I am loving her softness, her roundness, her sweet smell...all of her loveliness!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Annie's First Photo Shoot
Barely 18 hours old and I was already camera-stalking her!
I am loving her softness, her roundness, her sweet smell...all of her loveliness!
I am loving her softness, her roundness, her sweet smell...all of her loveliness!
Annie's Birth Story & Hospital Stay
I had my final appointment on Tuesday morning. We packed everything into the car that we'd need just in case we ended up not coming back home (good thing!) We took the girls to Grandma's house, stopped for coffee (and a donut for me) and then headed to the doctor's office. We waited FORVER for the ultrasound. Baby looked great (we got a picture of her foot!) then we saw Dr K. The NST was good and it was time for my exam. I went in knowing that we would be stripping membranes and I was totally ok with it. I was a 3 by the time he was done, and I had "bulging membranes." He said that I needed to be as active as possible and to not go far from the hospital. Then he looked really thoughtful and said something I did NOT expect...he wanted to know if I'd like to be admitted that day, have my water broken, have the baby that day. WHAT THE WHAT?!?
I looked at Chris and I was pretty excited! Why not? We came prepared, we were only one day away from being induced, and there was no way in HELL I was going all the way back home just to have my water break and not make it back in time. Dr K was hoping he'd be around to deliver himself that evening. He called over to the hospital to make sure there was room. He called Dr. Smith who would be on call that evening to get him up to date. He wrote the orders and handed them to us. I asked if we could go eat lunch first, lol.
We left feeling really excited, we hugged in the parking lot :) We went to Firehouse Subs and ate...I tried to savor my last real meal but I was so anxious!! I thought about going to see the girls one last time, but Chris pointed out that they wouldn't really understand the whole situation- they'd be too excited playing at Grandma's (as usual.) Plus, I was REALLY worried my water would break, even though I felt completely fine (no cramping at all.) We went straight to the hospital but made a special trip to the Mother Baby unit- to see my sister and new nephew Jameson :) He was born the previous night at 9:00. My sister and BIL came with us to the pumpkin patch earlier that day. Her contractions were getting stronger and closer...they went straight to the hospital and I swear it was the quickest delivery! She got the epidural way too late but man she is a trooper! Jameson is absolutely adorable and beyond precious.
Welcome, baby Jameson!!
After our visit with them, we walked over to L&D at around 1:30. I said, "We're here to have a baby!" and we were walked straight to our room. Chris took one last belly picture and I changed into the glamourous hospital gown. Our nurse came in and got some information put into the computer, then hooked me up to the monitors. Here's where it got tricky...I wasn't having contractions, so they didn't consider me in active labor. I was only 38w 6 days, so that put me 1 day short of getting induced. The nurse was basically confused about why we were there, even though I explained it AND I had the doctor's orders. She was so super sweet and wonderful though and I felt pretty confident that she'd get it straightened out.
Then we just waited. Chris napped for a bit, we watched tv...nothing was happening! Dr K had told me that since I wanted an epidural that I would be getting that FIRST. Then they'd break my water and we could expect a baby within a couple of hours. I was so very cool with that plan. I even looked at Chris and said, "It cannot be this easy!" However, the nurse said they would break my water first, then when I started having pain they would order the epidural. Um, what?? All of a sudden my confidence was gone. I was so nervous that I'd progress too quickly once we broke the water.
Chris brought me pizza around 6:00. At about 6:15 I started having regular contractions. They didn't hurt at all. Our nurse had only been back a couple of times. She was waiting on my doctor to call her directly. UGH!! Thankfully, he walked in at about 6:30. I have NEVER been so happy to see him! He asked if my epidural was in. I told him the NEW plan was to break my water first and he was NOT happy! He explained that typically hospitals don't like to augument labor prior to 39 weeks. However, I was 5 hours away from being 39 weeks, lol, and I wasn't going anywhere.
