Cora’s Story

Our little daughter Cora’s arrival was so exciting!  I wanted to write about that arrival into the world before I forget anything. I will start with Easter weekend, the days right before she was born.  On Saturday late morning, we joined the Monroe family out at the country club for the Easter carnival where the boys had a fun time decorating eggs and cookies, seeing the Easter Bunny, searching for eggs during the Easter egg hunt outside, and eating chocolate.  I was feeling huge and people kept asking when I was due, but I was feeling good too.  I was wishing I wasn’t feeling as well, I was ready for some real contractions, as the due date was approaching fast, and I was going to be induced the day after the due date, on April 6th, since Jefferson had been so huge and we were trying to avoid a C-section or another baby over 10 pounds.  But I knew that an induction would be more painful and harder on my body, so I was just praying that our little one would arrive on her own. 

Later that day, my mom arrived in Portland.  I wasn’t planning on going to the airport to get her just in case I went into labor (Portland airport is almost 100 miles from our house), but I hadn’t had any contractions that day, so about 30 seconds before Kirby was going to leave, I decided to just go.  So we all jumped in the car and went to pick up my mom.  Jeff and I walked in and greeted her at the baggage claim, and Jeff was so excited to see his Gramma Mimi.  We got her stuff and then went out for some pizza.  We had fun catching up during the drive home, and when we got home Jeff had to show her his big boy bed and the whole new setup of the rooms, and then we all went to bed. 

The next day was Easter, and it turned out being a pretty nice day.  We went to church in the morning after a nice breakfast of bacon and crispy French toast with strawberries.  After we came home and Jeff had a nap, we dyed Easter eggs and then had a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard for Jeff.  It was a fun day, and nice to have some time for Jeff to have some family time, especially with Gramma!

 

That night, after not having any painful contractions or other signs of impending labor, I was pretty much just starting to accept the fact that I was not going to go into labor on my own and that I should just prepare to go in for the induction on Tuesday. I was having contractions, but I had been having contractions without pain for weeks, so it was nothing new.  We all were feeling tired and ended up going to bed fairly early. Well, that ended up being great because that night, or I guess I should say very early the next morning, on the baby’s due date, April 5th, at about 3:45am, I woke up to having contractions that were a bit painful.  I was so happy thinking that it might mean I really was going into labor and I would have my baby that day!  I just laid there for a few minutes, thinking about a lot of things, and then needed to go to the bathroom, which is good and often happens in order to clear things out before labor, so I thought that was a good sign too that it was the real thing.

I got back in bed and then decided maybe I should pay attention to how far apart and how long the contractions were, because they seemed fairly close together and were getting more painful.  I got my phone out (my Droid) and used my contraction timer application :) and realized that my contractions were 3.5 to 4 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds to a minute!  I thought I should probably wake Kirby up and get going to the hospital pretty soon.  It was about 4:20am at this point. I woke him up and he was excited, and I was kind of hoping to get a shower and some breakfast, but then I got out of bed and my water broke. I realized quickly that there was meconium (meaning the baby had pooped in the amniotic fluid and that can be aspirated before or during delivery and can cause infection or necessity for assistance in breathing), and knew that also meant I needed to go to the hospital and not wait.  Also, because I had such a large baby before, my doctor had said that it would probably be much quicker and easier this time (which I was thinking “um, yeah it better be!”), and that if my water broke, I should probably not wait very long if I was already having contractions.  So, we got our stuff together, let my mom know we were leaving, and took off about 5:00am.

We arrived at the hospital about 10 minutes later to the ER, and got admitted right away since there was absolutely no one else there.  I was having more intense contractions as time went on.  It was definitely real labor.  The baby was going to come that day for sure! 

We were guided upstairs to the maternity floor and got to our labor and delivery room by 5:30am.  I got changed into a hospital gown and Kirby told the nurse I was wanting an epidural, so she got me going on an IV, and got my blood work sent off so that the anesthesiologist could check everything and come up to give me the epidural.  My contractions were becoming pretty painful, and the nurse commented on how fast they were coming, and I was breathing through them pretty well, but also had to shut my eyes and shake my head back and forth (something about the rhythm helps me, I move my feet up and down rhythmically too) to help me stay under control.  The nurse checked me and I was dilated 4 cm and coming along well, so that was good.  The doctor came in and said that the shift change was at 8am but that she had a surgery at 7:30, so that if I progressed really fast they would call the next shift doc to come in a little early.

