This whole pregnancy, I didn't want to be induced. The reasoning for that more than anything else was this huge fear I had of having a repeat Evalyn delivery. If you dont remember that one, I'll sum it up by saying I was technically in labor for 35 hours, had a ridiculous recovery, and my doctors and nurses were a mess. At the time Ev was born, I don't think I realized how crappy my delivery had been. A few months after she was born, I realized how much it sucked--wait, not everyone has to labor for that long? A vacuum doesnt have to be used on everyone? Recovery doesn't have to be horrendous? Good to know! My fear on this pregnancy being a repeat and me not wanting to be induced stayed the case until about 35 weeks in. At that time I was already "prepping" for labor by being dilated, and by 37 weeks I was dilated to a 3. I didn't think she was going to wait until her induction date! But like my sweet Evalyn, she had no desire to come on her own. So December 27 was set with my awesome Dr, Dr. Le.
My actual due date for Preslie was January 4. Because my doctor likes to do inductions on a Friday, he changed it to be January 3rd--that way I could be induced a day earlier than I was technically supposed to be (39 weeks). When I realized that my induction date would be December 27, alot of different feelings surrounded that date. As most of you know, my dear best friend from growing up passed away on December 27, 2006. Evalyn is named after her with her middle name of Kelly, and that day had always been one that I still dreaded approaching every year. After some thought and discussions with Kelly's family, I decided that there wouldn't be anything happier than meeting my sweet girl on that particular day (if she cooperated). So the induction date was set. I was certain she would come before hand, but I guess it was meant to be.
On Thursday, the 26th, I put Evalyn in the car of Kelly's parents. She was going to be staying with them during our time in the hospital. I never thought I would cry so much saying goodbye to that little lovebug. We went back inside the house after sending her off and I was suddenly SO sad. She wasn't my baby anymore! Where has the past 2.5 years gone? I was so so excited to meet Preslie, but part of me was so sad to see the 1 on 1 time with my first born gone. Luckily for me, having 2 has been so much more fun and more joyous that I ever imagined it would be.
We spent the entire day on Thursday before the induction cleaning the house. We took down all of our Christmas stuff (what a process!), washed the cars, deep cleaned the entire house, packed our bags, and attempted to lay down for a few hours before our midnight scheduled induction. I think we slept for about an hour and a half before jumping in the car. I'm not sure if that helped us or hurt us!
We got to the hospital around 12:30 A.M. By the time we were in our room and got all hooked up, it was about 1:45. I was told that pitocin would be started around 5:00 A.M. and that my doctor would be in before going to work to break my water around 7:00 AM. I was surprised when he walked in the room at 3:30 A.M and said he was going to break my water. At that point I was only at a 3 and 50%. Apparently he had been called into the hospital like 4 times already that night and was going to try and sleep before work so he wanted to get me started. Fine by me!
After my water had been broken I started moving along. My contractions were decently uncomfortable by 5:00 AM. Daniel was snoring on the couch (seriously?) and I was just about to wake him up when my nurse came in at 5:30 AM and said I was going to get my epidural. I immediately thought something wasn't going smoothly with Preslie and thats why I needed the epi right then since thats what happened with Evalyn, but that wasn't the case. My anesthesiologist had also been up all night and wanted to rest, so he figured right then would be better than later. So by 5:30 AM, I was comfortably hanging out waiting for this baby girl to arrive. I got all shakey after the epidural was in, but nothing like the compulsive shakes I had with Evalyn. The only hiccup in all of this was that my blood pressure dropped significantly once my epidural was in (like to 75/20..yikes). A few doses of adrenaline and I was good as new :)
My sweet friend Julie was nice enough to be on call during delivery and take pictures for us. She got to the hospital around 7:30 AM, and got to hang out with us for a few hours before baby came. Around 9:30ish, I could feel some of the contractions, so the nurses had my epidural dosage increased. I was checked around 10:10 AM, and was told that I was ready to push. As they were checking me I felt like I needed to push, which is something I never felt with Ev because my epidural was garbage. It was such a bizarre feeling but I was so grateful to feel that pressure and know how to push this time around. My nurses got the tables all ready and the bed all ready, and let my Dr know that I was close. We did some practice pushes for probably 10 minutes, then called Dr. Le again to tell him to come over. A few more pushes while he was on his way, and suddenly my nurses were telling me not to push. They were calling my Dr and telling him to hurry up because Preslies head was halfway out! Julie told me to look down and see her--that was CRAZY. So awesome. My Dr came into the room, threw some gloves on, and essentially caught her. He told me not to push, and he just gently guided her out and set her on my chest. She arrived safe and sound at 10:43 AM!
I can't say how grateful I was to have such a smooth delivery. There was nothing better than holding her right away, and being present enough to be mentally and physically there during the delivery. With Ev there was so much fear and anxiety because of her heart rate and the emergency vacuum delivery, and Preslie was such a trooper. Even when my BP dropped so low, she didn't skip a beat. Heavenly Father blessed me in a huge way with this one! She was 7 lb 4 oz, and 19 inches long. However after they wiped her clean they re-weighed her and she was 7ln 1 oz minutes later..not sure how that worked but we will stick with 7 lbs 4 oz ;)
She is just the sweetest little clone of her big sister in the looks department. Big blue eyes and dark brown hair which I'm sure will lighten up here soon. Shes a great eater (again, SUCH a blessing and such a difference from Ev!) and sleeping is hit or miss, but it's all good! Now that I know how fast time flies with these little ones, it's hard to get frustrated or upset when they're up all night. Trying to savor these moments that pass by way too quickly.
Preslie is a name that we had on our list back when we were thinking of names for Evalyn. We spelt it with an ie instead of ey just for personal preference, and I think it makes it a little less Elvis like. Kathleen was a last minute decision after my sweet sister Halie. We decided that the night before, and it just felt right. I hope and pray my girls have as good of a friendship as me and Halie have been blessed with! She is just the best.
We just love her to pieces. Heres some pictures from the hospital. Thank you Jules!! I am so blessed to have such good friends so close. I loved having you there to experience it all with me. Love you so much.
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