'm just trying to keep my head above water for now until I go on leave. I have a lot of ideas for how I want to improve the position but I really need to be in it longer before I make any decisions.

Baby Dozeman is still hanging in there. I had an 80 minute massage on Saturday hoping the relaxation would prompt something but in the end I think it helped the baby relax as much as me and therefore he did NOTHING for a full 12 hours. As of today we have 10 days left until my due date. We have our weekly appointment on Wednesday and I'm sure I will hear things are still the same and to keep being patient!

In addition to the massage I also helped with yard work Mike started this weekend. He and his dad worked really hard to get the weeds and things pulled Saturday and on Sunday we mulched. Mom came over to help but I was also out there doing what I could. It's difficult to bend over with a 7 pound baby in your belly but somehow I managed to make it work =) Again though, nothing prompted the little guy to come out.

Now it's Monday night and my muscles are sore but that's about it. Mike is at a photography class (his second one) so he can learn all the tricks with his new camera. I'm sure I will have to learn how to use the thing eventually but for now I'm glad he's taking the classes!

March, April AND May... Time flies

I'm so far behind I'm not sure anyone wants to read all the details from March to now but I will do my best to summarize!

Also, too many pictures to post! Check out the latest on my albums.

March

Attended a weekly Lenten Series hosted by our church's priest. It was a pretty interesting series with different themes on Lent and why we celebrate them. At the same time as the series we also attended a parenting class at a friend's church. It was equally educational but also intimidating. Not sure we are really ready for this parenting business!

On the 19th I had my work baby shower. My team was SUPER generous and hosted a fantastic party. We got quite a few things we really needed for the baby.



On the weekend of the 20th we painted our guest room and set it all up for future visitors. We have succeeded in decorating all the rooms in our house that we do NOT use regularly but at least it looks nice =)

The week of the 25th we were super busy trying to interview local pediatricians for our child. It was a grueling process and I was surprised how many offices I did NOT like. In the end we picked a smaller office called Trestlewood where we liked the staff a lot and felt they had the best office for us.

On the 27th it was my family baby shower. Another fantastic party where Tiffani, Andrea, Mom, Aunt Betty and Lois all really out did themselves. The venue was beautiful and elegant and everyone had a wonderful time - myself included! We had so many gifts we had to ask Norm and Mary to help us take them home!

Then on the 28th I attended our friend Chris's baby shower and had a great time. She's 5 weeks ahead of me so not too long before her little one will be here!

April

April we started birth classes every week. It's the new version of Lamaze I guess but there isn't any breathing techniques anymore. It's more like pain management and what to expect at every step of labor. It will go until the middle of May so we're hoping we make it through all the classes so we're prepared!

Easter happened on the 4th but I can't remember what we did! I think we had lunch with Mom and Dad and then saw a movie but I honestly can't remember. Not too long later we had a Breast Feeding class at Bronson. It was educational but I thought it was kind of boring. I'm less nervous about trying breast feeding but it sounds like a ton of work!

The 16th we celebrated Mike's 31st birthday at Four Winds Casino again. It was a great time with friends and although no one won anything this year we still had a lot of fun. It was certainly different than last year in the sense I was super exhausted by the time the night ended!

Mike had a business trip in Texas April 18 - 20th. He was nervous something may happen while he was gone but thankfully Baby Dozeman stayed where he was supposed to and Mike didn't miss anything exciting. That will be the last business trip before the baby - I hope!

Thursday the 22nd I had a surprising turn of events. I submitted an article I wrote for Mike's boss about Mike's group. I write a lot of articles on the side when I can to keep up with my writing skills. Anyways, I got an email from the Corporate Communications person telling me that she really liked the article I wrote. I wrote her back and said thanks and to keep me in mind if she needed a future writer. Much to my surprise, she wrote back and said they did in fact have a position open and encouraged me to apply. Not the best timing (considering I'm at the end of 8 months pregnant) but I talked it over with Mike and we decided it was worth a shot.

