Cecilija Jo

Welcome home Cecilija!

Everyone knows the Simon and Garfunkel version of Cecilia.  I used to sing the refrain to it to Amelija, using her name instead.  I don't really want to sing the rest of it to her though. :)  Funny story for you.  As we were leaving the hospital, one of the people we met in the hall was a priest.  He asked us what the baby's name was, and when we told him, he started singing.  But, it wasn't the S&G version.  I'm pretty sure it was this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZtBkg4JN8A&noredirect=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9seXH4vAk
I really like that song.  It reminds me of nice, classic romance.  S&G's Cecilia reminds me of crazy, hippy 70's love, and that's just not me.

So our little baby is Cecilija Jo.  Once again, I was induced.  With the velamentous cord insertion, I was under close watch, and my doctor didn't want to risk anything.  It didn't attach near the cervix, so it wasn't nearly as serious as it could have been.  I actually didn't do any research on it until after I had Cecilija.  I took the doctor's word and trusted that she knew what was best for us.  I'm glad I didn't look up any information on it or I would have scared myself half to death.  Here's a quick little wiki page about it.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velamentous_cord_insertion

Anyway, she told me she didn't want me to go into labor on my own.  It was kind of frustrating... again.  I was hoping to go in to labor just for the simple reason that I haven't experienced much labor.  I was induced with all three kids.  I can't really complain though, because it was really easy for me.  I didn't have any problems with being induced.  I went quickly all three times.

We had a scheduling conflict with trying to get in to be induced.  Our regular appointment was on Tuesday, and the doctor wanted to induce on Wednesday or Thursday.  It was such a busy time for us.  The kids were starting school Aug 19, and we had a final registration day, two orientations, and soccer and gymnastics for both girls that week.  We also didn't have child care lined up.  We recommended the following Monday and our doctor didn't want to wait that long.  So, we decided on Friday, but our doctor couldn't get to the hospital until after 3pm.  So, she scheduled it for 10am so that she could come right after her last appointment.  On one hand it was kind of nice to schedule it.  I finished packing my bag on Thursday night, and I didn't need to worry about adding anything except my toothbrush and my pillow.  We made sure all our electronics were charged and packed.  Tim's Mom got up early Friday morning and drove down to watch the two girls.  We could take our time, eat some breakfast, talk to the kids about going to the hospital, and say goodbye to them before we left. I think it helped them to know when and where we were going, and we didn't just disappear in the middle of the night,

So we showed up at the hospital, checked into L&D, and one of the nurses said, "This isn't your first baby, is it?"  I don't know how she knew.  Maybe it was look of exhaustion on our faces, of having two others at home to take care of, trying to get things done, not sleeping.  Or maybe it was because we didn't pack the whole house and the kitchen sink.  We packed a change of clothes for each of us, our electronics, and my pillow.  That was about it.  Or maybe it was that we didn't have the nervous look on our faces of not knowing what to expect, and realizing we would be coming home with a baby, a responsibility.  Or they could see in our faces that checking into the hospital was almost like a vacation. :)

They started me on IV fluids, then pitocin and right around lunch time the hospital OB broke my water.  Right after that, Tim left to go find lunch.  The festival in town started that afternoon at 4pm, so he thought maybe some of the food trucks would be out.  Well, he didn't have luck with that, so he ended up at a restaurant.  And, three unanswered phone calls and an hour and a half later he finally showed up in my room again.  I had called him because I needed him!  Once my water was broken, my contractions got pretty intense, I wanted his support until I could get my epidural.  I ended up finally getting it about the time Tim came back.  Again this time the medicine was working a little lopsided.  It wasn't as bad.  I did have control of my legs, but one was definitely more dead weight.  Once I had the epidural, things went fast.  Again, I called the nurse in because I felt a lot of pressure and when she checked me she said, "yeah, I don't feel any cervix."  So, she asked me for a practice push.  Then she said I needed to stop.  They stopped the pitocin and waited for my doctor to show up.  Of course, the festival started at 4, and she got stuck in traffic.  So, she showed up about 4pm, started the pitocin back up, and I started pushing.  Each push is actually a series of three pushes, each on a 10 count.  I got through one and a half sets when, at 4:16, my beautiful Cecilija was born.  The doctor said the baby had lots of dark hair.  They said that for every one of my kids!  And when she said it was a girl, once again, I was in disbelief.  I was certain, like 99% sure this was going to be a boy.  It's a good thing she wasn't a boy.  That morning I was on my computer, with my pitocin IV, looking at boy names on the internet because we couldn't decide on one.

She came out looking great.  The only issue we had is that I had a stubborn placenta and it didn't want to come out.  While the doctor worked on that Cecilija got weighed and measured.  She weighed 6 lbs, 3.4 oz, was 21" inches long according to the hospital, but at her first well visit she was about 20 inches. I finally got to hold her and snuggle my tiny girl.  She had big feet and long fingers.  Her ankles were about the size of my thumbs.  But, she was strong.  She kicked and wiggled so much it was hard to change her diaper!  She was our beautiful baby girl.  We were so thankful to be healthy.  We loved our little baby the moment we laid eyes on her.