So it has been a while. We went to San Diego for two weeks (Benjamin for just shy of one) and we played there. Haley and I got to ride on a couple of planes which was VERY exciting. (Hopefully I will get around to posting pictures from this trip as well.) But when we got back, we had to go right into "go mode" as we call it. We have now moved to a new apartment about 2 miles from the house we lived in. The next morning I was officially "term" (37 weeks). Then came the unpacking. I also was getting really big and so life seemed to go slowly, even though the calendar flew by.
At almost 38 weeks I got checked for the first time and everyone was surprised that I was already dialated to 2 cm and 50% effaced. They told me at that time that I was already in a place where I could be induced, but the hospital doesn't do that until 39 weeks at the earliest. I wasn't ready yet anyway. So we went home, telling my mom that this was great news because we could plan everything. haha. Planning a baby. What a dream. Anyway...
At 39 weeks exactly, (Friday, May 13th) I went in for my usual check-up. The day before I received Osteopathic Medical Manipulation (OMM) like I have through this whole pregnancy. I don't know if it contributed to it, but I did not get much sleep between these visits as I was having strong enough contractions that I couldn't sleep through. When they checked me that Friday, I was 4cm and 90% effaced!!! One receptionist called me a "ticking time bomb". I'm not sure I liked that... The doctor told me he could schedule an induction on the following Thursday morning as I wanted, but told me he would be surprised if I lasted 3 days. I was pretty stressed because I wanted everything to go smoothly. I wanted my mom to be here when the baby was born without wasting too much time beforehand. Like I said: planning a baby's arrival is laughable. Except that it was too stressful for me to laugh at the time! My mom needed to get on a plane and spend the better part of a day traveling in order to get here.
My mom called me in the evening of that same Friday and told me to pick her up from the Des Moines airport on Saturday night around 7:45. Then I was scared she would waste time. It was still really nice to see her when she landed though. (It is always nice to see your mommy!) We talked and played with Haley and watched a show after Haley went to bed. We chatted longer than we probably should have, not actually getting in bed with the light off until about 1am.
At 3:30 am I awoke with contractions: 9 minutes apart. hmmm. At 4:40am, Benjamin got up to for a minute and I asked him why he was up. He was surprised I was up too. I told him my contractions were then 7 minutes apart. Not super strong, but timeable. I also didn't know if they really where "timeable" for sure because they were getting closer together fairly quickly. We waited a few more minutes and decided when they moved to 6 minutes apart that we should go to the hospital. We packed our bags and called a friend. The friend wasn't available right then so we left Haley home with my mom and Benjamin and I went to the hospital. In hind sight this really was the best. Haley got to sleep and then woke up to a family member in the house instead of a family friend.
I was admitted officially around 6 am. Because I was so far along to begin with, the doctor said that I would just end up coming later in the day anyway if they sent me home. My doctors were not on call for the weekend and had another practice taking call for them. So this mysterious Dr. Brown was going to deliver our little bundle of joy. Once Haley was awake, my mom got a hold of the family friend and was able to pull everything together for Haley and send her off. Then my mom showed up at the hospital.
OK. LET'S BREAK FOR A MINUTE. Did you all catch that my mom showed up about 7 hours before I went into labor?! We decided she was inspired (or it could be that Grandma Connors, who was a labor and delivery nurse for a long time knew what she was talking about when she told my mom to get the ticket...). It couldn't have been planned any better. I guess God knows better than we do...
Ok. So we hung out. The doctor came in at 9am and said I was not a 6 but more than 5cm. I still wasn't in much pain at all. They were almost ignorable still! He broke my water and then the anesthesiologist came in about 15 minutes later. He is my new best friend. He was funny and nice and that epidural only took like 4 minutes to be in my back. My contractions started to hurt a lot more once my water broke(like I had to breathe through them a little), but the epidural saved the day. I wasn't that bad when I asked for it, but fearing that I would have the same tearing and complications as I did with Haley it at least brought me peace of mind.
At 11:30am the nurse checked me and I was 8 cm. She said she would be back in an hour to check again but the Doctor came at noon. I didn't know they could do this, but apparently I was close enough to 10cm (like 9cm or more) that he just "pushed it out of the way". I asked why they didn't do that with my first baby and they said they just don't with first time moms. I thought that was kind of crazy. Anyway, they gowned up and got ready. Benjamin said, "You know how messy labor and delivery is when your doctor puts on thigh-high waders over his clothes to catch the baby." Haha! The doctor was GREAT and when it was time, I pushed. The whole thing took about ten minutes during three contractions. Then I had my beautiful baby girl. They laid her on my tummy and I cried a little. :)
We named her Alaina. We aren't sure why people are having a hard time with that name, but they are. It is pronounced Uh-LAY-Nuh. Not very attractive when you spell it out that way, but we think it is a beautiful name. Her middle name is Christy which is Benjamin's mom, Cathy's, maiden name.
It was CRAZY to see how much Alaina looked like Haley!
Haley loves her sister. The first time she held Alaina, she kept introducing her to my mom saying, "Grandma, this is my new baby sister." Then without any prompting, she sang to Alaina. Every single word of "I Am a Child Of God". It was a VERY special moment for all of us. She loves to snuggle and hold her (a bit too much!). When Alaina cries, Haley gets worried and checks on her. In the middle of the night one night, my mom said she got out of bed and told my mom that Haley needed the door open to the room with her mommy and Alaina.
We are home and doing well. Alaina is a great baby that eats like a champ and sleeps really well. We took her to the doctor for the first time out of the hospital and she had to have her bilirubin checked because she was getting a bit yellow. Her levels were too high so they had a blanket delivered to our apartment. She was wrapped up in a blanket that glows. Pretty crazy.
Benjamin has always called Haley his "Haley bug" or just called her "Bug" for short. Alaina is now his "Firefly" or "Lightning Bug". I think you can see why!
Like any baby, she sleeps a lot and loves to be snuggled. She also never cries during baths. Here is her first sponge bath at home as well.
Every once in a while I try to pump and then let Haley feed her. Haley LOVES it as it gives her a chance to bond with her new baby. (Haley has a scratched up nose in some of these pictures because everyone was helping by getting her to a park outside of the house while the baby and I dealt with life. (ha!) One time she took a nose dive. She is fine though...)
We are now a happy family of FOUR with TWO childREN! It is a little crazy. But we are loving having Alaina in our lives. We all love to hold and snuggle her...
...and Benjamin is especially happy to have a little baby to lay on his chest and sleep again.
More posts to come soon. We have a lot but I didn't want to post them before this one... So there may be A LOT in the next few days. Afterall, it has now been 2 1/2 months since Alaina joined our little family, which means we have a lot of adventures to report on!
Love, Laura
1 comment:
She is absolutely beautiful! Can't wait to see the rest of your posts and see what's been happening.
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