Good Idea, Bad Idea: Jean Shopping 4 Days Postpartum

It is so good to be home and holding this sweet little baby. I know it has only been 5 days but so far Sophie is a dream come. She seriously is the best little baby. She is calm and sleeps all day and night. She was a professional nurser from minute 1. She doesn't cry or fuss. We're just enjoying these few days where we get to hold this little thing and wonder about what's going on inside that little head.

So here are some pics then to the birth story if you're interested.

This is what we do all day.


Proud momma and big sister...


Sophie's welcoming committee. Eva had a girls' day out while her sister was being born. (Thanks to everyone that took care of Eva for us!)


Lovely hospital pictures.


3 days old.


Now for the birth story. I'll just get this out of the way so the majority of you can move on. Yes, I got the epidural. Did I love it? Not exactly. Will I do it again? I don't know. Ok, on with the story.

I'd been laboring off an on the week before. Monday morning I went to the doctor and I was at a 4 with 85% effacement. My doctor said I wouldn't have a long labor so not to wait too long to get into the hospital. Monday afternoon the contractions fired up again. I was keeping count and they were getting closer and stronger. So Devin and I decided to just get Eva settled for the night and go on in. I got to the hospital and they put me in observation for a couple hours to time the contractions, etc. It was a wild night at L&D. They were having to send people away to other hospitals b/c they were so packed. Needless to say, the grouchy old man on-call doctor kind of left me alone all night. I had progressed enough for them to admit me but the labor was going really slow. At one point he wanted to break my water to speed things up, I said, "Uhhh" and he stormed out of the room muttering under his breath. I just wanted to ask him a couple questions about it... Whatever. I loved my doctor and although I wasn't planning on waiting for her to get there at 7, as the night wore on, it looked like that was what was going to happen. My doctor showed up and I was ready to get this thing over with. So the anesthesiologist came in and placed the epidural*, they fired up the Pitocin, broke my water and within a couple hours I was pushing. And about 4 contractions later Sophie was born! It is difficult to describe the feelings of a mother when that little baby is placed in your arms, especially for this mother that generally has a hard time with that sort of thing. But it really was such a special experience for Devin and me. One that we will never forget and always cherish. And now we have this perfect little baby in our family and we couldn't be happier! Thanks for all the congratulations and well-wishes and especially to all of those that have helped or will be helping out with EvaGirl.

*I'm putting this in here because I've had about 10 people ask me what I thought of the epidural this time since I didn't have one last time. Getting the thing was the most terrifying 10 minutes of my life. I was so scared of it I was shaking for a long time after it was over. Then it started giving me headaches as soon as it started up, which lasted for a couple days. I'm still watching to see if I get more headaches than normal from now on. I could still feel my contractions to the point of having to breathe/focus/visualize/etc. my way through them. It definitely dulled the pain but I still had it. The last 2 hours were much easier than last time but added to the drawbacks of the epidural, I'm not sure what I'll do next time. Hopefully I have a while before I have to make that decision again!