Baby Sister

Waiting nine months for a baby is a long time for everyone and even more so for a 3 year old.  Jacob seemed to understand that there was a baby in my belly from early on, but it must have felt like forever!    We talked A LOT over those 9 months about mommy going to the hospital, that he would stay with his grandparents, and we would bring home a baby.  Then we talked a lot to make sure that he knew that his new baby sister would be here to stay and she would be part of our family.  The night before, we had another long talk as he was falling asleep.  I knew that life was about to change.  Very surreal.  I keep using that word.  Surreal.  I worried a lot about how he would adjust.  Jacob is a mama's boy and always has been.  He feels all of his emotions intensely and struggles with patience....don't we all?   A part of me was sad for him.  Sharing us was not going to be easy.  But a larger part of me was thrilled for me.  Siblings are a huge blessing and I couldn't wait to give him such a loving gift.  Because he feels all of his emotions so intensely, I knew that his love for her would be the same.  Intense.  And I was right.

After she was born, I couldn't wait to see Jacob!  It was all I was thinking about.  My parents waited...and waited...and waited at the hospital for 6 hours for the birth and for me to get into a postpartum room before they could meet her.  Then, they left to go pick up Jacob and bring him back to the hospital to meet Anna.  By the time they got back, we had both of my in laws and Jared's grandparents in the room with us. He was clearly overwhelmed when he walked in to a room full of people. He didn't seem overwhelmed and I just asked everyone to let him be.  I knew he would come over when he was ready.  Everyone just visited and chatted for awhile.  I caught his eye at one point and asked if he was ready to meet his baby sister.  He said yes and Jared brought him over.  He looked down and I will never forget the genuine smile on his face the first time he laid eyes on his new little best friend.  

He fell just as hard for her as we did.  He doted on her, touching and kissing her face.  My mama heart melted into a puddle.  The nurse was amazed at how quickly and sweetly he took to her.  She gave him some big brother stickers.  He immediately asked to hold her, and tried to share his transformer toys and stickers with her. 

And he hasn't stopped doting on her.  He truly understands that she has needs.  He doesn't resent her, he's rarely angry at me for needing to care for her.  He has been sad a few times.  The first few weeks alone was hard because she had to nurse so often and he wanted me to play with him.  His love language is quality time....and it's hard to spend time with your 3 year old playing with his hotwheels with a baby nursing.  We made it work though.  Lots of hours spent with him standing beside my chair, running cars on our boppy nursing pillow while baby sister nursed.  He continues to amaze me.  I adore him. And I am so proud of his love for her.  She already watches him so intently.

I'm pretty sure that watching them grow together will be one of the greatest joys of my life.

Anna Corinne Medved

Anna's birth story.  It's taken a few months for me to process.  I agonized over VBAC  vs. repeat cesarean for my entire pregnancy.  I believe in living as naturally as possible and I believe in the power of natural birth.  I believe that natural birth is what is best for both mama and baby.  But I was scared.  Jacob's birth did a number on me, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  It left me feeling scared, incapable, and completely out of control. The number one thing I wanted with Anna's birth was to feel in control. The last thing I wanted was to go through 20+ hours of labor and then head to an emergency c section.   After so many months of agonizing over the decision, I decided to schedule our cesarean 4 days before her due date.  By my calculations, this was actually 4 days after her due date.  My OB (whom I LOVE!) assured me that if I went to into labor prior to my cesarean and things were going well, we could have a vaginal birth.  If I didn't progress or labor didn't start naturally, then I would have a scheduled c section.  This was a win win for me.

It was a very surreal week.  I was hoping and praying for my body to go into labor.  

Father, I trust you.  If I am supposed to, let me go into labor. Please help me.  If not, I trust you and thank you for cesareans.  I trust you. I trust you.

This was my chant for that week.  It was a busy week.  I knew she was coming either way and I had a lot of things I wanted to do.  I contracted on and off all week.  They were tolerable, but very uncomfortable, but I knew she was ready.  I was comforted by that. I was not dilated and she had not dropped at all.   On Wednesday night, I knew that I would not be delivering vaginally, and was so nervous.  My brother and SIL came to care for Jacob the night before and we went to bed, knowing that we would be getting up very soon to meet our little girl.  We went to hospital, checked in, they hooked me up to an IV, and asked me  a million questions.  I was supposed to go in at 7:30, but it was 8:00 before they got me in.  Minutes after this pic was taken, I got up and walked myself into the OR, scared to death and wishing it was over and I was holding my baby.

Overall, the cesarean was really great.  I had a spinal, it worked well, and the section was very fast. NO PAIN! I hardly felt anything.  My doctor was comforting, my anesthesiologist had a funny name and was young and sweet.  My BP kept dropping and I continued to get shaky and nauseous throughout the entire time, but I survived.  The main thing was that I didn't feel any pain.    My OB said,"Jared, you are going to want to see this."  Jared stood up, looked at our baby.  I looked at his face and he was in complete awe.  He sat down and I asked what she looked like. He said, "I don't know." See?  Surreal.

