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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

A baby story

Hello and happy Monday!  Hope you had a fantastic weekend!!  So, as the title suggests, today's post is about the birth of my little girl.  If words like 'epidural' and 'dilation' make you squirmy, feel free to skip this one!  I happen to love reading about others birth experiences, and wanted to record my experience for future reflection.  That being said, let's get to it!

It was with mixed emotions that I headed to the hospital on January 12th.  I was bummed to find myself needing an induction a second time.  This whole pregnancy I felt I'd have her early, that I'd finally get the chance to labor at home like I wanted.  But it simply wasn't meant to be.  So I tried to be grateful for other things.  Like being able to schedule care for beanie, having a healthy, full term baby, not going through a crazy rush to the hospital, and knowing exactly what to expect.

We got to the hospital around 8, and by 9:30 I was hooked up to pitocin and ready to rock.  But not until they had stuck me three times trying to get an IV started.  Not fun.  Actually, for those who know me, you know that is basically my nightmare brought to life ::shudder::

But once it was over, we were ready to just chill.  My induction with Gage took 36hrs, so I was prepared to be there for a while.  Dan and I just hung out in the room, reading on our iPads and napping.  Until about noon, when my doctor broke my water.  And things got real.

Since I had a great experience with an epidural last time, I wanted to do it again this time.  But I wasn't in any rush.  You know, since it took 36hrs last time.  Well, in hindsight I should have rushed.  But I wasn't expecting to go from 1 to 10 on the pain scale in 45 minutes.  I also wasn't expecting the anethesiologist to take an additional 45 minutes to get to my room.  So I breathed though the pain, and death-gripped Dano's hand, and was begging for the juice before they got there.  Imagine my dismay when the epidural didn't work right the first time!

That's right, I was one of the lucky few whose epidural left them with a 'hot patch'.  So while I was about 80% numb, there was still a spot where I could feel everything, at max intensity, and it.was.brutal!  After an hour of flipping, and adjusting, and no relief, they had to redo my epidural (more needles yay!).  But it finally took!  Sweet relief :)

After that I remember resting a lot, and just waiting until the real show started.  When the nurse came in to see if I wanted to push around 7 o'clock, I was ready.  When she barely let me get a push out before saying 'whoa, stop I better get the doctor, I don't want to deliver this baby!',  I was excited!  After nine incredible months, we were finally going to meet our little princess.  Once the doctor got all set up it almost happened too fast for me to register.  One push, and suddenly this tiny thing, with dimples and tons of hair, was laying on my chest.  And there she stayed, getting rubbed down and squealing, just pink and perfect and beautiful.  I felt my heart burst for a second time.  I now have two amazing little ones, and more love than I ever thought imaginable filling my heart.  I am truly one lucky momma!


Fast forward 6 weeks, and life is great!  My recovery was almost ridiculously easy, and I am so very grateful.   She is an easy, sweet baby.  We've had to go back into the hospital twice now though.  Just for minor colds, but still absolutely no fun.  And Gage is very sweet with her :) He'll kiss her head every once in a while, and my heart just melts.  I can't wait to watch their relationship grow :)


Adjusting to being a family of four isn't always easy, but we are getting the hang of it!  I'll pop in with monthly updates, and let you know how it's going :) So until next time, have a great day!

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