July 16 = Malia's Birthday!

The day finally arrived!  I had trouble falling asleep and then woke up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep- I was so excited to meet our little girl!  I wasn't allowed to eat or drink after midnight and with my pregnancy craving of ice, this was quite a disappointment.  But I made it through and we- Zachary, my mom and I- headed to the hospital around 10:30.  We checked in, I got changed into my glamorous robe and got hooked up to the monitor, got the IV, and took a anti-nausea medicine that is the worst tasting thing I've ever experienced.  At one point I remember being so hungry, thirsty and tired of being in that stupid bed that I got really frustrated and was just itching to get the show on the road.  Finally, they came and gave Zachary his OR gear and my mom went to the waiting room and we headed to the OR.  There we did the spinal tap- a tad bit more painful than I remember with Liam- of course with Liam the c-section was an emergency and I had already had two epidurals that were not effective and was fully dilated so the spinal tap was nothing.  I got in position on the operating table- Zachary made a comment that it didn't look like I was about to have a baby- it looked like I was being crucified.  Pretty soon afterwards the surgeon and his whole team came in and we got going!  I can't describe what it felt like- I was much more aware of what was going on this time around and Zachary was so very supportive- he kept rubbing my hair and telling me how great I was doing.  My blood pressure was perfect the whole time and I was able to stay pretty calm just meditating on the fact that I'd be hearing a beautiful baby's cry in a few minutes.  And boy did we hear her cry.  When Liam was born, he didn't make a sound- I didn't know he had even been born until they told me they were almost done sewing me back up.  Malia let everyone know she had arrived.  I heard the doctor comment that she had the cord wrapped around her neck once- I'm not sure how scary that is supposed to be but I was just glad to hear her cry.  Zachary snapped a picture so I got to see a glimpse of her.  Zachary went with her and the nurses to do her APGAR scores and whatever they do to newborns which took about 10 minutes and then they came back in and I got to actually see and touch her!

Zachary and Malia then headed to the recovery room- they have you stay in there for an hour just to make sure mom and baby are doing fine before moving to the third floor where you stay until you go home.  It took another 45 minutes to sew me up- come to find out my scar from Liam's c-section was pretty messed up so the doctor fixed it and now I have one, very flat, discreet scar instead of my pink, raised, painful scar.  So eventually I got to make my way into the recovery room.  Everything went really well and we were able to move to our more permanent room where my mom, dad and brother brought Liam to meet his little sister!

Liam wasn't quite sure what to think- He poked her nose and then wanted to get down so he could walk around.  For the next few days, my dad and brother stayed home with Liam and my mom came to visit us for a few hours each day.  The pastor of the church we started going to came by and one of the guys in Zachary's LEAD Program came by with gifts from his cohort- beautiful flowers, clothes and shoes and other goodies for Malia and lots of cool stuff for Liam too- bubbles, a container of snakes and one of bugs- it was so thoughtful of them!  Malia stayed glued to my chest or arms for the majority of our hospital stay and that was just how I liked it.  The first time I nursed shortly after Malia was born, it went really well- she was a pro.  However- the second time it was super, super painful like it was with Liam.  And the pain never let up.  I saw three different lactation consultants and one finally came up with the theory that I had a yeast infection in my breasts and that's why it was so very painful.  I nursed for the first two days but by Friday I couldn't take it anymore so I became reacquainted with my friend, the pump.  It was painful to pump as well but not quite as bad.  The good thing about pumping is that other people can help feed Malia so I can get in a nap here or there and not have to wake up every time she wants to eat.  Also, I'm hoping that I can repeat my success I had with pumping for Liam and have such a large supply of milk that I am able to donate to babies who are in the NICU- obviously a cause dear to my heart.