Sunday, January 27, 2013

hattie's birth story.

or the way i remember it...

james had to go down to fort knox for the week and i was ordered not to go into labor while he was gone. if he had to come back he'd have to go back down and start the week of classes over. he already took these classes in korea when he was supposed to get out of the army, so he REALLY didn't want to do them a third time!

my due date was still 3 weeks away, so we figured it'd be safe, but delia was 5 weeks early, so we didn't really know.

before he left i had been having contractions off and on and at the doctor the friday before he left (he left on monday) i was 2cm and thin.

he said "i am going to have to come back aren't i?"

he left which meant eliza was due to get sick. i was busy taking care of her, keeping her fever down, fighting a double ear infection, that i just wasn't really "bothered" by the pregnancy. i actually felt better than i had in awhile. guess i was distracted. no contractions all week and fawn's movements seemed to not be as painful.

after spending the week in a hotel, when james came home friday and i complained of contractions later that night he said "just let me have one night in our bed."

sure honey! :P

i started timing contractions at 11:25 and an hour later they were still pretty regular. i hadn't been checked at my appointment that morning, so i wasn't sure if i had progressed that week.

called whitney to give her the heads up that we might be going to the hospital, and she would need to come get eliza.

texted her a bit later and said we decided to see if we could sleep, and if the contractions went away, but i may call in the middle of the night.

james slept pretty well, i was up and down all night. anxious, timing, taking a bath, finishing packing my bag, staring at the clock, praying...

around 4am i thought, we should go. then it was 5am and i thought "may as well wait until eliza wakes up, and then call whit."

i was nervous to leave eliza in the middle of the night. feeling some guilt, and just wanted her to wake up to normal, one last time.

she was up between 7:30-8am had our morning routine, and told her fawn would probably be coming soon. called whit and she said she'd be over in a little bit.

james' mom was coming down to visit that afternoon/evening so it worked out nicely. she could take over and stay with eliza if we did end up staying at the hospital.

got to the hospital sometime around 9:30 or 10am. they answered the phone and james said "we think we're in labor?!"

so they hooked me up to a monitor to check and my contractions were all over the place. not super strong, and the spacing was weird.

my water broke at home with eliza, and with delia, after having contractions for days, once my water broke she was there within mintues. so i was afraid to wait too long! better safe than a baby in bed/on the stairs/at home.

my regular doctors weren't at the hospital this weekend, so i met the doctor from the other practice and after a check (still 2-3 and thin) they decided to wait and see what the contractions did. they were going to monitor for 2 hours and decide whether or not to keep me or send me home.

james and i looked at each other and said "this is going to be a loooooong day." and slightly regretted coming in.

some time within the next hour the contractions picked up and the nurse came in and said "we're going to keep you, give you the epidural if you want (because the anesthesiologist is on the floor right now) and break your water.

"whoa. whoa. how did we go from a long day to it's go time?"

phone calls were made and everyone started heading our way.

i'm not sure of all the times, but i got my epidural, and it felt weird to do, because i wasn't in pain, but it was nice to have ahead of time...unlike the one i had with eliza. after the epi was in everything slowed waaaaay down and we were back to the waiting game.

then they broke my water, and it was so not eventful. delia's water breaking will forever bring me laughs. it was ridiculous.

still no progress, so they brought up the word pitocin and i said "oh no! i hated that stuff with eliza!"

the nurse reassured me that it would be okay since i already had the epidural, and she was right. it wasn't bad at all.

eventually i started feeling the contractions and they thought i might have "hot spot" so i changed positions a few times, but it was still painful. the nurse was trying to work it out and i pointed to wear it hurt and she said "let me just check you one more time." last check i was still sitting around 4-5cm. seconds later she said "you're feeling it because it's time to push!"

doctor came in quickly and they said "let's do a couple practice pushes." i had just started and he and the nurse both yelled "STOP! STOP! STOP! that's enough practice!" :) did i mention i love the pushing part? and the doctor got prepped and it was time to start.

i remember them saying "there is a full head of hair!" and i asked "is there a beard?" (because everyone knows my feelings on james' beard!) they laughed and i thought, wow, this delivery is way different than either of the other two.

6 minutes of pushing later and the doctor said "it's a girl!" i looked up at james afraid he would be disappointed. i could not believe it was a girl! everyone was so certain it was a boy. i was too for awhile, but then hoped for a girl. i could not believe my ears and i said "it really is a girl?!" the doctor held her up and said "yes! see?!" and my heart just exploded. hattie jo was here.

eliza would have another sister, a sister that was coming home with us, not just in our hearts!

after that it's all just a big blissful blur. we did skin to skin for an hour after and it really helped establish her nursing. eliza and i struggled so much for the first two months, but hattie and i have it mostly figured out. so thankful for that!

we told the nurses, and prepared our parents (and everyone waiting) that we wanted to wait to share if it was a boy or girl until they were in the room. no running to the waiting room and yelling...i just really wanted to see/hear their reactions.

i also wanted eliza to be the first one back. so one of the nurses went out to the waiting room and walked her back. we got to tell her that fawn was a girl. the nurse took some pictures of the four of us, and eliza clapping. it was such a sweet moment!

then we hid our pink bracelets, and everyone else came back in. eliza got to break the news...this is how it went...

so thankful nana thought to catch it on video!

then it was just a whole bunch of love, snuggles, kisses, passing her around, staring, thinking "wow, she's really here. our fawn."

she was finally weighed and measured and apparently she took every pound i gained while pregnant and far outweighed both eliza and delia! i would have been afraid if she lasted until her due date!

overall it was just a relaxing, peaceful labor and delivery. i was pretty nervous going into it, coming home, and now and then in between, but it was nice to know what to expect. i had done it before (twice!) and made it just fine. wasn't a whole lot different.

a week later and i cannot get enough of her. i don't know if it's because i know how fast it goes when i look at eliza. or if i know how precious life is because of delia, but i never want to put her down. i could just stare at her all day!

thank you Lord for blessing us with her...our little hattie bear.

3 comments:

sarah said...

ah, what a beautiful story, shel. blessings on your precious family as you all adjust and grow together : ) love.

BJoy said...

What a great experience! Sounds like Hattie had her dancing shoes on. I'm so happy for you, Shel!

Patty said...

Beautiful story! But for the record, only the cool kids have their children at home unexpectedly on their bed or on the stairs. ;)

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