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.

Patiently Waiting

So it's the day before my due date with baby girl. Still pregnant as you can tell my the post title and the fact that this post isn't about her birthdate, size, name... I still feel pretty good, but I'm excited to get this show on the road. I've had contractions randomly for days now. I had an hour this morning where they were 10 minutes apart and now I'll have them about once an hour or so, but I'm not calling my doctor until they're 5 minutes apart for atleast an hour. The plan is to also call my parents at this point so they can come and stay with Brady. I had a strange dream Friday night where my parents were here, but we all left and went to the hospital, and right before I started pushing I realized Brady was at home alone. They got home & he had just woken up and wanted to know where everyone was. I think this is my subconscious fear about Brady feeling somewhat neglected when I have the baby. I know he'll be shown plenty of love my Rocky, me and our extended family and friends, but I still wonder how he'll feel not being the only center of our attention anymore. The dream was also wierd because all of Shaunda's family (aunts, uncles, cousins) were in the room while I was in labor. I have no idea what this part of the dream meant. The last part of the dream that was bizarre is that she only weighed 7 lbs even which I think is pretty much impossible at this point. Hmm... As far as progress goes, at my 39 week appointment last Monday I had gone from 1 cm to 2 cm dilated and from 25% to 70% effaced. I have my 40 week appointment tomorrow morning if I'm still pregnant, so maybe I'll have made further progress. I know that it's not really an indication of when I'll go into labor, but any free dilation is fine by me! Brady has been saying for months that baby sister will come on 2 May, even before I told him I was due in May, so I've been hoping he'd be right. That'd be really special that he knew when his baby sister was going to be born. Rocky had been saying April 29th for months & my mom had a dream that she was coming on April 30th, so Brady's guess is the next one that could come to fruition. While I don't think she'll be 8 days late like Brady, that would still only be 9 days from now. We're very close! I will definitely post when she arrives. In the meantime, my last official day of work was Friday. I could go in this week if she's not here, but with all of the random contractions and feeling more tired each day, I will probably take this time to just relax since it will be quite some time before napping & relaxation are introduced back into my life. This past week went by really quickly & this weekend is going by pretty quickly too. I was nice & busy at work and also met up with Rocky twice for lunch & with Nicky as well. This weekend, Rocky got up with him both mornings (6:45 yesterday and 6:15 today- YIKES!) so I could sleep in, and I took Brady to B&N and McDonald's yesterday before naptime, and then we all had dinner & went to the park after dinner last night. Who knows what today will hold. I'm not really in a "put on makeup and leave the house" kind of mood, but maybe after Brady's nap & mommy's nap I'll feel more up to it.

Tick tick tick!

I feel like I"m a ticking timebomb waiting to go off. At 38 weeks 6 days, I could be holding baby girl in my arms today or up to 3 weeks from now (let's hope it's not that long). I am still way less comfortable than I was at this point with Brady who insisted in sitting on all kinds of nerves to cause sciatica & pelvic pressure. The one uncomfortable thing I notice this time that I didn't have before is random contractions. I'll have a few an hour & then it stops and then I get some more in a few hours or not again until the next day. It's been like that on & off for over a week now. At my visit last Monday I was still only dilated 1 cm but had gone from 25% to 50% effaced. I have my 39 week visit tomorrow & am hoping I've made a little more progress. I know that progress doesn't mean she'll pop out that day, but for some reason, progress seems encouraging. The pics below were taken at 38 weeks 3 days (complete with new stretch marks and all. It's funny- Brady gave me the ones below my belly button and baby girl has given me the ones above my belly button. Territorial siblings already? Hehe!). While I don't think she'll be as big as Brady as 9 lbs 1 oz, I do think she'll be atleast 8 lbs. Finding out her weight & length are just some of the wonderful surprises awaiting us. Hair color, eye color, facial features, and oh yeah- her birth day are some other things I can't wait to find out. Brady is still quite excieted to begin his role as big brother. He was kissing my belly today and shook his finger telling baby sister "You not gonna watch Harry Potter". When I asked him why not, he said "Cause it's too scary." Perhaps he's already practicing being protective of her?

Full Term!

