Alison Mae is here!

Ali Mae arrived on April 26th at 3:28 pm. She was 8 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long. I went in on Monday for a checkup and Dr. Shepherd said that I was only dilated to 2. He gave us the option of coming in that night to start the induction process. I really would've liked to have gone into labor naturally but being past my due date, Brad and I were already worried about the size and the possibility of meconium aspiration (what Cameron had). We went home and sent Cameron on her way (she stayed with Molly, Andy, and Anna and had a ton of fun!) and then we packed our stuff and headed to the hospital at 7:30 that night. We got settled into our room and they put me on the monitors. Soon after getting there, I started having some contractions on my own. The doctor on call noticed that the baby's heartbeat was dropped after every contraction, which is not a good sign. They decided not to start the induction that night, but instead said they'd wait until the morning to start the pitocin. They thought I might be dehydrated so they set up my IV right away.  When we asked why this was happening they said that the baby might not be taking the contractions well and this might mean a C-section. The contractions that I was having on my own pretty much went away after awhile. The rest of the night, we tried to get some sleep (which for me was just an hour here and there). Early the next morning, they started the pitocin and my contractions started up again. Connie and mom showed up to keep us company. I was anxious to get a working epidural after my experience with Cameron. After that was put in, my legs basically went numb. Dr. Shepherd came in to check me and to break my water, which I didn't feel at all. Unfortunately, he found meconium in the fluid, but he said it was very light.  We all watched the monitors closely and the baby's heartbeat was stayed steady through my contractions. Around 3:00, the baby's heartbeat dropped down some and was not going back up. A midwife came in to check on me and told me I was fully dilated. Brad had gone for a walk to "warm up" because I was keeping the room really cool. Within minutes, there were nurses around me and Dr. Shepherd was telling me to push. Brad barely made it back in time! I think I pushed three big pushes and Alison was out. She didn't cry right away. The NICU nurses were there to see if she had meconium aspiration. They said she was fine and didn't need to go with them. Before I knew it, I was holding and nursing my little baby girl. About an hour later, they moved us to another room and I was actually able to get into the wheelchair myself and put weight on my legs. The only other worry we had was when the pediatrician came in and told us that Ali was tongue-tied (which can make it difficult to nurse and cause speech problems later in life). We decided to go ahead and let the doctor cut the flap underneath her tongue. We got to go home on Wednesday night and Cameron was there to greet us. Cameron loved baby Ali right away and she has not been jealous at all. She gives her kisses and hugs all the time and tries to play with her.

At Ali's checkup on Friday, she was jaundice so we had to go back later that day and the next day to make sure her levels went down. We had to switch to Christie Clinic because of Brad's new insurance so the girls' new doctor is Palazzalo. We went today for a 2 week checkup and Ali weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces. The doctor was very happy with how much she's gained.