I can't believe it's been more than a week since we brought our sweet little lady home with us. It's been so strange to watch my body shrink back down, no longer feeling kicks and rolls at every minute. I have to tell you, a weird part of me misses that, but it feels so much better to be able to feel her snug in my arms, cuddled and warm and smell her sweet baby smell. It's pretty magical, I'll admit.
I'm tired, but... Recuperation this time has been a little easier than when Jack was born. The cramping after he was born was sooo bad. I heard it was worse the second time, but it's been better this time. Less painful cramping (aside from the first night) plus my body is returning to normal faster. My uterus is almost completely back to it's normal size. I'm already back to my pre-pregnancy weight, after having gained 25. Woot! Not complaining there. Thank you, breastfeeding!
Speaking of, breastfeeding is going so much better this time. With Jack, I had massive oversupply of milk and overactive letdown. And because he has a severe lip tie, he just couldn't handle it. But this time, I still have oversupply (ouch) and the OALD, but Luna doesn't seem to have as much trouble handling the milk flow and so far hasn't shown any colicky symptoms like her brother. But time will tell. It's only been a week. Ha.
So let's get to the reason for this post, eh? A little fair warning, there is likely to be some TMI in this post and maybe a few shots of side boob, so if that grosses you out/offends you, come back later. :)
Let's start the story on Saturday, May 21. I had been cramping and contracting all day with no rhyme or reason. My brother, his wife and new baby Tylie were visiting so I was trying to enjoy their company. By 8 p.m. The contractions were way worse and closer together, so my mom, Daniel and I loaded up and went into town to the hospital. Long story short, no progress was made so they sent me home still at a 3 cm dilated and 80 percent effaced.
Because of our weird circumstances with Daniel working out of town (and my fear of him missing the birth) we spoke to our doc about getting induced. Because I was already dilating and effacing, my doctor was confident I'd have a successful induction. So Monday morning at 11 they called me in. By noon, I was hooked up to the smallest dose of pitocin. I slowly started dilating and I was able to tolerate the contractions on my own without pain relief until I was dilated to a 5. Around 4 p.m., I got the epidural and the doc came by to break my water. I thought this would really help things get going, but I think having the epi slowed things down. I thought for sure she'd be born by 8 p.m., but no such luck. So I ended up tuning in and watching the premier of the Bachelorette. Ha! I couldn't pay attention super well but it was a nice distraction.
The action started around 10 p.m. I became fully dilated so they called the doc to come back to the hospital. I was ready to push immediately and they told me to hold off 15 minutes until he got there. I was dying just trying to breathe through the pushing contractions. Haha. So they ended up having me do a practice push while we waited. This is when I told them that it only took 6 pushes for me to get Jack out, so the nurse told me to stop pushing and started freaking out that the doc wasn't there yet.
Finally he shows up and walks in the room and then he's like, "oh, I forgot my cell phone!" and walks back out the room. The nurse yelled at him to come back. Lol. So he did and 3 and 1/2 pushes later, Miss Luna Marina Dawn was born. :) She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long.
I did have some hemmoraging issues, but they were able to give me something (cytotec) to stop that and Luna did great. She was perfect from the get go. Perfectly round head. Small cry with wide open eyes and beautiful skin. They didn't take her away right away and asked if I wanted to have skin to skin first. So we did that for a while and then while I was waiting for my bleeding to calm down they took her for a quick weight/height/APGAR check. I got to rub the vernix into her skin and we decided against giving her a bath.
She smelled soooo good. :) Nothing like fresh baby smells.
Jack got to come and meet his sister the next day at the hospital. He was so excited. he got to open his big-brother present too. (A toy drill and tool set, for my little mister fix-it).
My parents were so awesome to help me out with Jack and Daniel was the best labor partner. He even gave me bites of his lunch while I was in labor even though I wasn't allowed to eat. (Dumb rule.) lol.
Overall, it was a great labor experience. I was feeling pretty guilty about doing an elective induction because I am well-aware of the risks that could go wrong by inducing when you and baby aren't ready. But fortunately my body cooperated really well and recovery has been amazing. I feel better than I have in months. Despite the lack of sleep. Haha.
I'm just doing my best to balance my time now between a needy three year old and a needy newborn. Fortunately with my mom here helping, that's made my job a lot easier. Plus, Luna is a good sleeper. Yay!
Lastly, I really appreciate all of the family and friends who have reached out to me via text, phone call or stopped by to say hi since I had Luna to check in on me and see how we're doing. It's been a tough time for us these past few months, and my emotional state has kind of been a mess. We are so lucky to have those of you who have reached out and/or sent gifts for Luna and myself. We love you all so much and your support is greatly appreciated.
None of this has been easy, but my heart is so full. It's all worth it. <3
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