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Back Home With Our Baby!

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Lily and I got home yesterday, and we are adjusting to life as a family of five. Thank you for all of your kind comments on Mike’s post, they were very fun to read through!

Emma and Johnny love their baby sister, but Johnny especially had a hard time having me gone. It didn’t help that he and Emma were both pretty sick the entire time we were in the hospital – thankfully both are doing much better today. They are enjoying one final outing with Grandma and Grandpa to a local farm this morning before Grandpa flies back to Europe this afternoon. I’m very happy that Grandpa got to meet baby Lily, and that he was here to help with the kids while we were in the hospital. We get to keep Grandma until the 15th.

Lily reminds us a lot of Emma as a baby – she has more hair, but Emma was born with dark hair too so we’ll see if Lily stays brunette or goes blonde. I love having a baby with hair! She’s pretty mellow most of the time, but when she is upset you definitely hear about it! Her pouch sling is her favorite place to be – attached to me of course. We also tried out her cloth diaper cover yesterday and it worked great, so I’ll be making some more of those. Mostly, though, we’ll be resting and adjusting to life as a family of five.

Now for birth details (stop reading here if you don’t like birth stories). Lily’s birth was definitely the most exhausting experience of my life: 26.5 hours of labor, including 7 hours of pushing. No comparison to Emma’s birth (3.5 hours of labor, about one hour of pushing) or Johnny’s (12 hours of labor, 15 minutes of pushing). No-one could figure out what my problem was until Lily was born, posterior (sunny side up). They knew she was posterior at one point but thought she had flipped around; turns out her umbilical cord was too short to allow much movement at all. We are both doing well and happy to have avoided a vacuum, forceps, pitocin, or cesarean delivery. I will say that I have discovered one very good reason to get an epidural after 10cm. I’m grateful that Lily tolerated such an exhausting labor as well as she did – we escaped being attached to the (much hated by me) baby monitor for all but the last couple of hours when they hooked up the epidural, and thanks to the Jacuzzi tub labor was quite bearable up until the hours of pushing. Both Emma and Johnny’s deliveries had to be monitored non-stop from start to finish, so I was really happy to get a break from that. Lily is 21 inches long (like her brother Johnny) and weighs 8lbs 14oz (to Johnny’s 8lbs 14.3oz). Emma was a only 6lbs 1.5oz and 19.5 inches long. Recovery post-Emma was easy. With Johnny I wound up with a broken tailbone that took months to heal, something I’ve thankfully escaped this time round. I’ve appreciated the days of forced rest while stuck in the hospital, and feel like overall recovery won’t be too bad this time around.

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

25 thoughts on “Back Home With Our Baby!”

  1. This is probably going to sound dumb, since my baby is only 4 months old, but that picture breaks my heart! She's beautiful! Seeing that sweet, soft newborn face makes me wish Gigantor was still new!

  2. I LOVE this picture! Bless your heart–with my second this was the problem also, not quite as long a labor though–17 hours:-).

    She is beautiful and I know you are so happy to be home with your family!

    I look forward to reading more each day and seeing more pictures as she grows. Enjoy her being so tiny–they grow so fast, don't they?!

  3. Congratulations! I haven't been on the computer much lately (which is why I missed your husband's post), and I came to your blog specifically to see how things were going on the baby front.

    She is so beautiful, and you look wonderful, too! I hope Johnny decides she's a good addition soon. :) I'm thrilled for you!

  4. Congratulations! She is so beautiful; oh how I am filled with a bit of envy as I wait to meet my own babe . . . any day now, :-)

  5. Oh! Congratulations! I'm hoping mine comes out before Thursday when my OB is leaving for a week… I hope if you have a fourth that your labors don't continue to double in length!

  6. Myztic@FunWithMama

    congratulations! she is so cute…
    i cant imagine what it must be like adjusting to five.. i had a rough time adjusting to two lol

    but after about 2 months it becomes a lot easier

  7. Wow, 7 hours of pushing! That is nuts. Awesome that you avoided those interventions though! Still waiting on my little girl to come out, and I'm hoping the full moon will help…

  8. Lily looks so content in that gorgeous pouch!

    Thanks for sharing your birth story. I'm glad you got some time in the Jacuzzi tub and that it helped. Seven hours of pushing! Ouch! I pushed for five with Nikki and then went in for ventouse – I was so exhausted. Well done powering through and avoiding interventions! You are a star!! I hope your recovery continues to be easy – just remember even if you are feeling great, you still need to rest!! :)

  9. She is so beautiful!!! Congrats again and happy you are home now. What a beautiful family you have!

  10. josh, erica, nora and wells

    Yikes, Mary Anne! It doesn't seem fair that your labors keep getting LONGER! For how horrible it was having Wells, I will say that it was pretty quick. GOOD JOB and hope your recovery is smooth sailing (unlike the delivery)… I would love to see her sometime when family has left.

  11. Adorable, sweet Lily! I love scrunchy sling pictures because you know they are SO comfy & content. :)
    Thanks for sharing your story. (and what a story it was. phew!)
    Wishing you a speedy recovery & happy settling-in-to-5 time.

  12. Infant Bibliophile

    I LOVE birth stories. Thank you so much for sharing yours. My son was also born posterior. Ouch. The only benefit to that was that I could barely feel anything EXCEPT my back at the end (no epidural). I was in pushing stage for hours, and he was 25% out for at least an hour. I think my last moments went something like "my back! ah! ow! ow! ow! ow! my back! my back!" LOL. My midwife finally said, "you know what will make you feel better? getting this baby out. Just get him out, and your back will feel better. I promise." Anyway, congratulations again on your beautiful addition.

  13. Enjoy your time with that sweet baby girl and Johnny, Emma and Mike! =)

    Glad to know the diaper cover worked, cant wait to see what else you make. I love that pouch sling too, pretty colors.

  14. She's adorable :) And I really love the fabric of the sling you made, it's perfect for a little baby girl. Hope everyone adjusts well!

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