The Life of Riley: September 2016

Molly's First Week

Molly survived her first week in our crazy house. We are all adjusting and getting used to our "new normal". She is such a sweetheart, and we all just love her so much. The kids have done really great with the transition. The hardest part is just trying to keep them from wanting to be all over her all the time. I am so impressed with how gentle Katelyn is with her. She is so naturally loving, and she holds her so well. Brady constantly asks if he can kiss her or rub her. He is not as natural with holding the baby, but I think that is just a boy vs. girl thing. Katelyn is very motherly and is constantly playing mommy to her baby dolls and imaginary friends, so she has some practice.

She is a great sleeper once she finally goes to sleep at night. Sometimes it takes quite a while to get her to go to sleep, but once she is asleep she almost always sleeps 4-6 hours which at 1.5 weeks I'd say that is pretty good. I wake her up every 3 hours during the day if she is napping to feed her, but just let her sleep at night. She is a good eater and has caught onto nursing very easily just like her brother and sister. My goal is to breastfeed for atlas 6 months, and then anything after that will just be a bonus.

She had a pretty busy first week. It was not really the best timing to come home from the hospital. I actually asked to leave early, because I was just ready to get home. I usually say I love my hospital stay, but I missed the big kids, and I was tired of people coming in my room constantly to check on us. So we came home Thursday around lunch time. Well, preschool was closed early on Friday due to Hurricane Hermine, and it was labor day weekend. That meant 4 long days with all three kids- stuck inside for part of the weekend due to all the rain. We also had Paul's birthday celebration, and then we took newborn pictures on Monday. I was really looking forward to Tuesday to finally have a quiet day at home with just the baby. I think I may have overdone it a little bit, but I think with the third child you don't have much of a choice. The show must go on! We are lucky to have lots of help from grandparents, and Paul has done everything he can to make it easier on me. I just keep reminding myself that the days are long, but the years are short. These newborn days will be gone in a flash, and I will miss this teeny tiny baby.

We also started making some progress on our new house! The same day Molly was born the demolition crew knocked down the house and starting clearing our lot. I can't tell you how ready I am to be in our own house again. I know that selling our house was the right thing to do, but I am REALLY missing my old house right about now. We are moving along as fast as we can though, and I am so proud of Paul for all the work he is doing to get it done for us. We always seem to pack all of these life changes in at the same time. Once we get moved in I'm literally never moving again (although Paul thinks otherwise).

Here are some pictures from the past week!

They couldn't love her more!

Molly Frances meeting her namesake- my Grandma Fran.

Such a proud big sister!

Celebrating Daddy's birthday!

Passed out on the way to take newborn pictures.

I snapped this on my phone while we were taking pictures.

Love these 2 so much!

Wide awake!

Daddy and his girls!

Proud big brother!

I don't ever want to forget this feeling!

Two little Gamecocks ready for school!

Our first child to like a pacifier.

Katelyn's first day of tap/ballet. She loved it!

Molly's fan club.

Meeting Aunt Paige

Our lot!

Molly Frances DuRant

It is surreal to be sitting here writing this post as I watch my 2 day old baby snooze away in her swing. I have spent the last nine months dreaming about the day she would be born, what she would look like, her sweet newborn smell, her tiny little fingers and toes, and now- she's here! She is the sweetest little thing, and we are all just smitten with her. I needed to write down the details of her birth story while they are still fresh in my mind.

I am not going to lie, I was getting very impatient waiting for this baby to arrive! When your first child is born at 34 weeks and then your second at 39 weeks, it is hard to not assume that this one will follow suit and be a little early. Well despite good progression at every doctor's appointment, she was still just staying comfortable in the womb. The doctor's kept telling me she would be here any day now- yet with each passing day, she still wasn't here and my due date of Sept 1st was creeping closer. Since I was planning on another VBAC, the safest way to deliver is to go into labor naturally, so they would not schedule an induction until I was passed my due date. I was so over being pregnant, and just so ready to meet this little girl! I took LOTS of walks in hopes that would get things moving along. I had been working from home for over a week since I was just sure she was coming any time now. The morning of August 30th I just decided I was tired of being at home all day waiting for baby, because clearly she was just not moving, so I got dressed and headed into work. I had some stuff there that I needed anyway. So I went to work for a few hours and then came back home around lunch time.

