Thoughts at Two Weeks

1. Two weeks ago today at 12:25 in the morning, Violet Beverly Gensic joined our family. She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

2. My labor with Violet was the longest and hardest of my three children. My theory is that this is because my water broke much earlier this time. I was in labor off and on for 30 hours. It would ramp up, and I would be positive I was moving into transition only to have it completely stall out. We went to the hospital 3 times in the 30 hour period. The second time, after watching the labor stall out at 4 centimeters, I requested that the nurse take out the IV and let me go home because I was hungry and sitting in that hospital was just stupid. I wasn't in the cheeriest mood after loosing a whole night's sleep and having no baby to show for it. The nurse obliged, I went home, got dressed, and went to church where I had extremely painful contraction about every ten minutes. I think it is safe to say that it will go down as one of the more memorable church services of my life. At 10:45 that night, we headed to the hospital for the third time. As with both Shepherd and Lydia, Violet arrived an hour and 40 minutes after our arrival at the hospital via an all natural delivery. Despite the exhausting longevity of the labor, the end went perfectly.

3. This was the only delivery in which I actually ordered an epidural. I was terrified the labor would stall out again, and I knew I didn't have the physical stamina to face a second night in labor. Fortunately, as soon as the order was placed, my labor cranked up. Violet was there 20 minutes later, so I didn't have to worry about the needle in my back (one of my worst fears!).

4. Violet looks like mine and BJ's kid. We are nothing if not consistent.

Shepherd

Lydia

Violet

 

3. We finalized Violet's name five days before her arrival. Violet is after my mother's mom, and Beverly is for BJ's dad's mom. They are pretty outstanding women to be named after.

5. Violet is a pig. As soon as she was born, she nursed for an entire hour. We didn't get to our hospital room until well after 2:00 in the morning because she ate for so long.

6. Violet was borderline jaundiced the first week, so for two days she had to be wrapped in a plastic lamp/blanket. It was sort of awful. Imagine nursing a taco. And on top of that, I had to wear sunglasses to hold her.

7. Lydia has never been a particularly happy child. Since the arrival of Violet, Lydia has been happy. She is happy everyday, all day. Violet was what we needed.

8. Shepherd thinks Violet is cute. He tells Violet she is cute about 20 times a day. He's right. Violet is really cute.

9. While I was pregnant, all the ladies at church told me that oops babies are the best kind. They're right. Violet is the best baby ever. I've always had pretty high-octane babies, but Violet is totally chill. It is not unusual at all for her to be awake and not crying simultaneously.

10. I've had two weeks to assess the situation and I can now make an important declaration with absolute certainty: I'm so deeply grateful and overjoyed that me and BJ botched the whole birth control thing last November.