Welcome, Baby Mary Ellen!

Sammy's a little concerned about Mommy being labor.

Mary Ellen is here! We named her Mary Ellen after my grandma, Grandma Mary (my mom's mom). See picture below of Great-grandma & Baby Mary. She was born Friday, December 3rd at 9:32 AM. She weighed 8 lbs. and was 21 inches long.

I can't believe it. I've had lots of people ask about details, so here you go. :)

WARNING: There are lots of icky girl-talk details in here. And it's also a really really long

blog. Just lots of details that I want to keep record of. :)

LABOR & DELIVERY:

Last Wednesday night while I was sleeping, I awoke w/ some labor pains. They were random and crampy, so I didn't think much of it. Then through Thursday I felt them more through the day. I had to stop and breathe through them, and Sam was copying me. He leaned over his highchair, closed his eyes, and kept exhaling slowly. It was pretty funny. :)

By that evening, they grew w/ frequency and pain. I never really had the "5-1-1" rule, but I knew it was "time." I called the dr. around 1:30 AM, and she said to head to the hospital. I called my parents. My dad stayed w/ Sam, and my mom followed us there. (She was there during L&D.) I was already dilated to 5 when I got there! Since I was group B strep positive, I knew I had to get the IV going for antibiotics, plus w/ the craziness of labor and delivery w/ Sam, I was a little nervous so I wanted to have an IV already started in case of emergency. Plus I needed the epidural (oh darn :) ) since I was having a manual D&C after she was born to hopefully avoid hemorrhaging.

Man, I forgot how getting the epidural HURTS! Since I had patchy pain last time, I got a heavier-duty epidural. I didn't feel anything, until Mary was delivered. Have you heard of the "ring of fire"? Yikes. Now I get it. I also had the shakes through labor. Anyway, Mary was turned posterior, so I was hoping she'd turn. The nurse kept switching me from side to side to move her. The nurse said when I felt like I had to go #2 to ring her. That meant she was ready! I eventually felt that pressure, called her, and I was definitely dilated to 10. They called the dr. and told her I was ready and she asked if I was comfortable, which meant she was at an appt. across the hospital at her office & would I be able to wait. I remember thinking...this nurse is going to delivery our baby! She's going to fly across this room! I literally was holding her in until I saw the dr.! I kept saying I was too tired to push b/c I remember having to push 2 hours w/ Sam, and the nurse said this was going to be quick. Yes! Sure enough. 3 pushes. That was it! It was a little scary b/c Mary didn't cry right away. They just kept suctioning out amniotic fluid and she'd cry a bit here and there. I guess I was used to Sam crying since the moment he was delivered, I didn't expect little chirps and cries here and there. :) Anyway, everything went well.

Jason was AMAZING during labor. He's so supportive and held my hand, rubbed my back, and played w/ my hair. My mom was also great massaging my feet, b/c I kept curling my toes w/ every contraction. I CRIED when Mary was delivered and was handed to me. She's SO cute. Yes, I'm biased. She has pretty feminine cat-eyes and Jason's little pug nose. She has LOTS of dark hair, but it looks like blonde hair is at the roots. She has lots of red splotches ("stork bites") on her eyelids and forehead. She has long skinny legs and long feet and long toes and fingers. She was born at 9:32 AM Friday, December 3rd (her due date!), and was 8 lbs. even and 21 inches long. Another miracle!

POSTPARTUM: I was wheeled down to the postpartum floor. I felt like a different person than I did after Sam. With him I couldn't even use the restroom w/o help, they had to change linens every time I got up, I felt like I was in a fog physically and emotionally. With Mary, I had some pain, but I felt "normal," if that makes sense. I told my OB I felt 5 million times better than I did w/ Sam. She said the delivery was 5 million times better. She did a manual D&C after she was born to hopefully avoid any postpartum hemorrhage. The new women's hospital was great. The staff was...young. They were okay, but I'd rather have a nurse who'd been there 30 years. :) There were also lots of students-in-training. Yikes. Let's just say if this was my first child, I probably would've been a little uneasy about an unsure student giving my child shots and eyedrops. Yikes.

Jason went home at night to stay w/ Sam and give him his nighttime routine (Sam did great w/ grandparents, etc., but suddenly not being around mom and dad for 3 days was getting to be too much.) I wasn't as freaked out as I thought I'd be being by myself at the hospital w/ Mary for both nights. The first night, however, was a little scary. Mary wasn't nursing b/c she was gagging on amniotic fluid. They had to put a tube down her throat to suction out fluid. They got 7 mL. Poor baby.

VISITORS. We kept it to immediate family. Sorry friends. :( I just know after having a baby, I'm not usually gung-ho for being social. And it's flu season too, so I wanted to be careful. Plus I'm pumping between feedings, so 90% of the time I was indisposed and in all of my glory. :) We had both set of grandparents and great-grandparents, Jason's sister, my brother Scott, and of course proud big brother Sam. He wasn't too excited about this new crying baby. He looked SO BIG when he came up to the hospital! We gave him a stuffed monkey and some Froot Loops as a big-brother present. He liked that. :)

COMING HOME: We came home Sunday night. It was hard. I was struggling a bit w/ anxiety. How am I going to do this? I miss Sam! Will I be able to breastfeed and pump while taking care of the house and Sam? Plus...I was just teary. Baby blues kicking in.

The first night, Mary was up gagging and sounded like she couldn't get on top of her breath. I tried to suction out some mucus, and she threw up all over. I called the urgent nurse b/c we had a 2-day old and I was freaking out. She said to just keep her propped up to sleep and suction out the mucus, but if she couldn't breathe, call 911. Yikes. Anyway, we got her into the dr. the next morning and she said that was normal. The fluid will clear itself out soon. Just keep her propped up, and if she throws up the mucus, that's okay b/c we just want it cleared out.

Anyway, I was sad b/c her weight dropped again to 7 lbs. 5.5 ounces. She was discharged at 7 lbs, 9 oz. Tomorrow we go in for another weight check. If she's lost more, then we need to start supplementing. :( I hope not...I just know when Sam started getting "top-off" bottles, breastfeeding went out the window. So I've been giving Mary everything I've been pumping through a syringe. I gave her all of the colostrum, and now I have about 1/2 cup of breastmilk in the fridge on deck. It's just hard b/c I know once I'm on my own, I won't be able to pump 3-4 times a day. Maybe before Jason goes to work and during Sam's nap? Who knows...just getting through today.

The good news is, I HAVE breastmilk! Since I had a breast reducton in 1998, that can inhibit breast feeding. I didn't have much of anything w/ Sam, but I've been pumping and feeding like crazy and taking Fenugreek (an herbal supplement to increase milk supply). I certainly have milk! Mary just has a hard time latching on so I'm using a nipple shield. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up w/ her growth spurts, but I'm giving it my best shot. I just know breast milk is the BEST thing for an infant, and Sam was SO sick his first year, I can't help but think that being on all-formula effected that. Anyway, we'll see...

ADJUSTING. I guess that's what we can call it. First of all, I'm really trying to take it easy. I'm not supposed to be carrying Sam or doing too many stairs, so I'm not. Which is hard in a multi-level. I'm literally letting everyone else do everything, and I'm just nursing and pumping and eating and sleeping. I just know I ran like crazy when I first got home w/ Sam, which increased bleeding, anxiety, no sleep, etc.etc. With Mary I'm forcing myself to STOP. Which is hard b/c I'm used to being so in control. But when it takes 30 min. to get her to latch, and then we wrestle w/ nursing for an hour w/ trying to keep her awake, it's hard to just let Sam sit there. I put him in a play yard w/ his favorite toys, snack, pacifier, blanket, and Sesame Street, but he can't be in there for too long. That's a challenge. But it's the only "safe place" if there's no one to watch him. Anyway, I'm seriously thinking about hiring someone for the mornings to get him breakfast and play w/ him and do some house work while I work at nursing and pumping and sleeping. Just until the milk supply gets established and I get into the swing of things. Any thoughts on that, people? (Just seeing if you're actually still reading the novel. :) )

Okay, thanks for reading! I know this was A LOT, but I just wanted to write all of this out so I don't forget any details of such a wonderful day. Mary Ellen really is so sweet and good. I know all babies sleep like crazy the first week and then reality sets in, but she really seems easy-going. Or maybe that's just the Loritab. :)

PS- I really really miss the French Toast and hot coffee every morning in the hospital. Room service was WONDERFUL. And cable. I watched lots of HGTV. :)

proud big brother

Sweet Pea