Poppy Jean || Our Dream Come True

In comparison to my first pregnancy, this one was just so beautiful. Having Will at 26 weeks (due to preeclampsia), there was so much I felt like I missed out on. There were a few things I was really hoping for this second pregnancy:

• Making it to, or past, 35 weeks (Will was 26.5 weeks)
• Being able to experience labor!! I longed to know what a contraction felt like! (Will was an emergency c-section)
• Skin to skin immediately, or shortly after, birth (First skin to skin with Will was when he was 4 weeks old)
• TAKING MY BABY HOME WITH ME!! (Will stayed in the NICU for 4 months before coming home) 
• Successfully breastfeeding(I pumped exclusively for 5 months with Will)
• Attempt a VBAC

After many prayers, appointments, and some blood pressure medications- I was able to experience ALL of those things! It was such a beautiful experience.

After 26 weeks passed I was feeling so confident that this babe would be full term. Starting right around 26ish weeks I was started on some blood pressure meds and also started having weekly doctor appointments with my OB to closely monitor my blood pressure. Once we made it to 35 weeks I knew baby girl would be pretty darn healthy! 

As her due date drew near, my blood pressure was still slowly increasing. We initially planned on waiting for my body to go into labor. On December 15th my blood pressure was quite high, so we called the dr and he told us to go to L&D to be checked out and monitored. After 4 hours they sent us home. I had an appointment on the 17th where we decided to schedule an induction the following day. The rest of the day was spent packing our bags and making last minute preparations for baby!   

We got to the hospital at 6:00 the following morning. I was anxious, nervous & excited. I was really anxious about the potential pain, so I had them place the epidural catheter so that I could get the meds going when I wanted!  My Dr broke my water around 8am and pitocin was started at 9am. So now I know what a contraction feels like! I started having regular contractions almost immediately and had high hopes for a vaginal delivery. The contractions were constant all day. 

I was checked every two hours. 10am, dilated to a 2. 12pm, no progress. 2pm, no progress. 4 pm, no progress. 630, no progress. My doctor was so amazing, during the duration of the pregnancy, and especially great during labor. He was so supportive of me wanting a VBAC. At 630 I was getting so worn out; emotionally, physically, and mentally. I decided I would wait one more hour. 730 rolled around and still, no progress. After laboring all day and not eating since 7pm the previous night, I was ready to meet my baby girl! We decided we would do a c section. I felt confident in that decision. I'm sure if I wanted to I could have kept laboring through the night. But I felt really great about being able having the chance to experience labor. (Side-note: we knew we were naming her Poppy. She was being named after my grandpa who passed away February 2015, and his birthday was December 18th, so we were hoping for her to share that with him!) 

So they prepped me for the c section! Even though this was my decision and I felt great about the decision, I was still super emotional. I was crying probably for the next hour. Tears of disappointment, of excitement, of joy, of anxiousness, of overwhelming happiness. And as soon as I heard sweet Poppy's cry for the first time, the tears came pouring! I did it! I delivered a gorgeous full term baby! My dream had come true! I was so proud of myself, of my body. An overwhelming amount of happiness set in. This baby girl was now apart of our lives forever! 

Poppy Jean Erickson entered this world (covered in cheese!) at 8:27pm weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces. 

The next few days I enjoyed all the alone time I had with my sweet girl, knowing that I wouldn't ever get these precious moments back again. 

Introducing Will to his new sister was so special. He adores her and it's so obvious when he's interacting with her. Here's our first family-of-four family photo! 

And of course having my parents hold her for the first time was so so special. It was so wonderful having a baby in the city your parents live in! 

The day before I was discharged our photographer (CLJ Photography) came and took some photos for us, and then 2 weeks later we had a newborn session with her. I couldn't be happier with these precious photos! I will treasure them forever and ever. I'm so excited to share these with you. As you can tell, we adore our sweet Poppy Jean! 

Life with Poppy is just dreamy. She's a great sleeper, and when she's not sleeping she's just cooing and taking in the world around her. Nursing has been the best! I enjoy every minute of it. Everything I had hoped for with this pregnancy, happened! I feel so so blessed. I am the luckiest mama!