Why You've Been Hearing Crickets Over Here..

 So, if you follow my blog, I'm sure you've noticed it's been really quiet over here. 

Well, first, things got busy. And I was seriously feeling miserable and exhausted while pregnant. Busy + Exhausted + Miserable = quiet Ry. That's just the way it is. Lol I couldn't even think straight long enough to pop on here and string together one small paragraph. 

Then, I went in for my twice weekly Dr appt at 37 weeks and my blood pressure was a bit high again, so the Dr said "yeeeeah, we're just going to play it extra safe and send you to go get induced. TODAY. 

The whole car ride home my 6 year old kept exclaiming "Oh mama! This is SO exciting! I can't believe I get to meet my baby sister early!" God Bless her heart. She was so excited and *my* mind was a jumbled racing mess. 3 weeks early?! I had nothing ready at home. Hell, I hadn't even packed my hospital bag yet. Nevermind the fact that I really really wanted to avoid being induced again so I could have a drug free labor/ delivery. No way could I do that while being induced. It's so much more painful! 

Well, little did I know, I could and did go drug free. It was not easy by any means, but damn it, I did it! 

After a very long and uncomfortable day and night, the next morning, my Dr checked me and I was only 6 cm dilated. I was SO torn on wanting an epidural cuz I had issues with my last two but was worried I couldn't get through the delivery without.. he told me "if you want one, now is the time. Cuz you're probably going to go quick from here on out." I said "ok, let's just do the epidural cuz I don't know how much more I can take!" But the anesthesiologist was in the O.R. and wouldn't be out anytime soon. Meanwhile, none of us realized just HOW quick I was going to go cuz not even 10 minutes after my Dr left my room, I called my nurse cuz I was feeling a lot of pressure. She checked me and I was only at 8 cm. She left the room and I'm not even kidding you, not even 2 minutes later, I KNEW.  

Suddenly I felt crazy pressure and had the worst contraction by far, so strong that I could literally feel my eyes roll back and I seriously saw stars.. (no joke, my hubster remembers that look on my face very well!) I grabbed my belly with one hand and my hubster with the other and yelled "OMG! CALL THE NURSE NOW!!!" "Why? What's wrong?" He asked. As he pressed the call button, I growled " CALL HER NOW! THE BABY IS COMING NOOOOOOOW!!" 

The nurse ran in and said while starting to check me "you can't be ready yet." Which turned into "oh!! Yes you are!" She calls for help while scrambling to get things ready, but my baby girl wasn't waiting for anyone. I could feel baby making her way into the world and I grunted "I'm sorry, I swear I'm not pushing, my body is doing it on its own!!" (Who the hell knew that was a thing?? After 3 previous kids with whom I pushed for soooo long with, I sure didn't!) Within about ONE MINUTE we went from "she's crowning!" To "oh!! There's the head" to "there's the body!" as I let out a guttural scream and my amazing nurse caught the baby. 

Talk about a whirlwind!!! Definitely a delivery I will never forget! My hubster kept looking at me and saying "I can't believe you did THAT with no drugs. Babe, you're Superwoman." I just smiled and shrugged and told him "not really. Lots of women do that all the time! But really, I still can't believe *I* did it, either."

My beautiful Gwendolyn Rae came into the world weighing 7 lbs 4 oz and was just the sweetest little bundle of joy. 

We went home after one more night in the hospital cuz I was bleeding a bit more than they liked at and after the delivery. Gwen was a bit jaundiced but they let us go home as long as we brought her to her pediatrician the next day to get checked out. 

The day after that, we got the call that her bilirubin levels were higher and to bring her to get them tested again. We had just gotten home from that when we got the call and was told they wanted us to bring her in to be admitted for phototherapy. I was a crying bumbling mess, as I never had to do anything like that with my other kids. I was worried sick. But after a day, night, and another day under the lights, her levels dropped and we got to go home. 

Its been a month now and we've been readjusting to having a baby in the house again. And we're seriously loving every minute of it. We have truly been blessed with a great baby. 

So there you have it. I'm still busy and exhausted, but we're finding our groove, are blissfully in love, and our family is complete.