Bayla Waves Dunn... So far

So, I haven't updated in over a week and I figured it's time to let everyone know how my life as a momma is going. Sooo... it's going great! I love being a momma! I'm so blessed to have such a good child. From the first night that we came home from the hospital, she has been an angel to us. For the first week all she did was sleep, sleep, sleep. She would sleep through her diaper changes and I used to have to wake her to feed her. As time went on, she started staying awake for a little while at a time and she started telling me when she was hungry. Now, almost a month old she's awake for hours a day and when she's hungry, she's quite a demanding little girl! She has only had a couple of not so great nights. Her not so good nights are the couple of nights that she decides that she wants to eat, fall asleep, wake up when I put her to bed wanting to eat some more, fall asleep, wake up when I put her to bed, eat some more, fall asleep... get the picture. Yea, this usually last until 2 or 3 when she finally goes to sleep for a few hours. So about her daddy.... The first few days, maybe even the first week, he was all about some Bayla. He would change diapers, spend time loving on her, put her to bed,wake her up in the morning, he even helped with her first bath. The diaper changing came to a stop after about a week, then since he was fishing all the time, he wasn't spending as much time with her (or with me). Since he was fishing all the time, he was exhausted so he wasn't putting her to bed anymore because he was always asleep not long after we ate dinner and he left to go fishing again way too early to wake his girls up. Before the other day, Chad was just beach fishing and going out in the ocean for only day trips, he was always home at night. Saturday evening Chad got the phone call that I was hoping would never come. Mat, his captain, called and said to be at the boat at four the next morning and pack clothes for five days and four nights. I almost cried when I heard that, especially since Sunday was my first mothers day. But as Chad's told me a million times, I knew that he was a fisherman when we started dating and I knew that he was going to be gone more than he was going to be home when it came to long lining season. This is all true so I have to suck it up and be strong for not only myself but for Chad and Bayla as well. My mother's day was pretty good. I woke up to a beautiful rose, a box of yummy chocolates, a card from my baby girl, and a card from my dog. Later I got more roses from my mom, a card from my mom and a card from Chad's mom, dad, and brother. My mom, Donna, Bayla and I all went to Outback for lunch and it was delicious! I spent the rest of the day trying to keep my mind off of missing Chad so I cleaned my house and did laundry. Around 7ish I went to Debbie's to eat dinner with Debbie, my mom, Jamie, and the kids. Not long after being there Jamie told me that her husband Bill was coming home because Mark caught 320 boxes of mako's. We thought that meant that Chad's boat was coming in too...When I didn't hear from him at all that night, I decided that he wasn't coming home. Chad always tries to call but if they don't have service on the satellite phone then he can't call :( Monday, Bayla and I hung around the house all day. That afternoon we were going to go to Manteo with my mom. Well, not expecting a call from Chad until he was on his way home on Thursday, I got butterflies in my tummy when my phone rang. YES!! It was Chad!!! He was going to be home in an hour! They came home early because it was blowing a gail and they couldn't fish when it's rough :) I was sooo happy! I was so thrilled to see him and spend some time with him. I was looking forward to cuddling in bed with him knowing that he's like never going to be home anymore. So much for cuddling. Little Miss Bayla Waves decided that she was going to stay awake until four am this morning and needing just enough attention and food to keep me up with her, keeping me away from Chad. Finally at four am, I put her in her swing in the living room and I went to sleep on the floor. Chad woke up early and made a delicious breakfast, then kissed both of his sleeping beauties good bye because he was going to the boat. They had to pack out this morning, that means unload the boat of the fish that they caught. When he came home Monday night, he said he was leaving again in the morning, for some reason I thought he meant that he would be home for a full day before he left again, apparently, I was wrong. Chad came home around 10 and kissed us good bye good bye and said that he would see us Saturday. I bawled my eyes out. I hate it when he leaves, I especially hate it because he's missing his daughter grow up. I know she's not even a month old now but still, she's growing up fast and he's missing it. Well, seeing how my youngin' has slept all day, I'm sure she's going to be up all night. I'm going to grab a bite to eat then try to go to sleep but I'm sure Bayla will wake up just in time to ruin any sort of shut eye I might possibly get.


Now that I'm basically caught up on the past week or so and the first three weeks of Bayla's life, my next post should be about one thing, not one week of things.

The Best Day of My Life!!

