I remember taking this picture and knowing it would be one of the last pictures with just three kids in it. Now....a week after delivering baby #4, it feels like this picture was taken so long ago. Before delivery I would struggle with the worry of how the other kids will react to having a new baby in the house. I dreaded the three days that I would be away from these sweet faces because I would be in the hospital, and I looked forward to when we would all be back together at home again.
I was in so much pain the last month of pregnancy and would have so many consistent and painful contractions that I was certain that the baby would come at any time. I took this picture at 38 weeks just certain that it would be my last picture before the baby came.
At my 38 weeks and 1 day appointment the doctor realized that the baby had turned breech. A few days prior I had contacted the doctor and told her that I think the baby had maybe flipped because I was feeling the baby's hiccups up by my chest instead of down low like before. She was pretty certain that the baby hadn't flipped since she appeared head down and engaged the week before. Well, an ultrasound confirmed that the baby was indeed breech.
It was a scary day because I was forced to decide whether to try a version or to just plan for a C-section at 39 weeks. I had read some scary stuff about doing a version but my midwife and the doctor assured me that since the baby was a little bit on the small side and I had lots of fluid, plus the baby had just turned, that the chances of a successful version were high. I decided to go for it and so the next morning, Mr. G and I went to the hospital around 5 in the morning to do the version. We sent out lots of prayer requests and heard from so many that they were praying.
Well....get this.....we got to the hospital and the first thing they did was double check that baby was in fact breech. They pulled out a little ultrasound machine and put the probe at the bottom half of my belly and you could see plain as day the baby's head. She had flipped head down. There was then no need for the version and we were sent home. God is so good.
As I sat there in the hospital bed, just after receiving the good news, I looked out and saw one of the most beautiful sunrises ever. God's grace is new every morning, and on this particular morning I felt God more than I ever have.
We were sent home around 7 and Mr. G and I ate some breakfast at Crackerbarrel and then headed home. I was still in a lot of pain and anxiously hoping that baby will decide to make her appearance soon. Since Mr. G had the whole day off thinking we would be in the hospital, we decided to head over to St. Clair and take the kids to a fun park. I was hoping that walking around and doing a lot would throw me into labor, plus it would be fun for the kids, and get everyone's mind off of when the baby will be here.
The kids had an absolutely blast.
Little G wanted to swing the whole entire time so he and I hung out at the swings while the other two played with new friends they met that day at the park.
Bubby climbed to the top of a large pretend ant hill. He was very proud of himself.
Not sure what's up with that look.
Coming down the large tunnel slide all smiles.
I saw my midwife again a few days before I turned 39 weeks. I still had not progressed any. I was about 3 cm but only 50% effaced and the baby was very high. She recommended finding some red raspberry leaf tea, but not in the tea bag form, but the actual leaves. She sent me to a store in St. Clair to find it and said that if I drink three cups a day that it will start contractions for me. I was so unbelievably miserable and struggling to even care for my kids that I decided to try it. So my mom and I and the three kiddos headed back to St. Clair. We went back to that park so the kids could play and we found the store that had red raspberry leaves.
My mom and I were a bit clueless on how to turn these leaves into a tea....so of course, we googled it. I didn't read the part about only putting one or two tsp in....so we put handfuls of the leaves in the boiling water. Mom mixed some honey in the tea so that it would taste better and before the day was over I had drank three glasses full of it, just like the midwife prescribed. Only I must've made it too strong because that night my entire body cramped up. My legs, my hips, my back....I was on the floor a complete mess, trying to get rid of these painful cramps. I had another night of very little sleep and when I woke up in the morning my body was so sore from cramping so much that I could barely walk. At that point Mr. G sat me down and discussed the possibility of being induced. At first I said "NO." But the more we talked about it, the more I realized that it would be the best thing for me and even more so, the kids. I was pretty much a non-existent mom at that point. I hurt so bad that I wasn't fun and definitely didn't have the patients that I should've or that they deserved. It was time to go ahead and get this baby out.
