Pearl

As I type this, I can hear the squeaks and peeps from my one-month-old sweet little Pearl in the cradle next to me. Last night for her birthday, she gave me the best gift of all – Six hours of sleep in a row! Ah, I love this kid!

I can honestly say that I am enjoying motherhood earlier this time around, than I did the first time. Everything seems easier and more enjoyable from physical recovery to nursing. I think being better able to anticipate her needs has allowed both Brian and I to just enjoy this time so much more.

So here is how it all went down (so to speak):

This is me exactly one week before delivering. I was big and feeling a little freakish. I was pretty done with being pregnant; heartburn, leg cramps at night, I was starting to get puffy in my hands, and just plain uncomfortable 24/7. Still I was looking forward to going into labor naturally, I wanted to know what it was like to have contractions start on their own and be able to walk around the neighborhood, etc.

Turns out that wasn’t in the cards this time, either. I went to the doctor on Thursday the 13th and she informed me that I would need to be induced the following week – apparently because of my high blood pressure and my “Advanced maternal age” they did not recommend me going past my due date. *sigh* Okay, so they asked me to pick a day to come in the next week to be induced. I have a hard time thinking about picking a birthday, I would almost rather they pick, but then I realized that Monday was March 17th.

March 17th is the anniversary of my grandfather passing away, it’s also our dear Jerry Zacharias’ 93rd birthday, AND St. Patrick’s Day could be a fun birthday. On the logical side of things: The doc anticipated the baby to be 7lbs, so I don’t want to wait longer as she gets bigger, also it was a Monday, so my maternity leave could start on the beginning of the week and I could still have the weekend to get life situated, my mom would have time to request time off work to take care of Mary…it just made sense on a few different levels.

Sunday, March 16th
We dropped off Mary Sunday night at my parent’s house. It was bittersweet. I still struggled with knowing my relationship with Mary was about to change. I put on my best happy face leaving, but I cried on my way home.

Monday, March 17th
We were supposed to check in to the hospital at 5am. I had a hard time falling to sleep, but at some point I must have because the alarm woke me up a 4am. I had the list by the back door with everything left to pack; camera charger, Kindle, phone chargers, nursing pillow, etc. Brian pointed out that we were running late and we still had to stop at Country Donuts because I wanted to get a box of donuts for the nurses – I pointed out that we will get there when we get there and the doctor can’t get started without us.

When we arrived, it was still surreal to me – checking in to have a baby. I walked into the delivery room knowing I probably wouldn’t leave that room until I had a baby – I was right, and it was a long day:

Just getting the Pitocin started here...still smiling

5:20am – check into the hospital
6:15am – Pitocin starts and dosage is increased during the day
7:00am – Water is broken.
9:30am – Feeling some contractions, but they don’t hurt. Doctor puts an internal monitor on so they can get a more accurate read on the contractions.
11:15am – Contractions start getting more intense, but don’t seem to progress. I start to worry that it is going to take a long time. I don’t want to get the epidural because it slowed labor so much with Mary – I want to progress as much as I can. I realize there are lots of things I forgot about this process; Every time they check my cervix, up the Pitocin I become shaky and shiver for a couple minutes like my body is in shock.
1:30pm – Contractions very hurty – Brian is doing great to help me through contractions.
3:00pm – Contractions hitting 100 every time and about 2 minutes apart. My favorite is Brian watching my contractions on the monitor and telling me, “Oh this is a big one.”…yes, dear, I’m very aware of that. I find myself falling asleep for the minute in between contractions and determine, I must be very tired and it’s time for the epidural…I still procrastinate, thinking I can go longer.
3:20pm – Screw this, get me the epidural. Nurse winces looking at my contractions on the monitor and says, “I hope we didn’t wait too long.” WHAT!?
3:40pm – Anesthesiologist shows up and appears to be somewhere in between 12-20 years old. I look at him and decide not to make a comment about his age, he doesn’t need it and he’s about to stick a needle in my spine. Getting the epidural is tougher and more painful than I remember it being with Mary. I was also having a lot of contractions during the process and had to stay perfectly still, so that may have made it more difficult.
4:00pm – Epidural kicking in, I’m itchy all over as part of the side effects. I wonder how much anesthesia they pumped into me because I am numb from my ear lobes to my toes and can barely move my legs. It eventually subsides and balances out.
5:00pm – Discouraged…labor has slowed with the epidural. Contractions not as strong, further apart. Pitocin pumped up significantly and we keep an eye on baby’s heart rate to make sure she can take it...she’s tough, can take it like a champ.