We were on our own for a while and I was trying to text family members to let them know we were in the hospital, but my contractions were so close together that I kept having to put my phone down before I could even get a sentence written.  The anesthesiologist came finally and through several contractions of me staying as still as humanly possible while having intense contractions, I got the epidural.  When I laid myself back down, I told the nurse that I thought she should check me again because I was pretty sure it was time to start pushing.  She and the anesthesiologist both shook their heads and the nurse said, “Oh, sometimes when you sit up it can make you feel more pressure.”  To which I replied, “Um, I think you should check me. I am pretty sure I need to push.”  I tried not to sound too “pushy” (excuse the pun) but I was pretty sure I was right. I felt like I was holding back and it made the contractions feel even more intense. So they finally humored me and the nurse checked me, and suddenly she said, “Oh, whoa, you are ready! I’ll get the doctor.”  So I had progressed very fast, and the doctor walked in to work, put her scrubs on, and came in to deliver the baby.  It was 7:42 when she walked in the room.  She said, “So, what’s your call? When’s this baby coming out?” And I said, “By 8 o’clock.”

I had pushed through one contraction before the doctor came in, and two nurses were holding my legs and feet, and frankly, I don’t even count those as pushes, because I was so worried that if I actually put my strength into it, those nurses would have flown across the room.  So for the next pushes when the doc came in, I grabbed my own knees and held myself up, and in three more contractions, at 7:56am, my beautiful little girl came out, pink as can be with a ton of dark hair.  The doctor had said that they were kind of hoping she didn’t cry right away because of the meconium, and they had respiration team in the room to make sure she was ok.  She came out and cried instantly, and they let us see her for a minute while the cord was clamped and cut by Kirby, but then they had to take her over to get checked out.  About two minutes later, the whole team of people disappeared and just a couple nurses were left, so I knew that was a good sign. It turned out that she was just fine!  We both looked at each other and were so excited we had a new daughter, and we both agreed she was our little Cora Bailey.  Cora, after my mother-in-law Coral, who was named after her grandma, her father’s mom, Cora. And Bailey, after my Grandmother Miriam Armerding, whose maiden name was Bailey.  She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz., just slightly smaller than her 10 lb. 4 oz. big brother weighed when he was born. :)  (Thank God!)

I’ll have to say, the delivery of Cora was pretty surreal.  It all happened so fast, and pushing through only a few contractions was just crazy to me! I had pushed for close to 3.5 hours with Jefferson through so many contractions (I don’t even want to know how many), and I was injured pretty badly, and this time, I felt pretty darn good right after she came out!  And only being on the iv for a couple hours and the epidural for only about an hour made a big difference.  Last time I puffed up like a marshmallow with all the extra fluid, and I had to take strong pain medication for quite a while after Jeff was born.

We started calling people as soon as we could and it was so fun to tell our family that our little girl had arrived!  We then made the news “facebook official” so that many more family members and friends could find out fast.  I then tried to nurse Cora, and she latched on right away!  I almost cried because I was so so thankful.  Jefferson had a hard time nursing, and we had to use a breast shield for him for the first month, and the first few days he barely got anything to eat and we were feeling so terrible and desperate!  So when she latched on and fed for a half hour, that was just such a wonderful thing. 

My mom and Jefferson came to see us first, and Jeff was not quite sure about me being on the weird bed and wearing the hospital gown.  My mom got to hold her first granddaughter while I tried to give my little boy some attention. He didn’t want to get up on the bed or give me a hug.  He told me to “put some pants on.” Then he asked about the baby and he came to see her and he sat with Kirby and checked her out.  I knew it must be pretty weird for him, but I knew he would be ok and I tried not to feel too badly.  Pretty soon he was playing with whatever he could find, and in a little while, Kirby actually left and took him out to eat and took him home for his nap.  My mom got to stay with me and I got to tell her what had happened and she got a lot of good time with Cora. 

During that time, my good friend Emily came to visit, and we were kind of left alone for a while.  I guess labor and delivery got kind of busy, so no one came for a long time.  Finally Cora got her first bath and then we got moved over to the post partum room.  She was really alert while we wheeled her over, and we were able to see her eyes really well.

