The arrival of my beautiful baby Jenna has made me wish I had a better camera to capture all of the precious moments we have with her.

Until now my trusty 'ole samsung point and shoot has gotten the job done - occassional family get-togethers, vacations, candids of the pugs, etc. Now that Jenna's here, I really want to be able to get some high quality photos without making a trip to a professional studio. Some of my fellow bloggers have digital SLR's and take amazing photos and I'm starting to get jealous!

So I need help finding the perfect camera. I want something that will take a high quality pic, yet is easy to use. Perhaps an "entry-level" SLR? Or can I achieve the quality I want w/ a sophistacted point & shoot? I don't want to break the bank either. I found a Canon Rebel T1 at Walmart for around $550, which looks like a good camera, but for such a big investment, I want to make sure I make the right choice!

The first obsacle will be finding the right camera. The next will be convincing the hubs that we should buy one!

Anyone have a camera that you're absolutely in love with? Any recommendations? Anything to stay away from???

Today we did our first official "tummy time." I have a neat little tummy time mat that I've been  wanting to try out.

She didn't really know what to think about the mat... She spit up on it, then tried to suck on it. Then she started giving me dirty looks that seemed like she was saying, "Why are you doing this to me?" She lasted maybe 3-5 minutes before she decided she had enough. We'll try again tomorrow!

As a brand new mom, I thought I'd write a post about some unique baby shower gift ideas. Of course us mommas love all gifts, and we can always use things like blankets, clothes, diapers, etc.

If you're getting ready to go to a baby shower and want your gift to stand out, here are some ideas!


Baby Medicine Kit 

I received this gift from my aunt and it was a great idea! She bought a cute little plastic tub and filled it w/ baby medicines - things like baby tylenol, vapor rub, gas relief, a thermometer, a medicine dispenser for babies, diaper rash cream, and baby bandaids.



Hospital Labor Kit

When I went shopping for my hospital bag, I quickly realized how expensive it can get! Getting these items as a gift instead of having to purchase would be great. There are a few different companies that make kits/packages and sell them online, ready to go. Or you can always make one yourself. Check out a sample one here. You can include things the mom-to-be might need - slippers, ice packs, hard candy, mints, breast pads, heat packs, tennis ball in a sock or back massager, toiletries, etc. I bought a spray bottle that had a battery operated fan attached to it, and that was the best thing ever during labor. My husband sprayed and fanned me down while I was pushing and it really made me feel better. I found it in the summer stuff at Wal-Mart.


Diaper Cakes

I think diaper cakes are so cool! I received one at my shower and it was totally awesome. You can make your own - see a how-to here. Or you can always buy one! Aside from diapers, you can decorate them w/ baby lotions/soaps, baby socks, stuffed animals, etc.


Photography Gift Certificate

Most new parents want to get newborn photos taken once their little one arrives. A photo package or gift certificate would be great for the new family.


Preggo Planner

These are really cool for the expectant mom - however the sooner in her pregnancy you can give it to her, the better. It's a journal/planner for pregnancy. You can take it to your doctor appointments, write notes, keep track of your weight and blood pressure, keep your test results, etc. It has a calendar feature, checklist, and birth plan creator. I wrote a post about them here, so check it out if you want to know where to find them.



Some of my favorite things...

When I put together my baby registries, I honestly had no clue what I needed (which I think is the case for most first-time moms). Now that Jenna's here, I have listed some of my favorite things.

- Boppy Pillow - So nice to have whether breast or bottle feeding.
- Hooter Hiders/Nursing covers - My friend Sherri made one for me, which has been a godsend!
- Wipe warmer - Jenna loves her wipe warmer (she no longer shrieks in horror when getting a diaper change!).
- Swing - We purchased the Fisher Price Zen infant swing, which Jenna loves.
- Moby Wrap - These can be kind of pricey if you buy them in the store. I made mine by buying 6 yards of jersey knit cotton fabric and cutting it into thirds. You can sew the edges or leave it unfinished. The fabric cost roughly $30 and 6 yards makes 3 wraps, so that's $10 a wrap. Not bad, huh?
- Thin receiving blankets - These are great to swaddle baby in. I like the thin ones so Jenna won't get too hot.
- Newborn T-Shirts - Everyone loves to give cute onesies as gifts, but some of my favorite items are the button up t-shirts. The are so much easier to put on a baby than pulling a onesie over their head. You can pair them up with little pants, but since it's summer time, we just use them by themselves.

I've been missing in action from my blog for a couple weeks! I feel like I've been antisocial - no blogging, no facebooking, no phone calls! It's just we had so many visitors the first week, and when we didn't have visitors, I was trying to nap whenever possible.

I've been enjoying my new little one and getting used to motherhood. I'm going on my third week being a mommy and it's been quite an adjustment.

First of all - breastfeeding is not as easy as it looks! I had some crazy preconceived notion that all babies just latch right on and all is good! Yeah right! I've been exclusively breastfeeding Jenna since birth. At first, I was seriously worried and thought about giving up. While we were in the hospital she did not want to latch. When she would latch, she'd fall asleep right away or get all fussy and try and eat her hands! Finally on Sunday night (the day we came home), I got her naked, me topless, and did the skin-on-skin thing. I also tried breast compressions to keep her latched and it worked!

Ever since then, she has gotten much better at breastfeeding. She's gaining weight and going through lots of diapers, so I think that's a good sign. What I love about breastfeeding is the bonding that I get to do with Jenna. It's nice knowing she needs me and depends on me. What is stressful about breastfeeding is feeling like I can't do anything or go anywhere without her.

