Today was Marley's 4th birthday! We had her birthday party a few weeks ago just in case. She chose an outer space theme for her party. How weird is that for a four year old? She had a great time playing with her cousins and getting new toys. Today, however was more low key. We basically let her choose what we did all day. We started out with lunch at Cici's with Grandma. Then we went to the beach! It was 85 degrees. The day Marley was born it was snowing so this weather is definitely different. After the beach we came home and played outside, she rode her power wheel, and caught worms. After dinner we watched a movie and she crashed out. For some reason, she still thinks she's 3. She said she's not four until we go to grandma's house. I think she wants another party?!
Here are some pictures from her party.
I also wanted to quickly tell the story of the day Marley was born. I know it's four years later, but I don't remember all the details so I wanted to document what I remember so 20 years from now I'll still be able to read it.
Marley's due date was March 12th, 2008. At my dr. appt that day they set up an appointment for the following week. I went back on the 18th and she still wasn't showing any signs of wanting to come out. They set up my induction for the next day!! We were to be at St.Mary's Hospital in Hobart at 8am on the 19th. Well of course we were late getting there, but we were there and all checked in by 10am-ish. They started my first dose of cervadil somewhere between 10 and 11am. I had to stay in bed for 2 hours after that, and the next dose would be given 12 hours later. Well, Mike and I had no idea what the whole induction process included, so we didn't bring anything to do. No laptop, no books, no video games, nothing! Throughout the day a few people stopped by to check on me, but needless to say it was a boring day. My mom showed up around 8pm ish while on her way to work. Since I assumed nothing was going to happen I told her she could go to work and we would call if anything happened. So somewhere between 10 and 11pm then came in to give me my second dose. Right before the nurse went to give it to me my water broke! It was the weirdest feeling ever. We called my mom who was still at work and told her my water just broke and she needed to come back as soon as she could. Well, she really didn't need to rush but again, Mike and I had no idea what would happen. After my water broke, I lost all track of time. My goal was to go as long as I could without any pain meds. I'm sure Mike appreciated that as I was squeezing his hand against the bed railing with each contraction. I toughed it out as long as I could until the nurses finally said that they thought an epidural would help me relax and be able to progress further along. I agreed and once I received the epidural I fell asleep for a few hours (awesome!) Again, I have no recollection of the time, but once I woke up I felt immense pressure and come to find out it was almost time to push! With each contraction Marley's heartbeat would get low. I had to roll on my left side and wear the oxygen mask. They also had to do the internal heart monitor on her. Once it was time to push I gave it my all. I guess she wasn't making her way out and they decided to use the vacuum to help her make her way out. After pushing for a while longer, my dr. finally said if she doesn't come out on the next push we'll have to do a c-section. Well, that immediately made me go into super pushing mode. My next contraction came, and Marley shot right out! She was born at 9:21am on March 20th, 2008. When they placed her on me I am pretty sure I said "she's so tiny"... She was not tiny at all! I guess I was in lala land. Marley weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz!! They got her all cleaned up and we got to hold her for a while before they took her to the nursery to make sure she was all healthy. We were at the hospital until the following Saturday, and then Sunday was Marley's first Easter! All in all it was about 11 hours of bad pain, but the past four years have made it totally worth it.
And it looks like I get to go through it all again within the next two weeks!! I had my dr. appt. today and the doctor said make an appointment for next week, if he's not here yet, then we'll schedule your induction!! I will tell his story sooner than 4 years after he's born though!