Our sweet baby was born January 17th, 2012 at 10:43pm.
She weighed in at 7 pounds 14ounces.
And measured 21 1/4 inches.
She has dark hair.
Gray eyes.
And her daddy's nose and toes.
And her story goes something like this...
Tuesday morning we got Nolan and Nev up at 6:45am. Kept them in their pajamas and put on coats and shoes. The Hub loaded the car while I gathered last minute items and set them by the door.
The kids were still tired, so there was a low level of compliancy from them to do what we asked, making things go a bit slower.
But we left the house a little after 7am to drop them at his sister's house before heading up to the hospital as planned.
Insert hiccup numero uno.
Ten minutes from our house, I realize I don't have my purse.
Which had my insurance card, my ID and my phone charger inside...
so we raced back to the house, to retrieve it.
After a quick dash through the back country roads, we arrive at his sister's two minutes before they HAD to leave for school, and I kiss my littles goodbye.
Then we head up to the hospital and arrive just three minutes past our scheduled arrival time of 8am.
I get wheeled up to the L&D floor of the hospital and am greeted by a nurse who tosses me a gown and says to get undressed. I manage to throw my bags on the counter and take a potty break just before another nurse enters to insert my IV.
{All the while I am just thinking, "This is going incredibly fast!"}
She is busy finding the most viable vein, when the insurance attendant enters to get my picture ID and insurance cards. I sign some waivers for consent to treat. And we are off to the races, people!
The IV is started with some Normal Saline and an antibiotic, which is explained that it will have to be in my system for at least three hours before they will break my water in order for it to take effect.
So begins the waiting game...
The Hub and I chit chatted, and watched some TV between intervals of getting my Oxytocin started and upped every half hour.
Mind you, I have not been checked for dialation since arriving, so I had no idea where I sat at this point.
By 11:30 they came in to do the epidural since my water was going to be broke soon.
They explained that the epidural would be best to do before, since I was already receiving Pit., which would make my contractions stronger.
Insert big baby tears.
I am not really a person to get worked up over being in pain. I actually have a very high tolerance.
But every time I have had an epidural... I have cried like someone very close to me has just died.
No joke.
I hold the Hub's hand and bury my face in a pillow.
And come up with a soaked, red face. Every time.
Anyhow.
After insertion, my water is broke at noon.
I am checked and found to be 3cm.
3cm?!
I am full term with my third baby and I am only 3 cm?!
{Maybe that 1pm birth is not going to happen afterall...}
We made bets anyway.
The Hub predicted a 3:15 birth with a 6lb 10oz baby.
I predicted a 2:30 birth with a 7lb 4oz baby.
My mom predicted a 4:00 birth and a 7lb 2oz baby.
And my sister predicted a 3:50 birth and a 6lb 14oz baby.
Tick tock. Tick tock.
I progressed. But slowly.
Our predictions came and went.
By five o'clock I was still only 7cm and stalling fast.
Between phone calls to let everyone know we had not yet had the baby, and calls to check on the littles, the day was going relatively fast.
Insert hiccup numero dos.
My OB was leaving for the day and was passing the so called "wand" off to another doctor for the remainder of the evening. I was so disappointed. I had hoped she would deliver me.
But it was obviously not in the cards.
It was determined that I should be taken off the Pit for a bit and then resumed after a while to give my body a rest. I had been battling nausea from early on in the afternoon, and finally succumbed to some medication to treat that.
Then by 7pm I had to get a boost from my epidural because I was starting to feel my contractions rather intensely.
My pitocin was resumed by nearly 8pm.
By then, I had been "stuck" at 7cm for nearly 3 hours!
I was starting to get really frustrated.
And my epidural had started to completely pool in my legs, which left my abdomen free to feel every contraction from about 9pm on. {Ouch? Yes.}
But it also helped move the baby into a descending pattern.
By 10pm I was breathing through contractions in a zero station and 9-10cm.
But another momma down the hall beat me to the finish line first, so I labored until the doctor could come in.
10:30pm I gave my nurse a practice push and nearly gave her a heart attack because she did not want to be responsible for "catching" our princess.
{I can be described as a power pusher by physicians and nurses...}
Finally the doctor got around to us, snapped some gloves on and ordered me to give him a couple pushes before Nadelyn entered the world at 10:43pm.
She was a cool gray color upon entrance.
And her cord was tangled tightly around her lower body.
The Hub snipped it and she was whisked away to the warmer to be suctioned.
She had gotten a big drink on the way out and wasn't quite ready to give us that good healthy cry.
Her Apgars were 8 and 9.
She nuzzled up close to me shortly after delivery, and the nurses left our room so we could all bond.
We simply drank this baby in.
She was perfect.
In every way.
And she reminded us of her brother and sister.
We were all dead tired by the time they got us to the postpartum unit.
And my legs still didn't want to cooperate from having the epidural.
But we made phone calls and I nursed Nadelyn before nodding off around 1:30am anyway.
We thank God for our newest bundle.
And ask for His guidance in raising her for His glory.
