And then there were five!
Savannah Caroline
7 lbs 2 oz.
19 in.
August 1st at 3:06 pm
Can you believe we have so many children? Me neither.
Let me back up a little...
Being pregnant is a miracle, truly. It's wonderfully beautiful to grow and feel a little baby growing and moving inside your being. Their eyes form, their fingers and toes separate. They grow fingernails and even sometimes suck their thumbs. It's just amazing. God is in the details!
That being said. That I love growing babies and being pregnant and such... I was just so over pregnancy about a month before baby girl joined us. It might have been the whole moving/house situation. Could have been the heat (though we've had a mild summer.) I'm just going to go with that I was so darn excited to meet her and hold her on the outside!
We had just a few things going on the first half of August. Matt's brother got married on August 3rd, so his parents were going to be in town for 12 days and desperately wanted to meet this little girl! Because of the wedding, several of Matt's extended family were going to be in town as well and it's harder to get down to see them. Also going on was a trip for my dad, two of my brothers moving for college, and my mom starting school.
So this is the story of Jackson and this is the story of Graham. Both labors and deliveries were rather fast so I could only imagine little Savannah wouldn't be too different.
We really wanted to avoid an emergency situation this time. No ambulance. No pushing in the car. Just a little more peace. A regular drive to the hospital would be nice. Plus, we weren't able to use our favorite doula this time... and she kept us sane and safe with both of the boys' quick births!
Because we were trying to get to the hospital just a tad bit earlier, I think I was paying much more attention to my body looking for signs of labor. So Saturday night before she was born we actually took a little field trip up to L&D from 3-6 am. It was fun. It was unproductive. We came home without a baby. Turns out baby girl was just tuning up...
Fast forward a few days (with contractions during the night, every night). Since I was awakened by contractions in active labor with both boys I was very aware of my nightly uterus activity.
My dad got back in town from his trip on Monday. Matt's parents arrived in town on Wednesday. We had a lovely dinner with them Wednesday night. So everyone is here. Just hoping baby girl joins us before too long! I woke up Thursday morning around 6:30 with a contraction. Then another. They were anywhere from 4-10 minutes apart. I figured as soon as I got out of bed and got the day started they would go away. They didn't though. I told Matt that maybe this was the day. We both got really excited and then remembered that we should practice "labor denial" a little longer...
So Matt went to work and I went to Target. I do that often. Go to Target just to entertain the boys in the toy isle. I did secretly load my stuff in the car before we left though in case something crazy happened while we were there. We just did our thing rearranging the toys and eating snacks that we'd pay for at check-out. I talked to a few friends... One friend strongly encouraged me to go home and call Matt to come home. She was right. I somehow thought that I could just meet him at the hospital. What in the world was I thinking?
All along the contractions are about 3-7 minutes apart but I had no trouble talking and behaving normally through them. I'd been texting with my doctor so she knew what was going on and kept checking in with me. I think around 11:30 I decided to head home and called Matt and asked him to head home when he could.
I got home, fed the boys and tried to hide my contractions from my brother and the twins' babysitter. Matt got home around 12:30, had a little lunch and put Jackson down for a nap. Then we left (G with the sitter and brother - and my parents were headed home from an appointment). We called all the parents from the car. They were beyond thrilled.
We arrived at the hospital at about 1:30, sped through the labor evaluation where they determined I was already 7 cm dilated and were ushered up to L&D. My doctor met us at the door and got us settled in our room. I have to say that laboring at the hospital isn't so fun. Lots of nurses asking questions. Lots of walking around. And lots of time in between contractions where I felt like a watched kettle. I did appreciate that the residents and my doctor seemed to understand the need for quiet and to leave me alone. The nurses didn't get that memo. Their job required more from me than breathing.
I'm not sure of the time, but at some point I really started to get tired. I started whining. I was uncomfortable, my back hurt, and I was hungry. That's when Dr. suggested I get checked to see how labor was going. Once I lay down I felt much better, and the good news was that I was already 10 cm and ready to go. I got pretty emotional at that point with the excitement of getting to meet baby girl and with the anxiety of the end of labor (i.e. pushing).
After several "I can't do this" and "I just want her out" moments, a few yells (ok, screams), and many comforting words of affirmation from Matt and Dr. we met our sweet sweet Savannah at 3:06.
She was immediately put on my chest and the two of us were covered to rest and recover. It was such a miraculous moment. All cares in the world were lost. I shed a few tears of overwhelming joy and relief. We thanked our heavenly Father. And Matt and I just talked to and gazed at her. She immediately found her thumb and tried to look around. And in that instant, I couldn't imagine life without this precious little one.
With my favorite doctor!
We very quickly had a flood of visitors. Both of Matt's brothers followed by his mom, aunt, grandmother, and a close family friend. His dad had gone to pick up G and J. And not long after they all left, my whole family came to visit. I so wish I had gotten a picture of everyone together. G&J had already met and held her (the first picture) and when the twins got there they were just the cutest showing her off. T&C haven't seen a newborn before and still love checking her out and asking questions about her. I loved that everyone got to meet her on the day of her birth! This little girl is covered in family love!
The boys were very intrigued at her little check-up the next day. Taking notes, I'm sure, for when they get their doctor kits out of storage... And check out their little watches! I found them each Lego watches (from Savannah) that they loved. Nothing says "mature big brother" like a watch right?
Daddy and his daughter. Love.
So protective of her already.
He is always asking to hold her. My heart swells...
About to head home.
(hospital pictures)
My new favorite picture.
All of my loves.
Welcome to our family precious little Savannah! We promise though we may be loud and crazy and you'll probably have to play pirates and knights one day - we can't imagine our family without you!
And a huge thank you to both families for the visits and for so much help watching and feeding the boys. We know they felt very loved through this transition!
