Basically, he hated it. His umbilical cord stump fell off on Thursday, which meant that we could actually put him IN the water (as opposed to just a sponge bath), but the way our little baby tub works is that there's a little hammock-like thing that he sits in while we wash him down. I've never given someone/something a bath as quickly as we bathed Jude. 
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Jude's First Bath!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Home from the hospital
We came home on Monday the 22nd and so far, here's how it's gone:
Monday night: We tried putting Jude in the crib in our room. He hated it. Hated it. Even though Lindsay and I were trading off "shifts," I hated it, too. I don't think I slept AT ALL. Jude was not a happy camper and this meant that no one in the room was a happy camper, including Sully. I had my first freak out.
Tuesday: Linda, the home health care nurse came by and was sooooo great. I actually thought Lindsay might barricade the door so Linda wouldn't leave. She checked in with me, checked Jude's vitals, and spent a ton of time helping me troubleshoot some breastfeeding issues. Jude slept like a champ in the afternoon. I even took a nap. (Yeah that whole "sleep while he's sleeping" advice? WHERE do you find the time??)
Tuesday night: Basically a repeat of the first night, but I didn't have a breakdown. Lindsay even tried driving Jude around town to get him to calm down (which worked) and when they got back home, we tried having him sleep in his swing in the living room with one of us sleeping on the couch. Success! Too bad it only came partway through the night. I think we each got a couple of hours, but not much more.
Wednesday: Jude had another great day. I cried two or three times - I lost count. I've pretty much cried every day since he was born. Sometimes it's about happy things (like coming home from the hospital... I cried in the car and I could cry about it right now) and sometimes it's about total freakout things... like second-guessing myself on every single thing I do. Should I give him a pacifier? Should he sleep in his swing? Should I swaddle him now? Should he be wearing another layer? Is it bad that I can't wake him up to feed? Is he eating enough? My head echoes with all the advice I've been given, all the books I've read, all the professionals I've heard from and in the moment, it feels almost impossible to make a decision about what to do. Ok, so that's not just Wednesday - that's every day. I knew it would be hard, I just never knew it was going to be *this* hard.
Wednesday night: We have a good thing going on with Jude sleeping downstairs in the living room with the two of us taking shifts of sleeping upstairs in our bed and sleeping downstairs on the couch. It sucks that we aren't able to sleep in the same bed, but what doesn't suck that we're sleeping and not freaking out.
Thursday: Jude's first pediatrician appointment AND a blood pressure check for me. I was really nervous that we'd have to drive from one end of town to the other in order to make both appointments, but we did it and even worked in a quick trip to Target. Everything looked good for me, but Jude is borderline jaundice - not quite enough to warrant phototherapy, but enough that we needed to have blood drawn for a second time. Thursday was also the first day that I didn't cry!
Thursday night: Let's just say we're working on our shift method.
Friday: Jude power napped in the afternoon, allowing me an mom to go for some quick errands. I had a mental breakdown about breastfeeding. It's really not going as gloriously as I'd like. I know I have to figure out what works best for me and for Jude, but this has probably been the hardest part of being a parent so far.
Saturday: Jude is one week old! We headed to the lab for another jaundice blood test and his billirubin levels are headed down - great news. We're still keeping our eyes out, but we're breathing a little easier.
I can't believe our little guy is a week old! My mom has been here and it's been great to have the extra help, but it's also giving me an artificial idea of what it's going to be like when it's just me, Lindsay, and Jude. I know we'll be able to do it, but yikes! I'm not going to lie. This is a little rouch.
Soooo... We made it
After all the drama, we finally made it to the hospital! It sounds like they were a little short on staff, but my OB happened to be on call and worked her magic to get me in (thanks, Witzke!). We were finally told to come in on Friday at 2:00. So we got our bags in the car and headed off to our final lunch, and then, to the hospital!
They started me off in triage and hooked me up to the fetal heartbeat monitor and contraction monitor and two hours later, we were moved to our labor and delivery room (where I got my long-awaited-for giant water jug!). 
They started me on Pitocin and I responded with some stronger contractions, but was given a lower dose and some sleeping pills overnight so we could begin in earnest in the morning (mmmmm... sleeping pills.....).
The nurses were so fabulous and made us both feel all the great excitement of expecting Jude! If any of you are ever going to deliver at Park Nicollet Methodist, you are so lucky to have such great labor and delivery nurses. We were really lucky to have such wonderful people caring for us during this time (AND we were really lucky to have the Olympics playing NON-STOP!)
At 5:30 Saturday morning, the Pitocin was started again. I have NO concept of time from the day at all. All I know is that I was able to Skype with Katy at some point in the morning and I was super bubbly.
