I can't believe how quickly time has flown...it's already been 3 weeks since Maisy was born and we're so happy to finally have her here! Thank you for everyone who has been so interested and eager to hear the news...sorry it's taken me so long to post --I actually started this post 3 weeks ago, seems like I have no time now...go figure! =0)
So in case you don't want to read my novel of a story, here's the main info...
Maisy Nola Stevens was born on Mon., Oct. 20th at 1:15 p.m.
She weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. and was 23 inches in length
Other than her being a little "late" everything was awesome this time around!
And now, the story...
Maisy's due date was the 16th, but I started to figure/give up on the thought of her arriving on time. My doctor., Dr. Barton had given me some hope when he first started measuring me..."Your about a 2 and 50% effaced" about 3 weeks before my due date (a MAJOR accomplishment considering on the day Makenna was due I was 0 and 0!). But the joke was on me because by my next appt. my Dr. told me I was more like a 1- ha, ha (all I could do was laugh, just my luck!)! That measurement stayed pretty much up to Maisy's due date ---a 1+. I tried the "Labor Pizza" a few days before her due date, but this time it did nothing for me (that was helpful!). By that point I gave up and decided she's coming when she's ready. My Dr. didn't think an induction was needed until a week after her due date and so that was what we had to look forward to when her due date came, a long EXTRA week.
Anyway, she was due on Thurs. and on Sun. morning I had some contractions that gave me some hope...a hour later they were over. Went to church, and that evening while at my parents house we were all a little bit tired of waiting and wondering when she was going to arrive. My mom had the last three weeks off of work for this baby who never came and she was supposed to start back to work the next morning. It's so hard when the pressure is on you (and in you)! Cathy, one of my mom's best friends and a long-time family friend called to see how things were going. She is a delivery nurse at the new IMC (the hospital I'd be delivering at) and I was really hoping that she'd be mine when it came to delivery time. She offered to "check" me at her home to see if I'd progressed any, but of course, no change, still a 1-2. Her husband tried to cheer me up saying the last girl she checked went into labor the next day, who would have thought I would too!! She has a magic touch or something, ha, ha!
At 3:00 in the morning, just like the morning before, contractions started. These ones however felt even stronger and getting up did not stop them. I was excited because the contractions were more hopeful than the other ones because they felt EXACTLY like the ones before Makenna was born. I just hoped I wasn't going to be feeling these contractions for the next 3 1/2 days like I did with Kenna! Definitely back labor, which meant Maisy was posterior as well (thank goodness I could recognize it this time!). So with each contraction came pain and major concentration on breathing and just getting through each one. =0)
I didn't want to call my parents too soon, I seriously thought with my luck they'd be on their way over and then my contractions would stop. That, and I did NOT want to go to the hospital too early and get sent home like I had with Kenna (twice!). Since the contractions weren't easing up and stayed a steady 5 to 6 minutes apart I had my parents over by around 5:30. I regret telling my dad about a video we watched in our birthing class for Makenna where the father-to-be sings the song "She'll be coming round the mountain" to his wife during her contractions ---seriously--- because what does he do then?...That's right, he sings the stupid song as I have a contraction and since I can hardly breathe let alone TALK telling him to SHUT-UP about killed me! I think it was a little stressful watching me go through contractions because every time I had one he would start talking (or sing) a mile a minute like a nervous reaction. He then joked around about me staying longer and that I didn't need to go yet. Thank goodness Mom was there...we are NOT having this baby at home! He recorded Kenna's reaction when he told her the news, isn't her new hairstyle sweet?! Thanks for helping out Dad! =0)
We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 which gave us just enough time to check in, get changed and get checked by a nurse who, well, I'm just glad to say that at 7:00 my angel nurse Cathy arrived (how perfectly planned was that?!!). The first nurse checked me in the most painful way I had ever been checked and said I hadn't changed (my mouth dropped in complete shock, what's wrong with me?!!!). Thank goodness when Cathy came just a few minutes later and checked me I was a 4 (that sounds better!)!! I got the epidural pretty quickly after that and then it was time to wait... My Dr. had been on call all weekend so he had this day off, which made sense now when I tried to schedule my reg. appt. for Monday and the book was completely clear, ha, ha try and have a day off with me, I don't think so! =0) They called him to see if he would like to deliver (I asked if they'd call and check)---hey we got him a good deal on his rental car he better deliver our baby! LOL. He came a little while later. When he arrived he came in a turned Maisy's head---which was so much better than pushing forever with no progress (Kenna). When he told me to push a little while he turned her, I started pushing and looked at my mom with this expression like "are you kidding me, this is it?" it was so easy this time!
