Our little firecracker: Madeline Carter

So who knew my last pregnancy post would officially be my 38 week post/picture?  Not me!

But guess what?  I didn't make it quite to 39 weeks - just a day short.  Yep, our little lady decided to make her debut into the world 8 days early and on Fourth of July no less.  To be punny, let's just say she liked to make a "boom".  Ha.  No but seriously, it all happened SO fast it was crazy and next thing I know I'm sitting here relishing this sweet little baby girl that is all ours that is just 5 days old.  It's really surreal thinking about it all!

So here's how it happened.

Thursday afternoon/evening was just marvelous.  The market closed early and we all left work to head to Houlihan's for some appetizers/lunch and a baby shower of sorts for me and another girl in my department that is due with a little boy in October.  It was so fun and a great way to kick off the holiday weekend.  And man do my coworkers have some cute taste in little girl clothes!!  After that, I headed to the car dealership for an oil change and tire rotation and enjoyed 40 minutes to myself on Pinterest.  Then I picked up Charlie and he was so sweet.  

When Jimmy got home, we started the grill and cooked up some chicken kabobs and grilled veggies.  Charlie was just perfect during dinner - it was crazy.  He sat with us and enjoyed the chicken and we all laughed (unlike most nights where he takes 2 bites and then says "all done" and insists on getting down - so annoying).  Then we went on a walk in Charlie's toy truck around the neighborhood and it was time for bathtime/bed for Chaz man.  He didn't cry (like he normally does when it's time to get out of the bath) and just hopped up on me to read him a story when he went to bed.  When we said our prayers, he was rubbing my belly and I couldn't stop thinking about how freaking cute it was.

When I put him in his crib he told me "night, night" and "I love you" and that was it.

Since Jimmy and I didn't have to work the next day, we both decided to stay up late and get some stuff done.  I finished up a nursery project and he was working on the kitchen table he's building us.  Around 11PM (after much frustration with the sewing machine for me...but I did get it done!!), we hopped into bed and said goodnight.  

But just an hour late, I woke up in lots of pain.  I had woke up the night before not feeling so great, but the night before after I went to the bathroom and got back in bed, I felt better.  Well, not this time.  I tried to get back in bed and it was SO uncomfortable.  I called my mom to ask her what I should do (because that's what everyone would do, right?!) and she told me to call the doctor on call.  So I did just that.  As we waited for her to call us back - I went back and forth on whether we should go to the hospital.  And I was mad at myself for not being 100% clear on if these were real contractions because come on, this wasn't my first kid. 

I even googled it. That's how desperate I was.

However, being induced is a little different...and after the doctor said if I wasn't feeling good that I should just come in, I told Jimmy to call my parents for one of them to come over to stay with Charlie.  

We both ran around the house in the meantime packing up last minute stuff, getting "dressed" and throwing on some make up.  The most emotional part?  Walking into Charlie's room and telling him goodbye - the last time I would give him a kiss as an only child.  Man, I was a mess.  Crying, etc.  Sheesh.  

While all this was going down, the pain/contractions were getting stronger and closer together and by the time my dad got there at 1:20AM...I was sitting in the kitchen and immediately got up and told him thank you and ran out the door.  I didn't even give him a hug but I was in SO much pain and ready to get out of there and to the hospital.  So Jimmy hopped in the driver's seat and drove like the wind.  Longest 15 minute hospital ride of my life.  By the time we got there, I could barely sit down in the seat.  Of course the check in took longer than I thought it should (and I farted LOUD like 2 times on accident) and we finally made it up to the triage room.  After what seemed like forever taking my temperature and peeing in a cup, I got in a gown and she started doing vitals, etc.  I told her I was in a LOT of pain and then I ended up throwing up.  Jimmy became my designated puke bag holder and I guess that is when the nurse decided it was getting real and called in for "back up" (aka an extra nurse) to speed the process up.  After they FINALLY checked me..I was already dilated to 6cm and that was it - it was go time.  Two other nurses came in with a wheel chair and took me away, puke bag and all (threw up like 4 times on the ride there - it was awesome) to the biggest labor and delivery room in the place.  It was cute that they kept telling me that - they could have taken me to a shed for all I cared as long as there were drugs, I would have been happy.

We got to the room and got hooked up and then I asked when I could get an epidural.  Unlucky for me, I tested positive for strep B this time around so not only did I have to get half a bag of IV fluids in my IV first but also a bag of antibiotics.  And the nurse in triage made an attempt to put an IV in my left arm and failed, so I had to go through that process again with my right arm.  At that point, I just wanted the pressure and pain I was feeling to be relieved SO bad I was trying everything.  I couldn't sit down and the monitors they had on my stomach were not comfy so I was up and down and leaning on the bed and then tried to pee.  Nothing was working.  So I asked for drugs again - and was told that the IV bag had to at least be to a 5...so the nurse turned it up and I sat there and watched it go.  It was SO slow.  I couldn't handle it.  So I started negotiating with the nurse.  I mean did the fluid REALLY have to be at a 5 before she called the anesthesiologist???  What about like a 3 or 3.5?  I mean you factor in travel time for him (you know, walking down the hall...), surely it would be down to 5 by then right?  Well apparently my negotiation class that I took paid off because she said that she'd call him when it was at 3.5 (I'm guessing also because she probably felt bad because I was constantly puking and screaming).  However, 15 minutes later he still wasn't there and that was when I started dropping the f bomb to Jimmy and he asked the nurse where the drugs were.  The nurse then went to track down the anesthesiologist and when he came in it was such a relief.  However, that takes skill, so I did still have to wait a bit, but by 3:20AM - I had drugs and my oh my.  I felt so much better.  I really don't know if I can eat grilled zucchini and squash again because it tasted SO bad coming back up.

