L&D

Well, tomorrow my baby will be a week old so I decided I'd better post about the labor and delivery before she starts talking and walking and I get behind on her life and milestones. So...

It all started about 2 weeks ago when I had had enough of being pregnant.  I wasn't sleeping, I was having a full-on break down at least once a day, I was in pain and I just wanted to be done. It had been a week since my last doctor appointment and I still had another week before I went back and could know if I was making any progress toward labor.

I waited the week and went into the doctor Tuesday April 17th. That morning, I had already had a breakdown and couldn't wait to get to the doctor to hear how I had progressed so much in the last 2 weeks.  We got the the doctor and I could barely hold back the tears as I waited for the nurse to call my name to go back. She finally did and of course, she asked how I was.  I fought back the tears and said oh ya know...still pregnant. She definitely understood what I was saying. We did the routine everything and then I waited for the doctor to come in. When he did he checked me and basically said I hadn't progressed at all...still at a 3cm and really thick. There I was, sitting on the table, again fighting back the tears. The doctor then asked me if I could go another week or if I felt like I was at my ropes end and wanted to be induced. I tried with all my might to keep the tears in but I couldn't anymore. They were flowing as I said I'm at my ropes end. He was super nice and handed me some tissues. He said we could either do it Wednesday (the next day) or Friday. I gladly said Wednesday. I also asked him if he thought she'd be ok being induced because she had been measuring a week small basically my whole pregnancy and I was also worried that her lungs wouldn't be fully developed.  The doctor assured me she'd be fine and that the development of the lungs was the same and 39 weeks as it is at 40 so we scheduled my induction for Wednesday.

Let me pause the story for a minute while I address all of you who are judging me for choosing to get induced.  I understand the judgement. There are so many risks and I really was nervous to get induced, but I still felt good about my decision. I NEVER thought I'd be the one who was weak and selfish enough to get induced, but, I did it anyway, so judge if you want.

Ok, back to the story. I went in at 10am Wednesday morning and it took about an hour and a half before they got things going. Around 11:30 they started the pitocin.  They start it at a 4 and then slowly go up in increments of 4 until they get to 20. It was pretty much an awesome labor.  My contractions started and slowly got more intense and more painful. It was a way better experience than with Carter. It was a slow progression but still pretty quick.  Around 12:30 I got an epidural which was kind of bitter sweet because the contractions didn't hurt much but I knew that once they broke my water it would be super painful and harder for me to get the epidural so I just went ahead and got it before hand...I know, I know, I'm weak.

Right after they gave me the epidural, they broke my water and turned up the pitocin. The nurse said there was about 4 pounds of fluid that flowed out.  That made me even more nervous about getting induced because I was already worried I'd have a tiny baby, now I was worried she'd only be 5 pounds. But of course I couldn't do anything about it now. Right before they broke my water, the nurse checked me and I was at a 4.  About 20 minutes after they broke my water, I was at a 5. (It's amazing what breaking your water can do for progression.) The pitocin was up pretty high at that point and the epidural didn't seem to be working very well...I could still feel the contractions and they were pretty painful.  So the nurse asked the angel (aka anesthesiologist) to give me a little more, she came in and pretty soon I couldn't feel a thing beneath my ribs. It worried me a little bit since I couldn't feel my contractions at all but I hoped that it would wear off a little before it came time to push.

Around 3:30 the epidural was wearing off and I was thinking that I felt some pressure but wasn't quite sure, so I ignored it and kept chatting with Mark, my sister and mom.  About an hour later I decided to call the nurse in because the pressure was getting a little stronger.  The nurse came in and checked me and very quickly started getting things ready for the baby to come.  She said I was fully dilated and paper thin! I was thrilled (mostly because I guessed she would come at 4:55 and I wanted to be right.) Anyway, the nurse went out to call the doctor over so I could get pushing.  She came back about 20 minutes later and checked me again and barely touched me and said looks like baby has some dark hair...yeah, she was that close to falling out but we still needed the doctor on the receiving end before I could start pushing. So about a half hour later, 5:00, the doctor finally showed up. (I guess he was with a patient who ended up getting an emergency C-section so I forgive him) Anyway he got in position, I pushed twice with all my might, and ta-da! She was here, she was breathing and she weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces! (Can you imagine how much she would have weighed if I had waited the extra week?!) All of my fears vanished and I was in Heaven holding my baby girl.