April 18th 2009 at 4:14 pm, my baby girl Bayla Waves Dunn made her big arrival into the world at the lovely Outer Banks Hospital. She weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. At 2:30 am on April 18th, I woke up to back pains that I timed for an hour before I woke Chad and said this is it... she's coming. By this time (3:30) I had come to the conclusion that they really were contractions and I was in labor. The contractions started off being 10 minutes apart but now they were down to about 5 minutes apart. I took a shower and got my bags together. I made sure that I had Bayla's bag, my bag, the bag with the camera and camcorder, and my computer bag all together for when we ran out the door. Well Chad got up when I was running around like a mad woman, I figured since he was getting dressed that we were about to go to the hospital and have this baby girl... I got a reality check real quick when he informed me that he was going fishing. By this time I was in the recliner trying to relax and time my contractions. He came out of the bedroom and asked if I needed anything. I was already about in tears knowing that he wasnt going to be there for the birth of his daughter, I burst out in tears and mumbled "I want my teddy". Theres nothing special about this teddy bear. I actially bought it for myself after valentines day this year, it's just a brown teddy bear wearing a hoody that says love and has 2009 on his foot I think. He brought me my teddy and asked what was wrong. I cried to him saying that I'm in labor and he's going fishing and he wont be there for me when I'm in labor with our daughter, this that and the other. He tried to tell me that she wasn't coming today and he can't take the chance to miss a fishing trip to sit around a hospital and wait, etc. When it came time for him to go fishing, he asked if I wanted to ride to the dock with him so that I would have the truck and of course I went because my moms phone was off so I couldnt call her to tell her to come get me and I wasn't going to email her and wait for a response. So I cried the whole way to the dock and said my goodbyes to Chad. I told him he was going to be a daddy before he got back to land. He didnt believe me so he went fishing. I left the dock bawling my eyes out and went straight to my momma's at 5 am. I walked in her room crying. Obviously she asked so kindly what was wrong and what time it was. I told her I was in labor. She didnt understand why I was crying because she knew that I wanted this baby in April so that she could have the diamond birthstone. Bawling my eyes out with my teddy in my arms, I informed her that I have had contractions for the past two and a half hours and Chad went fishing anyway. Well she got up, got showered then we went to my house to kennel my poor dog and gather my bags. We got to the hospital around 6 am. With just our luck I had three other pregnant ladies ahead of me so I got the hall cubbie. I layed there for a while, got on my computer for a little while, my mom checked her email and such then we walked the halls for what seemed like forever. Our phones were blowing up all day, starting as early as 6 am with my moms phone calls. After a lot of walking, drinking water and laying in my little hallway bed trying to relax, the wonderful Dr. Kling broke my water at about 9:30 am and thats when the painful contractions started. I thought that I was dying. Trying to do my relaxation breathing techniques the nurse yelled at me because I was hyperventalating and my baby wasnt getting any oxygen. I wanted my epidoral right then!! Unfortinatly, I couldnt get my epidoral until I was in the delivery room, I settled for some IV pain relief. About two minutes after the nurse put that stuff in my IV, I was out like a light. I slept through a few hours of contractions. At about 1 pm the nurse came to take me to the delivery room because the preggers before me popped her youngin' out and they cleaned the room for me :) I remember the nurse asking me if I could get in the wheel chair to go to the other room but I couldnt move or even talk to tell her that was a negative. Thank God my mom told them to wheel my bed into the other room or they would of been carrying my fat ass. So they wheeled me to the delivery room and asked me to get into the other bed. HA!! Some how between me crawling and the nurses pushing and pulling me, I made it onto the other bed... with a little vomit. Yes, for some reason, I got a little sick. I'm guessing from the IV drugs and then me trying to do something other than sleep. Around that time I was waking up and I think I even went to the bathroom with the assistance of a nurse. Not long after getting into my new room, my epidoral finally arrived!! A good family friend Donna was here now or showed up about this time. It was fun having her in the room because it gave my mom some sober company because I was not all there at all!! The other great company we had in the room was my sister, Missy, and her husband, Seth, via webcam. The night before I went into labor, Missy and Seth went to their church group and they all webcammed with one of the ladies husband that was out of town but was still at the meeting thanks to modern technology. Missy decided that this would be a great thing to do when I had Bayla but didnt expect it to be so soon. When she recieved the news that I was in full blown labor and Bayla Waves was coming, she ran out and bought a webcam. She witnessed the whole delivery from me sleeping through contractions, to me pushing and even there when the doctor put fresh out the womb baby girl on my chest. It was amazing having her there throughout the whole thing, even though she was 15 hours away it still felt like she was in the room. Since I've already skipped all around and it's taking me hours to