Here she is!
Our precious 'Mini' (you should all know her actual name by now...if not, let me know and I can contact you privately :) ) was born at 5:25 in the morning. At 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 and 1/2 inches long, she's only slightly smaller than the Munch at birth, but even that small difference is enough to make her almost too small even for newborn size clothing...Not that I mind birthing small babies!
But that said, the last few weeks have been rough! The week before my October 11th due date, the midwives told me that if things didn't start moving along soon, I would be looking at one of two things: induced labor or c-section. Then I was told that I didn't even get to wait until the usual 42 weeks before those interventions would become reality, but would be facing one or the other of them at the 41 week mark...All because I'd had a c-section before, and the risks of going VBAC outweighed the benefits at that point, at least from the hospital's point of view. So right at the point in a pregnancy when a woman should be relaxing and preparing, I was seriously stressing out, begging this baby to just 'hurry up and come!'
We had about 2 weeks to get the kiddo out without medical intervention, and we took those 2 weeks seriously. Daddy and I found all sorts of routes to walk through our neighborhood, literally walking for miles, pulling the Munch behind us in a wagon. I spent hours bouncing on an exercise ball that a friend had loaned me--while I ate, while I sat at my computer, even while I watched movies or played the Wii. Primrose oil capsules and raspberry leaf tea were practically my new best friends, I was taking so much. But absolutely nothing happened. Then the midwives said they could only induce with pitocin via iv, again because of the previous c-section, but my as-yet non-compliant body had to show signs of readiness in order for them to do so...The pitocin would be strong enough to push things along, but not strong enough to actually START things safely. October 11th came and went. I had an appointment the following Monday, and still nothing was happening. I was told to be prepared for a c-section that following Monday...and I went home in tears from my appointment that day.
But then. Contractions started sporadically on Tuesday. Finally, something, maybe? For most of the day, I couldn't even tell if they were 'real' or not...nothing I read described what I was feeling--it was just minor cramping, basically, but not anywhere that would be considered a typical contraction. Nonetheless, I let the mom of my nanny family know, and she decided it would be better if I focused on whatever those cramps might lead to, and she set up an alternative plan for her kids' care for the next day, officially putting me on 'maternity leave'. Wednesday the cramps were less frequent, but stronger, and I began to get my hopes up again. Thursday I had a 'last chance' appointment with the midwives... and lo and behold, there was finally a positive change! The midwife did a little to try to further help things along, then I, feeling a few more stronger contractions than I had before, hurried off on one last quick shopping trip (Big D had turned 4, his party was on Saturday, and we still needed a gift for him!). I then headed home, fully expecting now that something was about to take place...
And that night, something did! At about 1am I was awakened by some very strong, painful contractions, and they were coming rapidly enough that I was convinced this was 'it.' We bundled up the Munch, dropped her off at Big D's house a couple blocks away, and hurried to the hospital...only to be told that I hadn't advanced any further along than what I'd been that morning, so I wasn't nearly ready enough to be admitted. I was advised to go home, take some Benadryl, and try to sleep a bit more. Major let down.
The Benadryl apparently worked so well that it kinda killed the contractions for a while. I definitely got sleep after I took it, but then all day on Friday, Daddy and I were trying to time contractions to see if anything was changing or progressing, and weren't getting anything. Just random bouts of pain, some mild enough, while others felt like my hips were going to get ripped off...And I couldn't keep any food down because of that pain, other than the one pb&j that I had at lunch. I'm very grateful that Big D's family was happy to keep the Munch with them, otherwise the day would have been that much more challenging, as this went on all day, with no progress (that I could tell)...Until about 10 that night, an hour or so after I ranted a bit about the ordeal on facebook. A few people must have started praying, because all of a sudden, I was hitting that 5-minute marker everyone says is 'The Time'. Except that we'd been told the night before to wait until the 3-minute marker...So we called a doula that a friend recommended, and she told us to call the midwives right off anyway, and when they heard I wasn't keeping any food down, they told us to get over to the hospital asap. Then, wouldn't you know, by the time I got from the house to the car, the contractions were 3 minutes apart, and by the time we got to the hospital 15 or 20 minutes later (no thanks to a ridiculously slow taxi in front of us), it was very clear to the staff at the desk that I was more than advanced enough to skip the triage room. We got put straight into a delivery room at around 11 pm that night. I changed into a gown, they hooked up the monitors, things got real...and at 5:25 the next morning (precisely 1 week overdue), there was a wiggling, squirming, meconium-covered (yes, ick, but I didn't care!), precious little girl taking her first breaths on my exhausted chest. Everything moved so fast at the hospital that by the time I was sure I would need the epidural, it was already too late! And fyi, a jacuzzi tub and a mirror are 2 of the best tools a hospital can have on hand for natural deliveries. They made the experience so much more manageable.
