You can reference Paige's birth story here. But be warned, it's not anything like what most 'first deliveries' are.
VBAC or Repeat C-Section
After getting pregnant one of the first questions going through my mind would be getting another c-section or trying a VBAC. I knew it was something I needed to talk with my doctor about. We discussed it in one of our earliest visits and she gave me a statistic that would help me make my decision pretty quickly. 60-80% of VBACs are successful and it depends on the reason for the c-section. Basically I fell into the range of 60% - there was only a 60% chance that a VBAC in my situation would be successful, the way that I understood this was because of my anatomy and that I would have a harder time pushing out a baby. So we scheduled the c-section for Sept 18th.
The Pregnancy
I didn't blog about this pregnancy the way I did with Paige's. The main reason being I was just so tired or didn't feel well most of the time. The heartburn was the same, if not worse than it was with Paige. Overall, the pregnancy was fine, I didn't have any major complications and we always had good news at check-ups. Once again, however, I just didn't enjoy the pregnancy. The closer the due date got the more anxious and ready I was to get her out of me! Fortunately we had a pretty mild summer so that was good, but I was always hot, tired, and out of breath anywhere I went.
The Delivery
I never thought September 18th would come around. Even when September 1st hit, the 18th still seemed so far away!! I wouldn't have minded going into labor early, but I knew the chances of that were pretty slim. I did start have braxton-hicks contractions around 37 weeks, so I had them for about 2 weeks off and on before she was born (something I never experienced with Paige).
As the day approached I kept getting more anxious and nervous. I mean, it was a major surgery after all. We had to arrive at the hospital 2 hours early to get checked in and prepped. The IV was first, and I almost passed out after that went in! I spent the next hour or so just resting and waiting. I walked back to the OR around 11:45 where they did the spinal (not fun) and getting me prepped for surgery. Jeremy didn't get to come back until right before they were ready to open me. So after everyone was set and ready to go the doctor came in right at 12:00 and got to work.
This was a completely different experience for me as I don't remember much from Paige's c-section. I was much more alert and aware of what was going on this time. It didn't take long before I heard them say 'okay - you are going to feel a push on your stomach to get her out' and at 12:09pm I heard the beautiful sound of little Miss Kora's first cry. The rest of the time was spent cleaning her and getting me put back together and I was wheeled back to our room around 1pm.
The Recovery
Oy... if only I could remember what happened most of Friday afternoon... I thought I was doing okay, until I got sick 3 times and kept getting hot. But they wouldn't let me take the blankets off because my body temp was actually low. Looking back on it I don't remember much of Friday, which lines up with those that told me after the fact I didn't look very good that day :)
4-days post-op now and I'm doing okay. The pain meds are definitely still needed, but I'm walking around better and have a few 'good hours' during the day where I don't feel much pain or anything. Jeremy is still being the rockstar husband that he always is and helping out with pretty much everything and giving me the 'stink eye' 'when he thinks I am doing too much. Paige has been fabulous and is just so excited for her baby sister to be here.
Finally, I wanted to share with you the reason behind her name. Let's start with the middle name: Sue. This is my mom's middle name. With Paige we decided not to do a family name. So I always knew that if we had a second child we would somehow incorporate a family name. If it was a girl I wanted the middle name to be Sue. I wanted her to have a piece of my mom.
Cora was my grandma's name. I remember going out to breakfast with my mom and grandma very early in the pregnancy and we were talking about names. My grandma said 'well I think you should name her Cora, you never hear the name Cora anymore.' I had kind of dismissed it at the time, just thought it was her being funny. When I brought it up to Jeremy later he said he actually liked the name - but we both agreed we liked it spelled Kora rather than with a C.
We went back and forth with this name and others. When grandma got sick back in June is when we really had to start thinking about the name. We both really liked it and I loved the woman that the name came from. I love that grandma was the one that suggested it. My grandma was a strong, beautiful, amazing woman of God and I can only pray the same for my little Kora Sue.
It stinks that grandma didn't get to meet this great-grandchild who would carry on her name. But I know that baby Kora would've been loved and spoiled by Mimi Cora.
