Glitter & Cinnamon Part II: Greta's Birth Story!

If you read my blog, then you probably know that Ava's birth story was titled "Glitter & Cinnamon." In her birth story, I explained that the epidural made my blood feel like the glitter in a kaleidoscope that oozes through the oil and water mixture. It made me feel warm all over like when I eat cinnamon toast. Well, I am here to tell you that Greta's birth story is not much different!! When I explained this to my nurse and anesthesiologist, they both looked at me like I was nuts! The anesthesiologist said, "Wow! You were really trippin'" :)

I checked into the hospital at about 6:15, Thursday, May 31st. I was shown to room WP 11 (the same room that Ava was delivered in) It took forever to get my IV fluids hooked up. I was pricked with a needle 5 times (and had my veins blown all 5 times) before a nurse anesthetist came in to numb me. She was able to get my IV in my left hand. Getting the IV was the most painful part of my experience. 

Shortly after that, the nurse left the room and Jeremy gave me my push presents. The first gift was a beautiful birth certificate holder with Greta's full name engraved on it. Ava has one identical to it that Jeremy gave me the night before she was born. The second gift was a book by David McPhail, "Sisters." It is a book that I am familiar with because I gave a copy of it to my own sister when she was 16. The book that Jeremy gave me will be Greta's copy. A friend also gave me the same book as a shower gift. That copy will belong to Ava.  My last gift was the most special of all because it was a Willow Tree piece. It is a figurine of two girls, presumably sisters, sitting on a log talking to one another. The thing that is so neat is that one sister has dark hair and the other sister has blonde hair. That was our prediction about Ava and Greta. We guessed that one would be dark haired and one would be blonde haired. So far, we are right on!! This Willow Tree piece now sits on my nightstand along with the Willow Tree piece that Jeremy gave me as a push present for Ava.

When I was hooked up to the Pitocin, it only took about 30 minutes before I could start feeling contractions. I had already contracted on my own a few times that morning before I was hooked up to the medicine. About an hour later, my doctor came in to check me. I was dilated to 4.5 cm!! She went ahead and broke my water (not painful at all) and told me to get my epidural whenever I wanted it. I was not having painful contractions, but decided to go ahead and get it. Dr. Verzino (the same anesthesiologist who did my epidural with Ava) came in and gave me my epidural. It was also not painful at all! My epidural was not as strong this time. I could still feel my legs and move my toes, but I could no longer feel my contractions. I loved every minute of labor and delivery!

To pass the time, Jeremy made a slideshow on his laptop of my delivery with Ava and another one of our Disney World trips. It was so neat to look back at pictures of Ava's delivery and compare the two! Except for just a few minor things, my labor and delivery experience with Greta was nearly identical to that of Ava. When that slideshow was over we watched all of our pictures of our first Disney trip. I took over two thousand pictures, so it was quite lengthy! I do think we may have talked our nurse into going to Disney World :) 

I continued to progress quickly. My nurse left to go on a lunch break while another nurse came in to relieve her. Something happened while my nurse, Joann (LOVED HER!) was on break. Greta's vitals went all over the place. It was so bad that my nurse came off her lunch break after only 20 minutes. She told the other nurse to leave!! Yikes!! I ended up wearing an oxygen mask for the duration of my labor. The doctor came in to monitor me and was silent for several minutes. I was scared for a few minutes, but remembered that this same thing happened during Ava's delivery. Greta finally stabilized and labor continued.

At about 1:30, I felt a tremendous pressure. When the nurse checked me, I was at 8 cm! She had me push a couple of times to see if I would get to 10 quicker. I didn't so we continued to wait. 15 minutes later I felt pressure again. I was at 9 cm! Joann called the doctor in and we prepared for delivery. While we waited for Dr. Emig to show up, I pushed 4 times with Joann and Jeremy. Dr. Emig showed up and got all her scrubs on. She stood at the foot of my bed and told me to push. When I did, Greta's head came out. Dr. Emig suctioned Greta's nose and mouth and told me to push one more time. When I did, the rest of Greta's body came out. It is weird to say, but I actually felt Greta's body leaving mine! I did not feel that sensation when I had Ava. It was really neat!

When we saw Greta, we laughed! She looked just like Ava but with less hair!! I just kept saying, "She's so tiny!" One of the nurses took Greta away to clean her up. Jeremy rushed to her side to take pictures while I got stitched up (I had a 2nd degree tear with a partial 3rd) I turned my head to look at Greta while I was laying in bed. Jeremy took pictures and I quietly cried. I was so grateful to have our 2nd precious gift from God.

Greta's APGAR scores were 8 and then 10. Greta was born at 2:19 pm. She weighed 7 lbs. and was 18 inches long. She immediately looked like Ava, but I noticed right away that she favors Jeremy more in her eyes and forehead. Jeremy was able to give her the first bath while a nurse watched. He was also able to read to Greta a story from the Bible. We wanted the first story our children heard to be the birth of Jesus. We read it to Ava shortly after birth, and so we continued the tradition by reading it to Greta as well. 

She is so beautiful!! We are so happy to have our little angel home!

Here are some photos of our experience: