Charlotte Ruth's Birth Story

She's here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our sweet Charlotte Ruth arrived at 7:59 A.M. on Tuesday morning, and ife will absolutely, definitely, positively never be the same again.

As you may have guessed, we are still in the hospital. But because I now have TWO (yes, you read that right, 1+1=2!!!) children to care for at home, I figured that I should write out this birth story while I still have a chance! And, of course, I don't want to forget a single moment of what was without a doubt one of the best days of my life. 

As you all know, this birth was scheduled, but that did not make it any more magical. In the days leading up to the birth, we spent our last weekend as a family of three relaxing, eating junk food, cuddling up on the couch, BBQing for the holiday, and savoring lots of special quality time together. I was also able to spend a lot of quality time with my own brothers and sisters which was really fun, especially considering that all five of us were TOGETHER after my brother Joe flew in from LA to surprise me! It was truly wonderful, and a perfect "last weekend."

The night before my section we had dinner at my parents' house with the whole gang. T cooked tacos for everybody, and we relaxed and made some bets about sunny's gender/length/weight. For the record, EVERYONE except for T and my dad guessed boy. How crazy, right?! As the night was winding down, I was getting more and more sad about leaving Ei at my parents' house. We knew it was best for her to sleep there since we would be getting up so early the next day, but still, it felt so...final! I took her upstairs to my parents' nursery around her normal bedtime of 7 PM, but she already knew that something was "up." Even after laying in bed together for 30 minutes and watching her favorite TV show ("Barefoot Contessa"), she refused to relax. And so, I had to leave her in her crib crying and clutching for me. Ugh, I felt terrible! Still, I knew she would thank me someday...after all, I needed to get home and sleep so that I had the strength to deliver her first SIBLING! 

Our last photo as a family of three!

T and I got home around 9 PM and I snuck in one last treat of blueberry pie and ice cream before I had to stop eating. I finished gathering my things, got ready for bed, and slipped under the covers. But all of the sudden, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy...

...you see, I was still upset about leaving Ei, and the more I thought about it, the more truly nervous I started to feel about surgery the next morning. Flash to me, laying on the floor of the bathroom with a hand towel around my neck, throwing up way past my bedtime. Eek. I finally drifted off to sleep around 11 PM, and had a long and crazy dream. My doctor was sitting outside my window holding my healthy baby, and then his nurse came and gave me a gift basket with a pink bike in it that said "It's a girl!" That's right, my first girl dream! Go figure!

The fact that I had been so anxious the night before did not leave me feeling very well when I woke up bright and early at 4:30 AM the next morning! Still, I was obviously so EXCITED in addition to feeling anxious, that I was able to get ready with a smile on my face. As we headed out the door, I reminded T to eat some breakfast...which he refused to do, even though I was STARVING and would have gladly eaten! I tried to ignore the hunger in addition to the tossing and turning feeling in my stomach and just focus on sunny sunny sunny! I also used this time to pray for all of you.

Our drive into the hospital was beautiful. The sun was just starting to rise in the distance, and the sky was a beautiful pink color (pink! signs everywhere!). It was such a strange feeling knowing that sunny was coming THAT MORNING, no matter what, and knowing that labor would not be a part of our story. It did give me a kind of peace, after all of my struggles with my c-section. God was certainly holding me close, and when I relaxed into Him (in between moments of anxiety), I could feel His presence. It was also at this time that I realized that I would be delivering sunny on the Feast of the Visitation. This also gave me such peace...what a beautiful day to celebrate life!

When we arrived at the hospital, we filled out some forms and I immediately changed into a gown. There were the usual procedures, urine sample, heplock, baby on the monitor, and everything was starting to feel very familiar. All of the sudden, the nurse asks me to confirm what procedures I was having done that day. "We have you down for a c-section and tubal litigation," she explained. Um, huh?!?!?! I exclaimed LOUDLY and in a very panicked voice that that was absolutely INCORRECT, under no circumstances should there be anything in my file about a tube litigation! When I told this to my doctor later, he assured me that even if those directions had somehow made it all the way into the OR (God forbid!!!) he never would have done it, because he would've KNOWN that was wrong. Still, T and I were super concerned and freaked out when we heard this report. Talk about ruining a calm feeling, ha!

