THE BIRTH

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Reagan's birth was a piece of cake. Throughout the process we kept saying, "This is like a day at the spa." So if easy birth stories annoy you turn away now. Run away! I warned you! And just so everyone knows I'm allowed to gloat about an easy birth experience because I had such a hard one the first time around. Anyway. So here's the story.

I went in to the hospital at midnight. Well, midnight fifteen because we were a little late. That just goes to show how relaxed about the whole experience we were right from the start. Normally Brad is crazy about timeliness, but we were playing games with some friends and lost track of time. So we got to the hospital and did all the paperwork nonsense. Then they started my IV - seriously my least favorite part - and pitocin about 1:30 am. They encourage me to get some sleep while my pain level was low and I obliged. I kind of slept off and on for a few hours until they informed me at six am that my doctor would be in soon to break my water. She was called in to some emergency surgeries so she didn't actually get to me until almost 10am. At that point she said that even though I was still only at a two and half that I was contracting regularly enough and I could get the epidural at any point. I wasn't in too much pain yet and I wasn't anxious to start the bed rest so I decided to stick it out until the real pain started. Which was exactly... 30 minutes later. Yeah I'm a wuss. Pitocin contractions are no joke my friend. So a few minutes later I got my epidural. It was more painful this time which was not helped by the fact that Brad requested a verbal play by play from the anesthesiologist. He'll have an anesthesiology rotation in residency so he was super interested in all the details which made the process slower because the doctor was eager to show him how awesome he was at epidurals. Anyway. Then came the sweet release of modern medicine. From there Brad and I were left alone in the room for a few hours. We slept, listened to music, and thought this was the most restful childless afternoon we'd had in months. Similar to last time I progressed pretty slow, but the difference this time is that I didn't have to feel the contractions. It was pure bliss. The nurse checked me just before Brad's parents stopped by the hospital on their way to pick up Finley and I was only at a three and half. That was at about 1:45. When Brad walked them to their car just after 2:00 I suddenly started to feel the urge to push. When he got back to the room I told him he better get a nurse to check me again. In less than 20 minutes I had gone from a three and a half to a NINE. Hallelujah! Time to push.

(This is me right before pushing. At this point with Finley I looked like a crazed cave person.)

The nurse tried to set up the room as quickly as possible without freaking me out, but I could tell she was a little stressed to get everything ready for my doctor to come in as soon as possible. While she set up I started to feel pretty strong contractions on my left side. Are you kidding me? I did not want to come all this way just to go au naturale on one side! They rushed the anesthesiologist in and he administered another dose - luckily he was readily available. Some time before 2:30 I started to push. It was just me, Brad, a nurse, and my doctor. And the only way to describe the atmosphere was fun. In between pushing we were laughing and I actually felt present and enjoyed the experience. With Finley I was on pain killers and so exhausted from enduring super painful contractions for 12 hours that I barely remembered half of what happened. This time Brad asked our doctor, "How many woman who labor without an epidural laugh in between contractions?" and she quickly replied, "None." Ha. Mad props to those who go without, but for me having an epidural made this experience so calm and enjoyable. So after a few rounds of pushing our little Reagan Hope Carn made her debut at 3:04pm. 

Right away she was different from Finley. She didn't really cry, but made this quacking noise like a duck. Her head was definitely smaller and rounder than Finley's. And she stuck her lower lip out like a champ. Also, even today her eyes are so far a darker blue than Finley's. Officially she was 20 inches long which is the same as Finley, but weighed 2 ounces more at 7 lbs. 8 oz.

I expected her to come out looking like Finley 2.0 so it was a little shocking to have a baby that had her own look and personality. It was a wonderful surprise to fall in love with an unexpected new little person. So far she is pretty mellow. 

From the first night home she has slept really well and has been a decent eater. She takes abuse from her big sister in stride and prefers to be patted on the bum when falling asleep. 

She doesn't seem to love a pacifier but I'm going to keep pushing it, because I'll have to do church on my own twice a month and I'll need some sort of calming device when all three of us start to cry on the back row. What's the equivalent of an adult pacifier? Diet Coke? I don't think I'll be able to sneak that in.

The day after Reagan was born Brad graduated from Dental School. I was obviously still in the hospital but Brad's parents went with Finley and I watched it live online from my room. Reagan slept through the entire thing. Afterwards they came to the hospital so we could get some pictures together in his robes.

 

Here is Grandma introducing Reagan to technology. She was less than 24 hours old and had already been subjected to: cell phones, Ipad, Flip Cam, Iphone... she was born into crazy times.

My good friend Kathy came by the hospital to see Reagan. She also came to the hospital when Finley was born and it's sad to think that we won't live near her as the girls get older.

And here she is in the outfit that me, my sisters, and Finley all went home from the hospital in.

I want to send a huge thanks to Dan for spending the night at our house and watching over Finley. We want to thank Selena for having Finley over later that morning so she could have some fun before her world was turned upside down. We want to shout from the rooftops our huge thanks to Brad's parents for helping use pack up and move our lives to Alabama. They worked themselves to the bone and we took way to much advantage of them. We also want to thank my mom for taking two weeks of her vacation to come to Alabama and complete the huge task of putting down shelf liner in my kitchen and bathrooms. Also, for being friends with Finley while I slept in and took afternoon naps. I was very spoiled. And finally, we want to thank all the well wishes, concerns, and inquiries of help. Even if we turned you down your offers meant so much to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

These are pictures from the first 3 days of Reagan's life.... and now she's 3 and half weeks old. I have a lot of catching up to do!