SO, here we are: one week and two days since child #3 came into our lives. In my last post before her birth, I mentioned my induction. The doctor said the hospital could call me to come in anywhere from 4 AM until noon! So I planned for that; had a neighbor on stand-by and a friend for later for watching the boys. All worked out though because they didn’t call me until 10:45 AM. My neighbor came over until my mother could get here, around 2 PM.

Got into a Labor and Delivery room around 11:30 AM and the process began. It was pleasant at first: minor contractions, not too much discomfort. Ash and I chatted with the nurse and things were progressing well, according to my doctor. I am glad I scheduled this because it meant he could be there, and he’s an awesome doctor. At some point, he broke my water and things got going. As much as I didn’t really want to, I opted for the epidural. I’ve done this before and you know what? You don’t get a badge for having a baby without pain meds. You just get pain. And I decided I just didn’t want it. All was fine until transition, when I got very itchy and very panicky. But then it was pushing time. I’m pretty sure I only spent 20-30 mins pushing but it felt like hell. It hurt worse than I remembered and I didn’t feel like I was making much progress. I admit, I started to lose it at one point, wanted to stop pushing and give up. But both Ash and my doc snapped me back to reality and  got baby Dakota into our world.

Thankfully, she didn’t break the 8 pound mark, as they’d guesstimated. She was 7 pounds, 14 ounces – my largest baby but also the one who stayed in there the longest. (Ell= 37.5 weeks; Isaac= 38 weeks 6 days. Dakota = 39 weeks 3 days.) I was pretty relieved at that point and just so damned happy knowing, in the back of my mind, I won’t ever have to go through that again. Though pregnancy is a beautiful and wondrous experience, it culminates in this tumultuous crescendo, thankfully ending in a beautiful child. She was born around 7 PM and by about 9 or 9:30, I moved into a recovery room and sent Ash home. I’m always surprised when nurses act like husbands should stay. I have two boys at home; it was best for him to go. Also, the furniture in the recovery rooms is NOT made for sleeping, that’s for sure.

This time, the hospital did exactly as I wanted: let me go when all was well, even though it was not a full 48 hours. I left around 4 pm Monday and was I ever glad to be home! My mother stayed until Wednesday when we had gotten back to semi-regular around here. The boys really only had issues that first day in recovery: Elliot acted like a fool on crack (his way of coping?) and Isaac, though he promised me he was ready to be a big boy, cried and cried, saying he wanted to still be my little baby. Luckily, that faded away and by Tuesday, he was acclimated. He’s been a big help and very sweet; he’s very concerned about her. Elliot, on the other hand, is just ready to go back to school. So bored with everything and negative too. He’s ok when given tasks, so I am having him do all kinds of little things, lest I lose patience with him and ship him off to military school. Do they start them that young?

This week, Ash will go back to work half-days and Elliot and I will hang with Dakota and do things around the house. I feel better each day and more like me again. There’s always a readjustment period. Last night, I leaned over on the couch towards Ash and found myself on my stomach, instantly springing back, out of habit. No baby in there anymore; it’s ok!

So now, I must begin making lists of the projects I want to accomplish while on leave. There’s a week until Ell goes back to school so or routine will change  again but once that’s settled, I can begin the weeks of just baby and me. It’ll be fun; let’s call it a vacation.

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Songs about cars? Ok then!

You know how I feel about Rob Zombie…

My dad loved this song so it kind of reminds me of being young.

And here’s a cute one from Cake.