Monday evening, Adam & I decided to take Mason to Toys R Us to pick out a toy. We wanted him to have something special, since he was going to become a big brother. I was in search of a steering wheel that made car noises, but there was no such luck. It wasn't that long ago that I had purchased something similar to that for my nephews. Surely I thought they would have what we were looking for, but after searching the entire store, we decided to find something different.
Mason adores Elmo and we knew that anything associated with Elmo would be great. I was a little nervous walking down the aisle of Elmo toys, because I thought Mason would want everything. Instead, he singled in on a little guitar that plays some tunes and Elmo sings songs. It was perfect. All he wanted to do was hold the guitar the entire ride home.
We weren't home for long, when my contractions started. I had been having a lot of contractions over the last month or so, but these were different. I didn't want to get my hopes up, in case it was false labor, so I just noted the time in my head and went along with our evening. We fed Mason dinner and as Adam was getting ready for his basketball game, I told him he might be getting a call to come home in the middle of the game. I didn't want him to not attend the game, besides the game was right down the street and less than 2 minutes away. I assured him I would call if I thought it was necessary for him to come home. Our plan was to eat dinner after he got home from his game.
While Adam was at the game, Mason was sound asleep, and all I could think about was having to wake him up and not really being able to say bye before leaving for the hospital. The gathering of the bags began as the contractions continued to come. At this point, they were about 5 minutes apart going on about two hours.
I finally decided to call the hospital and let them make the call whether or not I should come in. The charge nurse was extremely nice and suggested that we go ahead and leave for the hospital. I immediately called Adam and went to wake up Mason. The poor guy was so tired and fell back asleep on the floor in our bedroom. Luckily, we had packed a couple nights before and didn't really need to do too much, except load everything and everyone in the car and go.
Our friends Marissa & Ray were kind enough to watch Mason for us, since none of our family could make it out for the arrival. Mason adores their family and we knew it wouldn't be a hard transition for him. This is also the very first night Mason has ever spent the night away from Adam & I.
As we arrived at the hospital, we checked in and were sent to a room to monitor my contractions. At this point, it's about 9:30pm. I was hooked up to the monitors and answered numerous questions. The nurse told me that she expected me to be another centimeter dilated within the hour. Although my contractions were still five minutes apart, I only dilated half a centimeter in that hour. She called Dr. H who asked if I wanted to speed things along in the morning, should my cervix not dilate any further during that time. I was completely fine with that, especially since I didn't want a long drawn out labor.
My contractions remained 5 minutes apart all night long and but still no change with my cervix. I thought labor was supposed to be faster the second time around. At 6am, they started the pitocin and things began to progress. I wasn't allowed to get my epidural until I had dilated at least another centimeter. I was only 4 cm dilated. I didn't really feel like I needed the epidural at this point, but I was more worried that if I didn't get it soon, then it would be too late to get one.
Around 11:30am, they checked me and I was 5cm dilated and I could finally get the epidural. I was ready for it at this point. My contractions were about 2 minutes apart and I was getting uncomfortable. After the epidural, I felt great, just like my labor with Mason. However, I did have a couple incidents of throwing up. I was allowed to drink ice water or juice and after drinking a few sips of apple juice, I was sick to my stomach. I didn't have anything in my system except water and juice, so at least that was good. I couldn't feel much of anything after the epidural. My water hadn't broken yet, and every doctor is different. I knew that once it did, it wouldn't be long. My friend Marissa arrived and brought Adam lunch. I knew he had to be starving considering neither of us had eaten anything since the day before. Marissa kindly stayed with us as we waited for Taylor's arrival.
Dr. H came in around 1pm and broke my water and at 2:20pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. I pushed about 5 sets of 3 pushes for 20 minutes. Marissa was ready with the camera to take pictures as soon as she arrived. Adam held my hand and my leg, so that I could push. With the epidural, I couldn't even feel my legs, let alone lift them. At 2:40pm, Taylor Reese Kaye made her appearance.
The nurses immediately placed her on my chest and wiped her off for the following 10 minutes. Just like with Mason, there is nothing like holding your child for the first time. It's love at first sight. She was so tiny and immediately I noticed her blonde hair. The nurse took her to warming bed and weighed her and measured her. She was 7lbs 4oz and 19.75 inches long.
The difference with the hospital here compared to Memorial City in Houston, was that Taylor was with me at all times. She never went to the nursery and if anything needed to be done or checked, they came to us. I was able to feed her right away and spend some one on one time with her and Adam before the visitors arrived.
Ray brought Mason up to see us about 5pm. We could hear Mason talking in the hallway and I nearly began to cry when he entered the room. I had missed him so much and couldn't wait to see my little boy. He was so excited to see Adam & I and climbed right up on the bed and lay on me for a bit. We brought Taylor over to him and he kissed her sweet head and then decided that it was time to play. The room we were staying in was huge and there was a lot to explore for a 20 month old. He was interested in everything, and would occasionally walk over to where Taylor was and check her out. It wasn't until we came home that he really took an interest in his little sister.
Later that evening, Selena and her daughter Abigail, came to visit. Abigail and Mason are the same age and Selena is expecting a little boy in July. Afterwards, Katie visited us and brought us dinner. Hospitals always serve dinner so early and to be honest, I didn't want hospital food at that moment. I was thankful for a good meal and even more thankful for all of our wonderful friends. It made not having our family with us, so much easier. In all honestly, they are our family here in Bakersfield.
The next morning, our pediatrician, Dr. Shah, came to check on Taylor and he said we could leave later that morning. By 11am, we were in the car and on our way to pick up Mason. I just wanted all of my family together. It was hard being away from him, even if it was just for two days. We ate lunch with Ray & Marissa and then headed home for naps. We spent our first day home relaxing and enjoying every minute as a family of four.
Skin to skin with my baby girl
Taylor had a good grasp of my finger
She has long skinny fingers
Taylor & Daddy bonding
Footprints
Daddy's little girl
He's hooked already
Playing with some of his balls.
