A Birth Story, Part II

We have a new addition to the family! Bridget Evelyn Woodruff was born on September 17, 2010 at 10:19 a.m., and was 8 lbs 7 oz in weight and 21-1/2 inches long. She has lots of thick, black hair and a little dimple in one of her cheeks. For the full report, read on:

Mommy, Daddy and Jillian woke up early on Friday morning and started getting ready for the big day. Grannie Woodruff stopped by at 6:30 am to pick up Jillian for the weekend, and of course, she was very excited about that. Mommy and Daddy then made the drive down to Southwest W

shington Medical Center for an 8:00 am check-in time. When we got there, Mommy remarked about how strange it was knowing that in just a couple hours, we would be holding a new baby. Mommy was put into Room 102, and got into her gown and made herself comfortable in the bed. Our nurse for the day would be Annette, and she was very nice and helpful. The paperwork started coming, along with IV hookups, drugs and monitors on the baby. Auntie Greta and Dany showed up during the prep time, ready to go. We had met with several OBGYN doctors leading up to birth-day, but it ended up that the one doing the procedure would be Dr. Chang, who leads the entire OBGYN program at SWMC. He came in to introduce himself, and made us laugh the entire time; he had a great sense of humor. It was obvious, though, that he knew what he was doing, so we felt good about that.

At about 9:30 am, it was time to head to the operating room. We walked with the nurse, and Mommy went in to the room to get her spinal anesthetic while Daddy waited outside. Once all of the doctors had shown up and were ready to go at just after 10:00 am, Daddy went in and sat next to Mommy. The music was blaring, and the doctors started moving fast with the C-section. The anesthesiologist kept us up-to-date on what was happening as he watched over the curtain. When it was time for the baby to come out, the first thing he said was “Whoa, that’s a big baby!” Shortly after that, everyone in the room said “Look at all that hair!” Little Bridget Evelyn had arrived!

Bridget then moved over to the respiratory therapists. They were amazed at how quickly she had “pinked up”, and immediately gave her an Apgar rating of 9 out of 10. They cleaned her up and suctioned her out, while Daddy took photos and showed them to Mommy. About 5 minutes later, they gave her a full rating of 10. They measured her at 21-1/2 inches long, and weighed her in at a big 8 lbs 7.3 oz. After a quick wrap job, they put Bridget on Mommy’s chest. Mommy was so happy!

The doctors finished up the procedure, and moved Mommy to a new bed. While holding onto Bridget, she was wheeled out of the operating room and placed in the recovery room with nurse Annette. We spent the next hour there while both Mommy and Bridget were monitored by the nurse. Both Mommy and Bridget checked out great! Eventually, we got to leave and head back to Room 102, where Auntie Greta and Dany were waiting. Mommy announced to them that the baby’s name was Bridget Evelyn. Mommy had always liked the name Bridget, and the name Evelyn was her Grandma Peterson’s middle name. Auntie Greta and Dany were thrilled to finally meet Bridget, and enjoyed holding her!

While Auntie Greta and Dany went to get lunch, Mommy and Bridget rested in the room. One thing we found out was that Bridget was a pretty mellow baby, and she liked to sleep. She did cry when she was hungry, but other than that, she stayed pretty quiet.

At about 2:00 pm, big sister Jillian showed up with Grannie and Papa Woodruff. Jillian came running into the room yelling “Mommy, did the baby come out?” When Mommy said yes, Jillian then yelled “The baby popped out!” Bridget was laying on Mommy on the bed, so Grannie held Jillian up so that she could see her. Jillian was all smiles, and was very excited to see her little sister, giving her a nice kiss. But when Bridget started crying loudly, Jillian tried climbing up Grannie’s head trying to get away. She was a little spooked by the crying. After Grannie had held Bridget, Jillian was asking “Can I hold the baby?”, so she sat with Daddy on the sofa and got to excitedly hold baby Bridget for the first time. She was a little wary though, saying “Baby’s crying” if Bridget even made a sound or wrinkled up her face.

Many more visitors began showing up. Cindy Stephenson arrived, and then Auntie Greta and Dany returned. They had brought a cake from Olive Garden, so everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to Bridget. Later in the afternoon, Grandpa Ken, Auntie Sheryl and Cousins Meagan and Adam showed up. Cousin Adam got to hold Bridget, and was also a little scared when she started crying. After that, he was content to just watch. Grandpa Ken was celebrating his birthday right along with Bridget, so it was a very happy birthday for both of them!

That evening, Mommy worked on getting Bridget fed while trying to recover from the surgery at the same time. It actually went pretty well, as Bridget latched on pretty quickly and fed for 10 to 20 minutes at a time before getting tired and falling asleep. Her internal clock was a little off, though, as she was awake and demanding food throughout the night. Eventually, she settled down at 4:30 am and went to sleep for a few hours.

On Saturday, all the activity must have worn Bridget out, because she was very sleepy throughout the day. She continued to receive visitors, including Cousin Tierney, Uncle Clark, Beverly, and the Johnson family (Uncle Kevin, Auntie Julie, and Cousins Cale, Ty and Brock). Big sister Jillian also visited again, giving little sister Bridget a card that she had made herself. Mommy continued her recovery, getting up and moving around, and even getting a chance to shower. Nurse Maria worked the night-shift, and was someone that Mommy had gone to high school with. She was very nice and helpful.

On Sunday, Dr. Chang visited and said that everything looked good with Bridget and Mommy, and that if they wanted to leave that evening, he would discharge them. So, we agreed to leave later that day. Sunday was a pretty restful day, and Bridget continued to eat and sleep and snuggle with Mommy. It was becoming apparent that Bridget was going to be the sleeper and snuggle buddy of the family, as Jillian was already our active little go-go girl. There were many more doctor visits, including a lactation nurse who had some great advice. After Aunt Lee was our final visitor, we packed up our things and put Bridget into the carseat and got into the car. Bridget was a great little traveler, sleeping the entire way home.

When we arrived home with Bridget, we got things in order, and then big sister Jillian showed up an hour or so later when Grannie and Papa Woodruff and Cousin Tierney dropped her off. Once again, Jillian was very excited to see Bridget, wanting to hold her many times. It was a very happy reunion for all of us, and a special night as a family of four. We are so excited to have Bridget!