I can't believe that as on Monday, baby girl is considered full term. It still would feel so wierd to have her this early, but it's comforting to know that if that happens, her lungs should be good to go. I had my last appointment on Monday. They offered to check me again if I wanted, so I said sure thinking perhaps I'd progressed from 1 cm the week before. Not so much. Still 1 cm & about 25% effaced. It kinda bummed me out, but I know that being dilated or not really means nothing at this point. My belly measured 37 cm at 37 weeks so I'd grown 2 cm in a week. The exam caused my back to hurt for a few hours that day along with 1, yes only 1, strong contraction. I go back for my next visit on Monday. If they offer to check me, I still may say yes. Kinda hoping it may get things moving along. I feel really lucky to not be uncomfortable at this point as opposed to having some seriously achy pelvic, hip & leg issues with Brady from about 8 months on. The only pains I've been happening are actually upper back pain. Strange, I know. It happens throughout the night & I think I'm just sleeping in a not-so-good position or something. It's not unbearable & I'm still sleeping fairly well, just getting up 2-3 times a night to go tinkle. I'm getting really excited to go into labor (wierd but true), experience childbirth again, and meet my daughter. It's neat that her birthdate, weight, length, eye color, hair color, features, everything will be a surprise. I packed up some toiletries for the hospital & have work stuff pretty squared away too (out-of-office written & ready to be activated and out-of-office voice mail ready to be activated too). Last night I sterilized the breast pump parts too. I am really looking forward to nursing again as it's one of the best things I've ever done for Brady. There's not much I can do now to keep him healthy other than regular dr's & dentist check-ups, but I gave him such a great start in life by nursing him for 12.5 months. It was a huge sacrifice, but I started off right (no bottles, no paci, etc) and followed my guy by not supplementing him with formula early on despite his slow weight gain, and I think it all paid off. I've posted pics below of me at 36 weeks 5 days from last Saturday. She's still growing & I'm enjoying the ever-blossoming belly. On a side note, we took Brady for his first dentist's appointment this morning. He definitely was scared since it was much like a doctor's office, but the dentist was great. She managed to brush, clean, and put a flouride treatment on his teeth. What a brave boy! He continues to be such a joy & I have no doubt he will be an exceptional big brother to baby girl. Oh, he's also decided that her name should be Charlotte! We had some families over to our house this past weekend including 5 girls ages 1-7 and one's name was Charlotte. Apparently he loves her name because he patted my tummy Sunday night multiple times & said that baby Charlotte was in there. He'svery insistent that she not be called anything but Charlotte. I think Charlotte Lin Davis has a nice ring to it, but we've decided to still wait and see how we feel about it when she's born.

Easter Fun & Baby Girl Happenings

We enjoyed a nice Easter weekend. I had a sore throat and earache Friday(never panned out to be anything, so I'm guessing it's due to the yellow haze of pollen outside), so I stayed home from work, but thanks to napping all day Friday & enjoying a nap Saturday while Rocky & Brady went to breakfast and the park, I felt well enough Saturday evening to meet up with my parents & John in Burlington for Thai food & a trip to Barnes & Noble. Sunday started off with Brady enjoying the goodies in his Easter basket- little bit of candy (including his favorite- M&M's- see pic below for a shot of his chocolate smeared face), Spiderman tattoos, Cars stickers, Spiderman book, Kung Fu Panda DVD, Sesame Street socks (he's sporting them in one of the pics- but since they'd been buried in the pack-n-play for so long, we soon discovered they are too small- baby sister will love them!) and a Disney watercolor book. Rocky had found the watercolor book the night before at B&N. Brady loves it! You put water in the marker and it "colors" the paper. But as the paper dries, the color goes away so you can draw on it again. Very cool! He'll be loving that one for a while. After basket time, I took Brady to Barnes & Noble where he read alot of books and then we went to McDonald's for lunch (his request) where he gobbled up his nuggets & apple dippers and then headed off to play in their play area. The one at Brier Creek has a really nice outdoor play area, complete with shaded tables for the parents to sit at. We then headed home for his nap time & that evening we had a nice dinner at Outback before heading to the park. What a fun weekend! The pics below are just a glimpse of how much he enjoyed it all.
It seems as if no blog post would be complete without an update on baby girl. I had my 36 week appointment yesterday. This included the swab for Group B Strep. Basically, if a mom tests positive, she is given antibiotics during labor to prevent transmission to the baby since GBS can make babies very, very sick. My belly measurements proved the fact that she had dropped which I already knew since I can breath better due to her no longer being lodged in my ribs. At 34 weeks I measured 36 cm and now at 36 weeks I'm only measuring 35 cm. I have never measured behind at all with either pregnancy, so this was proof that she had headed south. Since the doctor was already "down there" for the GBS swab, she checked my cervix & found that I am 1 cm dilated. I was dilated for 2 weeks before I had Brady, so it doesn't mean much, but it is 1 cm I don't have to dilate during labor. She instantly felt the head & said that it was nice & low. They won't check me again until I'm 39 weeks or if I think I'm in labor, but I'll still have weekly appointments from here on out to check my urine for sugar & protein, weigh-in (Oh Joy!), check my blood pressure (a nice 116/68 this week), measure my belly, and listen to her heartbeat. This is all becoming more real. Rocky has serious doubts that I'll make it until May. He's going to install the carseat bases this weekend. Other than that, most of the things I need to do are more for me than for her- haircut for Brady & me, oil change for my car, order breastpump parts, etc. I'm starting to wonder more & more what she'll look like- it's the daydream phase of pregnancy where my mind drifts off & I picture having a sweet baby girl in our house as we go from a family of 3 to a family of four. Even if I hold off having her until as late as I had Brady, that's only 5 weeks. Seems like 5 weeks ago was just here yesterday.

