Her Birth Story

I can officially say that I had the Labor & Delivery experience exactly the way I would have wanted it had I been able to plan the whole thing. And amazingly enough, I'd kept forgetting to print out my Birth Plan {yes, the one I'd had figured out for months}- perhaps not having one was the trick. Thank God this time I had an incredible nurse, an *easy* labor, my favorite OB, and a wonderful delivery!

Now, here's Baby Dakota's very detailed Birth Story...

May 8th- Mother's Day

• 10:30pm- I thought I was having some labor pains, but after the false labor scare in March {HERE}, I decided that if they were real labor contractions then I wouldn't be able to sleep through them. So I dozed off.

May 9th- Monday

• 3:30am- I woke up to the same cramping and just couldn't sleep because I'd taken a 6-hour nap Mother's Day afternoon and messed up my night-sleeping pattern. I didn't want to keep Scott from sleeping as he had an early meeting that morning so I started to sneak into the nursery to rock on the glider. Mason just happened to walk out of his bedroom as I was in the hall and had woken up from a bad dream so I figured it was a perfectly sweet mother-son moment to rock with him on the glider. Looking back, this sweet time was an incredible blessing as it was our last one-on-one before the baby arrived.
• Scott gave me a new iPhone for Mother's Day and I downloaded an "app" for timing contractions. I began to time them to see if there were any patterns and by 4:30am they were vacillating somewhere between 5-8 min intervals with 45 sec-90 sec in duration. I also found some "bloody show", there was another "labor" sign experienced {unnamed} and I passed my mucous plug...all at once. I took a shower in-case it was the "real deal" so I could feel clean and to help ease the cramping. I still wasn't convinced it was time though because the cramping was the same level I'd had with false labor and I thought that all the labor "signs" I'd just experienced were spaced too closely together and may have just been my body preparing for labor in the upcoming next few days.
• 5:30am- My contractions were down to 3-5 min intervals and I phoned my OB practice's on-call OB. The on-call Dr. told me that they'd be expecting me at Labor & Delivery. By this point the contractions were strong enough that I was vocalizing and bending over through the pain.
• 6:10am- I finally had all of the packed essentials...and then some. Mason was happily hanging out with Gigi and Scott was ready to get on the road. While we were driving on the Interstate, my contractions were coming very quickly at 2-3 min intervals and were painful- I remember telling Scott that if we hit backed-up traffic that this was one time where he legitimately should turn on the flashers and drive on the emergency lane because the baby was coming SOON!
• 6:30am- We drove up to the after-hours L&D entrance and just happened to be behind my OB's truck as he was going into the hospital. Perfect timing!
• 6:35am- I was admitted and escorted to my L&D room while Scott had to re-park the car. The admitting nurse prepared things for delivery and my OB peeked his head into the room. For this pregnancy, they found me colonized for Group B Strep so it was important that I get my antibiotics in at least 4 hours prior to delivery...although my OB didn't think it would happen {he had also advised me that this was hospital policy and shared his personal medical opinion and the research he'd participated in at the hospital regarding GBS and the risk to newborns- I wasn't worried at all but did understand why they wanted the antibiotics as a precautionary measure}.
• Oh and I was already 5cm dilated upon hospital admittance!
• 7:00am- Meet NURSE WENDY! She was an on-call nurse and I was very blessed to have her as my L&D nurse. I had shared that I'd like to labor as long as possible without an epidural, but that I had no intentions of "going natural." I simply wanted to avoid the risk of additional interventions {i.e. unnecessary Pitocin as it led to Mason going into distress 3 times and also increased the risk of C-section as the interventions also delayed his descent and dilation}. At this point, I decided I might be able to go until 8am without an epidural. HA! What did I know though-I started having contractions one upon another lasting 1.5 min to 2 min long each---at one point I remember having 3 contractions together lasting 7 min long! I think I pleaded for the epidural somewhere around 7:15am.
• 7:50am- I had to get IV fluids before they administered the epidural so thankfully the anesthesiologist came in to relieve me of the pain. As soon as Dr N completed the insertion and began taping me, I told Nurse Wendy, "I really feel the need to push...what do I do?" She checked me and apparently I received the epidural in the nick of time because I was 9.5 cm dilated already! Wendy had delivered her son naturally and was very pro-natural childbirth---she was a huge cheerleader and coach and advised me that I'd done so well and basically could have delivered med-free since I'd already made it through this far. However, I reminded her that I had no desire to feel the "burning ring of fire" =) My water broke naturally although it wasn't the sudden gush like I'd expected {as I'd had with Mason's delivery}, but Nurse Wendy advised that Dakota's head placement was likely causing my waters to slowly leak rather than gush. There was some concern as meconium was detected in my fluids and so the Respiratory Nurses were alerted and Wendy advised that Dakota would need to be immediately suctioned upon delivery. Dakota's gestational age was right at 40 weeks and I'm thankful she hadn't baked too much longer and increased the meconium level.
• The epidural kicked-in and began to delay labor; and as much as it sounds silly, we wanted to see if delayed labor would help so that the antibiotics could be effective {we needed the 4-hour window before her arrival if possible}. Had I not had the epidural at that particular time, it would have been the beginning of the 2nd stage of labor {aka time to PUSH!} because my body was already telling me to push. Dakota Kate also wasn't fully engaged and was still at 2 station, so my labor could have been longer and tougher {I have a narrow pelvis}. Nurse Wendy was very patient and advised me to wait to push until she was stationed lower so we could 1)try to allow more time for the antibiotics and 2)have a shorter and easier 2nd stage of labor/pushing phase. So it became a waiting game...well comparatively since it had only been a couple of hours since I'd even realized I was in labor.
• ~9:45am- Pushing began. I remember that I'd expected the 2nd stage of labor to be easier since it was a second baby...but I'd have to say that it's still LABOR and it was still exhausting.
• 10:32am- Dr F had been in the room for a few minutes and with a couple more pushes, Dakota Kate was delivered safely! The Respiratory Nurses immediately suctioned her, although she cried immediately, but thankfully she didn't have any respiratory issues. They cleaned and weighed her. Apgar scores were 8, 9. I had a "slight laceration" which Dr F said didn't even count as a 1st degree tear, but he gave me 1 stitch anyway {Nurse Wendy advised it was probably unnecessary but good just-in-case so that I wouldn't burn while peeing}
• Scott did really well and didn't pass out nor did he get sick during the whole process! He did get slightly traumatized after glancing some after-birth when I reminded him to take pictures of Dakota {I'm guessing he saw when Dr F threw the placenta on the ground-apparently the nurses were surprised at his "mess" too...ha!}
• I was able to hold Dakota Kate fairly quickly and so was Scott. Our first nursing session went well and lasted 45 minutes.

