Welcome to our world, Cora!

On October 20th we welcomed our 2nd daughter into this world.  Cora, you are perfect and we could not be more blessed and happy to have you in our lives.  We have been getting to know you and learning what it means to be a family of 4 over the last 10 weeks since you've been with us.  I wanted to back track a little and recount your birth story because, I mean, everyone loves a birth story.  Keep in mind this is for Cora and our family's memory, so it is detailed and long!

 

Your due date was Friday, October 18th but I had all ideas that you wouldn't be here earlier because your sister was quite comfy in there a week later than her due date.  I wasn't too surprised at the appointment the week before your due date when I didn't show signs of you coming soon.  That was on Friday the 11th. 

 

Well, fast forward a few days and Wednesday night the 16th I had about an hour of, what I determined must have been, contractions.  They weren't too painful, just somewhat uncomfortable.  About an hour or so and they were done.  Thursday night the same happened except it was longer, about 2.5 hours.  Thankfully they ended before bedtime and I was able to sleep well that night. 

 

I woke up on your due date happy that we had made it and somewhat excited to go to the doctor that morning to see the progress I had made over the past couple of nights.  The doctor said I was 2-3 cm dilated and I was glad those contractions were working.  This also happened to be the first full day of the State Fair and I couldn't miss my chance at going to the fair.  So, Adelaide and I strolled around the fair taking in the sights and eating my favs, a ham biscuit and fried Snickers bar.  I did a good bit of walking and I could feel contractions throughout our 2 or so hours there.  That night contractions were a little stronger but not super bad.  I was up a little later that night and finally went to sleep around 1.

 

The next morning I woke up to contractions that were beginning to get painful but were really irregular in timing.  They would be 7 minutes apart then 20.  We went to Jenna and Caden's birthday party because I figured if I was going to be in pain I might as well get out and do something to try and get my mind off of it.  I had a handy dandy contraction counter app on my phone so that helped to calculate the duration of each one and the time between each one.  It took the guess work out.  Despite the fact that I was now past my due date I still wasn't sure this was the real thing because they were so irregular.  After the party we came home and I tried to nap a little later.  The contractions were just too strong for me to rest well so I decided that I needed to walk.  So, I started down the sidewalk alone (Adelaide was napping), much to your Daddy's worry.  When she woke up they met me out and we walked for probably 2.5 hours, stopping to chat through the contractions with neighbors along the way.  Crazy now that I'm thinking about it!  Little did I know that you would be here so soon.  At about 6-6:30 the pain got so bad that I was having to stop between dinner bites and your Daddy decided to call the doctor.  My contractions had been every 5-6 minutes for close to an hour and they were getting more painful.  Doctor Gaines said for us to come on to hospital.  Even though all this had been going on I was still a little shocked because it was only a day past your due date and we were headed in to the hospital.  Our dear friend, Jenn, came to hang out because Adelaide was going to be in the bed.  We left after she came over and arrived at Rex somewhere around 8:30.  We called Granny and let her know we were headed in and she left Haydyn's birthday party sleepover to come and wait for you and stay with Adelaide.

 

The front desk guy happened to be my cousin.  It was neat that he was the one working that night.  Anyway, we went up and told our story of what was going on to the nurse.  She seemed to be a little skeptical that I was in real labor so she wanted me to be monitored before they admitted me.  And, of course, the contractions stopped coming so quickly.  Once they were 20 minutes apart!  I was beside myself because they had been more regular and the pain was tough.  I couldn't imagine them telling me to head home.  Doctor Gaines came through and evaluated me and said that because I was 3-4 maybe even 5 cm that I must be in active labor based on the change from my appointment.  Thank goodness he admitted me and here we go!

 

We went up to a labor and delivery room, the same one we were in when Adelaide was born.  We waited for contractions to come closer together.  Granny came around 9:30-10 and came up to hang out.  It was a pretty painful time for me but we got to chat a little.  She went back to be with Adelaide about an hour later.  The nurse suggested I walk the halls for 30 minutes or so.  That was no fun.  Your Daddy, as he had been all day, was super supportive and helpful during that time.  He was literally having to hold me up when a contraction came because I would pretty much fully lean on him.  Worth it but no fun!  Those 30 minutes were very beneficial.  The nurse checked me afterwards and I was 7 cm!  She left the option for an epidural up to me because she still didn't want it to slow my labor down, but felt much more comfortable giving it to me at this point.  She thought it would be good timing and didn't want to miss the window for me to get it because she thought you would be coming quickly once Dr. Gaines broke my water.  So, she started my fluids and ordered the epidural.  I got it around 12:30am and then Dr. Gaines broke my water around 12:45.  Thank goodness for that epidural (and Praise the Lord that it worked correctly!) because I could still feel strong pressure during contractions.  I don't want to think what it would have felt like without the epidural!  About an hour later she checked me again and said I was 10 cm!  Yay, almost time!!  Dr. Gaines came in and I started pushing.  I pushed through one contraction and you moved quite far down.  They said I could stop pushing but I just felt that I couldn't stop so I continued through to the next one and you were born at 1:55.

My heart swelled with love for you.  They put you on my chest and you were as perfect as you could be.  They cleaned you up a bit but I held you close for about an hour.  I was a blessed mama of 2 precious girls and it was amazing holding you.  Words still cannot describe that feeling.

When they came back in to get your stats they realized your temperature was low.  They had to take you into the nursery and keep you under a lamp until it got higher.