Liyah's first halloween

Even though liyah is only three months old I, for some odd reason had high hope for her for her first halloween experience. In my mind I was going to take her out to about five house get some cute pictures of her holding her halloween bag and then go home pass out candy while i ate hers. Sadly that isn't what happened. She defiantly didn't take a nap for some reason that day so when it came time to start getting her ready she was really cranky and over all just being a really big booger. I did get to take pictures but even that was too much for her because after 10minutes she passed out. 

                                             I was a 80's diva while she represented for the 70's

This is my brother and sister taking her trick or treating for me. It counts as trick or treating even if its at our own house right?

This is what happens to someone when they work so hard to take pictures.You just pass out. 

So after feeling sad that she wasn't going to make it outside. I decided not to dwell on it because I atleast got lovely pictures. So my sister and her friends were still getting ready to go out, they started taking pictures and i said to myself "hey im dressed up too i want so more pictures :-)". So these next pictures Liyah is totally knocked out in but i really wanted to be part of the crowd. You might wonder " Yvonne why didn't you put the poor baby down" and i will simply say "Do you want to deal with a cranky baby". My daughter likes to stay in the same position she falls asleep in. For example if your holding her and you try to put her down on the bed or something she will wake up five minutes later. So with that being sad i make sure shes were i want her to be when she passes out. 

From left to right: Alexis who is a hip hop dancer, Jessica who is a bumble bee and well you already know who I am. These our my little sisters. I know I know Im short don't judge me :-). 

                     C.J was farmer Joe. Why Alexis was all the way in no mans land,only she knows.

The extra people in this picture are my sisters friends. Why my sister insisted on wearing those boots only jesus could tell you. 

I love these pictures though because out of all the moving around I did and the laughter that was going on, this little girl was passed out and did not wake up until i decided to put her down. She doesn't realize that shes not very light at all. 

Halloween was very fun for me though. I stayed home with my mom and step dad and played Texas holdem passed out candy to little kids who were adorable. I need to add that there actually weren't that many kids for us this year,which was odd. I know my halloween night might not have sound that fun to some of you but it was a very nice night for me. Something about being a mommy has made me enjoy simple things more. I didn't care about not going to any parties or how uncool it sounded for hanging out with my parents. I was just happy i have pictures for Jaliyah so that when shes old she can look back and smile on. Something i know   I know I won't be doing for years to come is spending tons of money on costumes. Her outfit cost me like $5.00 and she looked fabulous in my opinion. There is no need to spend tons of money on at outfit thats only going to be worn for one day.

Yvonne

The great adventure of breastfeeding

So while your pregnant one of the big things you think about, well the big thing that i thought about was whether or not i will breastfeeding. I new that i was trying to go back to work after i had the baby but only part time. I was so torn because I wanted what was best for her so i wanted to breastfeed, but i new that if i bottled fed her it would be easier to go back to work. At the end of the day i went with what was best for the baby by deciding to breastfeed her. My idea was to atleast breastfeed for a month and try to get her use to formula the second month so we would 1) give her the nutrition that she needs for atleast a little bit of time and 2) i would be able to have other people watch her while i went back to work. What i didn't think about was whether or not my daughter would actually follow that plan. I don't know about your guys children or if you even have any but my child loves not going along with what i have planned and shes only three months, who knows whats going to happen when shes older. 
So breastfeeding isn't actually all that bad in my opinion. You seriously give your baby everything she needs in her food and you save so much money. You lose weight at a faster pace because the baby is just taking pretty much everything you eat, just like when you were pregnant. For me it didn't necessarily hurt really it was awkward at first and there was like a little bit of stinging involved but honestly that pain only last for a good week or so and dealing with labor and being pregnant was worse then that pain. The other good part for breastfeeding is at night time its so much easier to stick a boob in your child's mouth rather then getting up and trying to make a bottle. 
If you have the idea of doing half and half,meaning half breast milk half formula let me tell you now its way harder then the books lead you to believe. I tried with Jaliyah and let me tell you, that was not fun one bit. She gave me the worst stinky face i have ever seen in my life.and i have never seen my child scream the way she did when that formula hit her tongue. She was so use to what i was feeding her and i honestly didn't think it would be such a big deal. It was hard for me to try and feed her formula because deep down i new it wasn't any good for her. 
The downside about breastfeeding is trying to do this around company or in public. I'm not even going to lie after you have 20 thousand people in your crouch to help you deliver your child pulling your boob out in front of people doesn't really bother you. The thing that sucks is the people around you or the public. Luckily i have a very supportive family and a good support group so pulling out the boob does not faze them one bit. Its just annoying because people look at you funny if you want to feed your child like your doing something disgusting. It makes me mad. So instead of joying my time out i have to go put myself in the car or stay in a room by myself and its horrible and annoying. Good thing is that Washington state and maybe in other states made a law were you are allowed to breastfeed and nobody can do anything about it. No one can tell you to cover up and no one can kick you out for feeding or make you go to the bathroom or some other odd place.




