It was a year ago this month (November 1998) that we found out about the little life that had begun which would be our second darling baby daughter! I was feeling super tired and ached all over. I told Mark I either had the flu or I was pregnant. Well, of course it was the later. Pregnancy for me was like having the flu for months on end. Not very pleasant physically. Emotionally, however, I was on cloud nine!

Mark seemed a little dazed when I told him the news. I had already done two home pregnancy tests with the same positive result so I was pretty sure. We called and made an appointment with the OB/GYN to confirm. The estimated due date was set at June 20th according to my estimated lmp and June 24th according to ultrasound. The next months were a blur of doctor appointments, extreme fatigue and every imaginable illness in addition to the ever present nausea. I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks which showed a heartbeat! Very encouraging. Julia was sick a lot during those months too. The combination of trying to work, care for a sick child and a pregnant me was very stressful for us all. A few weeks before Christmas I had more really bad bleeding and I was terrified it was all over. Another ultrasound showed the baby was alright, but I had a condition called abrupted placenta which is where the placenta is detached from the uterus in places. I had to go on bed rest which was absolute torture. Mom and Dad came down to help which was the only bright spot of the holiday season other than Julia of course. I was determined that I would go with her to see Santa. So my only outing for a month was with Mark, Mom and Dad to The Albany Mall to watch Julia get her picture made with Santa and ride the christmas train with my Mom. Mom and Dad took me home after and Mark stayed and did all of our Christmas shopping! That's a first!

At about 15 weeks we had Amniocentesis done and were delighted to learn that there were no abnormalities and that we were having a girl! They did ultrasound along with the amnio. And little Rebecca was doing sommersaults and everything in there. It was really remarkable! The amnio was virtually painless. The only drawback was that I had to take off three more days from work and do no lifting or housework. The "no housework" being a joke because Mark and my Mom while she was there were having to do almost everything anyway. I felt I had to keep my job because we had our health insurance with it. But I missed a lot of work. At 24 weeks we had another ultrasound that showed everything looking good. That was the fifth ultrasound, so I felt like I knew little Rebecca already since I had seen her so much.

When I was about 8 months pregnant we finally moved into our present house. Mom and Dad had just happened to come down which was an absolute godsend! It was hard not to be able to do any of the moving, etc. And as a matter of fact, I still have tons of things I can't find that either are lost or burried in storage as a result of the move. Nevertheless, it was great to get in and have much more room! Especially Julia's room! It is wonderful. And the laundry room is great. And the kitchen fabulous! Finally a dishwasher!! And new refrigerator with filtered water and ice in the door!

We set up the cradle in our BIG bedroom, and I started washing baby things. We were getting really excited. Julia seemed to understand what was happening amazingly well for her mere 20 months of age! She moved into her new room without a hitch! And that was after sharing a room with Mommy and Daddy for all of her first year and a half of life!

School ended on June 4th. What a relief. I was hoping to have some time to spend with Julia and get some things done before the baby came. It didn't work out quite that way. The last day of work was Wednesday, June 9th. The next day I had a doctor's appointment. Doc said he thought she was going to be a big baby. My blood pressure was sort of high. So he told me to go on bed rest again! Uggghhhh. I had to go back to the doctor on Monday and the blood pressure was up even more. Dr. Ricketson wanted to go ahead and induce labor "in the next couple days" he said. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Inducing labor had never crossed my mind. Unlike most people I knew, who were anxious to get labor started as soon as possible, I was hoping to wait for the birth for as long as possible. The nurse and Mark had to escort me from the room. I was in a daze. We had what they call a non-stess test done. They hooked up a monitor and recorded the baby's heartbeat. I had to press a button everytime I felt her move. Of course, she was asleep and didn't move much at first which scared us. Finally, though, she did fine. Mom and Dad were still on their way back from China! I was determined to wait until they got down here mainly because I wanted Julia to have them here. So Doc agreed to wait until the end of the week if my blood pressure didn't get any worse. The plan was to induce labor on Friday if "I hadn't already started on my own" he said. I really didn't know anything about labor induction and didn't much like the idea. I was praying I would start on my own Thursday night, but nothing doing. Poor Mom and Dad left Indy shortly after they finished their really long trip home from China. They arrived in Georgia that Thursday, June 17th. I went back to the doctor that Thursday also, bp still up, so the induction which was scheduled for the next day was a go. I was still in a daze. I'd had everything packed for weeks, the house was clean, there was nothing to do but wait.

