Entry No. 2: Looking back on July 1, 2023

On July 1, 2023, I opened my Flo app to read the daily article. The first thing on the screen was a reminder that it was time to take a test.

I hadn’t even realized I was late.

This pregnancy felt different from the start. I wasn’t diagnosed with hyperemesis this time, but I was still more nauseous than what I guess counts as normal. And I was so tired. I had a two-year-old to keep up with.

By the second trimester the nausea had eased, though I couldn’t be anywhere near seafood. We found out we were having another girl.

My oldest was a big help through all of it. So was her father. Having that extra pair of hands made everything easier, and I’ll say it plainly: I enjoyed this pregnancy. I chose not to announce it fully. After everything the first one took from me, I wanted the privacy to enjoy the things I couldn’t the first time.

Then, two days before my scheduled C-section, my body decided to practice. It’s called prodromal labor: full contractions, close together, everything that feels like the real thing, but no dilation and my water still intact. My doctor could have sent me home. Since I was already two days from my surgery, she decided to just do it that night.

My second daughter was born at 39 weeks and 5 days, weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces.

She had a hard time warming up, so she spent her first two hours under the warmer. Right after we finally got to hold her, we were told her bilirubin numbers were too high. She went under the blue light in the nursery for 36 hours before she made enough progress to come out and be with us.

She never learned to latch, and my milk never fully came in. But she was getting healthy, and that was what mattered.

After seven days in the hospital, we went home to be a family of four.