Hello everyone! It has been a crazy few days, but I finally have a few minutes to post a birth story and some pictures.

I went to my 39.5 week appointment on Thursday and the first thing the doctor said was, "Why on Earth are you still pregnant?" I was nearly 6 cm dilated, and she was concerned that since I'd been contracting so much, that by the time I realized that the contractions had changed to "real" ones, it would be too late for me to get to the hospital. So she sent me over right then and there, which was fine with me! I ran Connor over to his drop-in daycare and got to the hospital around 12:45.

I got checked in and put on the monitors, which showed me that I wasn't crazy - I really did have some contractions lasting 5-6 minutes at a time. The doctor had said to get the epidural started and then she would come over between appointments and break my water. So I got the epidural and she broke my water at 2:20. They also put me on a "very small" dose of pitocin. I soon realized that my epidural was only working on my left side. I went through several horrible contractions before they came and fixed it at 3:15. At the same time, they checked me and discovered that I was already at 9.5! The nurses said the pitocin couldn't have worked that fast, so it must have been breaking my water that did it.

I got totally numb at this point and couldn't feel a thing, so for the next hour, they let me sit there and contract and let the baby descend slowly. My doctor was going to come see how things were going after office hours ended at 5:00, but by 4:15 that baby was ready to come out. They called her and the nurses kept telling me, "Don't laugh, don't cough, don't sneeze...." My doctor showed up at 4:30 and Sarah was born at 4:34 PM after one push that I could barely feel myself doing. So I guess my "official" labor was 2 1/2 hours, start to finish.

Sarah was 7 lbs, 9 oz and 20 inches long. She has just a little bit of fuzz for hair and long fingers and toes. She seems to be a pretty content baby so far. We are having some breastfeeding issues but things are going much better than they did with Connor in that area. I haven't had to pump or supplement yet, which is huge. My milk came in this afternoon, so hopefully that will help things too. She is also a little jaundiced, so we have to go get her checked again on Monday. I'm doing so much better this time around than I did after Connor's birth. I tore much less, so I feel better (though not good!) down there.

So far, Connor seems okay with his sister. He's out of sorts after being totally off-schedule for three days, but he keeps coming over to her and gently touching part of her, or kind of petting her head. He does steer clear when she's crying, which I can't blame him for - the girl has a definite set of lungs! We'll see how things continue between them.

And now, some pics!


I love the bow on her hat - the hospital did that


Ready to go home


Connor gets to hold Sarah (My hands ARE under there - just not visible)


Our new family picture

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Cindy
Mom to Connor and Sarah