The Newest Addition

As J so often has the best words to describe things, he has announced several times this week that, "Now we are one big happily family of four!"

SAS joined our family unit on May 26th. Labor couldn't have been any different than it had been with J, which took 36 hours and 3 separate trips to the hospital. This one took a total of 7 hours, but have no fear-- it still had its own dramatic moments. I woke up at 6:11 with a lot of pain in my back. This had been happening for a few days, so I didn't pay much attention to it until the sweeping waves of pain made their way to my abdomen. Within an hour they went from 10 minutes apart to 6 minutes apart. I wasn't about to run to the hospital because I didn't want to be there all day or have to be sent home, so I decided to wait and see how things went at my regularly scheduled appointment at 9. With my doctor tucked away on a beach somewhere in Cabo, I wanted to know who might potentially deliver my child. I was also convinced I would be told I was 2 cm and things were moving very slowly. Imagine my surprise when I was told to get to the hospital or else if I had any hopes of an epidural. Apparently I was 4.5 cm. Maybe the extra spicy virgin bloody mary I drank the night before did the trick?

B made me walk to the hospital. Granted, the hospital is right next door to the doctor's office, but it was still a long enough walk to go through two more sets of contractions as I kept screaming to B to get off the phone and walk with me (he had this small excuse called work that he supposedly had to handle before he could deal with me. whatever :). Once we were checked into the hospital, I immediately asked for an epidural and was told it would be on its way as soon as they did my blood work and determined that I was well enough to receive an epidural. I didn't remember any of this from last time. My recollection after 30 hours of labor at home was that I went into the hospital, got on a bed, received a shot, and headed off into la la land for a few hours before delivering. Not so this time. It took close to an hour and a half of waiting for two nurses to figure out all of the buttons on the machines (one was new), one small screaming fit at a doe-eyed husband as he just stared at me in utter confusion as to what to do to help me, and an eventual pinch and screw feeling in my spine before I started to feel better. The nurse told me she would let me rest for about 20 minutes before we got pushing and that she hoped to have the baby delivered by about 1:00. I wondered if this was her lunch break time or if things were actually moving along that quickly. I think itwas a combination of both.

It took about 20 minutes of pushing and a little bit of extra oxygen on me and then we heard the screams we had been waiting for. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 9 oz, 19 inches long. Her hair is blondish, so there is hope for some of my genes in there. Her eyes are dark blue, so I am pretty sure they will change to the dominant dark color of B's family.

Now for you squeamish ones, I told you there was drama, but it might just make you feel all icky, so scroll past the next paragraph and move onto the lovely pictures if you're one of those people right now....

After the oohs and ahhs of childbirth when everyone is relieved that the baby is alive and breathing well, there is the small mess of other things to deliver like the placenta. This usually takes place about 20-30 minutes after birth and I don't even remember it last time. As I said before, this was very different than last time. Here's the gist of what happened. The doctor gave the nurse a look. The nurse gave the doctor the same look back. I looked at B and said, "Okay I know something is up." That's when the doctor said, "Well, it appears your placenta doesn't want to come out and might be attached to your uterus. That's what we call an accreta. Let's see what we can do here." (People, if you know someone giving birth soon and they are on the fence about an epidural, that sentence alone should be enough to convince them that they should err on the side of caution and just get the thing because you never know what might happen afterwards and there certainly aren't any medals given out at the finish line.) The doctor mentioned that if she couldn't detach it that she might have to do a surgical procedure to remove it. Well, I guess the thought of surgery sent my body into uber-patient, do-what-you-have-to-do-mode, and the doctor was able to remove the placenta with the help of a small ultrasound machine and my guidance. Turns out that the spot where it was attached never really got numb from the epidural and I could feel the discomfort and knew exactly where she needed to work. Is that strange, or what? Oh, and I forgot to mention that a placental accreta happens in about 1 in every 2,500 births and usually after a c-section has been performed in the past. I didn't fit that profile at all. Why can't I win the lottery too?

Thank goodness we've had help this time and my mom arrived the night before she was born. J has been a very excited big brother and loves when she makes little involuntary coos. He doesn't seem to mind the crying too much yet, and has been a very good keeper of SAS' toes. Every night he makes sure there are still 10 of them before he goes to sleep. He's taken a lot of pride in "holding her by himself" which is just her resting against him with his arms around her. It's pretty cute.

So here are her first pictures. I have others to add to the mix, but it's time for bed now. We're all
doing well and are just tired. Thanks for all of the well wishes!

Hello World!

I'm so hungry I could eat this blanket

J helps to hold his sister

Grandma was so glad SAS waited until her arrival!

The key to all those arm bands is being allergic to sulfa, being rh negative, getting admitted to the hospital, and having a baby. Everybody needs an id badge. It's one big party!