Welcome Baby Girl Melanie!
We are so pleased to announce the arrival of our sweet little girl, Melanie Yasuko McGirr! She was born on Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 6:11am, weighing 7lbs, 11oz, and measuring 20in long. My labor lasted a total of 2.5 hours from the first contraction to delivery. We’re glad we made it to the hospital in time!
The previous night, i had decided to go to bed at 8:30pm because i was so tired. Normally, i go to bed around 11pm. Earlier in the day, i went to the gym and spent an hour on the elliptical and did some weight training. When i came home, i showered, cleaned around the garage a bit, then sat my ass in front the TV for the remainder of the afternoon. Since my mom has been here, she has been cooking us dinner every night! And my in-laws have been picking Vincent up from daycare. It was nice to sit back and relax! After dinner, we put Vincent to bed, and said our goodbyes to the McGirrs, wondering every time if this would be “the night” i go into labor. Luckily it was! At 5 days post-due we were all pretty ready.
At 3:30am, i woke up feeling some light contractions. While i have been having Braxton-Hicks, i haven’t had them for close to a week now, so i was excited that this finally might be it. I timed them and the first few were about 6 minutes apart for a minute long. Then they became shorter in duration but closer together at about 2-3 minutes apart for 30-45 seconds. I started to get my stuff together, and after about 45 minutes, I woke Jeff up and told him i was having contractions. He wondered if he could sleep just a bit more, and I told him it was his choice, but i was going to stay up! He decided to get up, make coffee, warm up the car and get ready to go. Meanwhile, i called the hospital and asked if i should come in, even though i pretty much wanted to jump in the car and go already. They didn’t sound too sure, but said to come in just because i am post-due and was scheduled to have an NST later that day.
The contractions at this point were not terrible. They were getting stronger surely, and I had a few that i really need to breathe through in the car. We arrived at the hospital at 5:23am. I know the exact time because they closed the main entrances to the hospital from 12 midnight to 5:30am for security reasons, and when we got there i was mad because we had to go in through the ER department instead! Haha! It wasn’t a far walk, but at this point, i was having contractions closer and closer together and i had to stop and breathe through all them. I even had to walk up a small flight of stairs! I think i had 3 or 4 contractions just walking the short distance from the car to the labor and delivery department! Jeff kept asking if i wanted a wheel chair, but i said i was ok.
We arrived at the front desk, and was greeted by our nurse. We got a real delivery room this time (yes!) and so i changed very quickly into my gown and the monitors, and hopped into bed to get checked. Suddenly the contractions were getting pretty hard to deal with! The nurse checked me and couldn’t feel my cervix, only my bulging bag of waters. She was surprised, and went to get second opinion. They were shocked to find i was “only a smile” (pretty much fully dilated) and ready to start pushing. They called the doctor right away and prepped me for delivery.
Here we go again! The last time i delivered, the hardest part was waiting for the doctor to arrive so that I could push. So this time, i swore to myself i’d allow much more time so that my doctor could be here when i was ready! I don’t know how many contractions i had before the doctor got here, but it was very intense! They hardly allowed for me to regroup myself. My body was pushing the baby out on it’s own! Jeff at one point asked about pain meds for me, and the nurse was like, it’s way too late, she’s having this baby in the next 10 minutes whether the doctor gets here or not! Uh oh…
Luckily my doctor walked in the door just in time. He broke my water straightaway, and they told me to push. Here came the head! She let out a big cry. They stopped to check for a cord, no cord, one more big push, and there she was, with her hands up by her face. She let out another good cry. Jeff said “it’s a girl” and “she’s so beautiful!” Aghhh… i was so relieved! Man did it hurt pushing her out! But at least it was quick and i got the job done! They cleaned her off a bit and then placed her on me. Jeff and i counted her fingers and toes and decided on her name. She was moving her tongue furiously and wanted to nurse right away, but they had to finish stitching me up first. I ended up with a second degree tear, which is better then my third degree with Vinny even though she was a full pound heavier than him.
Melanie nursed on one side for over an hour! She went to town! After she was finished, they weighed her and gave her a bath (of course she did not like that very much), and got her footprints. Jeff noticed a little hickey on her left forearm, and the doctor said it was likely from her sucking on her hand, or perhaps the fast delivery and it rubbing against a bone on the way out. We figured it was the former, since she loves to suck!
Jeff let family know that Melanie was here! My in-laws, my mom and Vincent all came to meet her later in the morning. Vincent pointed to her and looked a little confused or worried. (Later we would discover he was actually sick with a double ear infection). He didn’t seem very interested, ate my banana from food service, and wanted to play with my iPhone! He did say “uh oh” when the baby started to cry, which i thought was cute.
We stayed in the hospital for one night and went home on Valentine’s day afternoon. The nurses were all very nice and had a pleasant stay.
My friend Patti and her son Evan visited and brought us a stuffed doggie, and a few cute girl going home outfits, (and some Pizza My Heart for lunch!) since i had only brought a gender-neutral hand-me-down.
She was perfectly quiet on the ride home!
So far, Melanie has been a wonderful baby. She nurses great, sleeps soundly and is on a pretty good 2 hour eat-sleep schedule. She barely opened her eyes in the hospital, but it seems as the days go on she’s getting more “awake” time.
The first few nights home, she preferred to sleep with me in our bed, but now she is okay sleeping in the pack n play bassinet.
She is sleeping 2-3 hour stretches at a time, and she only really cries or hollers if she has to poop! Its rough being a newborn!
We started to take some portraits of her in the sunroom, but it’s so bright she can barely open her little eyes! She’s got more hair on her head than Vincent did when he was born, but her eyebrows and eyelashes are a bit less filled in than his.
We took her to the doctor on Monday (President’s Day) for a weight check and she was already gaining a few ounces from her weight at discharge from the hospital. She weighed 7 lbs and 5oz.
Our first outing together as a family was out to Claremont Park. Vinny played with Dad while i held Melanie in the shade.
Vincent has been a great big brother so far. He always wants to say hi to the baby or give her a blanket or hat or pacifier.
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He has been pretty understanding if mommy can’t go somewhere or do something if i am nursing her. He tries to be gentle by only touching her blanket instead of mauling her face. Couldn’t really ask for more from a toddler.
We have had a few visitors (Bonnie, Kyle and their daughter Charlotte) and lots of gifts for baby girl! I am excited to buy some girly clothes!
We are so glad Melanie is finally here! We can’t wait to watch her grow. She completes our family!