I was ready to push.  The nurse said give it at least 10 minutes to make sure everything set in.  That was around 4AM.  And I said - ok, 10 minutes it was.  I really wanted to have her in the 4:00 hour because I liked the fact she'd be born at 7/4/14 at 4 something.  So I figured that if we started pushing then, I could likely get her out before 5AM.  So when we started to push, it was going quite smooth.  The drugs were working and it was just the right amount that I could kind of feel the contractions and get ready to push.  And just like that the doctor was called at like 4:30AM and when she finally go there, I pushed twice with her and there she was.  Baby girl made her world debut!!

She was 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 20.75 inches long.  With lots of hair!  And she had a great cry - such a relief!!! 

I was seriously so happy.  They plopped her right on my chest with all the baby goop and we fell in love.  I really didn't think I could/would feel the same with her because you know, Charlie was my first and there was something special about him.  And yes, there was, but this was just as wonderful. And when they cleaned her up a bit and put her up to nurse she latched immediately and Jimmy and I were both in shock - she was quite the cutie and smart with her latching skills!!

Because she came down my birth canal so fast, apparently she didn't have time to get all the fluids out of her stomach.  The nurse said they took 8 CCs of fluid out of her stomach.  Which meant nothing to me, but apparently was a lot because every nurse that was told that was like "wow, that's a lot".  Which explains a little as to why she's such a good eater because she had a lot of room in her little stomach than normal!!

We stayed in there for a bit - my mom had come before for a bit and then went to the waiting room when it was time to push, so she came back and snapped some pictures of baby girl getting taken care of for us.  

I love the sunshine from the morning sun!

Yep, she's already got her dad tied around her little finger!

Our first picture together with Maddie!!!

Then two of the best nurses ever helped me from the labor and delivery room into the recovery room where we'd e for the next few days.  And we met our daytime nurse, who was AMAZING.  I swear - nurses just make such a big difference and we have been so lucky with both kids to have amazing nurses.  This nurse had nine, yes you read that correctly NINE, kids of her own spaced out about 18 months apart.  I immediately confirmed that she did in fact deliver all of them herself.  OMG.  Needless to say, that statement alone gave her tons of credibility with me, so I pretty much listened to everything she said and soaked it in.  Wow.

It was funny how different having a baby (also a second baby) on a holiday was.  Literally, very few people were in town for the holiday weekend, so our only visitors that day were Jimmy's parents and grandma (who is Maddie's namesake - Madeline is his grandma's middle name) and we got a picture of her SMILING at Maddie!!  So great, since she doesn't smile in pictures!!

And then of course, big brother, Charlie came up to visit with my parents and I instantly lost it seeing him and then seeing him with her.  Ah - these kids.  Tug at every string at my heart over and over again.  They are just so precious and I cannot believe they are mine.

Overall, the day was just wonderful and I didn't tear as much this time in labor as last time (sorry TMI), but I will say that made the aftermath a TON better.  I kept telling myself it's all about perspective and I was feeling much better than last time.  And based on the fact we actually knew how to change diapers - haha.  Last time we had to call the nurse.

Charlie enjoyed the day getting spoiled by grandparents and came back up later in the day with a surprise from Maddie - a Woody doll from the movie Toy Story - he loved it!  Not sure if that is what made him fall in love with her, but he does like her a lot (and Woody).

That night was great and then the next day was good too - it was great to get meals delivered to you and being waited on, however, getting woken up several times a night and poked at during the day was starting to get old and we were getting excited to go home.  We did have a few more visitors later that afternoon.  Vanessa and Emily and Mike and Lindsay and kids all came at the same time, which was nice to have them all there at once!  Cousin Maren loved holding Maddie and Will was just entranced by her!  He just loves babies!!!

Then I got to spend Saturday night alone with my girl while the boys headed home and tried to get Charlie back on his "normal" schedule.  It was so great just me and her.  Funny how I wasn't terrified at all because she was eating good and decent sleep - again helps that the nurses are there!

Then Sunday - we got word that all was good and we were going to get to leave.  They were worried because I had tested positive for strep B and the full antibiotic dosage didn't get in for a full 4 hours before she was delivered, so they wanted to make sure that she didn't have any symptoms of being sick.  But she was healthy as a horse and we were ready to go home!!!

I had to take a picture of the temperatures - nothing compared to the heat when her brother was born!

Getting ready to go home with her awesome swaddle blanket from Amy and a hair bow!

And of course we took a ton of pictures.  Again, funny how different it was this time because when we went home with Charlie it felt like we had an army helping us leave (my parents, multiple nurses, etc.) and this time it was so calm and just us and our awesome nurse.

But we did get one picture of the 3 of us!!

And finally - our new family of 4 at home!!

Overall - it was a great experience (besides all that crazy pain leading up to it) and we are so happy to have another sweet babe to take care of that is happy and healthy.  Just holding her melts my heart and makes me crazy to think that in just a year she's going to change SO much and just realize how fast this time flies.  So we are soaking in every minute with our sweet little baby in the newborn stage - even with no sleep!