{I know this is terribly detailed, but I'm going to guess that should Dakota Kate have biological children, that she may want to know about her own birth for reference}

PRAISE GOD for a wonderful labor and delivery, healthy baby, and quick recovery!!!

Mason Has a Little Baby...

SISTER!

We haven't decided on a full name, but Scott and I liked "Dakota" before we even tried to conceive.

She was quite an obstinate booger and it took us nearly an hour to get her to move into position. In fact, the ultrasound technician went back and forth, but clearly couldn't find the "nub".
Finally those 3-lines that define the girl were clear. She's definitely a little girl. Maybe a little modest, maybe a little stubborn, but definitely all GIRL!
She kept moving her little lips too...
And she would occassionally strike a dramatic pose...
The child was definitely active the entire hour...

I love this excited face!

Side profile in 2D:

Her first silhouette...

Oh and thank you Scott! Today they just happened to have 40% off http://www.remembernguyen.com/ {I'd missed the Black Friday special because we didn't know the gender for certain...thank goodness I didn't go by the 14 wk ultrasound!} Miss Dakota, you can thank Daddy for your first sweet little dresses.

Dakota: means "Friend" in the Dakota language. This is the name of a Native American people of the northern Mississippi valley.

The Best Part of Waking Up

...Is Folger's in Your Cup

Occasionally {as in maybe 3 times a week at most} I'll have a tiny bit of coffee to help get me up and going. Before Mason I did 6 cups a day {ri-dunk-ulous} but was able to pretty much quit cold turkey while preggers. Post-partum I slowly worked my way back to around 4 cups a day but waivered down to something like 2-3. Right now, even with Sweet Pea when I say I'm "drinking coffee" it's literally 1/2 cup of coffee and then I dilute it with 1/2 cup water just so I can get a taste and the jolt of energy {for those java lovers who are grossed out, I drink mine black}.

{PS this is a stock photo & definitely NOT me...at least not yet}

But I just wanted to note that Sweet Pea is kicking like crazy. I feel the baby going wild, so apparently even just 1/2 cup does it for both of us.

Oh and I'm counting down...one week from today we find out the baby's gender!!!