Basically when its all said and done. Do your researcher and make sure you always try to do whats best for your child. There is always pro's and con's to everything. I can tell you that i love the decision that i made. Me and Liyah have the best bond i could ask for . Yes it takes longer to do things at time but i personally would rather take longer running errands or something along those lines then not try to breastfeed my child and give her the best that i can give her. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong if you can't breastfeed but in my eyes you should try or at least think about trying.






Yvonne

First week home

Being home for the first week was very scary,cool,and overall overwhelming. Thank goodness my was there to help me and my husband. I honestly don't know i would have done without her there. She made sure I had food, the house was kept up, and any questions i had about the baby she was there to answer. I loved it. It's scary when you have never had a kid because all you think about is how you don't want to break them or mess up. I was scared to do everything with liyah, even down to how to give her a sponge bath. I remember the first time i was actually left alone with her. Jason was at work and my mom was heading back home because she hadn't seen her husband in like a week. I actually cried. I was so scared. I had a c-section and couldn't do a lot. I wasn't allowed to even lift anything that is heavier then liyah. I was so nervous that something was going to happen and i wouldn't be able to take care of it. I really acted like i was ok but i was just so terrified. I can't even express how frightened i was. 
Having Liyah caused me to have so much more respect for single mothers. It's hard already when you have a spouse and a mother who helps out so much. I can't even imagine what it would be like doing this on my own. I want to really thank everybody who was there that supported me and help me get through a very new experience in my life. My close friends and family did a amazing job. When that first week was up everything just  kind of came to me. I actually feel really confident in my parenting skills this far. Don't get me wrong I still ask for  tons of advice but i have this little voice in my head that tells me what i should be doing and what i shouldn't be doing.
Since I'm past that first week im more at ease. The fact that im recovered from my c-section also helps a lot. My advice to new mothers or mothers to be.; don't ever feel afraid to ask for help. You honestly can't do everything by yourself and there is nothing wrong with feeling overwhelmed. Some things come naturally and other things are hard to understand its like someone is speaking German to you. Just breathe and know that its ok to make mistakes and that its ok to not actually know what your doing. As long as your doing the best you can and giving your child as much love and attention that your baby needs you should be well off, well hopefully.

First week home

Labor

Labor

Now i know every mom has their own labor story, but since this is my blog i thought it would only be right if i told MY story hehe yay.
So the baby was due August 2nd but of course she didn't come on time. The third of August came along and we had a doctors appointment. When I got checked to see how far along i was,it was exposed that i was already 3cm. It was exciting to find out because i thought i was having braxton hicks but it was actual contractions. So since i was dilated and i was over due my doctor thought it would be a bright idea to scrap my cervix. Let me tell you it didn't feel good. After that point i was having contractions, granted it didn't hurt in the beginning it was exciting to know i was in labor. 
My mom decided to come over the next day and start her stay so that when Jason was at work i wouldn't be home alone. On the third i was having contractions and they were about 8minutes apart they were getting a little a little bit more painful but i was still able to go to sleep peacefully. So the 4th comes around and my mom tells me that she wants me to have this baby so she takes me to the mall so i can walk around and she will hopefully pop out. Her idea did work kind of. My contractions by the end of that trip were coming a little harder which was a mix of emotions, half exciting the other half extremely nervous. Because I was in labor i decided not to eat because i heard you can throw up and all that good stuff and i didn't want to do any of that.  So by the end of the mall trip all i had was a piece of toast and a smoothie. The day was starting to come to a close and there was still no baby and my contractions were getting stronger. I was at 6minutes apart and i was just waiting until it finally made it down to 3minutes apart. Sadly that never came, i went through the whole night with really bad contractions that i maintained very well, but because they were so strong in my opinion i couldn't get myself to fall asleep. My mom and I spent all night trying to time them but the contractions would never become consistent or anything which was very frustrating. Finally 6:40am came along and i decided that i was just going to go in and just pray that they don't send me home.
When i got to the hospital i was in triage for about 20minutes,they checked the vitals and found out I was 5cm  dilated. I was so excited to find that out and one of the first questions out my mouth was "When can I get some drugs." Luckily,because i was dilated i was allowed to have them whenever I wanted them. My goal was to go as long as i could with out them so i took a narcotic that eased the pain first but didnt take it way completely and was able to doze off for about 20minutes or so. It started to wear off so then i decided to try the jetted tub which was super relaxing not painless but it also eased the pain. I was in there for a good hour. Let me tell you I wish i had one of those tubs at my house.

