It's a GIRL!!!

Yes, she is over 1 month old, but I am finally updating. Baby J was born a few weeks early but she was healthy and came home with us on Christmas day! She is just a blessing and we were so happy to have the "normal" birth experience we did not get to have with C. She was wisked away to the NICU and well, it all went nuts from there. This time was so relaxed and with the exception of the first night, and when I would take a shower, J was in with me the whole time. It was so great to have her there to bond and just stare at and enjoy with nobody else in the room. I love the NICU staff when C was there, but I just never got to be 100% alone with her!

Well, enough talking from me... here is our birth story and some pics.

Yes, Miss J is here and by far, the best Christmas gift ever!! She was 6lbs 6ozs 20 3/4 inches long.

We had been watching my fluid levels and bp. My fluid levels had dropped and bp had gone up. Well, we were 98% sure we would just schedule the c-section . (edd was January 16th with the latest c-scction date to be January 11th) Well, when I went in for a check and my fluid levels had doubled and my bp had gone down. We decided to wait and continue to watch. I was a little disappointed but happy to let the baby bake a bit longer. I went about everything, making a dessert for a party that weekend and planning on being at work on Monday, etc. Friday night I was having some stop me in my tracks shooting pains. Not contractions, just like the baby was in there poking at my cervix. I joked that s/he was poking a hole in the amniotic sac.

6am I woke to something that just didn't feel right. I was thinking my water broke but it wasn't much. I was already going to have to go to the hospital for bloodwork so I told dh what had happened and that I would go to triage. I wanted him to stay home with C and told him I would let him know if ti was my water and if not, I'd just to the lab work.

Drove to the hospital and decided that instead of hiking through the parking structure, etc. I would go right to ER. Asked where I could park closer if I thought my water had broken and he said right there. Parked the car and they had a wheelchair waiting. They took me right to triage and by then I was really thinking false alarm because nothing else had happened. Did the regular stuff, got hooked up to the monitors and the dr. came in to check me out. She took a swab to look for fluid and came back that it was negative. She did an ultrasound and again, fluid was low. Based on the u/s and her exam, she was sure my water had broken so went back and did something else with the slide. Yep... that was it! They called my dr. and told me to call dh to get him down there. The dr. was already at the hospital so he came in and wanted to get going right away. Ummm... dh still wasn't there! He left and the nurses said not to worry, they would stall him... we were not starting without dh. The baby was in no distress... I just have a great, but very impatient dr. The anestesiologist (sp?) came in and we discussed the whole process. He learned I was on heparin and ordered a blood test to check my clotting. Well, my peri didn't want to wait and based on all of my previous tests said it would be fine. The anest insisted and refused to start without it. The nurses were so excited cause it helped with the stalling. I was just sitting waiting for dh so I decided I was going to do my make up. What the heck, I had it and I had time to use it! The nurses were cracking up... hey, it was a picture taking moment and figured I'd make the most of it. Who knows when I would ever be able to lay back and put on my make up again. DH arrived and they went ahead and got us all prepped. We signed all of the paper work and were getting so excited and nervous about the time finally coming! Well, guess what, the levels were off. At 10:00ish, the decided we would have to wait until 3:00 or 4:00. We called everyone who was already told it was the day and let them know not to expect any news until at least 3:45. They moved us to a more comfortable labor and delivery room and there we waited. I was so amazed... I was not the least bit nervous the whole time. Just watched TV and read a couple of magazines. Dh went for some walks, got some lunch and read. I tried to get some sleep but just couldn't. About 12:00 I started having contractions I could actually feel. They got painful pretty fast because of the way the baby was positioned. She had been off center and in a twisted position for weeks. Well, every contraction pushed her further to the side and it was so sore. It became a challenge for me to push her back during a contraction so it wasn't so bad.
I heard my drs voice saying we were all set. They came in and started getting everything set to move. We asked about the camera in the OR and they said it was fine just not to take any pictures while the NICU team was working on the baby. That was when I got t little worried. I really loved those people with C but didn't want to have to go that route again. I just calmed myself secure in the feeling that this baby was MORE then ready to come meet us and all would be fine.

We were off to the OR. It was much more relaxed then last time. At a slightly quiet moment, I said, "I need everyone's attention". They all kind of stopped like, yes? I explained that we did not know if the baby was a boy or a girl. That with C, nobody told us for a little while and this time, I wanted the movie moment. I wanted lots of hoopala when they said "It's A ___". They asked if there was anything else and I said nope, that's it. The rest will be just fine. I got my spinal and dh came back in. One of the nurses kept laughing because the baby was way off to the side again and kicking and elbowing like crazy. She said she had never seen one so eager to get out!

We got started. Since it was not an emergency this time it did take a lot longer. Everyone was joking and having a good time which was great for us. All the sudden a hand pressed down REALLY hard under my ribcage and the anest popped over and said there's the head. She asked if I wanted to see it. I was leery because it was coming out of a big incision but she said I should look, it was amazing. I said yes and GOD... IT WAS SO COOL!!! She held up a hand mirror and there she was! I didn't even notice that it was a surgical procedure. I just saw an AMAZING face. When they took the rest of her out they yelled "It's a girl!" They great thing was, as they said it, I could SEE she was a girl! She let out a rip roaring scream like she was telling everyone to SHUT UP... we were too loud! It was 3:49pm.

