October came so quickly I was in no rush for my due date to be here. I was kept pretty busy the whole month. We had the hospital tour, which was great. I had my mom visit for the day and we went shopping and did hair. My dad came to visit the next week for a few days. He went to my doctors appointment with me, went shopping, and had a great visit. Ben and I took Aubree to Vertucio Farms one night with his family. We picked out some pumpkins and carved them. I also had Ben paint my belly like a pumpkin. Aubree thought that was pretty great. I also took her to another pumpkin patch during the day. We went to the State fair to watch Sheryl Crow and walk around. Keeping busy helped me not feel anxious for baby girls arrival. We still hadn't decided on a name and kind of kept putting it off. I was feeling pretty good physically. I started having some contractions the week of my due date. Mostly during the day, nothing consistent but enough to put everyone on edge thinking she was making her arrival at any moment. The 29th was my due date and when it came and I was only dilated to a 1-2 and 50% effaced. At that point I was ready for her to be here. I thought for sure she was going to be here before Halloween. She had different plans. Halloween came and we took Aubree trick or treating. She got a little flu bug and I was so nervous she was going to be sick when her sister was born but luckily it didn't last long. She had a blast trick or treating! She would say trick or treat and thank you. I loved watching her and seeing her face light up when she got a candy. The day after Halloween I started to feel discouraged and emotional. I really didn't want to be induced but scheduled it just in case on the day I turned 41 weeks. We stayed home from church and did a lot of walking and bouncing on the ball, we also tried out my new electric breast pump. It gave me two good contractions but then I turned it off because I got nervous. Around 3am I woke up with contractions and decided to count them since they were pretty uncomfortable. I timed them until around 7am and they were 3-5 mins apart and getting painful. Ben had gone to the gym around 5am and decided to come home after instead of going to work since I was pretty sure this was the real deal. I got up and got ready and got Aubree up and ready. Our bags were packed and we headed to the hospital. Once we got to triage I asked the nurse if she thought we were going to be sent home since I was still just a three and a half and 75% effaced. She said no since I was gbs positive. She got me into a room and started me on the first round on antibiotics and we waited. I was checked again and things hadn't changed much so they talked about sending me home. My nurse was so sweet.. She wanted me to stay and said she would do everything she could to help me stay and not get sent home. I was in so much pain and wanted to cry because I did not want to go home. I just wanted my baby in my arms. They decided to strip my membranes and send me walking around the hospital for two hours. I literally walked in a circle outside in the heat for two hours only stopping for contractions and to take a sip of water. I was bound and determined to not get sent home. My family arrived while I was walking. I probably looked like a crazy lady in a huge hospital gown walking in circles. When we went back in to get checked I had progressed to a 5 and was 100% effaced. They decided to let me stay and gave me a shot of something in my leg for the pain while I waited for the epidural. I rested and my dad got me chic fil a. The contractions were so painful. I finally got the epidural when I was at like a 7. It was only working on one half of my body but they were so good about fixing it. I had the shakes really bad this time which was different then when I had Aubree where I only got them after delivery. An hour later I felt the urge to push so I called for the nurse. Tiffany my midwife came in to check me and said she could see my babies head and hair. She asked if Ben wanted to catch her and he agreed. He put gloves on and I held my legs back. Three pushes later Ben caught the baby. She had pooped while inside of me so I guess when she came out Ben said it kind of smelt and the fluid from my bag of water came gushing out. You can see on his face in the pictures he was not expecting that. But I loved that he got to place her immediately on my chest and then also got to cut the cord. She weighed 8lbs 2oz and was 20 inches long born at 6:53pm. We decided to name her Gracie Mae Mulcock. She is absolutely perfect in everyway. My delivery went so perfect. It felt so good to push her out and made up for all those hard hours of contractions. She is an excellent at nursing and is adored by her big sister Aubree. We had Aubree come in the room and give her sister the little gift she picked out for her while we also gave Aubree a little gift. She loved it. She has been big on doctor stuff so we got her a doctor bag and she had a blast pretending to listen to the babies heartbeat and giving her a checkup. I think going to all of my doctor appointments really helped prepare her for her new role as a big sister. She loves Gracie's and asks every morning "Mom can I see my sister please?" She loves to help change her diaper, give her a bath, get her dressed, swaddle her, and we haven't let her feed her yet but I'm sure she will love when I do pump a bottle for her. It has me so happy to see them together and know that they are going to be best friends and grow up and play together. Gracie is such a happy baby and is a good sleeper. My recovery with Gracie has been 100 times easier then with Aubree. I had such a hard time after delivering Aubree, I think the combination of it being my first baby and getting stitches made it a lot harder. This time I was dressed and up and feeling great the day after delivery. Its been three weeks now and I literally don't feel like I had a baby. The bleeding is already almost gone and I feel amazing. I am so grateful to have such easy pregnancies, deliveries, and recovery. Life as a family of four has been so wonderful and I look forward to all the memories we will make together.
