We are now a family of 4! It's the most unreal/amazing thing that has happened to us so far. You think that things are good as they are, and then they just get better. Harder, but better. And that pretty much sums up the past 6 days of our lives. Harder, but a billion times better.
I will go ahead and put this out there for some perspective for myself next time I decide having a baby is a good idea. On the Sunday night before Emily was born (I think that's when it was) I had a complete melt down. Brynlee had been TERRIBLE all day, my ENTIRE body ached and screamed at me to just stop moving, and I was so anxious to meet this little girl that I literally didn't think I could make it another day. I know I could have, and did, but it felt like I would never make it. I even had Spencer give me a blessing because if I was going to make it two more weeks, I was going to need some backup. In the blessing he kept saying things like "over the next couple of weeks" and "in this time before the baby comes" so I was sure I was making it to my due date. But the blessing helped me come to terms with the fact that I probably wasn't going to wake up dead if my baby decided to take her sweet time. I accepted it and I decided to be really really productive until she came.
The next day I did a billion loads of laundry, cleaned my kitchen, cleaned my room, cleaned Brynlee's room...I even swept! It was a good day. That night Spencer had school and he actually decided to do his lab that night instead of Wednesday so that we would be able to go to family Thanksgiving Wednesday night once I got off work. I went over to grandma's house and almost completely finished the baby's jammies for Christmas.
I was so proud of myself!! I stayed up really late doing them. Spencer had come and picked up Brynlee and taken her home for bed so I could finish. *GOOD THING!*
We were joking all night about "too bad laughing can't put you into labor" and "the night isn't over yet". I even said "every night when I log out for work I think about how I wish it would be the last time". Could we have done better foreshadowing?!
I got home and Spencer and I talked for a while and finally settled in to go to bed around 11:30. Spencer crashed...hard. Me, on the other hand, dozed off and on, but I just couldn't get comfortable. I had been having some pains throughout the night that just felt like baby girl moving but more painful than normal so I didn't think anything of it and just kept trying to sleep. Then, a few minutes after midnight, I peed the bed. Well, at least I thought I did!! But I had JUST went to the bathroom so I was sure that wasn't true. I got up and walked to the bathroom and after staring down at the puddles on the floor called in to Spencer, "I think my water just broke". To say I was excited was an understatement. To say Spencer was freaked out was an understatement. He doesn't do well with surprises...especially when he had JUST fallen asleep. I decided to hop in the shower because, let's be honest, it had been a couple of days and I had amniotic fluid all over me. It was weird because I knew I was about to have a baby and was SO glad that I had make my 'Grab and GO' list and packed our bags a few days before. I called mom and she told me that I needed to not wait to go to the hospital because the contractions would come soon and I needed antibiotics. So I decided to go. I called grandma and she and mom said they would meet me at the hospital.
I ran around, throwing last minute stuff together, trying to keep my pants dry (don't worry, it really was my water), and trying to assure Spencer that this was a good thing and that we were going to have our baby!! He eventually was able to calm down and he took everything to the car while I woke up Brynlee and got her out to the car. Bret met us at the hospital to take Brynlee home (we couldn't get a hold of Kathy...she was sleeping). We walked in and waited to be checked in. I had pre-registered but I'm not sure why because I had to answer a ton of questions anyways. I started having contractions about that time but they weren't consistent. He got me a wheelchair, a heated blanket (it was pretty cold outside and I had wet hair), and my wristbands and told Spencer to wheel me up to the third floor.
I directed Spencer the wrong direction and got one of the funniest comments I had heard in a long time. The woman working at the desk asked me, "don't take this the wrong way, but are you pregnant?" "Yes, very!" I responded. She then led us to the birth center and we got checked into a triage room. My contractions started getting a little more regular, but I was so excited! She had me change into my gown and I made a mess all over the bathroom floor! (who knew the water just kept coming?!) We sat in triage for maybe half hour while stuff got tested and then they admitted me. I went to my labor room and got situated. At this point I was 2.5 cm. The nurse told me that through the early stages of labor they just let my body do what it wanted to do and to try and get some rest. She started me on my antibiotics soon after and Mom, Grandma, Spencer, and I settled in for a long night. Luckily I had brought a pillow and blanket or mom and grandma would have been REALLY uncomfortable. Spencer tried to do some homework but ended up with me in the hospital bed. They all said they didn't sleep, but they lie. I was the only one awake trying to fight through the contractions without waking anybody up! They were really consistent for a while and then they slowed WAY down. Enough so that I actually go to sleep for an hour or so. When they came back in they told me that my labor had slowed a lot so they were going to give me a pill that would help ripen my cervix to help me move along. It was called cetatol I think??? Anyways, it did the trick SUPER quick and I started having contractions again. And they didn't slow down anymore after that. At that point I was at 3 cm.
Once everyone was awake and moving my contractions got pretty bad. But I was STARVING! My nurse said I could eat as long as it wasn't anything too heavy. Mom, gram, and Spencer walked down to the cafeteria to get breakfast and they bought me some eggs, toast, and fruit. Spencer brought my food up to me and I ate it pretty quick. I think it was about this time, around 8 am that I decided that the pain was more than I wanted to handle anymore and asked for Stadol. I just really love that stuff!! It put me right to sleep. It was funny this time though because everyone was in my room, including dad, and were just talking and I was part of the conversations, but I couldn't tell if I ever actually said something or just thought it in my head. I felt like I was responding, but my mouth never felt like it had moved and I wasn't even sure if I was saying anything even close to relevant in the conversation. But I slept so that was good.
