Mommy-Type Stuff

Our little Joy entered the world recently and we can't believe how she slipped into our lives right when she did. I've had a wide range of birth experiences ranging from drugged out on magnesium to paralyzed from the waist down to full on pitocin raging natural labor to back labor with an almost 9 lb baby. The last two deliveries were painful to say the least and I was a little worried but hopeful hers would be the best experience of all without the pain, I was so scared of the pain.

I was able to schedule an induction and so we showed up and they hooked me up to the monitors. I was having pretty regular braxton hicks but was only at a 3. So I got the epidural inserted. It made my blood pressure drop pretty drastically while I was getting my catheter inserted and I had to have oxygen during that. I asked Brent to give me a blessing for comfort. And from that point on it was completely smooth sailing. They started my pitocin and broke my water and doctor said he'd come check me at 3 hours. I just rested and relaxed and probably could have slept if people weren't in and out the whole time.

Then at 2 hours I felt pressure. I told the nurse and she just had me switch positions and that relieved the pressure a bit but then the other nurse had me switch back to my side soon after. The pressure didn't hurt but was still there. Luckily the doc came in a little earlier than 3 hours to check me. With wide eyes he said, you're ready to go! So they got everything ready speedy quick and then they had me start pushing. 9 minutes later she was born, easy peasy lemon squeezy. It was surreal how easily she came. Like where was all the pain and drama!?! It shouldn't be that easy! But I'm grateful it was!

Her cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times which scared me but they said that's pretty common and she had a lot of junk to clear so I kept feeling worried but none of the staff seemed worried at all and kept assuring me she was fine. And she was!

And she nursed fantastically. We just loved on her and enjoyed our girl for a few hours. Then we had the rest of the kids join us.

Izzy came first and I don't think she understands that the baby came out of me but she loves her and is happy she is ours and doesn't seem upset in the least about it.

The other 3 came later and they love her too!

It got a little chaotic in the hospital room... here's my face when it was getting crazy...

After a bit Brent took the 3 younger kids down to get some dinner from the cafeteria. Charlie and my mom stayed to get some quiet time with the baby. Then they joined them and I was alone for a few hours while Brent got the kids settled at home with my mom and then came back to spend the night with me. Not sure why we always have Brent spend the night, he sleeps through it all and I take care of the baby all night long. Ha ha.

The next day was spent getting discharged! Yay! It was weird going home so fast but awesome at the same time. We got home pretty soon after the kids got off the bus.

The next few days were a blur of exhaustion and news filtering in about everything getting shut down for Covid-19. We were already going to be "social distancing" ourselves but the rest of the country is apparently joining us. Kinda crazy. No school, no church meetings, and Mom decided she better get home before it gets much crazier. She got home and a couple days later the earthquake hit and she's grateful she's home for that since the airport got damaged.

Anyway, in the midst of all of that Brent had his birthday. He went mountain biking with the boys and just started work up again yesterday. Now elective surgeries are getting canceled so it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

So while the world feels uncertain and strange, we are here loving on our baby and enjoying our time together as a family.