This pregnancy has been much more difficult than my first and so I was very eager to get that baby out! However, we were praying that I would go into labor naturally and hopefully deliver her without the need for pain meds. I had so many complications after delivering Kaden as a result of being induced and having a spinal block to manage my pain that we wanted to avoid going through that again if at all possible.
Unfortunately, when I went in for my final check up right before my due date, the doctors said that I hadn't made any progress at all, and the baby was already a good size, so they recommended I get induced the following day. Thankfully, my mom and brother had just arrived and were available to take care of Kaden all week while James and I were in the hospital. I was so thankful for their help, and I know Kaden loved spending time with them so the separation wasn't a big deal.
For the most part, everything with the induction went very smoothly. We had a small miscommunication with the doctors at the outset which lead to some comical stress on the front end, though. For some reason I thought they'd give me a slow-acting drug on Tuesday afternoon, and then admit me to the hospital early Wednesday morning to start the pitocin and have the baby. So James went to work as usual that day, my mom stayed home with Kaden and put him down for a nap, and my brother dropped me off at the hospital to get the cervadil and drove to a near by juice bar to hang out and wait till I was ready to be picked up. I walked into the labor and delivery ward with nothing but my purse and received some strange looks from the nurses. They asked if anyone would be coming up to stay with me, and were taken back when I replied nonchalantly, "No, it's fine. I've got a ride. My brother's going to come pick me up when I'm finished." Ha! It wasn't until they lead me into a delivery room and handed me a gown that the reality of the situation sank in. They had no intention of letting me go home. Once they gave me the drugs, they would need to monitor me and the baby. Whether or not I was prepared, I was about to have this baby! Thankfully, I had my bags packed so Nate was able to go home and fetch those for me, and graciously stayed with his emotional big sister until James arrived. I'm sure that was a bit uncomfortable for the 24 year old rock star who has zero experience with such things... but having him there was a comfort and I'm thankful for his willingness to help!
By the time James arrived at 4 pm, the drug was working and I was already having regular contractions every 2-5 minutes. Thankfully, the baby was doing well and so I was free to get up and move around (very different from my experience delivering Kaden). We took each contraction one at a time and focused on relaxing and breathing through the discomfort. It really wasn't as bad as I expected. We watched a marathon of one of our favorite TV shows called 'Fixer Upper' to pass the time and chatted with friends and family who were praying for us. It wasn't until around 8 pm that I started to get really uncomfortable - more due to the hormones giving me bad chills than because of the contractions. The nurse checked my progress and saw that I was already 3-4 inches dilated (further than I ever got naturally with Kaden!) so they took the catheter giving me the induction drug out and let me continue laboring on my own. James was so encouraging and supportive through the whole process. I'm so thankful he was able to be there with me! Around midnight, I was tired and struggling so we decided to try the IV pain meds before giving in and requesting another spinal block. Last time, the IV drugs didn't really work, and then my contractions felt twice as bad after the effect wore off. But thankfully, this time I wasn't on pitocin so the drugs worked exactly the way they're supposed to. The contractions were still painful, but it took the edge off enough that I could tolerate them and keep pressing on with my breathing and relaxation techniques. Finally, around 3:30 am, (RIGHT before they would have started giving me pitocin), I started feeling the urge to push. The nurse checked me and sure enough, we were ready to go! A short while later, she called for the doctor and we welcomed our baby girl to the world!
She was born on February 24th at 4:35 am, weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz, and measured 20.5 inches long. The nurses made sure to comment on the fact that she had a perfectly round head. I'm not sure if that's a compliment, or if they were marveling at the fact that I was able to deliver her with such a large noggin. Either way, we were thankful to finally have our beautiful baby girl in our arms. We still hadn't selected a name for her, but it was clear from the get-go that she is a strong and spirited little lady and so we chose to name her Audrey Elise. Audrey, on its own, is a reference to strength. But combined with the middle name, it means "I find my strength and satisfaction in God".
Around breakfast time, they moved us into a recovery room. As soon as they dropped Kaden off at preschool, my mom and brother came to visit and meet our bundle of joy. You could tell my mom was a proud grandma. Nate had never held a baby that young, so he was in awe of his tiny new niece. It was so special having them around! I know it was a challenge for them, taking care of a precocious toddler all week, but they did a great job and we were so thankful for their help! Kaden certainly had fun playing with his crazy Uncle Nate.
We were well taken care of by the staff at the hospital and enjoyed having a couple of days to recuperate and spend some quality one-on-one time getting to know Audrey. We were immediately in love with our tiny baby girl, and enjoyed the new challenge of having a true newborn who sleeps all the time. (Kaden was 2 weeks late and never really behaved like a newborn.) We mostly ate, slept and relaxed while watching TV until it was time to go home.
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| first baby girl diaper change! A new challenge, for sure |
Of course, one of the most special memories from our stay in the hospital was introducing Kaden to his baby sister for the first time. We were unsure how that would go, and prepared ourselves to focus on our reunion with him before introducing the baby. However, he seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he was seeing us for the first time in two days. He charged right past my hospital bed, announcing that he wanted to see his baby sister! He was in love right away and did a great job only using gentle strokes to touch her. He couldn't wait to hold her, so we did that for a couple of minutes. Then we presented him with a gift from the baby (wink, wink) full of fun things to keep him entertained while we were away. Over all, he walked away a very happy and proud big brother.
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| I'm so glad Nate was able to capture these sweet first family photos! |
Before we knew it, it was time to go home! That last day in the hospital was memorable. We received a sweet visit from the pastor (one of many reasons we love our church!)
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| Alert and ready to go home! |
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| First mommy-daughter selfie, while waiting to be discharged |
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| So tiny! |
She looks just like me at that age in these photos
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| I can't believe she's smiling in this picture! 2 days old! Remarkable. |
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| "Time to go home, Baby Audrey!" |
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| Strapping 2 children into the back seat! Crazy. |
While I rested, Kaden got to spend a lot of quality time with daddy and grandparents. James got 10 days off from work so he got to take Kaden to school and gymnastics class, as well as on fun trips to the park and the zoo. After my mom left, his mom arrived and so Kaden got truly spoiled by 3 weeks with doting grandmas! Nancy was a huge help to me after James went back to work. She (and my mom) pretty much single-handedly took care of Kaden during the day AND at night so I could focus on resting and recovering. We were so blessed to have them here to help for so long!
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| Sad to say good bye to Grandma Kelly, but thankful we only had to wait a day before Grandma Nancy arrived! |
It goes without saying that we are totally in love with our new little girl, and are so, SO thankful for all of the answered prayers for a safe delivery, quick recovery, and lots of help from family and friends as we adjust to our new life as a family of 4!
