Introducing Holly Adele
So a week ago (edit now almost three weeks, because I've been so busy and haven't had a chance to finish this entry) baby girl decided to come into the world. I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone. It has flown by! It definitely seems to go quicker the second time around. My c-section was originally scheduled for November 15th which would have put me at exactly 39 weeks. With the way my blood pressure has been my doctor and myself wasn't sure how long I would be able to make it. With Grant I ended up getting pre-e. But this time around I successfully didn't get pre-e! Which made me happy. The blood pressure meds kept my blood pressure under control, and luckily never made my protein go up too much.
My last appointment was on Tuesday, November 12th. I went to the doctor hoping that my contractions would pick up on the NST I had. I was starting to feel miserable and was getting really bad contractions. Or at least I thought I was getting contractions. I was hoping maybe I was having a lot of contractions that the doctor would decide to do the c-section that day or before Friday. I was feeling so miserable that I felt like couldn't bare going on for another three days like that. I was getting really bad pressure and cramps since Saturday, and the pain was getting worse. Well when I went on the NST, to my disappointment I was not getting any contractions and I've only ended up having one contraction. So I figured it would be unlikely that I would have the baby that day.
I was hoping to have the baby that day mainly because it was 11/12/13. It's really cool date to say that your date of birth is on. I know a lot of people got married that day for the neat date. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Holly, and that I was due in mid November, I was hoping maybe by chance that I could have her on 11/12/13. When the doctor scheduled my c-section on 11/15, I knew there wouldn't be much of a chance to ask to have it three days earlier since her schedule was filled up with other scheduled c-sections that day, and they had a hard time even fitting an appointment for me. So I still had a ray of hope that maybe she would arrive before Friday.
After the NST, the doctor did an ultrasound to check the fluids. To her dismay, she found that I had very low fluid, and was not finding a decent amount of fluid. She also said my placenta was aging, and it was considerable aged for only being 38 weeks and 4 days. She said my high blood pressure may have attribute to the low fluid and the aging placenta. Because of the low fluid, the doctor then asked me "How do you feel about having her today?" As miserable as I was feeling, and wanting that awesome birthday for baby girl, I was definitely not opposed to having her before Friday. The doctor said she didn't want to wait until Friday since the fluid was so low. She asked me when I last ate since with a c-section they would like you to wait at least 8 hours before having the surgery. Since I ate lunch around noon, I would have to wait until 8:00 that evening to have the c-section. With excitement I realized that I would get my 11/12/13 baby after all.
We had to get to the hospital at 5:30. My mom came to our house to watch Grant, while we went to the hospital. When we got there, it actually took awhile for us to get checked in, since they didn't have very many rooms available. Apparently everyone else decided to have their baby on 11/12/13 too. They were also running late getting things going with my c-section. The time I got in the OR it was almost 8:30.
It actually was not as scary the second time around as the first. I was freaking out and dreading having to get a c-section again. But it ended up not being as dramatic as the first time. I think knowing what to expect helped as well. This time I actually got to see Holly instead of having to wait and her getting taken away like with Grant. The doctor lifted Holly above the blue curtain so I could see her. After they got it cleaned up they ended up setting Holly on my chest for skin to skin. I was happy to get to do that this time around considering, I didn't even get to hold Grant until almost 24 hours. The only thing I didn't like is because my arms were all strapped down with IVs, I couldn't really hold her on my own, nor could I see her very well, since she was directly underneath my chin. And I was really woozy from the spinal that I had a hard time focusing and keeping my eyes opened. Also the morphene that was in the spinal apparently causes an itchy reaction. I ended up getting extra itchy this time. I did get itchy last time, but this time it was ten times worse. My face was all puffy and red from the itching, and my entire body was itchy. The Benadryl they gave me didn't help at all, and the itching was still really bad over 24 hours after the surgery. Finally they gave me something else, I forget the name of it, that ended the terrible itching.
It was kind of awkward holding Holly because the way they had her laying on me, I couldn't see her very well. It was cute because she was rooting and ended up sucking on my chest, and gave me a hickey. Eventually we were able to reposition her towards the end of the surgery so she could breastfeed. It was interesting having her on me since I was kind of out of it, and in an awkward position to hold her. But I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see her right away, since Grant was whisked away from me right away.
