Birth Story of Daughter #2

11 days ago I shared with you Birth Story of Daughter #1, and I would recommend that you read that post first, if you haven't already, so that you can have a greater appreciation for this one.  


Today is my second child's 2nd birthday!  It's so hard to believe that my girls are growing up so fast.  People always tell me that it goes by quickly, and they are right.  Some days it doesn't seem so fast, but when I look back life feels like a whirlwind since I had children.

Since I shared with you Isabella's birth story, I thought it would only be appropriate to share with you about the next birth.  So, here's a little recap, timeline of the pregnancy and all, so you can join with us as we celebrate and remember our precious little Mallory.

May 1, 2009:
Isabella was just over 3 months old and I noticed that she was hungrier than normal, and nursing just wasn't cutting it for her.  After reading a few articles on why this might be happening, I thought, "Well, maybe I should just take a pregnancy test to see."  So, that afternoon, I decided to give it a go and sure enough, positive results!  Ah!  I really couldn't believe it.  I hung onto that pregnancy test for awhile, just to convince myself that it was real.  Although, the nausea kicked in pretty soon afterward, so I didn't need convincing for too long.  My due date was January 8, 2010, a year and two days after my due date for Baby #1!

I guess I should really back up a little bit further here, as some of you might be saying, "WHAT?  You can't get pregnant while nursing!"  Backing up just a bit...

February (first part of the month) 2009:
After my post-partum check up I picked up my prescription for birth control pills {the mini-pill, safe to take while nursing}, and went ahead and started taking it.  The next day, my husband declared that I was way too moody and he didn't like the effects of birth control on me.  He was somehow convinced that nursing would be a sure contraceptive, so we decided for me not to take the pill.

His job shifted slightly right after this and we had a lot of time on our hands {remember, we had previously been separated for 6 months, read this post}, so naturally, you can guess what happened....I got pregnant and we discovered that breastfeeding is most definitely NOT a sure type of contraception!

May {end of the month}, 2009:
I started having some complications with my pregnancy and ended up for a day in the emergency room, sure that I had miscarried.  Thankfully, after seeing the DR, we able to hear a heartbeat and everything looked like it would be okay.

I never imagined that I would get pregnant so quickly after having my first baby, so being pregnant with an infant was a challenge.  But, it was also wonderful!  The distraction of a new baby was great in keeping my mind off of being sick and the temptation to just lie around the house had to be overcome.  We were thrilled with the thought of another one!

Family photo July, 2009

June, 2009:
While I was back on the East Coast visiting family, my husband received orders to move to another base in California, several hours north of San Diego, and by the time I returned home July 6, our apartment was totally packed up!  The next day, Isabella and I drove north to join my husband and we settled into life in gorgeous Monterey, CA!

Monterey Bay, Monterey, CA

August, 2009:
This time around we decided to find out the gender of the baby. It was a GIRL!  We thought it would be so fun to have two little girls so close in age and couldn't wait to meet her.

December 2009:
We had to stay home for the holidays, since I was extremely pregnant, which really was fine with us.  Isabella started walking right before Christmas, which was really wonderful in my opinion, because I didn't know what I would do if I had to carry two children all the time to run errands.  All month long I had contractions, pretty much every day and was pretty uncomfortable.  At my 36 week check-up, I had dilated to 3 centimeters, and stayed there through check-up at 39 weeks.

January 2, 2010:
Bradley's mom came to stay with us and wait for the baby to be born.  She had planned to stay for 2 weeks, and we were SO thankful!  I was sure the baby would come early, as her sister had, but after one week of my mother-in-law there, still no baby!

VERY pregnant and ready to have a baby!

January 7, 2010:
For about 5 hours one day I had steady contractions about every 10 minutes.  We went to a friend's house for dinner, and around 7PM I told Bradley I felt like we needed to head for the hospital.  Of course we didn't have anything ready, so we headed home to pack our bags and go to the hospital.  By the time we got home and started getting ready, my contractions had stopped completely!  Ugh!

January 9, 2010:
Since there was still no baby, we decided to take a great walk to a nearby beach where we would be required to walk a lot, through hilly sand dunes, and I was sure that would put me into labor.  Nothing.

The dunes we climbed through.

January 10, 2010:
7AM, I woke up and started feeling some light contractions.  I was pretty sure this would be the day, so I took my time getting out of bed, showered and dressed.  This time around I was bound and determined that I would look good in the first pictures with my little girl.  By the time I was putting on my eyeliner, I was doubled over the sink with each contraction.  I told Bradley it was time to go and we headed to the hospital.  Being the loving husband that he is, we parked the car, and WALKED into the hospital.  He refused to drop me off at the door because he wasn't thrilled about a false alarm.  Walking, he assured me, would keep the contractions coming, if this was the real deal.

We got into the maternity ward and they put me in a room right away.  I was dressed and in the bed within minutes, and a DR came in to check my progress.  When he told me I was dilated to 9 centimeters I said to him, "Are you serious?  Because if you're joking, that's really not funny."  He was totally serious, broke my water, and immediately the pain intensified.

Less than an hour later, and after only 4 pushes, out came our little Mallory Daire.  She was a beautiful, healthy, big baby, at 8lbs 15 oz.  I was so relieved and couldn't believe how easy it was compared to my first delivery!  I was recovering, holding my clean baby by the time lunch came around at the hospital.  Visitors showed up soon after and it was great to have a baby in the morning, after having a full night's rest, to then have the rest of the day to enjoy her, relax, recover, and visit with friends and family.

Arrived at the hospital and ready to go!

First glimpse of my new little girl.

Looking much more like myself this time around :)

Bradley wears the same shirt for the births of our children; love it!

So glad Mom could be there!

Grateful for my mother-in-law and love her dearly!

Chubby cheeked little girl.

Ready to go home.

Because it was winter, and flu season, Isabella couldn't come visit us in the hospital, which was too bad, but it honestly was really nice to be in the hospital by myself with Mallory for one night.  They sent me home the next day and Isabella immediately fell in love with her new little 'baby doll' of a sister.

Peeking in on her little sister.

My two girls and me.

Mallory has brought such joy to our family.  She definitely likes to make us laugh and is quite successful!  She has a terrific love of life and a strong personality, which we pray will be channeled in the right direction to serve the Lord with passion and tenacity.

Happy 2nd Birthday, sweet girl!