August 9, 2015

Arwen's Birth Story Part 2

(Part 1 here)

We got to the hospital around 1AM and once they checked me, I was 4cm dilated, so they admitted me! My plan was to try and go natural, so I requested a room with a tub as I heard that helps with pain. Well, it did help the next few contractions, but at 5AM, I got an epidural and it was amazing.
The hospital room you were born in!
Daddy and I tried to sleep every once in a while, but mostly we just watched Property Brothers. Around 1PM, there were two midwives on call, working together, so they came and checked my cervix again to see if I had dilated any further. I had only progressed a little bit, so we decided to break my water. Apparently it was bulging and was about to break anyway. They said there was a little meconium in it, so we knew you had to be whisked away to be cleaned and examined before you were able to meet mommy and daddy. The midwifes said they would be back around 3PM to check my progression.
Much happier! :)
Once they came back, I was at 9.5cm dilated and they said we would start pushing soon! However, I was starting to feel a lot of contraction pain again and the epidural didn't seem to be helping. The nurses got an anesthesiologist to check it out. Turns out, my line had fallen out and would need to be replaced. This was the worst part of the whole labor and delivery. I was shaking, crying, and dry heaving in pain and I had to sit up and try and sit very still for the doctor to re-administer the medicine.  It was a very scary time and I could tell daddy was pretty shaken up about seeing me in that much pain and agony. Soon after the medicine kicked in and I was feeling so much better!

Around 6PM, the midwives returned and deemed it time to start pushing! If I can give you any advice about having a baby, it would be not to clench down on your face/eyes so much. I pushed so hard it broke many blood vessels in my face and both of my eyes were beet red for at least a week. However, the extreme amount of pushing resulted in you being born about an hour later at 7:21PM.

My face all swollen the next day
Apparently while I was pushing one of the midwives predicted you would be 8 pounds, 14 ounces because she didn't want to scare me with 9 pounds. I didn't hear her - I was completely in my own little world. You were born at 9 pounds, 1 ounce!! They let you rest on my chest for a tiny bit, then took you away to clean you up, weigh you, etc. and to fix me up. Once you were across the room, all of us (midwives included!) realized we didn't know whether you were a boy or a girl, so daddy went over to check you out. He asked me to guess and I said "A boy!" and he just went "Wrong". We were so excited to have a little baby girl!

Once I got you back in my arms, you pooped everywhere!! The nurses were highly impressed by how much and how it got everywhere! This is probably too much information, but when I went to take my first shower, I found more on my side. Very impressive.


You were the first baby daddy ever held and the first diaper he ever changed, so I had to get a picture of course!!
You were born Wednesday night and we went home on Friday. Getting home was quite the adventure as we had a prescription to be filled, but couldn't find the prescription the doctor gave us. We went back to the hospital, but there was no one that could fill it again. We ended up leaving an hour later than we had planned, hit rush hour traffic, and going to our doctor's office, but we finally got the prescription filled.

This whole adventure has been great so far and only going to get better. The recovery has been the hardest part, but it has all been so worth it. We love you Arwen Mae!

August 3, 2015

Arwen Mae - Two Months

This month has been more smooth as we are learning each other and hormones are leveling out. You learned to smile and though it takes a big reaction of mine to get a smile (such as peeing without a diaper under you), it is the most beautiful smile I have seen. You can also see further and whip your head around taking in everything you see. Since you can see more distance, you have found der weihnachtsmann, the Santa we got in Germany that sits on the shelf above the couch. 

You've enjoyed meeting more friends and family this month, including all of your biological uncles and cousins! They loved seeing you and pretty much everyone we meet mentions that you look like daddy. 

Other parents, please don't hate me for saying this, but Arwen honey, you are an EXCELLENT sleeper. The minute you turned one month you started sleeping ~6 hours at night. The doctor says once babies hit 11 - 13 pounds they start sleeping like that and since you were such a big baby, you got to 11 pounds easily. 

Your major firsts this month mostly involve meeting so many new people, but we also had our longest separation. I went to the Taylor Swift concert and though I missed you so very much, I had a blast. From what I heard, you had a great time with daddy too!

This upcoming month is the last month we get to stay home and be together, so I'm going to try and savor it. You'll be going to daycare while daddy and I work. Right now, I am excited to get back to work, but it definitely won't be easy at first. I love being there when you wake up to give you give kisses on your little cheeks. 

Outtakes:


The dress was Amma's (Daddy's mom) when she was a little girl
Doctor Update:
Height - 24 inches
Weight - 14 pounds, 3.5 ounces
Head circumference - 40.5cm