My mom told me that Cora really reminded her of me when I was born.  She said the really dark hair, the very pink and dark skin, and our faces and eyes make us look a lot alike.  It was kind of fun thinking I might actually have a child that looks even a little like me, seeing that I have a little Kirby clone already. There were a lot of things that reminded me of her brother too though, so we shall see what features emerge as she grows up.  Her hair is definitely darker and thicker than Jeff’s, and her eyes look darker, but we can’t tell what color they will be yet of course. And Jeff lost all his semi-dark hair, and lighter hair replaced it.  So again, we will see! 

Kirby came back later and my mom left, and we just hung out and enjoyed our little girl.  Mike Monroe came by to see her and he took some photos for us.  Later, my Mom and Jeff came back and we hung out for a while.  Richard Poppino came by and also took some photos and brought very nice presents for Jeff and for Cora.  Then everyone left and we tried to get some rest. Cora was already feeding on a pretty good schedule, so that was nice, and I was doing ok getting up out of bed and getting to the bathroom.  Those beds are not comfortable at all, so I was looking forward to my bed at home.

We had decided that we were going to try to leave the hospital the next day, and not take two days.  We were feeling good enough, and since my mom was still visiting, and Jeff was home, we wanted to be there too.  So by the next afternoon, we came home and I started feeling even better.

I knew Jeff was having a bit of a hard time with everything that was going on, so we tried to give him a lot of attention and let him hold his little sister and involve him in everything we were doing.  I could also tell that Jeff was really loving his Gramma time, so that was fun to see.  His behavior wasn’t perfection in any way (not that it ever is), but he was never mean to Cora so I was glad for that.  He would wake up in the morning and ask, “Where’s my baby?” :)  and when she cried he would go over to her and say, “It’s ok, baby.”  That made me feel good about things.  He still felt secure and loved, and was just getting used to Cora being around. 

Cora did so well at home, and when the home health nurse came after we had been home for a couple days, she had only lost 1 more ounce since leaving the hospital, and she had only lost 3 ounces at the hospital, so it was great to know she was for sure getting enough to eat and was thriving wonderfully. The ease in breastfeeding was a true blessing.  After having Jeff, he was having a hard time staying latched on and he barely ate anything for the first couple days, and had lost TWENTY ounces when the home health nurse came. Good thing he was a big boy. We ended up figuring out that we needed to use a breast shield, and everything was fine after that, but not having that issue this time was just so nice.  Anyway, she had a touch of jaundice, but the nurse said almost so little that she could barely give it a rating. 

I was feeling so much better in comparison to when I came home after having Jeff that it seemed like I must be dreaming.  The afterbirth pains were a lot worse, so during feeding it was painful, but that only lasted a few days, and only one day that was really painful.  Otherwise, I felt like I could get around pretty well and do mostly what I normally did.

Anyway, that’s Cora’s story. At least some of it.  I can’t express the joy we have for such a perfect, healthy little girl, and that I am recovering well and that Jeff has adjusted to having his little sister so well!

Since then, Cora has had her two week appointment and was up to 8 lbs. 9 oz. and the doctor thought she looked great.  She’s been doing so well with feeding and sleeping.  She eats about every 3 hours during the day, and then by 8:30pm or so, she gets on her nighttime schedule and starts sleeping 4 or sometimes up to 5 hours apart until morning. She usually goes back to sleep after nighttime feedings pretty easily, so I can actually get some rest.  I just need to go to bed earlier! 

I want to thank my mom for being here when Cora was born, and taking care of Jefferson and the house and baking the yummiest cookies ever!  Taking care of Jeff was such an important job, and I am so glad she got to have that time with him, and I didn’t worry for a second when I had to leave and be away from him when Cora was born, so that was wonderful.  And she got to have some good quality time with her granddaughter and all of us too.  The timing worked out so well.  It was so fun!  And hard to say goodbye! Thank you, Mom!!! We miss you!

Kirby’s parents and sister came a week after my mom left, and we had a great time with them! I have photos to post from their visit.  They were wonderful, taking care of cleaning up and cooking and spending time with Jeff and Cora, and also just having a lot of good quality hang out time.  Thank you! We miss you already!

Ok, whew! I’ll post more soon!