I have a feeling this post is going to come in several installments....I don't get much time to just sit and type right now!

First I want to comment on what a joy Lorelei is.....of course, she's only 4 days old, but so far she's been a breeze (once she came out, that is!). Eats and sleeps and only the occasional cry here and there. Yes, I have BTDT, so I know that this could very well be her adjusting to her new environment and she could be very different in a few days or weeks, but for now I'm enjoying it.

Lorelei's birth:

Early on Sept 23rd (Tues), George and headed to the hospital for my induction. L had already hung in there for 2-3 weeks longer than her sibs and I easily dilated to 3 in the office, so it was reasonable that I would have an easy induction. Add to it that I was huge and uncomfortable and practically unable to sleep in any position at that point. We did the usual routine- check in at admitting, head over to L&D, get hooked up to the monitors, etc, etc. Dr. T came in right away and broke my water and started he pit- game on!!!

At first, it was easy- peasy.....mild contrax but nothing I couldn't handle. George and I broke out the cards and played a game of 500 rummy (which I won, despite the contrax- go me!!!!). W had a laugh over the fact that the last time we played cards was when in labor with Baz, and I think the time before that it was waiting for Anya! After a little more time, the contrax became more and more painful, so I asked for my epidural.

In the meantime.....Maureen had a nice time with the big kids and got Anya ready and off to school with no problem. She then headed over to the mall with Baz, who directed her to the projection game in the middle of the mall- his fave! He also scored a "Nemo" animated screen for their room. I was just pleased that Anya didn't argue going to school and fight Nana with getting dressed, etc.

Epidural time......it went in fine, but shortly afterward, my BP crashed and the ever-present puke monster showed back up. Thankfully, Dr. C was right there to give me some epinephrine to fight off the puke and bring my BP back and we were good again. However, this is where my uterus and cervix stopped cooperating. Afterward, we found out that L's head was down, but turned to the side. As a result, she couldn't make her way into the birth canal and despite being on the max dosage of Pit, my contrax never became strong and I couldn't dialate past 5-6cms. George and I could hear the OB consulting with her partner and trying to come up with other options, but when the terms "bleeding out" and "hysterectomy" came into play, we knew it was time for a section. (I didn't hear most of this, but I could tell from her face that I was headed for a section.)

Once the decision was made, I was hustled off to the OR, puking all the time. I also knew the situation was a bit more complicated because Dr. B came over to assist, despite an office of patients. Once I managed to get onto the OR table (again, stopping every few seconds to puke), Lorelei made a quick appearance and clearly was happy and healthy. Thankfully, my uterus cooperated from then on and the rest of the procedure went smoothly!

George went off with L to see her getting bathed and share the news with everyone. The big sibs were over the moon at this point. They both wore their big sis and bro shirts (you can see the pics on their site) and couldn't wait to meet their new sis. They were able to see her in the nursery and Anya was allowed to come see me for a few minutes. After a bit, they went off to have dinner and go to bed since I wasn't going to my room for a while and Lorelei needed to be in the nursery for a bit.

I was in recovery for an hour or two (pretty groggy at this point, so I had no concept of time) and was able to rest a bit. I had no pain then, but couldn't stop shivering for anything. The only bad thing at this point was that my epidural was so good that it numbed my arms, so when Lorelei was brought over to me, I couldn't even hold her. George helped out by holding her up to me, but it was so strange to not be able to hold my baby.

I think I was back to my room by 8 or so and very pleased to see that the other bed was empty (it turns out Maureen helped me out with that- thanks Maureen!). By then, my arms were back to life so I could transfer to my bed and start my recovery. My epi was still in, but I was able to make it through the night with just the maintenance dose.

A few hours later, the nursery brough Lorelei to me and I could finally hold my babe. She latched right on and nursed like a champ and I finally felt like I was back on track. The morning was a little rough as I learned what recovering from belly surgery is. The epi came out, but my BP was still a bit low, so I had a lovely bout of puking after taking a bit of my breakfast. THAT is not fun- barfing only a few hours after your gut has been cut open- owie!!! Luckily, it was just once and I was able to eat by lunch, which was a huge relief.

So those are the main highlights of Lorelei's birth- definitely not what I expected, but the end result was- a beautiful and healthy baby.