The arrival of our Sweet Caroline

Caroline is 2 1/2 weeks old and I've been working on this post for almost as equally as long. I haven't actually been on my computer much-- thank goodness for smartphones! Here's a brief rundown of the day we welcomed Caroline into the family and, of course, lots of pictures!

• Night before: Blogged about being 40 weeks pregnant. Disappointed that baby wouldn't likely come on her own and that we'd just head in for the induction on Wednesday. Back was achey so I put off finishing touches of baby prep to do the next day.
• Middle of night: Wake up at 2am. Potty break, which was usual. I was also starving, which was very unusual. Ate a bowl of cereal and cuddled up with heating pad for the rest of the night because my back HURT. 
• 6:15am- Derek's alarm goes off. Normally just roll over and go back to sleep. Back pain kept me up. Was that a contraction? It kinda hurt, not sure. Wait it out a bit. 
• 6:45am- Decide to get up, take shower. Contractions, yes-- they actually really hurt. Three minutes apart. Derek thinks we need to go to hospital asap; I don't have time to do this labor thing yet-- Jackson needs to get to school, I need to finish packing our bags, their bags, etc. I'll reassess this whole labor thing after 8am. I take a shower.
• 7:15am- Wake up Jackson for school. Contractions-- getting worse as I'm up and moving around. Start moving around more frantically trying to get bags packed and ready. Derek continues to gently suggest I stop trying to get things done and to just head to hospital. 
• 7:30am- Derek's parents arrive. He had already called them earlier- smart guy! We give a quick rundown and hand over suitcases. I'm sort of more convinced that this might be the real deal. 
• 7:45am- Quick family prayer before we head to hospital. Derek prays for Mommy as she does hard work to have a baby. Jackson replies, "Well, I'm the one who's going to work the hardest today because I have school!!!"
• 7:45-8:30ish-- En route to hospital. During RUSH HOUR. Basically, this time was spent nagging Derek to drive more smoothly as he wove in and around traffic. Derek remained kind and encouraged me through contractions. When we came upon traffic that was at a complete standstill, Derek jumped on the shoulder and by-passed nearly a mile or two of motorists who were probably swearing at us. 
• 8:30am- Arrive at labor and delivery in tears. Contractions suck and they hurt. The nurse hands me a paper to fill out. Kept silent, but in my mind I was thinking something along the lines of "OHMYGOODNESS ARE YOU STINKIN' KIDDING ME!?!?!?!" I scribble some info and waddle down the longest hall ever to the room. Asked for the epideral. Nurse replies, "well, first we have to see what's going on and determine if this is real labor." Again, I keep quiet despite the shouting going on inside my head. 
• 8:45am- I'm all hooked to the monitors. Baby heartbeat good. Yay! My contractions are peaking at the highest point. Reassured about seeing the contractions visually on the monitor-- like I wasn't making it up. Once I'm in the hospital, time became irrelevant to me and so I have no idea when exactly things happened next, but it's all a guess.
• 9:00am- Contractions have become less mild as I continued to lay still in bed. Nurse asks me to move sometimes and I politely decline because every move I make brings on a contraction. She insists. I move, contraction comes. I hate her; I keep quiet. I hurt all over. Not just contractions. I'm nauseous. I get sick. My back hurts. 
• 9:15am- They give me some sort of pain med in my IV. Makes me SO loopy. Can still feel contractions, but seemed more manageable. Derek laughs at me because I'm incoherent. I'm annoyed because the things I am saying make total sense to me. Whatever. 
• 10:15- Epideral lady arrive. HALLELUJAH! She is SO chatty and explains the process for what feels like an hour. Again, I remain quiet despite my desire to tell her to stop talking and start working. She makes me sit up. I hate her. She works her magic. 
• 10:30ish-- Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!
• 10:30-12:45- Mom arrives. We chill. I rest, I text a few people. I'm starving and can't stop contemplating what I want to eat once we get the show on the road. Derek and Mom both take turns sitting and snuggling. I keep telling the nurses that I'm ready to start pushing, but they keep telling me we have to wait for doc. Took a selfie-- this is my "I just got an epideral face"! 

• 12:45- Doc shows up. Baby is sunny side up. They try to fix that. Ouch! We do the push thing, which is honestly a lot of hard work. Mom and Derek are both great encouragers. Nurse wants me to push harder because the baby's heart rate has decreased and they want her out. ME TOO, Lady! 
• 1:13-- Baby Caroline arrives!!! 

They put her on my chest right away and they did her clean up all around me. I can't stop looking at her. I look up at Derek and I am thankful beyond words that he got to be there with me this time. The way he was looking at our baby girl, I knew he was thinking the same thing! I cried happy tears. :)

Caroline was so alert right after she was born. We just held her and looked at her for about an hour! My favorite part of the day. She was actually quite chatty. She had A LOT to say. It was so cute. I took a video. :)

She was 7 pounds 3 ounces. 

Mom made a lunch run and brought back Panera and Dad came to meet Caroline that afternoon. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Forrest brought Jackson to the hospital after school. Unfortunately, Isabelle got sick right before coming to the hospital. I was bummed, but she just went home with Grammy. We FaceTimed later that day so she was able to see Caroline that evening. We had the news delivered to Jackson at school after Caroline was born and he was eager to meet his new sister!

Caroline gifted Jack a new Pete the Cat book and Jackson read it to her. It was so sweet.

He came the next day after school too. Grandma had printed off a picture of Jackson and Caroline at home and Jackson took it to school to show it off. He was a super proud big brother!

Fortunately, Belle was feeling better and came to visit the second day too. This gal was super excited, but she had the attention span of a gnat and was all over the place. It was pretty humorous. In a matter of about 3 minutes, she gave Caroline her new blanket, held Caroline, found the gifts sitting in the room for her, checked out every corner of the hospital room, and attempted to push every button. She even managed to fall out of a chair-- a task she's mastered for a few years now. I was just relieved that she was so excited! 

There are so many parts of Caroline's birth story that were just how I wished things would go. Which is really so amazing to me because I had really let go of many of those things actually working out that way. From planning to go into an induction, yet being surprised by her appearance on her due date to (relatively) easy delivery happening early in the day. Things worked out for Derek to not have to report to for army duty until the day after we checked out of the hospital and even though the kids came to the hospital separately, they were both super excited. 

My heart is so full and we feel so loved by all of our friends and family who visited in the hospital, who have supplied meals for our family, and who have helped in so many different ways! We are truly blessed!