Alexis Isabella Lavallee

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Smiles

I get to enjoy this everyday!! My life is awesome! =)

Monday, December 27, 2010

Lexi's First Christmas

Grandma Lavallee and Uncle Jeff came to visit and spend Christmas with us this year. It was nice to have family but I admit, I'll be glad when it's just the three of us. We've only had 7 days together as a family since we've had visitors ever since she was born. Don't get me wrong, the help has been great but it's hard to get into a rythm.

Anyways...we had a very nice Christmas. Lexi got lots of presents and dinner was tasty and delicious even if I must say so myself.

Isn't she precious? I LOVED her in this cute little outfit!!


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Hi!!

My name is Alexis, but you can call me Lexi. I am one month old today and mommy can hardly believe it. I was born with my eyes wide open and I rarely shut them even today which makes mommy yawn alot. She mentions this thing called sleep and says she needs it but I think she's crazy. Who wants to sleep when there's so much to see and do?!

I was standing at one week and it's one of my favorite things to do besides eat. Speaking of my favorite things, I REALLY love bath time and being in the car. Some of the things I'm not a big fan of are getting my diaper changed and being dressed, but I am getting more tolerant of these tasks as I am learning they are necessary.

Here are some pictures of all of my cuteness for you to enjoy. Mommy is also including a video of some of my awake time from last night since this is how I spend most of my day.

P.S. Mommy wants me to apologize for the fact that all of these pictures are loaded in a funny order but I'm sure you don't care as much as she does. =)

This is me in rare form doing that sleep thing mommy talks about. It usually only happens after I've worn myself out from all of my exploring.


This is my Papa Gatliff and I adore him. He says the funniest things. I'm so glad he came to spend some time with me or should I say to spoil me in holds that mommy is to weak to do for an extended period of time. I love you papa!
This is mommy feeding me a bottle. She was devastated to learn she couldn't breastfeed after doing it for 3 weeks but I'm a happier baby now that I'm getting all of my nutrients and mommy can focus and getting healthy again too.

I love spending time in my Boppy. It props me up just right so that I can see more things.


Me and my Grammy Gatliff cheesing for the camera. I love her sooo much and was so happy she got to experience my birth. Plus her being here helped mommy out alot since she had some difficulty recovering and getting that sleep stuff.


Isn't this the greatest picture? I'm sooo loved. Mommy refuses to give up on trying to get Grammy and Papa to move here even though she knows it's a battle she can't win.


Look at me!! I'm such a happy and good baby. I love this little pink Winnie the Pooh outfit and my pink headband.


This is my mommy and me commemorating my one month milestone. She got a new haircut and we all like it.

Watch out world! I'm going to be mobile in no time. I've already rolled over a few times and surprised even myself. This is me attempting that roll over thing again. Practice makes perfect.


As you know I have two brothers, Hopper and Chase. They do the strangest things like run up and down the hall catching this thing called a ball. I can't wait until I can run too. Mommy and daddy can't wait until I can throw the ball for them.

This is me in my usual state of awake. This was taken at 11pm last night. As you can tell, I love to look at the house and talk.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Birth Story (Long)

Alexis Isabella Lavallee
November 20, 2010 @ 10:52a
7lb 15 oz
20.25 inches

Sooooo...as you are well aware, I was planning a birth center delivery with a midwife. Totally unmedicated and as non-hospital as possible. Unfortunately, this was not meant to be. =(

In the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I developed gestational hypertention which means I became allergic to the placenta and the only way to "cure" it is to deliver the baby. I was put on bed rest at week 39 in hopes that my BP would stay below 140/80 but it did not. They were performing tests on me every day whether it was a NST or blood test or urine test, you name it, they did it. My midwives officially dubbed me high risk 2 days before my due date and transferred me to an ob/gyn.

I saw a different doctor everyday from the date that my case was transferred. They were all really great but I felt misplaced. They all had different risk levels they were comfortable with and the doctor I saw on Friday, November 19th decided that it was no longer safe for me or baby to continue on. I believe my BP was 161/83 that morning. The real risk for gestational hypertention is seizure, placental abruption or stroke. They've seen people seiz at much lower BPs so I was immediately transferred to the hospital for an emergency induction. Do you see where this is going?

They gave me cytotec and in 4 hours I was still only dilated to 2cm. At that point, I believe my BP had spiked to 175/117 (somewhere around there) so they administered magnesium sulfate and gave me another dose cytotec. Let me tell you about mag sulf. It is the devil's drug and is probably used to torture prisoners of war. It is an evil medicine. It feels like someone has thrown gasoline on you and tossed a lit match. OUCH!!! Plus, once it was administered it means that I was confined to the bed and my only labor options were left side or right side. Do you know how hard it is to labor and those are your only two options?!?!

About two hours after the 2nd cytotec I coughed, my water broke and things really got rolling. Long story short, I went from 2cm to 8cm in 2 hours. My contractions were lasting between 2-3 minutes and were peaking 2-3 times. I was getting about a 15 second break between contractions. Finally at 8cm, after an extremely emotional and physical day, I screamed for the epidural. They administered it about 30 minutes later and my labor practically stopped. Oh, and my BP dipped so low they had to give me meds to speed it back up. How's that for ironic?

So, because the epi slowed my labor they gave me pitocin to speed it back up. I hated the way the epi made me feel so I demanded that they turn it off, which they did. A few hours later I was pushing and had her out in about 7 pushes or under 50 minutes.

She was born "sunny side up" which explained some of the intense pain. Of course most of that was brought on by all of the meds they had me on.

Needless to say, my labor and delivery was as far from my plan as possible. The only thing that would have made it worse was if I needed c-section. Thank goodness I did not. Our ultimate goal was a healthy mom and baby which we got so I can't complain. However, I am still having a tough time accepting the hand I was dealt and have been mourning the loss of what I felt was best for baby.

Lexi is healthy and beautiful and is more than I could have hoped for. Everyday is something new and we are figuring it out together.