So without further ado, below are the details of Caroline's birth. Oh and it's LONG!
As with Bonnie we were being induced early for Caroline too. We were to report to the hospital at 7pm on Monday, May 6th with serious baby business happening on May 7th. I had a hair appointment earlier in the day that Monday to get my color done (cause who knew when I'd have a chance to get it done again (still haven't)) and my hair straightened. Curly hair isn't conducive to long unwashed periods, so straightening it is my best option to not having Fraggle Rock hair at the hospital. I also got a pedicure, because I was about to push a tiny human out of my body, I deserved it!
Around 5pm Johnathan and I said goodbye to Bonnie for a few days, and headed off to Boston Market for dinner. It's where we ate before Bonnie was born so I was trying to keep the tradition going. Like last time we finished eating way too early so we went to a drug store and wandered around. Johnathan got some snacks for himself, and I bought a nightlight for our room so that I could see what I was doing during the many night wakings ahead of us.
When we checked into the hospital we were assigned our overnight nurse and she was super nice, so much better then our first nurse with Bonnie. We did all the paper work and she had someone come in to start my IVs. One on each arm. Left arm dedicated to Pitocin (to start contractions) and fluids. Right arm dedicated to insulin. The left arm was easy, but they had two failed attempts on my right arm that hurt quite a bit. Finally an older lady came in and managed to get one in. Unfortunately, this time the doctor on call wanted me to get the insulin going over night so I was hooked up immediately to both IV stands and also had the monitors on my stomach for contractions and heartbeat. That made going to the bathroom very difficult. Johnathan had to unhook each IV stand and my monitors. I would loop the monitors over my neck and we'd all wheel the stands into the bathroom with me. Needless to say I had to go to the bathroom a lot. Oh and they had to check my blood sugar every hour, so I was woken up to get a finger prick. The doc recommended I take Ambien, but I'm pretty crazy in my sleep without meds, I was too nervous to take it in the hospital. So I pretty much got no sleep.
They upped the Pitocin in the morning to get the labor going, and my water was broken...things progressed this time much quicker than last. It helped that I was already 3cm dilated when I arrived. Because of that they told me I could get the epidural whenever I felt I needed it. Around lunchtime I started feeling uncomfortable so I asked for the epi. He had a few emergencies to deal with first so I had to wait a little. I was glad I knew to ask at the first sign of discomfort so that it wouldn't get unbearable before I could get some help. The anesthesiologist finally arrived and had the biggest Eastern European accent. It was actually hard to understand him, which made me nervous considering he was sticking a needle in my spine and I didn't want to misunderstand him and move when I shouldn't. The insertion went without problems, but almost immediately I started throwing up. I thought that my nausea during Bonnie's birth was due to the drugs I was given before the epidural, but it turns out it was the epi too. If I moved around too much I would throw up. It also made me groggy, so I was able to snooze a bit up until delivery time. Ah, and I could still feel some pain in my left side, so I kept pushing the epi button to try and fix it. It didn't seem to help so the doc came back in and gave me more. It took away the pain in my left side, but made my right side completely numb, I couldn't move my own leg.
They checked my progress around 3:30 and realized I was fully ready even though I didn't feel any pressure. We had to wait for my doctor to get back from her office, so we ended up waiting about an hour before she arrived for me to push. With Bonnie, the epi wasn't so strong so I could feel when to push and felt pressure in my pushes. But I was so doped up this time, I couldn't feel a thing. I didn't push very long, and out came Caroline at 4:53. They were able to lay her on me immediately because there was no meconium or cord issues. They whisked her away and took care of her, but I had her long enough to realize she looked nothing like Bonnie. While Bonnie was blond and fair skinned, Caroline had dark hair and skin. Ironically Bonnie is named after my family and takes after us. Caroline is named after his family and takes after them.
After she was measured (8lbs 4oz. 21 inches long) and given her tests we did skin to skin and she fed. It took a while before they took us to our new room because my legs were still numb. I also had to get another catheter put in because I couldn't go to the bathroom by myself for some reason. Luckily I couldn't feel it.
We spent one more day in the hospital and then got to escape on Thursday, May 9th. We don't like spending more time in the hospital then necessary, because they are always knocking and bothering and poking and prodding. They tell you to get sleep but it's near impossible in that environment. As we left I asked the pianist in the lobby to play Clair de Lune while I waited for Johnathan to pull the car around. As with Bonnie I sat there listening to it while Caroline held my finger.
If I didn't have diabetes I could see labor and delivery being fairly easy. But because I have all of the extra procedures to follow it's so annoying. It's the stuff before the pushing out the baby part that makes me not want to do it again.
Since we've been home with Caroline, things have gone better than I expected. It's a Godsend to have Johnathan home with me or else I'd have gone mad. The hospital said I couldn't pick Bonnie up for a month, so he did everything in regards to her. Because of that, they are super close now. She calls for him all the time now, and I love how much she loves him. I was left to take care of Caroline and she's been such a joy. Either she's an easier baby than Bonnie was, or I'm just better at this Mommy thing. The first week or so she slept A LOT, like more than the doctors say babies should, but the pediatrician didn't seem concerned. At first I thought I was going to have to sleep with her on me like Bonnie, but I quickly devised something. We have a travel crib in our bedroom, so I put the changing pad that Bonnie slept on into the crib to give her some elevation and it's worked.
Bonnie goes to bed at 7 and we keep Caroline out in the living room with us until our bedtime, where she usually sleeps in her swing or car seat. We go to bed around 11 and we change Caroline and feed her. Once she's laid down she sleeps 3 or 4 hours. Gets another change/feed and sleeps another 3 or 4 hours. So we're only getting up once around 3 and again around 6 or 7. When Bonnie wakes up, Johnathan gets her up and takes care of her until I get up with Caroline. Carol still takes Bonnie during the week, so Johnathan and I are able to get some things done.
Now that we're almost 2 months in. Caroline is such a sweet mellow child. She still likes to sleep a lot, and when she's awake she's not too fussy unless she's really sleepy and can't seem to fall asleep. She's started to smile and coo a lot, and that's always fun to see. She lights up when she sees me, and I gotta say that feels good. She had jaundice that we just couldn't seem to kick so the doc told us to feed her formula for 36 hours. It wasn't easy, because unlike Bonnie she hasn't taken to bottles well. But we made it through it, and I gotta say I was super glad to be breastfeeding her again (it's so much easier to soothe her that way). She likes the swing much better then Bonnie did, and we've been successful with using a paci more than we were with Bonnie.
Speaking of Bonnie, she's so sweet with Caroline. We have her give the baby kisses before bedtime and she loves to do that before any of us get kisses. She always tries to give Caroline blankets and paci's even if she doesn't need them. Like any 1.5 year old she doesn't know her own strength so she'll sometimes pat her too hard or try to touch her eye to say "eye" but she does love her. She says "baby" a lot, and if you say Caroline she'll point to her. Yesterday Caroline was in the bouncy seat and Bonnie was dancing around in front of her. Caroline was smiling and cooing at her sister and it was the cutest thing!
I suppose that's it for now. We're doing well, and hope that things keep going as smoothly as they have been.
