Reese Adaline Swann – Introducing Our Girl

Well friends, our little girl officially entered the world on February 21, 2019!  The fact that this post has taken so long to post is pretty much just proof of my current state of mom-life, haha!

I’ve tried writing quite a few times now, but somehow holding a little newborn in one hand doesn’t make for typing efficiently — who knew!? ;) At any rate, she’s napping now, and so I figured I would take a few minutes to share some of the questions that I get asked about most when it comes to motherhood and our little lady ;)  Here she is: 3 days old versus officially one month old!

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo
Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Doesn’t she look different already!? It’s crazy town!

I’ll also be sharing her birth story, since 935723 people have asked me about it, but I’m saving that for the end of this post, just in case that kind of thing grosses you out.  Though, I promise, I’m not graphic or an over-sharer, and honestly find our story to be kind of funny!

So here we go —

Reese was born at 10:21PM on February 21st, 2019 weighing 8 lbs 4 ounces and measuring 20 inches long!  The 21st was her due date and so she joined the 15% of babies that are born on their actual due date.  I immediately was concerned that she wasn’t actually mine, because I am either really early or late — never exactly on-time.

… then I remembered that the evidence was pretty irrefutable!

“How’s parenthood so far?”

Honestly, it feels equal parts new, equal parts just a normal part of our life! We’ve officially kept a tiny human alive for 4 weeks! Haha!

In my opinion, there’s a bit of a natural breakdown by week of how things feel.

Week one: a blur of healing, having visitors, and getting to know her. Add in the fact that you’re just kind of surprised that someone let you be parents, and take her home from the “hopital” (as my nephew calls it, which is also apparently where Reese lives!).

Week two: figuring out at least a tiny bit of a routine and what to expect (though newborns apparently like to throw you for a loop about 4 seconds after you think you’ve got something figured out!).  Also try to convince yourself to get out into the real world finally, and that you can deal with the whole feeding time out in public.

Week three: has been dedicated to getting back to more normal life for us, too! It’s included regular outings and commitments, not just staying holed up in the house!

Week four: stop sleeping in every day, you say? No thanks! … okay, okay, I guess I should start trying to get out of bed before 9 am.  Also, gas drops are a beautiful thing (for Reese, lol, not me)!!

… so by now it mostly feels like regular life, except for that I have another human with me pretty much at all times.  It’s the weirdest, but also the coolest!

“What’s your favorite thing about her at this stage?”

She is changing so quickly, but I think among my favorite things are: her facial expressions and the way she uses her hands.  They are both so dramatic that I find myself just cracking up all the time!  She’s also started to recognize us and track us a bit — it’s the sweetest thing! All in all, the best part of this stage though is that you can tell that she’s growing up and learning a little more each day!

“Do you want to just stare at her all day long?!”

** See above about funny facial expressions and dramatic hand motions.  Yes, is the undeniable answer — except for when she’s screaming at me.  Don’t you know, newborns don’t cry, they just shriek at you and only on occasion muster out a real tear ;)

“Have you been getting out of the house?”

Can I just exclaim a big “YES!” here? Life with a newborn feels a lot like eat, sleep, change, repeat with some crying (ie: shrieking) in between. It didn’t take long before I found myself starting to get more than a little stir-crazy, though the thought of going out was more than a little intimidating for me.  Note to my former, childless self, there are a lot of things to consider when taking a new babe out in public!  BUT, we’ve powered through and have been taking lots of walks at the park, have made trips to the grocery store, Panera, the mall, the post office, church, and to a few friends’ houses.  All-in-all, not too shabby ;)

“Are you starting to see a bit of her personality shine through?”

This one is hard to tell — she’s definitely already equal parts determined and laidback.  Does that equal her personality? I can’t tell entirely! However, I will say that she’s also overall a really content baby (KNOCK ON WOOD!), because even at night when she’s not sleeping, she’s not usually super fussy as much as she just wants to hang and be held.  Which is cute when you think about it not at 1am.

“Who does she look like?”

Well to be honest, the jury is a bit split on this one! A lot of people have told us that she looks like me… though Morgan likes to tell me that that’s because it’s a safer answer to say the mom ;) Lol! But, I personally think she’s a mix of us both.  The more she grows, the more she’s turning into her own little person!

“What’s one thing you can’t live without as a new mama?”

Hands down, the rock n’ play! Reese has really enjoyed that thing and it’s amazing how it settles her.  This week we also tried out her Solly Baby Wrap, and while I’ve admittedly only used it once, I have a feeling that it is going to be up in the tops of our favorite things! She loved it, fell right asleep, and I actually got some things done while she was in it. Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

 

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo
Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

 

… and before this becomes the longest post in eternity, I am going to skip down to sharing her birth story brought to you by popular demand :)  Can’t believe it was already four weeks ago! (*HOW?!*) Quit reading now if you hate laughing about birth!