We took Julia over to spend the night with the Harris's Wednesday night. It was her first night ever away from home! I missed her terribly! She did great, but I had a hard time that night. I kept going into her empty room and wondering how she would react to bringing her new baby sister into the family. I left her as an only child and when I saw her again, she'd be a big sister. I knew that from the moment I left her things would never be the same.

PART II

Early Friday morning we had a calm drive up to Albany, Georgia which took about 50 minutes. No frantic hunt to find Mark or speeding race to the hospital this time either thank goodness! I had worried the whole two pregnancies that I wouldn't be able to find him and that we wouldn't get to the hospital in time. We checked into the Birth Center of Pheobe Putney Memorial Hospital Friday morning, June 18th, at 6:30 A.M.

We went to the second floor and signed in at the desk. Then we proceded on back to a birthing room where we met our nurse, Kathy. I liked her from the beginning. She was very professional, yet kind. The birthing rooms are wonderful. Nicely decorated, lounge chair, rocking chair, CD player and T.V. Mark made himself at home. I got undressed and into my "comfy" hospital gown. Geez, who designs those things?? Then I got to get a very uncomfortable pelvic check. 3 centimeters dilated. Got hooked up to the monitor and wouldn't you know my blood pressure was perfectly normal! I said, "does that mean I can go back home?" Everyone laughed. Guess not. Loved the sound of the baby's heartbeat. It was perfect throughout and so was my blood pressure - who knew? The monitor showed I was already having some pretty good contractions but I couldn't feel a thing. I then got to go have an enema. Which I know everyone hates, but was actually a relief after having suffered from constipation all week. I didn't have one with Julia and wish I'd had because I was uncomfortable the whole time and then a big mess when I had to push. Boy one sure does loose your sense of modestly when it comes to childbirth! Anyway, we settled in. Dr. Ricketson came by and briefed us I guess. I don't remember what he said. They hooked up the IV and started the pitocin drip about 10:00 A.M. I also had antibiotics because I had tested positive for Group B Strep with my first pregnancy. They boosted the pitocin dosage about every hour. I wasn't feeling anything but was progressively dilating. The cervix checks being my only discomfort so far. The nurse commented she thought we'd have a baby by noon! Mom and Dad came. They couldn't believe how routine and calm it all was. Me either. At about 11:30 Dr. Ricketson came in and checked me. 5.5 centimeters. I still had no pain which is amazing, because I was really hurting with Julia starting at 3 cm. Well, I was about to find out why I think. He went ahead and broke my water and then things really got moving. The contractions starting becoming really painful. My water had broke at the very beginning with Julia. After about 15 minutes I buzzed the nurse and asked for some pain medication. She said are you ready for your epidural? The anesthisiologist is in the next room. I said, "YES!" He came in shortly. Got the epidural started with no problem. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Total relief. I told him about how with first baby they had let it wear off at the end. Yoweee. He seemed surprised and said that wouldn't happen this time. It worked like a charm. We were just waiting for something to happen. I was watching the monitor in amazement as the contractions went through the ceiling and I didn't feel a thing. The nurse and doctor went to lunch. Mark, Mom and I just sat there chatting. Weird. Dad was in the waiting area. The nurse had said I would probably feel some pressure when it was time. After a while I felt a little and Mark said, do you want me to get the nurse? About that time Dr. Ricketson came in, checked me, and said, "If we don't get with it you're going to have this baby all by yourself!" I was really surprised. Mom went to get Dad. Mark said Doc was upset with the nurses for leaving me alone, and suddenly four nurses descended into the room, one of which was our childbirth preparation instructor who I was glad to see. They got me in position and said to try a push on the next contraction. I was amazed at how much easier it was to push. It was satisfying, not frustrating like with Julia (she was stuck). Every push they would all congratulate me on my good progress. Mark was videotaping descreetly from over my shoulder. After about I guess 5 pushes, Doc said, O.K. one more! And there she was!!! He said, "we've got a big, beautiful girl!" I heard her crying and Mark and I exchanged a long deep look. I felt so happy! The time was 1:08 P.M.

