Brigitte Lee was born on Monday, June 4th after a relatively smooth delivery. I went to bed on Sunday night feeling crampy and just very “blah.” I was awake every few hours to try to get comfortable (as usual) and I recall hearing Eric getting up to start getting ready for work. It was strange because I remember thinking to myself, “I should just tell Eric to stay home today” because I was feeling so lousy and I knew I still had to take care of Natalie. Plus, I had a thought in the back of my mind that the 4th would be the day! But since I wanted him to save up as much sick time as possible to use after the birth, I didn’t say anything.
As it turned out, it was the day! After I got out of bed, I noticed that I lost my mucus plug- which was the first sign that things could be happening! Then after getting Natalie up and fed at about 7am, I started feeling what I thought were tiny contractions- just small feelings of tightness in and around my lower tummy. I wasn’t really convinced they were the real thing, but by about 8am they were consistent. They weren’t exactly comfortable at this point, but they weren’t unbearable either, so I still had my doubts. Nonetheless, I decided to call Eric at work to come home. I was very worried that if this were it, things would progress faster than I’d want and then I’d be in a position where I couldn’t care for Natalie. So after I reached Eric and gave him an update, he made his way home. As soon as he arrived, he called his mom to come over (she was our on-call person to take care of Natalie) and I hopped in the shower- I didn’t know when my next one would be and I wanted to be clean!
At this point during my shower, contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and only lasted maybe 30 seconds at most. I’d hunch over in the shower and let the hot water run against my back, which was somewhat relaxing. I took my time in the shower and then dressed myself and made sure my hospital bag was ready to go. Eric and I said our goodbyes to Natalie and left for the hospital at about 9:30am. Even though contractions were steady, consistent and kind of painful at this point, I still had fears that it was just false labor and we’d be sent right back home! There was no questioning with Natalie, as my water broke before contractions started. I was surprised it was different this time around.
During our drive to the hospital in Walnut Creek, it started to rain! I thought it was so strange to be raining in June! As Eric drove safely along the highway, I was thankful that we’d passed the morning commute. I think I had a good 4 or 5 contractions during the 15 minute drive.
Then we made our way to labor and delivery, where we were checked in and sent to triage. At about 10am, I was checked by the triage nurse who informed us I was 3.5cm dialated and about 95% effaced. So they admitted us and said they would move us into a labor room. We spent a good hour or two In triage filling out paperwork in-between contractions as we waited for the room to be prepared. Finally around noon we were moved.
Contractions were painful at this point, so much so that I just cried and kind of moaned through them. I remember Eric pointing out that I’d kind of twitch and shake my hands and feet as well. I requested an epidural shortly after we were settled into the room and luckily the anesthesiologist came quickly (after multiple attempts to secure an IV, yet again). The nurse gave me an intravenous dose of fentanyl before the epidural was administered so I’d remain still. And it wasn’t bad at all- again, I thought getting the IV line secured was more painful! Right after the epidural was secured, the nurse checked my progress at about 12:45pm and we were happy to learn that I was at 6cm already!
Then we just kind of hung out and tried to relax a little, now that I was way more comfortable. Eric had lunch and we watched the monitor screen to my right make hills and mountains of my contractions even though I hardly felt them! Then my water broke at maybe 3pm, so I paged the nurse. She did a quick check and told me that I was at 9.5cm.
It went fast from this point- I immediately started shaking and shivering, which the nurse said was common during transition. She then paged for the midwife, Christiana, and once she arrived and was prepped, I started pushing. The nurse and midwife coached me through each contraction, while remaining calm and positive. It wasn’t stressful at all, which I really appreciated. They gave me oxygen in-between pushes and said that I was pushing very well. It wasn’t quite painful until I started to feel her head crowning- then I felt that excruciating burning sensation until she finally popped out at 4:11pm.
The midwife immediately placed her on my chest and the first thing I noticed was that she was so purple and had such chubby cheeks! Eric studied her face (which was facing toward him) and I remember him making some sort of comment that she had a “butt chin,” which freaked me out. But once I got a good look at her face, I saw that she did not- maybe a little dimple, but definitely no butt chin! And she looked so different from Natalie! Rounder face, more hair, smaller eyes, longer fingers and toes- I was expecting them to look more similar for some reason.
Eric cut the umbilical cord, which was unusually large and thick according to the medical staff. But it served its purpose! Then we gave a go at nursing before she was taken away for a few minutes to be weighed and measured. I was shocked to learn that she weighed in at 8 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 20 inches- a full pound heavier than Natalie but interestingly the same length. We figured all that extra weight must have been in those chubby cheeks!
While Eric snapped pictures of Brigitte being checked out, the midwife worked on my repair... sadly, I suffered the same as after Natalie, which I was hoping to avoid. Oh well. And I was starving! I hadn’t eaten anything but a little muffin early that morning, so my nurse brought me a dinner plate of chicken, steamed veggies, soup and some juice. Kaiser fare is edible at best, but I scarfed most of it down. Then of course I immediately threw all of it up :(. I should have known that my body was in complete shock and tried to eat a little slower!
After a little while, we made a few phone calls to tell everyone of Brigitte’s arrival and invited some of our immediate family to come visit. Elaine was the first to come and hold her, followed by my Dad, Sally, Sarah, JoEllen and of course Natalie. We were moved to a recovery room before most everyone arrived and it was so sweet to see Natalie get excited over her new baby sister- she immediately reached out to hold her!
Elaine brought a ton of goodies and gifts, as to be expected from Elaine- a beautiful handmade baby blanket for Brigitte, a little Crayola coloring set for Natalie and a big bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies for me! I just love my sister, she spoils me so much!
Visiting hours were soon over so everyone headed home, including Eric, who spent the night at our house with Natalie. Since everything had gone so smoothly, there was really no reason for him to stay overnight with me (not to mention sleep in an uncomfortable futon chair). Plus, I wanted him to be there for Natalie to keep her on her usual routine. Elaine stayed with me in my recovery room for a while longer and we just chatted and held the new baby before we called it a night. It was nice to have the company.
Early the next morning, after a good few hours of sleep, Brigitte was checked and taken for a newborn hearing test. Then Eric and Natalie came later that morning and we tried to enjoy our “celebration lunch”- a nice meal that Kaiser gives to all new parents. But it was hard to manage with both kids, especially Natalie, who was nearing her nap time. So they returned home and I told them I’d call when Brigitte and I were ready to be discharged.
Then we just waited for both Brigitte and I to be cleared. We both checked out happy and healthy, so we were able to leave the hospital that day at around 5pm, just about 24 hours after Brigitte officially arrived. I was so glad to be leaving- I missed Eric and Natalie and I just wanted to get up out of that horribly uncomfortable hospital bed and make a mad dash to my shower at home!
Brigitte didn’t make a peep in the car on the way home. I arrived home to a lavishly decorated house, complete with balloons, streamers, signs and flowers (courtesy of Elaine, with Eric’s help) which was so nice! I was so excited that Brigitte was being celebrated, as she and all new babies should be. And then we resumed life as usual, as best we could. We gave Natalie a bath and put her down to bed while Brigitte slept.
And just like that, we were a new little family of 4 :)
