Baby Abby's Arrival...

One week ago today I had just given birth to our fourth little girl!  It has been a blur of a week, but filled with lots of gratitude.  Oh...where to begin?  Lets start with Wednesday since yesterday I kept saying I can't believe she was in me last week and we didn't know when she'd make her grand entrance.  I had my weekly Dr.'s appointment and my Dr. said I was dilated between a two and a three.  This was good news and I thought it would be another really quick labor like M's.  We were only at the hospital with M for 20 minutes before she was born...it was quick and hard.  I was actually hoping for this again since I didn't get an epidural and was able to get up right away and not have any side effects.  HOWEVER, the old adage is true...every pregnancy is different and so is the labor experience!  Back to Wednesday, after my Dr.'s appointment I called my best friend and asked her to lunch (she works right by my Dr.'s office).  We enjoyed catching up and she even joked with me that this could be "your last supper".  :)   I was really feeling fine though and thought it would "never happen".  That feeling you get when you are nine months pregnant.  The anticipation process with this pregnancy seemed more intense that any other because:
#1. We thought we were in for a quick process and we live 30 minutes from the hospital...didn't want to deliver in the car!
#2.  Eric was most paranoid about the weather in February and having to drive fast on bad roads.      #3.  We had THREE kiddos to have childcare lined up for and part of the day two of them are in school...it just seemed like a lot of different factors this time around. 
I had gone into labor with the other three around 11pm (every time!) and Eric was home so I was really hoping this baby would do the same.  Another really quirky thing that has happened with every pregnancy is the arrival of Eric's parents.  With our first baby their plane arrived at 9pm-ish and we no longer got back to our apartment and I went into labor.  With our second we had picked up Eric's dad and grandma from the airport and were home all of an hour before I went into labor.  Baby number three was a bit different since they were living here that summer, but thankfully we had them sleep over at their house that night since I had  feeling it might be "the night."  So we joked that with this baby she would wait until they got here and guess when their flight got in??  Tuesday night the 7th and I went into labor on the 8th less than 24 hrs later.
Several times during the last couple weeks Eric had said he wished he had a crystal ball.  It was really nice that every time I called him he answered on the first ring and if he were in a meeting or busy he'd say "are you in labor?? me: no, Ok, call you back". click.  Cute, huh? :) It made me laugh every time and I actually quit calling him so he didn't think that every time!
I keep getting side-tracked from Wednesday!!  Ok, so we sat down for dinner and I was noticing definite contractions...more than braxton hicks and thought things were starting.  By the girls bedtime we were "tracking"...Eric's dad was hilarious.  He was the stopwatch guy.  It was hard because there wasn't a good pattern to them.  I'd have a really hard one followed by two smaller ones like a minute or two apart and then it'd be another ten minutes before the next big one.  We decided to watch a movie and before it was over I went up to get my bag ready because I knew she was on her way, just didn't know when to sound the alarm.  I wished the contractions would get more steady so I could not show up at the hospital and feel like a fool with false labor.  I called my mom around 11:30 and told her we'd probably be leaving soon.  I was still second guessing myself though.  We decided to try and go to sleep, but I was paranoid I wouldn't have enough time to get to the hospital if I waited too long.  As soon as I laid down though they got really bad and by 12:30am we were on our way to the hospital.  Things got intense on the drive and we started really getting excited about meeting our new little girl and knowing her birthday would be February 9th.  We got to the hospital and I was sure with the whole evening I was at least dilated to a 6 or 7.  I was only at a 3!!  Ugh.  This was not good news.  We got to our room and the nurse suggested the whirlpool...I told her I'd probably drown myself.  I know a lot of woman like the water approach, but it never sounded good to me.  I did do the bouncy ball thing and that seemed the most helpful.  By time it was 3am I was asking for the anesthesiologist.  Things were just going WAY too slow to tough it out.  I believe I've shared my view on pain medicine during childbirth before, but this is my view.  IF they gave out trophy's for going all-naturale, it may be tempting to "tough" it out.  But nope, not even a certificate.  So if the end result is the same and I can enjoy the process a bit more and with a few less mean things said to my husband...why not?!  Classic "Sarah" phrases include (but are not limited to): "you just don't understand", nurse: the anesthesiologist is in a c-section and will be out shortly..."I think I need it more than her", "ow, ow, ow" in patterns of three, "shoot" also in patterns of three, and "shhhhh".  Noises really get to me for some reason, people talking, leather jackets, etc.  Our room was pretty chilly and Eric put his leather coat on and just the noise from it crinkly about put me over the edge.  I remember hissing "get it off, get it off, pleeeease get it off"  the poor guy looked around like "what in the world..." lol  It is funny to me now.  My mom was sensitive to smells, she may or may not have thrown ice at my dad for bringing coffee in the room.

I turn into a much nicer person once that large needle is in my back. 4pm...sweet relief.   Eric was able to sleep some, I had the dry heaves and some shaking, but the contraction pain was minimal and by 8am I was ready to push.  Two pushes was all it took!  My mom was there and it is always so amazing to see the little life that was wriggling around be handed to you.  She. was. perfect.  Nine months of worry gone in seconds and I couldn't stop crying.  So thankful.  So in love.

Dr. Schuler and Kangaroo care :)

 

 

We share the same feelings when it comes to scales...

Proud daddy

My mom

Eric's parents (Abby's middle name is after his mom's - Bonnie Lue)

Checking out her teeny tiny fingers

 

M not so sure... :)

Our little...errrr, big family! ;)

Aunt Jess

Uncle Paul

Being born is exhausting!

Kisses from her big sister

Surrounded by little women ;)

Flowers from Eric's company

Flowers from my Janelle (the Riesens she brought were gone by this point) :)

Flowers from Grandma and Grandpa Condron

My beautiful sister (just flown in from Montana!)

So glad to have her here...Megan joined in for the picture - love her expression!

There you have it...our first week.  It has been crazy and its not adjusting to life with a newborn...its adjusting to life with a newborn AND a two year old who has more energy and antics than I know what to do with.  We will figure it out...I may or may not have used a safety pin to keep her crib tent escape-proof today at naptime. 

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14