I immediately noticed that we didn't hear crying.  All we heard was gurgling and suctioning.  To make a long story short, they finished my cesarean and continued to suction her.  They said she took a big gulp of fluid, which happens, but she had to go to the nursery for continued treatment.  I barely got to see her and was devastated and very worried.  I immediately started praying for her, Jared followed her, and the doctors finished me up and got me to recovery.  I was so glad to be done.  

In recovery, my BP was up and down and they continued to care for me.  I had no idea that while I was waiting in recovery, feeling awful, that my baby wasn't breathing well on her own and needed oxygen and tons of suctioning.  Jared was with her the whole time.  He and the doctor finally came down an hour later and said she was doing better, but needed to stay on room air for 30 minutes for her leave the nursery. If she didn't, she would have to go to the NICU.  Statistically, breastfeeding is much more difficult to establish and succeed in if baby is in the NICU.  I was so scared.   It was 10:30 and I prayed for a half hour.  At 11:05, she came rolling in with Jared and the pediatrician.  I've never in my life felt so relieved and thanked God immediately.  Her O2 was 92, they put her on my chest to latch, and her O2 shot up to 100!  We finally got to meet, she latched effortlessly, and all was right our world.  

 I fell SO HARD for her.  So totally in love.  She was such a peaceful and sleepy newborn and I truly felt that I was in heaven.   I couldn't believe how easy it was to bond after a better birth experience.  I must have said "I'm so glad it's over" a million times.  She was on my chest and everything was perfect.

Anna Corinne Medved

Born October 22, 2015

8 lbs 5 ounces

20.25 inches

So much love in that hospital room.  Any mother would tell you that the first few days of meeting your new baby are magical and there really is no other way to describe it.  We simply fell so deeply in love with her. And that kind of love is so powerful.

Another post to come on Jacob meeting Baby Sister!

Father, thank you for this most precious gift!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I suck at blogging.  I don't really enjoy it and it is the last thing I want to do after both kids are asleep.  But, I want to remember.  I want to remember every thing about the best time of my life  We brought Anna home 10 weeks ago and it has been an amazing experience.  So different from when Jacob was born.  I will write more on that later.  For now, I just wanted to write a few things down that Jacob has said so I don't forget.

The first time Jacob saw me changing Anna's diaper

"Oh no......Mama.  We lost her penis.  Where is it?"

"Girl's don't have penises.  They have vaginas."

"Baby girls don't have penises?"

"Nope,only baby boys."

"Ohhhhh.....I get it.  Clark has  a penis"

At christmas time, we were driving to Youngstown to help my parents pick out a Christmas tree.  We were about an hour into the drive, down 422, a few minutes before we got to our old church.  Jacob, in a panicky voice, cried out "Daddy, hurry!  I have to pee!  My penis is going to pop off!"  And oh my, did he have to pee!  We stopped at the church and he peed behind the dumpster.  He peed and peed and peed.  And then we heard Anna poop.  So we had to get her out and change her.  Then she had to nurse.  Needless to say, we were very late.

So many kisses and "aww, baby sister!" moments from Jacob.  He adores her.

When I was pregnant, we talked a lot about baby sister and how she would nurse.  He was very fascinated because he remembered nursing and loves boobies.  One particular conversation made me realize how old he is getting!

"Mama, I'm going to nurse baby sister from my boobies!"

"Only Mama's can nurse babies."

"No, I will nurse baby sister."

"Honey, God made Mama's with milk in their boobies for babies.  No one else.  Mama's have milk."

"Oh,,,,can I have some??" (With a cute little grin!) Love him.

I was 38 weeks pregnant and relaxing on the couch with Jacob.  I did that a lot.  I was huge.  Anyway, he was laying on my belly and she kicked him so hard!  He giggled and looked up at me and said, "I was laying on your belly and the baby kicked me right in the head!"

That's all I can think of now.  That's the problem with not posting!  You forget everything so quickly.  More to come later!

 

Pillow Talk

So, our three year old still likes to be rocked to sleep.  For a variety of reasons, most of which I am sure I will be writing about in the future. Anyway, we love rocking him.  Yes, he's huge and doesn't really fit anymore, but that boy can snuggle in like no other.  He finds a way to be comfy.

 Anyway, he says some of the sweetest things right before he falls asleep.  And I never want to miss one of those miracle moments, which is why when he asks, "Mama wants to rock?" I know that he is asking for some time to connect with me and I am happy to oblige.  Tonight, the baby must have been on his mind.  He was all snuggled up and he looked up at me with those sweet blue eyes that turn me to mush.


"There's a baby in there.  I want to touch it." He placed his hand on my belly, and sighed.

"Our baby is beautiful."

Yes, buddy.  Our baby is beautiful.