So on October 19, when I was exactly 39 weeks, I went into the hospital at 8pm to be induced. They inserted a pill called cervidil around 9 pm and almost immediately I started having contractions. They were about every 6-8 min apart at first and they hurt, but they were similar to all the contractions I had been having for weeks. I was a bit concerned that I would never fully get into labor. It was a little bit concerning also because occasionally the baby's heart rate would drop very very low and it would take a long time to come back up. Nurses would rush in and they would put me on my side and put an oxygen mask on me until the baby's heartrate would become regular again. The nurses tried to reassure us that it was okay and that sometimes these things happen. But each time her heartrate would drop I would get more and more scared. Around 1am they gave me another pill. At that point I was still about 3 cm but I thinned out a lot, however, baby was still very high. Over the next several hours my contractions really picked up. I could no longer talk through them and I started bleeding quite a bit. The baby's heartrate continued to struggle off and on which made everyone nervous and worried. Around 4am the contractions got so bad that I couldn't help but moan through them. Because I was induced I had to stay on the monitors at all times. That meant I had very few options to get comfortable in. I really began to struggle and around 6:30 I decided to get an epidural. I asked over and over again if it would be safe for me to get an epidural since the baby's heartrate would occasionally struggle and they assured me that it would be okay.
I was able to deliver Little G all natural, with no drugs and no epidural, but with Bubby G and Sissy G I had an epidural. I do not remember epidurals hurting this bad. The anesthesiologist said that I leaned some to the left while she was putting it in and it messed things up a little. It felt like she had to dig a lot more and struggled finding the place it was supposed to be. It took a long time and I was dealing with ridiculous contractions every 2-3 minutes plus the needle digging in my back. Finally, I started to feel my legs tingle and then go numb. They laid me flat on the bed so that the epidural would make its way up to my abdomen. They had to add a little bit more medicine but eventually I was comfortable. I was excited because this was the first time in over a month that I finally didn't feel any pain.
At this time my hubby and my mom decided to go down to grab some breakfast. I told them to hurry because I just had a gut feeling that things might start to go fast. And sure enough, it did. The nurses checked my cervix right after getting the epidural and I was 7 cm. My bag of waters started leaking right at that moment and a little bit later the midwife went ahead and popped my bag of waters completely. While my hubby and mom were gone, things started to get really scary. The baby's heartrate was just not coming back up. The nurses were tossing me from side to side and pushing on baby, trying everything they could to get her heartrate to go up. Nothing was working. For those of you who read Little G's birth story you might remember that there was a nurse, Nurse Nancy, who came in and saved the day and actually delivered Little G. Well, Nurse Nancy was back and she was doing all she could to get that heartrate to improve. Finally, she said that she has a feeling baby is about ready to come. She checked my cervix again. I knew that if she said I was still 7cm that I would probably be taken back for a C-section because of the baby's heartrate, but Praise God, I was 9 cm and baby was close. Nurse Nancy flipped me into the fire hydrant position just as my mom and hubby were coming back from breakfast. Nurse Nancy looked at them and said "Get ready, we are about to have this baby."
I couldn't see the monitor to see what baby's heartrate was, but I could hear it. It was the scariest sound to hear the heartrate beating along great and then to hear the thumps get farther and farther apart. It felt like I could hear a thump maybe every 2-3 seconds. I was flipped back to sitting up and they quickly put my legs in the stirrups. They rushed a mirror in so that I could see and sure enough, right away I could see the head. She was coming fast. Nurse Nancy started quickly talking to me about how she is going to want me to push. But with the next contraction, I seriously did not push at all but baby was quickly coming. We could see a head full of hair. The nurses and the midwife were telling me to stop pushing, trying to slow things down so that I wouldn't tear, but my body just kept pushing without me trying. The midwife explained that she was going to have Mr. G catch the baby and together we could pull her up onto my chest. This little girl literally slid into this world quicker than any of us could've imagined. This was my second baby in a row that I didn't have to push to get out, she just came out on her own.
Mr. G caught her and we were able to put her on my chest.
She was warm and slimy, but it was the best feeling in the world to have her in my hands.
You can see the elation and the peace all over my face. She was here and she was okay.
Even the midwife was smiling from ear to ear.
Trying to get my first look at my baby girl.
This is Mr. G cutting the umbilical cord.
Then, amazing Nurse Nancy held the baby up to get a picture.
Skin to skin time.
Nurse Nancy taking our sweet girl to get checked.
Getting her little footprints and handprints taken.
Perfect little bundle of joy.
I will always praise God for a healthy baby.
Nurse Nancy was cleaning out her ears.
A miracle from God. It blows my mind to think about how she was inside my tummy and was formed perfectly into this beautiful baby girl.
I maybe should warn about picture overload, because I am having a tough time deciding which pictures to share and which ones to delete.
She looks so peaceful.
I know each picture is just slightly different than the one before, but this is my last time having a baby....so bear with me.
I always wonder what the baby is thinking right after they are born. You'll notice how content she is in most of the pictures....that is exactly what kind of baby she is. We hardly ever hear her cry.
