New job, new baby :)

Last week was a busy, very good week at our house. Tuesday morning Steve received a phone call with a job offer! Better yet, they offered him more money than he asked for! Wednesday morning he authorized a background check and did his drug test. He received his official offer letter that afternoon. He put in his two weeks notice. But because of the baby and his scheduled FMLA time, he finished at Comcast on Wednesday, although he technically is still employed there until the 16th. Nice to get a new job and your last two weeks are paid time off. :)

Steve went to my appointment on Thursday and I hadn't really progressed much more (effaced 30% more) but the doctor set up my induction for Friday, providing there were beds available. Apparently there were 8 births on Thursday, so the odds of L&D having openings Friday morning were pretty good. :) Sure enough, they told us to come in at 7:30am. I was checked and had my water broken at 8:25. The nurses started the pitocin at 8:30. The first few hours, nothing really happened. I had the occasional light contraction. By 11:15 I was starting to get a bit uncomfortable so I asked to be checked. I was still only 3-4 cms, 80%, -1. Some nurse scared me out of getting the intrathecal yet, worrying it would slow labor and wear off before I needed to push. By 12:03 I was in a lot more pain and signed all the paperwork for the intrathecal, deciding on that instead of an epidural (an intrathecal is a single-shot, more immediate, and wears off sooner, but I felt way better after my intrathecal than I did after the epidural). I was at a 5, 80%, -1. So things were progressing slower than they had with Mia. The nurse called the anesthesiologist but he was called into an emergency elsewhere before he made it to my room. Since I dilated from 5 to 10 in 25 minutes with Mia, the nurses didn't leave my room after that. By 11:33 I was feeling a lot more pressure and started feeling like I might need to push soon. They checked me and I was still only 6 cms and 95%. The rest is a bit fuzzy because things happened so fast. I kept asking for the anesthesiologist because I really wanted my intrathecal, lol. The pressure got worse and worse. At some point I started feeling the urge to push. A nurse checked me and said the baby's head was right there and I was complete (dilated to 10). They told me to breathe through the contractions and not to push until the doctor came. So I fought pushing until the doctor made it into the room. Apparently I pushed for 2 contractions, so maybe 2 minutes and Nora was born. (Btw, it does hurt a lot worse without drugs.) She was born at 12:47, which means I dilated 4 cms and gave birth within 14 minutes, including the time I fought the urge to push. The nurses kept telling me what a great job I did, lol. So now I have done natural child birth, but not because I wanted to.

The stats in a nutshell: Nora Ann was born on April 9, 2010, at 12:47 pm. She was 7 lbs 12 0z and 20 inches long. She has dark hair and her eyes appear to be dark. We'll see if her hair and eyes stay brown. She has long feet and a stork bite on her nose the shape of a tiny foot print. She's pretty calm and easy going. She sleeps relatively well, but does have her days and nights mixed up a bit. Ella and Mia like her and like to help with her. They throw diapers away, get her bottle, etc. Mia gets so concerned when Nora cries. I think they'll pay more attention to her once she smiles and can interact a bit more. Already Nora can sleep through the girls running around screeching.

My recovery is going pretty well. My pelvis is still sore, but better than it was before Nora was born. My midsection is soft and squishy but much flatter/smaller than it was. Other things are slowly returning to normal (other moms know what I mean and if you don't know, you don't want to). I'm waiting for more of the water weight to go away to see if my bridesmaid dress will fit. I'm not looking forward to Steve going back to work next week but I am so glad it will be to a new job he'll enjoy and he'll be home in the evenings again. Hopefully we can get Nora's sleep schedule straightened out a bit more before then.

The final thing for this post: Mia is two today! It's hard to believe she's already two. She is so compassionate and has the biggest vocabulary. She's an enthusiastic eater (nice way of saying she eats everything and makes a mess doing it) and has big emotions. Whether she's upset or happy, she's extremely upset or happy. It's a good thing she calms down easily, lol. She loves her sisters and is a cuddler. She regularly climbs into our laps or asks for a hug and kiss. She's cautious around people but will climb anything and everything (total opposite of Ella who loves all people but is cautious of climbing and usually needs to work herself up to going down a slide). She can escape from a crib or pack'n'play without making a sound but trips over nothing walking across the room. She's our little redhead. We'll have cake later today and then her birthday party on Saturday. Her party will be kind of small, but I think she's just excited about cakes and candles and gifts right now. :) Happy birthday Amelia Jane!