He told my nurse exactly what to do. Epidural first, break water, then deliver. By the time all was said and done, I was having contractions pretty regularly but they weren't too bad. At 8:00 the anesthesiologist came in, real nice guy. I got the good stuff and it took with no problems. Dr. Smith came in at about 8:30 and broke my water. It didn't hurt at all and once I was all cleaned up I felt sooo relaxed. There was this peace that settled over me. I was able to sort of doze in and out. At about 11:00 I felt nauseous. My blood sugar was low. Luckily my brother had brought me a cookie from Panera, lol. I ate half of it and felt much better! Then around 11:15 I started feeling my contractions. They were pretty intense. The kind that had me moaning and groaning and saying bad words under my breath, lol. I got another dose of medicine but it was sort of late. I was checked and at a 10+1. I did a practice push and the nurse was like, "Whoa! Doctor needs to be here NOW." The room was set up and Dr. Smith, who delivered Audrey, came in and got ready. I pushed just a few times. It didn't hurt, I just felt a lot of tugging. Chris was the best coach, he told me how great I was doing, but hearing the amazement in his voice and seeing his face as he watched everything made it so easy. He said he could see hair and that's when I started to cry. I was SO emotional, so happy.
I cried and pushed and laughed and when she was out, I saw right away that we had our girl. I was not surprised, I felt a huge sense of relief- I wanted my last girl so badly. The rest is kind of a blur. They gave her to me right away and she was so gooey, lol. They took her and cleaned her up a bit before I started nursing. The girl can eat! She nursed on and off for the 2 hours we were in the room. She checked out perfectly and soon we were moving to Mother Baby.
We opted to send her to the nursery for her bath- we needed a couple hours of sleep. Around 5am they brought her back all fresh and clean. Oh she is so precious and small! I tried to nurse her for an hour but she was sooo sleepy. We just laid skin to skin and I just took her all in...so soft and sweet. I put her down and pumped- I got 30 mL of colostrum!!! I was so excited.
Chris brought back a huge breakfast from Bob Evans which I practically inhaled. Annie had a crying fit and it turned out she had filled her diaper! We had a ton of visitors that day, including Audrey and Abigail. I'd only had 2 hours of sleep, but all the visitors and comments on FB made me so happy I didn't even care. We sent Annie to the nursery for the entire night- we were just wiped. We got a great night's sleep and were ready to leave on Thursday. Both Annie and I had our blood sugars checked throughout our stay and our numbers were fantastic. Goodbye, Diabeetus!!
I can't say enough wonderful things about our experience. Despite the confusion in L&D, the care was incredible. The Mother Baby unit was phenomenal, just as it has been in the past. They took great care of us and I rarely waited long for pain meds, supplies,etc. Everyone from housekeeping to lactation to room service...they all constantly asked what they could do for us. I almost didn't want to leave!
We came home Thursday afternoon after picking up the girls. It was so surreal driving home as a family of 5. It was a weird drive home. In a minivan. We put on a new video I'd found so the girls would stay awake (and not mess up bedtime.) All of a sudden, Aaron Neville's voice comes on singing about Little People on the farm. Chris and I looked at each other like, "W.T.F?!" And we just cracked up laughing. I seriously cried I was laughing so hard. Welcome to our new life, lol.
I looked at Chris and I was pretty excited! Why not? We came prepared, we were only one day away from being induced, and there was no way in HELL I was going all the way back home just to have my water break and not make it back in time. Dr K was hoping he'd be around to deliver himself that evening. He called over to the hospital to make sure there was room. He called Dr. Smith who would be on call that evening to get him up to date. He wrote the orders and handed them to us. I asked if we could go eat lunch first, lol.
We left feeling really excited, we hugged in the parking lot :) We went to Firehouse Subs and ate...I tried to savor my last real meal but I was so anxious!! I thought about going to see the girls one last time, but Chris pointed out that they wouldn't really understand the whole situation- they'd be too excited playing at Grandma's (as usual.) Plus, I was REALLY worried my water would break, even though I felt completely fine (no cramping at all.) We went straight to the hospital but made a special trip to the Mother Baby unit- to see my sister and new nephew Jameson :) He was born the previous night at 9:00. My sister and BIL came with us to the pumpkin patch earlier that day. Her contractions were getting stronger and closer...they went straight to the hospital and I swear it was the quickest delivery! She got the epidural way too late but man she is a trooper! Jameson is absolutely adorable and beyond precious.
Welcome, baby Jameson!!
After our visit with them, we walked over to L&D at around 1:30. I said, "We're here to have a baby!" and we were walked straight to our room. Chris took one last belly picture and I changed into the glamourous hospital gown. Our nurse came in and got some information put into the computer, then hooked me up to the monitors. Here's where it got tricky...I wasn't having contractions, so they didn't consider me in active labor. I was only 38w 6 days, so that put me 1 day short of getting induced. The nurse was basically confused about why we were there, even though I explained it AND I had the doctor's orders. She was so super sweet and wonderful though and I felt pretty confident that she'd get it straightened out.
