Our New Addition

Our new little edition arrived one day earlier than expected, Gemma Kingsley Skye Manz was born on March 25th at 9:15am. She was the biggest out of our clan weighing in a whopping 7pds 1oz. Gemma is the sweetest little thing ever! I find myself just staring at her. She is a perfect little peanut. We are still trying to decide who she looks like more, her brother or sister and the answer is both.

I was positive Gemma would make an early appearance, but had my doubts since the weekend was coming to an end and there was no sign of her. My cesarean section was scheduled for Tuesday, so I knew soon enough. But my water wound up breaking at 3:30 am on Monday morning, and I didn’t quite believe it at first as I thought as many others do…I peed myself. I woke up Jason and we thought to wait it out since with both Ryder and Siella, I never fully go into labor till way hours later. I really thought we would have time to send Ryder off to school and then head to the hospital. But, the contractions starting coming really strong and by 5am, we called my parents to head in and watch the kids. By the time they arrived we quickly headed off to the hospital, now contractions almost a minute apart and I thought for sure I was almost to the point of pushing. We got to the hospital, now in more pain that ever, they checked me and said I was only 1 centimeter dilated. Proving once again my body just doesn’t progress. I was secretly hoping to have a vaginal delivery by some miracle, but I guess it’s just not in my cards. If this were any other person, with the way the contractions were coming, and the pain, they would have totally been in active labor. But given I was only a centimeter, they decided on definite C section and booked an operating room immediately. It just so happened that when we got to the hospital EVERYONE was in the mist about changing shifts so we waited of what felt like an eternity for all this to go down.

The whole procedure takes only about an hour but the after affects and healing process feels like forever. I am not going to go into the whole C section downsides but it definitely takes a toll on you as well as the baby. Women who have C sections wait at least a day or two longer before their milk comes in, which is beyond frustrating as Gemma’s weight was decreasing more than the norm, and there is nothing you can do about it, expect wait, and supplement if it gets that serious. Luckily with a few formula top offs that I was sort of against, Gemma’s weight is on the rise again. She was also border line jaundice and we kept testing her everyday to make sure it wasn’t getting worse.

I also developed an infection and on top of that, my incision didn’t close correctly. The last day I was at the hospital, they re-opened my wound and packed it in order for the fluid to drain and heal properly. I also need to have nurse to come to my home everyday and change my dressing. I cannot express how devastating this entire ordeal is for me right now, having a newborn and two other children to take care of, going through a major surgery, and simply having to rest when that just isn’t possible. Jason and my mom have been extrremely helpful since everything is now on them. But I am keeping a tough upper lip and trying to focus on the good things in between my hormone crying spouts.

Ryder and Siella came to the hospital twice this week. Ryder is so happy with his little sister and has been acting like the best big brother ever! He said the cutest thing to my mom the day Gemma was born. Since both of his sisters came bearing gifts for him, he wanted to know when he was born “what gift did he give his Dad?”. A total heartmelt, and the answer to him was he brought us joy and happiness. Siella totally understands that Gemma is the baby that’s been in my belly for the past nine months. She gets it when the baby is sleeping, eating, or crying but doesn’t understand the gentle factor. While she pats her and says nice, its still a bit rough and of course totally expected from a 21 month year old. It’s amazing how much older your other kids look when there is a new baby around.

“Cool Bro Tee”

But overall, I’m still in total shock we now have three kids, we are a family of five!  I cannot begin to express how blessed and fortunate we are to have three amazing little children. I feel so lucky! Despite all that went on in the hospital, I’ll save that for a later post. I am beyond happy to be leaving the hospital after five extremely long days. I’m happy to wake up with all three of my kids now. Thank you all for your well wishes and visits during my entire stay at the hospital.