Overall, my pregnancy with Emily was a little more difficult than those with Ann and Ian. I always deal with morning sickness (aka all-day sickness), and dealing with it in the heat of an Arizona summer just made it 10 times worse. I also developed prenatal depression, which made it really hard to be excited or motivated about pretty much anything (I've been meeting with a therapist since the end of October). I have a fabulous ministering sister in our ward who came over to our house about once a week during my first trimester to bring us dinner and help clean my kitchen. I am forever grateful to Kaelin for that. By the end of my pregnancy, I was very worn out and exhausted.
Just like my previous pregnancies, my water ended up breaking prior to the onset of labor. It was New Year's Eve and we'd finished getting Ann and Ian to bed and were settling in for a very non-exciting evening. I'd gotten up to go to the bathroom, but kept feeling a little wet afterwards. I came out and told Tom that I was suspicious that my water was starting to break. We started to gather up our things and it became more obvious that yes, my water was breaking. After a bit of work, we were able to get a hold of my Relief Society president so she could come over and be with Ann and Ian (she'd insisted that she be the first person I call in the event that we needed help overnight). Once she arrived, Tom and I headed to the hospital (around 11pm). I got admitted to the hospital and we rang in the New Year while sitting in triage.
Since I was GBS+ (just like Ian) I was hooked up to an IV to receive antibiotics. Although unlike with Ian, they didn't start me on pitocin until after they'd started the second dose of antibiotics (which had to be administered 4 hours apart). We tried our best to get some rest, but I was definitely anxious as I was no stranger to labor and delivery (and I was getting emotional that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Ann and Ian before leaving for the hospital since they were already asleep). After I got started on pitocin, the nurse needed to shift my position around in bed a bit as the baby's heart rate was decelerating just slightly. Fortunately we had no other problems with that.
After the nurse shift change at 7am, my on-call midwife came in and said to get me up and moving so we could have this baby! I was opting to go without an epidural just like I had with Ian. Tom and I got up and starting making laps around the delivery floor. When we went passed the nurses station, we noticed on the monitors that I was the only person there in labor! (When I asked the nurses if I was really the only one there they responded "yes and don't jinx it! We were super busy last week!") Contractions started getting a bit more intense, but were still being manageable. My midwife checked me and I was around 5.5 cm and she noticed that only one of my water sacks had broken (apparently they are two...had no idea). So she quickly broke that while she was checking me. Well, that got things moving. Just like with Ian, once things got going, contractions get very intense and I progress really quickly. Eventually I went into the bathroom and my midwife checked me again (I was 8cm by that point). She asked if I wanted to get into the tub and I said yes. But after the next couple contractions she turned off the water and said "nope, no tub - if you get in there we'd be having a water birth!" So I made my way back to the bed. I said I kind of felt like pushing and was encouraged to do so if I felt the urge. Pushing was more painful (hello ring of fire) and exhausting than I remember it being with Ian (pushing was also exhausting with Ann, but I'd had an epidural that had totally numbed me up in certain areas and I couldn't properly feel what I was doing - and I pushed with her for over an hour). I don't think I pushed for too long (though my sense of time was long gone by this point) and kept getting encouraged by my midwife and nurse that just another one or two more pushes and then we'd have a baby. Emily was born at 11:38 am, 7lb 13 oz and 20.5 inches (and the second baby of the new year born in that hospital). She was immediately placed on my chest and I was finally able to relax.
It's amazing the rush of emotions that occurs after birth. I can't help but notice the differences between each of my labor and delivery experiences (and post partum hospital experiences). After Ann was born, I didn't get to hold her right away since she wasn't breathing properly and needed to get fluid suctioned out of her lungs. I feel like the combination of having an epidural plus having a forceps delivery caused a lack of "emotional high" that I experienced after Ian and Emily were born. It was more of a surreal experience. Ann had a hard time latching and eating and I was an anxious mess. She developed jaundice and after a few days needed to be placed on a bed of lights (at home, thankfully) for 4-5 days. I had that rush of emotions after Ian was born, and I attribute that to both not having an epidural and not being as anxious about the idea of caring for a newborn. He latched on right away and was a fantastic eater. However, his blood sugar levels plummeted within a few hours and needed to be taken to the special care nursery to receive an IV of glucose until his body was able to stabilize his blood sugar on its own. I feel like I handled that fairly well, though did have my moments of breaking down. Things went ok once we were able to go home (he stayed an extra day at the hospital because of it). I also had that emotional high after Emily was born (again, no epidural). She had a little more difficulty eating at first due to a small mouth (which caused a shallow latch and led to blisters...but once we moved past that, she's been able to latch and eat great). It was nice having a baby that could eat well at the hospital and I wasn't an anxious mess. It was definitely a much more enjoyable experience than with the my older two. For the most part, I was able to just relax as best I could, and just enjoy being with my new baby.
Tom stayed with me for the first few hours after Emily was born. He went home around 5pm so he could relieve our amazing RS president from taking care of Ann and Ian. His mom drove down from Las Vegas to help and stayed up until the morning of the day my parents were arriving. We were very fortunate to have grandparent help for almost the first 3 full weeks. Tom took a few days off of work. I feel like this was the easiest recovery for me because of all the help we had. I was basically able to just stay in bed, take care of Emily, and rest. Grandparents totally helped take care of Ann and Ian (getting them to and from school once that started again) and got everyone fed. By the time my parents left, I was feeling much more capable of walking around and having the stamina to start taking care of things. My emotional high started to wear off around this time too (same thing happened with Ian) and my more depressed mood came back. I've continued to meet with my therapist and that's been really helpful in getting my thoughts in a better place and being able to manage better the stresses that come with running a home with three young kids to care for. I've been pleasantly surprised at how much that has helped (I honestly had my doubts).
And now on to the pictures - I didn't take too many initially with our Nikon, so these are all from my phone.
Tom took this picture of me soon after Emily was born and I was all stitched up (just a really small, first degree reopening of the episiotomy that I'd gotten when Ann was born)
Tom getting to hold Emily while I got a bite to eat
Such a sweet, bundled baby
Tom and his mom brought Ann and Ian to the hospital the next day so they could meet their new baby sister. Ann was absolutely thrilled (and I think Ian was just a little unsure of all of it, but was still excited too)
She liked to bring her hands up to her face
Tom and I would talk about this was pretty much Emily's "happy place" (snuggled up to mommy)
This was just after we'd come home from the hospital. Her onesie says "I'm new here" :) It's crazy seeing those newborn clothes looking big on her...she's long outgrown them now!
Ann has told me multiple times that she loves having a baby in the house. She loves babies and little kids. Ann has definitely been a good helper with Emily, especially if I need someone to sit and entertain her for a little bit while I do something else.
Ian wanted a turn to hold Emily too! Though now she's grown so much it's getting harder for him to hold her.
This is definitely not a flattering picture of me (nor a clear picture of Emily), but it's the best I have of this little face that Emily is making. She doesn't really do this anymore, but she would pull that face often when stretching or being picked up and I found it both hilarious and adorable. I'm glad I was able to mostly capture it.
My dad playing with Emily one of the days they were here
My mom holding a sweet Emily (I realize I didn't get any pictures on my phone of Tom's parents holding Emily - I blame that on the fact that I was feeling much better and was out and around the house more when my parents were here).
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