Introducing.....

the newest member of the Smith clan, Violet Esme Smith. As I type this, she is in her ring sling, napping. When she is awake and sitting in my lap, cooing, gurgling, smiling, my mama heart pounds with love. It pounds with love all the time. Just a mere 11 weeks, 2 days ago, she was still inside me. Now she can find her hands, make us all laugh, and melt all our hearts.

"Here I am!"

I can't believe I haven't shared about "number four" yet. Our daughter, affectionately known as Vi, joined our family on Monday, December 20 at 8:05 am. I had a scheduled Cesarean booked for that day. Rowyn had a sleepover with Auntie Sandy on Sunday night so Ben and I had an evening to ourselves. We went to an early show and reveled in the precious moments of calm - the calm before the storm. :)

Ben and I arrived at the hospital at 6 am, as instructed. After hooking up two IV lines, we spent time chatting, filling the long minutes. You see, we had both been anticipating this morning for months. Neither of us had had surgery before, and not only was the surgery on our mind, but we were getting a new daughter out of the deal. We were going from zone defence to man-on-man, a big switch in strategy. We were going to be referring to our family consisting of "kids" not just 1 "kid". Were we ready for this?

All the health professionals were super kind and put us to ease in the operating room. Doctor Sharma and my most excellent midwife, Jen, were simply amazing. Dr. Shamra told me it would feel like an elephant was lying on my chest while they were getting Violet out of me. There certainly was a lot of pressure! They worked quite quickly, trying to avoid unnecessary bleeding time as they weren't aware how my placenta previa would come into play. In the words of Dr. Sharma, many potential bullets were dodged. Thanks for your prayers!

Violet on day 1.

When they held Violet up, both Ben and I thought the same thing: we had this little girl 3 years ago!!!! She was definitely a carbon copy of her big sister. Violet weighed in at 8 pounds, 1/2 ounce (1 pound, 7 1/2 ounces lighter than her big sister), 21 inches (Ro had been 22 inches), and she had more hair than Ro did. That was the end of the differences.

I lost a lot of blood and spent more time in recovery than originally planned. Rowyn, Auntie Sandy, and Auntie Christa came to visit us around 9:30. I was pretty out of it, and required oxygen. Recovering from a c-section was brutal, point blank. The pain was crazy, and the gas pains I experienced were BRUTAL!!! I have never prayed so much for gas to pass than I did on Tuesday night. Finally, after wondering if a painful death would be less painful (sorry to be insensitive, but that is the truth), I passed gas at 1:20 am. Relief was instantaneous.

We headed home after feeding Vi on Wednesday morning. Actually, we went to my parental's home in Ancaster first, then headed home. The following days were a blur, with much joy and recovery pain. It was so hard not being able to do anything for my family, other than feed Vi. Ben was a trooper and held it all together. After 7 days, I was feeling much better. Jen, midwife, was super and visited us often. She was a ray of sunshine in a fog of pain.

Vi 8 days old.

Violet has been an utter joy. Her smiles light up the room. She has been sleeping though the night for several weeks. Ro adores her! She has nothing but kind words, hugs, kisses, and hand holding for her little sister. On day two, she asked, "Does Vi know how much I love her?" Come on, how sweet is that!!!

The joy of being a big sister on day 1. That joy has continued. 

6 weeks, looking a lot like her sister's picture. :)

Well, I gotta run. Vi will be waking up in a couple of minutes to feed (she wakes up around 7 am in the morning, and then feeds around 10, 1, 4, 7, and then a dream feed around 10). Max and Ruby is almost over (a mid-week treat for my sick oldest daughter. I'm blogging beside her sneaking kisses and hand holding every couple of minutes). Time to add pictures and then post.

Vi at 6 weeks.

Most recently, at 11 weeks.

Until next time,
Tam