We are now the proud parents of two beautiful children! Emma Marie was born at 4:30pm on May 11th weighing in at 8 lbs. even and 20 inches. I gotta tell ya, the birth of Emma was so different from that of Ben, even though they were both c-sections. I was so nervous this second time around seeing that with my first c-section, I was given the spinal and could still feel them cutting me open. At that point, I was given multiple locals and was then finally knocked out because I could still feel the sharp knife. Because I was knocked out, they would not let Jared in the room to witness Ben's birth. This time around, I was so nervous about how things were going to go down, I did NOT want to feel the knife again! I spoke with the anesthesiologist about what happened last time and he actually gave me the option to skip the spinal and just be knocked out completely, or chance it and go with the flow. As tempting as it was to avoid the whole "needle in the back" thing, I wanted to make sure that Jared was able to be in the room this time to see his daughter being born. I sucked it up and opted for the spinal but I was incredibly nervous. The spinal was not too bad, I usually do good with needles and shots. The numbness actually felt good but they would not let me go to the bathroom in the few hours before the surgery so I hate to say it but I think once all my muscles were relaxed, I might have just used the operating table as a urinal!! I warned them!!
I was so relieved when they called Jared into the room and was so happy that he could finally be in there! At that point, I know they started the surgery but thank the Lord, I could not feel a thing!!! What a difference from the first surgery! I couldn't believe that this was how it was supposed to be, it was so easy! It did feel like they were rootin around for her for a bit and I guess the reason was because they said she was just "floating" which meant that she was not in the birth canal, that doesn't surprise me but it surprised them. Plus, she was laying sideways and breach and her but was facing forward. So when they opened up, she must have been mooning the doctor!! That's my girl! I guess the digging around was to find where her head was. I guess they couldn't find it because they ended up pulling her out butt first. I am thinking because of this, she ended up swallowing a bit of some gunk because she was spitting it up for the first couple of days and still has a bit of a problem choking on her spit. They say it's not too uncommon for the first few weeks of c-section babies.
So I got to hear her cry and daddy was able to hold her up to show me. I had not experienced that before so it was such a blessing. Daddy was able to take her to the room and cuddle while they closed me up. First thing I asked the doctor was, "who's ordering the pizza??" I hadn't eaten or drank anything in over 12 hours at this point and I was starving!
My stay in the hospital went well although I have to say, it was alot different being alone most of the time. With Ben, Jared stayed in the room with me 24/7 and this time since he was home with Ben, he was only able to come visit a few times for short periods. My surgery was actually pushed back an hour and shortly after she was born, Jared had to go home to take care of Ben. I apologize to anyone and everyone for not being in touch after she was born. I got little to terrible reception in the hospital, other than being able to text and at home, Jared was very busy taking care of the little "terrible two's" man that he barely had time to eat!
We got home late afternoon on Saturday and by Monday, I was starting to feel a little off. By Tuesday I was miserable and noticed that when breastfeeding, one of my breasts did not feel right. My whole body was incredible achey, I had the chills but my body was hot, I had a headache and a slight fever. I had spoken with a couple of doctors thinking maybe that I had mastitis, an infection in the breast, but apparently, couldn't give the doc enough information to let her believe that was exactly what I had so she wouldn't perscribe me an antibiotic over the phone. As miserable as I was, she had me wait until my appointment this morning. I had a rough night and morning and had to sit through over an hour appointment. I barely made it. I got a call this morning from Emma's doctor saying that a pustule that they found above her belly button, as small as it was, came back positive for MRSA which is a bacterial infection. My thought at this point was that maybe I got an infection from her, passed on through the breastfeeding. Thank goodness they called me because the antibiotics they gave me could help with both MRSA and mastitis. They were going to treat both which is a difficult combination, hence, the long wait in the office. I am anxiously awaiting the antibiotics to really kick in. My whole body is on fire even though I am cold and I look like I just spend a day in the Florida sun with a sunburn!
