the birth of Lola

It's interesting to me how the birthing process is the same for all of the miracle babes that come into the world, but yet every one is different. This time around was easier (in most respects) than the first, and just as amazing.

Here she goes:

I continued to have contractions for the two weeks following our false alarm. The contractions progressively got stronger each day and there were several (honestly probably 8 or 9) times that I thought "this is it". The contractions would start, immediately coming 5 or so minutes apart, last for a few hours (or all night in a couple instances) and then just stop. After the first few times of this happening, I tried to stop getting my hopes up and stopped timing them, but there was still a tiny spot in the back of my mind that was left wondering if it was going to turn into anything. Talk about teasing. It really was so frustrating, not to mention adding a whole new dimension to my already uncomfortable state.

I had originally wanted to hold out and see if I could go into labor on my own because I didn't love being induced with Beck. With Beck, I was induced 2 weeks early because of my high blood pressure and was started from absolutely nothing....my body had not progressed on it's own one bit. This caused a very long and boring labor process almost completely confined to my hospital bed. Back to this time-- At my 38 week appointment, I found I had progressed even further (so the contractions weren't entirely for nothing) and I asked the Dr what we could do to give her a little encouragement if she didn't come on her own. He said since I had progressed so much on my own, he'd induce me in a week (Thursday) if I wanted. I had had enough and this was just too tempting. To be honest, I really though I'd have her before then anyway...all signs were pointing in that direction. The days went by and contractions continued, but nothing ever came of it. I went back and forth between being SO ready to have her out and wondering if I should just wait, but being incredibly uncomfortable always won out and by the time Wednesday night came around I only had feelings of excitement- like Christmas morning, but better!

Thursday morning, I got up, showered, got ready, had a little breakfast, and then we headed to the hospital. It was kind of weird not being rushed and just casually walking into the hospital, but I didn't mind because I had already experienced two weeks of contractions and multiple episodes of the "this is it" anticipation, so I didnt' feel I was missing out on anything. It took awhile to get checked in and everything set up. The pitocin drip started around 8 am (following me almost passing out when the nurse inserted my IV...I never am bothered by that type of stuff so I'm not sure what the deal was). The Dr broke my water around 10 and that's when things really started to pick up. Contractions were coming every 3 minutes, back labor had definitely kicked in, and I was having to stop and breath through each one. The anesthesiologist couldn't have walked in at a better time. He set everything up and inserted it into my back but then had to leave to do some re-certification or something, so another one came to finish things up, or at least was supposed to. A little bit after he left, I started to feel the pain again in my back, but it was worse on my right side, so the nurse helped me adjust my position thinking the epidural was just not distributing evenly. Things just went from bad to worse over the next hour and I was feeling every contraction (coming every 2 minutes). I called the nurse in and she thought maybe I was close to complete, but when she checked me I was only a 7. As we were moving the bed back up, I noticed there was a big wet spot up next to my shoulder. Oh don't worry, my epidural was just hanging out dripping the medicine on my bed. The second anesthesiologist forgot to hook up the medicine to my back. No wonder I was feeling everything! The nurse was SO embarrassed and immediately called for someone to come fix it. He must have been too scared to show his face because a 3rd one finally came after 2 hours and gave me a dose of I don't even know what (something stronger than the epidural and heavenly) to help catch me up and give me some relief. The relief was pretty much immediate and I could have kissed him. The only downside- it was a little too strong...I couldnt' feel a thing from mid-stomach down.

Once the epidural issue was fixed and I no longer had to clutch the bedrails every two minutes, we were able to relax and pass the time with a little Draw Something. We didn't have to wait too much longer though...

With Beck, my epidural was perfect. I could still feel the tightening of each contraction (just not the pain) and then when it was time to push. This time, I had no idea when it was time to push and had to rely on the nurse and Dr telling me if I was pushing correctly. Apparently I was, because I only had to push a couple times and she was here.

I couldn't believe how much hair she had. I just kept saying that over and over as they laid her on my stomach. I was also just in awe looking at this perfect little person that had resided in me for the past nine months. It is nothing short of a miracle. We decided to do things a little different this time and only had us in the delivery room. We wanted to have some time with just the 3 of us and I wanted to be able to have some skin to skin time so we told our families that they couldn't come up until we gave the ok. I loved it this way. It was so nice to be able to have that quiet time to just focus on our sweet little girl. I loved being able to have her immediately placed on my chest and was able to nurse her right away which was great.

She was the same length as her big brother, but almost a whole pound bigger. I knew she was going to be bigger too....I'm not sure why, and even though I was smaller, I just felt she was bigger.

Once we gave the ok, our families were all too eager to come right up. Beck was with Travis' mom and so she brought him with her. When he got there, Travis was sitting in the chair holding Lola and Beck ran straight over to him and jumped in his lap. It was like he just knew that that was his sister. It was darling.

He immediately wanted to hold her and give her kisses. He has settled into his "big brother" role almost seamlessly. Things could definitely change, but he has adjusted so well and is so sweet with her. He always wants to know where she is and will respond to her cries with "Don't worry baby sista, I give you kisses."

By day 2, we were ready to go home. I was anxious to get back to Beck (and my bed) and didn't really see the point in spending another night in the hospital. Luckily, little miss had no issues with jaundice and I was doing well, so we got to leave Friday evening.

We love having little miss here. There is nothing quite like the sweet spirit of a newborn in your home.