One Week

Our dearest Pippa is one week old today. What a week it has been. I have witnessed the miracle of life (again) and got the privilege of watching my husband witness the same miracle (and sob like a baby). We spent three nights in the hospital being poked and prodded beyond belief and receiving a clean bill of health.

Now that we are home, Pippa is eating more than ever! About every 2 hours when she is awake however, some of her naps extend to about 4 hours so she wakes up a bit frantic. Breastfeeding is going so well and I love knowing that I can take care of her needs wherever we are. She's a very content and laid back baby, rarely fussy (hungry or trying to poop) and she has the cutest smushy baby face when she's sleeping on you.

She got another bath today and fully enjoyed every moment...until it ended. She was very sad to get out of the warm water. Our days consist of a morning feeding, then diaper change and nap. She does a bit of tummy time in the early afternoon followed my more feeding and another nap. Between myself, my mom and Liam, Pippa is rarely ever put down, and that's good because she LOVES to be held.

I will be cleared to drive next week - yay! In the meantime, we are home and always accepting visitors. Just let us know when you are coming.

One week old - LOVING her bath

Liam loves his baby sister

Smushy sleeping baby face

Pippa's Birth Story

Now that we are home I can finally sit down and write this. Our computer died so we are working on a little netbook that's been hooked up to a keyboard and monitor. 

On the morning of Monday April 18th at 7:30, my hubby and I checked into the hospital. They promptly got me in the gown and hooked me up to an IV.
They monitored baby for about 30 minutes and took my vital signs. My surgeon arrived and checked out my previous incision site. She told me she would cut out the old scars so that the incision would heal better. Then the anesthesiologists came in and explained what a spinal block was and why they used it for scheduled c-sections. We were ready! 

At 9:15am, they walked me into the OR and had my hubby wait outside. He was told it would be about 10 minutes for them to set the spinal block and get everything else ready. They would have him come in as soon as it was all done.
First, I got a shot to numb the site the block would go in. It hurt like a mother but I kept focusing on baby. Then the medicine was administered. At times I felt a strong electric jolt down my right leg but it was otherwise not too bad. They laid me down and started doing testing to determine if I could feel anything. They told me the first thing to go would be temperature so they put something cold on my arm and then again on my belly. I could still feel the cold. "Can you wiggle your toes?" 'yes' - okay...so we waited and waited and nothing happened. I started to get really nervous because I don't want to feel the pain of the scalpel slicing open my abdomen. At that point they decided I needed more medication and they sat me up and administered another spinal (more medicine). I was warned that I may have additional "non-sensation" probably up to my collar bone so I would feel like I couldn't breathe. I was starting to think that maybe I made the wrong decision.
After spinal block #2 did NOT take, not much was said but I know they administered an epidural. I ended up with the catheter in my back and so numb I felt nothing and could move nothing. My hubby was brought in and I glanced at the clock. It was after 10am! Poor guy had been sitting out there for 45 minutes. You could tell he was having a hard time.
The incision was cut before he even sat down and my surgeon spent lots of time going through the layers properly. Pippa Grace Larson was born at 10:27am on Monday April 18, 2011 (21 inches long; 10lb, 4 oz). The first comments from the nurses were "she's all cheeks," then I hear "she has to be at least 10 pounds" then I hear my doctor/surgeon tell me that I made a wise decision and that we would have ended up here anyway, the insides of my pelvis would not have supported delivering a baby as large as her.
As soon as I heard her cry, I started crying. My husband was sobbing. He grabbed the camera and went around the blue sheet and took picture after picture. All of these were taken either in the OR or in the recovery room. 
As far as who she looks like - I gave birth to myself. You can compare my baby pics to hers and cannot tell the difference. Fortunately, she has a much calmer temperament than I did. 
We stayed in the hospital from Monday through Thursday and we are now at home getting back into the swing of things. 

04/17/11 - night before the surgery

04/18/11 - Happy Birthday Pippa!