I applied the 23rd and had two phone interviews that day. The 27th I had an official in-person interview with the Communications Director and the 29th I was interviewing with 4 more people. I was told I would know by early May the final decision.

While I was waiting for the final word, we had our 35 week appointment with the doctor. We were disappointed to find out the baby is hanging high with no signs of moving down yet. The doctor couldn't tell by feeling my belly which way the baby was pointed so they scheduled an ultrasound to make sure he's not breech. At this time I figured it would just be my luck we spent quite a bit of money on baby classes for a natural birth and our baby decides to hang out the wrong way!

May

The first of May was a crazy, crazy day for us. First I had Alta's baby shower at Norm and Mary's house. Alta is expecting twins in July. It was a very nice party but I couldn't stay long because we had a wedding to go to at 3. I left the baby shower, picked up Mike and we took off for the Wasserman wedding. It was also a nice event but again we couldn't stay long because we had ANOTHER wedding in Caledonia. We left about at about 6 and made it to the second wedding just in time for the reception. The second wedding was for Mike's cousin and we did tell them we would be late. It was a beautiful party and we had a great time catching up with everyone. I was once again exhausted by the end of the night and very glad when we could finally go home.

The second of May was just as busy. We were able to sleep in from our long day before only to get up and get ready to meet Mom, Dad and their Holland friends - Wim & Wilma. I invited a coworker of mine from Germany to come with us since I thought she would enjoy seeing people from her side of the country. In the end it worked out great. We had a slight mix up with the restaurant times and ended up driving all over Kalamazoo before finding a place open to eat. Wim & Wilma brought us very nice gifts for the baby. I especially liked the outfit they brought because it's unusual and nothing like what I can find at Babies R Us.

After this left Mike and I were once again on the run but this time to our last bowling league game of the season. I'm not bowling anymore but I did go to support the team. It was a lot of fun but again, exhausting!

Monday, May 3rd I received an official offer from Corporate for the Communications Analyst position. It's exactly what I've wanted to do since I started at Stryker and I'm very excited they hired me! Luckily I was at a good spot where I was at so I only had to stay the rest of the week in Distributor Relations. Starting this Monday I wil be at Corporate full time - well, at least until the baby comes. I did a few half days to get started in the role but Monday will be the official start. Basically I will handle newsletters, press releases, Stryker.com content and a variety of other things.

The rest of the week was pretty crazy with my new job and we had every day packed with something. Monday night we went to visit Chris who finally had her baby - Holden. He's super cute and the family seems to be doing well with their new bundle of joy. Tuesday we had a "Navigating Baby's First Month" class which was educational but kind of boring. Wednesday was Cinco De Mayo and Cam, Tiffani, Melanie and Bruco and us of course, all went out to Shakespeare's to celebrate. It was a lot of fun but a late night. Thursday we had our normal birth class and Friday we had our ultrasound and doctor appointment. Thankfully Baby Dozeman is NOT breech and at the time of the u/s he was 6lbs 11oz and doing great. Again, no activity - he's planning to stay in there for awhile longer it appears. Friday night we had a bit of a break but ended up taking Mike's car in to get new spring tires put on them. After that and dinner it was time for bed!

Before I knew it, Saturday was here and I was going out for a pedicure with my closest friends. They were great and all paid for my pedicure which was an unexpected surprise! They're a great group of girls and I had a blast. Melanie even made us "parents baskets" with different goodies and things we like just for us since most the stuff we've received lately are all for the baby =) The candy is already gone from both baskets... Yum!

After the pedicures Mike and I headed to Grand Rapids to see Steve's new house with furniture in it. Steve has only been in his new place a week but things are looking great. They're trying to figure out their color scheme and get ready for Tia and Audrey to move in next month. After our visit with Steve we went to see the documentary "Babies" in the theater. Super cute movie and definitely one that puts you in the mindset for children!

