Natalie Grace, The Birth Story

We woke up at 4:30 am since we had to drop Jessy off at SIL’s house for the day, and had planned to be at the hospital between 6:30-7am, per the instructions we had received at the doc’s office a couple of weeks prior. Of course, being the non-morning people we are, we didn’t get out of the house til about 5:30 (we were supposed to be out of the house by 5). We stopped at McDonald’s on the way out and I got myself a sausage biscuit with egg (didn’t want cheese hanging on my stomach). I nibbled it down- hey my 5am 530am appetite just doesn’t exist. LOL

Jessy was surprisingly calm when we dropped her (and her car seat, bag and play yard) off at SIL’s. We kissed J goodbye and headed back (yes, we backtracked, lol) to Plano to get our little show on the road. As the sun came up we noticed something very unusual for this time of year- it was overcast. We quickly speculated whether it meant rain or not- overcast conditions are very rare in July in N TX.

We arrived at the hospital at about 6:45 and got signed in- slightly detoured due to construction at the hospital, but no biggie. I quickly texted Kirsten (our awesome doula!) and my mom at 6:53 to let them know we were there and getting settled and our room number. 

By 7:18 I was on the monitor and Miss Natalie was, as always, living up to her nickname and dancing around for us. My blood draws and IV’s were started, followed by my first round of abx (GBS+). Dr. D came in to check and I was *still* 2cm, 70%, -1 and a posterior cervix (same as the week before). Pit was started at 2 units at around 8:20 am.

I laid low in the beginning since I had slept horribly the night before, just sat in the bed in a semi-tailor sit (the best I could do considering that there was a (almost literally!) bowling ball in my lap. :p However, the Firecracker danced around so much that we were having a hard time tracking her on the monitor, so I had to lay down on my left side for a while, which unfortunately ended N’s acrobatics show for the time being. At this point my ctx were not very painful; they felt slightly stronger than BH’s. No biggie. The nurse increased my pit to 4. In the spirit of conserving my energy, I decided to try to nap a bit. I think I may have dozed off a bit for a while. My pit was increased to 6 and Keith decided to go for a walk. By the time dad came back from his walk, my pit had been upped to 10 and I was finally back to sitting up- yay!

I decided to take a virtual walk and hop online for a few minutes for a different kind of distraction. I poked a couple of friends on FB (lol) and was going to update my status but never had the chance… N was back to her acrobatics again and dodging the monitor so the nurse came back in and instructed us, once again, to lie on my left side for 20 minutes so she could get a good reading of Firecracker’s heartbeat. My ctx were about 2-3 mins apart and still not too painful.

About 13 minutes later, I felt a minor gush of something and speculated aloud about what it might be. Having had the exact same sensation at one time while in labor with J and it turning out to just be my mucus plug, I initially refused to get excited. Instead, I just reported that there was stuff coming out. However, this “stuff” continued to come out! Maybe it is actually my water??? Kirsten ran to get the nurse, who confirmed that my water had indeed broken, about an hour and 23 minutes after the pit was started. The water was once again stained with meconium (as it was with Jessy, I think we have a family tradition going here! lol), earning us some extra people in the delivery room when the special time came.

I was soon allowed to sit back up and resume my regular coping strategy. SIL was on the phone and I got to talk to Jessy for a few minutes, just before grandma arrived. The first couple of contractions were easy, but needless to say they became more intense after a while; at about 11:20 they required more of my attention to stay on top of them. I sat on the exercise ball for a bit while Kirsten applied some counter pressure on my back, which helped tons! We moved back to the bed after that and I knelt over the ball, which felt pretty darn good until my legs decided they didn’t like supporting me and my ginormous belly, so I shifted backwards into a throne position so I could prolong the comfort.

Once I switched back to sitting up, I ordered up a grape ice pop and ate on it between contractions. SO refreshing! Totally hit the spot. (lol) Right after I devoured my last bite of popsicle I was checked again and was 5-6 cm and we all cheered! The ctx intensified and I began shaking through them. I had gone into the hospital with a mindset that I would hold off as long as I could before asking for the big E, avoiding it if I could. Since I was at the point where I was literally shaking through the ctx I caved and asked for the epidural. It seemed to take forever and a day to get the epi in but once it was in I was a happy camper once again. They checked me and I was at 8cm at the time the epi was given- WOOT! Since I was once again comfy I decided to rest and try to nap again. I may have dozed off (can’t remember! Lol) after the new nurse arrived and Keith went for a walk at about 3:01.

At 3:37 I was checked again and found to be complete and at +2 station! I asked for my phone and called Keith and told him he “had better get back up here!” Minutes later, he returned. By 4:05 things began to heat up again- our nurse began setting things up and calling in the NICU team and Dr. D. I labored down for a little bit more and just before pushing time the nurse felt my belly to determine what position Natalie was in. Her back was arched “like a cat” and she was facing my right side. At this point I resigned myself to another long pushing session. (J was OP and I pushed for nearly 2 hours with her!) I did a quick practice push and was instructed to hang out- only needed one! Once Dr. D arrived I pushed twice more- and out slid Natalie! Little firecracker had one more trick up her sleeve- she must have turned at the last second! She did have her had up by her face- waving at everybody as she came on out!

Once the placenta came out we noticed that the membranes were quite stained from the meconium, indicating it had been there a while. Good thing we got this kid out when we did!

Little Natalie Grace arrived after just two pushes- 9# 9oz, 20.5” long at 4:24pm on 7/26. <3 I ended up with two small tears- first degree (as opposed to my second-degree with Jessy!). At around 5pm I was finally able to nurse Miss Natalie, after the NICU team finished with her. J Poor kid had been screaming to eat pretty much since she came out and was finally happy.

