No title due to tired mommy brain

My entertaining story for today is a pretty stereotypical first-time mom story, I think. Since we got back from our trip this weekend, Jonathan has been fussier than usual. Not that he never cried, but his overall temperament is pretty chill. This week, though, he's cried through most of his naps and fussed every time I set him down. Usually he's okay to entertain himself on his playmat for a little bit every day. Not knowing what was wrong, I naturally called my mother who I consider an expert mom and superwoman. She asked about how he was eating and sleeping, etc., then said to take his temperature just as a precautionary to make sure he wasn't sick. So I waited until he woke up from his nap, fed him, and changed his diaper. We learned in school about fevers and how to care for pediatric patients with a high temperature. This usually involves taking a rectal temp because it's usually the most accurate with infants. Of course our thermometer was still in its original packaging and I had to read the directions and try to put on the correct attachment (I almost used the oral attachment... thank goodness I caught that one!) So after all this I stuck the little metal thing up my poor baby's bottom and waited for the beep. Everything seemed to work fine except that his temperature seemed a bit odd. 93.1 degrees Fahrenheit. So apparently my baby doesn't have a fever; he's hypothermic. Lol. I decided that at least it wasn't high, so I chalked it up to user error and brushed it off. Bad mom? Hope not. :)

Today we also had our first "fussy" outing. Jonathan and I went to the Post Office for a few minutes while he was awake. Normally he falls asleep as soon as I put him in the car (which is fantastic for road trips!) but today he stayed wide awake. He was fine when we went inside but then started fussing a bit. Thankfully it was just a quick errand, but it's a difficult feeling when you worry about upsetting the people around you. At the same time, I don't want to get into a habit of profusely apologizing for our children when they're just being children. I know that he's only 5 weeks old, but also I know that I don't want to start doing things I don't plan on doing long-term. It makes me sad when I see parents who are so much more concerned with their own appearance than in just being a good parent to their kids. Okay, enough ranting.

Sunday night gatherings at our church are a bit more relaxed and discussion-based, which makes for a good chance to interact with everyone more. Pastor Matt picks a topic that is relevant to the church and prepares an outline for us to go through and talk about. Jon and I were really excited to go because we had missed the first little bit of the current series: bioethics. Sounds kind of heady, but it is so interesting and applicable. We discussed how certain doctrines (being made in the image of God, for example) apply to how we deal with beginning and end of life issues, specifically. Questions we tried to answer from Scripture include, "What does it mean to be made in the image of God?," "What makes humans different from the animals?," etc. Hoping to learn a lot and sharpen my ability to explain why I believe what I believe.

Tomorrow is a big day for the Alligoods - health insurance for all of us kicks in! Several of you have been so sweet and sent us information about temporary insurance options for Jonathan. We really appreciate your thoughtfulness! Thankfully nothing catastrophic has happened in the last month and we will all be covered tomorrow.

I hope everyone is planning to go to Chick-fil-A tomorrow in support! Jon has gotten very excited about it - we have plans to do breakfast and dinner together there. I have a feeling I will enjoy my chicken biscuit in the morning even more than usual. :)

Picture for today:

Snuggling with his "puppy"

Monday Movie

Our poor baby has been plagued by a spazzy diaphragm since he was in the womb and there is apparently no end in sight!

Road Trips and Diapers

What a weekend we've had. Jon had a meeting in Athens on Friday, so we hit the road Thursday afternoon and headed North. Jon had to room with another resident at the Georgia Center, so Jonathan and I stayed with my parents that night. Needless to say, the Chambers crew was more than excited to see our sweet baby.

We were fortunate enough to have Saturday free, so we headed West to Grayson to see Jon's family. They hadn't seen him since the week he was born, so it was fun to hear how much they thought he'd grown! We're getting the hang of traveling with this little guy and it doesn't add hours to our travel time to stop, eat and change a diaper anymore. :)

One exciting new thing in the Alligood household is the beginning of our cloth diapering! We did the cloth diaper trial through The Natural Baby in Athens and got to try several different types of diapers for only $10. We keep and pay for the ones we like and return the ones we don't at no charge! I was pretty certain I knew which ones I wanted to use, but it was still helpful to do the trial, and I learned more about different types of diapers! I'm hoping to share a few thoughts about the ones we liked and didn't like for any of you who are considering it. I highly recommend it! It is no extra inconvenience except a load of laundry every couple of days, and so much more cost efficient! Plus, he looks so darn cute in them.