NOT happy about being naked

10 Pounds 4 Ounces

Baby burrito

Proud Daddy

Tomorrow is The Day!!

In less than 24 hours, we will be at the hospital preparing for the birth of our daughter.

Yesterday we had a 12:45 appointment for an "operation ready" orientation at the hospital. I was told it was okay to bring Liam to the appointment so we did. We arrived around 12:30 because I knew there would be paperwork to fill out. I filled out the paperwork and we waited...and waited...and waited. Finally at 1:05 I went back to the front desk to ask if there was anything else I needed to do. As it turns out my appointment was actually for 1:00 and they tell you an earlier time to fill out the paperwork. We were then told it would be another five minutes. Thirty minutes later, we were brought into a side room (the surgery recovery room) because nothing else was available.
She went over my paperwork and let Liam ask some questions. The anesthesiologist came in and went over how the spinal block would work. He spent about ten minutes with us going over questions and forms. Our nurse came back in with the phlebotomist who took my blood for some testing. By then it was well past 2:00 and I had to ask for food. She brought me a sandwich and some juice, then put on my hospital ID wristband and yes, I get to wear it from yesterday until I check out of the hospital on Thursday. After that, she went over all the details of the surgery and after. I am glad she did! Things have changed so much since my surgery with Liam. There is a recovery room now, they feed you solids within a few hours, they make you walk around four times a day and they want you to shower on the second day! I am excited to see how it helps the recovery for the surgery.

Our timeline will be somewhat like this: 7:30am = check in to hospital, 9:30am = surgery starts (about an hour), 10:30am = recovery room for up to two hours, 12:30ish = back into our room. She suggested we wait until Tuesday for any visitors but we will take a few on Monday night. She also said it is up to us with how long we want to stay at the hospital. Our plan is to come home Thursday afternoon.

After the appointment, she took us to a room so that Liam could look around. He thought they were really cool and it got him even more excited. He is looking forward to walking around the halls with me on one of my required treks. He is also really looking forward to meeting his new sister.

Today we are going to relax as much as possible. I want to take one more set of tummy photos. We plan to go down to Powell's books and then I will get my hair cut one last time. We will have lunch in the Pearl district then come home and rest. The laundry is done and the house is clean. The bags are re-packed and we are ready to bring our daughter home. I cannot wait to share pictures with all of you. Please send us positive vibes!!

We Are Back!

Back by popular demand. We have started another family blog. While this one will be mostly about the kids, you can come here to find general family updates as well. Where to start...

Our baby girl, Pippa Grace, is due to be born by cesarean section on Monday April 18, 2011 at 9:30am...unless she decides to make her appearance sooner. Pippa was conceived over a year after my tubal ligation reversal surgery, while we were on vacation in Maui. The pregnancy has had it's ups and downs. I don't like to complain because so far, everything is normal and healthy. However, I am in a lot of constant pain and am looking forward to rolling over in bed again without having to make a 5-point-turn.

Liam is so excited to meet his little sister he is literally bouncing off the walls. Today, I have another pre-op appointment at the hospital and he will be coming with me. As the date gets closer, he is becoming more anxious and asking lots of questions (will there be blood?) so I want to calm his nerves a bit and show him the surroundings. He seems to want to help a lot right now with feeding and diapering but I'm not sure how long the honeymoon will last. Only time will tell.

These next two days will consist of laundry, re-packing hospital bags (for a longer stay) and cleaning the house to prepare for Pippa's arrival. Dan is taking this week off work (to start) and my mom will be coming into town sometime around the 23rd or 24th to help. My friend Shalom will also be staying with us for a few days starting the 30th. That means I have several weeks of help booked out so far. I will be taking six weeks full time off work and another six weeks half-time. After that, I plan to re-assess and see what I want to do.

Anyway, that's about it for today. Here are some pictures for everyone.

Pippa Grace in utero

36 weeks pregnant - home photo shoot

The entire Larson family - March 2011