Update!

Apparently having a newborn consumes all of your time and energy and I haven't had the urge to blog. I'm sorry! I hope to get into some type of routine soon! First let me start off by telling you how breast feeding is going. I'm off the meds and Donnie is latching on! I haven't gave him formula since Saturday! We are taking it one day at a time. Yesterday we went to the breast feeding clinic and they answered so many of my questions. It felt good that things I thought I was doing right were confirmed (mommy intuition kicking in!). I'm also pumping to build a supply and giving him two breast milk bottles a day (from the advice of the pediatrician). Luckily he doesn't seem to have any nipple confusion and takes them both. I know all mom's feel this way but Donnie is one smart baby, especially since he's considered a preemie he does things a full term baby should do. For instance I was told that it may take until he was "term" (which would have been Dec 11th) or even until his due date before he may be able to latch and breast feed correctly. Well so far my son has had no problems! He's amazing and I think he knew how important it was for mama to have this bond with him. Again I want to say thanks to all my readers for encouraging me, giving awesome advice and the whole nine!

Pity Party

Yep I'm having one right now. I read all the comments from you ladies with awesome advice, along with speaking with some other ladies who were successful after delayed breastfeeding. So why am I upset? Well I brought the Breast Flow bottles hoping he would take to those, well so far it has been a total bust. I originally started with Playtex Drop Ins and I think he is used to that nipple. See Donovan is a lazy baby when it comes to eating, which is normal for preemies. I understand that they get tired fast. However he also is a greedy baby! He sucks so fast and hard like he's never eaten in his life! It's the funniest thing ever but since I've tried to introduce the Breast Flow bottle it has become a real task. He will take the bottle but only drink about 1 oz and he's over it.

According to his pediatrician he should be drinking 2-4 oz, (which he would do with the other bottle) so I can't help but think it's the bottle and the last thing I want is for him not to eat enough. So I'm lost! I don't know if I continue with the Breast Flow bottles, hoping it'll get better or do I just switch back to the Playtex ones which I know he likes (this is where I need help/advice). I guess seeing him not take to the Breast Flow bottle makes me think he'll never latch on to me. This causes me so much stress!

I've been crying all night because it seems like nothing is going right. I've been trying to take everything in stride and remain positive but my delivery was a difficult one, definitely nothing like I imagined. Yes I know things don't always go as plan, and I'm pretty good with rolling with the punches but it seems like I can't catch a break. I don't think anyone understands how important it is for me to breast feed. I always intended on breastfeeding that I never looked up information about formula feeding while pregnant. I "tried" to prepare myself that breastfeeding isn't always easy, so I took classes and tried to do as much research as I could. I'm not judging those who do but some don't even consider breastfeeding and to think that I want to and it's so difficult for me is just upsetting. I just emailed the lactation consultant who held my breast feeding class for advice. I plan on scheduling an appointment with the clinic as soon as I'm done with my medication. That's some good news I can share, I went to the O.B. yesterday and my blood pressure is coming down. One of the medications I'm on for seizures she said I can stop taking once I run out ( which will be in about four days). Then she plans on weaning me from blood pressure meds starting next Tuesday. I guess that's something to be happy about seeing as how I thought I'd be on those meds for about a month.

Again  I want to thank all my readers for commenting. I also want to give a special thanks to Alex and Mrs. W for giving me as much advice as possible. All of my readers ROCK! It's amazing how I was a total wreck at the beginning of the writing this post and now I feel relieved. I really needed to get that off my chest! Once again I do plan on sharing my birth story. I honestly think that I'm avoiding it because I don't like to think back on what happened, especially since the only part of it that went right (good, great, perfect) was delivering Donovan, which is the most important part of course. In due time I will share it all in full detail. For now I'm trying to get over this hurdle and get some type of normalcy back.

Don't Jump Ship!

