Molly's here!

I haven't updated in a while, but I *hope* to do it more frequently as now that Molly is here! The following is the story of her birth, a successful VBAC!

Molly’s Birth 

After an 8 hr labor, Molly Elizabeth joined the world via successful VBAC!

I woke up at 4am on Friday to my first contraction.  A few minutes later, I felt another.  I started timing them and realized they were about 3 mins apart. I timed them for about an hour and noticed they were increasing in intensity and frequency, between 2 and 3 mins apart. I woke up M, he helped me through them for about 15 mins, and then we decided to head to L&D. He jumped in for a quick shower while I grabbed the last things for our hospital bag. M grabbed Liam and then we all went downstairs. The boys moved the car out of the garage while I waited inside, I had a feeling my water had broken and when I checked, I wasn’t gushing but I was definitely leaking fluid. Away we went!

We get to the hospital, I go straight into L&D triage while M checks me in. I get hooked up to the machines, the nurse goes to check if I’m leaking AF and the test turns positive immediately. Less than 5 mins later, I get taken to my delivery room!

I get all situated in my room while M takes Liam to get some breakfast. My parents show up and take turns taking Liam for walks around the hospital. All this time, I’m having contractions 1-3 mins apart and they’re starting to really hurt. Because we had shown up at the hospital around 6:30, we got a new nurse due to the shift change. {{Completely coincidentally, we actually had the same nurse we had for Liam’s delivery and we all remembered each other, which was really cool.}} I get checked out by one of the MWs and discover I’m at 4 at 7am. I get hit with a bunch of really strong contrax on top of each other, can barely breath or move, and ask to get checked again, just out of curiosities sake. In half an hour, I moved to 5cm and completely thinned. I’m getting really discouraged by the pain but don’t want to give into pain meds yet. I’m having a really hard time controlling my breathing and pushing away the pain, I try different laboring positions and using a birthing ball, but it got to the point that it was too much for me to be able to handle. I was having a lot of pain in my right hip as each contraction came on and it lingered as they left and I couldn’t take it anymore. I ask for an epi. The nurse checks me before it gets administered to find I’ve moved to 7cm in about an hours’ time.

I get the epi around 8:45, and felt relief almost immediately. I was still having bad pain in my hip with each contraction, although I couldn’t really feel them in my pelvis anymore. They propped me up on my right hip to help relieve some of the pressure. It worked for the hip pain, but I ended up getting more of the meds into my left leg and it became completely dead. I could wiggle my toes, but that was it. I had to have help moving it around to get comfortable, but I found it completely fascinating rather then annoying. My MW (they switched at 8am and I ended up getting the one I absolutely loved!) wanted me to get some rest since we’d be having the baby soon. I was able to take several catnaps and definitely felt refreshed and rejuvenated.

I ended up getting really sick and vomited a few times. The nurse gave me a Zofran to help with that, because any time I moved I felt like I was going to get sick again. By now it was about 11am. I got checked again and was completely dilated and effaced, but the baby hadn’t moved down yet. I labored down for about 15-20 mins and then it was time to push! I was no longer propped up on my hip, as my legs were in the stirrups (mainly because I couldn’t hold my left leg up at all) and so while I couldn’t really feel the pain of the contractions, I was able to feel the pressure in my hip and used that to know when to push. I could feel her crowning and kept asking if she had hair, they said yes and I actually reached down and touched it, it was a really cool! Less than an hour of pushing and Molly Elizabeth was here! We had given her a deadline of making her arrival by noon but she decided to come at her own time at 12:09. She immediately went on my chest for skin to skin and I couldn’t stop staring at her, she was beautiful! She looks so much like Liam when he was a newborn but at the same time she’s completely her own person. M cut the cord once it stopped pulsing, and then I snuggled her some more. The nurse and MW let us take as long as we wanted to just sit there with her, it was an amazing time. They finally took her, cleaned her up, weighed her, all that good stuff. 6lbs, 13oz, 19in long and perfect. While that was happening, I was getting my 2^nd tear all stitched up.

It turns out that the intense contractions and hip pain were due to Molly facing my right hip almost the entire time. She didn’t turn until her head was about halfway out. Knowing that now, it makes complete sense.

Once we were both all set, Liam came back in to meet his baby sister. He immediately climbed onto the bed next to us, leaned over and gave her a big kiss! Then he sat back and just stared at her, giggling at all her little movements. It was the sweetest thing and completely made me melt.

Once Liam went home with his aunts, we waited to get into our postpartum room. I really wanted to take my IV out, but the nurse wouldn’t let me until I peed twice. Due to the effects of the epi on my left leg, I couldn’t bear any weight on it. I ended up having to take a wheelchair to the bathroom. She took me to get cleaned up and try but my bladder was literally too full. I ended up having to get a cath and apparently I have a huge bladder. She compared it to bladder of a person at least twice my size. Once that was done, it didn’t count and I still had to do it twice on my own. I did end up getting it out around 2am on Sat though, mainly because I had to wait until the nurse did another check on me vs just checking the baby.  By 8pm Fri night, I was able to completely walk on my own and didn’t need assistance. Granted, it really hurt to walk due to the stitches, but it was nice to have the freedom to move.

Molly has been a fantastic nurser, as of right now, no issues with her latch or anything, which has been a nice change from newborn Liam. We were able to go home on Sat, when she was about 26 hrs old. It’s been so nice to not be stuck in the hospital.

