Aubriana is here!!

Well, David and I spent Monday going up to Logan to drop off the boys at my aunt Angie's house. With all of our close relatives out of town except Melissa, we had no idea what we were going to do with our children while I was in the hospital. I can't tell you how nice it was to know that they were being well-cared for and having fun! Angie is so much fun and my boys can't get enough of her and her family. We spent the day up there and saw lots of my mom's family, then got home about 10:00 and went to bed. I didn't sleep well at all. I was tossing and turning all night and waking up and not being able to fall back asleep. I was so relieved when 6:00 came and I could get out of bed.

David and I showed up at the hospital at 6:30. I was so tired and nervous that I couldn't remember my address or my doctor's name! I felt really dumb, having to turn to David as the admit nurse was asking questions. My doctor forgot to schedule the induction with the hospital, so they had no idea I was coming! Luckily, there were tons of rooms open and a few phone calls later we were in room 117. They hooked up the monitors and prepped me, including that nasty IV, which I hate. Jessica, who was our nurse, did an excellent job with it though. I started having contractions around 8:00 in the morning. By 10:00, they were hurting enough that I was having to breathe through them and really focus, so we decided since I'm going to have an epidural anyway, might as well get it now. So, they called the anesthesiologist and he was there pretty quickly. The part that took forever was him putting in the epidural. I don't know what was taking him so long, but I was a bit nervous and in pain and I had to hold totally still for 5 or 6 contractions, about 10 minutes. That was probably the worst part of it all; my shoulder was aching and shaking at the end. I was having a hard time relaxing and it's hard to get air when you're hunched over, curling your spine into a C and you've got a baby in the way, pressing up into your lungs.

At that point, I was still a 1 and Aubrey was really high. They called the doctor to come break my water (this actually wouldn't happen for four more hours). He couldn't get over there right away, so we just hung on. At about 11, I was a 3 and very happy about that. The rest of the day was kind of boring, honestly. I finished my book, tried to find something good on TV, talked to David and tried to nap. They checked me about 1 and I was a 5-6, but my water still hadn't broke. Dr. Young was on his way down the hallway to break it, then heard that I was making progress, so he turned around and went back. He had a meeting to go to and he didn't want to miss the birth in case I progressed too quickly! I was disappointed, but oh well. So, about an hour and a half later, he breaks my water, I was about a 6. We really wanted him to break my water so they could put in an internal monitor, because her heart rate was dipping with each contraction and the monitor wasn't working very well; not a great combination.

Things didn't really speed up after that. She was still really high (we realized later that she was all wrapped up in the cord--it was around her neck and down around her foot, which is why it was taking so long to make any progress). Anyway, I got to about an 8 around 3:00. I was still an 8 at 5:00, so we decided to watch a movie. By this time, I'd called Melissa and she was in the hospital with me. We were hoping to have her by 6:00, when the nurses changed, but no luck. The new nurse came in and checked me around 6:20 and I was complete. Then it was a while to get everyone in position. I started pushing at about 6:46 and she was born at 6:48. She gave just the tiniest little cry.

I couldn't see her face at all at first, but I could see her long, pretty fingers and toes and she was a deep shade of lavender! The doctor was having trouble getting her untangled from the cord. Once I saw her face, she looked quite a bit like Griffin when he was first born, although that impression only lasted a few minutes. She was doing great a few minutes later, her Apgar score was 8/9, which is pretty high.

We couldn't stop cooing over her. She was just so different! She has the prettiest nose, just like I pictured from her profile in the ultrasound. She also has a tiny little mouth, which is pretty unusual in our family and dark, curly hair like Maxton had when he was first born and perfect, tiny ears. No cone head, since she spent nearly no time against my cervix and in the birth canal. She was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She's so long and skinny. In that first hour, she was so awake, more than the boys had been and she kept making this faces like she was just about to smile.

She's the best baby. I heard her give two little cries in her first 24 hours. The nurse said she didn't even try when they drew blood for the bilirubin test. She's also doing really well with nursing; she has the best latch so far of kids. We spent yesterday in the hospital; I was ready to go home in the early afternoon, but we had to wait 24 hours. I haven't had any pain medication since about 4:00 the morning after she was born. No stitches and I'm feeling pretty good. Mostly just tired. I was really excited to see my boys yesterday. Three of my aunts came down from Logan to bring them back and clean my house! They are just so kind and I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful family. My mom was really sad to miss the birth, but I know she's enjoying her time in Hawaii. She gets back tomorrow, so yay for that!

The boys are just loving their little sister. Xander wanted to hold her right off. When we pulled up the house yesterday, the first thing Xander asked was, "Did you bring Aubriana?" When I got up this morning, Maxton wanted to hold her. Griffin kept saying, "My baby. My baby. Nana," which melted my heart. He wanted to hold her too. I was a little worried he would be jealous, but he seems to have accepted her just fine. After I fed her this morning, I put her in the bassinet and there were three little boys looking down at her, so excited that she had opened her eyes and was looking around at them.

You can click on the photos to make them larger. I'm sure I'll be adding some more later.

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