"I sleep so well in my cloth diapers!"

"Mom! Why didn't you let me wear these before?!"

Ignore the Martha Washington hair. Look at the adorable baby bum.

And a bonus picture from today, right before we left for church:

Stay tuned for more updates from Albany!

Happy days

Jonathan turned one month old Wednesday, slept 8 hours straight last night and just smiled three times in a row at me! I'm a happy mommy.

Jonathan Miller, Jr. (Part 3)

After my water broke/was broken, I felt pretty "gushy" and don't think I moved from the bed any more. (Maybe once to use the restroom or something.) Every time I moved it felt like fluid would come out of me. An interesting fact that I didn't know is that even after your water breaks, you continue to make amniotic fluid, so there's no such thing as a "dry labor." Dr. Goggin said some women worry about that, but it's not possible. I hadn't even thought of that (I hadn't thought of lots of things it seemed!), so I wasn't worrying. Still good to know.

I had decided beforehand that I would prefer to labor as naturally as possible (even though I was being induced), so I wanted to try to do it without an epidural. As a soon-to-be pharmacist and pharmacist's wife, I am not against all drugs, but I thought that I would prefer to be a little more mobile after the delivery and I confess that needles (especially ones stuck into your epidural space!) can creep me out a bit. I think I also saw it as a bit of a challenge. I wanted to see if I could do it. All that being said, I knew it was best to keep an open mind and be flexible, because I'd never done this before and didn't know how it would feel! My "safety net" was Nubain, which is a type of opioid often used for pain in labor.

Post-puncture of my amniotic sac, it didn't take 30 minutes for my contractions to become much more noticeable. This is probably the point where I closed my eyes and hardly opened them until it was to see my sweet baby. As soon as I felt a couple of these contractions, I turned to Jon and said, "I want some drugs." So my wonderful nurse Kellie came and gave me half a dose of Nubain and it almost immediately made me relax and feel pretty sleepy. (I've never had anything more than ibuprofen, so this stuff was great!) I was happy it worked so well and thought it would be relatively easy to get through the rest of labor (little did I know that I was still 8+ hours away from being done!). The rest of the day is pretty much a blur. I would fall asleep between contractions and wake up to squeeze Jon's hand and breathe through another one. I remember telling him one time when he came close to coach me through another one that I didn't want to smell Cinnamon Roasted Almonds on his breath anymore.

I continued to get a half dose of Nubain every 30 minutes to an hour throughout the day, but it eventually lost its relaxing effect and wasn't helping as much as before. The most difficult thing was to relax through contractions, and my sweet husband was doing a great job, but finally I called for Kellie to come and coach me through them. I guess it's easier to do when you've been through it before. Jon said he was glad she could help because he couldn't bring himself to soothingly say things like "Okay, now exhale and push all of that tension away... Breathe, and let relaxation come over you." It felt like an intense yoga class.

A little before 4:30pm, I started feeling more pressure with each contraction, and Kellie checked me again and said I was almost fully dilated! I was so glad to hear it, because I was exhausted and my whole body was shivering and shaking - kind of like after you've done squats for 4 hours at the gym. (Not that I've ever actually done that, but it's what I imagine it would feel like.) She asked me if I wanted to try a few practice pushes, so I layed back and the nurses tried to teach me how to push. So many people had told me that it felt so good when they finally got to push. I did not feel the same way. It took me several tries to get the hang of it, and the first couple of pushing contractions, I projectile peed all over everything. (It's true that you don't care what people think of you at this point.)

Somewhere in this time period I remember saying I wasn't sure I could do it anymore (C-section, please?). Our birthing class instructor had told us that when you reach that point of feeling incapable, you're in transition and you're really close! That didn't necessarily comfort me in the moment, but at least I knew it was coming to an end. After 3 or 4 practice pushes, Dr. Goggin came in and they set everything up for delivery! That probably would have been neat to see everything (well, except for the very large fishook they use to put you back together), but my eyes were still closed at this point. Pushing was strange because it didn't feel like I was making any progress. I had to trust them when they would say that the baby was moving farther down. Dr. Goggin approached me after pushing for awhile and told me that he'd known beforehand but didn't want to worry me, and that he was going to have to do an episiotomy. This word seemed so terrible to me prior to that day, but I trusted him and told him to do whatever he needed to to get him out. I didn't feel the incision too much.