The naming part was actually a lot harder the second time around. We even had to talk over it for about an hour before officially coming up with a name. We had it narrowed down to three names: Claire, Miranda, and Holly. Once she was born, we pretty much had it narrowed down to Claire and Holly. After discussing it for about an hour, we decided to go with Holly. I think it is very fitting and goes with with the name Grant.
C-section recovery has been so much better the second time around! I impressed the nurses because I was getting up and taking care of myself less than 24 hours after my c-section. Last time I had to have Matt help me get in and out of bed and go up the steps. This time I could do all those things like nothing. My doctor was telling me she had to look back at her records to see if I had an vaginal delivery because I was getting around so well. I wasn't expecting recovery to go so well the second time around. I've heard it just depends, some people have just as bad as a recovery the second time around, and some have a really good recovery. I'm glad I was one who had a good recovery. The only problem though is because I've recovered so quickly, I've become a little overzealous and been doing things I've probably shouldn't have. On Friday I lifted up a bunch of heavy Christmas decorations up two flights of stairs. I've been feeling almost normal again, that lifting them didn't seem to bother me. But then yesterday I started having a bunch of bleeding and started feeling really sore (which stopped for me within a week of my c-section) which usually means you have been overdoing it when that happens. So I need to remind myself, while I may feel almost normal again I still need to take an easy and let my body recovery completely. It's hard to remind myself that. I hate feeling restricted.
Last time with Grant I only stayed in the hospital for about 48 hours. Since I was in the hospital for four days before I even had Grant, I was just tried, and wanted to get out of the hospital. I really regretted leaving the hospital that early, and should have spent another night there. So this time around I told the nurses and doctors I wasn't leaving until Saturday morning. Which meant I spent 4 nights there. I think some of them thought I was silly for staying there that long, but I'm glad I did. It gave me time to spend with Holly, and rest before going home to the craziness of having a toddler with a baby. (Which Grant's interactions with Holly have been interesting, and is a whole new blog entry in itself.)
Holly is such a sweetheart. It's wonderful having a baby girl that I can dress up, its fun! I love being a mommy of two. It's definitely a new adventure!
Here are some pictures of baby Holly, (These are through Bella Baby photography that was done at the hospital)
And here are some pictures that were taken at birth:
My last appointment was on Tuesday, November 12th. I went to the doctor hoping that my contractions would pick up on the NST I had. I was starting to feel miserable and was getting really bad contractions. Or at least I thought I was getting contractions. I was hoping maybe I was having a lot of contractions that the doctor would decide to do the c-section that day or before Friday. I was feeling so miserable that I felt like couldn't bare going on for another three days like that. I was getting really bad pressure and cramps since Saturday, and the pain was getting worse. Well when I went on the NST, to my disappointment I was not getting any contractions and I've only ended up having one contraction. So I figured it would be unlikely that I would have the baby that day.
I was hoping to have the baby that day mainly because it was 11/12/13. It's really cool date to say that your date of birth is on. I know a lot of people got married that day for the neat date. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Holly, and that I was due in mid November, I was hoping maybe by chance that I could have her on 11/12/13. When the doctor scheduled my c-section on 11/15, I knew there wouldn't be much of a chance to ask to have it three days earlier since her schedule was filled up with other scheduled c-sections that day, and they had a hard time even fitting an appointment for me. So I still had a ray of hope that maybe she would arrive before Friday.
After the NST, the doctor did an ultrasound to check the fluids. To her dismay, she found that I had very low fluid, and was not finding a decent amount of fluid. She also said my placenta was aging, and it was considerable aged for only being 38 weeks and 4 days. She said my high blood pressure may have attribute to the low fluid and the aging placenta. Because of the low fluid, the doctor then asked me "How do you feel about having her today?" As miserable as I was feeling, and wanting that awesome birthday for baby girl, I was definitely not opposed to having her before Friday. The doctor said she didn't want to wait until Friday since the fluid was so low. She asked me when I last ate since with a c-section they would like you to wait at least 8 hours before having the surgery. Since I ate lunch around noon, I would have to wait until 8:00 that evening to have the c-section. With excitement I realized that I would get my 11/12/13 baby after all.
