My mom was able to come down and watch the kids for us which took a lot of stress trying to find someone in the ward to do it.
We were supposed to be there at 6:30. Normally I would be too excited to even wait that long but this time I was kind of wanting to wait...maybe at least an hour. Not that I wasn't excited it's just that I was so tired! We ended up getting there at 7:30. They got me settled in and then began the WORST part of labor/delivery for me.... the IV. I hate my veins. They are so stinking small and nurses ALWAYS have trouble drawing blood from me. They didn't stick me once, not twice, but THREE times to find a place where the liquid would actually flow into me! It was awful and made me hot and sick to my stomach! And then when they finally got it into a spot I had to hold my hand a certain way to make sure the liquid flowed, if I moved to far one way the IV would stop! The nurse said she could move the IV again but I was not going to go through that a third time.... holding my hand one way was so worth it. And because the IV was being finicky they had to stick me on my upper arm to draw blood samples. ugh.
I think the doctor came in around 8:45ish to break my water. It was so weird, I could literally see my belly deflate a bit... that was my first bit of hope that the baby would be smaller then we thought. I always think that I can hold out longer and not ask for an epidural until the last moment. ha. so I got my epidural (I can't remember what time) and it started to work but didn't go further then make my legs tingle. I told the nurses but they just assumed it would continue to numb. The nurse came in to put in my catheter (to drain my bladder) I was nervous because I knew I could still feel down there. She checked me before putting it in and I was dilated to a six. She put the catheter in and it was extremely uncomfortable! I kept trying to tell her that and then all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain and the nurse could tell from my face that I was in pain so she checked me again and I was dilated all the way to 10! In less than a minute! The nurse said she had heard that for some women, as soon as their bladders are drained they open up all the way and the baby drops. So she called in the Anesthesiologist to give me another dose of epidural and called the doctor in. I was having strong urges to push but was trying so hard not to. Because of the second dose of pain medication each contraction (which was super intense) got less and less noticeable and by the end I couldn't feel anything...thank goodness because I had an episiotomy. Pushing while on an epidural is weird because I feel like I am doing nothing, but the nurses always cheer me on and tell me I am doing great so I just keep doing what I am doing. I pushed a total of 10-15 minutes and she was OUT! I couldn't believe how much hair she has and how DARK it is. They took her to do vitals and Cody took pictures and I could hardly keep my eyes open! I was so drowsy from the epidural I could have fallen asleep between pushes! I was so amazed to hear that she was only 8lbs. 9oz.! The nurses said she was big....psh. She is so tiny! We looked back over Joseph's and Rylee's pictures and they were both noticeably bigger but also there legs and arms were definitely chunkier! Louise's arms and legs are so little I feel like I might break them! She looks quite a bit like Jojo and Rylee's pictures but still her own person too. We love the fact that we have a blond, a ginger, and now a brunette!
At this point we still hadn't picked out a name. We had been throwing back and forth a few names but I just couldn't figure out what to name her. Cody knew almost instantly when he saw her that he wanted to name her Louise. He said that thinking of calling her Louise made him feel really happy. Louise is one of my grandma Schultz's middle names. I guess I had a harder time accepting that name for two reasons. With Joseph and Rylee we had picked out their names months in advance so I had time to get used to them and imagine calling them that. Also, I always imagined Louise kind of being an uglier old fashioned name like Helga or something and I was also concerned that other people would feel the same way. But when Cody had briefly mentioned the idea of calling her Louise before she was born we had liked the idea of the nickname Lui. I honestly had no opinion of another name. We didn't feel like she looked like an Emmaline like we had been planning to call her. So in the end I figured I would get used to the name and so we started calling her Louise. And you know what? It is growing on me. And who cares what other people think of her name? Honestly, after we got out of the hospital and put her name down as Louise Christine (My sister Rochelle's middle name) I was having second thoughts for the same reasons mentioned above so we were trying to come up with a different name and looking through a baby name book.... in the end that just solidified to me that her name is Louise. So that is how her name came to be. Names have always been special for me and I was feeling bummed threw out pregnancy that I couldn't think of a name, but I think what makes her name special is that Cody absolutely LOVES the name Louise. :) I figured that I am absolutely dead set on calling our next boy Peter whether Cody likes is or not that he could definitely pick this name.
Breast Feeding? Why oh why do I ALWAYS have to run into obstacles with breast feeding. With Joseph it was the fact that nobody helped me first nurse until several hours after he was born which led to him not latching on very good and months of pumping and feeding until I just gave into formula. With Rylee it was her high level of Jaundice and breast fed jaundice - I had to pump and throw away my milk to keep a supply going until she was completely jaundice free, and then I only nursed for five months until Rochelle passed away and I decided to switch to formula. Now, even though she is not jaundice and is more alert and she was latching on and sucking good - My nipples are sore sore sore! Like PAINFULLY soar, like cracked and bleeding and scabbed over soar (Sorry for the details) but it SUCKS! I have no idea why it has hurt so bad this time. But pumping is slightly less painful so I have been pumping and feeding. Which honestly, I HATE doing. I wouldn't mind only directly nursing or only formula feeding, but pumping and feeding is awful. So why and I doing it? Formula feeding has been a LOT more convenient for me so far so I don't know, I still want to try breast feeding. I bought nursing pads, and nursing bras, and a nipple shield and I spent all this money to help with nursing I don't want to give up yet. I am going to find a lactation specialist to see and get help. Wish me luck.
Either way we are so happy to have little Lui Louise with us. She is such a good baby and hardly cries and it is such a soft cry.... Joseph's was a soft cry too. Oh, and good news, she was not jaundice!!! Her eyes are so alert and you can tell that she loves to be talked to. Every time I hold her I feel so blessed to have her here! I love babies.
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| Louise |
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| Joseph |
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| Rylee |
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| Let the craziness begin! |
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| I love having a Van |
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| Stretch! |
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| Louise |