The NICU team took her and started working on her. Dh could see them and said she was fighting them like crazy. She was kicking and pushing at them and screaming away. She was just perfect! They told dh he could come over and to my surprise, he did. (He was so afraid of seeing ANYTHING from the surgery) I could hear him taking pictures, telling this person and that to hold her up. I was so happy he was so excited. They brought her over and she was adorable!!! He sat down and the nurse handed her right to him. He was in love already. (Keep in mind he did not hold C for about a week because he was so afraid, etc.) He rolled closer and I could see her, kiss her, smell her.

Since we had not been through a plain old birth before, we were asking what was next. Did they take the baby, etc. She said nope, we will put her on moms chest and wheel you over to recovery. We got to take her with us!!! We headed over to recovery and got to look over every part of her. She was just amazing and so calm by then. No screaming anymore. They did come about 25 minutes later to get her and take her to really clean her up and we were taken over to our home away from home for a few days.

It was so great to have her in my room, to take care of her, feed her, change her, cuddle her whenever I wanted. If I was awake, she was in my arms or in the bed next to me.
DH brought C the next morning. She was so excited when she came in the room and she looked SOOOOO BIG!!! Dh put her up on the bed and she was great. She loved saying Hi Baby! She was playing with my phone and decided baby had to try it, they she was sharing her favorite Bed Bug doll... she was so sweet.

We were told that Tuesday looked like the day to go home. The family scrambled to decide what to do for Christmas and J and I spent a fantastic Christmas Eve alone in our room. It was so peaceful and will probably be my favorite Christmas Eve ever! (my parents did stop by for 1 hour) At midnight, with her in the bed next to me, I wished her a Merry Christmas!
When we got up that morning, I started to get really emotional. Since Christmas 1998, Christmas had always had a cloud over it. It was that day, 9 years ago to the day, that we were in the Emergency Room on Christmas only to be told that our first baby was miscarried. I am kind of weird about dates and the way things circle. This circle had closed 9 years to the date when our whole up and down journey began. We had gone full circle and we now were a complete family on Christmas Day.

It was the best Christmas EVER!

UPDATE ONE
Well, J is doing great. C is loving her and dh has really stepped up this time. I on the other hand had a bit of a setback.

We went in to have the staples removed. I had been having some bleeding from the incision for a few days but was told that was ok. Well, in my case it wasn't. The skin layer had joined together but the fatty layer under hadn't. Since there was a gap, blood had pooled underneath and it had to be cleaned out before it became infected. YIKES!!! That hurt. Well, in the end, the incision opened back up about 3 inches. We had 2 choices... to either leave it and pack it 3-4 times a day for weeks or to go back into surgery and have it cleaned and stitched back up again. Well, I don't want to be dealing with an open wound for weeks so we opted for the OR. Went back at 2:00 for a 4:00 procedure. My dad took me so that dh could stay home with the kids since it seems like everyone else is sick or getting over being sick. The anestesiologist asked if I wanted a general or a spinal and I told him I wanted which ever would get me out sooner. He said the general would so I chose that. Well, I awoke to the dr. telling me that he had to reopen the whole incision (just the top skin and fatty tissue layer) and clean out a lot of old blood and he did an antibiotic rinse even though there was no sign of infection. He stitched it all back up using sutures instead of the staples (which I HATED!) I was still really groggy but I heard him mention a drain and me having to stay overnight. WHAT??? I was supposed to go home that night. Fact is I was too groggy to care/fight/question. They checked me into a room and I had to call dh and tell him he would be on his own with a 3 year old and a 5 day old. He was fine with it and so was I on the phone. Of course, when I hung up, started bawling. I was hormonal, my milk had just come in but luckily I had brought the pump, and I was going to have to spend another night away from C who I already felt I was neglecting because I couldn't pick her up, and even when she was sitting next to me, I was so cautious because of my insicion. Anyway, spent the night which was a nightmare. I was on a surgical floor, not the maternity floor. What a difference. Patients yelling all night, a lot of noise, etc. It was NUTS!!! I think dh got more sleep at home then I did there. So the next morning the resident came in and checked me out. He said all looked great and I should be good to leave the next day!!! WTF??? The hormones couldn't take that one and I just started bawling! He asked if I had expected to go home that day and I said I had expected to be home last night! He said to just ignore what he said and he would be back with the dr. from my practice. 3 hours later I called my favorite nurse at their office. She asked if everything was ok and I said that I was still here and she said where? I said I was in the hospital and she was shocked. They had assumed we went home last night as planned. She said she would track the dr. down and get her right over. She did and they agreed to let me go after the nurse educated me on the drain. I had a lot to watch for but I got to go home!!! Dh did GREAT with the 2 girls and seemed to have it all under control so I was very proud of him! It's killing me that my milk had just came in and because of the anestesia, I had to dump the 24+hours of milk. ARGHH!!! I was just glad that our only hiccup this time was with me. J's visit to the pedi went great. Bili was great and she had gained 1 ounce. No matter what, looking at her I can say she is worth ALL OF IT!!!

Well, here she is...