My pregnancy may expire before my yogurt

Posted- 3/29/10 (can't get the post date to change from 3/25/10 when I drafted it). We're getting closer to meeting baby girl. I noticed this morning that the yogurt in my fridge expires on May 3rd (my due date) and the milk doesn't expire until May 16th. I will for sure have a baby before the milk goes bad (granted with a 2.5 year old in the house it will be gone by next week for sure). For some reason, this all really excited me. When will she come? Who will she look like? How big will she be? All unknowns & very exciting. Other exciting news- as of my 34 week visit last Wednesday she's not breech! Hallelujah! Also, I watched what I ate from 32-34 weeks and actually lost a pound which didn't alarm the doctor since that still puts me up 35 lbs. It was by far the best dr's visit of this pregnancy because it quelled my fear's of an external version or scheduled c-section- 2 things I had been fretting big time. I had an U/S to confirm her position & she's definitely head down. They estimated her weight at 5.5 lbs which would put her on track to be 8.5 lbs at 40 weeks. Look at her taking after her big brother already by being a big baby. Her femur length measured at 32 weeks so she may be a short, chubby baby which would be super cute. The pics below are my favorites from the U/S. In the 2nd one you can see her sucking on her nummy fingers. Seems that she already loves her sugar sticks just like Brady did. The 3rd pic down cracked us up because she looked like she was either smiling or passing some gas. I think she looks alot like her daddy in the 4th & 5th pics and just like Brady as a baby in the last one (although Rocky thinks she looks just like me in that one). I've also included pictures of me at 34 weeks 1 day. My belly is definitely more than a bump at this point. Our doctor's office didn't get their 3D machine until right after I had Brady so we have no 3D pics to compare to although I'm sure she'll look atleast a little bit like him. This past weekend I washed up her NB & 0-3 month clothes, blankets, and her crib sheet. Her crib is ready to go although she probably won't sleep in it for the first month or so. I was really happy to find a Moses Basket at Homegoods for $20. My mom is going to make a mattress and sheet to coordinate with the basket lining fabric. It's starting to seem more real now. I'm finally starting to feel a little more tired. I even came home from work yesterday, napped for 2 hours, slept for 8+ hours last night, and was still tired and in need of coffee this morning. This pregnancy has gone by much quicker & has been alot easier on my body than the first one (probably because she's stayed pretty high and off all of those nerves that caused me pelvic, hip & leg pain before). Let's see if she's as good of a baby as Brady was. No matter what, we will love our little girl. What a blessing!

Go Canes

We had a great time as a family at the Canes game on Sunday. All we told Brady when we left the house is that we were going to a surprise location. He kept saying he thought we were going to Chick-fila, but realized we were going to the hockey game once we were in the parking lot & he saw all the flags & people walking around with jerseys one. "Hurricanes!" he kept yelling. His jersey was waiting in the back of the car & he was oh so happy to match daddy. Once we got our tickets from willcall (after many phone calls to Rocky's boss who bought them under his account), we went inside & Brady was so excited. He was a bit concerned over the noice (see below pic of him covering his ears from the cheers of the Buffalo fans who were there in obnoxious supply), but overall had an awesome time. Daddy & him even took a trip to The Eye & got Brady his very own Canes hat. Brady decided he liked wearing it backwards. He's been asking when we can go back & loves to her me say the word "Zamboni!" which he repeats with some degree of giggling.