it takes a village

parents have always said: “it takes a village” & i didn’t really GET THAT until we had our 2nd daughter.

bc holy cow wow.

between cluster feeding the new baby on the hour for 15-20 min at a time while the toddler is climbing on anything she can…
or trying to squeeze into little spaces as best she can (that she can’t get out of on her own)…
to keeping up w/ laundry & remembering to eat…
to fixing said things to eat while also fixing the toddler food while she throws it on the ground for the dog to eat…
yknow… while the baby wants to eat… AGAIN.

w/ the hurricane that just hit our west coast & anderlee not budging, we weren’t sure when she was going to arrive…

& that made my mother in law’s flight get cancelled & us unsure when she could make it down.

thankfully it all worked out wonderfully & my MIL was here for a few days before i was induced.
we got to spruce up the house & run last minute errands before the baby arrived…
while also having 1:1 time w/ lurayna.

she stayed w/ us for 2 weeks & was more of a help than i can find words for.

she cooked.
she baked.
she bought us milkshakes.
she picked up toddler toys more than 3x a day (bc half the fun is getting them out again, right?).
she took care of the dog & the toddler while we were in the hospital.
she entertained a very busy girl.
she made sure i had ice water by my side when i started breast feeding.
she was ready for all the baby anderlee cuddles & burping while i snuggled lurayna.
she helped organize & make us lists of to-do’s when our minds were mush.
she changed diapers.
she encouraged, prayed & shared her expertise.

i don’t know how we would have gotten through the first 2 weeks w/o her.

my mom was there at the hospital, ready to do food runs.
even if it was just for dessert or coffee.
she was there for breathing w/ me.
teaching me ways that worked for her.
helped communicate w/ the nurses & jonny when i was in my own world when in labor.
she made 4 different types of soups to freeze for us.
along w/ 3 different types of breakfast casseroles.
she volunteers to have sleep overs w/ lulu.
she extends her time & drives countless times up to us while dealing w/ rush hour traffic & tolls to help us.
so thankful she’s nearby & now retired!

my sister flew down to be here from nashville for baby snuggles.
she had a sleepover w/ lulu so we could get situated w/ the new baby.
baked us brownies to munch on (most of the ones i inhaled were for breakfast)
& even sent us $$$ for our first “dinner out” which we had delivered to the hospital after anderlee was born (ya’ll… cheesecake factory is still reeeeally good delivered).

my sister in law let us borrow her 7 passenger vehicle while we’re working w/ just 1 of ours so we could go take newborn photos in tampa & then ordered us pizza so no one had to cook after such a long day.

my nieces & nephew are the biggest helpers & best babysitters for lurayna.
she literally follows them everywhere which gives jonny & i a break from telling her “no” or trying to distract her every time she gets into something she’s not supposed to at their house. smh.
luckily their dogs don’t mind sharing their cage beds. haha

our best friends ej, linds, mikey & david had a beautiful bouquet delivered when we got home from the hospital.
it made me smile & look forward to the time we would have soon to share the newest addition!

our best friends thom & kathryn visited all the way from jacksonville from performing in a show to spoil us w/ bucees treats, champagne, donuts & apple fritters + very sweet presents for the girls.
it had been way too long since we had seen them (december 2021 to be exact).
it was so wonderful catching up!

our friends erin & greg came over & visited while also bringing me homemade lactation treats (they’re so yummy… need to get the recipe from her so i can share).

& last but definitely not least…
my best friend, ale, organized an online “sprinkle” back in august where friends placed “bets” on when anderlee would be born… the person who was closest to her arrival would win half of the pot!
every person who placed a bet donated money to help pay for the most expensive item on our registry: our dual stroller.
& w/ their help & contributions…
AND the VERY generous gift of the winning half given by my girl, ashlyn…
we were able to get it!!
SUCH a blessing!!

so many ppl donated & contributed to make this gift possible & we are so so thankful.
we take walks almost every day & wearing andee was so hot.
now we can take them together wherever!
i’m just so excited!!

not to mention the sweet gifts we’ve received via amazon that have helped us complete the nursery & needs we’ve had for baby #2.
the diapers & wipes we can’t get enough of.

it takes a village.
& i will be happily & gratefully writing thank you cards to each of you. (it may just take awhile bc the toddler wants everything i have).

if you don’t see us out & about…
or you invite us out & we don’t come…
know that we still love you.
we just have a toddler & newborn now. haha

the grace i’m learning to give myself…
the patience i’m learning to have for my toddler & just… life…
the imposter syndrome i’m pushing out of my mind…
the “i got this” thought i’m reminding myself of…
it’s all happening…
1 day at a time.

so if you’ve made it this far…
i hope whatever you’re going through…
whether it’s new or old…
you take out this little tid bit.
give yourself grace…
patience takes work…
& your life thus far has proven that you’ve got this.

& when you need help.
ask for it.
it’s ok if it takes a village.
you’ve got one for a reason.

andee’s debut

she’s here.
41 weeks & 1 day.
we made it!

w/ my pregnancy being harder this time around, i hoped my labor would be easier…
nahhhh. lol.

could have it been worse?
oh way worse.
i’ve been very lucky w/ my labor experiences & i am grateful.
however…
it doesn’t mean it was easy.

everything about this round 2 experience was tough.

