Say Hello to the Little Miss!

 

 

Howdy, folks! I’m utterly delighted to introduce our household’s newest member: the Little Miss! We welcomed her to the world at 7:58 am on 1/3/19. She measured 21 inches and 7 lbs 11 oz, and we’re already smitten with her. Those of you who follow me on social media have probably seen me post about her a lot over the past month, but now I’m finally ready to sit down and share her birth story here on the blog!

The Birth Story

Labor & Delivery

Labor was quick and easy because…well, there WASN’T any labor. Unlike my son’s birth, which involved 30 hours of labor without progression and ended in an unplanned C-section, my doctor recommended we go for a scheduled C-section this time. Otherwise, he highly anticipated a repeat performance. I was inclined to agree, so we scheduled it for January 3rd. After all that planning, you’d think everything would be smooth sailing, but don’t worry—things definitely got interesting! 😉

The anesthesiologist decided to go with a spinal anesthesia rather than an epidural, and halfway through the surgery, I started having trouble breathing. Apparently this isn’t unusual with a spinal anesthesia, since the numbness can spread to your chest and make it hard for you to feel yourself breathing, even though you’re getting enough oxygen. Still, they hooked me up to oxygen just to be safe. This turned out to be a good idea, because after a few more minutes, I started wheezing! We think I was having an allergic reaction (though we still don’t know to what). The anesthesiologist gave me some epinephrine, which reversed the effects pretty quickly. Hallelujah!

…Then at the same time my breathing issues started, my husband began feeling woozy from the chemical smell of the room. He tried to get the anesthesiologist’s attention, but he was trying to get me stabilized. So the Mister tried to make his way out of the room…and passed out on his way out the door! Luckily, a nurse caught him, and they were able to revive him without any issues. Double hallelujah! ???

Blessedly, the rest of the surgery went well, and we delivered a perfectly healthy baby girl. Whew!

After all that chaos, I was eager for a calm moment with my baby. I had to wait about 20 minutes while they ensured I was stable enough to hold her, but when we finally got to have that little moment, she did something amazing that I’ve read about but never seen: she army crawled from one side of my chest to the other, looking for food! Apparently, this ability to crawl fades in the first few hours after birth. It was so neat to see her move on her own…and boy was she hungry! She latched like a champ, and by the end of our first couple days, the RN dubbed her the best eater on the floor. She was definitely channeling her inner hobbit, which was super appropriate, since she was born on J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday! 😀

The Aftermath

Our days of recovery in the hospital were a welcome time of R&R. Our 2-year-old son visited every day. Although he was intrigued by the baby, he was MUCH more interested in her bassinet at first (the little dude loves wheels!), but once we brought her home, he became OBSESSED with her! He gives her fist bumps and hugs, blows kisses, pats her head, and “takes inventory” of her facial features. I love that he’s so eager to love her. I just hope those feelings stick around when she’s old enough to play with his toys!

We took her home on a Sunday, and since we felt up to it, we went to church on the way home. It was the Feast of the Epiphany, a very baby-centric feast day. As I celebrated Mass with my newly expanded family, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We were all healthy, happy, and safe. It doesn’t get much better than that, right? 🙂

 

Home Base: Baby Love

Life before the Little Miss already feels like a long time ago. It’s hard to remember her NOT being here. And her personality is already shining through.

Like many babies, she’s all about those creature comforts. Sleeping, eating, and being cozy are her life goals (#HobbitLife), but even at 1 month old, she’s already very much her own person. After a long nurse and a nap, her greatest love is to look around and soak in her world (lights and patterned shirts/blankets/curtains are strong favorites). She gets bored quickly, often wanting a change of scenery after just a few minutes, so she’s happiest when we walk her around the house, holding her up so she has a good view. I remember her brother staring at things with a calm, studious look on his face at this age, but she wears an expression of wonder and awe, like everything is a beautiful revelation. Catching her looking at ME like that is one of the most heartwarming things that’s ever happened to me. Heart=melted! ?

I’m also continually amazed at just how strong she is. Before she was 2 weeks old, she could lift and turn her head without much help, roll from one side to the other, and wiggle herself up from laying flat in my arms to up on my chest. We like to joke that no one told her she’s a baby.

This strength amazes me even more when I take into account the fact that she’s technically 3 weeks younger than her brother was when he was born (he was born almost 12 days late, and she was delivered 1 week before her actual due date). Not only is she just as strong as he was, she’s taller and heavier too! Then again, it probably shouldn’t surprise me. After all, we’ve all heard about the fabled secret strength of hobbits. 🙂

…and right now the little lady needs a meal, but you’ll hear from me again soon!

I’ll continue republishing my favorite past recipes every Thursday during my hiatus, and new recipes will resume in April.

The new recipes will be reader requested, so email me here if there’s a recipe you’d like me to make! 😀