For example, my husband's uncle passed away last week and we went to the rosary. The whole time Jenna wanted to nurse in church! Talk about inconvenient. I had a hooter hider on, but the guy behind me praying his rosary could totally see down my shirt. I fed her before church, but the minute we sat down and the service started, she wanted to nurse (I think partly because she wanted to be soothed).  I'm hoping my pump will help with this issue.

I'm pumping once a day to stock up on milk and Jeremy gave Jenna her first bottle a couple of days ago while I was taking an online exam for my class. Jenna didn't particularly like it, and fought a little, but she did eventually drink it, so I'm happy. Hopefully now that she's had a bottle, I will feel better about taking some "mommy time" and not worrying about her being fed!

Lack of sleep is another adjustment. I'm the kind of person who needs LOTS of sleep, so it's been hard for me to get used to being woken up. Since Jenna's breastfed, she gets up every 2-4 hours to eat (usually at 12:30, 2:30, and 5).

Not only does she get up every few hours, (which is normal) Jenna has a growing hatred for her bassinet. She seems to sleep in it less and less every night. I really don't like co-sleeping because I'm afraid of all of the risks, but lately, Jenna seems to only be content sleeping next to me, on my chest, or in my arms. NOT GOOD!

It almost seems like she doesn't like being flat on her back or something. Jeremy even set up this co-sleeper next to the bed last night to see if she liked it better. Yeah right! She lasted about 1 minute in that thing before starting her grunting and crying. If anyone has suggestions for getting a little one to like their bassinet, let me know! She seems to like sleeping propped up in the boppy, but everything I've read says not to do that because it increases the risk of SIDS.


I asked an experienced mom the other day - "At what age do you get to sleep again?" She laughed and said, "When they move out." Nice.

Despite the lack of sleep, I love my baby girl, and I'm loving being a mom.

I have to warn any readers... this could be a bit graphic.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I was overdue and exhausted. I had plenty of labor signs but no labor. See my post from last week here.

Thursday, July 1st, I checked in to the hospital at 5:00 pm for induction. At first they just hooked me up to the monitors, put in the IV, and had me wait around. They did a cervical check and I was still 3 cm, about 75% effaced, and at -1 station.

My doc came in and said she decided to put me on cervidil for the night with the hopes it would soften my cervix. They put it in at 6:30 pm. It gave me some contractions, so I was hoping that was a good sign. I tried to sleep Thursday night, but pretty much dozed in and out of sleep. It was hard to sleep with the contractions. They weren't terrible, but they weren't comfortable either.

By 6:30 am, they came in to take the cervidil out and see if it worked. It did not. My cervix was unchanged. The doc decided to use cytotec next. They gave me the first dose at 6:30 am. I had to lay down for 30 minutes and then after that they wanted me to walk around or sit on the birthing ball to help the cytotec do it's job. The cytotec gave me MAJOR back labor and rough contractions. My contractions started coming 2 minutes apart from 6:30 am until about 1:00 pm! I tried walking and that seemed to help with the pain of the contractions, but it was still so intense. Two minutes apart is not much time to recover in between. I was pretty miserable.

They came to check me again around noon. I had still no progression but very intense contractions! I was so frustrated. They decided to wait to do anything for a bit and see if my contractions would keep going on their own or if the medicine would wear off and they would taper off. After the cytotec started wearing off the contractions became weaker and spaced further apart. This was a bad sign. It meant I would need more drugs to keep my labor going.

The doctor decided at 1 pm to start pitocin. I'd been dreading pitocin. I was already incredibly fatigued and sore from having back labor from the early morning all day. I became very worried about how I would handle pitocin.

At that point, my nurse and the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about an epidural. I decided to have one at the same time my pitocin started. I was really worried about my decision at first. I had intended to try to go natural, but at that point decided I needed the epidural. My whole labor was being "forced" by drugs and was about to be "forced" by more drugs. I was also concerned that the intense contractions cause by the cytotec earlier was causing my body to tense up and not allowing my cervix to soften.

So I got the epidural. I am so happy I did. For me, in my situation, it was the best thing I could have done. It didn't hurt getting it and my anesthesiologist did a great job. After the epidural was in, they cranked up the pitocin. The baby was responding beautifully - no distress. They kept me on the pit for a few hours. At about 3:00 pm they came to check my cervix again. Surprisingly, I was 8 cm dilated and 100% effaced and +1 station. They called the doctor.

My doc arrived about 4 pm right as I was ready to push. I pushed for about an hour and 45 minutes. I was afraid it would be hard to push with the epidural in, but I could still feel pressure and bear down. As I got towards the end of pushing the doc could tell the cord was wrapped on something. As the baby crowned they told me she had a full set of hair! As I pushed her head out, her hand shot up. Her arm was wrapped in the cord, stuck straight up, which gave me a nice 2nd degree tear (at least w/ the epi I didn't feel it!).

At 5:47 pm they pulled the rest of her out and my husband said, "It's a girl!" They placed her on my belly. She was "floppy" so she didn't get to stay on my belly for long. They gave her oxygen and suctioned her. My husband stayed next to the baby as they stitched me up. The doc figured that she started getting some oxygen cutoff towards the end because the cord was wrapped around her, pinning her arm up, which is why she was floppy.

Overall I had a great birth experience. Not at all like what I had planned and imagined, but great nonetheless. In the perfect world I wished I would have gone into labor naturally, and not needed labor inducing drugs, leading me to get an epidural. However, in my circumstances, being induced, getting the epidural was the best thing I did. It made my experience so much better, for me, my family and my baby.

Now we have our beautiful daughter - Jenna Celeste Chavez. Born July 2, 2010 at 5:47 pm.

Our baby girl was born July 2, 2010 at 5:47 pm. She is 7 lbs 2.5 oz and 19 inches long. She's got a full head of beautiful brown hair.

I'll post our birthing story when I start to get more energy!