meet miss Charlotte

Born: February 17, 2012
Weighed: 7 lbs 14 oz
Height: 19 in 
Some things we love about her: her chubby arms and cheeks, ducky lips. dark hair, soft whimper, dark blue eyes, "yoda-like" expression, and sweet temperament :)


I thought it would be a good idea to write about her birth story now before I forget. The day seemed to go so fast and there are a few details I'd like to remember.

On Friday morning I checked into the Labor & Delivery around 7 am. We filled out a lot of paperwork that seemed to take forever and got settled into our birthing room. The floor seemed so quiet, and when I asked the nurse if they were busy that day she said I was the only scheduled induction going on, but that earlier that week it had been very busy. They had to bump people's inductions to the next week, so it was very fortunate that I got in when I did. Because I was the only one there, the nurses were happy to talk to me and keep me comfortable and give us lots of attention :] Due to the fact that I had been freaking out the whole week whether or not I'd get to come in that day, I was feeling so relieved and I knew that today was Charlotte's day. There was light powdery sugar snow falling outside our window and we kept the lights off. I was relaxed and ready.

Soon after we got through our medical histories, the nurse put in the IV. Well, she tried. For some reason my vein was being stubborn and the poke didn't work, so she stuck me again- this time in the hand and it really hurt. (I am a wuss, I hate IV's more than the epidural). It didn't work the second time either, so my midwife came in and stuck me a third time in my other hand and it took. The entire process took way too long and by the third prick I felt like I was going to pass out, so they gave me oxygen while the IV went through. The midwife said I had a vasovagal response to all the pricking. I was totally embarrassed that here I was becoming unconscious and hadn't even started laboring yet.

Then Rachel (midwife) checked my cervix and I was still at 3 cm and 80% effaced (same as it was 2 weeks ago). She broke my water without me even realizing that she was, and boy did it hurt! She said, "I bet you'll have her by 5 or 6, so just take it nice and easy. At noon I will come back and hopefully you'll be ready for the epidural."
Around 8:45 am the pitocin kicked in and I had my first gut-wrenching contractions (I had been having them off and on for the previous week). They got stronger and closer together over the next few hours, and it became unbearable to manage. I kept getting up to use the restroom and contracting on the toilet and standing up, which really doesn't feel too great. By 11:00 am I was ready for the epidural. Rachel was still out & about, but I decided to go on and get it anyway.

The anesthesiologist had to stick me three times, because the first two times the epidural leaned to the left side of my body. This part was the hardest to get through, and I had a bad feeling the entire time that something wasn't right with my body (with Talmage, the same thing happened and it took forever to feel numb on both sides). Of course, I was just being overly emotional and it was fine, he finally got the needle to go in straight. I was sitting upright on the side of the bed sobbing into the pillow they gave me to hug. I felt like such a big baby, but I couldn't stop from crying out in pain. After I laid down, I felt the numbing right away- on my left side only. I told the nurse and she had me lay on my right side and let gravity help the medicine even out. To avoid any further pain, the anesthesiologist went ahead and gave me more medicine through the tube. It worked, and after about 15 minutes I was completely numb (moreso on the left, and on the right I felt the slightest pinch through every contraction). It was about 12:00 pm.

I took the next hour and a half to sleep. I was completely exhausted and the warm tingly sensation in my gut and legs was very relaxing. I felt sort of loopy, too. Jonathan sat by me and held my hand. It was just us in the room. Every once in a while I felt a tiny amount of pressure, which I thought was from contractions. The nurse came in and I told her about it, and she said we would wait for Rachel (running late) to come in before we checked things out. I wondered how much I had dilated, since I hadn't been checked at all since the beginning. I had so far been in labor for almost 5 hours.

Rachel rushed in, quickly put her hand up between my legs and exclaimed "Oh! There she is! She's crowning! Let's push!" I was shocked, and so were the two nurses. At the same time, I felt completely calm as she prepared the tray and other "baby-catching" materials at the end of the bed. I was so excited and anxious. I pushed 3-4 times, and not very hard. Rachel told me to take it easy since she was so close. They wanted me pushing through each contraction, so in between we waited....and then one of the nurses said, "Um...she's sliding out." Sure enough, our baby girl decided she wasn't going to wait for me to push as her head slid out ever so slowly. Just for the sake of pushing out my own baby, I gave a little pressure and in a matter of seconds they had her on my chest, cord still attached. I couldn't believe how easy and fast it all was.

She was beautiful, so small, and crying so softly. I fell in love instantly and held her there for a few minutes. I nursed her on both sides and she was such a champ at it, I couldn't believe it. After I was finally okay to let her go, the nurses weighed and bathed her. When she was all clean and bundled, they gave her to Jonathan to hold and his face was priceless. I've never seen him so quiet and smiley...

Since there were no complications and recovery was going well, we stayed just one night in the hospital being eager to get back to our son. He did come and visit us that night, along with Grandma and Auntie Cressa :] It was a sweet moment that we'll never forget.

Now we're just adjusting to life at home with two children, and well its interesting to say the least. Charlotte is a doll, sleeping LOTS and eating a ton. She doesn't seem to mind the noise from Talmage too much, and she really loves being held and rocking in her swing :)

^This is Jonathan's favorite thing to do with our babies...he could do it for hours and not mind it one bit!

We love our Charly girl so much, and I just pray we can make it through the first few weeks okay with BOTH kids :]