After about an hour of pushing, they told me they could see his head and that I was almost there! This was definitely the most uncomfortable part because the doctor had to reach in and help him come out. Eek! But as soon as his head was out the rest of him came very easily and then there was a sweet baby boy in front of me!!

Jonathan Miller Alligood, Jr. had made his entrance!

He hardly cried and just looked around at everybody like he was very curious. This is what my mom said I was like, so maybe he'll take after me. :) Dr. Goggin took his time cleaning him off and checking him out. It was very sweet, but I was ready to hold my baby! Jon cut the cord and then I finally got to hold my sweet darling. He was perfect and so handsome. :)

I wish I could say that our sweet cuddling eclipsed any remaining pain, but I definitely still felt all of my stitches which was bearable but pretty uncomfortable. The uterus massage afterwards is anything but a day at the spa. BUT, I did have a sweet baby boy and Jon and I were the happiest parents in the world. :)

Our first family photo!

In the nursery after his first bath

Jonathan Miller, Jr. (Part 2)

I certainly didn't volunteer for it, but I learned a good lesson throughout the pregnancy. The decisions that people make concerning birth and parenting thereafter are personal ones that they chose based on their individual situations. So any differing opinions held by others are best left unspoken. (Unless the child is endangered of course... Which, I might add, is rarely the case.) :) Our situation was a rather unique one, I guess, and our choices may have seemed unconventional to some, but it worked for our family, and that's all that mattered to me.

So you already know about the part of the story where we became pregnant unexpectedly and then had to move to Albany when I was 8 months along. So problem #1 with this scenario was that I love my Athens doctor Tom Goggin. We've learned that there are many wonderful physicians in Albany, but it's difficult to form a bond with a new OB in a matter of weeks. Can I get an amen, moms?

Problem #2 was that Jon was starting his residency on July 2. I was due on July 6. Our families are also 3 1/2 hours north of Albany which is overcomeable, but inconvenient nonetheless.

So... The plan was to pray that Baby Jonathan (although no one knew his name at this point) would come early on his own, because ideally I wanted a totally natural labor. I fully believed that the Lord could do this, but if He didn't, then we had decided to drive to Athens to induce. We were hoping to deliver in Athens either way. If my water broke in Albany we were gonna drive to Athens! I know; we are some crazy kids. I'll admit I did question whether or not induction was ok, because I didn't want to ask God for something and then go and do it anyway if He said "no." So I prayed about that too, and He gave me a peace about it, so that became our plan.

I was able to finish my first rotation without any problems. The staff at the home infusion pharmacy where I was doing my rotation was mostly women, and they all got a kick out of analyzing the daily evolution of my pregnant waddle. One thoughtful nurse even offered to strip my membranes to make me go into labor. (Thanks, Mandy! ;))

We picked a weekend that fell between finishing my rotation and Jon starting the residency and planned to head to Athens for the Big Day. I had a doctor's appointment Thursday afternoon, and I was already 2 cm dilated and "very effaced" as Dr. Goggin said. Even though I knew this didn't necessarily mean labor was imminent, I was encouraged that at least my body was getting ready, so the induction wouldn't be a horrible idea. My prayers that my baby and my body would be ready seemed to be getting answered!

As it turns out, our friends Mark and Emily were getting married that weekend, so we went to the wedding, Jon looking so handsome and intelligent with his new Pharm.D., and I, in all my sweaty pregnant glory. We were hoping I could dance my way into labor, but the not-so-subtle hints to my uterus failed to make their point. So I just looked very silly and conspicuous for a few hours. Oh, well!

Before the wedding. Photo by Betsy Chambers

My induction was scheduled to begin Sunday night, so we spent the rest of the weekend catching up with people and getting ready. We were supposed to get to the hospital at 6pm Sunday evening, but my thoughtful husband called ahead of time and there were no rooms available! So we waited until we heard from the nurse again and finally headed over to Athens Regional a little before 8pm.

