She's here!!!
As most of you know, K was born at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday 8/12/2012. Her birth was definitely exciting!
On Friday 8/10, I had my 37 week (or 38? Not sure what they considered it) appointment. The Dr. said I was "a good 3 c.m." and 80-90% effaced. He didn't make any predictions as to when she would come, so I left there expecting to be pregnant for a while.
Saturday morning M had a Dr. appointment (her ears are all cleared up!), and after that Joe suggested we go to IKEA. He figured if going 2 hours away and doing all that walking didn't put me into labor, than nothing would. We went, had a good time, and headed home. On the way home I had a few contractions, about 7-10 minutes apart, but they petered out quickly, and I was pretty bummed. We went to dinner with Joe's parents and ran to Wal-Mart real quick.
I slept great Saturday night. When M woke up at 7:30ish, I asked Joe to get up with her and let me sleep until 9. At 8:30, I got up to go to the bathroom. About 15 minutes after I laid back down, I felt a really painful contraction. About 2 minutes later, I had another one. After about 4 contractions (all about 2 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute), I got up and told Joe I thought this was it. I ate some breakfast, and took a shower (I was hoping to spread out the contractions a bit! Since they were coming so fast and close together, it was only leaving me about 1 minute between contractions to recover). The shower didn't help, so I hollered to Joe to get my parents over to pick M up as soon as possible. Shortly after I got out of the shower, Joe hopped in the shower and my parents arrived. I'm sure I was quite the sight, answering the door in my towels, moaning through contractions. I was able to get dressed, do my hair, brush my teeth and get out the door, all between terrible contractions.
As soon as we got to the hospital (which took about 10-15 min- Joe was FLYING!), Joe hurried in to get me a wheelchair. I stood outside, leaning over a post, probably sounding like I was dying. We finally made it upstairs to Labor & Delivery after a few more really embarrassing contractions. I stood at the check-in window while Joe parked the wheelchair, glaring at the woman on the other side who was chatting away on the phone. Finally another woman opened the door for me, and said, "Let's get you in here before you deliver in the waiting room." She took me right back, and had me change into a gown so she could check me. We could hear her and the secretary betting on how far along I was. Apparently the secretary said 4 c.m., the nurse guessed 7. She checked, and I was quite shocked to hear I was at 8! This was only about 2 hours after I felt my first contraction. She asked me to lay down so she could wheel me to my delivery room, which I wasn't sure I could do. It was like torture to lay down. I think I yelled through a contraction the whole way over there.
Once they got me to my room, they started getting things set up for me to get an epidural. The contractions were near constant, and they were SO painful. Poor Joe. He was such a supportive trooper, I'm sure I was pretty scary for a while there. I know I was crying, "Someone help me! I need help!" at one point, haha. I had to get an I.V. (which she had to poke twice!), so I had to try and hold still. That was tough. Finally the anesthesiologist made it in. Her name was Dr. Angel, which I found very ironic. I had at least 2 contractions while they did the epidural, and I had to hold absolutely still. It was nearly impossible. Finally I started to get some relief, and I was able to relax. The epidural was much better than the one I had with M. I was still able to move my legs, and I still felt the contractions, but they were much more tolerable.
They let me rest for a while and checked me about 1:00. They said I was complete but she was still high, so they broke my water to help her drop down. About 30 minutes later, I started feeling the urge to push. Joe told the nurse, and she came in and got things set up. I sent a text to our families @ 1:30 telling them it was time to push- the last response I saw was @ 1:32. The nurse had me push once and stop. She said, "I don't like you" (in a joking way). I was confused. She said, "Just that one push and I could see about 2 inches of head!" She called the doctors right in, and I got back to pushing. I pushed through 5 or so contractions, and suddenly she was born! She was born @ 1:45 p.m., so I pushed for less than 15 minutes! It was the most amazing feeling! They had originally planned on taking her right to the warmer, as there was meconium when they broke my water. Apparently, though, she looked perfect when she was born, so they were able to put her right on my chest! It was SO cool! Joe cut the cord, and we were able to hang with her for quite a while, before I handed her over for her exam. She weighed 7lbs 13.6oz, and was 20.5 inches long. After everything was done, they gave her back to me and I started nursing her.
We spent about 1.5 hours with her before we got our first visitors! My parents came up with M, so Joe went out and got her so she could be the "first" to meet her sissy. It was the sweetest moment! After that, my parents, Tara & Matt came in. After they left, we were moved to our room on the Mother/Baby floor. They took K for her bath, and we hung out for a while. Joe's family came, and eventually they were able to meet K! It was a nice, quiet evening of introductions.
We stayed in the hospital for 48 hours. We could've gone home after 24, but I wasn't quite ready. While we were in the hospital, K was having some trouble latching when nursing. The Lactation Consultant and I both agreed that she appeared to be tongue tied. After discussing it with her pediatrician, Joe and I agreed to have her frenulum snipped. Basically it allows her full use of her tongue, which she could previously only lift 1/2 way to the roof of her mouth. Since the procedure, her latch has improved greatly, and nursing is going much better!
Life at home with 2 kids is going well, so far. I'm making a conscious effort to spend time with M, and so is Joe. Yesterday they built her new desk together. It was so cute! K sleeps a lot more than M ever did, but it's still early, so we'll see how that goes! This is my first morning alone with both kids. Joe will be off this afternoon (K's got her first Dr. appointment!), so at least my first day is a short one!
