So many things

The past two weeks have been very busy for me and my family.  Of course we celebrated Easter two weekends ago, and I really need to write a little about that and post some pictures.  Then, there was the birth of my surrobaby, which was awesome :)  It was such a different experience than my labor and delivery with my girls.  Labor with Lauren and Allison was rather painful and the pushing phase lasted about 45 minutes with Lauren and about 30 minutes with Allison.  This time, I have to honestly say that I never felt a contraction.  When I got to the hospital Tuesday morning, they started the pitocin and monitoring.  The doctor came in to check me many times, and when I was dilated to a 6, she said that it was the "appropriate" time to have an epidural.  Though I wasn't in any pain yet, I decided to go ahead and do it, to prevent pain later.  So, about an hour later, they finally gave me the epidural, and I continued to wait.  Finally the doctor (who was a lady I had never met as one of my regular OBs was on vacation and the other was busy with surgery) broke my water and I dilated to a 10 very soon after.  I only had to push for about 5 minutes and the baby was here! And look, I even have pictures of the baby.  These pictures were taken Monday, so the baby was six days old.  Niobe gave me permission to post some pictures of the baby!

We actually got to see Niobe and the baby several times while she was here, and I was really glad that we got to hang out!  I am sad that she had to go back home, but am very excited for her to be able to get back to her "normal" life.
 

I came home from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.  I was going to stay another night, but decided that I would rest better at home without nurses coming in and out of my room.  Since then, today is the first day that I have stayed home.  My hormones, of course, get thrown all out of whack after having a baby, and it manifests in my not wanting to stay home at all.  I just have an overwhelming urge to go do anything, as long as it is out of the house.  However, going places always means spending money for me, so I really have to just make myself stay home.  The urge is fading slowly, but I am still a little stir crazy today.  I know the feeling will pass.  I am thinking of taking out my scrapbooking and quilting supplies so that I can start working on meeting my other two goals for the year (catching up on the girls' scrapbooks and making a baby clothes' quilt for Allison like I did for Lauren).   

I also have a touch of "baby blues", though they are not as bad as they were with my two girls.  That generally manifests in me not wanting to be alone.  I thought that I felt that way because I was scared of taking care of an infant on my own after I had my two girls.  However, I have that feeling this time too, and there is no infant here for me to care for.  So, I'm not sure why I feel this way, but I really wish my husband could be home from work with me.  He stayed home last week, but went back to work this week.  I also wish that Lauren could stay home with me.  I am sad that she has to go to school and she and I can't hang out together and do fun stuff like I can with her sister.  It has been nice to be able to have alone time with Allison though.  I rarely get any alone time with Allison, and as she is my younger child, she didn't get to enjoy any years of being an only child.  She is in an awesome stage right now and is a lot of fun. 

Hopefully I will be able to get to that Easter post next!

Comments

[Rachel]

Congratulations Trish (and Niobe, of course!). I'm glad all went well with the birth. She's a gorgeous little girl. Take care of yourself, okay? I hope the baby blues pass quickly. You're an amazing woman to do what you did.

[Furrow]

I've wondered what your postpartum period would be like. When you bring home a baby, the physical and emotional toll of the birth and pregnancy hormones is compounded a thousand times by the responsibility of taking care of a new baby day and night. It is interesting to hear how that feels in the absence of insomnia, nipple pain, etc. I wonder the same thing about Niobe -- what it's like taking care of a newborn in the absence of the issues your body is dealing with.

I'm glad the birth was an easy one for you and that you are mostly enjoying your recovery time.

[Kristin]

I'm so glad the labor and delivery were easy.

[HereWeGoAJen]

You and Niobe make a good team, that is a lovely baby!

I love that picture of your girls with the baby. It's perfect.

[magpie]

So nice to read this lovely post, and to see your pictures.

[Danifred]

I'm so happy that you are settling in, it sounds like things are starting to come together for you. I'm sure your hormones aren't helping anything.
The baby is beautiful and you are an awesome person for carrying her to her Mommy.

[Carrie]

She is precious! So glad we were able to see pictures of her.

I think it would definitely help to do some type of activity while you are at home. Enjoy not having to do anything, but keep yourself busy with something to help with the time.

[tash]

Oh Trish, congratulations and thank you and yay on a wonderful birth and did I tell you how happy I am? The baby is beautiful as is your family. Go easy on yourself -- there's always that hormonal rush that says, "I can do anything!" when your body is really feeling "not so much!" Scrapbooking sounds about right.

Best to you all!

[Aunt Becky]

What a lovely story! So glad that everything worked out so wonderfully. xoxo

[tree town gal]

Just great, Trish... I hope you have been taking wonderful care of yourself. Completely understand your desire to want you loved ones around you.... just lovely.