Growing fast

I can't believe how fast Penny is growing! She is getting bigger and fatter everyday! She is able to look at more things in color and farther away too. I thought it would be awhile before she was able to lay on the floor and play but here she is at 8 weeks old!
She can do this for about 20 minutes!! So fun!

One month portrait

Fall Foliage Day!

Today, we loaded up and drove to the mountains to look at the aspen trees.  It was so beautiful!  It was a nice relaxing drive.  We drove up highway 285 towards Fairplay.  We made a couple stops along the way to take pictures and enjoy the fresh air.  Penny did wonderful!  We stopped once to feed her.  She slept while she was in the car and was pretty awake when we stopped to get out. We met another family with a baby and took pictures of each other!  On the way home, we stopped at the Yard House in Golden for dinner, drinks, and the Broncos game.  It was an amazing day!

At the start of Guanella Pass.  We didn't go very far because it was a very bumpy dirt road and we were afraid of jostling Penny too much.

Off the side of 285.

At the end of the day happy as can be!

Picture Day!

How cute is she?!?!!

Penny's First Month Day!

Thursday was Penny's first month day!  I can't believe how fast the first month went by!  That day, we went to see Jessyel at work and introduce her to some of the people he works with.  After that, we went and had lunch together.  I thought that was our little celebration.  But, much to my surprise when he came home he had a little cake with a candle, streamers, and flowers for me!  We look pictures and then like dorks sang her the happy birthday song.  It was a lot of fun!

From Zero to Hero!

Yesterday, we went to Oktoberfest for the long dog derby.  We went last year and it was a lot of fun.  However, Milo didn't do so well in the race.  Here's the video from last year:

This year, we had a plan.  We had my mom as the catcher, because we thought he would be excited to run to her.  We were hoping that he would just finish this year.  Much to our surprise and amazement, he won his heat!  He didn't win overall, but we  were super excited!!  Here's this year's race!

The champion!

First Night Out!

Last night, Jessyel and I had a date night!  It was our first time to be away from Penny.  We chose a restaurant that's about 5 minutes away from our house and left Penny with my mom!

While I was pregnant, something we missed doing was going out for sushi.  So we chose a sushi restaurant.  I also hand't drank in about 10 months.  So, I had a glass of wine!

We were only gone about an hour and had a good time, but we were glad to get back to our sweet baby girl!

Yummy!!

We forgot to take a picture until we got home, so we are in the garage!

Melts my heart!

Penny holding her daddy's thumb. I love them!

Best life ever!

I was so excited for this past Saturday!  It was our first weekend as a little family after Jessyel went back to work.  I could hardly sleep last night!  We got up and got ready and off we went!  Our first stop was JC Penny to pick up her newborn portraits.  They turned out amazing!!!  Here is my favorite one (it's a picture of the picture because I can't scan):

Next we went to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte, my favorite fall drink.  Then we took Milo to the dog park.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the couch watching football and t.v.  It was a perfect day!!  I love my life and couldn't be happier!!!!!

Papa and Aunt Gayle's Visit

Labor day weekend my Papa and Aunt Gayle got to come and visit us to meet Penny.  They were here for 4 days.  They arrived on Sunday and they came over with my parents and Aunt Linda from Colorado Springs.  We all had dinner and they got to take turns holding Penny.  My Papa is the first Ingle to ever meet a great grandchild.  I don't think I've ever seen him so happy!  He was laughing and smiling ear to ear!  It was a great time!  They got to come over one more time before they had to go back to Tulsa.  I wish they could have stayed longer!