T and I sat in the room while we waited for surgery, and I chatted with my anesthesiologist about anxiety-management options for during the procedure. He assured me that anything I felt during surgery could be managed, and not to worry too much. Right! All of the sudden, it was time, and I felt totally prepared and unprepared all at once! But at that point, it didn't matter. It was time to meet my baby!

When they first laid me on the table I was not doing so well. I was extremely nauseous, which more often than not leads me to panic, so I did spend the first 5-10 minutes dry-heaving etc. Then I had a bit of a freak out about the fact that I could not move my legs (of course I couldn't!) which I am embarrassed about now, because it was purely due to the fact that I was feeling generally anxious. I started praying "God, please give me superhuman strength! I need to be brave because I want to meet my baby!" Eventually this mantra began to calm me down, and I was able to get ahold of myself as T walked in. He told me a few goofy stories as the doctor finished up (as requested), and then, before we knew it, SHE was here!

I say she, but when I asked T to announce whether we had a boy or a girl, he ACTUALLY SAID BOY! Can you believe that?! What an incredibly cruel joke! He did the same thing to my mom on the phone! It didn't really matter because we would've been thrilled with either, but I was TOTALLY feeling boy, and then I was so so so confused. I wasn't sure which was the lie until I saw her! He's not invited in next time (jokes).

And then, I saw her.

She was absolutely, stunningly, overwhelmingly beautiful. Her cries were big and bold, her hair was BLACK and thicker than her sister's had been, she had beautiful full lips, and the longest and skinniest fingers and toes you've ever seen. 9/9 on her Apgars, just like her sister, our little warrior.!She truly took my breath away, and I whispered her name to T between tears. Our Charlotte Ruth! Charlotte means free, and Ruth (in addition to being T's grandmother's name) means beautiful. There couldn't be a more fitting name for our little sunny girl. She is beautifully free, a true gift from God, and we are so grateful. We've chosen St. Charles Borromeo as her patron saint, and know that he was certainly watching over her during her swift delivery! 

Our sweet Charlotte ("Charlie" for short) has been such a joy these past few days. She was born hungry, and has been eating ferociously and like a CHAMP! She was borderline jaundice so we did have to supplement with a bit of formula while waiting for my milk to come in, but her numbers are back on the rise and she will not need to spend time under the bili lights. I'm very grateful that she is healing up all on her own! 

We were able to spend some time with my whole family and Tim's parents on Charlotte's birthday, which was very special. 

Eileen was able to meet her sister a few hours after she was born, and she was pretty adorable. She gave her a kiss and was very interested to hear that the "baby" in mommy's tummy was now sitting across the room. A little confusing for a 16-month old, I think. She's not super interested in spending a ton of time with baby Charlotte yet...she's much more interested in playing with the curtain in mommy's room and/or tugging on blood pressure cuffs and IVs, but I can't say I blame her. I know the two of them will be best friends someday, and thinking about that warms my heart every time.

My recovery so far has definitely been easier than with Eileen. I had minimal shaking after surgery, and while I've been having a little bit of difficulty with pain management, I seem to have turned a corner there as well. Every hour that passes I get a little bit stronger, and I cannot wait to take my DAUGHTERS home tomorrow and continue to heal. Until then, I am in baby heaven, nursing and cuddling and not sleeping but loving every single second. I know I am not worthy of these blessings, but I am overwhelmed and humbled that I was chosen to receive them.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and everyone who has prayed for my family. We love you so very much, Charlotte. Happy (belated) birthday, and welcome to our family!