Today is Mother's Day and Mike and I have tried to relax as much as possible. It's finally stopped raining long enough Mike is out mowing the lawn and I'm working on laundry. I need to iron which is my least favorite job but I need pressed clothes for my first week on the new job =)

March Already?

Monday, March 1st

I'm not ready for March. My Google countdown calendar says I now have less than 100 days until the baby is here! Holy cow. Craziness.

Only really cool news today is I found out that I passed my glucose test! No 3 hour test for me. I feel like it's a miracle. No diabetes for me =)

Tuesday, March 2nd

Today we left work early to go to Grand Rapids to see a new puppy potential for my in-laws. You will all remember the trauma they experienced with their last puppy so they were nervous about getting a new one. We went to the shelter to check out the new dog and we approved. He's a little boarder terrier mix and while I think he'll be a handful for my in-laws, he's pretty cute. The only negative about the dog is he takes the WORST pictures. He's very cute in person but whenever you get a camera near him he looks like a drowned rat. His ears go down and he gets this pitiful look on his face. As soon as you take the photo though, he's right back to normal! Very weird.

Anyways, they did end up adopting him and they will be able to pick him up on Friday!

Friday, March 5th

Today I finally went in to the cell phone place to get my cell phone fixed. Sometime on Monday-ish my phone tried to auto update and me in my impatience tried to stop it because I needed to use my phone. Apparently it's really bad to interrupt cell phone updates so I completely messed up my phone. It wouldn't check email or get on the Internet and the battery wouldn't stay alive longer than 4-6 hours. I was quite frustrated. Finally, today I was able to go to the store to get it fixed. Thank goodness we have an insurance plan.

After waiting an hour I finally got a tech to take a look at my phone. He agreed it was screwed up and said all they could do was wipe the hard drive and reinstall all the software and see if that helps. Sounded like a plan to me so I left it there for him to update.

Saturday, March 6th

Today Mike and I were on a mad errand run. First, we went to a Mom to Mom sale at the local church up the street. I was a little disappointed in the variety (mostly girl clothes) and they didn't have as many big ticket items by the time Mike and I were there at 10. Early birds got all the worms... Anyways, we did get a few cute outfits but didn't stay long. After that we headed to breakfast and started running other errands. The day was beautiful so it made traveling nice. We got new blinds for pretty much every room in our house, we got a new bed set for the guest bedroom as well as paint to match the new set and we bought a few nick knacks for the baby room at Hobby Lobby. By the time we were done it was well into the night. It's amazing how fast our days are flying by...

Sunday, March 7th

After our normal church morning we had our second class of parenting class. It was on discipline and Mike and I are very nervous about how we're going to handle discipline in our house. It sounds so complicated and no matter what a parent does it seem so hard! We are intimated.

After the class we had a brunch at the church. It was super nice to talk more with the couples in the group and meet new people. We stayed for a few hours before we had to get home to get things done.

Mike came home and started working on the blinds in the baby room. It sounds like it was very complicated and he was working for awhile trying to get them up. Eventually he did and he also got the valiance up in the baby room. The room still looks plain but it's getting there =)

Tuesday, March 9th

Today I'm trying to catch up on my over-a-month-old blog. I'm trying to remember everything we did but I know I'm missing some things. Oh well... not really sure what I can do about it =)

Baby Update

Right now I am 28 weeks and still doing well. I signed up for a pregnancy swimming class that starts at the end of the month. It wasn't until after I registered that I realized I will have to get into a swim suit for the class. One, I don't have a swim suit that fits and two, I hope there are other women in the class as large as me! What in the world was I thinking...

We also signed up for a Natural Birthing Class session that starts April 1st. It's taught by a Doula and although I'm not set on a natural birth, I would at least like to have the skills to get through one in case I can take the pain =) Wish me luck. We're quite clueless on how we're going to get through the whole labor process.