Ohhhh...and sweet girl has dimples. Not long after they placed her on my chest after delivery my mom yelled out, "She has dimples" and sure enough. Another kiddo with adorable dimples.
She was by far my littlest baby weighing in at 6lbs 14oz and 19 1/2 inches long.
Then it was time for the kids to meet their new sister. I wish I had my camera from the moment the kids walked in the door. Their expressions and smiles were priceless. I think the sweetest sight of all was seeing Little G grin from ear to ear when he saw his baby sister for the first time. But look at this big sister....she couldn't be more excited.
And Bubby G was very excited too. They've wanted their baby sister to be here for a long time now.
Looking her little sister over.
Look at Little G's smile.
There wasn't a jealous bone in his body.
They all three loved her right away.
My heart is full.
The kids getting to hold their baby sister for the first time.
Precious smiles.
My world.
Gampa holding his 10th grandbaby. Somehow I didn't end up getting a picture of Nana with the baby on my phone. But she was most definitely in love.
Grandma and Papa holding their 6th grandbaby.
I love her chubby cheeks.
Nurse Nancy decided to brush her hair out a little because it had a lot of gunk in it. Hospitals now are becoming more baby friendly and they don't give baths until the next day.
But we did decided to get some gunk out of her hair. Baby girl wasn't too thrilled about it.
Look at Little G's eyes gazing up at his little sister.
Showing a little bit of her dimple again.
Soooo....I think I've mentioned on here about how Sissy G has believed she had a baby in her tummy just like me. Well....she was asking about when her baby was going to come out. We decided to put her in this chair and Mr. G quickly went into the bathroom and got a baby doll out of the box....
Bubby knew what we were doing and was playing along with us.
Bubby covered Sissy G's eyes....
And Mr. G pulled the baby out from underneath Sissy's shirt.
Sissy was ecstatic about her new baby.
We now both had our baby girls. It was really neat getting to watch Sissy as she truly thought she just had a baby of her own.
Family picture of all six of us. Have I mentioned that my heart is full?!?!
She didn't have her eyes open much so I would try to snap a picture any time she did.
Just the girls.
The kids loving on their baby sister.
They wanted to hold her all the time.
Sissy taking care of her baby.
One of the best big brothers ever.
Sissy giving us quite the pose.
Precious.
Love her.
An amazing big sister.
Have I apologized yet for picture overload???
Peaceful lil girl.
I was eventually taken to a new room where me and baby girl spent the night at the hospital. Mr. G and the kids went on home and came back the next day. They got up early ready to go back to the hospital to see their baby sister.
Mr. G is such an amazing daddy.
Big girl!
Bubby liked moving his baby sister's mouth to make it look like she was talking.
Another sleeping picture.
And another.
And another.
Here is a precious picture of my grandma holding our sweet baby girl. I'm very blessed to still have both grandma's with me and I love that both of them get to spend lots of time loving on my kiddos.
Nana helping my nephew hold his new baby cousin for the first time.
He did a great job.
Still sleeping.
Hanging out in her hospital crib all swaddled up and cozy.
A sleepy grin.
A little bit awake.
Sad face.
I had to stay 2 nights in the hospital because I tested positive for Group B strep. So after another night at the hospital then Mr. G and the kiddos came to pick us up and take us home.
The nurse helping to get baby girl buckled and Bubby and Sissy watched closely.
She's ready to go.
Carrying her out to the car.
Buckled in.
We officially have four kids riding in our backseat.
As soon as we got home the kids instantly started asking to hold her.
They couldn't get enough baby snuggles.
Mr. G's sister and her family came later that day to meet her. My nephew not only wanted to hold the baby, he also wanted his mom to have another baby.
More precious snuggles.
Even Little G was getting some special time in with the baby.
He is very sweet to her and will talk in a very high voice to her saying, "Hi, baby. It be okay."
A sleepy time smile.
Big brother wanted to be close to his sister at all times.
She's awake.
More snuggles.
Little G's Sunday school teacher took this picture. Mr. G took Little G and Sissy G to church that next Sunday morning and I stayed home with Bubby G and the baby. But the prior week must've wore Little G out because according to his Sunday school teacher, he slept pretty much the entire time.
I think he loves her just a tad.
How about we end with a few more sleepy pictures.
Because the Lord knows I'm very thankful that this little girl is such a good sleeper.
I thank God for you, baby girl. You have been an instant blessing to our family in more ways than you will ever know. You will always be loved and cherished for the rest of your life. Welcome to our family.
