We call her Addie Rose. She was born almost two weeks ago. I can't believe how fast time can go by. Today was actually Weston's first day back to work, and despite the sub zero weather, we are all actually doing pretty good. Eva is a bit bored, actually we all are, but that is what sub zero weather (-18) and no Papa will do for you... Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer, hopefully warm enough for a walk with a two week old bundled in your coat... I'm hopeful.
Little Adwen was born on the 2nd of December at 8:45pm and weighed in at 7lbs and 11 oz. She was 20.5 inches long. Her birth was quite the different experience from Eva's. It started with my water breaking around 1pm in the afternoon. Weston had actually just gotten home for lunch and I was walking up the stairs when a strongish contraction came on and then... tinkle, tinkle... it was just a dribble and I wasn't quite sure if I had just lost all control of my bodily functions or if my water was breaking. A few minutes later.... I was sure. It was my water. I called my midwife and though real contractions had yet to start, she asked me to please go to the hospital - Because I had tested positive for the group B strep, she wanted me there so I could get going on antibiotics. So, we got together all the last minute stuff and took Eva to a friend's house and headed to the hospital. Just a note... the hardest part of the whole day, emotionally at least, turned out to be leaving Eva... just about broke my heart knowing that things would never be quite the same again. It's crazy how such a wonderful thing as a baby can still bring with it adjustment and change that is hard... most things are like that I suppose. Anyway, back to the story... when we got to the hospital they put me on the baby monitor and I found out that I was having regular contractions, they just didn't hurt, so I hadn't noticed them and I was beginning to dilate. It went like that for an hour or so and my midwife got there and checked me. I was dilated to a three - which was bit more than I had been before. She finished breaking my water and then those contractions that hadn't hurt, started hurting. Unfortunately, I plateaued in my dilation for about two hours, I'm guessing. My midwife didn't like this - again, because of the whole group B strep thing. I guess because my water had broken before I had any antibiotics, the risk of infecting the baby was greater than it would have been otherwise. The contractions were quite hard and I wanted her to just let me go for a while, but she was obviously concerned... I'm still not sure what I think about it all. I at least agree that she was working in the best interest of the baby when she suggested some pitocin - just a small amount, she said, to get me over this lull. She did say that if I had not been strep B positive my slow dilation would have been a non-issue - but that wasn't the case. I couldn't get myself to say okay. I just lay there silently in consent. If it was best for the baby, then okay. So they gave me some. All I have to say about pitocin is that the pain it causes is far different from the natural pain of contractions, even the hardest contractions. And at least for me, it is much harder to cope with. After about an hour, I told Weston to tell the midwife I was done with the pitocin. So they brought her in and she checked me. Lo and behold I was dilated to a six. She told me, very enthusiastically, that she thought the baby would be born within the hour. "Really!!?" I throught. "I can do that." So on it went. Transition on pitocin was agonizing... with Eva the contractions came one right after the other, without a break. I shook and rocked, but I coped. With these contractions, I feel like I barely coped - only with Weston's help. They didn't come one right on top of each other, thank goodness, because they BURNED... oh my, so unnatural and so unlike a regular contraction. Anyway, the midwife came in and said that she thought I might be ready to push because of the way the baby's heart tones sounded... interesting that she knew because of that. I think I had only one more contraction before I needed to push on my own. I pushed through only three contractions and there she was - little Adwen had been born. Can you believe it? Only 7 and 1/2 hours after my water broke, the baby was actually here. I don't know if you all remember how long it took to get Eva here... but it was around 26 hrs, with the last three hours of that pushing! Wow. So, some parts of it were hard... but after she was born I felt great. I wasn't COMPLETELY exhausted, like I was with Eva. And the whole recoup was so much easier. It was wonderful, in fact - especially in comparison. Weston was so excited to have it go so quickly. It was just crazy. My midwife had assured me it would go quicker, but I didn't believe her. I thought we were talking like 15 or 16 hrs, and I guess I don't know how long it would have taken if they hadn't given me pitocin.... Who knows, all I know is 7 hours is very nice. I can do that! If it had been another 26 hr marathon labor.. well, I don't know... I'm just glad it wasn't!
So after it is all said and done, how do I feel about it? Well, I didn't like the feeling then, and I still don't, of having everyone be so concerned and therefore involved. I wish I hadn't needed the pitocin, because that part of my labor felt artificial and if there is ever an experience in life you don't want to be artificial, it is child birth. Still, the feeling of having your child placed on your chest for the first time can never feel artificial - because she is yours and she is beautiful, forever. So pitocin or not, it was wonderfully quick and the end result was Adwen, healthy and beautiful. To ask for anything more... well, what more could you really want?
Here are a few pictures of her, taken in the first 24hrs, while we were still at the hospital. She looks a lot more like an Andrus to me, than Eva did, especially with the white eyelashes and brows. She sleeps A LOT more than Eva did, so I can actually get things done during the day, and with Weston's help, the nights aren't even all that bad. Eva is doing well in making the big adjustment, and I'm doing pretty good... sometimes I wish I didn't have to be so split between them, time wise. But such is life. It's a good thing you don't have to split your love. There is always enough and to spare of that. With two girls like mine, that part is easy!
