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| At 6 days old |
After being convinced I would deliver early, I was shocked to make it to my final prenatal appointment on January 27 at 39 weeks 5 days. I had an internal check done and was already 4 cm dilated. Woot! Maybe baby would be coming soon after all! My doctor stripped my membranes and told me that if I didn't go into labor in the next 48 hours to call him and schedule an induction.
After leaving my appointment I was having pretty serious contractions and was hopeful that Brooke was gearing up to be born that night or the next day. No luck. Contractions stopped by dinner time on the 27th and it was back to waiting. On Jan 30 I emailed my doctor and scheduled the induction for the morning of February 2nd. I was kind of disappointed that it looked like I would have to be induced again but I decided to try and enjoy the last few days of being pregnant without stressing about when baby was coming.
Fast forward to February 2nd... I woke up around 3 am with contractions 4-5 minutes apart but not very intense. I hadn't woken up from contractions before, but since I knew I would be going to the hospital in just a few short hours, I decided to try and get a little more sleep. Hubby and I got to the hospital right on time, 5:45 am, and I got checked in and the nurse set up the monitors to check me and baby. Getting settled in took quite awhile and it was 8 am before the doctor came to see where I was and decide how best to proceed. I was 5 cm dilated and having pretty consistent contractions about 4 minutes apart so the doctor suggested letting me labor on my own for a few hours while they gave me antibiotics for being gbs+. I was so happy to hear that I was in labor on my own! The nurse even guessed that I would have come in that day to have a baby anyway. She also guessed that we'd be having a baby before she was off shift for the day at 3 pm.... Yay!
By 11 am the doctor suggested starting a low dose of pitocin to intensify my contractions. Prior to starting the pitocin the contractions weren't too bad. Hubby and I ate breakfast and watched a movie. Once pitocin was started though, the contractions got intense quick. By noon I was ready for some pain medicine and called the nurse in. She ordered the epidural and gave me fentanyl while we waited. Ooh, that was amazing. I got a little light headed and nauseous, but it took the pain away quick. It also made getting the epidural so much easier since I wasn't writhing in pain from contractions while getting stabbed in the back and being told not to move.
Once the epidural was in and started it was after 1 pm. The doctor checked me and I was about 6 - 6.5 cm. The nurse had barely left the room when I felt some leaking and guessed my water was breaking. It wasn't a big gush or anything so I didn't call her back right away. About 20 minutes later I was working through some contractions and hubby knew something wasn't right. He asked if he should call the nurse in and I said yes. Despite the epidural, I was in pain and was having that "it's time to push" feeling. The nurse came in and confirmed that my water broke and that it was indeed time to push. Holy cow, that was fast.
Since I went from 6-10 cm in half an hour, the nurse and doctor hadn't set things up for delivery yet. By the time they were ready I was more than ready to start pushing. Six contractions later and my beautiful baby girl was born at 2:19!
She cried right away and got some good snuggles with mom and dad before getting cleaned up and weighed. I was shocked to hear that she was 8 lb 10 oz. Just that morning the doctor was estimating her to be 7 - 7.5 lbs. Lol.
Chelsea came to meet her baby sister once we got moved to our recovery room. The second she came in the room she looked at me and hubby and then went to give Brooke a hug and kiss. It melted my heart to see her tenderness towards her sister. Where did she learn what to do and how to act?! She is so amazing.
We only stayed in the hospital one night and checked out right after Brooke turned 24 hours old. We couldn't wait to get home and start our life as a family of four.
It's been two weeks and things are going well. Luckily, Brooke is a great baby and eats and sleeps like a champ. We've had a couple rough nights, but also a couple great nights (6-7 hours of straight sleep) so I don't feel as lost and sleep deprived as I did the first few weeks home with Chelsea. I've also been lucky that hubby was able to take about two weeks off work to stay home with us. He has been really great at taking care of us (making food, changing diapers, playing with Chelsea, snuggling Brooke, and so much more). I have to admit that I did good when choosing him to be my hubby. :)
Brooke had her two week check up today and has surpassed her birth weight! She dropped from 8 lb 10 oz at birth to 7 lb 14 oz at her two day check up. Now she's back up to 8 lb 12 oz and doing awesome. The only sad part is that she's already outgrown all her newborn sized clothes and diapers. Chelsea was such a peanut that she wore newborn clothes for weeks so having a bigger baby is so different. Good thing I have a bunch of cute 3 month clothes!
Having two kids has definitely been an adjustment so far. The hardest part for me has been losing my one-on-one time with Chelsea. I know my love for her hasn't changed, but not being able to play with her as much or read her stories at bedtime every night has been hard on me. She, of course, seems fine and hubby has been great at doing things with her to remind her that she's special too, but I still feel guilt that she's not my only focus anymore. I've made a point to do something with her most nights so hopefully my guilt fades some over time.
I absolutely love having two daughters though and couldn't imagine it any different. Hubby and I plan to have more kids in the future, but not for awhile, so for now my family is complete.
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| Valentine's Day trip to the park |
Ohh I loved reading this. I love you Megan!!!!
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