Meeting Baby Tih-ter

 Meghan and Cooper came up to meet their baby sister at the end of her first day after Memma and Pop picked them up from school.  They came ready with their big sister and big brother shirts.  We had many discussions about how baby will be breakable - but they didn't really understand that; Meg just kept asking if she would be breakable like glass.

 Cooper was actually much more interested in the nasal bulb (aka "ball!") and in investigating the hospital room.

 But very willing to help hold the baby as long as Meghan took turns like she was supposed to.

 Cooper especially was still confused on her name as his Daddy had been calling her Peyton and encouraging them to do so - cute to hear him call her "Pay-tong".   Trying to convince him to call her Katie was difficult with this.  Meghan had declared several days before her birth that we needed a prettier name - she was okay with calling her Katie.  To this day her most common reference is "baby tih-ter" or "my baby" or just "baby". 

 It's still hard to convince not to touch faces and kiss on mouth.  She gets lots of kisses on her head.

Welcome to the World!

So it seems when your water actually breaks when you hop out of bed at 6 AM, you really know it.  Contractions hadn't really gotten worse but we knew today was the day.  Greg put on his delivery-day shirt, and my parents had taken the kids to school to meet us up at the hospital.  But that doesn't mean they believe you at labor and delivery - you still have to be assessed!  It's kinda sad that the nurse in assessment was the same nurse from Monday... my fourth visit... but the last one.  IV placed, pitocin started (yea I love that stuff!) at 10:20 - seems you have to be very clear with the nurse about the plan for the epidural.  We thought we were waiting for the anesthesiologist, but it seems she was waiting on us to tell her to call them.  My reputation had proceeded me - they were getting baby stuff ready in the room right from the beginning... they had been told of how quickly it would be needed.

I know it doesn't sound like much to some of you ladies but that hour was enough for me - more than I'd had with the other two.  Like last time, I was having blood pressure problems and even had to get medication to help bring it up.  The epidural was placed at 11:15 - had to get Fentanyl to "relax" for it to be placed - don't give me that again (say no to drugs)... Did we mention that my ob was back in town Friday morning but was leaving at noon?

 At 11:46 AM on May the 4th, our little girl made record time for the doctor - so considerate.  The most laid back childbirth ever.  The ob walked in, said "you want to try to push?", they started rolling stuff over when they realized this was it, pushed for maybe 10 minutes, and out she came - her Mommy is such a pro by now :) .  Didn't even turn off Barefoot Contessa behind the doctor - will never look at Ina Garten the same ever again!  Memma in the room as the official photographer and Pop even stayed behind the curtain.  Daddy... the most laid back repeat Daddy ever... I kept laughing at him just hanging out by the bed like he does this kind of thing all the time...

 All checked out and good to go! 

 7 lb 5 oz, 19.5 inches long and perfect. Standard protocol... Mommy lays in the bed waiting while everyone else gets to look and see and take pictures...

 But then she finally gets to Mommy and latches right on like she'd been nursing for a while. 

 Baby 3 - and still nameless and in debate...

 World's Greatest Dad (see the shirt) and his little baby girl

The Waiting Game

We expected Baby 3 aka "poor nameless blob" to be easy... we were old pros after all, right?  So surprise that this would be the child who caused the most nausea, sciatica that would make her Mommy sleep on heating pads and grimace at random times, the cystic fibrosis scare (for which I'm a carrier it seems)... so leave it to this child to continue her trend when Daddy went out of state  - the only time apart during the whole pregnancy and very rare to even be needed for a work trip.

The standard 36 week (at the very hour when Daddy was getting on a plane) revealed an abnormal heart rhythm when the doctor listened with the doppler - dilated at a 3 by the way. Although reassurances were made that this was very common, it was planned to see a maternal-fetal doctor asap for further heart eval.  The next day at work, I listened to the heartbeat with a doppler in the morning and everything was fine -  when the ob clinic called and had found me an appointment in 30 minutes, I wasn't very concerned because heart had sounded good and would be (practically) impossible to be there... told the ob clinic it was ok to wait... I got in trouble for this with my coworkers!  Then we listened again, and the heart was irregular again... let's just say Mommy started worrying... and when there wasn't going to be a MFM appointment until the following week, the ob told me to go to labor and delivery for assessment... without Daddy...  So Aunt Gaye stepped in to baby sit, I drove to the hospital... worrying Nanny who drove (with Tracy and Pa) to meet me at the hospital so I didn't have to be alone.... long story (and hospital bill) short, heart still sounded abnormal, nurse said it was very common, ultrasound looked good (Aunt Tracy got to go!), and I was home by 10... planning to follow up the next week for a repeat of the same ultrasound with the specialist.

At the ob appointment (37 weeks) the following week, her heart rate was back to normal. The follow up appointment with the specialist the following week went good, and Daddy go to say hi to the baby at 36 weeks... seems babies look a lot different at this stage of pregnancy that early.  Got to see all the hair on the little head and some cute little lips.  There was no further question of a possible misdiagnosed baby girl as we were reassured she was 100% girl.  I continued working and started having slight contractions... A little nervous going to Katy at 37.5 weeks as I was sure that baby girl was coming at any time... even telling Nanny that we might be just dropping off the kids to turn back around to the hospital.  But we stayed, nothing happened, and got some last pregnancy pictures - I do like to think that Greg was puffing out his stomach!

The following Monday would end up being my last day of work - contractions, discomfort getting worse, and lots of pressure... nervous... feeling dizzy, nauseous, and apparently pale as my coworkers kept telling me.  This led to my friend Michelle driving me to the hospital to have the contractions monitored, be told I hadn't dilated any more, and eventually sent home - to be reminded that inducing doesn't happen until 39 weeks unless water had broken... a rule new since the last child.  Did I mention I told them I was "done" working? The kids would stay with Nanny and Pa after this hospital visit because surely it would be easier than them coming back later that night to pick them up again, right?

Back home Tuesday with Greg thinking we were having a baby any time, out walking even trying to get things going... contractions were mild in hind-sight... there but fluctuating.  Cleaning and staying very active without result.  Mom and Dad got to town on Tuesday night... Wednesday (the 38 week mark) Greg went back to work, more projects and cleaning with the parents, and feeling silly that the kids weren't at home without good reason.  I finally called the ob on call early evening worried that my water was leaking since the morning... not wanting to be silly and like with Meghan (as I stayed at home 8 hours after my water broke!)... anyways, back to the hospital (after eating at Mamacita's of course) for monitoring to be told nothing had changed and my water was fine. Ug!  Thursday, we met Nanny at Bass Pro Shop to get the kids; we had fun looking at the fish and "so much wa-er" (Coop's favorite).

And then Friday...