Our little miss has graced us with
her presence; Kooper Eileen was born August 2nd at 2:15 pm, 8 lbs. 15 oz. The
whole process has been a complete whirlwind. My pregnancy was amazing, the
c-section went well and my recovery has been speedy and remotely pain free. She
has already been with us for almost 3 weeks. I look at her and I can't believe
that Karson was ever that small. The moment she was pulled from me and Kurt was
able to see her he said, "I'm so sorry babe." I was freaking out,
what the hell did he mean? I could hear her crying so I knew she was okay. Kurt
smiled and said, "She looks just like me." Once again I carried the
child, gave birth and all the jazz and the stinking kid looks exactly like a
Mundell. I couldn't believe the resemblance; she looked like little baby
Karson. She may look like him, but their personalities are night and day. She
is so chill, laid back and just a pleasure to be around. I nicknamed her right,
she is my little hippie chick.
The day of the c-section I was pushed back
several times. By 3:30 the whole not eating eight hours prior to surgery was
like cruel and unusual punishment. Finally, the nurse concluded August 1st
would not be her birthday. I guess all the babies were trying to win a pool or
something. So, we decided to try it all over again the next day. Thankfully a
lady who was scheduled Friday dropped early to make me a spot. Thank you
mystery lady! I sent Kurt to work because I knew if he stayed home another day,
it would not happen again (plus to be honest with you all, he was working my
last nerve!) We went over to my mom's to hang out and take our minds off it. I
called at 10:30 and by the grace of God we were on schedule. I then hurried up
to tell Kurt get home, we are having a baby. The nurse on the phone said that
we could be pushed back once we got there, so I still did not get my hopes up.
When we got to the hospital they were still so packed there was no room at in
the inn. I had my pre-op work done in the triage room. My doctor dropped in to
tell us she was going to have lunch and then we were going to have a
baby!
The procedure itself went easy. The
epidural was not as bad as I had remembered from the first time. This time both
of my legs were numb. Score! My nerves were pretty good until Kurt came in and
I knew it was show time. I had this horrible pain in my ears, and I could hear
the doctor's talking about Disney Cruise Lines. I'm lying there cut open and
they are talking about vacation, pretty routine for them. I overheard the
doctor say to the intern, her babies are big, no wonder she has c-sections.
That was reassuring. At this point I still regretted not giving a vaginal birth
another try. 2:15 came and there she was crying her head off, Kurt pointed out
she had the same high pitched cry Karson had. Kurt was able to hold her right
away and I was able to see her and kiss her. This was huge considering I did
not see Karson for almost 4 hours after his c-section. I was pleasantly
surprised. I laid there on the table for what seemed like forever getting put
back together. When it was over, they handed me her and we were rolled back to
our triage home. My mom was in the room the entire time praying and when we
rolled through the door she was shocked to see I had the baby in my arms. I'm
sure for many of you moms, you are like so, what's the big deal? For us this
process was completely different from Karson and that is all we had to go off
of. I was able to nurse her right away and do skin to skin. Up until this point
I have to be honest I was dreading breastfeeding again. I really think it is
the hardest part of having a newborn! Well Kooper was hungryyyy and she had no
problem showing me how it was done. She latched on and that was it. A huge sigh
of relief for all parties!
The next few days flew by, we had so many
visitors. By Saturday afternoon I was up and out of bed. I was on very little
pain medication and actually feeling pretty damn good. We were ready to go home
as soon as possible. Monday they discharged us so fast that when Kurt came back
from the car we were waiting at the door. They wanted us out! Its been
wonderful to be home. Karson was happy to have us back and Grammy and C-pops
were pooped. The first days home with Kurt were easy-peasy, then the real work
started for this momma. The hardest part of having them both is coordinating
schedules. Karson has to have us lay with him to fall asleep, usually not a
problem except when you have a baby beast in the other room screaming her head
off because she wants the booby! Of course, Karson is a light sleeper and has
to go check on her when she cries. Then he cries when I put him down to pick
her up. I don't think Kurt and I were thinking very clear when we decided to
have two babies at one time. Karson is a big boy, but he is STILL a baby. The
diapers are ungodly, I can't keep the wipes stocked, our washing machine and
dishwasher have not stopped since we brought her home. I am literally among the
walking dead when it comes to sleep. We have started implementing bottles of
breast milk and crib time in an effort to remedy the bad habits we had formed
with Karson. I am so focused on getting her on a somewhat fixed schedule I feel
serious mom guilt when I give in and do "bad things" in order to get
some peace. I haven't left the house in days and Karson is hanging from the
ceiling. Meanwhile as long as she is fed, Koop is chilling. Thank Jesus for my
easy baby!
For those who said two is harder than one,
you are right when it comes to putting in the extra work. As far as the
emotions go, I am in a much happier stable place. I am enjoying every minute of
this, because I know in the blink of an eye my baby will be 18 months old and
letting go of my hand to walk down the steps. We are all adjusting really well
to our newest addition. Here's to living our happily ever after!
Photo by Britney Clause Photography
