Hellobee

Pizza #3  arrived during the week of Thanksgiving and I am truly so thankful. I was overwhelmed with relief and joy when my doctor placed my baby girl on my chest. All the waiting… waiting to become pregnant and then anxiously waiting for the baby to arrive healthy and near the EDD… all led to that moment.

I woke up at 4:30 that morning because of contractions. The contractions were mostly 10 minutes apart and I kept track of them for about 2 1/2 hours before I decided to call my doctor. I had experienced contractions the week before that would just stop after an hour, so I wanted to be sure that these contractions would lead to labor and delivery. I was nervous to wait too long this time because when I started having strong contractions that were 10 minutes apart with Pizza #2, they quickly became 2 minutes apart during our 20-minute drive to the hospital. By the time I was in the delivery room, I was 8 cm dilated and still needed to get antibiotics over a course of 4 hours due to my group B strep. Thankfully, it worked out, but since I needed to get the antibiotics again, I wanted to make sure I gave myself plenty of time to get the antibiotics and an epidural. I just had a feeling that this was going to be the day because I was 3 days away from my EDD (which was the longest I’ve been pregnant), and the last three doctor visits I was 3 cm dilated.

I took the time to take a shower, put on make up, make a plan for what to do with the older girls, have breakfast as a family and double-check that I had what I needed in my hospital bag. We dropped the girls off at our friend’s house and drove to the hospital. When I got to the  hospital, I was 4 cm dilated so they said that I would be having the baby that day.  They started the antibiotics right away. Mr. Pizza and I listened to music, chatted, and watched TV.

We even had time to take a selfie.

Even after the antibiotics were complete, the contractions were still not strong enough and not always consistent. Before taking the suggested Pitocin to help intensify the contractions and make them more regular, I decided to walk around the unit with Mr. Pizza to hopefully help my contractions progress. I ended up still needing to take the lowest dose of Pitocin but soon after, my contractions started to pick up and intensify. I then asked for the epidural. Two hours later, my doctor came in and it was go time. Two pushes later, we finally met our sweet baby girl! I was so thankful that the labor and delivery went so smoothly. I know every step of the way from pregnancy to delivery shouldn’t be taken for granted.

The girls were able to sleep at my SIL’s house that first night. The next day, Pizza #1 and Pizza #2 were able to visit. They were so happy to finally meet their baby sister.

This is our first picture as a family of 5!

26 hours after the baby was born, the following evening, we were discharged. We could have stayed another night, but the logistics of taking care of our other two girls made it a bit more complicated.  It was actually really good to come back home. She was finally here with us and so it begins… our family of 5!