In good/traditional "birth story cliff-hanger" fashion, I left off with PART I at:
1:14pm -- Dr. Phillips was gowning and gloving, my nurse friends had the baby warmer turned on and room all ready, and we juuuuuust had to wait for a contraction to come...
...Dr. Phillips told me to reach down and grab under the baby's armpits to pull him/her out [WHAT?!], and........
Hello, beautiful. Another little lady to love; someone pinch me!!!
Ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes...we are OBSESSED with you from head to toe!
After vital signs and footprints, Emily turned the scale on and weighed our pal in at 6 pounds, 6 ounces. ...Are you kidding me?! This little peanut is smaller than her big sisters by a LONG shot [Harper 8lb 4oz, Scarlett 8lb 13oz!]. Sooooo tiny, but so perfect, too [confirmed by Dr. Phillips, because I legit thought she had a growth restriction or some time of syndrome or something -- how could something so teeny come out of my uterus?! But nope! Turns out she's perfect, just petite!]!
After inspecting her from head to toe and then from toe to head again, we concluded that she is another [very much smaller] clone of newborn Harper! Are genetics weird, or are they weird?! I cannot get over the way these newborn girls of ours all resemble each other so much.
And GOSH...seeing this photo right here makes my heart flutter all over again! HOW LUCKY were we to have this birth team full of people that I've worked with for the last entire decade?! I love you all soooo much; we've been through so many long shifts and life experiences together and bonded in ways most people could never imagine... It meant/still means the world to me that you were at my bedside for one of the best days of my life. THANK YOU for everything! It was the most perfect birthday party and birth story because of you all.
...And in her usual angelic fashion, Jamie stayed around even longer after the rest of the birth team dispersed to take special photos of Brian and I soaking in all those sweet first moments. I will treasure these precious pics forever. Thank you so much, Jame!!!
One proud Girl Dad! :)
During the 2-hour recovery period, we soaked up allllll the snuggles and even had a successful skin-to-skin + breastfeeding session before nursery came in to do Juliette's head-to-toe assessment. She measured 19.25 inches and checked out perfect from nursery's standpoint. All in all, recovery was a breeze [not in much pain at all! not bleeding too much! blood pressures were normal!] and we also had some other special visitors including Mrs. Ty! [NOT PICTURED but definitely worth remembering: Lori/Bridget pushing/riding the Sara Stedy to the bathroom. Was this the moment Brian realized how crazy we L&D folk actually are?! I think so.]
And lastly but not least[ly]... Lori, where do I even begin with you?! You were one one of the very first nurses to take me under your wing when I started as a new grad and someone who quickly became such a great friend while always remaining a mentor... You are such a wonderful nurse, and I am SO HAPPY you agreed to take care of my crazy @$$ during Harper's delivery and now Juliette's [especially since I finally got to redeem myself after Harper's horrible labor]! Thank you for making this the very best day ever! You are the world's greatest. [...And I owe you a burrito, so let's do Mexican + marg night soon!] <3
Ahhhhh, we're over a month in to being at home with Juliette, and looking back through all these photos to make this post just made my heart so happy all over again! My only regret of the entire day was that it all happened so fast and was over in the blink of an eye... Couldn't we have drug things out a littttttle longer to have twice the fun?! ONE CAN ONLY WISH. ;) :)
...But turns out the fun is just beginning, because on to postpartum we went with a brand new baby in stow!
Next post coming soon!
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Postpartum Paradise posting/babbling continues!
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