Lauren Elizabeth

Meet Virginia

November, 22 2017

3:28 p.m.

8 pounds 4 oz

19.5 inches 

I have gotten so behind on blogging and one of these days I will play catch up from the summer. As we were getting closer to Virginia's due date we were trying to figure everything out for an induction. It just seemed like the best option living away from family. Virginia was due on November 25th but we were hoping to have her a few days earlier because Mike had the 22, 23 and 24 off for the Thanksgiving holiday. We knew everything would be so much easier if she came at the beginning of the break because Mike would be around and would be able to help with our girls since we obviously didn't have a lot of options for people to take care of them. Luckily Javi and Susie were able to come up the night I went in for my induction so that Mike could come to the hospital with me. After I was settled in my room and getting ready to start my medicine, Mike went home to sleep and be with the girls in the morning. I don't think I really slept much that night. Once those contractions start going it's almost impossible to really get a long enough stretch of sleep to feel rested. I went back and forth with watching shows on Netflix and trying to fall asleep for a few minutes. In the morning around 8 they checked me and things were progressing well enough to start me on pitocin. The doctor also went ahead and broke my water. I have never had my water broken before. It has always just happened on it's own in the hospital. I was actually nervous it was going to hurt, so I was relieved that it wasn't bad at all. Before they started me on the pitocin I was able to take shower and eat a snack, which was also really nice and I hadn't been able to do that with my other 2 deliveries. They were a bit more strict about eating as soon as I was at the hospital. At that point I gave Mike a heads up that I would be getting my epidural soon. That was pretty much the only thing that I was nervous about going into this labor. I felt very calm and relaxed about everything else. I wanted Mike to be there when I got the epidural because I am just a total wimp with needles and other than contractions it is the only real painful thing for me with labor ( as long as the epidural is working). With my past 2 deliveries my epidural did not go as planned and was the cause of a lot of pain and stress and tears. I was really hopeful that this time around things would go better. It did hurt a little to get it, but it was the best epidural I have had and it never wore off and it honestly went so perfectly. The anesthesiologist was so great. She walked us through it and gave me a heads up for any pain that would be coming. After I got the epidural I was able to nap a bit and catch up on some of the sleep I missed the night before. The doctor came in to check me after I had been able to sleep a bit and said things were progressing well. Mike had gone to get some food and I called him to tell him he probably better come back pretty fast because it looked like things were going quickly. Mike got back and they started to prep the room and get everything ready. It was so nice because I felt great and everything had gone so smoothly that I felt very reassured about it all and relaxed. The doctor then checked again and said I was ready to push. He said we should have her out in about 10 minutes, which was a bit of a surprise because with the other girls I had pushed longer than that( Grace got stuck and Vi was my first so it was just a bit longer). Our doctor was so wonderful and coached me through the whole thing so that I didn't tear. I pushed about 3 times and she was born in about 5 minutes, which was obviously even faster then I had thought. Ginny screamed for quite awhile and was not very quick to settle down. They had me do skin to skin with her for about the first hour before they gave her a bath. That was also different then it had been with my other 2. Both Vi and Grace got swept away pretty quickly to the pediatric team to get cleaned up. It was nice to just get to hold Ginny and not feel rushed at all. She weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. She looked like such a chunk when she came out. Everyone thought she was going to be over 9 pounds. So we were a little surprised to see she was only a little heavier than our other girls.

Overall it was the best delivery. Everything was so smooth and easy and it was such a relief to have no problems. I felt like I was able to recover so quickly because the labor went so smoothly and was so short. Ginny did have jaundice for about 3 weeks and had to get a few blood draws because of it. It eventually cleared up and she has just been such a great baby. 

The girls have both been amazing with her. I knew Vi was going to be a super star because she was so great when Grace was born, but she has gone above and beyond to just be the best helper. It makes such a big difference to have an older child who can really help you with things. Grace has surprised me and has been so gently with Ginny. I thought Grace might be a bit on the rough side, but she has honestly been great. Each day they want to come in and see her. They sing to her and kiss her all the time. If I have one complaint about their interaction with her it is that they kiss her too much. Lots of times I have to tell them to just let her sleep. 

We are so grateful for this sweet easy going baby. She looks just like her sisters. After what seemed like such a long and busy pregnancy I am just so happy to have her here and that i just get to snuggle and kiss her all day. I love the newborn stage so much. For me it is so much easier and better than being pregnant. I look forward to it so much. It makes all those months of being sick and all the other hard side affects worth it. We love our sweet Virginia Kate and are so happy she is here.