Welcome Sammy-long post w/lots of pics

Samantha James 

Birth Story:

Originally induction was planned for May 14th, but since my platelet count had risen instead of fallen, Dr. Lohr said she didn't feel it was necessary to do an induction since I was hoping to avoid one. She asked me to get my blood drawn on Tuesday morning (5/13) so that we could decide what our plan would be. We spoke on the phone Tuesday afternoon and she said my platelets had dropped to 131. She said it was really up to me since I wasn't in the danger zone, so I decided to hold off and possibly push off induction until the following week in hopes that I would go into labor on my own. I went in on Wednesday for a cervical check and she said I had progressed to 3 cm dilation. Although she was fine holding off on induction until the following Tuesday, after talking it over with John, I changed my mind and decided to go ahead with the induction on 5/15 since waiting only ran the risk that my platelets would drop further. 

We arrived at the hospital at 7 am to check in and the nurse started Pitocin around 8 am. It was the nurse's birthday, which was kind of a fun coincidence. Dr. Lohr came in around 9:15 and broke my water and I was about 4 cm dilated. I endured painful contractions until about 11 at which point I requested the epidural. I was about  8 cm dilated at that point. Thankfully, the nurse quickly found the anesthesiologist and she was ready to administer the epidural within 10 minutes of my request. Unfortunately, the first anesthesiologist had trouble placing it and she had to attempt twice before calling on another anesthesiologist to help her. They had to give a shot of local anesthetic each time they attempted, which really burned and the entire process took much longer than it should have to place the epidural. It was really uncomfortable, but from that point on, I felt no pain at all. By 2:30 I was 10 cm dilated, but Dr. Lohr was in surgery, so we kind of waited so that she could deliver Sammy rather than the other doctor who was also working that day. At 3:30 she arrived and I was ready to push. It only took 15 minutes and went really smoothly. I got a few stitches, but that part of the delivery was much easier than it was with Grace. When I delivered Grace there were about 10 people in the room including a team of NICU doctors who were there in the event she needed assistance since her heart rate was dropping during each contraction, which was scary. This time, the only people in the room were John, Dr. Lohr, my nurse, and possibly one other nurse (I can't remember at what point she came in). It was much more relaxed and calm. 

At this hospital, the policy is that the baby does skin to skin on mama for the first two hours of life, so Sammy was placed on my chest where she stayed until 5:45 pm. By the time they were ready to weigh her and give her a bath, my epidural had worn off and I was able to be out of bed taking photos as John helped out. She loved her bath and didn't fuss at all. 

So far Sammy is the sweetest little baby and really calm. She is sleeping well and eating well. Breastfeeding has been going much more smoothly than it did initially with Grace and Sammy is a champion pooper. She eats about every 2-2.5 hours so I am getting some sleep in small increments. Luckily she goes back to sleep pretty easily after each feeding so far, so that helps maximize the amount of time we both get to sleep in between feedings. 

We visited Dr. Collins this afternoon for her first checkup and everything is looking great. Dr. Collins said she is perfect. She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces, which is fantastic because it usually takes babies 10 days to get back to birth weight and she has surpassed that in only 5. 

So far Grace is handling all the changes really well and she is a terrific big sister. She helps me with diaper changes, brings me the boppy when it's time for Sammy to eat, and brings me water to drink when I am breast feeding. She is very happy to have both Daddy and Gem here entertaining her while I am attending to the baby. She asks to hold Sammy sometimes and is learning how to be really gentle when she touches her. 

We are thrilled with our new addition and adjusting to life as a family of four. We feel lucky to have a baby that is so relaxed because that makes the transition much easier on us.