With Papa

Four generations

Adventures in Breastfeeding

When I was pregnant I really wanted to breastfeed.  It's supposed to be the best way to feed your baby and it's free!  I had heard that it was hard, but I had no idea!  When Penny was born, she began to breastfeed right away!  She was perfect at it and I was so excited!  Then on the night 2, things got tricky.  She was wanting to eat every 20 minutes and was very upset.  It seemed to get better after we went home.  She was eating a lot, which everyone said was normal.  We went to her first appointment and she had lost a lot of weight and her jaundice level had gone up.  My milk still hadn't come in, so her doctor suggested I started taking a medicine called Reglan to help.  So, we made another appointment for her to go back in a couple days and I started taking the Reglan.  When we went, she had lost even more weight and her jaundice number had gone up even more.  Her doctor wanted us to supplement with formula.  I really did not want to do this, but we really had no choice.  So, after every feeding, we gave her formula with a siriegne, because I was not going to give her a bottle.  It was a Friday night, and she hadn't pooped in two days and was very fussy!  We called the emergency number to the pediatrician and they told us to continue with formula and that she needed to poop by the morning or we would have to bring her in to urgent care.  It was a very long night, but she pooped!  On Sunday, my milk finally came in!  I thought we were good to go and so did her doctor.  That week, she continued to want to eat all the time and was very upset.  We made an appointment with the lactation consultant at the hospital.  When we went in, she had lost even more weight and we discovered she was only get about 10 ml of milk from me, which is about 1/3 of an ounce.  She needed to be getting about 2.  No wonder she was upset!!  So, we knew we had to start using formula again.  I didn't want to use a bottle, so I started using this thing called an SNS.  It's basically and tube that the formula goes through that you tape to your boob.  It was a pain in the butt!  I was using that and pumping after every feeding.  Each feeding was taking a little over and hour.  Which means, by the time one feeding got done, it was almost time to start the next one.  Needless to say, we were not getting much sleep.  After a week of doing all of that I lost it!  The Reglan can also cause depression, and it was taking away my appetite.  Not good when you are trying to breastfeed.  I had a little more milk, but not enough.  I couldn't do it anymore.  I was stressed and sobbing everyday over feeding Penny.  We went for a check up to the pediatrician and she said it was ok to give her a bottle with formula.  I was so relieved!  No more stupid tube and tape!!

I'm still pumping and breastfeeding her when he wants, but her nutrition is coming from the formula.  I also have stopped taking the Reglan.  I am so much happier after only two days!  I feel relaxed and I'm able to enjoy my sweet baby more and be a better mommy!

Our Baby Story

On Sunday, August 28^th, 2011, I woke up with a headache.  Earlier, for five days, I had been on bed rest with high blood pressure, and was told to call the doctor if a headache developed.  I talked to the doctor on call, Dr. Cowles, and she said to come to the hospital.  Before we went, we stopped by Chili’s for lunch.  We knew that if I was induced, I wouldn’t be able to eat for a while.  After eating my chicken crispers, we drove to the hospital – Exempla Lutheran in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

We arrived at 4:15pm that afternoon.  We were checked into a room, where they took my vitals to see my blood pressure, and if I had protein in my urine.  My blood pressure was indeed high and eventually Dr. Cowles came in and said they wanted to go ahead and induce me.  I was excited about knowing that we were going to get to meet Penny soon!

They continued to monitor my blood pressure, contractions, and Penny’s heartbeat.  Since the estimated delivery time was 18 to 36 hours, Jessyel went out and rented some movies from Redbox to watch that night.  Around 8:00pm, they came in and started giving me some pills to help ripen and dilate my cervix.  That night, we watched The Dilemma.

Not too long after they gave me the first pill, I started having contractions that felt like cramps.  They weren’t too bad that night.  After we watched the movie, we tried to get some sleep, but it was difficult with such an uncomfortable bed (Jessyel slept on a fold-out couch).  At about midnight, they came in and gave me another cervix pill, along with an Ambien to help me try to sleep.  At around 4:00am, we were both awakened to the sound of a woman screaming out in horrific pain.  It was terrifying!  After that, we definitely couldn’t sleep.

The next morning, August 29^th, at around 8:00am, they came in to start giving me Pitocin.  I was originally against taking it, but I was ready for Penny to be born and meet her, so we agreed this was the best plan.  Afterward, my contractions were still feeling like cramps; they were bearable and not happening consistently yet.

At about 9:00am, our doula Rebekah arrived.  She sat with us, while we all talked and watched the TV in the room.  We eventually walked the halls of the hospital for a while, as well.

At around noon, my mom arrived to help – and just in time, as the contractions started getting really bad.  They were happening more consistently, more often, and getting much stronger.  I started having to breath through them and couldn’t talk anymore.  I sat on a birthing ball for a while and leaned over the bed.  Jessyel and Rebekah were there to massage me and help me relax.  I was getting hungry, and my mom snuck in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me to eat (even though we weren’t allowed to)!

The contractions kept getting stronger and more painful.  Each time the nurse came in the room, she was increasing my Pitocin dosage.  Dr. Cowles came in a wanted to break my water, but since I was Strep Group-B positive, I declined this.  Since my contractions were getting so strong, I asked for the Pitocin to be turned off (it makes contractions more painful than natural ones) and let my body work through its own contractions.   She wouldn’t turn it off, but agreed to stop turning it up.

Around 3:00pm, things really started hurting bad!  I was ready to give up and go home.  A new nurse came in and was trying to give us some ideas on what I could do help me through the pain.  I decided that I would get in the big bathtub for a while.   This meant I was able to have the Pitocin turned off!! They filled up the tub and before I knew it, they had my gown off and I was in.  It felt very good to be floating in the tub, and Jessyel was right there with me wiping my forehead with a cold cloth and encouraging me the whole time.

