Caitlyn Mae arrives

On Friday, June 4th, Caitlyn Mae joined our family. She was 7lbs 11oz and 18.5 in long. We are so in love with her.



My labor with Maddie went so well so I was hopeful that Caitlyn's would proceed equally as well. We arrived at the hospital on Friday morning for a scheduled version (because the baby was breech), where the doctor tries to flip the baby. After my epidural was in my doctor and one of her partners tried pressing on my belly, hoping to move the baby's head down into position for a vaginal birth. Well, even though I had my epidural, it was extremely uncomfortable. I started to feel so dizzy and lightheaded and warned them that I was about to faint. My doctor quickly encouraged me not to faint and to hang in there (thanks!). They turned me over to my side and monitored the baby. They kept encouraging the baby (by pushing on my belly with the ultrasound probe) to increase her heart rate as it had dropped while they were pushing on her. Meanwhile I was still spinning and felt horrible. The pressing on my uterus cut off some of the circulation to my brain. Jon was by my side and started asking the doctor questions but since I was still so out of it I didn't understand what was being said. I did hear my doctor order the OR be prepared for a C-section. The baby recovered and her heart rate was normal again so my doctor suggested we try the version one more time. They pressed on my stomach again but then suddenly told me it wasn't working and we needed a C-section. I got really emotional and started to cry just because I was still spinning and I was so scared of getting the C-section. Once we got to the OR I heard Dr. Norman tell everyone that the baby's heart rate was down. At this point I just started thinking about getting her out! They checked her heart rate once last time before proceeding and reported it had normalized.

The C-section wasn't horrible. I always heard about the pressure once they start to take out the baby (from watching too many Baby Story episodes) but it felt like nothing compared to the version. The worst part was still the dizziness. We waited in recovery for 5 hours for my anesthesia to wear off and then for a room to open up.

Caitlyn was perfect. Jon watched them take her out. She came into the world bottom first. I was so relieved when I heard that first cry and they showed her to me over the curtain. Of course the first thing I noticed were those pudgy cheeks :) She stayed with us for about an hour in the recovery room.












It's amazing how different the recovery is between a C-section and a vaginal birth. About 15 minutes after I delivered Maddie I was sitting up in bed eating chicken fingers and drinking a diet coke. With Caitlyn's birth I was on a liquid diet for 24 hours and was still in bed hooked up to the IV. We left the hospital 24 hours after having Maddie versus 3 nights with Caitlyn. The hardest part for me from this point on is not lifting anything, especially Maddie. I was also told not to drive for 4 weeks. Thank goodness my mom is staying with us to help out.

As you can see from the following pictures, Maddie loves her little sister!




She walked into the room for the first time carrying flowers for me. Definitely melted my heart.

Taking Caitlyn for a walk around the floor.


Maddie passed out gloves for all of us to wear.




Maddie giving me her best pout face because I wouldn't let her give sleeping Caitlyn the pacifier.

First family picture.

Getting dressed to go home.


Maddie gave the baby her precious blankie in the car and asked for headphones for the baby as well. What a great big sister!

Home sweet home.