As most of you know, K was born at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday 8/12/2012. Her birth was definitely exciting!
On Friday 8/10, I had my 37 week (or 38? Not sure what they considered it) appointment. The Dr. said I was "a good 3 c.m." and 80-90% effaced. He didn't make any predictions as to when she would come, so I left there expecting to be pregnant for a while.
Saturday morning M had a Dr. appointment (her ears are all cleared up!), and after that Joe suggested we go to IKEA. He figured if going 2 hours away and doing all that walking didn't put me into labor, than nothing would. We went, had a good time, and headed home. On the way home I had a few contractions, about 7-10 minutes apart, but they petered out quickly, and I was pretty bummed. We went to dinner with Joe's parents and ran to Wal-Mart real quick.
I slept great Saturday night. When M woke up at 7:30ish, I asked Joe to get up with her and let me sleep until 9. At 8:30, I got up to go to the bathroom. About 15 minutes after I laid back down, I felt a really painful contraction. About 2 minutes later, I had another one. After about 4 contractions (all about 2 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute), I got up and told Joe I thought this was it. I ate some breakfast, and took a shower (I was hoping to spread out the contractions a bit! Since they were coming so fast and close together, it was only leaving me about 1 minute between contractions to recover). The shower didn't help, so I hollered to Joe to get my parents over to pick M up as soon as possible. Shortly after I got out of the shower, Joe hopped in the shower and my parents arrived. I'm sure I was quite the sight, answering the door in my towels, moaning through contractions. I was able to get dressed, do my hair, brush my teeth and get out the door, all between terrible contractions.
As soon as we got to the hospital (which took about 10-15 min- Joe was FLYING!), Joe hurried in to get me a wheelchair. I stood outside, leaning over a post, probably sounding like I was dying. We finally made it upstairs to Labor & Delivery after a few more really embarrassing contractions. I stood at the check-in window while Joe parked the wheelchair, glaring at the woman on the other side who was chatting away on the phone. Finally another woman opened the door for me, and said, "Let's get you in here before you deliver in the waiting room." She took me right back, and had me change into a gown so she could check me. We could hear her and the secretary betting on how far along I was. Apparently the secretary said 4 c.m., the nurse guessed 7. She checked, and I was quite shocked to hear I was at 8! This was only about 2 hours after I felt my first contraction. She asked me to lay down so she could wheel me to my delivery room, which I wasn't sure I could do. It was like torture to lay down. I think I yelled through a contraction the whole way over there.
Once they got me to my room, they started getting things set up for me to get an epidural. The contractions were near constant, and they were SO painful. Poor Joe. He was such a supportive trooper, I'm sure I was pretty scary for a while there. I know I was crying, "Someone help me! I need help!" at one point, haha. I had to get an I.V. (which she had to poke twice!), so I had to try and hold still. That was tough. Finally the anesthesiologist made it in. Her name was Dr. Angel, which I found very ironic. I had at least 2 contractions while they did the epidural, and I had to hold absolutely still. It was nearly impossible. Finally I started to get some relief, and I was able to relax. The epidural was much better than the one I had with M. I was still able to move my legs, and I still felt the contractions, but they were much more tolerable.
They let me rest for a while and checked me about 1:00. They said I was complete but she was still high, so they broke my water to help her drop down. About 30 minutes later, I started feeling the urge to push. Joe told the nurse, and she came in and got things set up. I sent a text to our families @ 1:30 telling them it was time to push- the last response I saw was @ 1:32. The nurse had me push once and stop. She said, "I don't like you" (in a joking way). I was confused. She said, "Just that one push and I could see about 2 inches of head!" She called the doctors right in, and I got back to pushing. I pushed through 5 or so contractions, and suddenly she was born! She was born @ 1:45 p.m., so I pushed for less than 15 minutes! It was the most amazing feeling! They had originally planned on taking her right to the warmer, as there was meconium when they broke my water. Apparently, though, she looked perfect when she was born, so they were able to put her right on my chest! It was SO cool! Joe cut the cord, and we were able to hang with her for quite a while, before I handed her over for her exam. She weighed 7lbs 13.6oz, and was 20.5 inches long. After everything was done, they gave her back to me and I started nursing her.
We spent about 1.5 hours with her before we got our first visitors! My parents came up with M, so Joe went out and got her so she could be the "first" to meet her sissy. It was the sweetest moment! After that, my parents, Tara & Matt came in. After they left, we were moved to our room on the Mother/Baby floor. They took K for her bath, and we hung out for a while. Joe's family came, and eventually they were able to meet K! It was a nice, quiet evening of introductions.
We stayed in the hospital for 48 hours. We could've gone home after 24, but I wasn't quite ready. While we were in the hospital, K was having some trouble latching when nursing. The Lactation Consultant and I both agreed that she appeared to be tongue tied. After discussing it with her pediatrician, Joe and I agreed to have her frenulum snipped. Basically it allows her full use of her tongue, which she could previously only lift 1/2 way to the roof of her mouth. Since the procedure, her latch has improved greatly, and nursing is going much better!
Life at home with 2 kids is going well, so far. I'm making a conscious effort to spend time with M, and so is Joe. Yesterday they built her new desk together. It was so cute! K sleeps a lot more than M ever did, but it's still early, so we'll see how that goes! This is my first morning alone with both kids. Joe will be off this afternoon (K's got her first Dr. appointment!), so at least my first day is a short one!