First Gaertner Family Picture!
Shaylee: 8 lbs. 13 oz. 21 in.
Born with black curly hair... what???
It's a horrible family picture of all of us. Mostly me though! In my defense, I'm only two days post-partum. We went to a park in Everette to help appease some boredom!
Aiden is in awe with his baby sister. It's a blessing... sometimes. Other times it can get a little on the scary side. But I just love it when he looks at his sister and says, "What's wrong Shaylee?" 
Shaylee isn't much of a binky-baby... she's actually trying to tear it out of her mouth here. I just thought it was so cute because she's pristine in white!*********************************************************************
Today is Shaylee's four week birthday. Her labor (in comparison to my son's delivery) was quite a bit quicker and not quite as dramatic. Needless to say the epidural worked this time through the pushing and the crowning. What a relief.
I went into "labor" labor Saturday morning at around 2 am. I had been having contractions thirty-minutes apart for a couple of days and they varied in intensity. Saturday morning however seemed to just fly by us. Finally at 6 am the contractions had jumped to five minutes apart and I was becoming overwhelmed with the amount of pain the contractions were giving me. We called family and friends and made arrangements for our son Aiden. I got to the hospital at about a quarter to 8 am. and was at a 4. I could have sworn on my own grave I was at least a 9. No worries, an hour later I was at a 6 and asking for the epidural.
When I was in labor with my son it lasted for four days of excruciating pain. I had even gotten sent home at 4 cm. with several ambien pills to help "sleep." HA! All those pills did for me was see rainbows and pretty colors. Apparently I was too gone out of my reasonable mind to even realize my water had broken. (Which should have been noticable since there was meconium (sp?) stained.) When I had gotten to the hospital with Aiden I was 8 cm. begging for the epidural. This wonderful god-sent medication wore off/ was shut off accidentally twelve hours later... during the crucial time. The pushing time. Crowning was a wonderful feeling, to say the least.
When I got the epidural with Shaylee, it was a completely different experience. The day went by... family stopped by to laugh with us and keep us company. At about 3:30 the nurse checked me again and was amazed I was at a 10. (I sat at 7 cm for quite some time.) She said she wanted to check my pushing "power" and "checked" me with her hand while having me push. She kind of freaked out and told me to stop pushing because I had brought the baby completely down and the doctor wasn't even at the hospital yet. That one push had moved Shaylee under my pelvis bone and her head was now visible. The doctor got there at about 3:45 pm and Shaylee was born at 3:54.
It was such a blessing for me to be completely coherent through this delivery. With my son I was so exhausted (I pushed for three hours with him) that I don't remember the delivery other then the fact that it was utter hell. I was able to hold Shaylee, and laugh with the doctor and nurses. I witnessed Josh cut her umbilical cord. I even got to have the nurse show me the placenta and amniotic sac. It really was an awesome experience.
The next day at about 3:30 pm I was discharged and excited to see my 19 month old son. I was excited to see him react with his baby sister... and am amazed at how tender he is with her. Aiden is a good big brother and he just loves to hold his "sissy" and give her kisses.
Shaylee enjoys sitting in her small rainforest swing. Aiden also enjoys pushing her while she is in her small swing. Mommy doesn't enjoy that much at all!
Like Aiden, Shaylee is in wonderment of her father. She started smiling recently... and her daddy is the best at getting big 'ol grins out of her!
Shaylee actually has big feet for her itty bitty size... my favorite features on her are her finger and toe nails. They are perfectly manicured and just so petite. I can't help but show them off!
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RECOVERY!
On the recovery side of things I've been up and going pretty much since I've been home from the hospital. Apparently that was just a bit too much because now (while I'm four weeks post-partum) I'm having to deal with issues that should have been resolved after the second week. Apparently I have endometritis. This is an infection inside my uterus. I guess it isn't as uncommon as I thought, but my doctor definitly had the snot scared out of me... why isn't this surprising? So far my dr. has been so right on about everything, right? Anyway- so now I'm taking three antibiotics three times a day and if the womanly issues and cramping hasn't subsided then they will give me an ultra sound and possibly a DNC. HMMM. This doesn't sound very exciting AT ALL.
Breast feeding is working for me! Yay! I wasn't able to breast feed with Aiden... so to all you expectant mother's or mother's who are preparing for a second child... never give up! These suckers are made to work, just got to give 'em a chance! :)
Shaylee actually has big feet for her itty bitty size... my favorite features on her are her finger and toe nails. They are perfectly manicured and just so petite. I can't help but show them off!
********************************************************************
RECOVERY!
On the recovery side of things I've been up and going pretty much since I've been home from the hospital. Apparently that was just a bit too much because now (while I'm four weeks post-partum) I'm having to deal with issues that should have been resolved after the second week. Apparently I have endometritis. This is an infection inside my uterus. I guess it isn't as uncommon as I thought, but my doctor definitly had the snot scared out of me... why isn't this surprising? So far my dr. has been so right on about everything, right? Anyway- so now I'm taking three antibiotics three times a day and if the womanly issues and cramping hasn't subsided then they will give me an ultra sound and possibly a DNC. HMMM. This doesn't sound very exciting AT ALL.
Breast feeding is working for me! Yay! I wasn't able to breast feed with Aiden... so to all you expectant mother's or mother's who are preparing for a second child... never give up! These suckers are made to work, just got to give 'em a chance! :)
