Cora Jane Willardson

After being admitted I then met all the nice resident doctors and Dr. Kelli Braun who was the doctor scheduled for that time.  My regular doctor was Dr. Duke.  She was nice but I was not so attached to her that I was happy to have Dr. Braun and the residents deliver me.  There was also a medical student that I am sure was scarred for life just by the look on his face during the delivery....talk about dear in the headlights.  He thanked me later and I asked him if he was going to be an OB.  He answered quickly NO! haha. 

At 1:30pm on Sunday, April 27th it was go time.  I was really super tired even with the nap I took during labor and honestly I thought that all deliveries were created equal since both my boys came out with ONE push. Boy was I wrong! After that first push there was no baby I was completely bewildered and reality set in that this was a BIG baby! I pushed hard for 1 hour.  Darin commented to someone later that he had never seen me so determined to do something as I was to get that baby out.  I am very pleasant during deliveries and I remember I kept thanking all the doctors and nurses for such a positive delivery. 

Cora Jane made her debut at 2:38pm 

They asked me if I wanted to hold her immediately after she was born...do people really do that? I asked them to clean her up first.  Does that make me a bad mother?

 Darin and I were shocked at how HUGE this child was 2 weeks early! Heavens what if I went the full 40 with her...UGH! 8 lbs 5 oz, 20 inches.

 There is no greater feeling then skin on skin with a newborn.  I did not get to do that with Asa until 3 weeks after he was born so this was so nice.

 

 I really did have wonderful nurses.  They were great coaches and made my stay so wonderful.

 Codi was driving back to Chattanooga after a fun trip to Charleston and made a detour in Augusta to meet baby Cora.  She was standing out in the hall during my whole delivery.  Honestly if my brain would have been functioning correctly I would have had her come in and be the photographer.  She is such a great friend and sister to me. I am so happy she was one of the first to meet miss Cora Jane. Thank you Codi!

 Please Notice Darin's shirt. He has worn this shirt with every one of our children's deliveries. He is a little superstitious I think.

 Darin was the photographer.  He did a great job.  The nurses commented on how they have never seen a dad be so thorough in taking pictures of their newborns.  He got some cute shots.  I feel bad that I didn't have the camera on a setting that he was familiar with.

Cora was a great nursing baby from the get go.  She slept well and was such a little sweet heart.  I as so nervous about having a little girl come into our family (to be honest I still am) but I have no doubts she was supposed to be part of our family and I can't wait to see what cute little personality she brings to our home.

Labor…

This pregnancy was very LONG and drawn out. It was April 26th and my parents would be leaving on April 28th.  We were positive that this baby would have been here by that time.  My doctor was shocked that I was still pregnant at 38 weeks. She told me on Friday, April 25th that I was dilated to a 4 and I needed to be at a 6 to be admitted. I was so mad because before that appointment I walked up 20 flights of stairs. (haha) I told her I would be back that weekend to have this baby.  Then I went home and PLEADED with Heavenly Father to let this baby come.  Not that I was so uncomfortable (which I was) I more so wanted my mom to meet the baby before she left, as a thank you for taking care of my family for a whole month! I really could not have done it with out her, mentally or physically.

Anyway it was Saturday, April 26th and I had been having contractions but nothing serious.  I hd read that spice food would send you into labor.  We drove around Aiken looking for SPICY but nothing turned up.  Ruby Tuesday sounded good so we stopped there.

I asked the waitress what was the spiciest thing on their menu.  She said the Fire Chicken Wings, and that is what I ordered...and boy were they HOT!

Contractions started immediately after eating dinner and continued into the night.  At about 11:30 they were close to 2 minutes apart but I was still nervous about going in for the fact that I had been in labor and delivery 2 times before this and I REALLY did not want to be sent home tonight.

A little after midnight, Darin talked me into going. They put me on the monitors and verified I was having very heavy contractions but I was only dilated to a 4 still! Although,  with how hard my contractions were they told me to go walk around for 45 minutes and they would check me again. Darin and I walked and and checked in ever 45 minutes until 4am.  We covered the entire hospital.  Now when I walk around the hospital it looks familiar to me and I realize it is because of that night of labor!

We even enjoyed some quality time with Mr. Ronald McDonald!

He had a great shoulder to lean on!

When I was finally admitted they decided to strip my membranes they figured since it was my 3rd child I would probably progress really fast....I didn't. I got my epidural around 9am. This labor was all in my stomach which was much different the Nash and Asa's labor, which was all in my back.  This made it so much easier to get the epidural because I wasn't tensing so bad in my back...boy was that epidural amazing!  I was not progressing so they decided to put me on PIT. I reacted horribly to pitocin with Asa's delivery so I thought it would be the same way...NOPE, I was so comfortable with that epidural that Darin and I both took a nap while my body contracted away...lol.  

I even called my mom while I was laboring and she thought I had the baby already because of how relaxed I was.

Terrible Two's

This is what happens when I try to do my hair on a Sunday morning. Asa decided to make sand angels in our kitchen with a WHOLE box of Cream of Wheat.

At the time it wasn't the mess I was most upset about it.  I was very pregnant when it happened and all I ever wanted to eat was Cream of Wheat!