At one point, he left for a few minutes – he had slept only a few hours the whole night, hadn’t eaten all day, and between all the craziness, he was feeling weak – almost like fainting.  My mom had gone out and bought everyone some burritos, so he quickly ate his and came back to me.  After I had been in the tub for about an hour, I started getting the urge to push.  It was really weird how my body knew when it was time to push.  I was beginning to push involuntarily, so that meant it was time to get out of the tub (babies can’t be born in the tub at the hospital).

Getting back to the bed was rough, though!  Jessyel helped me and let me lean on him whenever I had a contraction.  He was amazing, and offered lots of encouraging words and support!

I got back to the bed and sat down.  I had another contraction and felt like I wet the bed.  Nope!  It was amniotic fluid.  My water had broken on its own!!

At 4:00pm, my mom left the room and I began to push.  At first, I was really excited that it was that time; I thought that Penny would be here in no time!  Jessyel got excited, too – he said he got a burst of adrenaline.  I wanted to try pushing in the squatting position since the pelvis is widest when you squat.  (That made sense to me!)  I pushed like this for a while and then the nurse suggested I try pushing on my side, instead.  I rolled to my side and kept on pushing.  It hurt really, really bad, and it was hard work!! Jessyel, Rebekah, and the nurse were all helping to hold my head and legs up while I was pushing.

Finally, at around 6:30pm, they said they could turn the Pitocin back on to help my contractions become a little more regular and strong.  I was in so much pain and exhausted from pushing that I said yes!  After about another half an hour, they said they could get the doctor and she could help me try to get Penny out.  Again, I said yes!

There had been a change in doctors, so the new doctor was Dr. Freeman.  She said she could use the vacuum to help me when pushing.  I agreed!  She said that I had only three tries to get her out, otherwise I would need a C-section.  From what Jessyel tells me, most of the doctors hadn’t had much experience with a labor that didn’t involve an epidural.  I don’t think anyone thought I could get my baby out.  Little did they know that I am a very stubborn person!

Dr. Freeman got the vacuum set up and ready to go, and I pushed!  Everyone was encouraging me and telling me they could see her head and that she was almost there.  The doctor yanked the vacuum, and it was the help I needed; I was able to push like never before.  Then, before I knew it, Penny was out and placed on my chest.  It was the best moment of my whole life.  I was so happy and relieved that my baby girl was finally here.  I was crying and so elated.  I look up at Jessyel and he was crying too.

All the pain was completely worth the outcome.  I was so proud of Jessyel and myself for working together as a team and having the birth experience that we wanted.  I did it without and pain medication even though I was induced.  It was an empowering day and I know that I can do anything!

After Penny was born, she had a little bit of trouble breathing, or rather, she was breathing too fast.  They took her to the warming table, and Jessyel followed.

Jessyel said that she was very alert, and she grabbed his finger with her whole hand.  She was checking out fine, although her breathing was still a little too fast.  After she was checked, they brought her back to me and put her back on my chest.  She started nursing right away.  I was so excited that she was able to eat right away! 

I was excited to eat, too – I got to eat after almost thirty hours of not having any food.  I had a cheeseburger, fries, cheesecake, fruit, and a real Coke!  It was delicious!

At the same time, everyone was in the waiting room eagerly awaiting the arrival of Penny.  After the doctor finished with my stiches and Penny and I had eaten, everyone got to come in and meet her.  My mom and dad, Jessyel’s dad, two brothers, and sister Dalina were all there to meet our little bundle of joy!  (Jessyel’s mother had contracted pneumonia, and his sister was in Nashville for college, so they couldn’t be there, unfortunately.)

The medical staff was still a little concerned about Penny’s breathing and decided to take her to the NICU for more close observation.  Jessyel went with her and I stayed behind in the delivery room.

Jessyel was gone for about two hours, and was with Penny the entire time.  There, she had her first bath (she cried), and they monitored her heart rate and breathing, which eventually went down after she was wrapped up and calmed down.  Coming into the world with a vacuum hurting and bleeding your head would make anyone’s breathing go fast!

While Jessyel and Penny were gone, I was in a lot of pain from all the stiches I had been given, so I was given a Percocet and took a little nap.  When I woke up, my nurse helped me up to get a sponge bath and to go see Penny in the nursery before going to the recovery room.  I stopped by the nursery with Jessyel and was able to feed her again before heading up to the recovery room.

