Happy Birthday Marianne!

Notes from Marianne's birth

1. Named Marianne Dee Freeman. Marianne for my grandmother, Dee- after Jake's mother's middle name, and we think we will call her "Andee" a lot, which is what you get when you say her full name really fast together. Kate keeps calling her Mary Andy. We keep singing the Counting Crows song to her 'Marianne you're better than the world"

2. She was born Tuesday Aug 16 2011, at 5:47 pm at 6lbs 9 0z and 19 inches long. We were so shocked at her size. We had made bets on a board in the room, I was right about her height, but we were almost two lbs off on her size. I am still searching for answers as to why she is so small, and am in the end grateful I was pregnant for more than 40 weeks if that is what she needed to gain a little more weight.

3. I had to be induced because I was three days overdue and the most my doctor would allow was 7 days, and because that landed on a weekend, I actually was only advised to go six days over. I did not like being induced at all. It felt very medical and like I had no control even though in reality everything was very controlled. I picked Tuesday for the Doctor on delivery that day. I was grateful I was able to get in, as the day before they called to say there were too many people scheduled and I might not.

4. It was the fastest delivery ever. It lasted only 4 and a half hours. When I was checked sometime around 4:30 pm I was at a 4. When I was checked around 5:15 I was at an 8, and 5 minutes later was at a 10. We didn't have to wait for the doctor, but we did wait a second for them to set up the room because they were not ready. I pushed for about five minutes. It was almost too fast to experience. And very surprising. Too fast to have my epidural turned up for delivery which also made it by far the most painful delivery ever.

5. Marianne was attempting to come out nose first, face up, the wrong way. This is likey why I was not going into labor on my own, and also why I was able to walk better an hour after delivery than the previous three or four days at home. Our doctor was able to flip her over right before she was delivered. It took half a second and seemed to easy. Had he not been able to I would have been in for a lot longer labor. I was grateful she turned, as I could feel the pain of delivery and feel I was able to cope because it was only five minutes long. I remembered the words in the blessing Jake had given me the night before that the doctor's hands would be skillful. This flipping her around was a big deal. For many women a sunny side up baby means two or more hours of pushing and some times c-sections.

6. Because of her being underweight for her gestational age she had to have all kinds of tests new to us. Sugar tests every few hours- which she kept failing. She also failed her hearing tests and her jaundice tests. All which surely will be normal but have to be tested and tested again. All the testing made for a sleepless night. Well the tests and adrenaline. I didn't sleep the whole night. I didn't sleep until the following afternoon. We aren't use to all this special treatment for little babies.

7. The kids came to visit the next morning. They were so excited and it was so fun to see them with her. They brought her a few presents. I ordered chocolate cake from room service and we sang Marianne "Happy Birthday" and had a little birthday party for her. I think this should be a new tradition if we have any other children- it was fun.

8. I love the American Fork Hospital. I knew I did already- which is why I drive all the way from Heber to deliver there. We loved our most our nurses and laughed that in labor and delivery that we had the same nurses as when Kate was born, and one of the same nurses from when Sam was born. The rooms are large and comfortable. And the best and new part- room service. Yes food room service. Anytime between 7 am and 7 pm you can order whatever you want off a menu and they bring it to you. Cheesecake, milkshakes, salmon, grilled quesadillas, omlettes, delicious and fun. We didn't love that the power was out and they were running on back up generators, because of a construction accident. It made me nervous but it only really affected us because there was no air conditioning until the evening. Our room went completely dark both when Jake and I were trying to shower, and makes for something memorable from our hospital stay.

9. With Kate and Sam before having Marianne we asked them what they thought she would look like- saying that when Kate was born she looked like an elf fairy and when Sam was born he looked like a baby seal. When Kate saw Marianne she said she looked like a fairy elf. We agree- or we agree that she looks just like Kate when Kate was born. It is proving more true every minute. She has tons of light brown hair that everyone has something to say about. A large strawberry on her forehead- likely from sitting on my hip bone the wrong way. She is actually taller than Kate when Kate was born, she just is so little because she has no meat on her. Her legs are so thin her diapers don't stay on and she is always slipping out of them. We can't wait for her to gain a little weight so we don't have to worry about her so much ( we walked out of the hospital with her at 5lbs 15 oz.) but we think she is adorable.

10. We love being home. Home with the kids. Home in real beds. Home where I don't have to ask somebody to bring me ice and nobody wakes me up at three in the morning to check my blood pressure. Home where Jake watches Kate and Sam most the day while Marianne and I camp out nursing and sleeping in my bed. Currently I am sitting next to her in bed watching Marianne sleep. She is cooing and smiling in her sleep like she is dreaming. We even managed to do two loads of laundry and get the lawns mowed today.... okay that was Jake's doing. I mostly took Marianne to her two doctor's appointments today, nursed her and took two naps.