A Continuation of the Discussion

I talked about Gavin's birth on Thursday so now I'll move on to my second born, Maddie.

Madelyn Leah ***; July 28, 2004

1. How long had you been married at the time of the birth? 2 weeks shy of 3 years

2. What were your reactions when you found out that you were pregnant? Actually, we were shocked! Gavin was only 11 months old and we weren't expecting another pregnancy yet. I was still breastfeeding and not having regular cycles.

3. How old were you? I was 3 weeks shy of 24 when she was born.

4. How did you find out that you were pregnant? I took a home pregnancy test because Brian suggested it. I was having a few symptoms, but didn't think I could be pregnant. I took the test just to rule it out!

5. Who did you tell first? Brian and then Baby Gavin. :-) We waited to tell the rest of our family until after Gavin's 1st birthday.

6. Did you find out the sex? Yes, we did. I was convinced we were having another boy so it was a surprise to hear she was a girl!

7. Due date? Because of the issue of breastfeeding, I never had a definite due date. The doctor said July 30 and I thought it was more like July 24.

8. Did you deliver early or late? Depends. According to the doctor, I was early, but I think I was actually a few days late. It worked out really well, though. My doctor was worried the whole pregnancy that I was going to have a big baby. Even though I had had no problems whatsoever delivering a large baby, she said she was afraid to let me go past my due date. She scheduled an induction for the 31st of July. I was not happy about it so was super relieved when I went into labor on my own.

9. Did you have morning sickness? Yes, but it was mild-- super mild compared to my first pregnancy-- and was gone by 11 weeks.

10. What did you crave? Pizza and icecream. (It is always icecream!)

11. Who irritated you most? Anyone who bugged me about when I was going to wean Gavin.

12. What was your child's sex? a girl

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout your first pregnancy? I still think this question is a little too personal! :-) 29 pounds.

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Not one. Blood sugar was good, iron was perfect, no bleeding, no swelling...

15. Where did you give birth? The same hospital where I delivered Gavin.

16. How many hours were you in labor? The timing was almost identical to my labor with Gavin. I woke in the night around 2 am. I wasn't sure I was in labor although I was almost positive. Gavin woke up and wanted to nurse. I let him, but almost immediately, my water broke so that ended that! We went to the hospital around 7 am and she was born at 2:52 pm. So I was in labor about 12 hours. I had heard second labors were shorter and I was looking foward to that, but that didn't seem to be the case for me.

17. Who drove you to the hospital? Brian

18. Who watched? Like I said before, I'm not into bringing people with me into the labor and delivery room. Brian was the only one there besides the doctor and nurse.

19. Was it vaginal or c-section? vaginal

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? Again, I planned to go drug-free, but again, I had an IV and fetal monitors and ended up with an epidural.

21. How much did your baby weigh? Despite my doctor's insistence that this baby seemed smaller (and therefore, we would induce before she got bigger), she was the same as her big brother-- 9 pounds, 4 ounces!

22. What did you name your first born baby? Madelyn (a name we liked) Leah (my middle name)

23. How old is your baby today? She turned 4 in July.

I love to hear about other women's pregnancies and births. Right now, especially, it is a fun thing to read about to pass the time! Please let me know if you do this Meme on your blog because I'd love to read it. Or if you'd rather, tell me your birth or pregnancy story in my comments section.