I got to the recovery room and met our night nurse, Shelly.  She was amazing!!  She was so helpful and kind both nights we were at the hospital.  I was soon informed that Jessyel and Penny were on their way to our room.  Her breathing had gotten better and they were going to let her spend the night with us!  Finally, at around 1:00am, we were all back together in the recovery room!

The first night in the room is kind of a blur to me.  We all slept in the room together.  I don’t think Jessyel got much rest, either.  It was a great but also surreal night.

The next day, I was checked by Dr. Freeman to make sure I was healing and that my uterus was contracting the way it should.  Everything was good and she even called me super woman!  Go me!

The thing that was super-awesome about being in the hospital is that new moms can order room service whenever they want and have however much food they want.  I ordered a ton of stuff at each meal, and had a desert each time!  It was awesome, and the food was pretty good – there wasn’t anything I ordered that I didn’t like.  Jessyel, on the other hand, had to go to the cafeteria for his food.  Apparently, it wasn’t very good.  Boo-hoo.

Anyway, that day, my mom and dad came to visit.  My dad brought us a beautiful flower arrangement and some chocolates.  They were very proud grandparents!  My friends Laura and Katie also came to visit.  Jessyel went crazy in taking everyone’s pictures!  After everyone left, we were both really tired.

Night two in the hospital was pretty difficult.  We were introduced to cluster feeding.  Penny was up all night, crying and wanting to be fed every twenty minutes.  It was very frustrating and we didn’t know if we were doing something wrong or what was going on.  We were both very exhausted, so that didn’t help the situation.  Luckily, our wonderful nurse Shelly came in and reassured us that this was normal and everything was okay.  After that, it was a little easier to deal with.  I’ve learned through all of this, that knowing when something is normal and that it happens to others makes a lot of stuff seem okay.

The next day, we spent the day laying around and napping mostly.  We were also able to go and have Penny’s picture made at the hospital’s newborn picture machine.  It was a little tricky getting a good picture of a newborn lying down in a plastic bucket, but we got a few good ones!  Afterward, it was our time to go home.  We packed up all our stuff – most of which we didn’t even use!

Before we knew it, we were ready to go!  I sat in a wheelchair and got to hold Penny on the way out.  We both waited inside for Jessyel to go and get the car (he had checked the car seat with the hospital staff earlier in the day).  He put Penny in her car like an expert!  She was crying and fussy, but as soon as we started driving, she fell fast asleep.  The ride home was good, and before we knew it we were home with our brand new perfect baby girl!

Maternity Portraits

Jessyel's producer at work was so nice and took some amazing maternity shoots of us together.  I'm somewhere in the eighth month of pregnancy in these photos.  Here are some of the favorites:

10 days old!

Tonight Penny will be 10 days old! It's already going by so fast! We haven't been out of the house except to go to the pediatrician since we've been home so today we decided to venture out. We went to a park for a little bit and then to lunch! Penny slept the whole time! When the 2 hour mark approached from her last feeding, we quickly hurried home!!

The Great Burger Challenge

To pass the time, three weeks before my due date, we set out to find the best burger in Denver. We decided that we would try to go to one place per weekend and the hopefully Penny would arrive!
The first place we went to was My Brother's Bar. The burgers war quite tasty and we felt good about these burgers. Here are the pictures from that night:

The second stop was City Grill. They have won awards for having the best burger in Denver, so we were pretty excited. They burger here were very good. They were sirloin burger and came on really yummy buns. We were not a big fan of the fries here. After City Grill, we decided they had moved into first place. Here are the pictures from that night:

The last stop we made was to Cherry Cricket. This ended up being on my actual due date. I had been on bed rest for three days and Jessyel agreed to break me out for awhile and take me to lunch. I was really hoping that we would leave, eat a burger, and then I would magically go into labor at the perfect time and we could go straight to the hospital. Well, that didn't happen, but we had really awesome burgers. We also really like their fries! Here are the pictures from that day:

After careful consideration, we decided that our favorite burger was at Cherry Cricket. They were really juicy and had a good smokey flavor. And the fries really made it too! In second place was City Grill and a close third was My Brother's Bar. So there you have it! We will be back at Cherry Cricket for another burger soon!

The nursery

Here is our sweet baby's nursery.


View from the door.



The crib, which I absolutely love!!



Bookshelf complete with lions!



The worlds most expensive dresser.



Basket of toys



Coordinating light switch



View from the other side of the room.

There are still a couple more things we want to get, like letters for her name and Jessyel wants to get some kind of baby star wars art to hang up. But, it's ready for her!!

Today's the day!