Doc didn't even ask Mark if he wanted to cut the cord, he didn't. Last time he asked, Mark replied, "Are you kidding, I'm just grateful to still be standing up!" I got to hold her and it was so awesome. She took hold of my finger immediately just like Julia had. They took her and weighed her and cleaned her up. She was 8 lbs 12 oz. I was surprised at how big. Julia had been 7 lbs 10 oz. I was wanting to jump up and go watch, and Doc said, wait a minute I'm not quite through with you yet. I didn't even notice that he was getting the placenta out or whatever and I had to have some stiches from the episiotomy. But I felt great!!! I got Rebecca back in a few minutes. I got to look her over and to nurse her for the first time. She did wonderful! She was just perfect. We had our baby lullabies CD playing in the background, and it was just soooo great! The only thing I didn't like was the blood pressure cuff that I had to wear throughout was in my way. I took it off, and when the nurse came in she told me I had to put it back on, but I kept taking it off. It was one of those automatic inflating things, a real nuisance. And the nurse also kept massaging my stomach which I didn't like because she was too rough. I wanted to keep Rebecca with me, but they said she had a slight temp so they wanted to take her to the nursery for a couple hours. Mark went with them to the nursery to watch her, and I got up and got ready to go to my room. I felt really good. No numbness from the Epidural or anything. Really amazing. The nurse took me to my room on the fifth floor maternity wing. I got up, put on MY gown & robe, combed my hair, put on make up and paced the room waiting to get Rebecca back. Doc came by to check on me a little later and I told him I was ready to go home! He laughed and said O.K. tomorrow. Nurses came and went. One nurse told me the baby had a high fever and we would have to stay in the hospital an extra 3 days. I panicked. She told me this while Mark had left to go home and shower, ect. I went down the hall to the nursery fearing the worst. The nurse had said they were going to give the baby an IV with antibiotics, but when I got to the nursery nobody knew anything about an IV, said her temp was normal and let me take her back to my room. I sat there nervously waiting to hear from the pediatrician. It turned out the nurse was talking about a different baby not ours! Rebecca did have a very high white cell count that really scared us but turned out to be fine. They did numerous blood tests on her, and I was horrified to see the heels of her tiny little feet covered with sores. She cried and nursed off and on all the rest of the day and night and by the next morning my breasts were already very sore. I was ready to start formula then and there fearing the weeks of excruciating pain and all the problems I had trying to nurse Julia. Luckily, our pediatrician, took a lot of time helping us. He was very kind and encouraging without being pushy at all. He wanted me to try to keep on with the breatfeeding for a couple more days and see. I'm sooooo glad he did! It turned out I had a breast yeast infection. After medications and a visit to the lactation consultant who was great, breastfeeding went well.

PART III

Mark tried to sleep on a pull out recliner/bed in the hospital room. I had a almost totally sleepless night and was so glad we did get to go home the next morning. Hurray! All night they kept coming in to take my temperature, blood pressure, etc, etc. They wanted Rebecca for a bath at 12 midnight which didn't surprise me because they did the same thing when Julia was born. And then they wanted her in the nursery for the pediatrician check in at 6 A.M. in the nursery. They did the birth certificate that morning and social security number application. They also did a hearing test which she passed. I was really sore but otherwise felt wonderful! I tried to dress Rebecca up in the special outfit I had gotten for her, but she wasn't very happy about it. Ended up foregoing the bonnet and the matching booties. She cried all the way out of the hospital but went to sleep in her new carseat and slept all the way home.

When we pulled up at our house, Julia came running out with a present in her hands, jumping up and down, and shouting "baby sister, baby sister, baby sister!" It melted my heart. I let Mark bring the baby in and I rushed to hug Julia. She was dressed in her adorable "big sister" shirt I had gotten her. It is so cute, has a little girl on it with a real bow glued in her hair, and it says "I'm a big sister!". Mom and Dad were there and also Mark's parents and his sister. A very happy homecoming!

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