Whew! What a Whirlwind

In case you didn't know...Erin Grace is finally here!

She was born Tuesday, July 20th at 5:48 pm. She was 8 pounds 13 oz and 21 inches long with a head full of dark brown hair. Our labor time was 27 hours!!! My water broke at 1:15 pm on Monday 7/19. I was actually getting out of my car to get something to eat when my water broke. I was in shock for a few minutes. I just stood there, then had to tell myself to get back in the truck. I called Tommy. He was at work. I have to hand it to him, he was very, very calm when I called. He made sure I could drive, and told me to go straight home and he would meet me here. (I'm not sure if he followed the speed limits, I haven't asked.) From there we packed our bags and headed to the hospital. They admitted me shortly after that and we were in our hospital room by 2:30.

The doctor started the drip of Pitocin to get labor going since my water actually broke. Phone calls were made, and all the grandparents and Aunt Mimi (Amy) showed up. I felt so bad for them. They were there and we waited, and waited, and waited. Without going into too much detail, things moved slowly. At around midnight, the nurse said she thought she felt another water bag in there. Nurses can't do anything about that, only a doctor can rupture the membranes. So, we just hung out until about 4:00 am when they gave me the epidural.

Dr. Strong came back in about 6:30 on Tuesday morning, ruptured the water bag and things slowly started progressing from there. Leave it to me to be a total over achiever and have two water bags! This could certainly explain the severe pelvic pain I was having. I'm assuming that added to the pressure and crowding.

Everyone was still at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. Aunt Lene, Steph, Nanette, Roy and Matt had joined Team Erin. It was finally time to start pushing and Tommy and Amy were in there with me. I can't believe we pushed for 3 hours, but we did. I gave up at the end and wanted a C-section but the doctor told me we had gone too far and we couldn't. I have never been so tired and spent in all my life. Tommy and Amy were great cheerleaders. They encouraged me to the very end. Somehow, we were able to push her out.

At 5:48 Erin Grace made her appearance. We had the NICU nurses in there with us and they took the baby. The doctor gave Tom the scissors and he was able to cut the cord. From there they went to work on both of us. I was talking and they told me to look over at Erin. I did and she was looking at me. She could hear my voice and she was turning her head. Her vitals were great and they weren't worried about her. (She got stressed out and we had meconium in the amniotic fluid so NICU was called in as a precaution.) I had some complications, but in the end it all worked out. Erin suffered a broken collarbone in the birth. This isn't uncommon with big babies. We have her little arm pins to her clothes so she can't move it. They say it will heal in about 6 weeks and that later in life we won't even be able to tell that she broke it.

We got to come home on Thursday afternoon. We've been trying to figure this baby thing out. Mom and Daddy have stayed with us and Aunt Mimi and Uncle Matt were here Friday night. We've needed the help. Who knew it took so many people to handle one small 8.13 pound baby!! Tonight is our first night alone with her. We're having some breastfeeding issues and we're hoping to get those ironed out soon. So, we're up feeding her about every hour and a half. Right now I should be trying to sleep but for the first time since we got home I can't relax and go to sleep. I think up until now I have just passed out from exhaustion. We went to bed at 9:00 and had the monitor in bed with us watching her. We ended up watching her and talking for that hour and a half. We fed and started over. Right now I have the monitor beside me and I can see Erin, but I can hear Daddy snoring!!

Roxie is doing very well with her. She sniffs her and then goes away. She isn't really fond of the horrible high pitched screaming, but neither are Daddy and Momma! I think they'll be able to work things out. It will be a long time before Erin can chase after her and make her life a living hell. Until then, Roxie can just think about the days when Erin is eating solids and she can work highchair duty.

More later...