 


 

The day before Reese was born there was a huge snow/ice storm.  I was having some weak contractions and cramping all day long, but nothing that stayed consistent.  I thought things were going to be starting soon, but didn’t want to psych myself out.  (I had watched Father of the Bride II that week and was positive that I was not going to be Annie, going to the hospital like 8 times for false alarms!)  Morgan also happened to be working which meant that he was gone for his full 24-hour shift, so I wanted to be really sure, if he was going to have to leave work.

One of the biggest questions I had in my pregnancy, I had was *how would I know* when I was in labor.  I asked my OB and she told me that when I had contractions that I couldn’t sleep through, I would know.

Early Labor —

Fast forward to 4:30 am on the 21st, and I woke up with painful contractions. I was definitely uncomfortable, so I did what any rational person would do — turned on the longest movie of all times in hopes that I would fall asleep during it.  Castaway it was! Much to my dismay, I couldn’t fall back asleep, and at 6:30 (just as the movie ended!) my water broke.  I called my practice and they told me to come on in to the hospital!

My next call was to Morgan who was about to be coming off his shift.  Just as he was about to press send on the text that said “Hey, I’m on my way home to sleep a few hours, since I was up all night,” he got the call from me saying that we needed to head to the hospital.  Talk about timing, huh?

At this point, while I was waiting, I was pretty much giddy still! I double-checked that I had packed everything in the hospital bag, grabbed a shower, and hung out with the pups.  When Morgan got home, he started getting ready to go, too, and we both attempted to eat some breakfast.  I got down a half a bagel before I just couldn’t anymore.  Before I knew it, we were taking one last picture together in the nursery, and then Morgan was clicking in the car seat base. We were off!

Sidebar: I was experiencing back labor and so it felt hard to distinguish what was a contraction and what was just the constant back pain.  You can imagine that this made for a delightful trip in the car ;)

By the time we got checked into the hospital, I was 2cm dilated and 100% effaced and Reese was sunny-side up.  I was so relieved that it was really happening and not just something I was hopeful for! By the time we made it back to our room and settled in with our doctor, I was 4cm!  Because of the back labor, my doctor asked if I wanted an epidural.  I was really set against it, mostly because I was fearful of all of the potential side effects, but the second time she asked (mind you, I had already been experiencing contractions for almost 10 hours at this point) I begrudgingly said yes. If I was in for another 10 hours of that pain, there was no way I could keep powering through.

The “Magic Epidural” —

We happened to be at the hospital at one of the most popular dates to have a baby apparently, so naturally, it took about an hour and a half longer before they were ready to put in my epidural.  When the anesthesiologist came in, you could tell that he wasn’t used to doing things in labor and delivery (Morgan and I guessed he was from the regular surgical floor!), and so he kept having to run back and forth to grab extra supplies.  As you might have guessed, it wasn’t very reassuring, and all I kept doing was praying that I wouldn’t end up with a weird side effect!

When he finally put it in and adjusted it correctly, it was instantaneously better! I couldn’t feel anything at all and all of the discomfort I had was finally at ease.  They also decided that with my epidural and the time that had lapsed that it was time to put me on some pitocin to get things speed up.  Seeing as both Morgan and I had both been up for a while at this point, we went ahead and caught some sleep! When we woke up next, my doctor came in and checked me and I was at 5cm.  We went back to sleep again, and woke up at 7cm!

At that point I decided I should ask for a lemonade pop and Morgan ate his dinner, while we were just waiting.  Soon after, I fell asleep for another few hours only to wake up and have the doctor tell me that I was 10cm dilated and -2 station. 

It was time to push!

Now’s about the time in the story where Morgan claims I was high.  I promise I don’t think I was actually high, I just was equal parts tired, giddy, and excited! We were about to meet our girl!!!  In between each contraction and push, I couldn’t help but find myself cracking up! I wasn’t in any pain thanks to what has since been referred to as the magic epidural.  Praise Lord!! I just kept saying that my face felt hot. LOL, probably why Morgan thought I was high!

20 minutes of pushing later and the little girl we had been praying for finally made her appearance and life has been sweeter ever since!

The last month with her has been so fun, and I can’t wait to see what this next one brings! Enjoy a tiny peek into some of the *rest* of my favorite photos of her! Xoxo!

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo
Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

Newborn Portrait's Photographer Lauren R Swann photo

 

Thank you to my sweet friend, Natalie, for the photos of the three of us!

Posted:

March 25, 2019

comments +

  1. […] you checked in to see Reese’s one month post, you were probably a little concerned that any of her updates were going to be real wordy. […]

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Wife, mama, wielder of light & joy, and capturer of moments.  I thrive off of conversation and genuine connection.  In between wrangling our kiddos, and hanging my husband, you'll find me dreaming up my next idea or creative endeavour.  It's these things that culminate to give my imagery a warmth and joy to them - the greatest compliment I could receive.

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