Snow Princess

Molly and me

It has been almost two months since our beautiful baby girl came into the world on one of the snowiest days of the year. It is hard to believe that so much time has passed. Her birth was similar to her brother’s in a lot of ways and also different in many. For starters I labored for about 15 hours both times. With Molly, however the bulk of that was spent in the comfort of my own home with the Mister, Paddy, and my mom to keep me company. Due in part to the extra time spent at home, when we did get to the hospital things moved quickly!

Just like with her brother, I wanted a completely unmedicated birth. Unlike with her brother, I actually got it this time. No pitocin, no lidocaine.

Shortly after we arrived at the hospital, I was informed that my doctor was unable to make it to the birth and the doctor on call was, of course, the one doctor that I wanted nowhere near myself or my baby. Luckily, after calling around, the nurses were able to convince a wonderful doctor from Canton to take the job, and we were able to avoid a battle royale. I had my cousin (who used to be an OB nurse) on standby, this woman would not be delivering my baby.

Birth felt different this time around. With Paddy, I very much felt the need to push, with our Snow Princess, however the contractions were very strong, but not very pushy. The doctor and nurses helped me to focus and push through these contractions instead of riding them out.

Molly also felt very different than Sean did. When he was born, once his head came out, his body quickly followed. With her, though, I pushed for her head, and then I pushed for her shoulders, and then I pushed for her body. Needless to say at this point, she was nearly two pounds heavier and much broader in the shoulders than he was.

Immediately following her birth, I was able to get hours of skin to skin time with her before they took her for measurements or a bath. I still did not get the delayed cord clamping I was hoping for, but this time I did get the natural placenta birth I asked for. The main nurse was wonderful at making sure my birth plan was followed, and the doctor that filled in had a dry sense of humor and seemed more than willing to take a back seat and let me do my thing. He broke my water, caught the baby, and gave me a couple stitches when all was done. This was just perfect for me, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Miss Molly

My sweet little chunk weighed in at 8 pounds 5.2 ounces and 20.5 inches long. She was born with a glorious, full head of black hair that formed (and still does) an amazing mohawk.

Although they had to wait in the waiting room during the actual birth, The Mister and Paddy were able to meet the little bundle shortly after her birth. My mom stayed with me during the labor and then left to take care of Paddy so the Mister could see his new daughter. Then the whole family was able to spend the evening together in awe of this sweet girl.

Miss Molly