Facebook has made things weird. For up-to-the-minute news, check there. This blog probably won't ever tell you something you didn't know, but it is a means to chronicle the life of our family. So here is the story of how Joya made her entrance into the world.
Wednesday, October 13, I had my 40-week check up at the OB. It consisted of an hour long non-stress test, which we passed with flying colors, an ultrasound, where the tech told me the baby would be 8 lbs, 11 oz, and a lovely pelvic exam, when my doctor told me I was 3 1/2 cm dilated. Life was still all about the waiting game. We scheduled an induction for Monday, October 18, just in case the little girl decided to make my womb her permanent home. Home I went.
That night, I made spaghetti for dinner, wearing an apron to cover my huge belly and protect my sister's favorite maternity shirt from being spattered with red sauce. I walked to the mailbox while Lee gave Alaina a bath after dinner. I took the long way, hoping to work some magic. We put Alaina to bed, and I settled in to watch Survivor. I began to have contractions, like I had been every night for the past two weeks. These ones were definitely stronger than the ones before, but nothing to write home about. I began to time them. By 8:30 I noticed they were coming between 7 and 9 minutes. My OB had told me that she thought my labor would progress quickly, and that if I noticed they were 7 minutes apart for 20 minutes, I should get my priorities in order and get to the hospital. Well, these were coming between 7 and 9, but definitely sometime in that time frame. I called her, and she told me to go in. We called Mom at 9:00 to come stay with Alaina, and left for the hospital around 9:45.
Once at the hospital, I was hooked up to the monitor. For about two hours my contractions were only coming every 8 minutes, and my L&D nurse Molly said that we'd watch for another hour and then they'd probably just send me home. That was my worst nightmare. I knew that the contractions had been coming regularly since 7, so I was definitely in labor. I didn't want to go home for just a couple of hours and come right back. So I decided to walk. I walked like a mad woman up and down a long, dark, quiet hall for an hour. During my walk a few of the contractions were strong enough to slow me down a little, but I wasn't sure how far apart they were, since I had a hard tell telling while I was walking. At 1:00am I went back to the room, and after a check found I was 4 cm dilated. Also, the contractions were now coming every 5 minutes or so. Since I had made a little change, they admitted me and told me I could have an epidural whenever I wanted. I decided to wait until 4:00am, since the contractions were just uncomfortable, not horrible.
I made it to 4:00 and asked for the sweet, sweet epidural. I had a lovely lady anesthesiologist, and within 40 minutes I was numb and relaxed enough to sleep. Which was good, because I am NOT a night-owl, and laboring did not allow for sleep. They gave me some pitocin since my contractions had slowed down a little. And they told me to sleep. So I cat-napped for a couple of hours.
At 7:00am, my doctor came in to check on me. I was 5 cm at that point, and she broke my water. After she left, I was able to nap again, only to be awakened at 9:00am by some terrible pressure. I called my new L&D nurse Audrey in, and she said I was 9+ cm. We were shocked that it only took two hours to go that far. She began preparing the room for the birth and told me to hold off on pushing the magic epidural button if I could. Then began a long hour of contractions every 2 minutes and that awful pressure. She said the OB said to call her when I was just about to give birth. I began to think the OB wouldn't make it, but those L&D nurses are pretty smart. At 10:10 Audrey had me do some practice pushing and by 10:15 said she was going to call the OB. The OB showed up at about 10:25, and at 10:31, Joya showed her little face. There is nothing in the world like the instant relief of finally pushing out a baby.
Joya howled her little lungs out for a good half hour. The doctor got me all stitched up and the nurse got me all cleaned up, and the room was pretty quiet by a little after 11:00. Just like that. I was so amazed at how fast everything went this time. Alaina's birth took forever, but Joya's came and went. The nurse told Lee to order lunch, and I had a delicious cheeseburger while we called our family.
And now she's here! She's one week old, and we're still making adjustments. I am still remarkably sore and have very little energy to do anything other than feed and diaper my girls. I had a good case of baby blues for the first five days or so, but I think even those are gone. I think I can see beyond where we are and look to how things might be in the future, when I have energy again.
Joya really is sweet and as undemanding about food as her older sister was. We're currently working on getting her days and nights straight, since she likes to be awake for a good hour or two in the middle of the night. And she does NOT want to spend that hour lying in her bed. But the beauty of staying home is that in the morning I put Joya down for a nap between 7:30 and 8:00, and Alaina has room time around 8:30, and I get a good 45 minute nap in. It really helps.
So begins life with two girls. I'm still a little nervous about how it's all going to work, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Dumber people than me have had two kids...surely I can handle it too!