The Before Picture,
with a comparison between the Munch and Mini:
Me with the Munch Me with the Mini
No, not quite the same shirt, but we did try our hardest to get the same photo angle. :) My face is the most obvious sign that I gained less this time around. The Mini's was taken the day before contractions started.
The After Pictures:
First photo of our second girl...
She's all cleaned up now, and just waiting to be held.
Best moment in the world, holding a brand new life.
Second best (for me at least) moment in the world. :)
The Munch, still in her butterfly dress since D's birthday party had been a costume party, came to visit that evening with D's mama. She was so sweet and gentle the whole time, and just couldn't take her eyes off her new little sister.
But we did manage to get her to look away briefly... :)
Day 2 of life with adorable baby yawns!
We got home Sunday afternoon--a much faster discharge than we'd had for the Munch. Definitely a few positive things to be said for not getting a c-section! The funniest thing about our stay at the hospital: We never made it to the postpartum ward. With the Munch, we didn't know or didn't understand that there WAS a postpartum ward, so when they moved us over there an hour or so after her birth, we were a bit surprised, to say the least, and more than a little disappointed, because those rooms are smaller, and the bed for Daddy wasn't nearly as comfy (although my bed was nice and soft, and the delivery ward bed for me was not...). But for the Mini, we were prepared for the move...and then never got moved! The postpartum ward was completely full that weekend, and there were 4 or 5 families waiting in line in front of us to get moved over there. Apparently, this was a really good weekend to be born!
These pictures prettymuch describe life now...Exhausted parents, usually sleepy baby (yay), and frankly delighted big sister who wants to do anything and everything she can with and for her new sister.
This is one of my favorite little newborn outfits. Can you tell which girl is which? Hint: The Munch didn't have hair... ;)
It won't last for long, but at the moment, our smallest cat (who weighs about 11 pounds), is bigger than the Mini.
Another of my all-time favorite outfits, and it always seems to get the kiddos to pose...The Munch was dancing free in hers, while the Mini seems to be doing some pretty heavy blues grooving. :)
It didn't take Munch long to figure out how to use my boppy pillow. This is her baby doll, by the way, not her sister...they are about the same size at the moment, so I figured I ought to clarify. :)
Little A and her mama came by on Tuesday. We had ourselves some lovely girl time.
"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters!"
Munch had SO MUCH FUN with our Sister Photoshoot. Can you tell? By the way, it was almost impossible for me to find a Big Sister shirt...Seems like almost everything is online only, and I don't like getting clothes that way. I finally found a store that had ONE shirt on the clearance rack. And fortunately, that shirt was the right size. Crazy.
My nanny family came to visit on Wednesday. Here's me with all my girls!
My 5 little (and not so little anymore) charges. I'm obviously not working for a few weeks, so for now it's just my 2...but the other 3 are just head over heels for the new baby, and I'm looking forward to when all of them can be together. They all got a chance to hold her when they visited, and loved it very much.
Four years ago, it was a different baby and a different cat, but the same blanket and Daddy sharing space with them. Precious.
The first doctor's appointment went very well (except for the car's battery dying on Tuesday when we were *supposed* to go--yay for a nearby autozone, a Daddy who can work on cars, a wagon for heavy battery transportation...there were so many things that could have made this such a trial, and it really wasn't, other than having to reschedule the appointment). But we learned on Thursday when we were finally able to go to the doctor that the Mini is already back up to her birthweight! That was a huge encouragement for me, after the major struggles we had with the Munch during her first month. The Mini is eating so well...Although sometimes that's meant full evenings of me sitting in the armchair as she eats, waits 10 minutes, eats again, waits another 10, eats again...for 3 or more hours, as it went last night...You can totally blame her for the lateness of this post. :p
For now, we continue to adjust to life as a family of 4. Friends have brought us several meals this week, so we have been far from hungry, and we were at a friend's house warming yesterday...Oh, the squeals of excitement from the friends who were there and got to see the baby! That was fun. :D Today we made it to church this morning without difficulty, to the great surprise and delight of other friends (and we were even on time!). We're enjoying the transition, come what may.
No comments:
Post a Comment