Here She Is

I might be a bit late getting this posted, but better late than never. Our sweet little girl arrived 3.13.13. After 2.5 weeks of multiple ultrasounds, non-stress tests, LOTS of contractions, and ridiculous amounts of blood draws, my doctor decided it was time to deliver our girl a bit early (38 weeks and 2 days) instead of waiting any longer for our original date of 3.18.13. Needless to say, I was VERY excited to get our delivery date moved up...I was READY! Everything worked out well and went smoothly. Though, I think when the time came, I was a bit more nervous this time around than I was with Finley (simply because I knew more of what to expect, and I was really nervous to get a spinal...Which was bearable, but NOT fun). 

 

We checked in to the hospital at 5:30, they took my to surgery around 7:30, and we met Scarlet for the first time at 7:59 AM. As my doctor was starting to pull our babe out, I remember saying, "I am never going to sleep again." To which she replied something along the lines of, "Pretty much, you're right." As it turns out we were both right, but that's probably for another post. Hearing our little girl cry for the first time was amazing. She quieted down right away, which I was totally normal; however, at the time, I was nervous about since I remember Finley crying more at first, but as it turns out that's just the way she is. She's a very good baby!

Perfectly healthy girl. 6 lbs, 14 ounces, 19.5 inches. 

 Apgar 8 & 9

Holding my baby for the first time. We were very fortunate in that we got to keep our little girl in the operating room with me the entire time!! 

Sweet little face

Recovery Room

Daddy's girl

Grandma, Mommy, and baby Scarlet. We all share the same middle name, too!

We had the same room for Finley and Scarlet! 

I could hardly wait for Finley to meet his baby sister for the first time. My brother brought him down later in the morning, and it is safe to say,  he is FASCINATED with her.

When he arrived he was a bit confused, I think, as to why mommy was in bed. Once he saw Scarlet, he spoke in the highest-pitched voice, saying how tiny and "tute" she was. He LOVES Scarlet so much. He calls her "my baby" or "Baby 'T'arlet." 

 Finley can't stop checking her out!

 "I hold it, mommy!" He loved holding her, but when he was "done" he was quick to tell someone else, "you hold it!"

She LOVES to snuggle up on your chest

 Our sweet baby

I love her sweet flower hat!

Overall, everything went very smoothly. Scarlet was a VERY sleepy girl and didn't want to eat AT ALL the first TWO days. While I worried about this, everyone reassured me, this was normal, especially for a planned C-Section baby. Once she started eating, we had to keep at it to keep her awake and attentive.  Also normal for a c-section baby is some fluid left in the lungs (no pressure from birth to squeeze it out). Consequently, she "sang" a lot her first day of life. It sounded like we had a very vocal baby at first. While she wasn't exactly talking to us, it was fun to hear her sweet sounds. Because of an antigen in my blood, they did monitor her bilirubin extra carefully as a way to watch for any potential issues, however, we were very fortunate and had no complications.

I stayed in the hospital for two nights, then we were very ready to come home! When we discharged (on a Friday) from the hospital she was down to 6 lbs 7 ounces. We took her to the doctor on that following Monday and she was down to 6 lbs 5 ounces. After several more weight checks, we finally got her back to her birth weight by the time she was 2 1/2 weeks old. Once we were home, she continued to be a sleepy girl and due to the aforementioned weights, we did have to wake her up every 3 hours to eat...we had lots of short nights and tired days, but very happy hearts

We are in LOVE with our sweet little angel