And Baby turns 5

5 years ago, I was pregnant with our youngest.  This was the first time I went passed my due date.  My older 2 were born 2 weeks early so imagine my disappointment when this one didn't follow suit.  I was only a day late according to the last due date given to me, but a week late according to the first due date given to me.  I was in the midst of a huge baby boom.  Almost everyone I knew was having a baby, and many of them due in December.  2 of my friends had their babies a week before I did - and one of them wasn't even due until Feb.

Although I love being pregnant, this pregnancy was a lot more uncomfortable than my other pregnancies.  I would find out why when this one was born.  I don't remember how the day started, but it ended with a nameless baby girl in my arms.

I had already gone in on the 18th with false labor.  I didn't want to do that again.  After making arrangements for the kids - again - and heading to the hospital - again, it was finally the real thing.  However, I wasn't progressing.  At all.  And since my previous birth was a c-section, extra precautions had to be taken.  I didn't want another c-section.  I wanted to experience natural childbirth once more.  But that would not be the case.  As contractions came back-to-back, the baby's heartrate continued to drop.  Its head wasn't quite in position where it needed to be so they couldn't break my water.  Any position that worked for me was worse for the baby.  Finally, they decided we needed another c-section.

We never find out the gender so we only had a boy's name picked out.  We were not able to agree on a girl's name.  And sure enough, it was a girl.  What would we name her?  We knew her middle name and what we would call her, but we didn't know what full first name to use.  As they were putting me back together and cleaning things up, I was told there was so much scar tissue from my last c-section that my uterus had been attached to my abdominal wall.  Well, no wonder my pregnancy was so uncomfortable!  Every time the baby moved, it pulled against my abs and possibly other organs.  And the epidural didn't completely take as I was feeling some sharp pain.  Again, due to the extra scar tissue.

She was 17 inches long and weighed 6lbs 10oz.  She passed the APGAR as far as I can remember.  Nothing drastic there.  But I had to ask if she was a boy or girl and they answered very casually, it's a girl.  She was my littlest baby.

Since we were attempting a VBAC, we had to give birth at the hospital instead of the birth center.  However, the hospital was already full of babies and the only room left was one in the birth center.  Before we could move, baby girl had to maintain her temperature.  But she couldn't.  They put her under a heat lamp to warm her up and shut it off to see if she could stay at that temperature.  I think they had to do this 3 times before she was finally able to keep up her temperature on her own.  Then they wheeled us underground, under the street, and into the birthing center where we finally got settled into recovery.  By this time we had been discussing names and were starting to lean towards one particular name.  Before Seth left, sometime after midnight, we had finally chosen a name and made it official.

The last 5 years have been amazing.  We can't imagine what life would have been like without her.  She brings us such joy everyday.  She's sometimes shy, but other times talkative.  I've been told that she is my mini-me.  Aside from her blue eyes and left-handedness, she is very much like me.  Her favorite animal is the owl and her favorite candy is Whoppers.  I love this because my mom's favorite animal is the owl and my dad's favorite candy is Whoppers.  She walks like her dad and started walking at 8 months!  She loves to sing and dance.  She sings with her sister and plays cars with her brother.  We love her so much!

Can you guess which one is me and which one is A?  :)

 

 

Happy 5th birthday, little A!!!