Baby Girl is Here!

No time like the present to take up the blog again.

Baby Girl is here!  She is just over 4 weeks and what a wonderful 4 weeks it's been.  I can't even believe it and still shake my head in disbelief.  I truly thought that we could not have another child.  That is a post for another day.  She truly is a miracle baby.  I feel so blessed to have her!

6 days before her due date we decided to schedule to be induced.  The pregnancy was harder than my other 2 by far....even more difficult than with the twins.  The thing that made it so hard was that I could NOT sleep...ever. It was driving me crazy physically and mentally.  My feet would throb in the night.  My legs were restless.  I was huge and would toss and turn never able to find a comfortable position.  I don't know if it was my age that made the difference this time or what.  All I knew is that my past pregnancies were awesome and this one was so hard on me.  October could not come soon enough.

On the Friday before I was due I was scheduled to go in at 5:30am to at last be induced.  My mom came into town a few days before so the older girls were taken care of. They also had no school that day so they could hang out at home and wait for the call to be able to come down to the hospital to meet their baby sister.  I went into their dark bedroom at 5am to kiss them goodbye and told them we'd see them in a few hours after the baby was born.  They were so sweet.  Hugs and kisses and excitement.  The whole family was just so excited that the day was finally here.  The girls went back to sleep and Kermit and I took our 10 minute drive downtown and pulled up to the valet.  I walked right in and immediately got up to my room where they started getting me ready to go.  Dr. Lisa came in at 8:30 and broke my water and started the pitocin.  We waited...waited some more.  Started getting some good contractions by about 11:30am and they gave me my epidural.  We waited, and waited more.  Nothing was happening.  The good thing was that it allowed me to get some sleep. I didn't get any sleep the night before as usual and I was exhausted. By evening, still nothing! The only action we had was me throwing up.  I think I dilated to a 4 (from a 2 which is where I was when we arrived). Kermit and I were starting to wonder if we made the right decision to induce.  We were told that because this was my 3rd delivery that this would go very fast.  In fact we were encouraged to induce because 3rd babies usually do come fast and it isn't uncommon for women not to make it to the hospital once their labor starts.  We didn't want any surprises so we chose to induce but this was not at all what we were expecting.  We had told the girls that we would see them in the afternoon with a new baby to show.  Long labor waiting and waiting and waiting..thank goodness for epidurals!  The night came and we watched the clock pass midnight.  It was now Saturday morning and we were still waiting.  Finally at 1:30am Dr. Lisa came in to check and we were ready to go!  At last!  Kermit was asleep on the couch and had to jump up ready for action.  He was dizzy and a bit disoriented as he woke up.  He jumped right in and I was ready to push immediately.  Again, I was expecting for the baby to come fast.  3 pushes is what I was told to expect.  Nope.  30 minutes of pushing.  But that's not that bad.  Everything went fine and no complications. I couldn't ask for more.  Just the amount of time wasn't what we were expecting BUT this delivery was almost exactly like both of my previous.  Long day of labor and 30 minutes of pushing.  Annaliese born at 9:40pm after being there all day.  Twins at 5am after being there since 11am the day before.  So it made sense that Althea came just as her sisters had.

I said in the beginning that I didn't believe that we were having another baby.  And that was true up until the moment she came out.  Once I finally saw her I believed it.  She was perfect!  8lbs 2 oz.  and so beautiful!  Kermit cut the cord the nurses cleaned her up and brought her to me.  Oh my! I haven't stopped thinking about her since.  I am addicted to her.  It's so strange that I couldn't picture her and couldn't even picture myself being a mom again really until that very moment.  A switch went off in me.  I am in love with that baby. I seriously cannot imagine not having her now.  Just the minute before she was born I couldn't imagine having her!  She is the perfect baby.  I love her love her love her!

I don't remember all the details after she was born but we were transferred to post partum floor where we rested.  Later that day Kermit went and got the girls and my mom and it was awesome.  They loved her from the beginning.  They have loved her ever since.  They want to love her and hold her all the time.  And they do. 

I am so blessed.