The first week and how it all came to be

How life has changed! Going from one child to two has been an adjustment, but I'd say that going from zero to one is a much bigger change. One month later, I am feeling like life is settling back into a routine and we are handling things better. There was a week or so there, though, when I wondered how we were ever going to get through this! Ethan was very jealous of the lack of our attention at first. He still is sometimes, but at least doesn't direct it towards Kaitlyn and he's realizing that things aren't really all that bad. He is getting back to being able to play on his own better now, although he still wants me to play trains with him a lot, something that I must admit that I ~yawn~ find rather boring. I mean, how many times can you run a train around a track before it gets old? Apparantly when you're almost three, there is no end to how much fun it can be! But I find that I cannot share the same enthusiam. Anyway, Kaitlyn has been a mellow baby most of the time during the day, but spends he evening fussing and crying for about 4 hours or so. Tonight, for the first time, we are bypassing this long period because I have been carrying her around in the front-pack baby carrier ... maybe we have something going here! Hopefully that doesn't mean we'll have a sleepless night instead! We'll see!

So, going back.... It was Saturday, January 10 and I had been feeling big and pregnant and ready to be DONE for a couple weeks already. All day that day I had spotting and other fun preganancy stuff that pretty much indicated things were getting close. We ran some errands, including getting parts to change out the faucet and sink drains for our kitchen. We came home and I started making sure everything was packed, etc. for the hospital and for Ethan's possible overnight with friends. My apprehension and excitement mounted as the day progressed. Meanwhile, Tom was busy with the kitchen project, which turned into a bigger deal than orignally anticipated. For various reasons, unexpected things kept coming up and Tom had to make several trips back to town to Menards for more or different parts. At the end of the day, we had a new faucett and drains, but a leaky pipe under the sink! Great way to have things before going into labour! I was busy trying not to think about the impending doom, but by evening time, when Ethan was in bed, I was fluttering around the house being unable to concentrate on anything anymore. When we were laying in bed that night, I knew I should be trying to sleep, but instead I was chatting to Tom about my anxiety, my excitement and questions like, "Do you think we'll love this second baby as much as we do Ethan? It's hard to imagine loving someone else as much as I love him." Tom kept reminding me to go to sleep, but I couldn't ... I had too many butterflies in my tummy. That was my last chance at sleep for many weeks to come.

Around midnight, I started having contactions that were for real. They continued off and on, ranging from 20-40 minutes throughout the night. I didn't sleep, of course. Tom did until about 5 am when he finally noticed my pacing. Around 7 am, Ethan woke up and came into our room. He crawled into our bed and then, when I had a contraction and got out of bed to pace the floor, he jumped out of bed and said, "I wanna come too!" He started to follow me around the room and down the halls, confused as I walked around with no purpose. Tom persuaded him to come back and sit with him. Ethan didn't understand why he couldn't be with me. "Mommy isn't feeling good right now," Tom told him. (When I got home from the hospital a few days later, Ethan looked at me while I sat on his bed reading him books and said, "You're feeling better now, Mom!" They don't miss much, do they?) Tom got Ethan ready for the day and took him over to our friends, Katrina and Jackson, who had offered to take care of Ethan for us. It was blissfully quiet around our house that day ... I can't remember that last time the two of us were in our house together without Ethan -- ok, likely almost 3 years ago! However, my fun was just beginning.

The contractions were getting more intense throughout the day, but were still not close enough together to make Tom think we should be heading for the hospital yet. I continued to pace and moan, although Tom did finally persuade me to do breathing exercises this time, which, amazingly, did help! (Tom as right, if I did just listen to him, it did make it easier! I was just too stubborn last time.) Between contractions, I was reading the labour and delivery section of my "What to expect when you're expecting book" and telling Tom what he should be doing for me. :-) I didn't have an epidural with Ethan and was open to the idea, but hoping not to, with Kaitlyn either, but as I paced around, I said, "ok, I think i might want that epidural this time!" Tom just looked at me and said, "hmmm." So helpful. I talked a lot to my silent partner ... "I don't want to do this anymore! What was Eve thinking, anyway?? Rachel and Karlin are the smart ones: I don't know how much adoption costs, but I think it's worth it! THIS HURTS! This is what people invented pain medication for! When can we go to the hospital???" Finally, around 3:00, my contractions were starting to be about 5 mins apart. "Let's go!" I said. I'd had enough.

We got ourselves ready to go and were being admitted to the hospital at 3:45. The nurse checked me and picked up the phone, telling them to get the nurse on call to come in. She got busy then. She was vague about how far along I was. Finally she informed me that I was dilated to 7 cm already. I was surprised, but glad. She called in the midwife. "You just keep breathing nicely like you're doing and hopefully the midwife will get here in time," she informed me. Oh, so that was how it was. She wheeled me out of the room on the gurney, calling for another nurse to set up a tray STAT. In about 15 mins, the midwife was there and I was dilated to 9. So much for that epidural! I had had some demerol-like medication when I first got to the hospital with Ethan, so I asked the midwife if that would help now. She wasn't too hopeful, but said that it might take the edge off a bit. So, she gave me a partial dose of staidzol (sp?), but it didn't really do anything but make me feel kind of spacy. I later learned that they don't really like to give you that near the end of labour because it doesn't really help and it can affect the baby's breathing after birth. If I'd known that, I don't think I'd have asked about it. I guess the midwife just wanted to be able to offer something to help. She gave me a small enough dose to make the effects minimal to the baby. After a bit, she decided to break my water and then it was time for the baby's great escape! 16 mins later, our baby girl was born at 5:28 pm! The midwife had to do some minor repairs, but things were so much better than after Ethan was born! I didn't know how bad that was until I realized how much better it was this time around! Kaitlyn was a good little nurser right from the start and that has helped a lot. I am so glad to be over the uncomfortableness of those first 2 weeks! We're not at the 6 week mark yet, but I'm already feeling way more normal than I did 2 months after Ethan was born. Thanks to everyone for all their help! It has made life so much easier!

The first granddaughter on both sides ... can you say "spoiled?"