Anne Marie is here! :)

Our lil' "Annie" was born Tuesday October 27th at 12:19. Mama's been very sore and tired and is just finding a moment to update. Annie is sleeping on my chest as I type this. Does life get any better?!! :)

Backing up to Tuesday. I felt pretty good going in to the hospital but I very quickly became concerned and upset b/c the wrong doctor came in and announced that "He" was going to induce me!? I had previously set up plans w/ my favorite doctor b/c I was very concerned about my past history w/ bleeding and making sure that I had someone I could trust to handle the situation. I quickly explained the situation to the nurses who informed me I could get up and go home if I wanted to! Luckily the situation was resolved and my doctor showed up, but it took a few hours for the reality of that to sink in to me!

This time around I was insistent that I was going to get my epidural and not be in the pain I was w/ Abby. (Abby came in an hour and a half).. so quick they had no time to administer the epidural, also the anaesthesiologist was stuck in surgery at the time of her delivery. So this time I made sure that everything was in place! They started my pitocin, broke my water and I got my epidural 10 min later. Thank goodness b/c things went fairly fast again! The good news is I really didn't even feel one miserable contraction this time. I had the worst of my contractions at home the weeks before her birth! They checked me often b/c I had dilated to 7-8 very fast. By 12 noon I was complete, they called the doctor, he rushed over from the office and Annie was born just minutes later!! I have to say this was the BEST delivery. I didn't feel any pain to push her out at all! when I pushed, everything happened so quick! In fact they told me to slow down! The best part was when I pushed the first time, her head crowned and Doctor S announced that he could see dark hair!! :) I opened my eyes and looked up into the mirror to get a better view! From this moment on I had a big smile on my face and I couldn't wait to get her out! I remember being able to watch her come out, it was so cool. They plopped her on my belly. I was instantly just overcome by this head of dark hair. It was amazing! Annie cried ON her way out, which was music to our ears since Luke was blue and had to be resuscitated ! :( sp?

This is when the "delivery of my dreams" took a turn for the worse. My placenta got stuck again. :( Dr. S. waited and watched for a long time. Taking every measure he could to be on top of things. At one point I remember him asking what time Annie was born, and realizing that he couldn't wait any longer for the placenta to come out, he had to go in after it. :( THANK goodness for my epidural! b/c I didn't have one with Abby when this happened. The epidural helped but the whole procedure was rather aggressive. He had to push down very hard on my stomach from the outside while pulling out the placenta (from below). This lasted about an hour. :( Eventually he felt that he had gotten most of it out and so he stitched me up, but we heard a "pop" sound and I had a gush w/ more blood. He had to work again at the placenta, trying to find missing pieces. I lost a lot of blood during this time. I was very scared and I kept asking him if I was ok. Dr. S did an amazing job of being very honest with me, but remaining calm and encouraging me that I was ok. Only later did I learn the severity of the bleed when I learned that my hemoglobin was down to a 7.8. they had extra blood on hold for me, in case I needed a transfusion. They kept the epidural and IV in place and sent me away w/ another bag of Pitocin to "cover all the bases" and be ready for another bad bleed.

Unfortunately I had little time to nurse Annie before she left b/c he was working on me for so long! :( but they did give me extra time before taking her away. It seemed like an eternity before they brought her back! and it was! not till 5pm!! During this time I called a few friends and family members (but to be honest, if you didn't get a call, I was scared, sore, and exhausted). I was just kinda hoping that the word would spread b/c I wasn't up to spreading it.

Over the next few hours the nurses had to convince me to get up b/c I was scared to move from my flat spot in bed! I have had so many bad experiences with blood loss that the slightest trickle of blood freaks me out. :(

We spent the next 2 days meeting our daughter and getting to know her. Rich and I were "fighting" over who could hold her. :) Originally I was very upset about the kids not being able to come in, but the time spent in the hospital went by faster then I imagined and I was able to enjoy my time alone. Coming home Thursday was priceless! The kids reactions were AMAZING! I will never forget that day. That has been the best part about having a 3rd child, is having the other kids old enough to enjoy the ride, with us!

Since we've been home, I've been resting a lot and just surviving! About all I do is nurse, sleep and change diapers, which is ok... I just wish I wasn't struggling w/ the pain I have from nursing. :( Rich took the kids today to get their H1N1 Vaccine, so now we are all dosed up! The kids DID get to go trick-or-treating Thursday night (the day we brought Annie home). Rich was able to get to Abby's preschool Halloween parade. It was a crazy day!

All for now.... I may just update w/ pictures b/c I'm not having a lot of time right now to write.

-Beth