Right before we left for the hospital! Photo by Dad

It's kind of weird going into the hospital very pregnant, but not in labor, knowing that you're going to have a baby sometime in the next day or so! We unpacked our stuff (they'd probably never seen so many snacks) and I changed into my labor clothes. I've since discovered that you can buy cute little gowns that are as convenient as the hospital gowns, but not so "air conditioned" in the back and come in all sorts of adorable fabrics! (duly noted for Baby Alligood #2)

Here, I am modeling the not-cute hospital gown. Design by Athens Regional Medical Center

The nurse hooked me up to the fetal monitor and I could see the baby's heart rate as well as a nifty graph of my contractions (I was already having them but couldn't feel it!). She also hooked me up to some IV fluids (lactated ringers to be specific for my Pharm.Dawgs) and penicillin - I'd never had an IV before! (And for those of you wondering, no, I did not pass out.) The nurse came back in around 9pm and checked my cervix and placed the Cervadil. I was still only 2 cm dilated (3 days later), so I was a little discouraged that I hadn't progressed, but the nurses all seemed optimistic about me having a quick labor (that didn't really happen, but it was a nice thought!)

I decided not to use a picture of my actual suppository. You're welcome.

Cervadil is typically placed the night before to begin dilating the cervix (hence the name), and Pitocin is started in the morning. Some women, however, can begin having strong contractions from the Cervadil alone. So of course, I could hardly sleep while waiting for "real" contractions to start. They started getting noticeable around 12:30am, and I woke Jon up from his uber-comfy couch-bed thing. I think I was mostly a little bored watching the contraction graph by myself and wanted some company. So we started practicing some of the labor techniques from our class (the bouncy ball, middle-school dancing, etc.). I didn't realize that not all the L&D rooms at Regional have a tub to labor in, so I was kind of disappointed that mine didn't.

Around 3:30am, I was having to focus a bit more with each contraction, so I called the nurse to come remove the Cervadil. Dr. Goggin had told me to do so when the contractions started getting stronger. When she removed it, some of my mucous plug came out with it, and the rest came out while I was bouncing on the labor ball a little bit later. Making progress! I kept having pretty regular contractions for a few more hours, and Mom came to hang out at the hospital. Dad came by eventually too, and brought Jon a Chick-fil-A biscuit. I was NPO (i.e. being intentionally starved by the hospital staff), unfortunately, so I just chomped obnoxiously on my ice chips.

The contractions weren't getting any more intense and eventually waned by 7am or so. The nurse came in and started the Pitocin and told me Dr. Goggin would come by in a little bit to break my water. In hindsight, I wish that I had asked them to try breaking my water to speed labor up before beginning Pitocin, but oh well. Dr. Goggin came in a little after 8am and broke my water, which was not the most pleasant experience of my life. It was uncomfortable and the warm fluid gushing out feels weird and gross so I don't think I got out of the bed again after that.

After my water was broken things started to get a bit more intense! Part 3, coming soon! (I promise there will not be 18 installments.)

Jonathan Miller, Jr. (Part 1)

There are so many details that happen in the labor and delivery process, so I hope I'm writing this in enough time to remember the good stuff. Thanks to my sweet husband for recalling the details that have become blurred to me by the pain. :)

First a little family history...

The Alligood Family Timeline:

August 9, 2010  We started dating.

March 3, 2011  Jon proposed. I said yes.

August 12, 2011  We got married.

November 9, 2011  This happened:

The Publix brand is very reliable as it turns out. Don't waste your money.

Jon was very excited, which was good, because I was having more of a freaking-out emotion.

We had talked so much about wanting kids but felt like we needed to wait since we were both still in school. Not to mention the fact that we were probably still living off of leftover wedding food when this kiddo was conceived. However, we learned the truth of Proverbs 16:9 - "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." And Jon and I believe wholeheartedly that His ways  are always good, so we trusted in that.

But first I had to freak out a little bit. We were both in school, I was months away from starting pharmacy school rotations (i.e. paying tuition to work full time), we were moving 3 1/2 hours away from our families (and free childcare) before the baby was due, and we hadn't even been on our belated honeymoon yet. All that aside, though, there was the fact that there was now a child inside of me and there was only one (technically two) way for him to come out!