We had to get to the hospital at 5:30. My mom came to our house to watch Grant, while we went to the hospital. When we got there, it actually took awhile for us to get checked in, since they didn't have very many rooms available. Apparently everyone else decided to have their baby on 11/12/13 too. They were also running late getting things going with my c-section. The time I got in the OR it was almost 8:30.
It actually was not as scary the second time around as the first. I was freaking out and dreading having to get a c-section again. But it ended up not being as dramatic as the first time. I think knowing what to expect helped as well. This time I actually got to see Holly instead of having to wait and her getting taken away like with Grant. The doctor lifted Holly above the blue curtain so I could see her. After they got it cleaned up they ended up setting Holly on my chest for skin to skin. I was happy to get to do that this time around considering, I didn't even get to hold Grant until almost 24 hours. The only thing I didn't like is because my arms were all strapped down with IVs, I couldn't really hold her on my own, nor could I see her very well, since she was directly underneath my chin. And I was really woozy from the spinal that I had a hard time focusing and keeping my eyes opened. Also the morphene that was in the spinal apparently causes an itchy reaction. I ended up getting extra itchy this time. I did get itchy last time, but this time it was ten times worse. My face was all puffy and red from the itching, and my entire body was itchy. The Benadryl they gave me didn't help at all, and the itching was still really bad over 24 hours after the surgery. Finally they gave me something else, I forget the name of it, that ended the terrible itching.
It was kind of awkward holding Holly because the way they had her laying on me, I couldn't see her very well. It was cute because she was rooting and ended up sucking on my chest, and gave me a hickey. Eventually we were able to reposition her towards the end of the surgery so she could breastfeed. It was interesting having her on me since I was kind of out of it, and in an awkward position to hold her. But I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see her right away, since Grant was whisked away from me right away.
The naming part was actually a lot harder the second time around. We even had to talk over it for about an hour before officially coming up with a name. We had it narrowed down to three names: Claire, Miranda, and Holly. Once she was born, we pretty much had it narrowed down to Claire and Holly. After discussing it for about an hour, we decided to go with Holly. I think it is very fitting and goes with with the name Grant.
C-section recovery has been so much better the second time around! I impressed the nurses because I was getting up and taking care of myself less than 24 hours after my c-section. Last time I had to have Matt help me get in and out of bed and go up the steps. This time I could do all those things like nothing. My doctor was telling me she had to look back at her records to see if I had an vaginal delivery because I was getting around so well. I wasn't expecting recovery to go so well the second time around. I've heard it just depends, some people have just as bad as a recovery the second time around, and some have a really good recovery. I'm glad I was one who had a good recovery. The only problem though is because I've recovered so quickly, I've become a little overzealous and been doing things I've probably shouldn't have. On Friday I lifted up a bunch of heavy Christmas decorations up two flights of stairs. I've been feeling almost normal again, that lifting them didn't seem to bother me. But then yesterday I started having a bunch of bleeding and started feeling really sore (which stopped for me within a week of my c-section) which usually means you have been overdoing it when that happens. So I need to remind myself, while I may feel almost normal again I still need to take an easy and let my body recovery completely. It's hard to remind myself that. I hate feeling restricted.
Last time with Grant I only stayed in the hospital for about 48 hours. Since I was in the hospital for four days before I even had Grant, I was just tried, and wanted to get out of the hospital. I really regretted leaving the hospital that early, and should have spent another night there. So this time around I told the nurses and doctors I wasn't leaving until Saturday morning. Which meant I spent 4 nights there. I think some of them thought I was silly for staying there that long, but I'm glad I did. It gave me time to spend with Holly, and rest before going home to the craziness of having a toddler with a baby. (Which Grant's interactions with Holly have been interesting, and is a whole new blog entry in itself.)
Holly is such a sweetheart. It's wonderful having a baby girl that I can dress up, its fun! I love being a mommy of two. It's definitely a new adventure!
Here are some pictures of baby Holly, (These are through Bella Baby photography that was done at the hospital)
And here are some pictures that were taken at birth:
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteOH my gosh! Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl! She's adorable! And I'm so glad your recovery has been better this time around. Can't wait for the post about how little Grant has taken to his new lil sister! :)
ReplyDelete