Our first week with Charlotte

I told Ryan last Saturday morning, the 19th, that I was going to have her. Today. He looked at me and said I better have a talk with her then.

I feel like I was in labor with her all week. Contracting and contracting and timing them through the night, but I knew they were not quite strong enough to go in. I was nervous about being an hour away from the hospital and really concerned that my movers would be arriving in 4 days to pack us up. Either I was going to have her the weekend previous or the weekend after, but not during the week. I had just passed my 38 week mark- the longest I had ever carried a baby. And I still cannot believe how moving and birth all came in the same week- 2 life changing events that Ryan said we should never plan to do again in the same week.

So last Saturday started out with prayer. I started with the sincerest prayer that day to please help her to arrive. I explained my case. After some house work I went walking with the kids while pushing the double jogger.

I walked again in the afternoon.

Again in the evening.

I talked to Charlotte all day. I prayed and prayed.

I could tell by the afternoon my contractions were stronger. By the evening I was really feeling pressure. By 10 pm I asked Ryan to time me. He said okay. He went to get some water. Half and hour later I went to find him. He'd gone to bed. I said, "Hey! What are you doing? I think I'm in labor." (Poor Ryan. All week he dealt with me whining over contractions. They kept clearing his patient calendar. He was patient, but I am sure he thought I was a drama mama by the end of the week.)

I had talked to my mom throughout the evening and she had already told me, "you need to go in Lacey!". When I called her about 11pm without hesitation she said "I'll be right there." She and Jaocb drove out to stay the night with our sleeping kids.

By 12:30 I was in the Labor and Delivery triage. They monitored and checked me. I was a thin 4, every 3-5 minutes. They told me I was not in "active enough labor". I could not believe it! Ryan could not believe it. There was some "discussion" between him and the nurse and her needing to talk to the doctor and Ryan pulling out his handheld OBGYN standards or something in his iphone. They told me to walk. I told them I couldn't. And by that point I was concentrating through each contraction.

Finally, they admitted me.

I got an epidural at 3am. My water broke on it's own at 5am. At 7 am they increased my pitocin. I was still a 4. At 7:30 the nurse increased it again, stood in my room charting and mentioned that my doctor had to run out for 30 minutes. Within 5 minutes I knew I was ready to push. From a 4 to 10 within just those few minutes. She checked me and said "don't push, just breathe." She paged the doctor and Ryan woke up to what he says was the "easiest labor ever! I just slept through it." The doctor arrived. I pushed. She was face up. I struggled. I said something like, "why are all my babies face up?" and "this is the last time right?" and then she was here.

A little banged up on her face- a credit from a face up delivery. Pressure/ stork bites on her face. A flattened nose. The trademark round face of our babies. She was still not quite named yet. Ryan and I both were teary. She was perfect. Ryan said it was the best father's day gift he would ever have. We both had known she was missing from our family.

My mom said when Landon woke up first and found her in bed at our house, he asked what she was doing there. "Your mom had your baby sister, " she said. They were so excited to see her and arrived at noon.

My mom took the kids back to her house. Ryan left with them to help out. Or rather take a nap. My grandma and mom brought me in "Sunday dinner" in the evening. Ryan came back after the kids were in bed at my moms that night. He took Charlotte to the nursery when she had her first bath.



I was not able to sleep well. My doctor recommended that I stay the 2 nights. But, not sleeping well and feeling anxious about movers coming in I told Ryan to take me home. I wish I could have had more time to rest... but it just didn't work out that way.

Charlotte lost a bit too much weight in the first 3 days. She was also jaundiced. I took her in everyday to have blood work checked and have her reweighed. Once my milk came in, she seemed much more satisfied and got below the 10% weight loss that the pediatrician wanted.

We came home on Monday afternoon. Tuesday we loaded our storage unit. Wednesday the movers started packing. And Thursday too. Friday they finished unloading us on base. And Ryan and I both realized it was our 11 year anniversary.

We had nice meals brought in, friends drop by and grab our kids, and people stopping by all week to see how they could help. My mom and brothers helped a couple days and kept kids overnight again as well. I kept telling myself that it was going to be hard for just a few days, and then it would be over.

(our Bishop/neighbor. Always stopping over. Always re-naming our kids.)

I'm still sitting in mounds of boxes. And will for weeks yet I think. But mostly I keep telling Ryan I just want to enjoy her. I sense that the time of holding our sweet new baby really is fleeting. I know they change so fast. I know she will grow and just don't want her too. I nurse her and look at her and love on her and just cherish her. She is such a gift. I cannot give thanks enough....

Poor little "Charlie" her daddy says. Life will not always be this crazy.