Eventually, the contractions got really intense. INTENSE! We tried several different positions and Lindsay was SO great about helping me through them all. Apparently I went through these ouchie contractions for about 6 hours (REALLY???? What was I thinking?!?!?!?!). Eventually, though, I'd had enough and I went for the epidural. And MAN was it great! I was actually able to sleep and rest a bit and even joke around with the nurse (she asked about my pain level before the epidural and I told her it was a 4. A 4? "No, I lied. It was like a 8 or a 9" She thought that was pretty funny). For those of you who have never had an epidural, it is basically like the numbing drugs they give you at the dentist, except it's over your whole lower two thrids of your body. WEIRD to reach down and feel your leg and NOT feel it on your leg.
After a quick bedside ultrasound, they realized the Jude was "sunny side up" - facing the wrong way. The idea was to flip me from side to encourage him to flip. Just a few minutes later they checked my dilation and the nurse announced that I was READY and Jude was facing the right way and READY and it was PUSH TIME!!!!!!!
The room started buzzing and all the Dr's and nurses started arriving for Jude's birthday! Once they got everything set up I got started with pushing and SEVEN MINUTES LATER.... Jude was born!!!!!! Before I knew it, there he was, up on my chest, crying and screaming, just as he should. Wow. THERE IS A BABY ON MY CHEST. THAT JUST CAME OUT OF MY BODY. AND NOW I AM HIS MOM. AND LINDSAY IS HIS MOM. WE ARE MOMS. HE IS A BABY!
So much of the rest of the night was a blur, but when the sun came up in the morning, WE HAD A BABY there with us! And LOOK at him!!!!!!
So in love!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Subject: He's Here!
From: Lindsay Hey
Sent: Sat, Feb 20, 2010 10:53 pm
Subject: He's Here!
Jude August Heyer is here! Day: February 20, 2010 Time: 9:14pm Length: 21" Weight: 8lbs 10 oz Everyone's doing great...only 7 minutes of pushing! He's been nursing for 50 minutes like a champ. We can't wait for him to meet all of our wonderful friends and family. If we've left someone out, it's totally inadvertant! Please pass this on to anyone we may have forgotten! All our love, Lindsay and Liz 
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Latest
 | Liz H |
The Latest
7 messages
| | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:11 AM | |
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| Lucinda H | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:15 AM | |
| To: Liz H | ||
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| Kathryn F | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:18 AM | |
| To: Liz H , Lindsay H | ||
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| Kathryn F | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:18 AM | |
| To: Liz Heyer, Lindsay Hey | ||
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| Kasey L | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 9:31 AM | |
| To: Liz H, Lindsay H, Ap | ||
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| Dean L | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 2:22 PM | |
| Reply-To: Dean L To: Liz H Aiiiiggghhhh!!! Fingers crossed that you don't get this email because you're on your way... | ||
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| Karen G | Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 3:14 PM | |
| To: Liz H | ||
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Such an agonizing wait...
My due date is one week from today, but after an ever-increasing blood pressure read on Tuesday, Dr. Witzke wanted me induced today with cervical ripening happening Wednesday night. So Wednesday night at 7 the hospital still hadn't called to tell me when they wanted me to come in. I finally called them and learned it's because they are so crowded that they couldn't fit me in. They were going to try again this morning (Thursday), but still full, and then again this evening but...... still no room. Lindsay and I have been just waiting on hold for over 24 hours now eating every meal out since we haven't kept anything in the house and haven't wanted to create any dishes. We've been having more "this is the last [fill in the blank] as a childless couple" false alarms than I can count. I know that waiting for labor or early labor can be just as agonizing, but I just needed to share with all of you! HOPEFULLY there will be room at the hospital tomororw morning, but at this point, I'm not holding my breath. Maybe that baby will come out on his own yet!
Monday, February 15, 2010
World Invitation
Dear Baby
I am officially inviting you to join us out here in the world. You're done cooking and I'm ready to go back to sleeping on my stomach. My Dr. has officially put me on bedrest so now all I have to do is watch the Olympics and wait for you. Don't get me wrong. I'm enjoying the medically mandated couch-sitting. But there are so many fun things we could be doing if you were here. Ok. Maybe things won't be so "fun" at first, but as great as bedrest+Olympics are, having you here would be waaaaaay better. So I just wanted to let you know that everything is all ready for you to come, we just need you.
Love,
One of Your Moms.
Here are some pictures of me waiting for you:
35 weeks - waiting for you in my pajamas
36 weeks - waiting for you in different pajamas
37 weeks - now you're done cooking, so I'm REALLY waiting for you (see how bored Sully is with waiting for you?)
38 weeks - waiting for you in the same outfit I was waiting for you in last week. Don't judge.
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