Lainey was born on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020 at 8:17 AM, weighing in at 8 lbs, 2 oz and 20.5 inches long. She came a few days late, but just in time to spend Christmas with her big sister, Olive.
My Pregnancy Journey
If some of you are new here, I was very open about my journey to getting pregnant with Olive (read here). It was a tough road for me, so I was a little bit scared and unsure what to expect when we tried again. Thankfully, this time around was easier and I’m so grateful for that. We found out we were pregnant with Lainey in early April of last year….doesn’t Olive look so little in these photos?!
Being pregnant during a pandemic, to put it blankly, sucked. I knew I had to be extra careful because the risks were so unknown. We were living with my parents at the time because we thought it would be safer to get out of the city and we definitely needed the extra hands with Olive while we continued to work. Andrew and I wouldn’t have survived those early Covid days without our parents. Every day was a struggle, but we consistently remind each other that we are lucky to have jobs and our health.
In August, we officially moved into our new home (I’m still crying about leaving the city) and found out we were having a baby GIRL. Sisters!! I had always wanted a sister! Andrew is truly the best girl dad and seeing him with the girls melts my heart. I’ve always hoped for three children and I joke around with Andrew to mentally prepare for three girls if God chooses to bless us with another baby. 🙂 I actually think I’d need to mentally prepare for three girls more than him – ha!
There is one thing about my pregnancy that I didn’t publicly share at the time (it was a personal decision to keep it private). In October, I tested positive for Covid-19. I was shocked, embarrassed, and scared all at the same time. The risks for pregnant women are so unknown and my mind automatically goes to the worst case scenario, especially when your mom is a nurse calling to check in on you every day (love you, mom!). I thank my lucky stars that I didn’t get super sick (felt like I had a terrible cold for a few days), but I did lose my taste and smell. In fact, I still can’t smell or taste normally, but in my opinion, that’s a small (and hopefully temporary) price to pay for what could have been a much worse situation. I still replay over and over in my mind what I could have done differently to prevent this from happening. I feel an immense sense of guilt, even after being what I thought was “safe.” Bottom line is Covid is unpredictable and I’m so sorry if you or anyone you love has been deeply affected by it.
Labor and Delivery
Oh boy, now for the fun stuff! One day, when Olive and Lainey are teenagers and acting like fools, I’m going to remind them that they both tried to kill me during childbirth. Hopefully they’ll be nicer to me…but doubtful. 🙂 You can read Olive’s birth story here.
First off, a few of you have asked me along the way about Preeclampsia because I had it with Olive. This time around, I was prescribed baby aspirin at the very beginning of my pregnancy to help with my blood pressure, and it definitely did the trick. My BP was great the entire time, all the way up until the very end!
I scheduled my induction for the day after my due date, and was mentally prepared for a long labor, just like I had with Olive (almost 48 hours). I was feeling really good heading into delivery! I thought to myself, “I deserve a quick and easy labor since I went through hell and back with Olive.” The doctor started my meds about an hour after I arrived, 8pm, and my water broke at 4am. Next thing I know, Lainey was here at 8am and she came very quickly. Everyone told me that would happen, but I didn’t actually believe them haha. The best moment in the entire world is when you get to meet the human you’ve been growing inside of you for the past nine months. Truly magical!
We were settled into the postpartum recovery room and everything was going really well, including nursing! Overall, everything was easier the second time around and it felt more enjoyable. Andrew and I were hoping to spend one night in the hospital and get home in time for Christmas, but God had different plans. Early in the morning on Christmas Eve, I started to hemorrhage very badly. I was passing way too many large blood clots for it to be considered normal. At one point, there were six nurses surrounding my bed, taking turns holding my hand and pushing on my stomach (which is arguably the worst feeling in the entire world, in my opinion). Everything happened very quickly, but I remember saying a quick goodbye to Andrew and being rolled out of the room and into the operating room. I honestly felt like I was in a movie..I was so scared and very upset. I didn’t know it at the time, but the procedure being done to me was called a D&C. A piece of my placenta didn’t deliver properly at the time of birth, which was causing the abnormal bleeding, so the doctor had to go in and scrape my uterus. I woke up about an hour and half later with an extreme headache and couldn’t open my mouth. The breathing tube had hurt my jaw so bad that my mouth was sore for a few days afterwards. I received two blood transfusions that day, and we had to stay another night to make sure I recovered okay. All I can say is that I’m SO thankful I was still in the hospital when this happened and had proper medical attention. We ended up spending most of Christmas day at the hospital, but made it home just in time to spend the night at home with Olive and her new sister. Olive’s known to walk around the house saying “mama, dada, baby” over and over again. I love her so much!
Postpartum Essentials
Let’s get right to it! These are my favorite postpartum and new baby essentials this time around. A lot hasn’t changed from when I was pregnant with Olive, so you know they are goodies. Click the images to shop!
