After welcoming our first daughter “Baby G” motherhood washed over me with all it’s JOY, LOVE, EXCITEMENT, and EXHAUSTION and I loved every second of it! My husband and I were on cloud 9 learning how to be parents to a beautiful and independent little lady. Quickly after her first birthday we were entertaining the idea of trying for Baby #2 when unbeknownst to us we were already Expecting! I remember getting a very faint line on the first test and immediately running to the store to buy a digital test to further confirm that we would in fact have two children under two in just a few more months! “Baby G” had been born in March 2015 and now our new little bundle of joy was due in January 2017!

I also remember buying the book “DADA” by Jimmy Fallon and asking my hubby to read it to “Baby G” as was our nightly routine to read books before we put her down for the night. I had written, “DADA to Two” on the last page of the book and I still have the video where he reads it out loud in disbelief and then begins crying. We were both elated and nervous at the same time about our growing family!

Pregnancy

This pregnancy, just like my prior one, was very enjoyable. I loved that my body conscious concerns were less during this pregnancy and because I was chasing a toddler there was less time to focus on any other pregnancy symptoms. Truthfully, I do recall taking naps with my toddler to survive the tiredness that comes with the first trimester, but after that I felt amazing!

We also decided to find out the gender of our newest addition at our 20 week anatomy scan, which revealed most importantly a very healthy baby. We shared the exciting news that “Baby G” would be getting a sister to friends and family when Hubby hit a golf ball in our backyard that exploded with Pink powder! Life was about to get even more Pink around our home!

During this pregnancy we also decided to sell and buy a new home, which was a bit stressful! I would not necessarily recommend this and I share it because it’s another reason this pregnancy was a literal blur! I was busy with a toddler, a move, a full time job, and this pregnancy with “Baby A” flew! In hindsight it was a great decision to gain more space for our growing family and be closer to our extended family for support!

Pre-Labor

It was the final Friday of working in office, before I was planning to begin working from home ahead of “Baby A’s” due date. I remember my Mom coming to pick Gracyn and I up because we were carpooling some at the time and I told her I wasn’t feeling well and was considering just staying home. She convinced me to get dressed and go on in even if only to drop “Baby G” off at daycare which was conveniently located at work. Luckily by the time we made it to work I was feeling better so after dropping G off I went to my office to wrap a few things up.

While in the office I started to feel more uncomfortable and around 10:30am I called my Mom to come get me so we could just walk around a nearby mall. I truly did not think this was going to be “Baby Day”, but rather I just thought I was having an off morning. During the 10 minute drive from my office to the mall things intensified quickly. My Mom realized this and brilliantly suggested that I call my OB office to see if they could squeeze me in. I honestly was just very irritable at this point ,but went along with her request. Luckily my office, the mall, my OB office, and the hospital I deliver at are all very close together so I was in the waiting room in no time! But by the time I got to the office my pain had intensified to the point where I couldn’t sit, I could only pace in the waiting room. The sweet lady at the desk realized and ushered me back to the room very quickly.

Active Labor

I’m going to jump right on into active labor because my sweet doctor was in the room and checking me within minutes of arriving. I was at 4cm already! Thankfully my OB office and the hospital are literally connected so I just waddled over and my OB called ahead to have the delivery room ready. My Mom was still with me and she quickly called my husband to leave work and join us right away. Once in the delivery room things did not slow down! I remember feeling relieved when I was finally changing out of my clothes into the gown, but then not being able to focus on questions from the intake nurse because my contractions were so intense.

To this day I’m not sure if I’m good at masking pain or if the nurse was just was too focused on asking me my personal information to miss how quickly I was progressing. Luckily, my husband arrived and was able to not only field her questions, but also swing into hero mode by applying counter pressure to my back given I was having intense back labor! To the point where, I could not just sit on the bed or lie down. I was only comfortable with the back of the hospital bed fully up on my knees with my head pressed into the top while my husband pushed on my back. My Mom was also still in the room and was growing more concerned as my pain was becoming more and more visible. She requested that the nurse get a doctor to come check me.

The next thing I knew the on call OB who was not my OB came in as my water broke. Once my water broke I had the intense urge to push and then then my delivery room became a flood of activity as the same nurse who was so focused on asking me one million questions realized that “Baby A” was crowning.

Meeting Baby

I just remember saying, “I can’t do this!” and “Help Me!” over and over! Talk about dramatic! My mother who is normally a take charge kind of person was praying in the corner. Luckily an older nurse came up and got right in my face and I vividly remember her saying, “Yes, you can! You are the only one who can do this!” It was exactly what I needed to hear. Somehow I faced the reality that I was doing this without the epidural because I didn’t have any other choice! My own OB also ran through the door just in time to coach me through the final pushes. Our little “Baby A” arrived in just two pushes and right before a snow storm. My doctor almost missed her arrival because she was heading out to switch her vehicle to a 4×4 to prepare for the impending storm and someone paged her to come back.

“Baby A” arrived at 1:03pm roughly 30 minutes after my husband had gotten to the hospital. She also had arrived 4 days ahead of her due date, which I was shocked by since I had gone 8 days past my due date during my last pregnancy!

I remember being enamored by how tiny “Baby A” was and to this day she is still my smallest baby at 7lbs. 8 oz.!

Beyond

Introducing “Baby A” to “Toddler G” will forever be one of the sweetest memories I have in this life! I can also still recall how sweet the blueberry pancake dinner was that I enjoyed after a long day of not eating.

“Baby A” just turned 6 and when I think back her quick arrival, I am still in awe of my own Mother’s presence in this story and her being my voice of reason! I honestly think I may have had “Baby A” in the mall if I had stuck with my stubborn plan! I also had never dreamed of having my Mother in the delivery room, but she was exactly the person I needed to advocate for me and guide me through this delivery alongside my husband.

Since I didn’t receive an epidural or any pain medication with “Baby A’s” birth I was able to take a shower within hours of giving birth. When I had the epidural with Gracyn I was restricted for a while due to mobility and I must say that having a shower after delivery just hits different. The warm water just transforms me and allowed me a few minutes of gratitude for my body, a healthy baby, and a happy toddler and a moment of clarity to process all that had just unfolded. After this epic shower was a cozy, weekend full of baby snuggling because I had the perspective of how quick those fresh 48 hours with a newborn go! As I mentioned our “Baby A” had arrived ahead of a snow storm and so we were lucky to have family visit that evening to meet her, but then we were literally snowed into the hospital for the rest of our stay. The next morning, “Baby A”, hubby and I woke up to a winter wonderland. We spent the rest of the weekend bonding before going home to become a family of four!