Which leads us to June 24, 2012...

[to be continued]

Taking Our Vitamins

After getting off to a rough start this morning/last night, Jonathan and I decided to be productive and go for a walk. It felt absolutely wonderful outside and he slept like a pro. Since the poor little guy doesn't get out much, a healthy dose of Vitamin D was in order.

"Geoffrey" the Giraffe tagged along!

Special thanks to Self-timer and the Mailbox for capturing this memory.

Yesterday was a Good News kind of day: we found out that my rockstar husband is now a licensed pharmacist! Way to go, babe! Those board exams are a doozy - not looking forward to taking them myself next year...  We also got fantastic news from Jon's mom, my "mother-in-love," that the breast cancer has not metastasized! She has been such a trooper through this journey and I'm so glad she's my baby's grandma!

Last night Jon and I accidentally fell asleep at 9:30 and I woke up a little while later and went in to feed the baby and change his diaper. ... We finally got in bed after cleaning up poop from the changing table, linens on the changing table shelves, the floor, ourselves, and the poor baby. I was in a foul mood to say the least (how early do babies start picking up on the words you say?). He woke himself up again last night after rolling over onto his back... I'm thinking I'm going to have to start swaddling him to see if that helps. Anyone else had this problem? I'm taking suggestions.

As most of you know, Jon is doing a Post-graduate Year 1 (PGY1) Pharmacy Residency at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital this year. For a little bit less pay, he's getting additional training while working as a hospital pharmacist and will be certified to teach and able to sit for additional certification exams after this year is over. So far he is loving it. Getting a job as a "clinical" pharmacist in most places these days requires residency training, and after spending several years working in retail pharmacy, he decided he wanted to have other options. This particular program has been such a Godsend because his boss is a strong believer (and actually goes to our church), and has nine children, so he has been very understanding of our situation. It's going to be a busy year full of hard work for both of us as I go back to "work" in September to complete my 4th year rotations, but we are excited to see how the Lord continues to provide!

I have been inspired by my friend Laura's blog to record baby Jonathan's birth story. Birth stories, I've realized, somewhat take the place of love stories after you become a mom. (Most) moms love to hear others' stories and share their own experiences. Plus, it's good to write something down before you manage to (successfully) forget it all, which I think is necessary if you want to have subsequent children. :) So stay tuned for a blood and guts kind of post coming soon! ;)

Day #21

As I sit down to write this, I've just gotten back from remedying an epic afternoon nap interruption. Jonathan has somehow acquired the art of rolling over occasionally -- but only when he's supposed to be asleep. Despite the fact that we signed our life away at the hospital saying we would only put him to sleep on his back, we are tummy-sleepers here. (I realize this can be a polarizing topic, but I do have good reasons -- the best of which is that he sleeps much better that way!) Thus, the rolling over phenomenon during naptime. The first time he did it, we found him peacefully asleep on his back and it never woke him up. The last two times however, it has woken him up and he promptly lets us know by screaming bloody murder. Today was a real kicker because he proceeded to have a poop explosion after rolling over which then leaked all over him and his sheets. (Anyone want to come do laundry for me? It would be at least a 20-hours a week position.)

On a happier, less-gross note, my sweet baby is 3 weeks old today! I can hardly believe it.

"Thoughtfully pondering my 21 days of existence."

We got to go to church for the first time yesterday! (And we were even on time!) Jonathan did great. I took a page out of our friends', the Murrys, book and held him in my Moby wrap the whole time. It worked well because it kept him quiet and asleep and protected him a bit from the Big Bad World of Germs. (If you know my husband and me at all, you know I say that somewhat mockingly.) But seriously, we are trying to be careful because of the health insurance situation (or lack thereof, rather). Getting out and being able to see some of our new church friends did wonders for my sanity though. They were so excited to meet our baby and we had so many offers to help and bring us meals! I kept asking Jon, "Why are these people acting so genuinely nice and unselfish? They hardly even know us." And he truthfully answered, "Because they love Jesus and want to serve the Body of Christ." And even though I already knew that, it is so mind-blowing to me to see how the Lord provides for His children. It's very often not through the people who you feel "owe" you, or that you've invested in. His "economy," as my mom calls it, is a mysterious and humbling thing. And a huge reminder of how trustworthy and faithful He is. I'm thankful for the chance to learn these lessons again and again.