Then we just waited. Chris napped for a bit, we watched tv...nothing was happening! Dr K had told me that since I wanted an epidural that I would be getting that FIRST. Then they'd break my water and we could expect a baby within a couple of hours. I was so very cool with that plan. I even looked at Chris and said, "It cannot be this easy!" However, the nurse said they would break my water first, then when I started having pain they would order the epidural. Um, what?? All of a sudden my confidence was gone. I was so nervous that I'd progress too quickly once we broke the water.
Chris brought me pizza around 6:00. At about 6:15 I started having regular contractions. They didn't hurt at all. Our nurse had only been back a couple of times. She was waiting on my doctor to call her directly. UGH!! Thankfully, he walked in at about 6:30. I have NEVER been so happy to see him! He asked if my epidural was in. I told him the NEW plan was to break my water first and he was NOT happy! He explained that typically hospitals don't like to augument labor prior to 39 weeks. However, I was 5 hours away from being 39 weeks, lol, and I wasn't going anywhere.
He told my nurse exactly what to do. Epidural first, break water, then deliver. By the time all was said and done, I was having contractions pretty regularly but they weren't too bad. At 8:00 the anesthesiologist came in, real nice guy. I got the good stuff and it took with no problems. Dr. Smith came in at about 8:30 and broke my water. It didn't hurt at all and once I was all cleaned up I felt sooo relaxed. There was this peace that settled over me. I was able to sort of doze in and out. At about 11:00 I felt nauseous. My blood sugar was low. Luckily my brother had brought me a cookie from Panera, lol. I ate half of it and felt much better! Then around 11:15 I started feeling my contractions. They were pretty intense. The kind that had me moaning and groaning and saying bad words under my breath, lol. I got another dose of medicine but it was sort of late. I was checked and at a 10+1. I did a practice push and the nurse was like, "Whoa! Doctor needs to be here NOW." The room was set up and Dr. Smith, who delivered Audrey, came in and got ready. I pushed just a few times. It didn't hurt, I just felt a lot of tugging. Chris was the best coach, he told me how great I was doing, but hearing the amazement in his voice and seeing his face as he watched everything made it so easy. He said he could see hair and that's when I started to cry. I was SO emotional, so happy.
I cried and pushed and laughed and when she was out, I saw right away that we had our girl. I was not surprised, I felt a huge sense of relief- I wanted my last girl so badly. The rest is kind of a blur. They gave her to me right away and she was so gooey, lol. They took her and cleaned her up a bit before I started nursing. The girl can eat! She nursed on and off for the 2 hours we were in the room. She checked out perfectly and soon we were moving to Mother Baby.
We opted to send her to the nursery for her bath- we needed a couple hours of sleep. Around 5am they brought her back all fresh and clean. Oh she is so precious and small! I tried to nurse her for an hour but she was sooo sleepy. We just laid skin to skin and I just took her all in...so soft and sweet. I put her down and pumped- I got 30 mL of colostrum!!! I was so excited.
Chris brought back a huge breakfast from Bob Evans which I practically inhaled. Annie had a crying fit and it turned out she had filled her diaper! We had a ton of visitors that day, including Audrey and Abigail. I'd only had 2 hours of sleep, but all the visitors and comments on FB made me so happy I didn't even care. We sent Annie to the nursery for the entire night- we were just wiped. We got a great night's sleep and were ready to leave on Thursday. Both Annie and I had our blood sugars checked throughout our stay and our numbers were fantastic. Goodbye, Diabeetus!!
I can't say enough wonderful things about our experience. Despite the confusion in L&D, the care was incredible. The Mother Baby unit was phenomenal, just as it has been in the past. They took great care of us and I rarely waited long for pain meds, supplies,etc. Everyone from housekeeping to lactation to room service...they all constantly asked what they could do for us. I almost didn't want to leave!
We came home Thursday afternoon after picking up the girls. It was so surreal driving home as a family of 5. It was a weird drive home. In a minivan. We put on a new video I'd found so the girls would stay awake (and not mess up bedtime.) All of a sudden, Aaron Neville's voice comes on singing about Little People on the farm. Chris and I looked at each other like, "W.T.F?!" And we just cracked up laughing. I seriously cried I was laughing so hard. Welcome to our new life, lol.
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