The birth of Christine

Christine was born on Thursday, March 12. Since I was 9 days late already I was scheduled to be induced that morning. I had already had minor contractions for a couple of weeks though. When we went to the hospital at 10am I was 4 cm dilated and I was induced about a half hour later. Contractions didn't really pick up until about 1pm. I got an epidural that was extremely painful, thanks to the dumb ass anaesthesiologist. Not only did it hurt, it didn't work at all. An hour later another doctor adjusted the wire in my back, but that didn't do anything either. At this point I was in a LOT of pain. It took forever to find a third doctor to take the epidural wire out and reinsert it properly. At that point I was 9 cm dilated, and by the time it was done, I was ready to push. Christine was born in about 3 minutes, long before the last epidural had a chance to kick in. I also received a second degree episiotomy. All in all, I had 2 epidurals by 3 anaesthesiologist only to have natural birth. It was a horrible experience, but at the end we had a beautiful and healthy baby girl. She weighed 8lbs 13.5oz (4kg) and she was 21 inches long. The family came to visit us shortly after. We were discharged from the hospital the next morning, about 17 hours after she was born.
Breastfeeding Christine is completely different than it was with Sarah. She's a natural. She knows exactly what to do and she has a good appetite. I'm so relieved.

Welcome Christine Jessica!

41 weeks

We're close to the finish line! I had a check-up with my doctor today. I'm scheduled to be induced on Thursday, unless the baby comes before that. I'm still hoping she will. Surprisingly, I'm 2-3 centimetres dilated already. I couldn't believe it when the doctor told me, because I haven't had any contractions yet. It took me hours and lots of pain to get this far with Sarah. He also did a membrane sweep to see if that would get things started, but I'm not feeling anything yet. When he measured the size of my belly, all he could say was "WOW! That's a big baby!". He said, this baby will beat Sarah by at least a pound. In other words, I'm in for an interesting (and painful) delivery. I just hope I'll be able to get the epidural again. That thing is a lifesaver!
Like I said 16 months ago "my next posting should have a picture of our new baby"!!!

40 weeks

Here we are again at my due date and no baby. I honestly didn't think this would happen to me twice. I was sure this baby would come at least a week early. My belly is humongous. I had a check-up today and even the doctor took a second look at the measuring tape after checking the size of my stomach. It's BIG!!! The other day, I looked at my pictures of my first pregnancy in the later stages and I laughed. I thought I was big then. Wow! That was nothing compared to this time. But the doctor said everything looked fine. My next appointment is on Monday and if I don't have the baby by then, he'll book me in for an induction. Last time, I barely missed it. I was scheduled to be induced on a Wednesday, but I went to the hospital (in active labor) on the Tuesday night. I really hope to avoid the induction this time around too. Somehow it doesn't seem natural to me. The baby knows when it's time to come out. I'd rather let her take her time, as long as it's safe for both of us.
Sarah is doing really well with potty training. Last week she started telling me when she had to go by trying to pull her pants down. She still wears a diaper all the time, but she's getting close to being done with them. I'm stocking up on pull-up diapers. Plus, hopefully the nice weather is just around the corner and she can start wearing less clothing which will probably help accelerate her training. Tonight it's -31 degrees, but it's supposed to get a bit warmer for the end of the week. I hope it does, I would hate to bring the baby home in weather like this.