Well, aside from all the birth details, we are getting along fine at home. Ben does not pay too much attention to his sister but he is very interested when it is time to change or feed her. I went to breastfeed her the other day and he was peering over at me and giggling! I don't know why he thought it was so funny! He gives her kisses here and there and likes to touch her feet, hands, and hair. All he says about her is "momma...baby" since I am with her ALL day. Since we got home from the hospital, all Emma and mommy do is sit on the couch and eat, fall asleep, eat, fall asleep! She sleeps about 21 hours of the day and pretty much eats for the other 3 hours. Mommy tries to catch a snooze when she sleeps for a long time during the day because I am getting about 4 1/2 hours of sleep each night. We are doing what I did with Ben and that is that she and I sleep on the couch with her on my chest. Because of her "choking" and gagging stuff going on, I don't like to have her on her back. When she is on her back, she gets the hiccups almost every time. She she usually feeds from midnight to 1:00 or 1:30am. We sleep until about 4:00 and wake for another hour feed and then we sleep until about 7am. Then after another feed in the morning, mommy tries to get one more nap in while she is on a marathon nap. I usually wake up to my little guy standing in front of me by the couch saying, "momma?" He's so sweet but I feel like I have missed out on so much of his life! In the past week with me being gone, his whole schedule has changed! As of today, he is pretty much refusing naps. It was a good run while we had it! He has become a bit rebellious and not wanting to do much for daddy and since mommy can't lift or carry him, he doesn't have much of a choice. He knows mommy doesn't put up with his tantrums but has been enjoying getting away with as much as he can with his best friend daddy! They had a playdate outside today in the back yard since it was so beautiful out and since daddy and mommy could no longer stand his shaggy hair cut (he will no longer let us go near his head and cut his hair), daddy decided to get the shaver out and just chop it off!!! He came inside and as sick as I felt today, I couldn't stop laughing at how it looked! Daddy did a great job doing what Ben would actually "let" him do but he would not let daddy do his sides and the rest had a few long pieces in with the short pieces and looked hilarious! It looked like he cut it himself but he still looked so handsome, of course, since I could see his sweet little face again and he looked like such a little man! I swear it aged him about 2 years! I will post pictures when I get them before mommy goes in for the final sweep!
Well, I know this has been a long post already but I wanted to thank all of those who visited in the hospital to meet our sweet little Emma and thank you for all the well-wishes, calls, cards, texts, etc. We are so blessed. Again, I do apologize for not being in touch with everyone. I hope to feel back to myself soon and enjoy our little Ben and Emma and share with all of those who are so special to us. Thank you all for sharing in our journey.
I'm the BIG BROTHER!
I was so relieved when they called Jared into the room and was so happy that he could finally be in there! At that point, I know they started the surgery but thank the Lord, I could not feel a thing!!! What a difference from the first surgery! I couldn't believe that this was how it was supposed to be, it was so easy! It did feel like they were rootin around for her for a bit and I guess the reason was because they said she was just "floating" which meant that she was not in the birth canal, that doesn't surprise me but it surprised them. Plus, she was laying sideways and breach and her but was facing forward. So when they opened up, she must have been mooning the doctor!! That's my girl! I guess the digging around was to find where her head was. I guess they couldn't find it because they ended up pulling her out butt first. I am thinking because of this, she ended up swallowing a bit of some gunk because she was spitting it up for the first couple of days and still has a bit of a problem choking on her spit. They say it's not too uncommon for the first few weeks of c-section babies.
So I got to hear her cry and daddy was able to hold her up to show me. I had not experienced that before so it was such a blessing. Daddy was able to take her to the room and cuddle while they closed me up. First thing I asked the doctor was, "who's ordering the pizza??" I hadn't eaten or drank anything in over 12 hours at this point and I was starving!
My stay in the hospital went well although I have to say, it was alot different being alone most of the time. With Ben, Jared stayed in the room with me 24/7 and this time since he was home with Ben, he was only able to come visit a few times for short periods. My surgery was actually pushed back an hour and shortly after she was born, Jared had to go home to take care of Ben. I apologize to anyone and everyone for not being in touch after she was born. I got little to terrible reception in the hospital, other than being able to text and at home, Jared was very busy taking care of the little "terrible two's" man that he barely had time to eat!