Today's my due date.  So far, nothing!  I went to the doctor earlier this week and my blood pressure was slightly elevated.  I think that if I was ok with being induced, they would have sent us to the hospital right then and there.  Instead, I have been on bed rest since Tuesday night.  I went back for another appointment on Wednesday.  They did an ultrasound and everything looked good!  I think this baby is going to have a lot of hair because we could see if floating in the fluid in the picture.  I guess that must be why my heart burn has been so bad!  They checked my blood pressure again and it had gone down!  I also lost 4 pounds overnight.  I guess I really did need to spend some time just laying around.  I can almost see my ankles again!!  My mom has been a wonderful help since all of this happened!  She's been cooking and cleaning for us and bringing me whatever I need!

Jessyel is on official paternity leave today.  I have very mixed feelings that we are both on leave from work and just sitting around with no baby.  I really didn't want my leave to start until I had the baby.  It's only been three days, which isn't so bad, but I hope she comes soon.

We go back to the doctor on Monday, and I have a feeling I will be induced.  I really don't want to be induced since it most likely means I'll have to get an epidural and it increases the chances of a c-section.  We'll see!  Being on bed rest is not the greatest thing in the whole world, but a least I will be rested up for the big day when it finally arrives.  I just hope it comes sooner than later!

My Colorado Shower

This is way overdue, but I wanted to share about the wonderful shower I has here in Colorado.  It was at our new house, which made it even better!  I loved having everyone come over and get to see our new house!  I was overwhelmed with how amazing and wonderful all of our friends and family are!  I felt very blessed!  If you were able to make it, thank you so much for being part of the day!  I'm working on those thank you notes!!
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

Katie, Jen, Me, and Laura 

My in-laws and I

Me and my amazing mom!

My lovely friends and I with our moms!

My giant belly, don't I look thrilled to take this picture!

Opening the wonderful gifts!

The Ice Test and the Epidural Video

Last night was week 2 of our childbirth class.  It was all about pain management.  We did stations to practice different positions and techniques that help with pain management.  I was feeling pretty good about the whole idea of natural childbirth.  The teacher showed us this poster of the stages of labor.  How it starts out with contractions that are 30-45 seconds long with a 5-20 minute break in between.  Then it progresses to contractions that are a minute long with five minutes in between.  Then the last stage they are a minute to a minute and a half long with a minute to a minute and half break in between.  I was thinking that I could do that.  There would be a lot of breaks in between the pain.

Then we did this ice exercise.  We had to hold ice in both hands for a minute.  After a few seconds, I was already ready to give up.  It was horrible.  Then, we had to do it again with deep breathing.  It still hurt.  You wouldn't think holding ice would be that bad, but it is.  I can only imagine labor will be much worse than holding ice.

The last part of the night, we watch a video on epidurals.  Which was also slightly scary.  The way they are put in freaked me out!  When I try to weigh the pros and cons, it seems that there are more cons.  It does take away the pain and let you rest, relax, and sleep if you want to.  But, it can cause spinal headaches or backaches.  You can't get out of bed.  You have to have a catheter.  It doesn't always work perfectly- you could end up with a spot that you still feel pain.  And what worries me the most is that it can cause a decrease in some babies sucking reflex for about 2 hours.  From what we've learned, babies are awake for about an hour, so that means they may not nurse right away.

At this point, I think I've decided to play everything by ear.  I'm going to try and go without pain meds or at least as long as I can without.  Granted, I've never given birth before and really have no idea what I'll want to do in the moment.

Oklahoma Fun!

Over the July 4th weekend I was able to go to Oklahoma.  The last time I will travel before I have this kid! It was an amazing time!  My Aunt Cindy and her family was there from Florida too.  It was the first time since my wedding that the whole family had been together!

I couldn't believe how big Audrey, Alyssa, and Isabel had gotten!

While I was there I got to have a baby shower!  It was at one of my favorite places to eat in Oklahoma-Hideaway!!

My Aunt Rhonda and the girls made cupcakes!

I was so excited that so many of my a dee pi girls got to come!  Even though we graduated awhile ago, we still had to take some cheesy sorority pics!

Opening presents was lots of fun.  I had amazing little helpers.  It almost got out of hand, but we made it through!  I felt so blessed to have so many people come help me celebrate!

My parents and I

Two pregnant bellies!

My mom, my aunts, and I

Me and my very talented present helpers!

Christa and I

The next day, we has a surprise birthday party for my Grandma's 75th birthday.  It was a lot of fun and there were tons of people at the party!

I think we really surprised her!

Grandma with all the grandkids

The last thing I have to say about my Oklahoma adventure is that is was really hot.  And I mean hot!  Being pregnant didn't help much with the heat.  I stayed inside or in the pool most of the time I was there!

Isabel and I in the pool!