Blakely came into this world fast and furious. I had been having contractions for about 1 week, and we had actually started off to the hospital the week before with contractions about 5 mins apart when they all of a sudden stopped when we were almost to the hospital. I was soooo disappointed! After being induced with Cooper, I really wanted the whole excitement of going to the hospital in labor. But after false labor pains I was worried I wouldn't know when to go to the hospital. I started praying then that my water would just break so I would definitely know when the time to go was.
May 20th, Cooper's Mother's Day Out program had an end of the year play date at the park. Of course I was bound and determined to take him, because I thought my 2 year-old may have permanent emotional damage if he did not attend his end of the year party. It was hot, and I was miserable. That night I was exhausted but who actually sleeps when they are 38 weeks prego? I laid in bed somewhere between sleep and awake, when all of a sudden I jumped up and ran into the bathroom (this was around 3:30 AM). I called to Husband that I thought my water and just broken, and he ran in there. Then I thought maybe baby girl had just kicked me really hard in the bladder. But then I had a contraction and there was more of this strange liquid pouring out of my body. That's when I decided that yes, indeed, God had answered my prayer - my water had broken. I immediately started barking orders. Get the bags! Get the camera! Call our neighbor to come stay with Cooper! Call the parents! Call Sister! Get in the car! Go get lots of towels for me to sit on! Lets go! Around 4 AM we headed to the hospital in sheer excitement. We were going to meet our baby girl today!
We get to the hospital and I'm waddling in with towels between my legs because every time I move more liquid comes out. Husband grabs me a wheelchair and I sit in it, simply to not mess up the hospital floors. We arrive to L&D and check in, and I ask if my L&D nurse is there who delivered James Tipp. The receptionist tells me she will check and see and let me know. We wait for about 10 minutes and then get taken back by another nurse. She checks me and I'm at a 3 and confirms that my water has definitely broken. Then in walks the absolute best L&D nurse! She was with me when I had JT and also has an angel baby. She knew exactly what we were going through. I immediately burst into tears and so did she. What's even more awesome was the first thing she did was pray with us! Then I ordered breakfast. My OB is wonderful and lets you eat and drink during labor!
My doctor walked in shortly after and we talked a bit about how I wanted to try to not have an epidural. All along I thought I would try to go epidural free, but never really expected that I would do it. In fact on the way to the hospital I laughed with Husband and told him I was probably going to do an epidural. I really hadn't prepared for going natural but a friend had given me an old Bradley Method book and I had read it. That was the extent of natural childbirth preparation. However, my amazing nurse just so happened to be a natural childbirth advocate and she used to teach childbirth classes. She was extremely encouraging about natural childbirth - I decided to give it a try. A first I thought this isn't so bad, these contractions I can handle. Then things kicked it up a notch and I started to panic! What was I thinking - this hurts and it hurts BAD! I called the nurse and said I was thinking about an epidural and that I was in panic mode. That's when she introduced me to the birthing ball. Oh how I loved that ball! She showed Husband how to massage my lower back through a contraction. Let me just say now that Husband was a champ! He was so supportive through the entire labor and delivery. I could not have done it without him. Back to the story. Things picked up and I was really having a hard time relaxing due to anxieties and fears. My nurse talked to me about taking some IV meds to help me relax. We decided that we would try that route, and boy did they help! I was much calmer and able to relax a lot better through the contractions. Side note - my nurse never left my side the entire time! Have I mentioned how amazing she is? Husband had Selah's Greatest Hymns playing on our iPad, which was also a huge calming factor. Something about "Be Thou My Vision" and "How Great Thou Art," just calms the soul. The nurse told me that she needed to check me, and I was at a 6! That's when things really started picking up and I started really thinking about that epidural.