We got home late afternoon on Saturday and by Monday, I was starting to feel a little off. By Tuesday I was miserable and noticed that when breastfeeding, one of my breasts did not feel right. My whole body was incredible achey, I had the chills but my body was hot, I had a headache and a slight fever. I had spoken with a couple of doctors thinking maybe that I had mastitis, an infection in the breast, but apparently, couldn't give the doc enough information to let her believe that was exactly what I had so she wouldn't perscribe me an antibiotic over the phone. As miserable as I was, she had me wait until my appointment this morning. I had a rough night and morning and had to sit through over an hour appointment. I barely made it. I got a call this morning from Emma's doctor saying that a pustule that they found above her belly button, as small as it was, came back positive for MRSA which is a bacterial infection. My thought at this point was that maybe I got an infection from her, passed on through the breastfeeding. Thank goodness they called me because the antibiotics they gave me could help with both MRSA and mastitis. They were going to treat both which is a difficult combination, hence, the long wait in the office. I am anxiously awaiting the antibiotics to really kick in. My whole body is on fire even though I am cold and I look like I just spend a day in the Florida sun with a sunburn!
Well, aside from all the birth details, we are getting along fine at home. Ben does not pay too much attention to his sister but he is very interested when it is time to change or feed her. I went to breastfeed her the other day and he was peering over at me and giggling! I don't know why he thought it was so funny! He gives her kisses here and there and likes to touch her feet, hands, and hair. All he says about her is "momma...baby" since I am with her ALL day. Since we got home from the hospital, all Emma and mommy do is sit on the couch and eat, fall asleep, eat, fall asleep! She sleeps about 21 hours of the day and pretty much eats for the other 3 hours. Mommy tries to catch a snooze when she sleeps for a long time during the day because I am getting about 4 1/2 hours of sleep each night. We are doing what I did with Ben and that is that she and I sleep on the couch with her on my chest. Because of her "choking" and gagging stuff going on, I don't like to have her on her back. When she is on her back, she gets the hiccups almost every time. She she usually feeds from midnight to 1:00 or 1:30am. We sleep until about 4:00 and wake for another hour feed and then we sleep until about 7am. Then after another feed in the morning, mommy tries to get one more nap in while she is on a marathon nap. I usually wake up to my little guy standing in front of me by the couch saying, "momma?" He's so sweet but I feel like I have missed out on so much of his life! In the past week with me being gone, his whole schedule has changed! As of today, he is pretty much refusing naps. It was a good run while we had it! He has become a bit rebellious and not wanting to do much for daddy and since mommy can't lift or carry him, he doesn't have much of a choice. He knows mommy doesn't put up with his tantrums but has been enjoying getting away with as much as he can with his best friend daddy! They had a playdate outside today in the back yard since it was so beautiful out and since daddy and mommy could no longer stand his shaggy hair cut (he will no longer let us go near his head and cut his hair), daddy decided to get the shaver out and just chop it off!!! He came inside and as sick as I felt today, I couldn't stop laughing at how it looked! Daddy did a great job doing what Ben would actually "let" him do but he would not let daddy do his sides and the rest had a few long pieces in with the short pieces and looked hilarious! It looked like he cut it himself but he still looked so handsome, of course, since I could see his sweet little face again and he looked like such a little man! I swear it aged him about 2 years! I will post pictures when I get them before mommy goes in for the final sweep!
Well, I know this has been a long post already but I wanted to thank all of those who visited in the hospital to meet our sweet little Emma and thank you for all the well-wishes, calls, cards, texts, etc. We are so blessed. Again, I do apologize for not being in touch with everyone. I hope to feel back to myself soon and enjoy our little Ben and Emma and share with all of those who are so special to us. Thank you all for sharing in our journey.
I'm the BIG BROTHER!
Our beautiful Emma Marie!
A visit with Bum Bum and Uncle.
Daddy and baby.
Sleeping beauty!
First ride in car seat!
First swing ride!
Sleeping on mommy in the hospital.
More sleeping!
