Elizabeth’s Day

(beware this is a LONG post)

Since Taylor was breach and born via c-section, I was given the choice on what type of birth we wanted for Elizabeth.  When the doctor said that I could be done at 39 weeks I said sign me up!  That fell on the friday of Halloween weekend so I asked for the following Monday.(Taylor finally understood Halloween this year and I didn’t want her to have to trick-or-treat in the OB recovery wing)  I was fine with another c-section since giving actual birth scared the bejezus out of me, but as November 1st grew closer(and my belly couldn’t stretch anymore) I gained a peace of mind over the whole concept of a VBAC.  I even started having a few contractions that would be close enough to time and then go away. 

Friday, October 29th – Contractions had been occurring since Thursday and that evening they progressed to 10/11 minutes apart and Elizabeth hadn’t been moving much.  Chris kept asking me if everything was okay.  I thought it might be time to head to the hospital, but didn’t want to feel like a big dork when they sent us back home for Braxton hicks.  Chris assured me that he would still love a dork and we headed to the hospital.  We are thankful Chris’ mom would come crash on the couch while Taylor slept.  They actually put me in a temporary room to monitor E and I for the next 2 hours.  E started moving like crazy(thank goodness), I got to see that my contractions were real, contractions slowed/stopped, and at 1 am we were sent home.  See photo below of my hugely pregnant self watching the contraction/baby heartbeat monitor.  Chris wanted a memento of our late night hopsital run too, and got a warning for speeding on the way home.  I think it was my HUGE pregnant belly and a cop that made a few runs like that himself that got him out of the ticket.  Thank you Mr. Officer for not adding to our baby bills!

I still can’t figure out why Elizabeth decided that I needed to continue to have contractions, but not at any regular intervals.  I was even having contractions while doing my pre-op on Monday.  I guess she just wanted me to feel like I didn’t miss out on any of the non c-section parts of childbirth. 

Monday, November 1st – My mom came in over the weekend, we took Taylor to school, and then I finished up a few last things around the house before it was time to head to the hopsital.  It’s funny how this time around I was running around like crazy rather than relaxing.  I wanted to make sure that everything was ready for Taylor while I would be in the hospital for multiple days and also keeping myself busy so I didn’t think about that 8 hour window of not being able to eat or drink anything.  Seriously 8 hours????  Who thinks it’s nice to make a pregnant woman go that long without food?  Since we had already updated all my information at the hospital Friday night, pre-op went really fast and we were able to start a few minutes early.  God bless my OB for being able to use my same c-section scar and even keep it a bit shorter!  Bets were made on what size the baby would be.  Wendy – 8 lbs 12 oz, Chris 8 lbs 7 oz(just like Tay), and Dr 7 lbs 7 oz.  At 3:03 pm Elizabeth Lauren made her debut screaming at 7 lbs 14 oz and 20.5 inches long. 

Already a Daddy’s girl, First family photo, kisses from Mom

Proud Daddy showing her off to the family, our paparazzi, sweet Elizabeth

Nana was the first to hold her(besides us), Ya-Ya and E, PawPaw and E

Jefe and Shelly with E

On Tuesday morning, Chris went home in time for Taylor to get up and after a fun donut breakfast they came to see her new baby sister.  As much as I wanted to love on our first little girl, she was more interested in loving on her sister.  Taylor has been so wonderful and excited about Elizabeth!  We gave her a camera so that she could take her own pictures of her baby sister and it didn’t take long before she was clicking away.  Chris’ grandmother came up while Taylor was there so she was able to spend time with both of her great-grandaughters.  Our girls are lucky enough to have FOUR living great-grandmothers.

And lastly I had to include some pictures of Chris/Elizabeth time.  Due to the c-section I really didn’t start changing diapers until our last day in the hospital and Chris never missed a beat in stepping up to do this.  He is also the master swaddler while I end up with a foot and hand sticking out by the time I’m done. 

By the last day we were plenty ready to head home and had everything packed up and waiting for discharge.  Life has been a wonderful adjustment to being a family of four.  Thank you for all the prayers and sweet comments as we got ready for our baby girl!  Now off to snuggle both my girls!