& like i said in my birth story about lulu…
everyone has one…
but not everyone wants to hear it or read about it.
i’m not here to tell you about mine to intimidate a new mom, “one up” anyone else’s, or try to brag about anything.
that’d be dumb, mean & pointless.

women are superhero’s.
regardless of how their birth story goes.
fucking. superhero’s.

now that THAT’s been said…
here’s my birth story w/ baby girl #2… miss anderlee ruth.

she was due friday, september 30.
didn’t happen. haha.

i was induced 1 week later at 41 weeks.

we checked in at winnie palmer hospital for women & babies at 11am on friday, october 7.
they immediately had a room for us (yay!) & we were escorted to it around 12:15ish after filling out paperwork & all that good stuff.

about 12:45p, the nurses came in to check my vitals.

by 1:30p, i was starving (obviously), & jonny went down & got us some food.
chicken fingers & a salad.
balance.

nurse came back in & let me know i was having contractions already on my own & she’d call the OB in that afternoon to come check my dilation soon.

we then napped for a solid 2 hours after that.
might as well get the rest we’ll need, right?
it was a hurry up & wait situation & there is nothing better than sleeping in those moments to curve your anxiety a liiiiiiittle bit.

my mom arrived around 3:30p w/ treats per my request. haha…
macaroons… heath bar cookie… & a boston cream donut.
publix for the win.

around 4p, the OB came in & measured me.
i was already 4cm on my own!!
WHAT.
no pitocin this time?!
PRAISE.
so they made the order to send me downstairs to Labor & Delivery!

the nurse came back in & got me on antibiotics right away for my gbs.
bc i was more than 3cm, they just went ahead & started it instead of waiting for my water to break.

we were wheeled downstairs around 5p & they started oxytocin.
& my contractions started progressing & were about 1 min long & 5 min apart by 7p.

[this is before pain 🤣]

by 8:30p i asked for the walking epidural.
however, i was still only about 5cm.

@ 9:30p, they broke my water.
my contractions were getting stronger.

by 10p, i was 7cm & 80% effaced.
i was really started feeling all the things.

it was intense.
my breathing tricks weren’t helping much this time around.
i was really struggling w/ my breathing control.
it was so hard to breathe slow & controlled as i had before w/ lurayna.
short breaths is all i could muster through & they weren’t giving me the energy i needed for each surge.

so if you’re not familiar w/ a “walking” epidural that i had originally had…
it takes away about 30% of the pain.
the “edge”, if you will.
& you still have complete control over your legs, bladder, etc…
you can still use a yoga ball, peanut ball, & get into different positions if you want.
that’s what i loved about it.

[i was trying to use different positions to create less pain but wasn’t succeeding.]

but this time i needed more assistance.
& that is ok.

i ordered an epidural @ 11p…

i don’t feel less strong.
i don’t feel like i opted out of the hard shit.
i don’t feel like i caved & chose the easy way.
or whatever some ppl assume women do when they choose to get one.

i did what i felt i needed to do in order to be able to breathe the way i needed to so i could eventually push the way i needed to.

it took a bit to get the order put in after i asked for it.
i think i waited a little bit too long to put it in bc i was in PAIN.

jonny & my mom were walking me through the contractions & breathing w/ me.

the epidural came in a little before 12a.
& i started feeling some relief around 12:30a.
just in time for me to start feeling more pressure.

now… when i in labor w/ lulu…
i had time for a nap…
fuel up on my energy.

andee was too ready at this point.
within 15 min, i was ready to push.

i pushed for 10 min & she was here!

THANK GOD.

within a few minutes…
i realized the epidural didn’t completely work, haha.

as i held anderlee ruth for the 1st time…
i could still feel everythingggggg.
the pressure was intense as i passed the placenta…
& the real “ouch” happened as my OB started to patch & sew me up from my 2nd degree tear.

i just tried switching my focus to my newest babygirl instead of the fact my vagina was literally being sewn back together. haha

but within a few minutes…
i felt the euphoria. 🙂

she was here @ 1:05am on 10/8/22
8lbs 12oz
21 inches long

& just as always…
the pain was temporary…
the doubts were temporary…

& the safety…
health…
10 fingers & 10 toes…
pretty eyes…
perfectly round head…
beating heart…
working kidneys & liver…
& all the other things we could see or not see in an ultrasound were real & in our arms.

so thankful jonny & my mom were there.
they coached me through so much this time around.

& SO thankful for my OB.
i don’t think i could brag about her enough.
my original OB arrived around 11ish to be ready to deliver anderlee…
she wasn’t supposed to be at the hospital for she had been there all night the night before.
by the time she delivered andee, she had been up for 24 hours.
i owe SO much to her.
it’s bc of her we’ve had the experience we’ve had.
she’s truly been there for me since i started my “womanly journey” when i was 16? 18?

[SAINT]

anyway…
she’s the OG & i am forever grateful to her.
dr. mcwhorter is a blessing to that hospital!

within an hour…
we did skin to skin & breastfed.

andee was amazing.
she was so chunky.
she was so chill.
we are so grateful.

she’s a week old tomorrow & we’re over the moon in love.

pretty sure she’s completed our family but we’ll see.
that’s a whole other entry one day. haha

as much as we would have liked to come home that afternoon/night…

we had to wait a complete 24 hrs from delivery, so that put us coming home on sunday morning.

the nurses were amazing & went through all of our discharge paperwork saturday night to make sure we’d be able to go home asap the next day. 🙂

[big thank you to our best friends erin & chris for making her coming home onesie like they did for lulu!]

we left @ noon on sunday & we were home meeting mimi, big sister & fur-brother by 1p.

you can see them meet here. 🙂

if you’re still reading…
thank you.
thank you for being here for the journey…
maybe it’s bc you care or maybe it’s bc you’re nosey.
either way…
i’m here for it. haha

not sure what you’ll take out of this weeks’ other than a lengthy story time…
but i appreciate you.

as always…
if you need me…
reach out.

xoxo