Natalie is here!!!

Natalie Grace arrived at 4:24 pm on 7/26, 9#9oz after 2 pushes! Full story to come very soon. Until then, enjoy some squishy pics!!

Ticktockticktock

Still pregnant! And I'm not surprised. Jessy went to 41w 2d before we kicked her out, so why wouldn't her sister want to try to one-up her?

As much as it stinks to have unpaid maternity leave and to be staring induction down the barrel again (well, ok- it's not til Tuesday and anything can happen, but still...), what doesn't stink and is totally priceless? Having quality, one-on-one time with Jessy. I feel like this is an opportunity to make up for the time with her that I was robbed of when Jessy was a tiny baby. (I was forced back to work with she was 6 weeks old- barely enough time to physically recover from the birth! Never mind QT with the baby...)

As each day passes by, I treasure it more and more as it is one day closer to her no longer being our only little girl. She will always be our princess, our snow princess, our snowflake... well, you get the idea. But once our little firecracker arrives, our dynamic will be forever changed. We will have to make an effort and arrange to have any one-on-one time with each kid.

Sure I have my anxiety about having to split my time between two little princesses AND a full-time job (let's face it, I'll have to go back to working unless we hit the lottery. We haven't been playing, sooooo...), but I know it will work itself out. God never gives us more than we can handle.

Yesterday I had my 41-week checkup (will be 41w on Thursday- tomorrow. EEK!) and all is well. Gained 2 pounds (#@$%& Klondike bars!!), BP good, pee in a cup, NST! Yeah, since we're at that point now, we did an NST to make sure Natalie is safe and sound in there. In her usual stubborn fashion, she kept us on our toes. She slept through the first half of it, so I got to drink some OJ to hopefully rouse her. OK, I chugged the stuff- I did NOT want to go to L&D unless I was in labor! ;) About 5 minutes later, the partying began as our firecracker danced around, and continued to do so for the rest of the morning. She went on top throw another party this morning, and not invite me. But I'm not complaining- at least I know she's ok!

The countdown is on!

The big sister, just 9 days old herself. Here we go again! <3

Crazy Summer!

Wow, have I been slacking!

Unfortunately, just busier than I should be... First, J got sick, then she passed it on to both K and I. Thanks, kid! She sure has a funny way of showing her parents she loves them, doesn't she? ;)

When I caught it, I ended up with a mild ear infection. Go me. Fortunately I was able to get away without antibiotics- it took a little longer but I am not going to complain. Especially since I could have this baby at any time- and I am going to have to be treated with abx in labor b/c of my GBS status this time around! (lucky me!- you know you wanna be me!)

Speaking of babies, as I stated it could be any day now. N was due yesterday and I am still pregnant, even after much speculation from my co-workers that I wouldn't make it. Imagine their surprise when I told them I got the same thing when I was preggo with Jessy and still went past- and it looks like her sister is going to be the same way. Of course, I'm not going to label this little girl stubborn yet- there is a full moon tonight and one of the ladies in my July baby group said that most full-moon babies are born the night before, of and after the full moon. So if I make it through tomorrow night, then I will officially call this kid stubborn and raise her rent. If all else fails, eviction is set... for 7/26. I'd have set it for this coming Thursday but the doc will be on vacation until 7/26, so....

My last day of work was a week ago in anticipation of this kid coming at any time. I didn't want to go into labor or have my water break at work- EEK! Even though it was just down the street from the hospital (literally!)- it would have been too traumatic. The last day was way more emotional for me than I thought it would be. I worked a half-day and cried my eyes out as I said goodbye to my co-workers. I hate hormones! Unfortunately, FMLA, as it didn't last time, has no teeth for me, so I am not guaranteed a position. However, my boss has told me once I am ready to come back to e-mail in and hopefully there will be something- I really want to go back to this company! They have treated me very well- even threw me a baby shower for this little girl. Yup, this is the same company that threw the office a Christmas party at an off-the-chain Italian restaurant and paid for all of us. It is a smaller company, so FMLA may not have applied anyway, but I'm not complaining. It's a good company that hopefully I will be able to return to in a couple of months here. Fingers crossed they have space for me! (I swear I will cry if they can't- the schedule that K and I have worked out over the last 11.5 months has worked out very well, between my schedule and his. I can't go back to working the same hours as he does b/c that will put J in daycare for too many hours per day again, and not to mention we would have to find another daycare to put her in as well.)

Just keeping my fingers crossed that all works out- my motto is that God never gives you more than you can handle- and if he leads you to it he will lead you through it!

My big, "fat," preggo belly at 40 weeks! C'mon N!

Skipping!

This AWOL blogger has been totally exhausted lately. Lugging around a July firecracker, a crazed, hyped-up toddler AND dodging the heat- well- they're full-time jobs in themselves. Add my paid FT job and well, you get the idea. ;)

The weather around here has been absolutely nuts, as in Mother-Nature-needs-to-be-committed-crazy. About a month ago we were immersed in sprummer- officially it was spring but the weather dictated otherwise. Then, we switched to sprinter- again, officially spring but the weather that time dictated winter-like temps.

Now, officially the Solstice hasn't officially landed upon us yet, but once again, tell the thermostat that. It is effing hot around here! Sadly, my office is effing cold sometimes, so yes, I actually go beyond crazy myself and ENJOY going outside. Usually for less than five minutes, these outside visits are short because I start to melt beyond that five minutes. I braved it a bit today and took a brief walk outside because, let's face it, pacing the second floor in my building just gets old. Not to mention I just drag myself around there these days.

As much as I hate the extreme cold, I just want to skip the rest of this summer already and head straight into winter (we don't usually have good falls around here- just straight from summer to winter)!

This is starting to look good attractive sweet again already...