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I'm not up for a lot of posting right now. But a few things:
1) Niamh does indeed rhyme with "leave", "peeve", etc. Feel free to complete jump rope rhymes at will.
2) I had the best. epidural. EVER.
3) Emma seems to be adjusting better than I'd hoped, and is actually a big helper, wanting to pick things up for me, give the pacifier to the baby, and help push the bassinet. We'll see how it goes tonight
4) Bridey does indeed have hair-- plenty of it! It's dark blond/light brown, which I think will be about my color when all is said and done, or maybe a little darker but with blond highlights. Alas! Her hair is also extremely coarse and curly (for baby hair); so curly, in fact, that it sticks up on the top. (That part is pretty cute.) I think she is going to have my wild curls. (That's what we get for giving her an Irish name, I guess, she ends up with the Irish curl genes!) Eyes are blue around the edges, gold-grey in the middle (she has the family eyes-- mine-- multi-colored with a clearly demarcated ring in the middle. What this will mean when she gets older, I don't know yet.) She has a much stronger chin than Emma, more like mine. She has cheeks that are even chubbier than Emma's were. She is not as jaundiced as her sister was, but will still have to be tested in a few days. She has bruising on her face and a bloodshot eye (or two?), same as I did when I was born. APGAR was 8 and 9 because it took three pushes (about 2 minutes?) to get her out, and the cord was wrapped around her neck, so she was a wee bit blue, but that cleared up once they successfully suctioned her lungs.
You may notice that my tummy had gone waaay down since most of the fluid was out by the time I was 5 cm dilated. Oh, and that I am quite happy-- I mentioned my wonderful epidural, right? I felt no pain from the time it went in (before they started cranking the pitocin up to a really effective level) until I started moving fast (right around 5-6 cm), gave it a little bump, felt very little (just a pinching sensation from the pressure, which registered as mild pain, but I was numb enough to not feel it much), started hurting again at the very end (quoth the nurse, "Well, no wonder you're feeling it again! You're 9 cm!"), gave it another little bump, and twenty minutes later made Jeff turn off the tv and told the nurse, who had just called the doctor in, that I was having to resist the urge to push. The doctor checked me, said, "We're at plus 2! Let's have this baby!" and three pushes later, she was born. I felt just enough to push effectively. We spent most of my labor playing Hangman, listening to music and chatting (I sang along a bit while Jeff rested), and watching M*A*S*H, which was the only decent thing on that time of day, when we got bored. The wave is for the benefit of Hatrack. Don't you feel special? (Yes. I'm an addict. I was thinking of you while I was in labor.)
I had some heavy bleeding afterwards, so my immediate recovery was not as I had anticipated (although the aftereffects of the treatment are pretty nice for the most part), but more on that in a later post, I want to finish this before it's time to nurse again.
Now on to more pictures.
Here's the first picture ever of Bridget. The world is a little chilly for her, apparently. She didn't like being measured, either. The swaddling, she liked much better (unlike her sister.) She was very hungry, and rather impatient for me to get my gown unsnapped (yes, the gowns were breastfeeding-friendly, unlike the ones at Presbyterian of Dallas! Yet another difference in a CA birth in a rather upscale part of town... More on that in a later post, too.) But once she ate a while, she was quite happy to be with Abba, who burped her. She is QUITE the burper, although it takes a while sometimes. They are LOUD.
Once we got upstairs, Jeff went with her to the nursery, where she was footprinted and shampooed, among other things. She began to look a little happier when she was clean, and was rather sleepy. Here you can see the bruising on her face a little better; she was rather banged around because her head was so big and she was born so fast, apparently. (However, the doctor is very good even with big babies, and I only got one small tear, no episiotomy.)
She was asleep when my aunt Linda, who works in that hospital, dropped by, so we have no picture with her. But we do have one with her first "official" visitor, her Grandma Pam (my mom), who brought Ems by (she had watched her all day.) Then she met her grandpa (my dad) and her grandma Sheri (my dad's fiancé.) The next day, her great-grandma, my Grandma Katie, came by to see her. When Emma met her, she was scared at first, but warmed up, especially after she noticed how the baby looked at her whenever she talked. But she got a little jealous of Abba (not of me-- she was just grumpy at me for leaving her, but seems to see me taking care of babies as normal), and wouldn't sit next to him and the baby, but insisted on sharing a lap. She did enjoy the See-gar (a chocolate cigar from See's, of course) that she got to celebrate, though.
I had a rather rough night last night; I can't believe that I keep developing new reactions to medicines. But again, more on that another time. So the next picture I've got is Bridey in her going-home outfit, which Emma chose in the store for her. And here's one of her once she was all buckled in and tucked in and ready to go home. Last but not least, here's one of her and Ems in the car, right before we went home. Emma did really well.
So, that's it for now. I'll elaborate more later, but I figured the pics were the most important. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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If you could only see the huge grin on my face...it looks like this:
Ketchup-gradulations! She's beautiful, and is a very lucky girl to have Emma as a big sister. Tell the big girl thank you from her "Auntie" Rayann for being such a good helper for Mama.
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She's gorgeous, and I'm so happy for you. I hope you feel a little better with the meds, but in the meantime, enjoy the newest member of your family!
Posts: 1789 | Registered: Jul 2003
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Ketchupqueen, you are amazing to get all those pictures posted shortly after giving birth! Beautiful baby, and a whole new world for Emma now!
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Congratulations Ketchup Fam!! She is so adorable. I especially like the picture with her and Emma in the car. Cute Pooh hat!! How is Emma liking Bridget? My mom told me that when I was born my brother told her to take me back to the hospital. What a nice brother.
Edit: My brother-in-law and his wife had their first child just this morning. We have yet to see pictures and are excited for them.
Posts: 1417 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Oh my gosh. She's just beautiful! Is there anything more innocent, sweet, or precious than a newborn baby? You've gotten me all teary-eyed over how big SSB is already. Give her a kiss for me.
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Wow, Congrats KQ! I can't believe it's been nine months. I guess I will check the top of the thread to make sure I'm not mistaken or crazy.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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So what makes a beautiful baby? Out of curiosity, are there ugly babies? I think all babies are cute, but what makes a baby beautiful as far as everyone else is concerned? Does baby beauty translate to adult beauty? hmmmm.. ponder.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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How exactly do you pronounce Bridey? Is it Bree-dee or Brid (like grid)-ee? She is so very precious I can't stand it.
Orincoro, a healthy baby is a beautiful thing, but some babies are better looking than others. The same things apply to baby beauty as to adult beauty - symmetry of features, shape of face, personality. Hatrack happens to have an unusually high percentage (100) of beautiful babies.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Bridey would be as in the word "bride", with an "ee" on the end. Now, Emma sometimes says "Briddy", to rhyme with "pretty". Sometimes she says "Bret-jet". I have a picture I need to post of her holding Bridget, but I can't find the camera...
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I think Bret-jet should be Bridget's nickname. Too cute!
(Spoken by the woman who was called "Eeeee" by her family for years because that's how her little brother pronounced Imogen.)
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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