Papa Returns to Work

Sleepy Smily Baby!

In a few days, Papa will return to work. After having him at home for the entire month of August, it will feel strange.

We had gotten into a nice routine:

I would remain in bed in the morning with the baby, while my husband woke up early with the older girls. He would play with them, feed them breakfast, and then clean up. The baby and I would be up shortly thereafter. After a nursing session, and a quick bite of my own, I would head to a park with the older girls while Papa stayed home with the baby. 

We would return from the park in time for lunch. After lunch, I would hang out with the baby. My husband would put our middle daughter down for a 2 hour nap. Then he and our oldest would go for a swim, or out for a bike ride or a walk. 

After dinner, Papa would get the girls ready for bed while the baby and I hung out some more, mostly nursing. The older girls were usually asleep by 20:30. The baby would stay up until about 22h, after which she would wake up every three hours for more milk.

On the occasion that the older girls would wake up in the middle of the night, my husband would attempt to return them quickly to the land if nod.

And so our routine is coming to an end. Why must fathers be in such a rush to return to work after a new baby's arrival? The kids were rather enjoying being at home with two parents!

The Two Big Sisters: their reactions

Loving older sister!

Trying to climb up the glider to see her new sister

Our little lady!

Upon the baby's birth, I sent a photo to my sister, who in turn showed it to my toddler. She cried, and declared " I don't want another baby!"

Two days after her arrival, our newborn baby met her two older sisters. Much to my surprise, our toddler was very affectionate. She welcomed her new sister, asked to hold her, and has since been a very helpful older sister. She regularly helps with diaper changes, and additionally enjoys burping her new sister.

I was initially worried that our toddler would be displeased with her new sibling. About a month prior to her birth, we explained to our toddler that she would soon have a new sister. She countered that NO, it would be a brother! We found it almost impossible to explain that she could not simply choose the gender. She had even named her "brother" and told anyone willing to listen...but as soon as she met her new sibling, she seemed to accept her unconditionally!

Baby # 2's reaction was very different. When she spotted her new sister for the first time, I believe she thought of her as a doll. She tried to take her from me, and would not take no for an answer!. Since then, she has mostly been intrigued by her new sibling. She points to her different body parts, asking us to name them...And she no longer thinks of her sister as a doll; when asked to point out her new little sister, she appropriately points to baby #3.  She has even started to "nurse"her dolls.

Hopefully all this sisterly love will continue...

Baby #3's Dramatic Arrival

Holding her baby sister for the first time!

I had expected our third daughter's arrival a good week before she made her appearance. We had packed our bags, placed them in the car, and even sent our two girls to Grandma's, so sure was I that the baby would arrive a week earlier.

I had been woken up at 4 am by mildly tender contractions, and started timing them. They were 5 minutes apart! While I waited for my husband to return from dropping the girls off at Grandma's, much to my surprise, I fell asleep. 

As the contractions were not tender enough to keep me awake, we decided to delay the trip to the hospital. The following day, we picked the girls up from Grandma's as the contractions had not progressed.

This went on for the entire week leading up to the baby's arrival.  My contractions occurred every 5 to 20 minutes, but they were not tender. Thankfully, my husband had a week of vacation scheduled that same week, so he was able to help out with the girls.

On Friday August 9, I had a doctor's appointment. On exam, she declared my cervix to be 4 cm open, and 50% effaced. After performing a sweep of my membranes, she predicted that the baby would arrive in the next 24 hours.

Within 30 minutes of leaving the doctor's office, my contractions became mildly painful, and more frequent, occurring every 5 to 15 minutes. Things progressed rather slowly during the day. But finally at around 18h, I declared myself ready to go to the hospital. So we packed our girls into the car, and my husband dropped me off at the hospital on his way to Grandma's.

I arrived at the case room around 18:20h. After mentioning the frequency of my contractions, and that this was my third pregnancy, I was asked to wait in the waiting room! "I won't be sitting," I explained to the nurse that asked me to wait, "I will be walking back and forth as it it too painful to sit."

15 minutes later, I was summoned to a reclining chair where two monitors were attached just over my uterus. One to monitor the frequency and intensity of the contractions, and the other to measure the baby's heart rate.

After approximately 1 hour on the monitor, at 19:45, my cervix was examined by a nurse. I was told I was now 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced, and that "I guess we will admit you". The nurse then paged my doctor to let her know that I was in the hospital, but that "she could take her time". By this point, my husband had dropped the girls off at Grandma's and wanted to know if he could get a quick bite to eat on the way back to the hospital. I replied that I was only 5 cm, and probably we had a few hours before baby's arrival.

The same nurse then escorted me to a delivery room, and asked me to get changed. Little did she know that 30 minutes and a few contractions later, our baby would arrive!

She left the room while I got changed, but quickly returned when she heard me screaming. She then summoned the resident, medical student, and attending doctor as she now suspected that things would progress quickly. She called my own doctor back to let her know that she should not take her time, and I texted one word to my husband: "Hurry!"

The baby arrived at 20:16, one minute before my obstetrician arrived, and 3 minutes before my husband entered the room. I had a particularly painful contraction, I grabbed the attending doctor next to me and screamed. "Something's coming out" I kept screaming, over and over again, although I was not pushing. In fact I was trying to hold "it" in...but to no avail. 30 seconds later, our third daughter made her sudden appearance. 

My husband arrived on time for the delivery of the placenta. The medical student had cut the cord, and the senior resident on call had expertly delivered the baby. So that's what it's like to deliver a baby without an epidural, I thought to myself!

My husband and I were disappointed that he had missed the baby's delivery. Had the initial cervical exam by the nurse been incorrect? Or had I simply progressed very, very quickly? I suspect it was a little of both, but in the end we could not be happier with the arrival of our lovely, healthy third daughter!

Baby #3

Born August 9 2013 @ 20:16h
more to follow...

Baby Countdown

Enjoying their new Arts and Crafts table

As we count down the days to baby #3's arrival, many thoughts have gone through my head.  Here are the top 5:

5. Was I really pregnant with two different babies in the same year? Yes, the year was 2012. Baby # 2 arrived in February, and I was pregnant again in December.

4. Will I really be breastfeeding two different babies in the same year? Probably. I nursed Baby # 2 until February of this year, and will likely be nursing Baby #3 in a matter of days.

3. Did I really give away most of our baby items? Yes. So sure were we that we were done having babies, that by November 2012, we had given away a baby bassinet, an infant car seat, a baby swing, an activity mat, and all of our baby clothes for 0-9 months!

2. Are we still really living in a small condo barely large enough for the four of us? Sadly, yes.

1. Are we really about to have three kids under the age of 4? What were we thinking?  I still haven't figured that one out!