She's Here!

Lucy Mae Stutler has finally arrived! This picture is from the morning we left to go to the hospital, my only "official" 40 week picture of the baby bump.

     We arrived at the hospital around 5:30am to be induced. We got checked in and I did surprisingly well with the IV. They didn't even have to break out the smelling salts! Then we waited for the doctor to come in and break my water. She came in at 8am and broke my water. I wasn't having any contractions at all on my own so the doctor wanted to start pitocin. I understand why, once you break the water there is a 24 hour time limit to get the baby out so the sooner the better, but it doesn't mean I was thrilled about it. Once the pitocin started I began getting some contractions but they weren't too crazy...yet.

See, not so bad :-)

     About 1:00pm the contractions were about 2min apart and they started really getting rough. I had made great progress to 5, almost 6cm. At this point I couldn't talk through them anymore and I had to really concentrate on what I was doing. I had been really wanting to go without any pain relief at all but a particularly painful contraction hit and I caved to the drugs. I have a lot of admiration for women who go completely drug-free. I still passed on the epidural though which I'm pretty proud of. After getting the medication it took the edge off the pain but then the contractions ramped up even more. Stronger, longer, and only a minute in between. This is the point when I kind of morphed into a completely different person.

     I had my amazing husband at my side giving me encouragement and not minding sacrificing his hand for squeezing during contractions. I also had my mom there supporting me and taking pictures since I don't really remember much when it's all over.
     Around 3:30 ish I had made it to 9cm and was really wanting to start pushing. I hate to say I got a little shouty at this point but at least I wasn't trying to hit anybody. They had to call the doctor over from her office just up the street. Apparently it took her 8 minutes to get there. It seemed like a dang eternity to me. The room kicked into high gear with parts of the bed being taken off and the doctor rushing in, gowning up and getting ready to catch. After about 8 pushes Lucy was born at 4:02pm.

    She weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 18 inches long. She is perfect in every way and I'm amazed at how much I love her already. The family all came by to see her and big brother finally got to meet his new baby sister. I don't think he really understands what that means yet.

      Our first night was a bit rough. She wanted to nurse constantly, and would only sleep when I held her. This made getting any sleep myself a bit difficult. I finally got her to sleep in the hospital bassinet around 5am and then the lady from the laboratory came in at 6am to draw my blood and woke me up. For the most part Lucy has been eating and sleeping, like pretty much all newborns. I'm hoping she can settle into a routine of sorts soon. Lucy has been great at learning how to breastfeed and is very eager to keep practicing. She eats all the time. I'm hoping we can avoid a lot of the bumps in the breastfeeding road I experienced with Roxas. Another bump on my mommy road is the post-partum depression I experienced last time. I'm on guard for the signs and I've admittedly felt like it is rearing it's ugly head again. I'm staying on top of it with the help and support of our family, and the care of a doctor but it's not a fun way to feel. Hopefully I can enjoy being a new mommy a little bit better this time rather than waiting. 
     We came home Thursday after both Lucy and I received a clean bill of health. For her trip home we dressed her in the same little dress that I was brought home in which was pretty cool. My parents have been wonderful and watched Roxas for the whole time we were in the hospital. Coming home to him was really great. Last night was the very first time I ever spent a night away from him and I missed his goofy antics so much. When we came home he was a little confused as to why mom and dad brought home that baby he saw at the hospital. He has been a little extra cranky but that could have a lot to do with his teeth coming in rather than his sister. I really hope it's the teeth. Kenny has the next week off and I'm so thankful to have him there to help keep me from completely losing it.
     I've found recovering from this pregnancy to be a bit tougher than last time. Even though the labor was less than half the time my body has not responded by being half as beat up. After having a baby you get these contractions that help shrink the womb back to a normal size. This time these contractions are much more painful than I remember. I won't go into details about other things but I just feel physically more drained and worn out than last time. Another reason I'm really thankful to have my supportive family there to help me while I try to recover.

So, it's been a fun second ride and I will be updating the blog at least a few times a month, maybe more if I have the time. Just for kicks and giggles her is my "after" tummy. I still look about 6 months pregnant but that's totally normal and hopefully I will be able to lose the weight in time. It's very strange not having this big ol' belly out in front of me anymore, I actually can't remember what it was like...and it was just less than 48 hours ago that I had it!