The next big event on our calendar is the wedding of our dear friends Maryanna and David! We are so stinking excited for them to get married. This weekend we'll be traveling to Statesboro to celebrate, and Baby Jonathan gets to spend some quality time with my parents, "Cap" & "Suzie!" They'll be meeting us there to take care of him while Jon and I attend to wedding duties. Should be a fun time for everyone!

Splish, splash, I was takin' a bath!

Tonight Jon and I enjoyed torture session #2 (i.e. bathtime) with our son. He is very much a stereotypical boy - enjoys getting messy and hates cleaning up. Witness the pictures.

Our little shark!

Happy to be with Dad!

We were so blessed to have a delicious meal brought to us tonight from our friend Sandi from church. For dessert she made this adorable cupcake bouquet! So cute and tasty!

Speaking of church, we have been attending Flint River Bible Fellowship, and love the church body there! They have been so wonderful and welcoming to us and our new little son.

http://www.frbf.org/ - check it out!

Our Very First Hump Day (alone)

Jonathan must be plumb tuckered out from our exciting one-outing day today because he's currently screaming in his crib fighting against everything to go to sleep. (note the sarcasm) We did get to leave the house today to run by the doctor's office and get good news that he's back up to birth weight! Good job, squirt.

Since not too many interesting things happened today (unless you want to hear about what we ate and how many diapers I changed?), I thought I'd just post a couple pictures from a few days ago.

Here is what we ended up doing over his crib in the nursery. For someone who is not at all very crafty, I felt very successful with my Hobby Lobby purchases and utilization of leftover spray paint from the glider Jon and I redid. I just used those paper mache letters with a coat of paint and open picture frames (all on sale, I might add!).

This is one of my favorite pictures of the little guy. He clearly takes after Jon and me because this was just after I fed him one morning and he was blissfully happy. (I think I even see a dimple!)

That's all for now, folks!

Wife, Mom, Student, and ...Blogger?

Well, friends and family, I have succumbed to accept the faddish (or sneakily narcissistic) role of blogger. I have to admit that my main motivation was to be able to post as many photos and stories of our adorable little boy without having all my friends unsubscribe from me on facebook (which is the convenient and politically correct action now, as opposed to offensively de-friending someone like back in the old days). Being three and a half-ish hours from home and our parents now, it is difficult to make sure that everyone is able to keep up (as much as they want) with what's going on with The Alligoods. So... This is my (hopefully) unobtrusive way of allowing said people to get a peek  into our whirlwind South Georgia life.

I can't promise that I will be entertaining (my family has a [short] running tally of the times I've ever been funny), or post uber-artsy pictures (in fact, you may laugh at my attempts), or even post regularly (I have a new baby, ok?). But, I think that my subject matter (namely, my wonderful husband and precious son) is quite remarkable, so hopefully that will redeem any blogging faux pas I may commit.

Enough with the intros.

Today was a rather uneventful day. Sort of by accident. We've been doing pretty well, I think, with getting into our routine, and Jonathan has been sleeping well for a two week old. I've only been getting up once during the night to feed him, until last night when he slept from 9:30 until 10, only waking up at 4! I felt like a sloth when I rolled out of bed at 10 to feed him, and although it was weird getting started so late, it felt amazing to sleep that long. (Thanks, buddy!)

Tonight after dinner, Jon and I took him on his first walk around the neighborhood in his little stroller! (We got the Britax B-Agile to go with his carseat and we love it!) He pretty much slept the whole time (even though it was supposed to be "awake time") but I hope he enjoyed getting out of the house! That's quite a treat for him these days since we're pretty much just keeping him home until Jon's insurance through the hospital kicks in. Kind of scary not having health insurance for him, but we've tried every option, and none of them would be available until August 1st, so hermits we shall be. (You can pray for us!)

I'm sure I will think of interesting things to tell soon, but right now I have a couch date with my husband and The Office reruns. Goodnight, cyber-world!

** Props to Abby Bryant for naming the blog!