I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have posted! Where do I even begin? Mollie was born on Feb 7, 2010 at 5:34am after a staggering 17 hours of labor. When we got there, the nurses at the doctor's office had a little bit of a scheduling mix-up. So, we got there at 6, got ignored and took alot of attitude from the nurses, and finally had the dr come tell us we could leave at 9am. She said we could go eat something and then come back when they called. Well, they called about 11am and we went back to get the pitocin started. At about 4pm they came in and broke my water and gave me the epidural. About an hour later, I started feeling the contractions again on my right side. So the anesthesiologist came in again and gave me an extra dose. Now, I couldn't feel anything on the left side at all and the pain on the right was dulled - which should have been a red flag right there. Anyway, long story short, he had to come in 4 different times and shoot me up again. About 4:45am, I started feeling the right side pretty strong and I had some pressure, so I asked my mom to go tell them that I needed another shot of epidural. The nurse came in and checked me and told me I was at almost 10, and that she would call him. Being that she was a newer nurse, about 15 minutes later, the senior nurse came in and told me that the anethesiologist would not be making it there in time and that I would have to "use this pain as motivation to get that baby out." EXCUSE ME!! WHAT!?! I have had an epidural for all this time and I cannot have it when I need it the most?? About 5:05 the epidural machine beeped because it ran out and they told me to start pushing. So, for 30 minutes, I pushed and delivered a 7 lb 13 oz baby with no epidural. Even now when I think about it, I cannot believe it. It was like a terrible birthing nightmare. I know that people deliver babies with nothing every day, but when you go in with one set of PAIN FREE expectations and you get an entirely different scenario - its pretty terrifying. Well, 24 hours later we left because there was supposed to be a snow storm and my doctor didn't want us snowed in at the hospital. Little did we know, we would be right back there 2 days later because Mollie's bilirubin was too high and she had to get under the blue light in an incubator. So, we loaded up, went back to the hospital, and I (having just given birth) stayed up all night with her, taking her in and out of the incubator when she was crying or needed food or a diaper change. Poor Chris was getting sick, so he just had to sleep. It was a disaster and I pray even now that our next one will not have jaundice at all. I don't think I can handle that again...I was exhausted and couldn't even take care of my own healing because I was so worried about Mollie. The next day, we got to take her home again and we got to stay home and inside away from the cold for 2 days before we had to take her to the doctor again for her bilirubin test. After being in all the cold weather, Mollie had a little rudolph nose. It was so red from all the wind.
Let's see, in March, I went back to school and Mollie started going to an in home daycare with a lady named Robin. She was AMAZING and she really took care of Mollie very well. There was only Mollie and another little baby named Martel. So, she really got alot of attention during the day. It made going to work alot easier knowing that she was in good hands. School got out the last week in May and Cari came to stay with us for the summer. She wanted a little break from Atlanta and some quality time with Mollie. She is definitely going to know who her Carebear is.
In June, we went to Disney World. Chris, Mollie, and I flew from Atlanta so that we could see his family for a few days. They came and met us at my parents house and I went down to Mobile and went to Haley and Matt's wedding. It was beautiful and she was stunning. While I was there, PawPaw and Grandmaw Morgan got in some Mollie love. On Monday, the we flew to Orlando and Mollie did amazing. I fed her as the plane was taking off and she didn't cry with her ears popping. Then she slept for about 30 minutes and by the time she woke up, we were landing. I think Mollie had a great time - well, as much fun as a 4 month old can have. She went on the Haunted Mansion ride and LOVED it. I think all the contrasting lights were exciting for her.
For July 4th, we went home to Mobile and stayed with the Morgans. Ryan and Emily Little (and their two kids, Garrison and Allie-Parker) and Stephen and Allison Rouss (and their daughter Sophie) came over and we had a blast. We went swimming, had homemade ice cream and bbq, shot fireworks, and just took the time to hang out. We realized that this would be the last time that we would all be in the same place for about 2 years because of deployments. Stephen leaves in October and Chris leaves in April. So, its going to be a while before we are all together. I think it made the time together even more sweet. We'll all look back on it very fondly.
I'll do another post with just pictures.
I'll do better keeping up with my postings. :)
