Exactly 1 week ago Ben and I welcomed our daughter, Hastings Cate, into this world. It was such a exciting, beautiful and emotional time for me.
My last day of work was on Friday October 17th. I was at the point in my pregnancy that I needed some time to myself before I welcomed a new child. I needed to get baby stuff organized, sleep if I could during the day and emotionally I needed some time during the day for me to do what I wanted without worrying about new baby and 2 little boys. Well, I got all of 1 day off before Hastings decided to make her grand entrance. On Monday I ran errands all day and felt great. No signs of labor anytime soon. Well, that all changed around 6:00 that evening. After dinner I went to my bedroom to hangout with Ben and watch some TV while the boys played and all of a sudden I had my first contraction. Seeing that I haven't had any braxton hicks this entire pregnancy I definitely took note. Well, about 15 mins later I had another and that is when Ben and I started timing them. They weren't consistent and didn't hurt, so I knew it wasn't time to even think of going to the hospital. Instead, my friend Megan came over around 8:00 to go for a walk with me. We walked 3x around my block and I probably had around 10 contractions during our walk. After the walk I decided that it would probably be a good idea if I went on to bed just in case I had to go to hospital in the middle of the night.
Around 12:30am I was awoken to some pretty strong contractions. After timing them for awhile and having to constantly go to the restroom, I knew that I was in the beginning stages of labor. Around 3:00am I decided that I would take a shower and get my bags packed. My contractions were pretty consistent, 6-8 minutes apart. By 4:30 I was exhausted having been up for 4 hours now laboring while Ben slept the entire time. I decided I would lay down and try to rest. Well, that was pointless because about every 7 to 8 minutes my contractions would wake me up. The crazy party was that in between contractions I would fall into a deep sleep (I was EXHAUSTED). Although they were getting further apart in length, the intensity of them were growing stronger and stronger. Around 5:30am I woke Ben and told him that he probably should get up and shower and start getting ready for the day because we were having a baby today! While he was showering Parker woke up and got in bed with me. This is probably one of my favorite memories of my entire time laboring. Not knowing how he would react, I told him that we were going to have a baby today! He was so sweet and excited and told me that he was very happy that "she" was coming today and that he couldn't wait to meet "her". Remember, we had no clue what the sex of the baby was at this point. He then proceeded to tell me that I could take his favorite blanket with me to the hospital so that I would have something to snuggle. Sweet sweet boy.
Around 7:00am my contractions were slowing down in length and consistency. They would range from 8 minutes to 13 minutes. So naturally I didn't want to head to the hospital just yet. I helped pack the boys overnight bag, ate breakfast, made my bed, and picked up around the house. Basically I did anything to keep me occupied while I continued to contract. Ben, my mother in law, father in law and mom were all here while I was in my bedroom laboring. I did not want anyone around during this time and really enjoyed (if that is possible) laboring all by myself in my room. Julie (Ben's cousin) came over at 9:00 to check me and see how far I had progressed. Well, I was at 4.5 centimeters and about 70% effaced. I was definitely in labor!! She told me that I should probably head to the hospital soon so I don't miss the window in getting an epidural. She left to go get ready herself so she could meet us at the hospital. Seeing that she has helped delivered my other two, it was only expected that she would help with my last baby. My sister Lindsey arrived in Huntsville around 10:00am so that she could attend and photograph my delivery. By this time my contractions were starting to get more consistent and pretty strong. So strong that the only positions that remotely felt good were either squatting or on my hands and knees. At this point I knew that I was getting close to having to head to the hospital (thank goodness I live less than 5 minutes away from the hospital). At 12:00pm I told Ben that it was time to go to hospital. My contractions were very consistent at 4-5 minutes apart and so strong that I had to stop what I was doing to concentrate on them. I was very emotional too. I would just break down and cry for no reason. I know I wasn't crying from the pain, but more from being emotionally and physically exhausted.
By the time we got checked in at the hospital and back to our room it was close to 1:00pm and I was 7cm dilated. Thank goodness that Julie was there to hook me up with a big delivery room (#8 to be exact) and to try and hurry up my blood work so that I could receive my epidural. Well, it took about an hour for me to get my epidural and boy oh boy were those contractions intense. Thank goodness I wasn't hooked up to anything so I could stand up and labor because trying to labor laying in a bed would be absolutely miserable and painful. I finally received my epidural and was able to rest for awhile. At this point my room became party central with Ben, my mom, sister, niece, sometimes nephew, dad, mother in law, Olivia, and Julie all in there. To say it was wild is an understatement. About 4:00pm they checked me again and I was 9.5cm. Julie thought I should have been complete by then so she suggested that I try to lay on my side to see if anything happened. Well, as soon as I moved I could tell my contractions were picking up and I had the urge to start pushing. The Doctor was called in and so was Ben since he had left to go visit more family in the lobby. Well, Ben made it and so did the doctor, but she didn't have enough time to finish prepping before the baby was ready to be born. 4 Big pushes later, my life changed for the better once again.
At 4:27pm I looked down and had the biggest surprise of my life. A little girl! I still get emotional thinking about seeing girl parts and that I really had a little girl. My emotions got the best of me and I cried and cried and cried. Honestly, I don't think I stopped crying for 20 minutes.
Hastings Cate Wilson born on October 21, 2014 at 4:27. 7lbs and 14oz and 19.5 long. She was my smallest baby and easiest to deliver. It was a good 10 minutes before she made any noises. She was so calm and still, which explained why I did not feel much movement while pregnant. Side note: The last month of my pregnancy I couldn't sleep because I would be up all night worried about the baby because I never felt her move. I would push and shake my belly until I either felt a faint move or just fell asleep. Apparently, she was just a very chill baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment