Life is good. And I didn't know it could be this good.
Our sweet little pea was born on March 18th, 2013 at 1543. She weighed 7 lbs and 4 oz and was 21 inches long. Caroline Inga Landon is the name we chose. Caroline is not after anyone, its just a name we both loved and Inga (German) is after Spencer's grandma who passed away about a year ago and might I add the sweetest lady ever.
I wanted to write down Caroline's birth story. Not because it is extremely different or unheard of, but it is hers and that is reason enough.
My doctor decided the safest thing to do was to induce me at 39 weeks due to blood pressures that had been up and down in weeks prior. Prior to Caroline's delivery, I was getting a couple of NST's (non-stress tests) a week, along with Dr. visits to make sure she was handling everything okay- she passed with flying colors each time.
Sunday night (March 17) we called Labor and Delivery around 5:30 pm to ask when to go in. They had to postpone us because of how busy they were and we ended up going in at eleven that night. I think Spencer almost had a heart attack because he was so anxious and thought we'd never get to go. When we got there, they started the induction with cytotec. I was able to sleep pretty well and wasn't in much pain. Every couple of hours I would get more medication to help soften my cervix; however, every time I was checked, I was still a half centimeter in dilation and I never would change. Might I add the contractions got progressively worse throughout the night. I have never been in so much pain in my life. It got to the point that I didn't know if I could physically make it through another contraction. I wanted an epidural soo bad but could not get one yet because I wasn't dilating. The next morning the Dr. tried to rupture my membranes a couple of times but I was not dilated enough to do so. My water finally broke and the contractions got way worse. I thought there was no way I could not be dilating because of how much pain I was in. Spencer was such a great support, I think he rubbed my back for four hours through some of the worst pain. I was so grateful for him. Around two in the afternoon on the 18th, my Dr. talked about a C-section. He said my body wasn't changing at all and he thinks waiting longer would just postpone the inevitable. I was THRILLED at the idea of the C-section because I was throwing up with contractions and completely miserable. They were every 30 seconds and lasting 90 seconds.
Throughout the laboring, Caroline did great on the monitors and never showed signs of distress. We were going to a C-section because of me, not her.
At 3:15, they wheeled me back for a C-section and once I got the spinal I was in pure heaven. Spencer attended the C-section along with my Mom who was there to film and take pictures. She works in the NICU and nursery but had planned on being a grandma today and not a nurse, little did she know. Once Caroline came out, they showed me her face above the curtain, I was in love and apparently didn't really know what was going on. The curtain was placed different than other C-sections and I was not able to visualize Caroline on the warmer, which turned out to be a huge blessing. A few seconds had passed and I remember thinking, Caroline hasn't cried yet. I heard them trying to stimulate her and say "come on, come on breath for us". I then heard someone counting. Little did I know my mom was doing chest compressions on my baby with the other NICU nurse who was bagging her and Spencer was having to watch. Another nurse came to my mom and said a grandma shouldn't have to do chest compressions on her own grandbaby, so she took over and my mom continued to listen with the stethoscope for heart rate. I was so grateful I didn't see all of this going on. My family was in the hall face timing with my mom when which they later said, the screen went black and all they could hear them doing compressions, my sisters said they never prayed so hard in their life. Leni Jane grabbed Hailey's phone and saw Caroline and asked if she was dead. All of this was such a blur because the original reason we went to C-section was for me and our little girl was doing just fine. Let's hope she is not a drama queen like this forever. It took a couple minutes to resuscitate her and then she was doing just fine. I was shocked she didn't have to go the NICU and so blessed.
I can honestly say I loved having a C-section, I wasn't in any pain (other than being sore) in the hospital and can't help but wonder what would have happened to our babe if I didn't.
I love our little girl like crazy. She is so even tempered and only cries when she is hungry (but when she is hungry watch out, she has lungs!). Spencer is so in love too. He is constantly kissing her and loving on her. One night in the hospital he was in the corner holding her and I heard him saying how much he loved her and how he thought he almost lost her. This about broke my heart but I am so grateful she has a father who loves her like crazy. I overheard him telling someone he is "twitter-patted". Twitter patted in deed- we both are. We love her so.
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We realize Caroline will forever be sung the words of the great Neil Diamond "Sweet Caroline", in which we both are totally okay with because -
A. She really is so sweet.
B. The song rocks.
