Introducing ...

... the newest member of our family. Molly Margaret was born on August 1, 2006 at 9:25 a.m. She weighed in at 5 lbs, 13 oz and was 18 1/4 inches long. She came out crying and wiggling and looking very big and fat compared to Max! She's currently in the NICU and we're not sure yet how long it will be before she can come home. She was doing a little grunting and chest retracting after she was born, indicating that maybe her lungs were still a little immature. To give her a little extra help, they put her on a CPAP a few hours after she was born. She was more comfortable that way and did so well with her O2 needs that she's already off all oxygen and breathing on her own.

What follows are the nitty-gritty details of her birth, so the faint of heart may want to stop reading here. ;)

As per doctor's orders, I was up and about a bit more this weekend/Monday -- I went up and down the stairs a couple more times than usual, poured my own cereal, etc. (nothing major). Monday morning I switched from taking nifedipine four times a day to taking it three times a day. I was feeling a little more sore and having a few more contractions, but nothing out of the ordinary and I think it was probably just from the extra activity. I was tired Monday night, so I waited until 10:30 p.m. to take my nifedipine, then dozed off in bed. At 11:00 p.m. I woke up because I felt a little gush "down there." My first thought was "uh oh," so I headed to the bathroom to check it out. By the time I got out of bed and walked the ten steps to the bathroom, a few more gushes had soaked my shorts. I sat on the toilet and a lot more fluid came out (thankfully, nice and clear). Obviously, my water had broken. I called L&D to tell them we were coming and that, no, I didn't want to wait for the nurse to call back -- I knew my water had broken and I didn't want to waste any time. :P After Grandma arrived to watch the kids, we threw the last couple things in my hospital bag and set off for the hospital. I was sitting on a towel with another one stuffed down my pants, leaking fluid all the way. I was having a few more contractions, but no show stoppers.

We got to the hospital and checked in and they put me right in a triage room to get checked out. I hadn't felt the baby move much since my water broke, so I was really relieved when they got a nice, strong heartbeat on the monitor. I was having contractions about 6 minutes apart. They checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. They admitted me to a room, hooked me up to the monitors, and we sat around to see how things would progress. Since I was GBS negative at my last hospital stay, they didn't have to put me on preventative antibiotics, so I was temporarily able to avoid an IV. After a couple hours of monitoring, my contractions weren't getting stronger or closer together -- I wasn't in active labor and the doctors wanted to start me on pitocin. I was planning on trying for an unmedicated birth and I did NOT want pitocin, since it tends to make contractions abnormally intense and painful. We talked with the doctors and they explained that when you have PROM (premature rupture of the membranes) before term, they worry that there is an underlying reason and they want to get the baby out fairly quickly. I asked them if we could try walking around before taking any other steps and they agreed. So, we walked around for a couple of hours -- I had to check back in every 20 minutes to check the baby's heart rate. After 13 weeks of bedrest, it was totally FUN to be able to walk around. Unfortunately, when they checked me around 5 a.m. I hadn't budged -- still three 3 cm and 70% effaced. I wanted what was best for the baby, so I let them start the pitocin.

As I feared, pitocin contractions and normal labor contractions are two entirely different animals. My contractions during Max's birth were hard, but manageable -- the pitocin contractions this time were different and much harder to handle (and I honestly believe that the size of the baby didn't really make a difference in my labors). They started me out on a low dose and kept upping it every half hour. I did pretty well until about 8 a.m. (right about the time my mom arrived -- so she didn't get much of a greeting from me). At that point, the contractions started getting pretty difficult. I had them check me then and I was 6 cm and 80% effaced. The doctor was pleased and seemed to think things would go quickly from there. I was less pleased, because I thought I was further along than that. However, the doctor was right -- by 9 a.m. I was having a really hard time with the contractions. I was shaking and I was starting to feel nauseous with each contraction -- I was in transition, although I didn't know it. Since it took me a few hours to get from 3cm to 6 cm, I feared I had a couple more hours of that level of contractions and was starting to worry that I couldn't handle it. A little after 9 a.m. I started to feel the urge to push (which I never felt with Max). My body started pushing by itself and I must have freaked the nurses out, because they were scrambling to find the doctor and get me to the OR (I was somewhat out of it at that point -- my body was running the show). I have to say that I would make a bad Scientologist -- I was hollering with the best of them. ;) They wheeled me down to the OR -- the doctor checked me and I was ready to go. I pushed for maybe 10 minutes and Molly came right out -- she was head down, face to the back, so she was a good girl for mom. ;) She came out crying and squirming. They held her up so I could see her and let me touch her before they handed her over to the NICU team. She looked so big and fat and healthy to me!

I had a small tear and I sent Dad back with the baby while they sewed me up and delivered the placenta (ugh, to me that part feels worse than the birth itself!). As they did with Max, they'll send the placenta off to be tested (although the tests on Max's placenta were normal and didn't reveal anything). They sent me back to my room to recover and Dad joined us shortly thereafter to let us know that Molly looked great and was doing well. As I mentioned before, she was doing a little grunting and retracting, so they thought she might have had a little fluid in her lungs. They felt a little "softness" in her upper abdomen and she might have a hernia, but nothing serious and it is too soon to tell yet. I had to stay in my room for about an hour before I could see the baby. They did a chest x-ray which revealed just a little immaturity, so she went on the CPAP for a little extra help. They put her on 36 hours of antibiotics to rule out sepsis (since she was a PROM baby). They didn't have any of her labs back this morning, but she looks great. They're watching her bilirubin levels -- she may need a little light therapy, since she's right on the edge right now. She was on nasal cannula when we left the hospital this afternoon (and had already pulled the prongs out of her nose and was chewing on them :P). They were starting her feeds when we left -- if she tolerates them they were going to try to give her a bottle at 3 and if all goes well I can try to nurse her at 6.

I'm recovering well, just tired and sore! I didn't tear at all with Max, so I'm much sorer this time with the stitches and all. I would have liked to hold out a little longer, but I know we did the best we could. Also, after having a 27 weeker and already being so familiar with the NICU and the doctors and the way things work, having a 34 weeker is an entirely different experience. It is weird to sit by her bedside for hours and not have a single alarm go off. I haven't been able to hold her yet. Dad and I are happy to wait until she is ready -- she's been resting so comfortably.

I find it totally funny that after all the threatened pre-term labor all these months that I ended up with PROM. :P Apparently my body doesn't like to be pregnant any way you slice it! Going back to the NICU is like a big reunion -- everyone remembers us (and Max), so every time I step into the NICU I have lots of people to catch up with! Max has been up twice to see his little sister (he's unimpressed) and everyone is thrilled to see him.

Anyway, Molly is beautiful and perfect and I can't wait to bring her home! She has a ton of dark hair -- especially in the back. It's nice to hear her cry -- Max almost never cried until a few weeks after he came home from the NICU. Miss Molly is much more vocal. ;) She looks so different than Max -- I'm not sure if it's because she is less preemie or just because she's a different baby.

This closes one chapter in our lives and opens up an exciting new one -- we're looking forward to bringing out daughter home and getting to know her. Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement and prayers over these last few months -- it really meant a lot to us.