Jolie's Birth

Little Jolie was born on Cinqo De Mayo this year and we are absolutely in love with her. She was 7lbs. 6 oz and 21 inches of pure sweetness. The labor, on the other hand...... I started laboring on Friday the 3rd. I knew it was just beginning labor, but when my contractions started to really be consistent and about 10 minutes apart for a few hours, I thought we were on our way. Well, labor pretty much stopped in the morning. It went to more like every 20 minutes, then 30, then tapered off. When I did have a contraction, though, it rocked my world. So, I was sure I would get further into labor the next night. Things started heating up again but the contractions were so bad that I could not even handle the thought of transition after laboring this long. My mind game (labor is such a mind game) sort of fell apart at that point. My contractions were getting a little closer but I could not handle them any more. I was not planning on a long, drawn out labor, I was planning a perfect Logan labor ;). So, I told Dan I wanted to go to the hospital, knowing full well that they probably would send me home because my contractions weren't close enough. I secretly was planning for an epidural as soon as possible. We got to the hospital and the nurse checked me. I was at a 4, I think. My brain could not handle this news. The contractions were going crazy. Sometimes double peaking and then sometimes going for 30 minutes without one. I think they were going to send me home, when suddenly, my water broke!! Thank you water for breaking, I owe you big. I toyed with the idea of not getting an epidural, but once you let go of the idea of a natural birth, an epidural is all you can think about. I told my midwife that I knew she was going to try to encourage other options but that I knew I was going to get an epidural. Once, a birth experience starts to become drawn out misery, it ruins the excitement of the baby for me. I had decided I didn't want to have miserable feelings about birth. After trying a few things, I said, I want an epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and I told him I had never had a good one before with Mason or the twins. He told me he would give me a good one and he did. For the next few hours we chatted happily with the on call midwife and had a very nice time. Then I felt like I had to push and we were on our way. I only pushed a few times and she was out, my perfect, little sweet girl. She struggled breathing because she had some fluid going on so they whisked her away after I insisted that I see her for a minute. They were gone for an hour or so and I lied in my room and cried. I just wanted to hold her so bad. It definitely made me feel for mamas who don't get to hold their babies for days or weeks. Then, they brought her back to me and I snuggled and cuddled her and her breathing got even better. She was born around 4 in the morning and Dan stayed the rest of the night and the next day with me. Then he brought the boys to meet her (along with beautiful flowers and yummy chocolate. Then he headed home to be with the boys for the night while I tended to my baby. I didn't sleep more than 30 minutes that night. She wanted to eat most of the night and I didn't want to put her in that lonely little bed. Whenever the nurses came in and told me not to have the baby while I slept, I pretended to be awake and then snuggled her some more. As much as I wanted to sleep that night, I am so grateful that I got to look at and cuddle my baby the whole night all by myself. It was pretty sweet and very memorable. The next day we headed home and enjoyed her without the craziness of the hospital. She has slept amazingly well from the start. She usually only wakes up once or twice in a 12 hour span and it has been so wonderful. I have never had a baby who sleeps and I am thoroughly enjoying it. She goes to bed at 9 and sleeps until 9 usually. With just a feed or two in there somewhere. She is a very calm baby and just loves to be held, sung to, talked to and snuggled. Something I want to remember is that Dan and I have been learning a song together and for a few nights in a row we would go into her nursery and Dan would play the guitar and we would sing our parts and she would drift into a sleepy dreamland and everything in the whole world was perfect. Ahhh, we haven't done it in a few weeks, but I want to start again because it was seriously blissful rocking my baby to sleep while singing with my handsome hubby who is also playing the guitar. Seriously blissful.

The boys have literally not had one day of jealousy, only love for this little angel. The dog, on the other hand, has not been a fan of the little girl. Lizzy no longer sleeps in our bed, because the baby does. Lizzy no longer has free reign of our laps, because the baby does. Lizzy no longer gets all of the boy’s attention because the baby does. Lizzy no longer gets her meals right on time because the baby does. Poor Lizzy. We try to give her attention when the baby is sleeping. I’m pretty sure she has gotten over the jealousy now, and it’s just love.