* June 30th * 11:18pm * 7lb 5 oz * 18.75" long
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Welcome to the world, baby girl! Monday evening I started having very painful contractions about 10 minutes apart, lasting through the night but suddenly tapered off around 3am. I was a bit frustrated but knew it was going to be very soon. Tuesday at my doctor's appointment she was still high and I wasn't dialated at all. I was having contractions 6-8 mins apart the entire time I was at the office but he said, "It could be nothing." I left very annoyed as I was definitely starting to be in some pain and didn't think I could last another week with the contractions (aka not getting sleep!). About 4 hours later my back pain was so intense I decided to take a bath to soak and as soon as I stepped into the tub my water broke! It was a huge gush so I knew what it was right away and started calling for Derrick to get everything in the car. The girls were unfortunately still awake and reading a bed time story as this happened so they were wired/too excited to sleep for Grandma Debbie. They were yelling out the window, "good luck Mommy!" and it was the sweetest thing ever.
I called the Dr. on the way to the hospital as it's a 30 min drive and by the time we got there my contractions were pretty close together and extremely painful. The hospital would definitely not let me do a VBAC2 (vag birth after 2 c-sections) and I just wasn't in the mood to fight with them. I wanted to just get it done with and had decided to have my tubes tied as well since they would already be operating. I was prepped for surgery and walked myself down to the OR. They gave me the spinal but had a lot of trouble getting it to work. It felt like an hour that they had a needle in my back but was probably only a few minutes.. it is just the part of the c-section process that I hate the most.
I remember lying on the operating table and they let Derrick in the room. It was so emotional for both of us as he wasn't there obviously for the last 2 babies! Unfortunately every time they checked me to see if I could still feel pain, I could, and I was told I would have to be put under general anesthesia and Derrick would have to wait in the waiting room instead of witnessing the birth. I started sobbing and I am pretty sure I made both my doctor and anestesiologist cry as well. Poor guys. I was just so incredibly disappointed and I knew what it meant to Derrick. I also had flash backs of my horrible recovery with Valerie and didn't want to go through that again. D kissed my forehead and said, "I love you" and went out in the hall. I vaguely remember breathing through the mask before falling asleep. Next thing I remember is waking up extremely sleepy in the recovery room around 1am. Derrick was there holding my hand and asking if it was too late to call my mom. He was trying to show me pictures of Madeline in the camera but I couldn't focus my eyes at all and just remember falling right back asleep. I think I was moved to my room around 2:30am.
They brought Madeline to us a few minutes later. Luckily Derrick was able to be in the nursery/recovery with her the entire time and didn't miss very much of her birth. He got to see her being weighed and bathed and all of that good stuff. My first reaction was that she looked like Valerie did as a newborn. She has lighter skin as Valerie and I do and very light brown, almost dark blonde hair. For now, she has light blue eyes and we honestly can't figure out where she got those from.. she definitely looks different from both of our other girls with her eyes open! The staff at the hospital was absolutely amazing and we just had the best stay there. Maddie latched right away and has been nursing since day 1. My friends who know my struggles with breast feeding in the past with the other girls will know what a huge deal this is! I'm not sure why #3 feeds with no problems and lactation consultants couldn't even help me get the others to work.. but it is definitely a blessing this time! It was absolutely amazing to see Derrick holding our newborn and he stayed with me the entire time at the hospital. He has been waiting on me hand and foot, he is truly an amazing husband and daddy!
The recovery is going so-so. I was incredibly groggy for a couple days and had a very hard time staying awake. After my surgery, I found out that my uterus was "lazy" after the birth and was not contracting as it was supposed to. Consequently I lost a large amount of blood and am now very anemic. Luckily with medication it fixed itself and I did not need a blood transfusion but it explains my very low energy and the recovery hasn't been as quick this time as a result. I was allowed to go home Friday afternoon after a lot of bloodwork showing that my levels were stabilizing but am not to drive, go upstairs, etc. and just overall have to take it much easier than I did with my last c-section. bummer!! In a way, I see it as a blessing that I was put to sleep as I think it would have been a very scary situation for Derrick to witness and maybe it's best we found out about that after I was in recovery! :)
The girls are doing well with Madeline. They are both little mommies and want to constantly bring her pacifiers, blankets, toys,etc. Poor Maddie will definitely not have much peace and quiet in her home. When we got home yesterday the girls were all dressed up and had worked with Grandma Debbie to hang balloons, get a birthday card and cake,etc. for Madeline's birthday party. They were SO excited and were screaming as we got out of the car. It was incredibly sweet. We can't say thank you enough to my mom for taking care of them while we were in the hospital. They went to spend the 4th with my parents and we will pick them up tomorrow. We'd like some alone time as a family for a week or so before having visitors so that we can all adjust and I can recover a bit. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts-- we have truly appreciated them and are so touched to have such a great support network- world wide! :)
Here are some pics for now- will try to post a lot more in the coming days!
Standing in front of the elevator to head up to Labor and Delivery after my water had broke! 39 weeks.
A nurse took this pic for D in recovery
Grandma Debbie
Valerie is definitely the little mommy.. she will sit as long as you let her with Maddie in her lap (with an adult next to her, of course!)
pics taken just before going home, in hospital
Madeline was ready to eat.
She was a little freaked out by the dogs who ran up and licked her feet!
Mom found this delicious strawberry cheesecake at Target!
f order and the "story" is down below. I give up. Sorry for the confusing post. ;)
While Ellie napped, Val had some bonding time today:
