So the littlest chicklet is 5.5 months and I haven't done this, but don't worry, I JUST posted Winslow's HERE and back dated it.... and she's almost two. I wanted to write these down so that I won't forget the details. I still remember having Winslow like it was yesterday but I know it won't always feel like yesterday in my mind so I should have it somewhere that I can remember.
Sullivan Ruth was always a little trickster.
She was EXTREMELY active, using my organs as springboards to bounce into other organs, very fond of resting on my sciatic nerve, etc. She's always been a mover.
So when I was dilated to a 5 at 36 weeks, I wasn't that shocked. I knew she was low... I could feel it.
My pregnancy with her had been a little more uncomfortable than my pregnancy with Winslow but NOTHING compared to what women experience... God bless you ladies.
Towards the end, I was pretty achy and getting really ready.
[Let me just say, in my experience, there's always a moment (or a few moments) towards the end of your pregnancy when you are laying on your bed crying, surrounded by the entire contents of your closet saying, "I'm so ready for her to be here!!!" Can I get a witness?]
So I was dilated, cervix was getting thin and I still had a month! I was sure if I'd make it to February! (Due date: Feb. 11)
Oh but I did.
On Feb. 12, Garrett took me out for an early Valentine's Day date. My parents were watching Winslow at their house and he took me to Peasant Village. We dropped Winslow off and went to dinner.
My contractions started almost immediately after we dropped Winslow off. If you know my birth story with Winslow, you know that I didn't go into labor naturally. So I wasn't really sure what to expect. My contractions were coming, but sometimes one was 3min and the next one was 3min 22sec and I wasn't sure that was how it was supposed to go. They were getting worse tho and closer together. I could feel a difference when I walked too. I was limping because I could feel her engaged.
We decided when we got to my parents to call my midwife. She had given me her personal cell phone number so I gave her a quick call and asked what to do. She thought it was probably happening and if they got worse to go in. I had already been in to get monitored once - false alarm. So I was really leery about going in again and it being another false alarm... insert Father of the Bride II scene when Annie goes in TWICE for false alarms... ugh.
We decided to go ahead and go in. We had to run home, pack bags (oops) and get to the hospital. We were pretty confident that since I had been dilated so much and Winslow's birth happened in less than 7 hours of labor, that this one would go really fast. My midwife had told me to hurry and get to the hospital as soon as I knew I was in labor.
OH HOW THINGS ARE NEVER WHAT YOU THINK THEY WILL BE.
We went in about 11pm that night. I was checked and was dilated to a 6-7. I was in early stages of labor... but almost fully dilated.
I had been adamant from the beginning that I wanted to go all natural. I had experienced some weird post partum after Winslow's birth and wanted to see how it would differ without any drugs.
We had gone to a child-birthing class to help us in the process of natural labor and learned some different techniques so we tried some of those techniques in the beginning, but honestly my contractions were painful but not consistently worsening. I kept waiting for it to really come on, but it was bad, just not that bad. Not as bad as I had been thinking it would be.
The nurses kept telling me that I was the most calm all natural patient they'd ever had.
I dilated to a full 7 somewhere in the night. Then I stalled. We were up all night going through contraction after contraction together. Garrett was slamming coffee. 12 hrs after admission to the hospital, I hadn't changed. My contractions were actually slowing down. I was tired, exhausted, frustrated, but mostly anxious. I wanted my baby and I was stressing about the pain only getting worse... my midwife wanted to break my water, but I was at a point where I wasn't even thinking clearly anymore and for some reason was really against that.
The hardest point was when Garrett and I starting debating on the epidural. Something that I hadn't even thought about the entire pregnancy! I honestly just wanted REST. I just wanted to laugh and enjoy this great day. So far it had been tiring and stressful. Garrett and I would pray and he would read over me verses we had written down for encouragement.
We were not in agreement on whether or not to get the epidural, but I ended up getting it. He just didn't want me to later wonder if I could've done it. I'll probably never try that again honestly.
After I got the epidural, we were soon laughing and talking and I was able to relax and start dilating some more. She came to check me in a hour and I was a 9. 15min later, I was fully dilated.
I pushed for 15min and she was out. My sweet Sulli Ru. The cord was wrapped around her 3x around the neck, once around the chest and once around the legs. She was caught by her Daddy, though the midwife took her right after for just a second to unwind her. She was so purple but crying and that's all we cared about. She popped a blood vessel in her eye but other than that was perfect in every way.
She was born at 12:43pm on Feb. 13, 7lbs 6oz, 20in long. 2 days over due and only 7oz littler than what her sister had been.
She latched almost immediately and ate like a champ. We later found out she was born with a lip/tongue tie which has made feeding challenging and she spits up most of the day but we have learned to deal and should have that taken care of in the next couple months.
She's the happiest little thing even though she's more demanding. It doesn't take much to make her smile and we love doing that.
She's SMOTHERED by her big sister and by smothered I do mean absolutely adored.
Making the transition from 1 to 2 kids has been the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life.
I've learned so much. What I've found my identity in, who I really am, who God really is, how amazing my husband is...
but those are stories for another day.
Another safe and beautiful birth story in the books... though long and not what I thought it would be, beautiful none the less. One thing I've learned with both births....
It doesn't matter how they get here, just that they're here and they're mine.
