And then there were 4!

So the evening of May 2nd after writing the last blog entry, I went into labor! Brady had predicted that baby sister would come on "2 May", so he was right in that she started coming on May 2. It started around 6:15 p.m. while we were having a family dinner at Carrabbas. Contractions were 10 minutes apart on average so around 8:15 I called my parents and they thought they should come that night. Contractions slowed from 10ish until 12 a.m. when I laid down to get some rest. They then went from 7 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart. Around 1:15 we headed to the hospital (I delivered Brady & baby girl at Durham Regional) since they'd been 4 minutes apart for an hour. I went upstairs and kissed Brady before leaving & absolutely lost it. Being in labor made me think back to giving birth to him & how much he's changed since then and here I was about to do it all over again. We got checked into our room around 1:45 with contractions still around 4 minutes apart. The evening got really interesting around 2:45 a.m. Monday morning. I was laboring in a rocking chair & had a very intense contraction followed by a strange pressure sensation. Rocky & I heard a loud POP! and my water broke. When I say it broke, IT BROKE! It took 2 large towels to sop it up & I need a new gown and to be dried off. Usually the water breaking causes labor to quicken, but for some reason, my contractions slowed to around 10 minutes apart, although they were very intense. At 3:45 I was checked and found to be 4-5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Also, there was a bit of meconium in the amniotic fluid, but not enough that they were worried. A pediatric team would be on board to assess her right after birth. I was checked again around 8:45 and had not progressed at all. What the heck! Contractions were very painful but not doing anything. I was told to go for an hour walk. I walked for about 45 minutes, but between the lack of sleep, being soooo hungry, and the pain, I was getting dizzy and feeling like I was going to pass out. I was checked again and found to have made no more progress. At this point, my parents were there with us. I was emotional & feeling like I didn't know what to do. Babies need to arrive within 24 hours of water breaking so I didn't want to stay 4-5 cm all day long. I had originally wanted a natural, drug-free childbirth, but with the reality of pitocin right around the corner, I knew that probably needed to change. I was nauseous with contractions & feeling quite discouraged. I was told I could try walking some more get an enema to stimulate labor, try nipple stimulation, or get some pitocin. None of those ideas sounded appealing. I had already tried walking & it hadn't worked and I was afraid of passing out. The enema sounded the least appealing for obvious reasons. Around 10:15ish I told my nurse I wanted some pitiocin, but only after I received an epidural. She hung the bags of IV fluids & by 11:15 I had my epidural. Can I just say that anethesiologists are some of God's angels on earth? Hehe! The placement of my epidural hurt because I felt the pressure in my spine & I also had 4 contractions while sitting there like a pretzel. However, the epidural provided almost instant relief. By 2:15 p.m.- I had gone from 4-5 cm dilated to 10 cm dilated- not bad for 3 hours worth of labor. I started pushing right after 3 p.m. and Carrigan Lin Davis was born at 3:23 pm. ONLY 20 MINUTES OF PUSHING! What a change from the 3.5 hours of pushing with Brady.

So here are the stats:
8 lbs 7.5 oz & 19.75 inches long
Brown hair & blue eyes (atleast for now)

Looks alot like Brady did when he was born

No ill effects from the meconium- Praise God!

After being all cleaned up, I got some food (best boxed lunch ever) and was moved into my post partum room around 5:30ish. My parents brought Brady to visit and he finally got to meet his baby sister around 7:45. Wow was he smitten. He was quite sad to leave that night without her & we decided it'd be for the best to not have him come visit again between being sad to leave her & mommy and also because the room was so small (i.e.- stir crazy 2 year old) with lots of buttons to press & things to get into.

I was raveneously hungry after having her & ate alot of hospital food & food brought to me by Rocky during my 2 night stay. The process of recovery seemed to be going much easier this time. My only complication is the whole "not being able to pee predicament" that I experienced with Brady. If the bladder becomes too full, it causes the uterus to not be able to clamp down which can cause a serious hemorrhage. I let them know that I needed to be cathed & preferred a foley since I didn't want to be straight cathed every few hours & they agreed. When they cathed me at 8:45 p.m., I instantly filled up 2 liters of pee! What relief! No wonder I'd been so uncomfortable before that. They took the catheter out Tuesday & I showered and tried to go many times to no avail. It was replaced & taken out again on Wednesday. After having it out about 2 hours, I was able to pee. I have never been so excited to pee in my life. The nurse said there was no need for a bladder scan to check the volume, but I told her it'd be fine to do one especially since she'd mentioned some nursing students who wanted to learn. Bad news- bladder had 850 ml & it's ideal to only have 350 ml. A few hours later they checked again & it had risen to 999 ml! What the heck! I'd been peeing up a storm. My nurse got my Ob on the phone on her drive home who agreed to let me go home under the conditions that I try to go every 1-2 hours. I asked to take one of those fancy pee hats home so I could measure and get a visual idea if it was getting better or worse. As of today, things are going fine in that arena, so I'm glad I chose not to come home with a foley. (I apologize for using the word "pee" so many times there!)

It took us until Wednesday to officially decide on her name. We spent alot of labor discussing it. She just didn't look like a Charlotte or Gretchen. After she was born, Rocky said "She's such an exquisite little thing. She needs a really special name." We had already decided on Lin as a shortened version of Linda, Rocky's mom who passed away almost 7 years ago. It felt good to finally fill out the birth certificate paperwork with her name. I cried once it was official.

She has a bit of jaundice, but nothing they wanted us to do anything about. As far as breastfeeding went, in the hospital, she didn't even want to nurse every 3 hours even though the nurse brings the breastfed baby to the mom every 3 hours at a minmum. Tuesday during the night I finally told them to wait to bring her to me when she woke up or around 4 hours. So I got to sleep from 4-7:45 am. It was awesome. I hadn't slept much Monday night. My room was right across from the nursing station & at one point I had to call my nurse in to have her tell them to quiet down. Tuesday night went much better since Rocky brought up my fan & it drowned out all the noise. She now eats about every 3 hours, but has periods of cluster feeding as well.

We got to come home Wednesday around 7:30, and it was so nice to bring baby girl home at last. The first night home went well with her being up from 1:30-2:30 and 4:45-5:30. However, Thursday night she was up from 2-5:30 a.m. and last night she was up from 12-4 a.m. Whew! She'll fall asleep after nursing but will wake up either right after I put her in her Moses basket or within a few minutes. Luckily, I'm taking atleast 1 2 hour nap during the day while she sleeps so it hasn't gotten too bad yet. Last night I went to bed at 9:45 when she did, so the 2 hours of sleep before the 4 hours of being awake felt really good. As far as diapers go, she is not a fan of being changed. I think it's the whole being cold thing that she doesn't like but I'm just happy she's peeing & pooping enough. That's always a good sign. My milk has come in much better than with Brady & I tend to leak after 3 hours if she's not up yet. I'm happy about this & hope it's a sign that pumping will be more productive than last time.

And now, what everyone really wants. Pictures! Of course we think she's beautiful & we feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy girl.