Vai rolar a festa....: BABY GIRL HAS ARRIVED!!!

Yes, I know I am WAY behind. Side effects of having a newborn in the house. Sleep deprivation is not conducive to getting anything done. Or getting anything done in a timely manner.

Ok, onto the baby girl! I had been scheduled to be induced on a Saturday morning, so had to be at the hospital Friday night. We were getting ready to leave and the hospital called to say too many ladies in active labor came in. I was a little sad but it all ended up working out alright in the end, so it wasn't too bad.

Saturday night a friend came over to stay at the house with the sleeping boys while Tim took me to the hospital. (She also took them Sunday morning so Tim could be with me). I got checked in, poked, prodded, hooked up to things and was given my first dose of "the slurry" before Tim left around midnight. "The slurry" is some "tasteless" drink that helps the body get ready to have the baby. It tasted like aspirin dissolved in water to me. It wasn't the worst thing ever but definitely not tasteless! I had a dose at midnight, 2 am and 4 am. I was checked at 6 am and told I was far enough along I wasn't getting another dose. Apparently you cannot be induced less than 3 hours after having a dose of "the slurry". I was fine with that. I also found out when I had checked in I was at a 2 1/2, so I think the little girl would have come on her own, just a little bit later.

My OBGYN was on call at the hospital that weekend. That was really nice. She came in a little after 7 am, checked me, stripped my membranes, broke the water and left. The nurse came in 10 minutes later to tell me my doctor was doing a C-Section and then would be in. I informed her Dr. Sherman had just been in and she looked surprised. Tim and I were surprised she was already in a C-Section so quickly.

A few minutes before the epidural came, our friend Debbie made it to the hospital. She has been with us at every delivery and it has been great. She came with us to Pach's in case of an emergency C-Section and has been at every one since. It gives both Tim and myself peace of mind to have someone else there. And since family is so far away, she has come. And she is more like an aunt now.

The anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. I've had 4 and they seem to get slower and slower with each one! With Pach, the guy put in the epidural in between contractions. He was super quick. Maybe 1 minute. Pickle's wasn't much longer than that either, maybe 5 minutes. Bacon's was longer, about 15 minutes and it got everything from my abdomen down numb but not my abdomen. The lady came back in and gave me another dose completely. That worked but then I was also numb for 12 hours after delivery. With the girl the guy took 20 minutes!!!! I was dying! Ok, not really but contractions without the water barrier are not fun nor pleasant. He explained quite a few things, which I guess balanced out taking so long. And Tim and I found out why I got so numb in all the wrong places with Bacon: I sat up after I got the epidural. The medicine follows the law of gravity, so when I sat up it went to my legs, hence, I was numb abdomen down but no numb abdomen.

I got to 10 cm pretty quickly and by 11 am, everyone was in the room and I was pushing. I pushed once and Tim looked at me and said, "I've never seen a baby with so much hair!" That's saying something since all the boys had quite a bit of hair. The doctor agreed. I knew she must have had a ton of hair because the doctor has delivered hundreds of babies. I pushed a second time and both Tim and the doctor said they'd never seen a baby move so fast. Yep, the little girl wanted out. I then have a half-hearted push and out she came, at 11:06 am. A beautiful little girl with a head full of thick black hair. I got to hold her for a minute and then she was taken over to get weighed, measured and wiped up.

She weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. Smallest baby. And the easiest to deliver. She knew my voice and perked up and would turn her head in the direction from which my voice came. Tim got to hold her as did our friend Debbie before I got her back. Of course she then decided to make life all the more exciting and turned blue. Yep, her face turned blue. I was quite proud of myself that I didn't scream or panic. I simply said, with great urgency, "Um, she's turning blue. She's turning blue. Hurry." The nurse came right over and she was fine. Because of that she ended up in NICU for a little bit and went back again before we went home. The second time was just to make sure she was completely fine.

The first time the boys came to visit, they LOVED her. Bacon wanted to hold her and feed her. He climbed right up on the hospital bed and put his hands out. He held her for a couple seconds and then said, "I'm done" as he shoved her away. Yes, a little scary. Pickle held her for a lot longer and didn't want to share. Pach was more reserved. He's not a big fan of hospitals but he did hold her. They are wonderful big brothers.

A couple days later, after a hearing test retake, pictures and visits from some wonderful friends, the boys came to take us home.