5 Month Catch-up Post

Dawson turned 5 months old yesterday. It seems so crazy to me. It's true what they say -- you don't get as many pictures of the second child as you do the first, but I don't think that's because you care less. I can honestly say that I am enjoying this experience more than the first 5 months after Harper and I am living in each moment, not snapping pictures of it. Why? Simply because I am better equipped. It is exhausting. I really want to be a stay at home mom at another home because after a day of play and entertaining, cooking and some cleaning... our house is a mess. It's full of toys, burp cloths, my high heel shoes that Harper takes everywhere, socks, more toys, beaded necklaces. 

 So here I am at the hospital. September 27. We waited until Harper went to bed because we wanted it to be an easy night for her -- knowing that major changes were in store for her the next day. My dear friend Adam Schaefer has the most fabulous parents. Mike and Kathi came and spent the night at our house and spent the morning with Harper. Harper loves spending time with them -- so it made all of us very happy.

 I was having contractions every few minutes but nothing was happening. I walked around for a while. My favorite doctor (the one who delivered Harper, my nephew and who I really want to be BFF with) was on call until 8 am. I was determined to have this baby.

At some point in the night my contractions just stopped. They start increasing my pitocin (ugh!) to get things going. I never really sleep. I watch Silver Linings Playbook on my phone. I watch the clock. I have to have this baby before shift change. 6am rolls around. I know that my doctor is waiting to visit me last -- I like to believe that we are friends and she knows I want her to deliver my baby. 6:30 comes and Dr. Purdie isn't around and my nurse is leaving soon. I start sobbing. I don't feel much of anything (thanks to the epidural) and I am just a mess. I meet the new nurse. She is really sweet. It is her first day back from maternity leave. I know it is hard for her. She has a student from Emory with her and I really like her, too. Dr. Purdie comes by at 8:15 to let me know that Dr. Weinstein is now on call. I also really like him. They check me. Wow. The baby is right there. Dr. Purdie tells Dr. Weinstein she would like to deliver me -- despite no longer being on call. AWESOME. Let's do this. I am so pumped. She goes to get her gown on and the nurse says to give a practice push. And then screams to stop. Dr. Purdie runs back in and Dawson was born at 8:35. Hours of contractions and one push.

Everything was great. I held him and cried. He was big and healthy. Another 9 pound baby. It's in the genes. He didn't cry during his bath. He was so quiet and calm. This was such a different experience than with loud mouth Harper. I tell my parents to hurry home to get Harper. She gets to meet her brother first. She came in and was so curious. She was so gentle with him. My mom heart just melted and I was forever changed. This picture was taken just before I was moved upstairs -- before the incident occurred.

We decided to go up to my recovery room together. We happened to pass the windows where Harper sees her grandparents -- both sets of grandparents together! She was so excited so she went to see them. John took her to see them and they would bring her upstairs when we got settled. I can't tell you how thankful I am that she went with them. I entered the room with my nurse and her student. They tell me to stand up (with their help and very slowly) and sit on the bed. As soon as I stood up blood went everywhere. Everywhere. She told me to sit down. I said I feel like I am going to pass out. I wake up a few minutes later. John is getting me on the bed. I wake up a few minutes later. A room full of nurses and doctors yelling. Someone is putting this awful smelling crap in my face. John is talking to me, telling me to open my eyes. I wake up a few minutes later. Same thing. "GET THE DOCTOR IN HERE." "Who is the President? Alyson, can you hear me? What year is it? Alyson, open your eyes. Stay with me. Stay with me." It was so hard to open my eyes. It was so crazy. I had no concept of how long it lasted until John told me later. I was unconscious for 10-15 minutes. I lost  a lot of blood. I was moved to the high risk labor and delivery rooms. The ones that have one nurse for every two patients. I was given medicine during the episode which helped contract the uterus. That and an extra bag of pitocin.

I was so cold. And sore. They were pushing on my stomach (trying to get my uterus to contract) to stop the hemorrhaging. Poor John. I just kept apologizing. I felt so sad. I cried a lot. My face was so swollen from crying and all the fluids they were pumping in me. I wanted to hold my kids. I wanted to eat and drink something. Ugh. It was scary. It had to be awful for John. He just kept in my face the whole ordeal talking to me, telling me it was going to be okay. And it was. I recovered quickly -- didn't need a transfusion. The uterus, you see, is like a rubberband. The more you stretch it out, the hard it is for it to come back to its normal size. Big babies and multiple babies make it even harder.

I was glad when I could see my family, love on Dawson and get some sleep.

 When we got home, we tried to keep up like nothing changed. We took Harper and Dawson to the pumpkin patch when Dawson was three days old.

Life got a little more complicated when John returned to work, his mom went home and my mom went home. But we managed.

I will post more specific pictures later, but we are doing great. I just love watching my kids interact. Dawson adores Harper -- he smiles at her all the times and stares at her while she plays. Harper likes to "watch" Dawson while I am cleaning -- she brings him toys, wipes away his drool and spit up and only occasionally (accidentally) throws a toy at him.

I feel very lucky. All the time.