I would like to introduce you to the sweetest baby girl on the planet!!
Penelope Grace was born on September 6 @ 10:22am, weighing 8lbs 2oz and 20.5inches.
Her birth was a little intense to say the least.
I was hoping for a vbac but as the cut-off to go into labor on my own {41wks} approached, my Dr advised me that I needed a back up plan. An induction or a repeat c/s. My first was a failed induction after 18hrs of hard labor, so I decided my back up plan was going to just be another c/s, just in case an induction would have been a repeat from the first one {not to mention inductions can make vbac's more risky}.
I was initially scheduled for Thursday morning {earrrly} but I got a phone call the night before from my Dr about rescheduling for Thursday afternoon... Okay, a little bummed but whatever. Thursday came. I was nervous, we all were. Just anxiously awaiting for the clock to strike 1pm so we could make our journey to labor and delivery. As the morning progressed I received another phone call. They had to reschedule again due to an emergency c/s that needed to be done asap on another pregnant patient. At the time they didn't know when I could be rescheduled but said they would call back and let me know and that they are going to get me scheduled as soon as they can {apparently they had a massive baby boom around the time I had Penelope}.
I was bummed but understood.
That night while lying in bed, labor and delivery called me and informed me that they were able to schedule me in for the next morning {Friday morning}. The nerves started to set in ...again... in hopes that this time, it was for real.
Josh and I left the house around 5am-ish and drove the stretch of empty roadways on our way to the hospital. We didn't really say much to one another. I had a million things going through my mind. Lots of emotions. This was our final 'journey' as being parents to just one child and that when we travel this same stretch of road again, we will be the parents of two children. Everything just seemed so surreal. I was tired and wanted to take a nap but I couldn't close my eyes. It was like it was physically impossible for me to do so.
We arrived at the hospital. Checked in and they brought us to the Recovery room where they had me shed the clothes and cloak myself in the fancy hospital gown. I got comfortable {or as comfortable as I could} on the bed and the Nurse had me fill out some forms while another nurse came and put my IV in {thankfully I have no horror stories of how she had to stick me 5+ times and blew my veins out}. After the forms were filled out Josh and I just kind of sat there. The room wasn't small but it wasn't big either. It was large enough for two recovery beds and there was a 'Nurses' station to the other end of the wall along with a bathroom. It was going on 8am and they wheeled another Mama into the recovery room. First her husband wheeling their new baby in the hospital nursery bed and then her in the recovery bed. I remember she looked at me and smiled. It was sweet. She had just had major surgery but our smiles were from one mother to another. A 'Good luck and Congrats' kind of smile. Their baby started to cry and it made me tear up a bit because I knew that in just a short time we would be them. Holding our brand new baby girl in our arms.
9:45 came and they brought me into the OR. Everyone seemed very upbeat and happy, which was nice. My spinal block was put in and I was ready to go. Josh walked in and sat down next to me. The coming moments were just blank. Nothing really went on other then what normally goes on when they start to perform a c-section. Then it seemed like I had a hard time breathing, like I was gasping for air and that's when I realized that something wasn't right. The doctors and nurses were anxiously shouting things back and fourth to one another but I didn't really hang on to the words they were saying as I was to busy trying to breath. I could tell the bed/table I was strapped to was moving vigorously and after about 10mins of this, they pulled her out. I could breath again but the silence was deafening.
I turned my head and looked at Josh. He could see where they brought her. He looked at me and had this look of worry. I had never seen him look like that before. He kept looking back at the nurses who had Penelope and then looking at me, each time, the same look of worry worse then the look before. I don't remember all that was said but I heard someone shout 'Baby crash cart' and the tears began flowing. I felt numb. I looked up at the ceiling. I didn't know what to do, what to say, what to think... All I wanted was to hear her cry. No soon after that I heard just that. I heard her start to squeak and then she started to cry. A nurse turned back to Josh and gave him the thumbs up. I looked at him, he looked at me and his eyes were watery and I knew he was smiling under the hospital garb he was wearing on his face.
They moved part of the curtain that was draped above me to the side a bit so I could see. By now there were only about 2 nurses around Penelope. I couldn't see her really but I saw two little legs and two very tiny little feet sticking up and moving all around. I started to cry again.
It turns out they were having a hard time getting her out of my belly. It was like she was stuck in there and it took all the doctors and nurses to pry her out of there. I guess the stress from it all caused her h/r to slow way down but they got her out just in time. One nurse said that if they hadn't of gotten her out in that moment they did they would have made another cut {vertical} above the one they already made. I didn't care. As long as my little girl was okay they can do what they need to with me.
After a 48hr stay in the hospital {which had the best nurses I have ever had!}, we headed home for Big Brother to meet his new baby sister. He is all smiles and is amazed at how tiny she is. The first time he held her she started squeaking and he became wide eyed and told us he didn't know why she did that and didn't know what to do lol. He has a lot to learn but as each day passes he is catching on.
My heart is completely full. I am so in love and feel so complete. This pregnancy has gone by fast for me. With my first everything was 'new' to me so time seemed to go a lot slower. Since I knew what it was like to be pregnant it was as if nothing had changed from before I was pregnant. We continued on with our routine without a care in the world and part of me was afraid about not having the same connection with this pregnancy as I did with my first. Would it carry over to when she was born? Well I quickly found out... NO. This little girl has stolen the remaining piece of my heart and has it locked up tight in her little body. Just looking at her, I want to cry tears of joy and happiness.
She has truly completed our family :)
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