write this post, I'm going to start cutting it short. Well I chilled with my mom, Donna, and the lovely webcammers, Missy and Seth, through a few more hours of contractions and I was ready to go back to sleep. The nurse said that I was aloud to nap for a little while before I had to start pushing. This was a great opportunity for Mom to grab her first meal of the day with Donna, Missy to take a shower and more importantly, this would give me some time to rest before I had to start pushing. Well just as my mom and Donna were walking out the door, Chads mom and brother show up. It was nice seeing of her to come since her son wasnt there but the nurse just told me to take a nap. Oh well, Carol and Carson came in, I chatted with her for a minute or two until I went to sleep. They stayed in there until Dr. Kling came in to check to see how dialated I was and kicked them out. I dont remember if they came back in or if thats when he said I should call my mom because I'm about to start pushing. Well I called my mom then started pushing. I didnt push for long until mom and Donna came in my room with a great pizza from Harbor Point. My mom bribed me with the pizza because I hadnt ate real food since the night before when I really didnt eat much dinner because I didnt like what I cooked for Chad. After pushing for a while, I told the doctor to PULLL!!! Between me pushing, Dr. Kling pulling, the nurses holding my legs up, my mom incouraging me in one eat, Missy in the other ear and all my lovely drugs... Out came the beautiful Bayla Waves Dunn. At this time is when I, still full of great drugs, looked at Dr. Kling and said "Good job doc!!" I swear, an epidoral and whatever they put in my IV should be street drugs... I'd be addicted! After getting me and my baby all cleaned up, I called Chad to see if he wanted me to wait for him to see his daughter before I let everyone in the world see her. He said to go ahead and let his mom in because he knew that she was about to have a heart attack waiting in the hall with Carson and Donna. Wait... back up a little bit. Ok, some how, some way, some fisherman from Wanchese heard that I was in labor and some how got a hold of Chad, that was in the middle of the ocean. His wonderful captain, Mat, was freaking out and got him back to shore as soon as he could. Before Bayla was born, I called Chad to tell him that he better hurry because he was going to be a daddy, not that I didnt already tell him that he was going to be a daddy before he got back to the dock. Well after about an hour of other people holding my youngin' the nurse told me that it was time to feed her, well everyone stayed behind me and I fed my youngin' in the bed. FINALLY, her daddy came in :) I thought I was going to cry when I saw him but I was already so in love with my baby girl that there was no way I was crying! He saw her, and then when she was done eating, his family took her from me and starting taking family pics. If felt like forever before everyone left but I'm sure it wasnt that long. After Chad and I spent some time together with Bayla, the nurse made me get up to go potty and shower. After I took a shower, we packed up all my stuff and I went to my overnight room. Chad came back to see us for a while. It was great spending some time with him, it was different for some reason, maybe because we were a family now and not just boyfriend and girlfriend. Anywho, I would of loved for him to stay but I wanted my rest so I made him go home for the night. I slept for a few hours, fed Bayla again, and then slept until 6:30 the next morning when I woke up and couldnt go back to sleep. I fed Bayla and then Chad sat with me when I ate my great hospital breakfast. After spending some time with us, Chad had some stuff to do up the beach, he came back around one to sign the birth certificate thing, spent some more time with us then went home to clean, rearrange the bedroom for Bayla's arrival, get the carseat and then he came back to get us. We were aloud to leave at 4:30 but since Bayla hadn't ate all day since 7:30 that morning, the nurse kinda made her eat before we left. After getting her first photo thing taken, we packed my stuff and we went home as a family. It was so great to be home! Gauge took to the baby like a champ! I'm so proud of my puppy! This has been all about Bayla's arrival and first 24 hours in the hospital and ride home ((In the white F150)) Hope ya'll enjoyed!!


Me sleeping in my hall bed though many contractions :)

Me, my teddy, and Missy and Seth on the computer :)

Me, my teddy and my momma :) I sooo dont remember taking this pic!

My baby girl. Yes, I know its kinda gross... Just keep scrolling :)

My beautiful baby girl!!!

Our little family :) Minus Gauge and Trouble... Dont worry, Gauge was there to greet Bayla and I as we went to the truck to leave the hospital.

It's been a while...

Sorry to Mom, Missy, Eden, Donna D, Janelle, and the couple of other anonymous readers of my blog posts. I appoligize for not posting anything for over four months. A lot has happened since January 25th. My new job was ok at first, then hell, then it got better, well it was ok enough for me to hang in there for about three and a half months. A few weeks into the job I decided I was going to buy a new car... I got an 03 Envoy for a great price. Now I know why it was so cheap, the damn thing has been in the shop more than I have been able to drive it. The baby shower and visit from Missy was a great success! Thanks to all that helped make it a great day/weekend. Then it went back to us missing Missy. Everything has been pretty good since the baby shower. Nothing really exciting enough to write about that I can thing of other than the best day of my life... the day my daughter was born. ((See next post for every last detail of that day))