E's birth story

E is 3 months old, but here is her birth story.

We had to go in at 5 am on Friday for the induction.  My mom had come to town the night before so she could watch K for us.  Neither my husband or I got very much sleep that night.  We got up to the hospital and got checked in.  It ended up that we were actually in the exact same room as we had with K when she was born.  As they were getting me prepped for the IV and stuff, I actually started feeling like I would pass out, but thankfully didn't actually do so.  I had actually passed out while riding in the car over Memorial Day weekend and had to go to the hospital then.   Because they were in a hurry to get my IV started, they didn't get my blood work from the IV access and so they did another spot on my arm.  For some reason, they always try to do a weird vein when I'm giving birth or after, so I have a big bruise even through I have great veins.

When they checked me before starting the Pitocin, I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  I had noticed some contractions the afternoon and evening before, but they weren't regular.  They started the pitocin and eventually I started having regular contractions although they didn't feel too intense for a while.  My husband and I watched a few shows on the internet for a while.  The first time they checked after the pitocin, I was still at 3 cm.  They turned up the pitocin and checked me a few more times over the next few hours.  When my doctor came at 4 pm, I was between 3 and 4 cm still.  She asked to break my water and I said it was fine.  After my water was broken, things got way more intense quickly.  I remember thinking that I hoped this was transition, because I didn't know how long I could handle this intensity.  The doctor came back about 30 minutes after breaking my water and I was at 9 cm.  I had been in transition when I was thinking that.  The doctor went out to get things prepared for delivery.  I told my husband that he needed to go get the doctor.  He saw the baby's head crowning as he walked out so he told the doctor to hurry up and come back in.  The doctor and nurses came in and started preparing but the baby was not waiting for them to get ready before coming out and I was not actively pushing.  One of the nurses even told me not to push.  They didn't even have a chance to break the bed down for delivery.  E was born around 4:45 without an epidural.

Baby #2

Ella Marie is here.  Born at 1648, weighing in at 6 pounds 6 ounces, and 19.5 inches long.  Baby and Momma are doing great.

Baby #2 will be here tomorrow

It's not the way I wanted it to happen, but the baby was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction and I'll be induced on Friday at 38 weeks and 5 days.  Either my husband or I will post after the birth.

Preparing for the birth of #2

I know it's been forever.  Life has been crazy with a toddler and being pregnant plus working from home.  Baby Blondie #2 is due in less than 2 weeks and K is no longer a baby but definitely a toddler at 26 months old.  She is speaking well, has been doing well on going potty and wearing panties for the last week or so.  She is still nursing, so I'll be tandem nursing after the birth.  We'll see how it goes once the new baby comes.  Other than having to go to the ER because I passed out while we were traveling to our hometown a few weeks ago, the pregnancy has gone well.  I'm definitely much more tired than with K since I get less sleep working from home at night doing medical transcription and taking care of some kids (older than K) at our house during the day.

I have been getting ready obviously for the birth of #2.  There is definitely a lot less that we need to do this time around since it's not the first time.  We aren't worrying about pulling out the pack and play until we are getting ready to go to the hospital.  We have our hospital bag packed other than toiletries and I went to the grocery store to pick up some things to have on hand to eat when I am in the birthing time for #2.  Two other big things we did was get the doctor to sign the birth preference sheet (which I'll post) and get preregistered for the hospital.

Here's what is in my hospital bags (plus a couple things I'm planning on throwing in at the last minute):
Nursing tank
Yoga pants
2 shirts (that pull down in front for easy nursing)
A couple pairs of old underwear
A couple of newborn size diaper covers
About 8-10 flat cloth diapers (I have regular prefolds but I don't want to use them until we are done with meconium)
Wet bag for diapers
2 blankets
1 pair of socks
A couple of newborn outfits (since we don't know boy or girl, I'm bringing a few different options)
Halo newborn swaddle sack
Nursing cover (not sure that I'll actually use the cover while nursing but bringing it just in case)
Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shave cream, razor, face wash, toothbrush, toothpaste)
Overnight pads
I-Pod touch
Birth preference sheet

Foods:
Coconut water (electrolytes like Gatorade without all the added sugar and other additives)
Broth and noodles
Peanut butter granola bars
Crackers
Peanut butter
Applesauce

21 months (a little late), and 17 weeks with #2

I know it's been a really long time, but I am still somewhat around.

K is 21 months old now.  She still is an intense child, either very happy or very upset, and always moving.  She talks quite a bit and loves to copy us saying words.  She still signs sometimes too.  She can identify quite a few animals.  She was wearing an owl shirt yesterday and was able to tell us what was on her shirt without us telling her.  She has started climbing more but thankfully has not decided that climbing out of her crib is an attractive idea.  She loves books and will sit on the potty for long periods after going to read.  She has been doing reasonably well on going potty but still definitely is not fully potty trained.  We are still using cloth diapers and loving it.  She loves bread and cheerios.  She got a Cozy Coupe from us for Christmas and loves to ride around in it.  She loves cars and other vehicles especially school buses.  We have a school across the street from us and she loves to watch the school bus driving up in the morning when she wakes up and after her nap.

She is sleep reasonably well.  She goes to bed around 8 and gets up about 7.  She'll occasionally wake up between 5-6 to nurse.  She takes a nap around 1 that is usually around 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.  She'll occasionally take a 2 hour nap.

We found out in mid-October (a couple days after my 32nd birthday) that we are having another baby in late June.  We didn't really tell people until Christmas and surprised our parents and families by having K open a big sister shirt as one of her presents.  We aren't planning to find out the sex of the baby since we had the drama of being told incorrectly with K and thinking she was a boy for a good deal of my pregnancy.  I had quite a bit of nausea this time just like with K, but I was able to keep it under control with Zofran which I got much earlier this time around.  I did have some spotting when I would get dehydrated.  We have another appointment tomorrow afternoon.