Baker's Birth Story | Part II

one of the most memorable times of my life was the hospital stay with the twins after delivery.  It is no surprise that I can say that this time around proved to be another great experience.  I cannot say enough how well the nursing staff, professionals, and doctors cared for me and my Baker girl during the four nights we spent there post birth.  

four nights seems as a long time.. but is was the decision of my OB and not for any reason more than because it was her preference.  

Pain tolerance was a big deal for me during my first c-section, and to keep it real, I was completely miserable.  4 months of bed rest meant more than just keeping the twins in safe incubation until their arrival at third-seven weeks and one day.  I lost nearly all muscle mass in my legs and strength in my abdomen making recovery pretty difficult.  

I will say that carrying Baker nearly to term while still working and still moving round on a regular basis (i.e. chasing two toddlers around all day long) has helped tremendously in my recovery.  I was up and moving the next morning - I took a shower and dressed in my own clothes.  It took me until day three to get to that point with the twins.  

Walking, moving, and getting out of bed on my own - I felt great comparatively to my previous experience.  

My only real complaint during this recovery process has been trapped gas.  It was all over the place- the worst gas pain being in my neck and shoulders.  The most random place- but my favorite night nurse did everything she could to help make me more comfortable.  Heating pads, teaching me how to massage it out (or Jordan to massage it out), and of course, the help of meds.  I haven't had that much trouble since being home, but I will say that some foods still make me uncomfortable.  

The cramping and incisional burning when I nurse Baker is crazy - I don't ever remember it being this bad when I was recovering last time, but the nurses and my doctor informed me that those things become of greater intensity with every pregnancy.  

Makes sense.  But still hurts:) Has me wondering what baby 4 or 5 would feel like.  

yikes!

The first 24 hours of being there It all still felt surreal.  (For the billionth time..) I couldn't believe she was already born.  

  She got her first bath the night of her birthday, and this girl didn't make a peep.  She LOVED it.  I agree, Miss Baker Bree- the head massage is the best part.

 The best part about the entire hospital stay would have had to be the fact that my very best friend was just two rooms down on the postpartum floor from us.  Ashley and I share the same OB, and therefore we delivered at the same hospital.  We talked over an over for nine months about the chances of us overlapping our stays in the hospital and how AMAZING that would have been.  I called her one morning randomly while on my way to work to tell her I was thinking about sharing our time there and walking the halls with our new babes.. and then I cried.  I was way pregnant and way emotional.  Baker decided that she just needed to make that happen for us. 

 She and Jarrett (and baby Grayson) were the first to meet our Baker girl.  We had dinner together (the hospital food was actually really great), and the nursing staff thought it was absolutely hilarious how much time we spent in each others rooms.  

On the day Ashley and Grayson were discharged, we decided to walk the halls.  Walking the halls is part of the recovery process.. I tried to get out and make a few laps 3-4 times/day.

 This girl has seen me through it all.. and now we have added delivering our babies together.  I couldn't imagine it being any other way and I'm so thankful we could experience this together - how many best girlfriends get to say that??

 Auntie & Uncle J with Honey & Uncle Dude

Grayson + Baker 

(sitting in a tree..)

 Other things during our stay..

Baker's foot prints made their place in her daddy's Bible, just as Parker and Jolie's did two and a half years earlier.

 We also asked to do her hand prints.. Jordan's dedication tattoo for our newest little will include her hand prints.  

 We limited guests during our stay- just so that we could make the best of my recovery.  We knew the moment we came home it would be non-stop with the addition of Parker and Jolie into the mix, so just a handful of our closest friends and family came to meet Baker.

Cousin Kendall, Aunt Jenna, and Truett came.  Kendall was just the sweetest with her new baby cousin.

Travis and Jacqueline

Diana and Chris came, too (and I am so sad I didn't get a picture!)

Sarah came to love on our girl, too

Jordan's cousin Lauren had her little boy, Gunnar, just one day before Baker arrived.  

Sweet baby cousins!  

 The hospital stay this time was different in that we had our first baby girls home with their BB and Papa and away from us.  I/we missed them so much and was thankful BB made the trip nearly every day to the hospital to visit as well as hosted multiple FaceTime dates while we were away.

As much as I was thankful for the care and recovery in the hospital, when it was time to go home, I was ready.  Really ready.  We were so excited to be going home on day 5 to have our family back together.

 Jordan an I got home about 3pm on Wednesday afternoon - I took a shower, and we both laid down to take a nap.  BB came around 6pm with the girls bathed, fed, and in their pajamas - completely ready for bed that evening - not to mention she had made us dinner (amazing!).  Such an enormous help.  The evening went quickly- it was like a dream to have all three of my girls in my lap.

Parker is extra proud to be a big sister.  That sweet, sweet smile on her face says it all. 

 The girls didn't want to leave my side because that meant they would be without eye sight of their newest little sister.

 The eldest of the three (by two minutes) was really loving on Baker.  

I love this picture more than anything.

Recovery continues to go well.  I don't know what I would do without Jordan and his amazing fatherhood role he plays so well.  He lets me sleep when Baker sleeps and has taken on full care with the twins while I and tending to our littlest sister.  I have loved every moment of watching him interact with all of our girls. 

This transition has kept me in tears almost every day.  Our big girls continue to impress me on a regular basis.  I cannot believe how well they have taken to having a baby in the house.  I share with them a tremendous amount of interaction with Baker, keeping them involved, which I think had helped.  I was fearful that Parker and Jolie would 'need' me just as they did up until the day before Baker was born.. asking me to carry them everywhere.  But with a brief explanation of 'mommy's boo-boo' and that I cant pick them up because of it - I haven't been asked 'hold you' a single time.  Not once.  

Mama pride, right there.

I am loving every moment we are spending together as a family of five.

I couldn't feel more blessed.