"birth" day

Thanks to TJ's updates throughout the day, most of you know the highlights of Lauren's "birth" day. I'm just going to add a few details, mostly for my own record, to give a more complete picture.

At my last doctor's appointment I was showing no signs of progress and my belly was growing rapidly, so my doctor and I decided it would be best for me to be induced. On Thursday evening I would check-in to the hospital to begin the process with Cervadil and then Friday morning they would break my water and start me on the pitocin. I had some mixed feelings about getting induced, but I'm glad I did because TJ took a day off work and we were able to have a fun last day as a family of 3.

Will in his "rightful" place--the center of our universe.

I know I have a tendency to get sentimental in general, but between that and my hormones, I was really dreading leaving Will, knowing that our lives would never be the same again. I was originally scheduled to go in at 8, but the time got pushed back to 10:30. I'm really glad it did, because we were able to put Will to bed and I was distracted with annoyance at the hospital that my time was changed that when the time came to leave I only got a little emotional.

Here I am in all my full-term glory.

When we got to the hospital I got all checked in, hooked up, and ready to go with the cervadil. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever experienced, but I wouldn't necessarily request it again in the future. We slept okay that night (thanks to sleeping pills), probably better than the night before I had Will when we had to be at the hospital by 5am.

In the morning my doctor broke my water and they started me on pitocin. I was really hoping for fast results and they did not come. I tried really hard to not get my hopes up that things would go much faster this time, but of course, I did get my hopes up and I spent most of the day frustrated. As the day went on the contractions got worse and I asked for an epidural. The epidural worked great for about an hour. I was able to relax enough that I fell asleep for about 20 minutes. I know it was 20 minutes because the last thing I remember seeing before I fell asleep was the contestant introductions on Jeopardy! and the first thing I saw when I woke up was Trebeck announcing the final jeopardy category. When I woke up I was in serious pain. I felt like the epidural had worn off and my entire pelvic region was on fire. I asked Anthony to find me something I could use in case I needed to throw up, which I did end up needing. The next hour was awful. With Will I remember feeling a lot of muscular pains. This time it was all in my bones, specifically my pubic bone. No matter what position I got into I was not comfortable. All I could do was focus and breathe and grab on to the side of the bed and wait for the entirely too short "rest" in between. I had some pretty extreme thoughts through all this. I'm glad I wasn't asked to make any important decisions during that time. :) My parents and Will stopped by to say hi and though I really wanted to see them, it was all I could do to not scream from the pain. They didn't stay long. Finally after throwing up again from the pain, my nurse checked me and said I was complete and my doctor was on the way. I was so, so happy. But also a bit discouraged. With Will I had to push for a long time and it was the most painful part of the day, and the thought of having to go through that much more pain was almost too much. Luckily this time went much faster. And the pushing didn't really hurt, it brought relief. I could feel her moving out of my body and the next thing I know the nurse is telling me she she has hair like me and the doctor is asking if I want them to put her on my chest.

Anthony's time to shine.

When they put Lauren on my chest the first thought I had was, "she looks like Will!" As she's gotten older she looks less like Will to me, but you can definitely tell they are siblings.

Her stats:

So far she has been an "easier" baby than Will. I say that because she eats and sleeps better than he did and is generally more content. Not to throw him totally under the bus, but her early life situation is much more ideal--I am more confidant in my abilities as of mother than I was when he was born and I have a much heartier milk supply too. Oh, and then there's the whole we aren't in the process of moving, it isn't Christmas and we haven't accidentally starved her or made her sleep in 4 different places in 15 days time. Sorry about that again, Will.

Much more confident parents this time around.

We've been home a week now and are getting used to our new normal. Lauren is awesome and she fits our family perfectly. Will doesn't really have any problems with Lauren personally, but he has had a hard week sharing our attention. It's getting a bit better (fingers crossed) but we still have a ways to go.

Thanks to everyone who has watched Will, made us food, checked in on us and made us feel loved.