I finally finished Hallie's birth story. It's detailed and long. I want to remember every minute of that experience. Well, MOST of it.
Griffin was Frank Breech so I had a scheduled C-section, and I never went in to actual labor. I was not sure what to expect this time around. At least two weeks before Hallie was born, I started having braxton hicks contractions at night. They would keep awake so bad that I would get around 3 hours of sleep some nights. It may have been my brain keeping me up wondering if this was it rather than the actual contractions.
I had a Dr. appointment on April 6th. I was 39 weeks exactly, and getting nervous that I wouldn't go into labor on my own. I had planned for a VBAC the entire pregnancy so I was hoping for some good news since Dr's don't like to induce women who have previously had a C-Section. I had been 1 cm dilated 2 weeks before and 2 cm dilated the week before. This time, it was 3 cm. I was a little disappointed, but at least there was progress. I asked her to strip my membranes because my cousin had that done, and she went into labor that night. She said she would hurt, and OUCH. I had a few contractions throughout the morning that felt like Braxton Hicks with a little pain at the end. After lunch, they started getting a little more painful and 20-15 minutes apart. I tried not to get too excited thinking it was probably a false alarm.
By the time Stephen got home, the contractions were about 10 minutes apart but not that painful. I remember both of my cousins telling me that I would know when it was the real thing, but I also remembered my mom telling me that I was born within two hours of her water breaking. I prayed and prayed that my water would break so I would know for sure when to go to the hospital. My Dr. said 5 minutes apart for one hour. By 9 pm they were 5-10 minutes apart. I told Stephen to make sure his clothes were packed and everything was ready. They still were not close enough together to call the Dr. so we laid down in bed to relax about 10:30. I had just laid down, and I felt a little trickle. I went to the bathroom without saying anything to Stephen to make sure. Yep, it was barely happening, but my water broke! We called the hospital, my parents to come meet us there, and his parents to start the drive from Kentucky, and we were on our way.
We let Griffin ride with us to the hospital. He was so cute in his jammies walking around in the lobby. My parents met us there, and I went back to confirm my water had broken and I hadn't just unknowingly peed myself. It took two tests and over 30 minutes to confirm what I already knew. My water had broken, and we got to stay.
By this time, it was after midnight. We got settled into our room, and all hooked up. They checked me again, and I was around 4 cm. They kept asking if I wanted them to call my Dr. I didn't want to drag her to the hospital only to have to wait around all night so I said no. Then someone told me I couldn't get an epidural until I was checked by my Dr. I wasn't in unbearable pain yet, but they were getting stronger so I was nervous to wait.
She arrived less than 30 minutes later. She decided to try and break my water the rest of the way. Oh the pain. She was unable to do it, but her attempt sent my contracts from a 4 on the pain scale to about a 127. I couldn't get the epidural fast enough. It took about an hour to get the epidural. By this time, I was in a lot of pain. I was numb from the waist down, but I still felt every contraction. The nurse checked me again, and I was progressing fast. Before I knew it, it was time to push.
I will never forget the pushing portion of this experience. It was so different than what I imagined. The biggest lamp you have ever seen was pointing right at my personal business. I am as modest as they come, but the nurse, my sweet angel nurse Becky, insisted pushing would help ease the pain. At this moment, I was free as a bird. They informed me I would push 3 times during each contraction. 3 sets of 10 seconds. I pushed during 3 contractions, and they yelled to stop. I was terrified something was wrong, but they said we were about to have a baby without the Dr.
My Dr. came in very surprised and looking like she had been woken up from a long winter's nap. I said, "You were sleeping weren't you?" I wanted to say, "Can I get you some Red Bull because I need you awake for this!" She is amazing, though, and sat right down and got to work. We had a baby less than five minutes later.
Miss Hallie Bell King was born at 3:51 am. She was the most precious 7 lb 2 oz, beautiful baby girl I have ever seen. They showed her to me, and my first thought was, Those Cheeks! My Dr's first words were, "Wow. She's way bigger than I thought she was." Ha. They checked her out, and I finally got to hold my sweetest girl. She was a snuggler and a mommy's girl right away. Just the way I like them. Perfect in every way.
Love this one!
Big Brother Griffin came the next morning.
One of my favorite pictures, ever.
Going home!
I look back and remember these days so fondly. She continues to bless our family more than we could have ever imagined. We love you, Sweet Girl!
