SO after my last post I had my next appt...which I had no progress, which was disappointing but not altogether a surprise since I hadn't felt much going on that week previous. They did an ultrasound...again...to check her growth...still measuring big they said...always nice to hear ;) So the next few days we just fiddled around, waiting waiting waiting...I got some projects done and did our usual stuff. Then Friday, my due date, I had another appt...I can't really remember exactly what they said, I think there was some progress but can't remember now. But nothing that said I was having her anytime soon. Afterwards Evelyn and I went and got pedicures to get out of the house and do something, which was fun. She had never had one before and was a little bit nervous about it all but loved it after the fact.
Saturday was the Navy Seabee Ball, which we didn't go to because 1: we didn't know Mark would be home, and 2: we were hoping the baby would have been there by then! Since she wasn't, I went over to my friend Bev's house where a lot of them were meeting up/finishing getting ready. I got to see everyone all dressed up fancy and took some pics for them while I was there :)
Sunday, I was pretty frustrated by now...I was SO more than ready to be done with this pregnancy! I tried everything I could to help things along but nothing seemed to be helping much. I went to bed that night with nothing happening, then woke up at 2am feeling uncomfortable, went back to sleep...but couldn't stay asleep and by 3am I just decided to get up and do some things while tracking my contractions, which were fairly regular and decent feeling, before I decided to wake Mark up and take a shower. By 4 I called my friend Morgan, who was my night on call girl for the kiddos ;) She came over and at 5:15, which by then the contractions were longer and stronger.
By the time we got to the hospital, checked in, got checked (I was 5cm! woohoo!), got admitted and settled...my contractions slowed down and were pretty non-existent at least to my feeling anyway. By 8 things were still pretty slow and the dr. wanted to break my water but since Andrew came within an hour of breaking my water last time I thought getting my epidural first would be a better idea. :) So I had to get a certain amount of fluids in me before I could get the epidural so between 8 & 9 Mark and I walked the hallways trying to get things going...in that whole time I only had a few contractions that I could feel.
Despite all that I got the epidural done at 9:30, rested a bit, and at 10 they broke my water, which didn't do much so around 11 they checked me and decided to start pitocin to help things along. Every 15 minutes they'd check and up it a little each time cuz I still wasn't feeling too much/they weren't picking up anything strong. But despite all of that, when the dr. checked me at 12:30, I was 10cm! crazy...so she asked me to do a "test" push and then said I was good to go!
They got everything for them ready and I started pushing...which seriously was such a crazy/surreal/weird experience! I still felt nothing, which after Andrew's experience wasn't entirely expected by me cuz I TOTALLY felt the need/pressure that I had to push. I told THEM I was ready to push and this time it was all them telling me....I couldn't tell when I was having a contraction at all! So they'd tell me when one would start, and for each contraction I'd do 3 pushes and after 5 or so contractions there she was! It realy was just so weird! Both Mark and I afterwards were going on about how crazy an experience that seemed because it just went so smooth and nice and painless for me! Yay for good epidurals! ;) I remember kinda laughing while it was happening because I honestly felt kinda dumb pushing when I felt nothing...not that I'm complaining! It was the best birth ever!
So anyway! She was finally here! Weighing in as my biggest baby at 9lbs 5 oz, measuring 21 1/4" long. She was born on Monday March 10th at 1:05pm and was/is perfect! She wasn't as chunky as I was expecting, except for her cheeks :) but was a nice big baby! I got to hold her for a long while after, just like with Andrew, which was so great! Then she went up to the nursery to be cleaned up and everything (she was totally covered in that white stuff! kinda gross...) and I was able to eat and go off to my recovery room. We stayed in the hospital two days, everything went good there...I had great nurses, both for delivery and after, which was wonderful!
My friend Maren, who watched the kids after Morgan, brought the kids up and they got to meet their sister! It was so cute and sweet...Evelyn was SO excited and happy to see her! Andrew was excited too but got distracted by the hospital room :)
So anyway, this is all I'm gonna do for now! Here's a few pics! I'll have to wait til I get home (I'm in MO right now :) to finished up this past month! :) I just gotta say lastly how grateful I am for my beautiful little family and the beautiful new little girl we have! I am SOOOO grateful too that Mark was able to be there for her birth and first couple weeks of life...we definitely got lucky with whoever made the decision to let him come home and I"m so beyond glad it worked out!
