An Unexpected Arrival

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since i last blogged and a lot has happened in that time!!! We've been blessed with the very early and unexpected arrival of our second child, Miss Scarlet Rosalie Smith. She was 5 weeks early, and a tiny little bundle at just 2.5kg!!

Thursday 28th July i woke up feeling very unwell and spent the morning having yet another 'couch day' with Calvin as i was experiencing what i thought was Branxton Hicks all morning. Turns out that it was the real thing!! My waters broke at lunchtime, as i was reading Calvin his pre-nap stories!!! I had some trouble getting a hold of Jeremy, so we didn't make it to the hospital until about 3pm. Luckily, my cousin Denise was available to take Calvin overnight - he had a ball playing with his cousins :D

After dosing me up with steroids, antibiotics and various vitamins i was transferred to a ward, since i was labouring very slowly. They didn't want to stop my labour since induction at a later stage was not an option in my case, thanks to a previous cesarian. Jeremy went home around 8pm after we'd sent the obstetrician. He was hoping to get some good sleep - hoping that i would last the night. Unfortunately at around midnight i started becoming more uncomfortable so 2pm they transferred me down to the birthing suite, and i called Jeremy to come back in. 6am the labour really started kicking in, and i got an epidural asap :D A bit after 8am i started pushing and with the help of forceps Scarlet came along at 8:55am, Friday 29th July 2011.

I was so pleased to be able to have her naturally, and i can't believe how quickly i have healed!!! So much easier than a cesarian. I can't believe people elect for a cesarian - and that i was even considering it in the last few weeks!!! I was able to have a shower on my own the night i had Scarlet, and i don't know how i would have managed going to and from the neonatal nursery and my room, had i been afflicted with a cesarian wound!!! Having a forceps delivery meant that i had more than my fair share of stitches - i had to have an episitomy as well, so i certainly had the worst of a natural birth, but it was nothing compared to how i healed after Calvin!!

Since Scarlet was 5 weeks early, she went straight into the neonatal ward. Poor little thing had a feeding tube in her nose and it took a lot to get her to breastfeed. She had her first feed straight after birth, but then she didn't take another feed from me until the next day when she only took one half a feed that day. Sunday she took a few half feeds and by Monday she was taking every feed from me.

Sunday night she went under the lights since she was borderline jaundice and by Monday night she was rooming with me! We were so pleased to have her up with me so quickly - over the weekend we had been thinking that we were going to be going home without her!!! Luckily on Wednesday morning Scarlet and i went home together.

Since we've been home it's been very busy. We've had both my parents and my mother in law stay with us and now they have gone home. It's just our little family of 4 now. Jeremy is taking the next 2 weeks off work, which i'm very pleased about. The plan for the next couple of weeks is to resume life as before as best as possible, finding our new routine and rhythm, while Jeremy is around to support me and let me get as much sleep as possible. Right now i'm waking Scarlet for a feed every 3 hours and feeding on demand at night. Hopefully by the time Jeremy goes back to work i'll be feeding on demand during the day as well, which will be much easier - it's not very fun to be waking her, not to mention how difficult she is to wake sometimes!!!

I've actually been scrapping today and yesterday!! Last night i ducked out to my local shop between feeds, which i'll probably continue to do most Friday nights now. Today i had my monthly 101 class at Scrapbooks etc., so i took Scarlet along to that. I spent most of the class feeding her, but it was good to catch up with everyone and of course do a little of the class. Here's my first page of Scarlet that i did last night. I'm super happy with it - it's pretty nice to be scrapping in pink, i can assure you!!!