Me post-epidural with my Kindle and ice chips...smiling again.

 6:00pm – Have been at this 12 hours…average time for a second baby is 8 hours *sigh* wondering if this will happen today. Meditate and envision baby girl dropping more and making her way out.
6:40pm – I remember with Mary I started to feel contractions again right before she came and I’m feeling contractions now. Call the nurse to check me and…YUP! I’m complete and ready to push! Feels like forever as the doctor and nurses get there, get dressed. At one point they all leave the room and I panic a bit because I can feel baby girl moving lower and lower.
6:55pm – I push hard for three counts of 10…doctor says to take a break. On the next contraction, push for a count of 10 and I’m told her head is right there. Push for another count of 10 and Brian says that she has a lot of hair. Push for another count of 10 and she pops out at 6:58pm (Mary was born at 6:58am), I take one look and know that she is not 7lbs, she is as small as I remember Mary being when she popped out. I look at her tiny little face and fall in love all over again, my sweet girl.

6:58pm - 5lbs 12oz

As soon as she was born, the doctors commented at how she was tangled in the umbilical cord, it was around her shoulder, wrapped around one arm and then down around her thigh. I watched them get it off her leg and it was tight! Brian got to cut the cord, she was weighed and then I got to hold her skin-to-skin to my chest for about 20 min. It was during this time that Brian and I decided her name was Pearl. It is a way to name her after many family members; We have so many birthdays in June and Pearl is the birthstone for June (I actually liked the name “June” but apparently I was the only one). I also like that it has relationship to the ocean. Her middle name is Kailani – Hawaiian for “Sea and Sky”, since this poor little one was born away from the ocean, I wanted there to be an ocean-element to her name.

Since I pushed her out so fast she still had some fluid in her lungs. The nurses were a little concerned about this – but it cleared out right away and they moved us down to our room a little after 8. I was starving. When Mary was born, I had filet mignon for dinner – now the nurses grabbed me a cold box lunch they keep around for situations like this. Cold turkey sandwich on white bread that was soggy from the tomato. I really didn’t care, I was hungry and tired and just wanted to get some sleep. Which is impossible in a hospital, but we seemed to manage just fine. Pearl was as tired as we were (she has just as hard of a day after all), she slept in 4-hour increments which was fine with me!

Tuesday, March 18th
Mary, Marmee, & Grampy come for a visit! It went better than expected. I’m not sure if there is any way to fully prep a 3 year old for a new baby coming into the house, but we seemed to do okay. Mary gave baby sister the giraffe she picked out and Pearl gave Mary a new little dolly that goes with her favorite horsey.

It was sad when it came time for them to leave, Mary was NOT happy about it – I actually had to carry her down the hallway as she cried. My parents said she cried until they got out of the parking lot and then was okay...

Wednesday, March 19th
Pearl comes home!

Since then, things have been going great. Pearl has better, more experienced parents than Mary did – however this also means I realize it’s not the end of the world if she fusses/cries while I take a shower.

Mary has been a great helper. When I change Pearl’s diaper, Mary stands next to the changing table and puts her hand on Pearl’s chest so she feels safe and doesn’t flail her arms out like she’s scared. When we’re packing up to leave, I always forget something in the house and Mary is the one to run through the house to get the blanket, sunglasses, etc that I forgot. There are times that the little booger in her comes out, but it’s clear during those times that she is upset that she doesn’t have 100% of our attention. When she acts this way, I always try to set aside a few moments for “Mary Time” as we call it, so we can hug and rock. I tell her that she is my most favorite “Mary” on the planet, and that she is always going to be my number 1.

This week, Mary started saying, “Baby sister is still staying with us!” …Uh, well, yes – she’ll be here for a bit.

Pearl had her one month weigh-in yesterday…she was 5lbs 12oz when born, 5lbs 8oz when we brought her home and at one month she is 7lbs 6oz. Atta girl! I’m proud to say I have fed her every drop she’s eaten.

Today on her one-month birthday, she gave me the gift of 6 hours of sleep in a row (probably one reason I have the brain capacity to write this post) AND she gave me her first true smile...happily, my camera was right there and I snapped this picture...

First Smile 4/18/14

Pearl, You are such a sweet, sweet baby. I’m so sorry that I was nervous about your arrival. You have stolen my heart and completed our family – you are our little gem, our Pearlie Girl.

I was trying to capture how tiny she is...

PS: Brian just walked through the room as I was uploading this and said I needed to be sure to point out what a rock star he was in the delivery room and that he let me have the remote the whole day...It's all true.

Our first family picture