And There Will Be Two

I haven't been keeping photos of my growing bump this time around...mostly because I've had major camera issues. If you'll notice, the quality of the photos since late August has drastically declined. I've had to resort to using my camera phone, Scott's iPhone {which can take some clear ones if shot correctly}, and an old camera that has a smudgy lens {thanks Mace}.

But here's the belly at 16.5 weeks...

Amazingly, I began to feel flutters as early as 14 weeks. And last night, I yelled at Scott to come touch the bump because we could feel the baby kick from the outside...already at 17 weeks, 5 days!

At the last visit, I'd gained a net 5 lbs, which might seem like a lot but I'm just thankful it's nothing compared the monstrous gain I did with Mason. Here are some other differences I've noticed:

1. I crave BEEF. So weird. I was slightly anemic with Mason, so maybe this is my body's way of telling me to get Iron.
2. I still enjoy desserts, but nothing too sweet. With Mason I was a cupcake fiend, but so far I enjoy sweet desserts but need them in moderation. A lot of things taste stronger to me {which is again odd that I like beef}.
3. Because this is my 2nd pregnancy, there is no real desire to re-educate myself on the growth and development other than looking at http://www.thebump.com/ to see how big the baby is each week. I remember with Mason that I was almost obsessed with What to Expect and Week by Week and then the parenting books like Dr Sear's Baby Book. In fact, to Scott's delight, we will not be attending Childbirthing Classes this time. I do plan on taking Mason on the Hospital Tour so that he feels involved, but that will probably be in late Spring.
4. I'm very moody. Watch out! No I kid...but truly Scott has felt the brunt of my moodiness which mostly involves me randomly bursting into tears. I feel very hormonal this pregnancy and my poor husband doesn't always know how to respond.
5. And because I'm just being honest in this journal, I'm personally having to deal with the mixed emotions of expecting this child. I love Mason so much and it's been difficult for me to wrap my head around the idea that there will be another baby. I question whether I will love this child just as much as Mason {just being honest} and whether we'll connect/attach like I did with Mason now that I'm no longer a single parent.

Sweet Pea News

Sweet Pea
{"Sweet Pea" is the nickname that Gigi is giving Baby #2}

We had a bit of a scare last week as I had some light bleeding. Dr. F wanted to see me quickly and we had an ultrasound to make sure Sweet Pea was healthy.

Thankfully the baby looked great and was wiggly and measuring perfectly. And although it's much too soon to have gender determination, the ultrasound technician probed and *thinks* Sweet Pea may be another BOY. She was stern to let us know she rode the fence a little on this though and that we shouldn't purchase any boy items yet. Although I advised her that we wouldn't need much since Mason's hand-me-downs would be easily reused.

I've just completed a round of antibiotics to help "cure" and deter a continuing infection but Dr. F advised there is an increased risk of preterm birth. I didn't really let what he said soak in while I was in the office but from what I understand there's not much I can do. All I cared about that day was that Sweet Pea was healthy and growing- whatever else happens happens.

This pregnancy has probably been the opposite of my pregnancy with Mason. Mason was fairly easy I'd say.

* With this pregnancy I've had the not-so-fun morning sickness. For about 2 weeks straight {starting around week 6} I was miserable and then the rest of the time it's been random spurts of extreme nausea.

* I'm also extremely fatigued. We were all recovering from a weird cold, that recurred the following week but to encapsulate the tiredness---one day I slept 14 hours, the next 18 hours. Thank goodness Scott took care of Mason during those days.

* And while I've heard this happens with most second, third, fourth, etc pregnancies- my stomach muscles were shot and I definitely began showing much too early. I attribute most to bloating though as thankfully I'm gaining weight but not nearly at the rate I did with Mason {remember I gained 56 lbs with him!}

Really the worst part has been the typical first trimester symptoms and what seems like an extended trimester at that. Thankfully, I know this too shall pass...

Home Haircut

FINALLY. Daddy cut Mason's hair this past weekend; it was a much needed trim. It's amazing how much better he looks with a few snips around his ears and in the front.

And while he's sporting his new cut, he seems to think he's a bigger boy now too. Which is bittersweet. At least some of this independence may be preparing him for this upcoming May with the addition of his new sibling.

Big Brother

Mason's going to be a BIG BROTHER!

Ha- he looks so very excited here...

But the tests confirmed and we went to the Dr. for our first visit the Monday before last and we heard the heartbeat!

Daddy's really excited too- his blue eyes just don't stay open with the flash =)
Right now, we're just praying for a healthy pregnancy and I'm asking for more energy. Baby Lewis is kicking my butt {PS and a growing one at that!}.