Looking back, labor was not what I had envisioned at all. I had wanted to go pain med free and I wasn’t able to achieve that, however once I got the epi, my whole attitude and outlook on delivery changed. I realized that I WAS going to have my VBAC and it was going to be amazing. I don’t feel that I gave up by getting the meds but rather I did what I needed to in order to get what I wanted. Molly’s birth experience is probably one of the things I am most proud of being able to accomplish and I would do all again in a heartbeat! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Liam would like to ask everyone a question:

You have to say yes now! How can you refuse that face?

I promise, as pitiful sad as he looks in this, he's upset over animal crackers, not that nobody loves him. This child gets more love then he knows what to do with!

I had an appt today (2/14) for Ms. Molly. Everything is look fabulous! She's measuring right where she should, her heart rate is perfect (although she's very much like her big brother and kept kicking off the doppler to get away) and as of this moment, my midwife thinks she's going to be a little smaller then Liam, which will *hopefully* aid in my VBAC attempt. 

Here's our 23 week picture!

Doctors visits part 5

Yes really. Part 5.

Less then a week after getting strep, we noticed that Liam had developed a bad sounding cough and was breathing a little more labored then usual. We chalked it up to the fact that a lot of people end up with cold-like symptoms following a bout of strep and decided to just keep an eye on it. A few days later, it had seemed like the cough was lessening, but after running around outside with daddy for only a few minutes, he was really struggling to breathe and had started wheezing. I immediately called his doctor and we took him in. His doctor checked him out, listened to him breath and ordered a few tests. They took his pulse ox and he was running around a 94. They swabbed him for RSV and then gave him a breathing treatment. Let me tell you, that was one of the most difficult things I've had to do. He hated the mask. He screamed and kicked and fought us with all his might. Thankfully the treatment worked and he went up to a 98. His test came back positive, so now, less then a week after having been diagnosed with strep throat, he has RSV.

After a few days of breathing treatments at home every 4-12 hrs, he's doing much much better! He's now back to himself and can run around like crazy and no longer be panting after. I'm so thankful that while his case wasn't mild (since he needed the treatments, not every child does), it wasn't severe enough to need hospitalization, like a few friends of ours. Now, over a week later, he's very much on the mend!

Doctors visits part 4

I was hoping to NOT have a "Part 4" but then Liam started running a high fever that wouldn't really come down with motrin or tylenol and he was completely miserable. Turns out my poor little one had strep throat! I have no idea how he contracted it, but we quickly got him on antibiotics to help fight it. After about 2.5 days, he's finally starting to act like himself again. Which is good, because I missed my happy boy!

What's in a name?

On occasion someone will ask us the meaning behind our name choices. M and I put a lot of thought into the names we've chosen for our children, so I thought I'd share our reasoning.

Liam Michael

Liam is a shortened form of the Irish name, William. In its Germanic translation, Liam means "will, desire, and protection." In its Hebrew translation, "My people."

Michael's origins are Hebrew and are translated as "Who is like God?"

We chose the name Liam based on its Irish roots. M's family is very proud of their Irish heritage, and we loved the name, so it seemed fitting. Michael was chosen based off its beginning letter; M. M's great grandmother, May, passed away a few years ago and we wanted to honor her with naming our son.

Molly Elizabeth

Molly means "uncertain, maybe bitter" in Hebrew and is considered a pet name of "Mary" in English. Mary means "bitter" in both Hebrew and English.

Elizabeth is considered to have roots in both Hebrew and Greek, both with the same meaning: "My God is a vow."

By choosing Molly for our daughter, we're bringing in M's Irish roots again. The song "Molly Malone" is the unofficial national anthem of Ireland. Molly is another name that M and I both really liked. It's not used to necessarily honor anyone in specific, but growing up I was very influenced by a very special woman named Molly. Elizabeth, like Michael, was chosen for its starting letter, E. My grandfather, Ernest, passed away a few years back and we wanted to honor him with our little girl. 

Taking the names one step further, they all have origins in Hebrew, and our middle names were influenced from those who are no longer with us. Both of these honor my family's Jewish traditions, as our first names honor M's family.

There ya have it. Our names and how we came to use them!

Drum roll please.....

We had our anatomy scan yesterday for T2 and not only are they absolutely perfect and measuring right on schedule, but IT'S A GIRL!!!

M and I are over the moon! We just wanted a healthy baby, we didn't care about the sex, although we both thought it'd be fun to have a girl, since we already have an amazing little boy. 

After some discussion, we've agreed on the name Molly Elizabeth. We've also agreed on the theme for the kids room. Liam never really had a nursery because for his first year, we lived in a one bedroom apt. Now that we have a house and he has his own room (for the next few months that is) we're going to be decorating his room in a Sock Monkey theme. I love the colors of the original/classic sock monkey and it'll be easy to transition from infant-toddler-big kid rooms. We've picked out fabrics and such, just need to order and sew, and we'll be underway! I'll be sure to share pictures of the progress.

Doctors visits part 3

I had my appt with my midwife on Thursday. Everything is looking good for T2! I've finally started gaining weight, which really made my MW happy. Gaining weight also means that I can continue nursing Liam, as long as my supply maintains! T2 is definitely like their big brother. When the MW went to listen to their heart rate, we were able to to hear it for about 3 seconds before T2 kicked off and ran away. She tried to follow them, so she could get an accurate reading, but every time she found the heart rate again, T2 swatted or kicked and moved away. In the end, we left without knowing the heart rate, but we knew they had one!

In about a week and a half we'll be finding out if we're Team Pink or Team Blue! I've got a guess, but I'll let you know if I was right after we find out :)

As far as the rest of the family, Liam is continuing his run as the most energetic toddler in the world. M starts physical therapy on Tuesday, plus his rental car is going back. We need to do some hardcore car shopping and soon!