She's finally here!

Sooooo.  October 18 (my due date) obviously came and went without a baby.  I was beginning to feel like our baby was never going to arrive (and I was going to be stuck in a permanent state of being uncomfortable forEVER)!  My parents had arrived a few days before my due date, ready and waiting to take care of J whenever we needed to head to the hospital.  Little did we know they would end up being here for a week before she showed her pretty little face!  But, we are so thankful they were here because we did end up having to go in to the hospital in the middle of the night!

I had a Dr. appt 3 days after my due date for a NST and everything was great with baby girl.  My Dr. was willing to let me go up to 2 weeks past my due date (man, am I glad I didn't!) before scheduling an induction, but he left the decision up to us whether we wanted to do something before that.  This was very reminiscent of when Jeremiah was born when we were living in Ankeny, except they would only let me go 1 week past my due date, so they right away scheduled my induction for 6 days after my due date (thankfully J had his own idea and I went into labor the night before!).  Again, we were not thrilled with the possibility of having to be induced, but trusted my Dr.  We thought about it, and decided that ultimately the end goal was to have our beautiful baby girl here, healthy and safe, NOT to get to experience going into labor on my own.  We decided to give things a few more days to see if it happened naturally, and scheduled an induction for 7 am Friday, October 24.

**Sidenote:  You know how everyones says that each labor/delivery is different?  With one baby you might be late, the next might be early or on time, etc.  Well, apparently with my babies, it does happen the same.  They like to be 6 days late, and they need an eviction notice (induction scheduled) before they decide to come out!**

So, we waited and tried to keep busy.



Pumpkin carving!  The one with 2 cats was J's choice, and the one with the owl was for baby sister.

So, we continued to wait and really, truly thought that we'd be heading to Holland Hospital at 7 am on Friday, the 24th to be induced.  Even when I went to bed the night before, I thought, "It sure would be nice to go into labor on my own, but there's no WAY it will happen again like it did last time that I go into labor the night before my induction."  Ha!  So, it did't go exactly the same way, but at 3:00 am my water broke, SO we knew it was time to head to the hospital!  We really could not believe it!

We got to the hospital about 3:30 am and got settled in my room, IV put in, etc.  By that time I was having contractions, but nothing terrible or uncomfortable.  Slowly things began to get a lot more uncomfortable and painful, so I asked for an epidural (yep, I got an epidural again despite what happened last time.  And it was fabulous.)  Once I got the epidural, I think I was the most comfortable I had been in like a month!  It was so nice!  Both Adam and I were even able to get some sleep!  They ended up giving me a small amount of pitocin because once I had the epidural, my contractions slowed down and spaced apart a bit.  But I only needed a bit, and that got things going again.  By noon I was fully dilated and my Dr. had arrived, and at 12:24 pm Hope Caroline Wissink was born!!!!!

She was 9 lbs 5 oz, and 21 & 1/2 inches long!  Holy cow!  My Dr. estimated that at my due date she was probably about 7 lbs 5 oz..... so obviously that might have been a bit off (unless she grew 2 lbs in 6 days!).  She was a full pound and 2 oz bigger than her brother, and 1/4 inch longer.  We were so thrilled and happy that she was finally here, and everything went well and she was healthy and safe!  Of course, over the course of our 2 days in the hospital we got numerous comments from the nurses and doctors about her size and her head full of hair!  It is so funny, and I love it!  I guess all that heartburn during pregnancy was worth it. :)


By about 3:30 pm (just 12 hours after arriving at the hospital!) or so, they had me up out of bed, so I could shower and change.  My parents were waiting eagerly for us to let them know when they could come by and bring big brother to the hospital!!  About 4:30 they arrived, and everyone was so excited to meet baby Hope!  And Auntie Abby and Uncle Neil (who were in town for the CEA teacher's convention) even got to stop and see Hope before heading back to Chicago!!

Proud big brother!  He just sat there and giggled. :)



Auntie Abby and Uncle Neil
 

Happy grandma with baby Hope

Grandpa got a turn, too!

I can't say enough good things about our time at Holland Hospital's Boven Birth Center.  The nurses were wonderful, my Dr. was so great, and Adam and I just had such a nice time there (seriously!) through labor, delivery, recovery, and the 2 days following.  We enjoyed a nice couple of days getting to know our little Hope! (The food was gross, though.)

About 4-5 hours old.  But she looks like an adult.

Snuggle time with Mommy!

Happy family! :)
 

We were discharged on Sunday the 26th!

Let's get out of here!

This past week we have been enjoying time as a family, getting to know Hope and trying to get into some sort of routine (Ha!).

Wide-eyed sitting by Grandma!

My mom went home on Wednesday morning, and we have been spoiled to have Adam home for most of the week.  Life will be much different when he has to head back to work tomorrow!  Not sure I'm ready!

Love this girl and her crazy hair!

Hmmmmm.

A gift from my hubby-- I LOVE IT!!!

On Friday, Hope was 1 week old!  It was also Halloween, so we had to take our little ninja (boo. not my costume choice.) to get some candy!  It was freezing cold, windy, and we had snow flurries earlier in the day, so we were not going to head out in that for trick-or-treating!  Thankfully, the church we have been attending had a Trunk-or-Treat event in their gym, so that's where we went.  It was pretty small, but good enough for J, and warm enough for us!

One week old!  And this shirt could not be more true, Adam would agree! :)

 

He certainly IS a cute ninja, though, right?

We feel so blessed to have Hope here, safe and sound.  My recovery has been great, also!  We are just so thankful that God blessed us with Hope, and we are falling more in love with her (if that is even possible) each day! :)