Introducing Poppy Alexandra Petrovic

On Tuesday, February 23rd, 2021 at 8:54pm, Poppy Alexandra Petrovic was born, completing our not-so-little family. She is now two weeks old, and I’m not sure where the time has gone. We all love her so much – she will definitely be babied her whole life!  

I wanted to write down her birth story, as I love re-reading her big sisters’ (it’s amazing how quickly you can forget the details!). We woke up early on the 23rd – around 5:30am, with the goal of leaving the house at 6:30am. We left on time and arrived at Memorial Hermann Memorial City at 6:45am. By the time we parked and got to the L&D floor, it was right at 7am. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a room ready for us yet, so we were told to wait and that it wouldn’t be long. Two hours of sitting in the waiting room later (with a quick visit from my doctor, which was nice!), room 18 became available and we got escorted to the room where Poppy would be born. It was a suite, which was nice, but also funny that we finally got one on baby #4 when nobody can visit.

After getting changed into my hospital gown, our nurse came by to do the IV. Sasha warned her that I was an easy fainter, so she brought in another nurse whom she said was better at IVs. Unfortunately, my vein collapsed on her first attempt, and I fainted. We tried again with another nurse, with a similar story and fainting episode. IV number three worked, but by this time, we had lost an hour and a half. We got started with pitocin, but I knew my journey from 2cm (where I was when we checked in) to 10cm would take awhile, as it had with the other girls. I wanted to wait until my pain was greater than my fear of needles to get the epidural, so I got out a book and read (highly recommend All The Things We Cannot Say!).

Around noon, Sasha had his Lupe’s Tortillas delivered (this is a non-funny joke that he is always eating next to me while I’m starving). I told him he needed to go to the other room in the suite! I texted my best friends at 3:15pm, “Yup, asking for epidural” and fortunately then texted at 4:20pm, “Pain is gone.” Hallelujah! Soon after getting the epidural, I had to start being rotated from side to side and sitting upright (all of which is weird when you are numb) because Poppy’s heartbeat would crash when my contractions were strong. This was the same exercise I had to do with her big sisters too (my nurse said it probably has to do with the shape of my uterus).

At 6:28pm, I was checked for dilation and was still at a 4. My doctor came back at 7:30pm and I was at 5cm. She said she didn’t want to check again for 2 hours. I decided to take a little nap, and was woken up when a nurse came in an hour later to see if I needed anything and to move the monitor down lower, which she said was a good sign. As she left the room, she said, “If it feels like you need to poop suddenly, call me.” Honestly, two minutes later, I felt all of this pressure moving downwards and called for Sasha (who was in the suite eating California Pizza Kitchen!). I told him to call the nurses immediately, and he said, “Let’s just wait 5 minutes to see if you think it’s really her moving down.” I waited about 30 seconds, then demanded he call the nurses right away because honestly I was afraid at that point she was going to fly out. I could just tell she was ready. The nurses (Abby and Monica) rushed in, checked me quickly and said I was at 10cm dilated and they were going to call my doctor to tell her to come down. They asked my doctor when they called if they had her permission for me to push with them while we waited on her. I wasn’t super thrilled about delivering with someone other than my doctor, since I knew she was minutes away.

Everyone got ready to go, and they told me to do practice pushes. After having three kids, I knew what to do, so gave some meager pushes to appease everyone in the room. My doctor ran in about a minute later, got gloved up, and then I gave her a real push and she came out with the first push at 8:54pm. Miss Poppy was blue as can be with a cord wrapped around her neck (“twice!” as Sasha would say) and absolutely covered in vernix (white cheesy coating). She was placed in my arms, and I had this huge surge of relief that she was here, in our arms and healthy. She looked exactly like her big sisters, with all that black hair. Sasha and I both had a good cry, then spent the next hour doing skin-to-skin and having her nurse. After an hour (or two?), they took her to weigh her. She was 6 pounds, 6 ounces, measuring 19 inches long. 

She is such a calm, sweet baby and we are absolutely enamored with her. We hoped to leave the hospital on Wednesday after her 24 hour jaundice test, but unfortunately, she failed the test and we had to wait until Thursday morning to do the retest (which she passed). We were excited to leave the hospital and head home, where my parents were waiting on us. Sasha and my dad picked up Emi and Georgie at 2pm, and they were so darn precious when they met her. Isla got home at 3:45pm and didn’t want to put her down. All of the sibling love melts my heart. 

At her first pediatrician appointment, Poppy was down to 6 pounds, but weighed in at 6 pounds 12 ounces yesterday. They grow so quickly, it’s amazing. She is nursing like a champ and sleeping well (all day and typically in 3 hour increments at night). She spends all day either being worn in my baby carrier or swaddled in my arms. I cannot get enough of her! We are so content (and also tired!) right now. Feeling very blessed. 

Here are a TON of photos from her first two weeks of life. I just can’t stop! I also want to thank my best friend, Sydney Armes, who came over to take some photos of me and the girls when she was just four days old. I will cherish these forever. 

Poppy’s big sisters’ birth stories: Georgie | Emilia | Isla