And then there were four...

Well our sweet girl is here! She is 1 week old today! It has been a wonderful week.

Pumpkin girl's birth story is not nearly as eventful as N's, mostly because it was so fast!! Which is still surprising to me. Last Tuesday, after I posted a blog at 5am, it was a regular work day. I came home with N and Ben was finishing the swing set outside so N and I blew bubbles and played while watching daddy build. I swept the decks and had some braxton hicks contractions that felt like they were getting a tiny bit stronger, but nothing to be concerned with. I came in to deal with some work things about 5 and told Ben that I probably needed to sit down for a few minutes because of the contractions. I was 39 weeks and 1 day. (N was born at 39 weeks and 1 day also :)

 

I took this Tuesday when I went upstairs to change clothes so I could play with N outside.  I was HUGE!

At 5:45, Ben had just gotten out of the shower (in case the contractions turned into anything) and I was sitting on the couch watching Noah play. I sat up to go shower also and my water broke. Now I know people say you'll know if its your water vs. pee, but I have to say... that is not all that clear to me. I went to the restroom and still, no clue if it was water vs. pee. I called the doctor, she said "You'll know if its your water, you'd have to change clothes." I said, "Well, if I peed myself I'd have to change clothes too." She said, "I'm pretty sure its your water." I made sure I had time to take a quick shower and yelled to Ben to pack up. I did eventually establish that it was my water b/c it does just keep coming. TMI? Anyways, so Ben ran around with N packing the car and dogs up. (We'd already had most things in the car ready to go.) We got in the car about 6: 15 for our 1.5 hour trip to the hospital and by then I was definitely having regular contractions.

 

On our way... in between contractions. 

 I was worried N would be worried about me whining and whimpering through contractions, but VeggieTales solved that problem. 

At about 7:30pm and WAY too many red lights later we made it to the hospital. My parents met us there and swapped cars with us to take N and the dogs to their house. By the time we were checked in and settled I was having SUPER-strong contractions. My nurse checked me and I was 3cm. (2cm the day before.) An hour later I was crazy-psycho in labor because the back labor was SO bad. It literally felt like my back was splitting in two. I told her I NEEDED the epidural! She said we needed to hold off a little while until the doctor got there.

The nurse kept asking my pain level and I guess when I told her that I was a 10 and yes, 10 meant I was dying, she called the doctor and asked if she could go ahead and order the epidural. The anesthesiologist took an incredibly long 10 minutes to arrive and when he walked in he saw me freaking out - I couldn't sit still on the bed during the contractions they hurt so bad - and said to me, "I'm going to have to leave because I can't give an epidural like that...." Then my nurse called for backup. HA!

I said, NO PLEASE I'll calm down, to which I PRAYED my heart out for God to help me sit still. Two nurses and 4 horrible contractions later I had an epidural. And, I sat still... praise the Lord! The nurse checked again and I was 5cm. I told the nurse N's labor went rather quickly during the active labor stage and she said she'd keep an eye on things. The doctor finally arrived (she was out to eat at the mexican restaurant down the street apparently) about 10pm. Checked again, 6cm.... 1 more cm in 15 minutes. Said she'd be back.

 

Ahhh....relief finally. 

At that point I think it took me a good 30 minutes to catch my breath and I was so relieved to not be in such intense pain anymore. We chatted with our amazing nurse and I turned on praise music. 45 minutes later I told her that she probably needed to check me again. She said they didn't like to check progress so frequently because of the risk of infection, but agreed. And... 10 cm! Literally from water breaking to 10 cm was 5 hours - 6cm to 10cm was 45 minutes.... She told me to do a 'practice push' to see if how fast the doctor needed to come and then said, no more! she definitely need to get the doctor.

The on-call doctor came back in and 2 pushes later, little girl was born. I was really in shock at how fast it all was although I wish I could say it wasn't excrutiating for an hour or so. But, once baby girl was out, epidural was off, we were able to have an hour or more of kangaroo care and just be in awe of her.

 

April 16 - 11:13pm - 7lbs 8oz - 19 inches long

N getting his temp checked with me.

Our hospital stay was fine, although maybe with baby #2 we weren't as nervous, so we were going a little more stir crazy - ready to go home. Plus our last 2 nurses we had were less than helpful. (they were frantic, didn't know anything about nursing, gave us wrong answers to hospital questions, etc.) Prior to that though we had wonderful nurses who's goal was to help. We were just very thankful Friday morning to leave and head home as a family of 4.

Since then baby girl has blessed us with good nights and contentedness. Noah has been really great with her, he's been getting sweeter and more aware of her - worrying when she cries, etc. Yesterday was his first day back at school and it must have  a little overwhelming for him. The kids in his class bombarded him when he walked in patting and hugging him, which made him cry. And then when he got home he was exhausted which meant, very whiny and went to bed an hour early. I'm sure today will be a better day for him.

 

Being welcomed back to school yesterday.

 

Brother kisses!

Last night baby girl slept 7 hours straight, I fed her and then she slept another 3... crazy!!! I know this won't last, but I am so thankful for each long stretch of sleep I do get with her. She is a MUCH better nurser than N. She eats in less than 30 minutes where he was at least an hour to an hour & half - which led to me exclusively pumping for the rest of the year. I'm hoping with baby girl we can just nurse unless I'm at work. I weighed her after eating a couple times yesterday and at just 6 days old she was eating 2.5 ounces! I have my doubts this is right, but it said it a few times after she ate.  She's had 2 doctor appointments to check her bilirubin and praise the Lord yesterday, it went down 2 points and she gained 4 ounces in two days. Which means no light bed! (That is NOT fun...)

Well - that is our life so far. And I turn 30 in 3 days :) My family is coming to our house to cook out and just hang around, and I'm excited. Honestly though, I'm so happy right now with life that I'm not too concerned about my birthday. God is just so good. I have the next 6 weeks off and then I work 2 days a week all summer. Ben's mom will come here and watch L during those 2 days. By the time I go back full time, baby girl will be 17 weeks old. That is such a blessing too. Little N had to go to day care at 8 weeks.

Praise the Lord for this sweet precious family and time he's given us.