Labor was going so fast that we actually forgot to take pictures. When the nurse said 6 cm, I told Husband to call his mom and tell her to head to the hospital with Cooper. My parents had already arrived, but I kicked everyone out of the L&D room when I was around a 4. I didn't want to bite anyone's head off! Husband talked to his dad and he said that he would be there around noon - plenty of time (so we thought). I labored for a bit longer and then I decided this was for the birds and I wanted an epidural. However, it was a little late in the game for one. The catch is you have to be very still while a doctor inserts a rather large needle into you spine. There was no way I could be that still! I was on all 4s in the hospital bed thinking to myself, I didn't want to be one of those women who screamed their head off during labor (but I sure wanted to let out the loudest scream I could possibly muster). I didn't though, it was mild scream (could've been much louder). Then, I just started praying to myself. Thankfully, about 15 minutes later I told the nurse I felt like I needed to push and she told me to just do whatever felt natural. So I pushed and then I started screaming that something was wrong. The nurse checked me and Blakely was crowning. She immediately called the doctor and told me not to push again, but the urge was so strong! Then I felt the most amazing peace surround me and I knew in a few minutes my precious baby girl would be here. The doctor ran in and I pushed one more time and there she was - Pure Joy.
At 12:51 PM on May 21st 2014, our lives were completely changed (again).
My doctor walked in shortly after and we talked a bit about how I wanted to try to not have an epidural. All along I thought I would try to go epidural free, but never really expected that I would do it. In fact on the way to the hospital I laughed with Husband and told him I was probably going to do an epidural. I really hadn't prepared for going natural but a friend had given me an old Bradley Method book and I had read it. That was the extent of natural childbirth preparation. However, my amazing nurse just so happened to be a natural childbirth advocate and she used to teach childbirth classes. She was extremely encouraging about natural childbirth - I decided to give it a try. A first I thought this isn't so bad, these contractions I can handle. Then things kicked it up a notch and I started to panic! What was I thinking - this hurts and it hurts BAD! I called the nurse and said I was thinking about an epidural and that I was in panic mode. That's when she introduced me to the birthing ball. Oh how I loved that ball! She showed Husband how to massage my lower back through a contraction. Let me just say now that Husband was a champ! He was so supportive through the entire labor and delivery. I could not have done it without him. Back to the story. Things picked up and I was really having a hard time relaxing due to anxieties and fears. My nurse talked to me about taking some IV meds to help me relax. We decided that we would try that route, and boy did they help! I was much calmer and able to relax a lot better through the contractions. Side note - my nurse never left my side the entire time! Have I mentioned how amazing she is? Husband had Selah's Greatest Hymns playing on our iPad, which was also a huge calming factor. Something about "Be Thou My Vision" and "How Great Thou Art," just calms the soul. The nurse told me that she needed to check me, and I was at a 6! That's when things really started picking up and I started really thinking about that epidural.
Labor was going so fast that we actually forgot to take pictures. When the nurse said 6 cm, I told Husband to call his mom and tell her to head to the hospital with Cooper. My parents had already arrived, but I kicked everyone out of the L&D room when I was around a 4. I didn't want to bite anyone's head off! Husband talked to his dad and he said that he would be there around noon - plenty of time (so we thought). I labored for a bit longer and then I decided this was for the birds and I wanted an epidural. However, it was a little late in the game for one. The catch is you have to be very still while a doctor inserts a rather large needle into you spine. There was no way I could be that still! I was on all 4s in the hospital bed thinking to myself, I didn't want to be one of those women who screamed their head off during labor (but I sure wanted to let out the loudest scream I could possibly muster). I didn't though, it was mild scream (could've been much louder). Then, I just started praying to myself. Thankfully, about 15 minutes later I told the nurse I felt like I needed to push and she told me to just do whatever felt natural. So I pushed and then I started screaming that something was wrong. The nurse checked me and Blakely was crowning. She immediately called the doctor and told me not to push again, but the urge was so strong! Then I felt the most amazing peace surround me and I knew in a few minutes my precious baby girl would be here. The doctor ran in and I pushed one more time and there she was - Pure Joy.
At 12:51 PM on May 21st 2014, our lives were completely changed (again).
