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subscribeAnd Then There Were Four
January 12th, 2011
Poppy Lucille Grace arrived on Sunday, January 2nd at 4:57 in the afternoon. It was a four hour labor and delivery, and couldn’t have been more different than Ella’s birth story two years ago…
The suggestion of an induction came from a doctor I’d never seen before. My doctor had been out of town one week and then got stuck in New York because of the storm the next. I met his advice with hesitation. I’d never been told that an induction would be a possibility, and I knew it would involve more medical intervention than I was planning to have. Ant and I labored over the idea for days. The office scheduled our induction for 12:30 am Sunday morning and I was to call the birthing center Saturday night to check for bed availability. Saturday was the longest, most exhausting day ever. I dreaded making that call. It didn’t feel right to have this all scheduled out for me, without any of our input, when I’m the one with the baby growing inside. We didn’t go in Saturday night. Instead we waited for a call that would come the next morning, hoping for some kind of reassurance that this was the right thing to do. My doctor called me at 9:30 Sunday morning, and after finally getting a chance to discuss the benefits with her, we went in for an induction two hours later. It felt a little spontaneous, which I think saved my nerves from too much build up. I jumped in the shower and packed our hospital bag. We packed Ella Faye’s overnight bag and sent her with kisses across the street for a slumber party with Yaya and Papa. I told her we were going to go get baby sister and bring her home.
Long story short, labor couldn’t have gone more in Ant and my ideal favor. We were able to avoid drugs we didn’t feel comfortable with and in the end it seems little Poppy was the one in the driver’s seat. Labor progressed quickly and she came barreling through. My water had not broken yet and she came so fast that she was actually born inside of her amniotic sac!! The nurse said it’s considered good luck in some cultures and attributed possession of second sight to being born in the bag of water.
Once I started pushing and our nurse realized she was there in the sac, they rolled a mirror in for me to see (which sounds creepy but was actually really encouraging, to see the progress with each and every push). Then before I knew it, our nurse was picking up the phone, telling other nurses to come in quick, come see this delivery of the baby in the sac! The door kept opening and I heard a steady stream of oohs and ahhs. You’d think it would be nerve wracking, all those extra eyes seeing you at your most vulnerable. But at that point I didn’t even care. There were six nurses and my doctor there cheering me on and all I wanted to do was pushpushpush.
As soon as Poppy was out, she stretched her arm and popped the sac and before I knew it, she was on my chest.
After delivery, the extra nurses filtered out, stopping in the doorway to thank me for letting them see the birth. Again, it would seem weird to have had this extra audience, but really I just felt so supported (and was probably a little too pre-occupied to care).
Ant was amazing as my “Partner in Caring,” as the hospital would call him. I grabbed his hand and he let me crush it through each contraction. He counted with every push and even tried to give me a break again this time by counting faster (until the nurse called him on it and told him to slow down).
It’s a wonder to me that I get to create this family with him.
I can’t even express how grateful I am to have the entire labor and delivery so clearly memorized in my head. My first delivery was 21 hours and so exhausting that there are blank spots in my memories. I do remember the most important bit though, of being handed my beautiful Ella Faye for the first time…
Ant and I walked the halls during labor last Sunday talking about what we’d eat once Poppy was born and my limitations were gone. We breathed through contractions while watching Food Network and fantasizing about giant plates of pasta.
Of course once this PoppyLou arrived, every hard part of this pregnancy, every painful part of labor, every dessert I had to pass up, was so completely worth it.
I still cannot believe I had such a short labor and delivery. After developing HELLP post-delivery with Ella, and having to stay in the hospital three extra days hooked up to magnesium, it is shocking to own this entirely different birth story of Poppy’s arrival. Ella’s long, laborious, wearing 19 hour labor with two hours of pushing compared to Poppy’s short, fast paced three and a half hours of labor with twenty minutes of pushing. Ella took her time and Poppy burst right onto the scene. It will be fun to see if their personalities reflect the way they each arrived. I can see how Ella’s story fits with her already.
Our first week together was dreamlike but littered with tough spots. I spent most of it nursing a spinal headache due to a dural tear from my epidural and at times it was so painful that all I could do was lie down the majority of the day. I ended up getting a blood patch procedure done and it’s been three days since the headaches have stopped.
Now that the headache is gone, I am feeling amazing. (Aside from a little more tired at the end of each day.) I was up and mobile the day after delivery, waddling to our discharge class in normal clothes (how I hate those gowns!). We left the hospital 24 hours after Poppy Lucille was born.
I am back in my pre-pregnancy jeans, which means no more elastic waist jeggings! I’m excited to put my old clothes on again but I am really missing my baby bump too. I had so much fun dressing it this time around. But I’ll take a Poppy in my arms over a Poppy in my belly any day.
I know I’ve said it a million times here, but I cannot express how important diet was for me throughout this journey. I thank God for my diagnosis. I am fully convinced it is what kept me so comfortable through to the end of pregnancy and why I’ve felt so great after delivery.
In being honest, I have fallen off that wagon and indulged a bit too much, forgetting the vegetables already and trading them in for cookies and hot chocolate. But I’m excited to get back on and feel the benefits in this new body (my very own again).
Anyone starting on this beautiful journey, I hope you can find a healthy diet to suit you and satisfy you. It makes a world of difference.
Between nursing an ever-hungry baby and trying to keep the big sister feeling happy and normal as possible, I am trying to play catch up around the house – cleaning, laundry, dishes, everything that keeps on going while you daydream into a newborn’s sleeping face.
Ant has gone back to work and I am at home now with two little girls to play with and smooch on. All the while trying to look for a “normal” to suit this new family of ours.
Here are a few more photos from Poppy’s birth day. Our delivery nurse snatched the camera and went to town just after they placed her in my arms. I’m so glad she did! Thinking of stopping by with cookies this weekend – so grateful for such a supportive delivery team.
Welcome home, little PoppyLou. We’ve been waiting so long for you…
[...] weeks and four days here to be exact. We were encouraged to induce due to my gestational diabetes and drove to the hospital two hours after deciding it was the best [...]