I don't even know where to begin, so might as well start from the beginning. I was induced again, and we had to be at the hospital at 5 am! I was thankful for the early start, we didn't sleep much anyway. Grandma came down the night before to stay with Josie, and Nick and I were off early the next morning.
We thought it was going to be a relatively easy and quick delivery, considering I was 4 cm and 70% effaced when I arrived. They got me started on pitocin right away and my contractions kicked in. At 9 they broke my water and then my contractions started getting really heavy. I think I got my epidural around 11 and man did that hurt more this time! I felt a huge zing down my right leg and thought for sure I was going to be paralyzed! (not really). At this point, I started to relax and we were watching The Price is Right.
The nurse started to notice Cate not handling the contractions to well and she had a lot of "variables" which means her heart rate was going up and down a lot, more than it should. She was steady for a long time at 125-130 bpm, and was dropping into the 50's and 60's. They started to have me move positions to get the baby to move and calm down. Dr. Charles came running down into the room to see what was going on- at this point they had to flip me on all fours, I guess that helps the baby move and calm down- it seemed to work for a minute, and that sure was interesting considering I had no feelings in my legs whatsoever.
Things settled down,they inserted an internal hear monitor and watched her closely. Then things went south again, Nick said he heard Dr. Charles come running down the hall, there were literally 6-7 nurses in the room flipping my on my hands and knees again, giving me oxygen, massaging my belly, and injecting me with something to counteract the pitocin, because Cate wasn't handling it well. Dr. Charles stayed with me for about 30-40 minutes to monitor me and the baby, but was fully prepared to take me in for an emergency c-section if things didn't improve. Holy hell, that was scary. AND to top it off, Cate was facing up and not down, so we really needed her to turn as well before delivery.
After all of that, Cate calmed down, turned and it was time to push. She was out in less than 10 minutes, but I had 11 hours of an interesting labor that's for sure. Once she was born the delivery nurse said her cord was really short, and that was probably the cause of all the stress.
Sorry for the spread eagle pic, Nick didn't want to cut the cord
so I did! :)
Dr. Charles- could she be any cuter!
Dada finally getting to hold his new
baby girl
Josie and Grandma came by that night before bed. They wouldn't allow children in the labor and delivery area and I was happy about that. I wanted to be cleaned up and IV free when she came, but that didn't happen since it took forever for my epidural to wear off and for them to get Cate's blood screen back. She was so happy to see Nick and I and to meet her baby sister. I wish she would have held her, but we'll take no crying any day!
her new Chica doll from Cate
The next day we had lots of visitors. Grandpa came and went to lunch with Josie and Nick, and then Keri, Frank, Frankie, Chloe, Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Mike came as well. It was a room full!
Chloe was not happy when Mama and Dada were holding Cate
heading home- she barely fit
Simba came running up to smell Cate
and Josie told him "NO, POO POO!"
flowers from Aunt Mary Ann
and Uncle Jimmie
special balloon that Josie picked out
Flowers from Josie and Grandma
We noticed a lot of distinguishing features right away. She has two dimples and small ears just like Josie and I. She has the longest fingers I've ever seen, definitely like Great Grandma Ginny, and super long feet- like freakishly long. I think she is going to have deep set eyes like Nick and thank god she got the Mediterranean skin like Dada and Josie as well. I now have two brown babies thanks to Nick. She didn't get the full lips like Josie, but her bottom one is much fuller than the top and she has more hair.
I will have to get some pictures out and compare the two side by side, but we can definitely tell they are sisters. Nick says we have twins, but I can tell the difference for sure. She keeps me much more busy than Josie did. She likes to be held and wants to eat all the time, sometimes every hour and a half, so that leaves little time for anything else.
Will have another update soon- screaming baby calls.
