Little Miracles: November 2012

Three weeks ago, on October 18th, Afton Rose came into the world. I can't believe it's already been that long! We've been so busy getting to know our sweet little girl that I haven't had a moment to sit down and write about her arrival until now. That is, I haven't had a moment where I wouldn't sooner choose sleep over blogging. Well, here I go.

The Arrival

I should warn you: this is a birth story. Feel free to skip to sections with fewer anatomical references if you wish. That said, on October 10, I went in to see the doctor. I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. As the original due date was the 17th, I expected that next week's appointment would take place in the hospital. Well, the next week I went to my appointment and same story. The doctor stripped the membranes, which, he explained, can sometimes be just enough of a push to start things rolling.

My mom was scheduled to arrive the next day in the afternoon, so when the baby didn 't come that night I was both anxious and relieved. I was sure she was waiting in there so Grandma could be there to meet her when she made her entrance. Wrong.

The morning of the 18th, all played out as usual. David went to work and I lumbered around getting me and Paisley ready for the day. At 9 a.m., my mucous plug came out... hmmm. I had heard that once that happens, labor is likely to begin, so I texted David to let him know. Sure enough, contractions began 5 minutes later, and continued about every 5 minutes. I had decided beforehand that I wanted to labor at home as long as possible, so I waited. I started packing some last minute things to take to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Paisley wanted to play 'Ring Around the Rosies' again, and again, and again. I knew when I was wanting to 'all fall down' in the middle of the song that the baby was definitely coming this morning and it was probably time to call David to come home. So, around 10:00, I casually texted him that he might want to come home soon. A few minutes later, I texted "and hurry!". He arrived as quickly as he could, with his mom right behind him to watch Paisley. We went straight out the door. By this time, contractions were coming every few minutes, and were so intense that everything else was kind of a blur.

Pulling out onto the main road, of course a police officer had to pull out right behind us. So if you can picture it, there I was, reclined in the front seat, fumbling to do up my seat belt, trying my best to stay relaxed while enduring agonizing contractions, while David raged at the traffic lights and drivers around us who seemed determined to stop us from getting to the hospital. On the way in to the hospital I keeled over on cars and sat down several times, until I made it to a wheelchair and was wheeled up to the maternity floor.

By the time we got into the delivery room, I was dilated to an 8, and when the doctor arrived just a few minutes later (miraculously quickly, might I add), I was at a ten and he was telling me to push. A few pushes and a couple minutes later, we were looking at our tiny little crying baby. She was absolutely perfect and I couldn't stop saying "She's here, she's here!". David cut the cord, the nurses cleaned her up, and a few minutes later I was holding our tiny little baby and never wanted to let go. Little Afton Rose, born at 11:02a.m., 7lbs, 2 oz., 19.5 inches long. Sigh. We did it.

On her coming home day

Home at last

Life Ever Since

Everything right after the birth is a bit of a blur. I know the Douma's arrived, along with little Paisley, at some point. Paisley was excited about the new "toy", and it took a few reminders till she started saying "Afton, not a toy". It was obvious she didn't quite know what to make of this whole situation, and who can blame her? One minute, she has me all to herself and we're singing and dancing around, and an hour later here we are in a strange place, Mom is in a strange bed and won't get out, and there's this new little thing that seems to be getting as much attention as her!

My mom arrived later that day, and I felt so relieved to have her there. I came home the next day in the afternoon, which would have been extremely daunting for me had she not been there, especially during the week when everyone went back to school and work. She and Paisley had a blast while I rested for the next few days. She came bearing gifts from aunts and uncles, and even her wonderful students, and made sure we had everything we needed. By the time she left, I felt like it might be possible for me to manage two babies after all.

And Afton. Afton is a doll. She's beautiful (at least we think so) and it's so much fun getting to know her. Here are some things we know about her already:

She loves to sleep, mostly during the day, but we're working on that.
She grunts all the time. I think this is mostly due to gas, but it goes on all night, and no baby is that gassy, right?
She loves to curl up in a tiny ball on your chest.
She eats lots, and gained her birth weight back after a week. At her two week appointment she was up a pound from her birthweight, and 2 inches in length, though I'm pretty sure that's inaccurate. In any case, she's growing lots already!
As soon as you take this girl's diaper off to change it, she loves to poop, pee, and spit up, most often all at the same time. This makes changing her diaper quite a rush. She spits up a ton, and sometimes I think it's a miracle that she's gaining any weight at all with the amount that comes back up!
She's just a little angel, albeit a leaky one, and we love having her as part of our family.

I'll be posting more pictures, (I'm still collecting them from different cameras) but enjoy these for now!