Dakota Elly Ford

She's here!  My sweet little baby girl, Dakota, arrived on Monday at 3:02am.  Here's how it all began... the long version.  :o)

Saturday I started feeling contractions, although they weren't real painful or anything, I knew that was the beginning.  Saturday night I had about 3 contractions every hour that woke me up.  I'm not sure how detailed to get here on the blog, but on Sunday morning I had some bleeding.  It scared me, but the doctor assured me that everything was fine and that only meant that I was dialating.  So the day continued with contractions that kept getting stronger and stronger.  I was pretty sure that we would be going to the hospital that night.

Mason spent the night at Scott's mom's house, in anticipation of a hospital visit that night.  I started cleaning and vacuuming between contractions, because I didn't want to come home to a dirty house!  As the contractions got stronger, Scott and I laid down and started watching some episodes of Lost, with a stopwatch and remote in hand.  We paused the show during each contraction and as they got more painful, I told Scott to start packing the car.

We arrived at the hospital around 11pm and found out that I was dialated to a 5.  Yea!  I remember going to the hospital with Mason (for the second time) and finding out I was still at a 1 and only to a 2 after an hour of monitoring.  But I paid my dues at home this time.  I wanted to make sure I didn't go to the hospital too early like last time.  But I also didn't want to wait too long, knowing the second usually goes quicker.

So I was admitted, and after 2 hours I was at a 7 or 8.  I was determined to push through without an epidural like I did with Mason, but at this point I was beginning to wonder how I was going to do it.  Two hours later, I felt a need to push, told the nurse, and was told I was at a 10 and could push on my next contraction.  That was a huge relief!  Although it still hurt like crazy, I do love the part where I can actually work with my contractions to push out my little baby!   Three contractions later, Dakota was born, face up with the cord wrapped around her neck.  No worries though, the Doctor took care of business and my baby girl was placed on my chest, while Scott helped to wipe her clean.

She weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long.  Let me tell you, she is little!  She has long skinny fingers and toes, and is just so tiny.  Most of her clothes don't fit her, and some of the small ones are too short.  But she is so calm.  Mason was a fan of crying and didn't like to be held too close.  Dakota loves to be snuggled and unless her diaper is being changed, she is calm and relaxed.  What a difference!  I finally have my cuddler!

So Dakota came 3 days early, and my mom arrived the day after.  She has been a big help, and luckily will be around for 2 weeks.  Mason loves his baby sister.  He knew her name before we told people and has always called her Kota, which is her nickname.  It will definitely take time for Mason to adjust, but he is doing pretty good so far.  My next post will be my feelings of being a mother of two.  Overwhelming is the first word that comes to mind.  :o)

Scott has been blessed to have a flexible job where he can work from home, and now, at times when things are settled down.  He has also been a huge help, and has been able to spend some quality time with Mason.  What a crazy, wonderful week it's been!