Thursday, June 16, 2011

Things I've learned so far from being a Mom

1. Having a messy house is not a big deal
2. How to have ten minute showers
3. How to get ready for the day in half an hour
4. Walks preserve sanity, even if they must be taken in Walmart
5. Giggles are the sweetest sound in the world
6. Pacifiers are a blessing and a curse
7. It is possible to function on less than 5 hours of sleep
8. Shots are traumatic for both mom and baby
9. Hairspray for Lily's hair is not a good idea
10. It's ok for babies to cry
11. I finally understand how much my mom loves me
12. Being a mom is a blessing!!

I'm so thankful for the blessing to be a mom. It's definitely challenging, but so worth it. Lily is growing and changing so fast. It has been fun to see her learn new things!! I will post again soon with updated pictures and what we've been doing for the last four months!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

*Lily Jean Loubet*

So it's been quite awhile since I've posted!! We have a new addition to our family! Lily Jean Loubet was born on February 3rd 2011 and weighed 7 lbs 15 oz! She is an angel and we are so happy to have her in our family:) Labor was not as horrible as I thought it would be. I thought that I was going to have a very long delivery, but fortunately my water broke at 7am and we had the baby by 11:55! And may I just say that I. Love. Epidurals. Man, those things are from heaven!! It made the labor experience so much more pleasant. I was able to talk and joke with Luis and just enjoy being with him before our little one arrived. After it wore off was a different story, I had a pretty hard recovery. Since she was so big, and I'm so small...she tore me up pretty bad and I lost a lot of blood. They had to stick a catheter in me after the epidural wore off and I was so swollen that they couldn't figure out where it was supposed to go in. That was a pretty horrible experience! I was so glad that my mom and Luis were there to help me with the baby and everything. My mom stayed with us the first week and then Luis missed work for a few days and helped me after she left. After Luis went back to work, I got the baby blues pretty bad and my mom came back up and took me to St. George for another week to help out. I didn't realize how hard the baby blues were going to be. I would just start crying for no reason and after I got started, I wouldn't be able to stop haha. It was a lot worse when I didn't get any sleep. I was also really struggling with breastfeeding. I got Mastitis in my left breast twice, and then because I was taking antibiotics, I ended up getting a yeast infection in my left nipple so it was really painful to breastfeed on that side. I was at the point where I would dread her waking up because I knew she was going to want to eat. Then to top it off, she started eating every two hours! I was so tired and sore that I would just cry every time I had to feed her. Finally, my mom told me that if I absolutely hated it, that I could formula feed. She said it was more important for me to love my child than for me to breastfeed. I really really wanted to breastfeed because I know that it's a lot more healthy for the baby. And being a dietetics major...they stress breastfeeding like crazy. How could anyone who studies nutrition, not breastfeed their child?! But I finally decided that I needed to be emotionally healthy to be able to love and care for her the way that she needs. Luis and I prayed about it and I felt reassured that she would thrive even if we switched her to formula. After I made that decision I felt so much better. I didn't have to be the only person to feed her! So that's my breastfeeding story. It still bugs me when people ask me if I'm breastfeeding, I feel like they are judging me when I tell them no. But in the end, that decision was between me, Luis and the Lord and I know that she is going to be just fine even though I decided not to. I'm feeling a lot better now and think that I'm finally over the baby blues. I still get really down and cry when I'm tired, but I would do that even before I had Lily haha. Anyway, here's some pictures of our sweet heart! Most of these are thanks to Kayla haha!

I'm not sure how she got this picture of her smiling but I love it!

All wrapped up like a mummy!! She hates being swaddled. She loves her hands and arms up above her head, but if we don't swaddle her then she sleeps horrible. It's for her own good and our sanity haha!
Aunt Mandi!
Her hair is crazy, I love it!! This is her hair after her bath.
Aunt Kayla and Uncle Niels came to Provo last weekend and came to see Lily. They had a lot of fun playing with her hair. Amazingly, she slept through the whole thing!!





This is Niels' Gordon B. Hinkley hair-do haha poor child.
Niels is going to be such a great dad! Already teasing haha.
Kayla kept me company all day and it was so fun to hang out with her:) She also made a bunch of cute little bows for Lily's hair!
I love this picture:)
We have to put socks on her hands or else she claws her face up pretty good.
Lily cuddling with Grandpa!
We're starting her out young. She's going to be a BYU girl!
On Valentine's Day, Luis went to Macy's and got me a bouquet of flowers and brought home a rose for Lily. He is such a great dad:) Lily was our Valentine this year!
My mom bought these pj pants for me in the hospital and then got Lily this Valentine's day outfit. I didn't realize it till that day, but we were twinners!! Her onesie matched my pants! And I still look pale and horrible even 11 days later haha.
I didn't realize what a transition having a baby would be. Obviously I knew it would be hard, I just didn't realize how hard! My whole days consist of taking care of her and then trying to eat and take care of myself in between. It's like a full time job that I never get a break from and don't get paid haha. But I can't even imagine not having her in our lives. It's almost like she's been here forever:) And when she smiles--like a real one, with eyes open and everything-- it makes the long nights and tears totally worth it:)