Deirdre's a big sister!!!

Baby #2 has arrived...and it's a girl! Deirdre, along with her mom and dad, are proud to announce the arrival of Bernadette Kennedy Gorman, the most perfect baby born Wednesday, October 6th at 3:31 pm. She arrived on the scene with ease (4 pushes, and I'm not joking...), weighing 6 lbs 9 oz and measuring 19 1/4 inches long. You can see from the pictures that most of that weight comes from that beautiful mop of black hair on her head - this little lady needed a barrette the moment she was born!

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She's doing well, I'm feeling super, and Deirdre is madly in love with her little sister, whom she affectionately calls "Bernie", said in the cutest, sweetest voice you've ever heard. Of course, Johnny and I are beside ourselves with these two lovely ladies, falling more in love with Deirdre each day and prouder than proud of Miss B.

Here's how it all went down, or rather, how she came out:

On Tuesday the 5th, I woke up feeling great. By about 12pm, however, I was feeling downright crummy. I didn't have pain, and there wasn't anything specifically wrong, I just felt very winded and tired, and I was feeling so bad that I grabbed a chair as I was making lunch for Deirdre because I didn't feel like I could stand any longer. Of course, this was the ONLY day of the week that Johnny had an afternoon appointment outside of his home office...and since I wasn't contracting, just feeling bad, I'd encouraged him to just keep his phone close by while he was away. The faintness continued after he left, and by 1pm, I found myself in the bathroom, getting sick. Poor little Deirdre didn't know what was going on, and kept saying, "Mommy, wha' happen, wha' happen?"

As the vomiting continued, I started having back and side pain - not contractions, but definitely a pain that was sharp, and constant, and odd - and coupled with my illness, there was no reason to wait a moment longer. I called my O.B., and desperately waited for them to call me back since they were closed for lunch. I also phoned my sister, who rushed over faster than lightening, and together we waited for my doctor to call back. We got the call to come to the hospital immediately, and we phoned Johnny to let him know he needed to abort mission and meet us at the hospital. Thankfully, he was there when we got there. Oh, how all of my peeps came through for me!!!

I was admitted into the hospital, and went up to Triage for evaluation in Labor and Delivery. I spent about 9 hours there (about 3pm to 12am) while my doctors and I figured out what was going on. Over the first 3 hours, my nausea and back pain subsided completely, and we were all stumped as to what was going on. I was contracting, but nothing that I would have made note of had I been at home. My doctor was reluctant to let me go however, choosing to watch me for another hour or two, and running blood and urine tests to check for preeclampsia, high protein, or any sign of infection. Of course, as that hour or two passed and we waited for the test results, things started to change. Bernadette was making her move.

My contractions became more pronounced, more severe, and by 9pm (just moments before I was going to be sent home), my doctor decided that since my contactions had only been increasing and had never really subsided, I'd earned myself a ticket to labor and delivery. We were thrilled - you hate to spend almost 6 hours hooked up to an IV, watching (and eventually feeling) yourself contract and then go home...knowing that you'll probably be right back there again in the wee hours of the morning.

By 12am, they had a labor and delivery room ready for us - in fact, the exact room where Deirdre was delivered 2 years ago. Guess we waited for a reason! I continued to contract all night long, but slept like a baby because I could barely feel them. What a treat!!!

By the morning, I figured I'd be sent home, since my contractions, although consistent, were so mild. We were minutes away from signing the discharge paperwork when one of my OB's decided that I should try walking around the halls of the hospital for about an hour, just to see if that would move things along. The last thing she wanted was for me to get home, resume normal activity, and then go into labor this afternoon. Well - she was right! After about 25 minutes, my contractions were strong enough that I had to stop to let them pass, and they went from a consistent 8 minutes apart to 3-5 minutes apart. So - I earned myself a hospital stay for the day! They broke my water around 11am, started pitocin, gave me an epidural less than an hour later, and by 3:00, I was ready to rock. Fully dilated with baby Bernadette lying in wait. As they were preparing the room for delivery, I made mention of the fact that the baby seemed awfully close, and before you know it, she had crowned, all on her own. I gave my requisite 4 pushes...and baby Bernadette was born. Wow! Could I ever do THAT again!

Of course - the hour or two of nausea, getting sick in front of Deirdre, and the ride to the hospital on Tuesday were less than pleasant, but all in all, a successful, relatively pain-free delivery. Who would have thought!

I'll be sure to fill you in on all of the "lupus-related" issues that arose along the way in a later post (medications before and after delivery, infection possibilities post-delivery), as well as B's almost-extended stay in the hospital, but for now, I'll leave you with a picture of the proud big sister. Apparently, while we were in the hospital for four days, she took up with a rough and tumble scooter gang. Pink must be their signature color.