When they came to check me again they were going to give me pitocin if I wasn't making progress, but I was at a 4 so they said they were just going to let me do it on my own. I asked for the epidural. I think I got the epidural around 10-10:30 am. That was the hardest part. My contractions hurt SO BAD and I literally thought I was going to die. Sitting still through those was so hard I just cried. Spencer was so supportive and just kept telling me I could do it. The nurse kept telling me that too and that I was so strong. What else do you say to a woman crying in agony with a big long needle in her spine?!? haha The epidural went in fine and they laid me back down to let it kick in. I remember that when I got my epidural with Brynlee it like washed over me and I felt nothing after that. This time it kicked in slowly and I had a big ol' contraction RIGHT after I laid back down. That was disappointing. But this epidural was perfect because I could actually still move my legs a little bit and could feel pressure every once in a while but I felt no pain. They checked me and I was at a 6 and they said, "Ok, we will come back and check you in a couple of hours unless you tell us otherwise before that. If you feel any pressure in your hips or feel like you have to go to the bathroom let us know." Well, with how labor was going at that point we figured we had a while so Mom, Dad, and Grandma went to get some lunch. This was around 11:30 am. My friend McKenzie came by and hung out with Spencer and I for an hour or so and it was sorta weird but mostly awesome. It was just funny that I was sitting there, not able to feel my legs, having crazy contractions, and just chatting about how it takes men a long time to go poop :).
After she left I told Spencer I was kind of feeling some pain in my left hip and asked him if I should call the doctor. "I don't know! Don't ask me, if you want to call them call them." Very helpful sweetheart. I called mom and told her that I was feeling some pain so they should probably come back but I would wait until they got back to talk to the doctor. After 5 min or so I decided that sometimes it takes a while to get the doctor in there so I called in the nurse and told her I had some pretty good pain in my hip. She told me it was probably the epidural and that I would just need to switch to the other side to let it work better on that side. She said she would let that sit and then if it still hurt in a while she would check me. She went to get something and everybody got back from lunch. The pain wasn't going away and a few minutes later when the nurse came back I told her it still hurt and she told me she would just check me. To her and my surprise she says, "Momma knows best, you're complete! Baby is at zero station, I'll go talk to the doctor. Sometimes we will let you labor down to let baby move down, but we will see." The doctor came in like 5-10 minutes later and checked me again and said, baby is +2 it's time to push! Everyone cleared out and they got me ready.
They wanted me to do a couple practice pushes and when I did they said, "Oh she is coming!" 2.5 contractions later and a total of 3 minutes pushing and Emily Paige Hon entered the world.
She was born at exactly 1:00 pm on Tuesday November 24th and weighed in at 7 pounds 10 oz and was 19 inches long. They put her up on me and it was like dejavu. She looked JUST like Brynlee! It's crazy too because both of my girls were born exactly the same far along. 38 weeks 2 days.
She was so chill, she cried for a minute and then completely relaxed and just laid there on my chest, looking around.
Spencer cut the cord and they got me all taken care of.
I asked Emily's nurse to please give her a bath, weigh her, and measure her and then give her back to me. She did it, but with some comments under her breath. "I know, mommy wants you ALL clean, every little spot". Whatever lady, she's my baby and I don't want everyone who is going to hold her to have to kiss blood and my bodily fluids. I got to nurse her right when they gave her back and then let everybody else come in and see her. It was amazing to be awake and alert through all of this because with Brynlee I was so sick and don't even remember any details.
I spent the rest of that day with family visiting and just snuggling this sweet little peanut. Oh my gosh we loved her so much already.
Around 7 that night Kathy and Bret brought Brynlee and their family. I was so excited for this moment and wasn't sure how she was going to react to me being in the hospital bed. She didn't seem to mind much and just wanted to climb all over me...which felt awesome. We showed her her baby sister and she kissed her and hugged her. She likes her :).
The next day we had my whole family come visit. We had to wait until at least 1 for Emily to have her newborn screen so we just hung out the whole day.
She got her hearing test and I got along really well with the girl doing it. We talked about tons of stuff and just hung out. Her left ear deferred and so the girl had to come back and do it again a few hours later. She passed! Her jaundice level was 3.2 which they said was nothing to worry about and said we were ready to go home! We checked out at 3:40 ish and headed home.
This hospital experience was so much better than with Brynlee. I was feeling SO GOOD when I left only 24 hours after having a baby. I was up walking around, going to the bathroom by myself, and barely on pain meds! At one point I did have a fever and they said they would probably keep me another day. I protested. Big time. The doctor told me that if she let me go home I had to take my temp at home. Sure. (yeah, that didn't happen). Besides that though, I was back to myself really really fast!
I am so grateful for my little family and Emily is SUCH a good baby already. She sleeps like crazy, does really good at nursing (more on that later), and has the prettiest little features I have ever seen!!! She is my little angel baby and I am loving being a mom again.
