I'm feeling overwhelmed with the task of posting about my sweet Maggie's birth. I don't know how to blog about something so big. There's too much to say...
I guess I should start with the facts. Maggie Elisabeth was born on November 8th, which was her due date. She was 7lbs, 3oz and 21 inches long. She looks like Mia in many ways but definitely still has her own look. She's got lots of dark hair and cute pinchable cheeks. So far she's very quiet and mellow-- only cries when she's hungry or when her cruel mommy uses a cold wet-wipe to clean off her bottom. ;) Of course newborns mostly just sleep away their first couple weeks so we will see if these characteristics remain true down the road.
My labor and delivery with Maggie was so drastically different than with Mia. I labored with Mia for over 24 hours including pushing for 3, had to be augmented with pitocin and needed an episiotomy. With Maggie it was less than 3 hours start to finish-- no need for augmentation of any kind!
Here's the synopsis...I woke up around 4am on the Thursday she was born with very minor contractions-- nothing major but painful enough to wake me up. The contractions never amounted to anything after getting up and around a little later. We decided Gabe should go ahead and go to work-- I'd call him if anything serious started happening. The day was pretty uneventful (except my Dad arrived from AZ). We went on a couple walks to try and get things going. That evening we ate a tasty dinner that my Mom cooked-- after dinner around 6:30 I started having painful contractions. Over the next hour and a half things progressed quickly-- my contractions were lasting under a minute but were anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes apart. When I started getting the shakes I realized it was probably time to head to the hospital! A quick call to the midwife confirmed this and we were off by 8pm. During the 40 minute car ride to the hospital I was having killer contractions...I think I was hollering a bit and I know I bit the seatbelt a couple times. ;) At one point I told Gabe to hurry...he took me very serious...Gabe was going 100mph at times, flashing his lights at people to move over. We even ran a redlight! When we got to the hospital room around 8:45pm, the midwife checked my cervix. She said to me, "How far along do you want to be?" Well of course anyone would want to be as far along as possible, but I figured I was maybe 4 or 5cm at that point. She smiled and said I was 8cm. She wanted to let me labor a little while and see if my water would break naturally because she had 2 other patients who were 8cm also with their waters already broken-- she didn't want to have 3 babies ready to deliver at once. Her and the nurse kept telling us we'd be having the baby really soon-- before midnight-- Gabe and I were in doubt, recalling that I had stalled at 8cm for many a long hour with Mia. After 20 or so miserable minutes she came back in announcing that the other 2 women weren't progressing so would I like her to break my water and get things moving. Of course I was game. While breaking my water she told me I was fully dilated. Things moved VERY quickly once my water was broke. I had the most painful contraction yet-- but it wasn't letting up! My body started bearing down and I wanted to push. So I did! That's when the nurse and midwife urgently told me to wait because the baby was right there but the midwife didn't have gloves on yet. I remember Gabe saying "she's right there Ana!" I was able to hold off for a second then one push later Maggie was born! They immediately put her on my chest-- what a feeling!!! She was so sweet and tiny...I guess I had forgotten how little newborns are! Gabe had collapsed crying just like he had when Mia was born (isn't he so cute!?). I think he was in shock that everything happened so fast. We both were. We're so thankful that it was better and easier this time around. Thanks to everyone for their prayers!
The feelings of instantaneous love that I felt for Maggie were no less potent or real than I felt upon first seeing Mia. I had wondered before how I would be able to love another child as much as I love Mia. Well, I guess I know now. In my eyes she's perfect, and I couldn't feel more blessed. Mia loves her sister too. The very first thing she did when we introduced her to Maggie was kiss her! And she's been great every since. All she wants to do is kiss her and give her toys!
I'd like to thank my Mom for all her help during her 2 week visit. She did practically all the cooking and cleaning and helped out in a major way with Mia-- even made frozen meals for us to cook later when she was gone! I don't know how we would've done it without her. Mia grew quite attached to her Grandma. Now if she hears a noise that she thinks is coming from the kitchen (which is where the door to our basement/guest room is)-- she cries out "Grandma!!" and runs in to the kitchen. So...thanks Mom! You are missed by us all!
This turned into quite a long post-- I told you I had a lot to say! I'll stop now and let the pictures speak for themselves (you can click on the slideshow if you want to see the pictures larger)...
This Christmas I got one of the best gifts a mom could ever ask for-- my little Maggie started smiling! We'd seen glimpses of her smile while she slept but hadn't seen that real social smile until a few days before Christmas. I'm sure all you parents can relate to the feelings it stirs up when you see your baby smile back at you...especially after weeks and weeks of caring for your little one and getting virtually no response back! That first month+ is undoubtedly special, but I must admit that I get tired of that seemingly unresponsive blob! I mean that in the most endearing way of course. ;) In fact, I've been pondering lately how the newborn-parent relationship is probably a lot like the human-God relationship. I mean, God gives and gives and we take and take but don't really ever give anything in return. Yet God does it all because he loves us, just as I (as a parent) do all I do because I love my baby. It doesn't matter that she's not giving anything in return-- I love her!! But, I suppose I've revealed the main difference in the analogy-- God never gets weary of the process nor expects anything in return. Thank goodness!