(She's a little purple because the cord was wrapped around her neck)

She is absolutely perfect and we love her so much.  The first night she slept 5 straight hours, how awesome is that? Since then she hasn't been so sleepy. I feel like she's constantly eating, but it's ok because then I have an excuse to just sit and look at her, it's great!

Carter has his moments where he likes her and other moments when he's not a fan. Sometimes he'll go up to her and get right in her face and just stare at her.  He's very curious. He's also very concerned. Every time she makes a noise he looks at me and asks if she's ok. It's adorable.  Other times he gets really close to her hands just close enough for her to "hit" him and when she does, he thinks he can be mad at her...we're very quick to help understand that she didn't hit him and he's ok.

We're still learning how to balance two kids but so far it hasn't been too bad. I have a feeling that when Mark has to go back to work in a week, it'll be a different story.  Luckily Marks mom will be here shortly after he goes back and we might even get a visit from our friend Amy in between. So wish us luck as we begin the next chapter of our lives :)

Lucy Kate Schultz
April 18, 2012

7 lbs. 11oz.

20 in.

Born at 5:09 pm

Easter Weekend.

Our Easter weekend this year was great! We did so much and had so much fun.

Our weekend started a little early on Friday when we drove up north with my family to Baby Animal Days. It's held at this farm and for the weekend they bring out all the new baby animals and everyone can hold them and play with them. I had never gone before but always wanted to

and I figured since Carter is at such a fun age, we'd go up and let him see all the animals we're always telling him about.

First animal of the day...duck! Carter loved it. He touched it and would say "hi duck".

Next was the mama and baby horse. He also loved the horses and kept saying hi to them. (so I don't keep repeating myself, I'll just tell you that he loved all the animals, except the pigs and loved saying hi to all of them.)

I think the goats were his favorite. He kept dancing and jumping around them in there little pen.

Doesn't it look like he's about to give the goat a kiss?

Here are the pig pictures...he wouldn't even look down at them...they were all trying to stay warm, so I don't think he saw their heads and maybe that's what was so frightening.

Riding with uncle Brad and aunt Katie on the choo choo.

He wasn't so sure about this horse, he had just tried to eat his coat.

See, he must have been really hungry.

Yes, this is me, throwing a hatchet at some wood, eight months pregnant...and yeah, I got it to stick!

Our Easter weekend continued on Saturday when we went to my grandma's and had a yummy lunch and an easter egg hunt, minus the easter eggs...so just a candy hunt. Well, it's not even a hunt, we'll call it a candy pick up. Mark was the lucky one who got to snap the photos while I helped Carter with the candy...so prepare yourself for fat pictures of me bending over.

Please zoom in on this picture so you can see all the goods Carter got. I was telling my aunt that growing up they threw out the same amount of candy but they had twice the kids so we NEVER got that much! Those kids really don't know how lucky they are.

I'm not really sure why so many eyes are closed in this pic, but it's the best I could do.

Four babies will be born on one side of our family this year. How fun is that?!

On Easter Sunday me and Mark had to give talks in Sacrament meeting on the Resurrection and the importance of Easter in our day. Everyone said we did a great job, but I'm convinced they were only talking about Mark. I'm a horrible speaker. My talks are never really personal, mostly just quotes and scriptures and I can never talk slow enough. Once I gave my 5 minute talk in 30 seconds without taking a breath. I'm not kidding, it was terrible and so embarrassing but I just couldn't slow down. This time it wasn't that bad, but I was worried about passing out or having some bodily fluid escape my body while I was talking...luckily nothing happened. But trust me, if it had, the pregnancy would have definitely been the thing to blame!

After church, we ended our Easter celebration at the Wallentine Easter dinner. It was delicious and so fun to see all the family.

We hope your Easter was as delicious and fun as ours!

Spring!

This past week the trees at our complex have been blossoming and oh my, they are so beautiful! There are so many trees and the blossoms are so pretty and they smell so good too! I wish there was a way to capture the smell and put it on the blog like the picture...oh well I guess. Mark and I decided that when we landscape our new house we definitely want these kinds of tress in our yard!