A young intern doing rotations asked if he could be present for the delivery and I told him that would be fine, little did I know that my Dr. was going to let him DELIVER!! Dr. Barton was right there, but he gave this guy a great "learning experience" and talked him through the whole delivery. I asked for the mirror this time...SO COOL!! It is incredible what your body can do and endure!! So I went through about 4 to 5 total contractions and little (big) Maisy was out, again, so much easier this time! I was shocked when they weighed and measured her, I knew she was going to be bigger that Kenna's 8 lbs and 21 in., but Maisy was 9 lbs. 4 oz and 23 in.!!!! That was one crammed little kid! She had such a soft sweet cry and she stayed awake and alert for a really long time. It's amazing the emotions you go through as you anticipate it all and then when you are finally holding this child in your arms for the first time it's hard to put into words ....INCREDIBLE!!! She's such a beautiful girl!! We love her sooo much already!
Kenna was the first one I called. My brother Michael was taking her to the Scarecrow Festival and so he answered first saying "Did you do it, is she here yet?" I said yes and can I talk to Kenna and then in the background I could here her she answered and... (Kenna) "Did you do it Mommy? Did you do it? Did you have baby sister? (Me) "Yes Makenna, Mommy did it, baby sister is here" (Kenna)"Ohhhhh, I love her more and more!!" I couldn't wait to see Kenna and for my girls to finally meet! I was taken to my room with Maisy where they bathed her (I requested it to be done in my room...very cool!). And then it was time for recovery, bonding with our new bundle and visitors!
When Kenna came she was so excited, unfortunately she was fighting a cold so she wasn't feeling her best when she met her. I wanted to give her a moment with just Mike and I to let her know how special she still was to us (I was really concerned about her and this huge adjustment) we had put Maisy in her little hospital bed, but as soon as Kenna came in she was on the prowl for her new sister..."Where is she Mommy? Where's baby sister?" No need to ease in the introduction I guess. =0) It was total love at first sight, she wanted to hold her, and even though she wasn't feeling good I let her hold her for a minute. She was so cute, Kenna just kept looking at her and wanted to give her tons of kisses, I wish I knew what was going on in her little mind as she met and stared at her new sister. Just watching though I could tell that she already loved her new baby sister, she's going to be a great big sister!
We had other visitors come and go. My mom had been there with us from the beginning, I asked her to help take photos and video =0). Mike's mom works at the IMC and so she was able to drop by right after Maisy was born and a couple times during our stay. Mike's Dad and step-mom, Laura stopped by and my brother Mike and Dad came by that day as well.
Such a wonderful day, we are SOOOO happy to finally have our Maisy here with us and couldn't be happier that both her and I are doing so well! We've had so many friends and family waiting to hear the news and asking for updates, thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and sorry it's taken me so long, hopefully I can get us all caught up!
The next day... Kenna was feeling better, the hospital put this darling black and orange bow in Maisy's hair and my mom helped me get both girls dressed up so I couldn't resist taking LOTS of pictures--you know me and pictures... We also had Mike's sister Megan, her husband Mark and their cute little munchkin Reese come visit and then later my sister was able to come and visit too.
It was so nice staying at the hospital, relaxing (somewhat) and spending time with my new daughter. It's so weird to think that my life will never be the same now. I now have TWO girls! TWO daughters, TWO children which means double everything...double the "needs", double the diapers (definitely need to get Kenna potty trained again!), double the DRAMA, double the laundry, but double the FUN (double-mint gum ha, ha), double the love, double the cuteness, and double my JOY/HAPPINESS!
Usually we do Boo at the Zoo, but due to the massive lines we decided to try the Trick-or-Treat on Halloween Street earlier that same day. I was surprised when they charged Mike and I as well, but then we got to trick or treat and participate in everything too (except the bouncy gym, maybe I should've complained =0)). There was a good amount of things to do and with the pounds of candy we got, it was definitely worth it! Kenna's so funny, as we were heading over to the expo, she started "posing" for me, she just LOVES being Cinderella!!
We picked pumpkins on the 13th of October (tried to have it put me into labor, yah, didn't happen!) and then carved them on the 27th, celebrating my dads birthday and Maisy's week old birthday. Both sets of grandparents came too, it's crazy to think my kids make them Great Grandparents, although to me, they've always been GREAT =0).
So for Halloween Makenna was set on the entire family being Disney Royalty. She was Cinderella, of course, and chose Sleeping Beauty for me (if only I could sleep a lot and be beautiful 24/7! LOL) Prince Charming for Mike (great choice!=0)) and Maisy as Snow White. Luckily Mike and I were able to slide on wearing the exact attire, she still called us by our royalty names, she's such a hoot! My princesses were darling, Maisy was the Snow White after she ate the poisened apple, cuz she pretty much just slept the whole time (definitely not a complaint!) and Kenna danced with anyone she could get ahold of! What a day, it started off at the airport where Mike and Kenna welcomed Mike's step-brother Andrew home from his mission. We then trick-or-treated at Med-One Medical, Grandma Hartwell's, got together with a small group of families from our ward for trick-or-treating, did our neighborhood a little and then Grandma and Grandpa Jacobson's....good thing we had a lot of candy to keep us going!! 
