My baby is 4!

My baby girl turned 4 today...my how time flies! It just seems like yesterday I gave birth to her...here's her birth story if anyone would be so inclined to read it. :)

We arrived at the hospital at 7:50am and got admitted and sent to a birthing room to get ready. Once the anesthetist was ready to go, they brought me into the OR and gave me an IV (only took him one try!) and then gave me the spinal which hurt like h*ll, especially since he had to do it three times! Even Barry got woozy as he saw how big the needle was so they got him to sit down on the floor with his head between his legs and gave him some cranberry juice.

I’m still dealing with the pain in my back and I feel like I’m being squeezed because of my milk coming in. I’m hoping some of it is just exhaustion and will go away once I get some actual sleep. Only getting 3 hours of sleep a night for a week can’t be good on anyone!

As a fainter myself, I of course wasn’t feeling too hot so they gave me an oxygen mask, a cold cloth on my forehead and a towel around the top of my head. The whole time I just laid there with my eyes closed. They kept asking if I was okay, which I was, but I was really tired all of a sudden. I didn’t feel them working on me, but could feel if they moved my legs etc.

Finally, they took the baby out and the anesthetist said to Barry “Oh it’s a girl, did you know that?” and Barry said “no” with a bit of a laugh. As soon as they said that I started crying. I just knew it was a girl! We have a little mini-video of them cutting the umbilical cord.

I was nauseous for the first 24 hours or so and couldn’t keep anything down, but I was able to get up out of bed and walk to the bathroom around 17 hours after the surgery. I wasn’t able to take pain meds as they made me sick, so all I took was extra strength Tylenol and the nurses thought I was doing so awesome with just that!

My back, shoulders and arms were really really sore the whole time I was there so I didn’t sleep very well. Didn’t sleep well last night either with the thought of getting my hives back. I took a Claritin though so I did get a few, but they weren’t itchy. I think that is the extent it’ll go (hopefully!)

Breastfeeding didn’t go too well so we decided to formula feed and supplement with breast milk so we rented a pump.

Overall, it wasn’t the best experience, but, it was all worth it to have my little girl! Kristen keeps kissing her, which is nice, but she also keeps telling her to “shhh” and “shut up” when she makes a tiny bit of noise. Not good! We’re not sure how she’s going to deal with it, but I’m assuming she’ll be jealous of all the attention we’re giving the baby.

What a time that was! I'm so glad to be over that part of our lives and continuing to the next part, watching them grow and learn and not have to deal with spit up, diapers, middle of the night feedings, etc. anymore. (save for those times I have to watch my new niece/nephew due in December) :)

Happy birthday my sweet girl! Mommy loves you very much!