Because I had the baby! Gumdrop was born November 24th at 12:19 pm. Although 5 weeks early he weighed 7 lbs. 2 Oz. Pretty great weight for a 34 wk 5 day gestation baby. Unfortunately we have yet to leave the hospital and it's not due to him being a "preemie", which I think is too general of a term to use because he doesn't fit those "characteristics". Nope we are still here due to mama. I'm have some complications due to Pre E (I'll explain later on) and now the Docs are trying to get my blood pressure down as well as liver enzymes. If your on Facebook, congrats are welcomed but please don't mention anything about me still being here/ or my condition. Weird I know I'm sharing information with the "world" but I wanna stay "private" on there. Don't ask just roll with it lol! So now is the time I'm asking my readers for positive vibes that my body goes back into working order and I'm released. I leave you with a picture of Gumdrop or should I say:

PROUD TO INTRODUCE DONOVAN NOAH

Can't say how soon I'll be back but don't leave us now it's just getting good!

ULTRASOUND & GENDER REVEAL

I don't know if I mentioned in my previous posts what we are having but I may as well do it now! I had an ultrasound on July 28th due to what I thought was spotting (trust me every little thing freaks me out while pregnant). I had my cervix checked...it was perfect! The tech then performed the ultrasound. Gumdrop popped right up on the screen, moving away! It was the best sight I've ever seen. Our first ultrasound was done at 7 wks so the baby literally looked like a peanut, but today everything was more pronounced!

               Closeup of Gumdrop's precious little face!

Profile and Body shot...look at that tummy!

17wk 5d

And last but not least....

 The Money Shot!! It's a BOY!!!

When the tech showed us a tear rolled down my face. I was having a boy and soo many emotions crossed my mind. I always had the feeling that it was a boy up until about a week before when I thought it may of been a girl. I was overwhelmed with joy but most importantly our baby was healthy! Now we just had to figure out the name!

Is someone in there?

The first time I felt gumdrop (by the way that's his nickname) it was the weirdest, most awesome feeling ever. I was slightly freaked out because for one this is my first pregnancy and two I didn't know what it would feel like. I was laying in bed one night and it felt like something had ran across my lower stomach. Me having a phobia of spiders thought it was one and starting swiping at my belly lol! Gumdrop probably thought I was nuts haha! Then I felt it again, it was like tickling but from the inside. After feeling it for about 30 seconds I got weirded out and jumped up, mind you my husband was peacefully in his state of hibernation during all of this commotion and didn't budge one bit! I think I scared the baby because after that he was done for the night. I guess he said "I'm done playing with you humph!"

Sharing the News

I decided to wait until Mother's Day to tell my family the news. It was the longest 2 weeks ever! I made a montage of pictures I had recently taken at photo shoot and at the end I added the pic of the tests and this little mosaic

Of course once the slide show came to the end my Mother jumped up and down crying! My father was still confused saying "What did I miss" lol! After she explained they gave me hugs and we shared some laughs and a few tears. Now that the immediate family was out the way next was the extend family but that wouldn't be for awhile, seeing as though I was only six weeks on Mother's Day I wanted to wait until I was out of the first trimester before telling others.

First Comes Marriage...

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage! As you can see from the revamp of my blog, Motherhood has been added to the mix. That's right I'm expecting!! Mr. Motown & I are so excited. This is our first baby so tons of emotions and thoughts are running through our brains. I found out April 25th, after my period was a few days late. I had tested the week before and it came back negative so I had thought oh we'll just try again next month. Mind you this was our first month of trying and I had just gotten off the pill the month prior. Well something wasn't right. It kept feeling like my period was about to come because I was cramping but it never showed. That's when I decided it was time to test. As I waited I was thinking I doubt it'll be positive, my period must be late since this it the first month off the pill. Well I glanced over and saw this...

In order of how I took them. Of course I had to take three just to make sure ;) From that moment on I knew my life would never be the same and I was excited for the journey I was about to embark on.