When i got out of the tub i got checked to see how far i was. I was 6 almost 7cm dilated which was exciting because to me this was going by very fast. So thats when i decided to get an epidural because since i was moving alone so swiftly and my water hadn't broken yet the nurse wanted me to be nice and drugged up so i wouldn't feel anything. She was my favorite. I was expecting the big needle in my back to hurt like crazy like everyone was talking about, but to be honest being in labor for so long was nothing compared to that feeling. So by the time i got the epidural it was like one o'clock i think. I just know i had been at the hospital for awhile already. After i finally got the medication in my system it was so nice to relax. I hadn't really had any sleep and if i dosed off it would only be for about 20minutes if that at a time. I had tons of family in the room with me and in the waiting room, It was really nice having all the support i was having. So i was moving pretty quickly when it came to dilating but when i got dilated at 9cm for some reason i couldn't get past that point. After waiting and waiting and waiting the doctor finally told me i had to get a c-section. The reason was because her head was so low that she was resting on my cervix and made it swollen making it harder for it to open up. I'm not even going to lie to you guys. I cried my eyes out. I had been in labor going on two days, it was nine or ten o'clock by the time they wanted to share this kind of news with me. I just have heard that women who get c-sections have a very hard time recovering and the idea of not being able to take care of my baby scared the living daylights out of me. After the doctor cracked a few jokes and my mom and husband made me feel better and reassured me that i wasn't being a failure i finally got ready for the procedure. They unhooked the good old drugs and pushed me down to the delivery room. I was so scared, I didn't know what to expect. I'm so thankful i had Jason by my side. I did NOT want to be in there without him. That was a horrible experience. They had me strapped down with no medication in my system yet because the doctor had to go run off and help somebody else first oh my geeze. The nurses were talking about shoes and stuff i didn't really care to hear about all i wanted was this pain to stop. So finally after the dotor was found we finally got this party started. They were giving me some kind of drug that was suppose to make me numb from the stomach down but because i didn't have any food in my system it made me through up a tad bit, which let me tell you is very hard to do when your legs are strapped down and you can barely turn to the side to do. So  after 30 thousand  attempts to makes sure i was numb, my child's delivery was under way. What ever drug i was on put me out of it so much oh my geeze. I tried to focus on Jason so much but my eyes couldn't really stay open. After about 15-20minutes you hear this baby start crying and I see Jason shoot up out of his seat. The nurse told me that the baby was finally hear and the first thing that came out my mouth was "It's still a girl right?" When i was pregnant i had a fear that i bought all this girl stuff and i would end up having a boy even though they told me i was having a girl. Anywho, i started crying after that comment. I just couldn't believe she was actually here. I couldn't hold her like i wanted to so the pictures we took we very awkward.  

Thats the best we could get. So you would think i would be very concerned about my child but the next question i asked the nurse when heading back to the room was "So can i eat now?" You guys just don't understand how hungry i was. Jaliyah Eileen Thomas was not born unitl 10:47pm. I went through two days of labor with hardly any food i was starving. It took a good 30minutes before the family was allowed into the room. I couldn't believe she was here or how pasty white she was, or how much hair she had. It was amazing jason didn't know what to do with himself, i loved it. The hospital was great, tons of family came to visit and friends also. It was all a blur i really tried to catch up on sleep but was hard with all the people who wanted to talk to me. It was annoying at time..the nurses coming in every hour and checking up on here and all the people trying to make me feel paper work out at like 8:30 in the morning. Because i was recovering so well i actually got to go home a tad bit early which was nice because i really wanted to be home, I hated just sitting in a bed all day with nothing really to do. We got there 7:00am Thursday Morning and was able to leave Sunday afternoon.




Yvonne

Trying something new

Liyah doing her kodak smile :-)

So this is defiantly something new that I'm trying. I love expressing myself and giving my two cents out to whoever will listen,so i don't know why the idea of writing a blog didn't come to me earlier. I want to make this blog so that i can express my journey through motherhood :-). I have so many stories and experience that i want to express and share, but i know that i cant put everything on my facebook.I want to encourage other moms that i know to express themselves also about similar things i might write about or to even start their own blog. Feel free to leave comments,advice,concerns,anything. I love hearing other peoples opinion, especially when its useful.






Yvonne