More Little Sister Details

Birth Story:

I woke up with some painful contractions around 6am and they weren't going away. So I woke up Brian and said, "I think... it's showtime." So we called my friend/neighbor/coworker Maggie and dropped the kids with her and drove the 5 minutes to the hospital. After about 2 hours I asked for an epidural and things were getting better and then... it seemed like the medicine stopped working. Completely. So for an hour and a half I was... well, let's just say I was an angry woman. Poor Brian. He didn't know what to do for me and I didn't know what to do for me either. Our nurse called the anesthesiologist back to the hospital (man that took F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I recall yelling, "CAN'T HE RUN!?!?") and he came and looked and me and said, "Oh. Well, there's your problem right there. The medicine hasn't been getting to you. It's just been making your bed wet." My catheter wasn't plugged into me. They were all super apologetic, and the anesthesiologist said that hasn't happened in 10 years. But really, I was so worn out from that insane pain that I wasn't angry. And I was just relieved that it was something obvious vs. the medicine just wasn't going to work for me. After that things went pretty smoothly and moving right along. I pushed for 40 minutes--a record for me. And Ivy came out just a-wailing and looking perfectly healthy.

Our great friend and neighbor Heidi brought the kids to meet Little Sister a few hours later and Cameron walked in looking all around for "the new baby." And then after he spotted her, he looked at me real quiet-like and said "Why are your legs like that?" (I had my nightgown pulled up just over my knees.) I said, "Um, 'cause it's hot...?" And he said, "Do you still have feet?" Then I showed him my feet and laughed to myself. Then he said, "Well, how did the baby come out?" What a mind that 4 year old has. :-) 

So how are we doing now? Lots of ups and downs. The past 2 nights the three of us (Ivy, Brian and I) slept better, and that makes everything else better. There were a couple nights before were it was pretty rough. But overall, we're doing great and we've had such an incredible outpouring of help and support from our neighbors and friends, that I don't know how to adequately show my appreciation. They've really all gone the second mile with us. They've done a ton of babysitting, stayed overnight so Brian could stay with me at the hospital, brought meals, done my dishes (some of them have done it twice now), cleaned my living room, cleaned my kitchen table, cleaned my kitchen, brought groceries, brought flowers, made a "Welcome Home Ivy" cake... Just writing about it now makes me cry. We are so blessed.