Hadley's Birth Story

40 weeks on my yoga ball. 

After going past 40 weeks with Mason, this time around I wasn't surprised that my body was following the same routine. This was why when asked my "due date" I preferred not to provide an actual date. (Let me just say that people really get stuck on having a date.) I was determined to work up until the day I went into labor and to maintain my normal routines, and that is exactly what I did. The day after my "due date" of September 9th, I had an ultrasound scheduled to check up on Hadley and to see if my body was making any progress and I expected to make that appointment. I was even planning on going in to work for a couple of hours that morning before my appointment. The night of the 9th was just another normal evening for us with me not feeling anything new (I had been experiencing braxton hicks for awhile now sporadically). I ended up waking up around 1:30 a.m. with some cramping, but once again, this had happened before and didn't last. I felt hungry so I got up and ate me a bowl of cereal. The cramping continued with intensity so I decided I may need to start timing (just in case).  In the mean time, I paced around trying to focus on my breathing. I took a shower to help ease some of the pain and after really looking at the timing..

I was cramping consistently every 2-4 minutes and it hit me that this probably was the real deal. I had better wake up Doug and Mason to head to the hospital. So I woke Doug up and he proceeded to take a shower (he even shaved). I woke up Mason (who literally just jumped up in his crib with a big smile on his face as if it was morning) and prepared his backpack while wondering why in the world was Doug taking a shower, did he not realize that our baby was on her way?!? (I found out later that we had some miscommunication with our plans for Mason. He thought my mom was actually coming to our house rather than meeting us at the hospital like mom and I had planned.) During this time, I'm having to stop what I'm doing to try and breathe through the pain. So another funny tidbit of the story...I asked Doug to make sure that our chickens had water for the morning (yes, I've become a crazy chicken lady, I know) but in the midst of him filling up the container, I decided we really needed to leave NOW. You know, I'm serious when I stop worrying about my chickens...

Our drive to the hospital is usually at least 20 minutes, and we made it in 10. Mom meets us there and takes Mason, so we can really focus. I haul myself out of the car and head in. Thankfully, we found a wheelchair on the way in because walking while in labor can be difficult. (Insert PSA here...remember to pre-register please.) I completely forgot to pre-register therefore I was filling out paperwork at the front desk while in labor.  

At this point it's around 3:45 a.m. or so and the nurse checks to see how far my body has progressed...I'm dilated 6-7 cm which honestly I wasn't expecting. They asked if I wanted an epidural and I ended up saying yes (originally I wanted to have a natural birth but when I actually experienced the pain I changed my mind), so they started me on a bag of fluids. My contractions intensified and the next thing I know within 30 minutes of being checked in the hospital, my body had dilated to 9 cm. 

I was going to get that natural birth after all. 

15 minutes of pushing and Hadley was born. With a head full of black hair and dark blue eyes, this little 7 lb. 2 oz. 19 in. beautiful baby girl quickly made her place in our hearts alongside her big brother. 

I look back at the 3 hour time span from the time I woke up cramping until I actually delivered her and I am still in shock at how fast my labor went. Looking back, I'm thankful that her delivery was natural. Simply put, it's amazing what our bodies can do and my recovery has been ideal. That said, it hurt and I didn't handle the pain gracefully, that's for sure. I just couldn't get a handle on my contractions with my breathing. Doug had to keep reminding me to breath. All I can say is thank goodness, it was such a fast delivery!