I had not been able to sleep the past couple of nights, so I started googling how to naturally induce labor. I had pretty much exhausted all options except drinking the castor oil. I never thought I would be one to try this, but I was desperate. So about 1:30pm I went to CVS bought some castor oil and took 2 tbsp. as Dr. Google said. There were mixed reviews about if this worked and obviously some not so pretty side effects, but I figured it didn't hurt to try. My body was ready, I just felt like I needed a little push. We invited my dad over for spaghetti night which is one of our little weekly traditions. He ate dinner with us, and around 7:30 or so I started feeling some contractions. I already had a false alarm a few days before, so I didn't want to alert the forces just yet, so I carried on with our normal routine. We gave the kids a bath and put them to bed. Meanwhile I started timing my contractions. They were already at about 2-3 minutes apart and 30 seconds each. The rule the doctor gives you is to call when they are 5 minutes or less and last for 1 minute or longer for at least an hour. I felt like tonight was probably the night, so I went ahead and took a shower and got ready while I had Paul using my phone to time the contractions. I decided I would call the doctor at 9pm if they were still persistent. By 9 they were every 2 minutes and starting to get stronger. I called and he said to go ahead and come in. Paul's dad came to the house to stay with the kids, and we headed to the hospital.

When we got there the doctor was waiting on us and when I told him how frequent my contractions were he said we could skip triage and go ahead and be admitted to the hospital. This is when it set in that we were really about to have a baby! We arrived at the hospital about 9:30pm, and I am glad we didn't wait a minute longer. My contractions were quickly picking up and becoming painful. I told them to go ahead and order my epidural. The nurses were moving as fast as they could, but they still had to get me checked into the computer and labs ordered before they could call the anesthesiologist. When they first checked me I was 4 cm and 80% effaced (I was 3cm and 80% at my last office visit a few days prior). They finally got to a point where they could order my epidural, and my water had broken about 15 minutes before that. Thankfully I was her only patient at the time, so she arrived right away. I was in so much pain, and so happy to see her! Conveniently they had lost my blood samples, so the labs were not back. The angel anesthesiologist saw how much pain I was in and said she would move forward anyway (thank you!!). It was hard to stay still for the epidural, because I was having so many contractions, but I knew I would feel so much relief soon. She got the epidural in, and within a few minutes I was feeling much better. However, I still could feel some pain and lots of pressure, so the nurse decided to check me again. I was already 8-9cm and the baby had dropped significantly. She told us that this baby would be here very shortly. It was not even 30 minutes later that I told her this baby was trying to come out. She checked me again, and I was fully dilated and ready to push! They called the doctor in (after we had to tell her 5 times to please go ahead and call the doctor), and I pushed for maybe 20 minutes or so, and she was here at 12:15am on 8/31!

We weren't even at the hospital for 3 hours before she was born. They immediately gave her to me to do skin to skin for about an hour before they took her to weigh her and check her vitals. She was 7lbs 7ozs 20.5 inches long, and just oh so perfect. She was certainly worth the wait! To add to my excitement, she was born on 8/31- which meant we made it before the Sept 1st cutoff for school! My good friends and family know this was something that was very important to me. So thank you baby girl for making that happen, even if you picked the very last day :).

We are getting settled in at home, and I am sure we will get used to our new normal soon. The kids have been great. The hardest thing is that they just want to be all over her ALL the time. Katelyn loves her one minute, and then is upset the next. I am trying my best to give her lots of attention as she is definitely a momma's girl. I know that her and Molly will be best friends in no time. She already says that Molly is her "best friend she had never seen." Brady is just so sweet and constantly wants to kiss her and rock her and sing to her. He was made to be a big brother to two little sisters. I know he will always watch out for them. Her first night at home could not have gone any better. She only woke up once to eat and have a diaper change and even then never really cried. I was just more paranoid that she was still sleeping it made me feel better to feed her. I hope these nights continue!

We are just so blessed. I can't believe I am a mommy to the sweetest little boy and two most precious little girls!