The Price I Paid for my Baby Girl

[TaytumJ]

She's so adorable!! She looks happy and her giving kitty water is the sweetest!

Congrats on your pregnancy and I'll be anxious to know if it's a boy or a girl!

[fknonl1ne]

I remember your courageous story and daughter! Thanks for updating us. Huge congrats on the new one coming. We'll be eager to know boy or girl. Something tells me it's a girl and I've been known to be both right and wrong before😀.
Here is to wish you a smooth sailing pregnancy!!

[A Mad Swayentist]

This story and thread is so incredible. Your daughter is so cute! I'm wishing you a healthy and peaceful "team green" pregnancy.

[Dreamsister]

Your daughter looks so cute and with a twingle in her eyes. Huge congrats with your new baby.


DS1 (9) ❤️ DS2 (8) DS3 (5) ❤️ DW (41) DH (38) TTC'ing pink from May 2016

[foxymrsg]

She's beautiful congratulations! What a trooper she is!! Xx

[Babygirlquest]

She is absolutely amazing! What a miracle! Wishing you all the best for your new baby :-)

[retialla]

I love this place even though I don't visit as often as I would like! It's the only place online I really feel comfortable sharing her story. She is still doing well, perhaps it is because her brothers have been out of school all summer. We have been respiratory illness free for over 4 months now! It has been wonderful, but school is back in full swing so it's just a matter of time. She is much stronger at the start of this sick season though.

We have been off tube feedings since June and had a few months of stall in weight gain but last month she finally gained! So hoping the trend will continue but still probably isn't eating enough compared to her insane activity level.

I was lucky this time, had a good, uneventful and complication-free pregnancy. I was able to keep active after my kids and work out up until the day before my delivery. Had to deliver 3 weeks early but the experience was like night and day. Of course, I would have preferred a VBAC but there are no OBs around here that would support that. Still a scheduled term c-section is like Disneyland compared to the nightmare at 24 weeks.

It was so worth it to wait. I was convinced boy and had my name set and everything. My husband refused to entertain the thought of another boy and insisted it was a girl. My mom wanted another girl. We were very strict about not finding out despite having like 5 ultrasounds... I was very proud of DH for being able to wait! Never it a million years did I think he would be patient enough. He was only able to attend the 20 week scan though and I made him leave the room when the tech checked so there was no way he could peek! We had our one year old there anyway so he was busy wrangling her.

Anyway, I told my new OB I had no expectations for this delivery. Honestly, my standards were so low that unless one of us died or ended up in the ICU, it could not possibly be worse than my last experience. I know that sounds bad and melodramatic but I didn't mean to be, just that I was so happy to have made it so far I wasn't picky about details. I've had my unmedicated birth with DS#2 and it was wonderful and everything I had hoped for. So at least one of out four of my deliveries had gone exactly how I had hoped. There are many women out there who never get the birth experience they hope for, so who am I to complain?

I told DH we should play Enya/Enigma on repeat in the OR so they'd hate us. Haha of course we didn't do that. But I had no real requests. There was still a very small (like 2% chance) of the baby needing the special care nursery/NICU for being delivered at 37 weeks by c-section. But I believed it would be okay since both of my boys came on their own accord at 37 weeks, one at the end the other at the beginning. I was hoping I wouldn't go into labor before then.

So we made it to the date and I told the OB I was fine with him announcing the gender (no one knew including him.) And I was sooo shocked when he announced "IT'S A GIRL!" my first response was, "Are you sure?!?!" Of course DH was none the least surprised. I mean I had been dreaming I was having a boy. My intuition obviously sucks! I highly, highly recommend waiting until delivery. So worth the wait! Much more exciting than finding out during the ultrasound.

She came out so angry, I was a little worried. I've never had one cry so much. 9/9 APGARS and 7lb 3oz (good size for 3 weeks early.) She was perfect! And as soon as she was able to breastfeed, she has been the happiest little baby who never really cries... so far. Too early to tell since she's not even 2 weeks old. It's exhausting of course and not easy, but her needs are simple at least. And it is just awesome having a medically-boring term newborn, it is something you don't take for granted when you've had a micropreemie. She is already close to regaining her birth weight and is eating well. I am sure she'll outweigh her sister within a year. They are 17 months (adjusted) apart.

So I'm kind of shocked I ended up with what feels like the perfect 1950s family... two boys and two girls each less than 2 years apart. I hope they'll be friends but it's hard to say. I didn't sway at all for this one but was under a lot of stress when we conceived. So who knows. But we are done... quit while you're ahead. Four is perfect for us, regardless of the gender.

Thank you everyone for following our story. I hope you all get the families that you've dreamed of!

Hanging out at the park


Little sister & big sister


Little sister with her long fingers

[GirlieCat]

What a beautiful ending to this amazing journey you have been on. Your daughters are so cute. So happy your premie is healthy and that your new baby girl was an easy pregnancy and birth. Your story is inspirational and beautiful. So happy for you and your family.

[purple]

Aww congratulations! Glad everything is going well for your family after everything you have been through.

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh gosh what a beautiful end (beginning)!! I am so happy for you Retalia!!! Hugest hugs and wishing you a disease free winter for everyone to get settled in!