I cannot believe it, our little girl is here! She arrived ten days early on April 25th, at 8:44am weighing 7 lbs and 5 ozs. I went in for my 38 week appointment on Thursday morning (4/24) and got my membranes stripped — it hurt, but not nearly as bad as people had told me it would be! (I was 80% effaced and dilated to a 1). Then we went home and curb walked and skipped (haha!) around our neighborhood & park. We went home and I downed some pineapple, did some yoga, and took a nap (Thank heavens, I didn’t know what I was in for that night!) Then we went and walked around Wallmart. I started contracting pretty bad when we were there (5:30pm) having contractions 2-3 mins apart! I was trying not to get myself too excited incase it was a false alarm, so I didn’t make it a big deal to Brad. He was talking on the phone as we were leaving wallmart to one of his friends saying “Yeah, maybe we can go skate around 7” and in the back of my mind I was thinking ‘That is not going to happen!’ As we were driving home things got a bit more intense – Brad started freaking out with excitement when I told him that we should head to the hospital soon! He was like “Haiz! Really!? This is it!?” with a huge smile plastered on his face while I was moaning and groaning. We went home and quickly grabbed our things – it was classic. Brad frantically running around as I’m taking big breaths shouting “We need to hurry!” haha! We did take the time for Brad to give me a blessing before we left, and it was really sweet and a huge comfort to me. We got to the hospital and the ladies at the labor and delivery counter were obsessed with Brad’s accent — they were like “No wonder she is pregnant!” Ha! It helped lighten the mood of how much pain I was in. At this point I was super scared that they were going to tell us it was a false alarm and send us home because I didn’t know how I would bare that pain at home. They put us in a room to “Monitor the contractions” for an hour and that was so hard to get through. Brad pushed on my knees through every contraction which helped, but I still found myself shouting “It’s okay!… It’s okay!” A different nurse popped her head in and I apologized for freaking out the other patients! Ha! The pain was almost unbearable, but Brad was so great at keeping things light hearted and he helped me hold my composure during contractions – “This is good pain” – “You are so strong“. After being in that room for and hour and a half a nurse came in with the best news ever – we were getting transferred to a delivery room to get an epidural! Yes! I was so ready for some drugs. I could hardly stand up to get into the wheelchair, my pain was so bad. We got into the delivery room and my heart skipped a beat looking at the little blanket sitting across the scale! I stared at it all night thinking about how our little boy or girl would be wrapped up in it so soon. The anesthesiologist came to give me my epidural and I was feeling surprisingly calm about it but I was still really scared. I made Brad talk to him about England to keep my mind off of it haha! I looked at Brads hands that I was squeezing and his fingertips were purple! Ha! It felt like a bee string in my back and then it was done 🙂 Hooray! My lower half of my body went numb (Which made my legs feel like they weighed a thousand pounds) except for my left butt cheek! Ahhg! I could totally feel my contractions there too. But I was thankful that my “Hot Spot” was there and not somewhere else – ha!
At 10pm my doctor came in and broke my water – it was such a cool feeling having that rush of warm water instantly flow out of you! Then it was time to ‘get some rest’ and wait for my body to dilate some more (At this point I was 90% effaced and dilated to a 3). Except I could not sleep because of that stupid butt cheek that would not numb! They kept topping off my meds and putting me in different positions and nothing helped – it was like I was sitting on a hard pointy rock. Mom & my mother in law Gladys showed up around 4am (I was dilated to an 8!) and my sister Erika around 5am. The nurses came in and started setting up for delivery around 5:30am (lights & things I didn’t know existed were folding out of the ceiling & such) and shiz was getting REAL! I was so exhausted because I was only able to sleep for 20 mins through the whole night and I hadn’t had any dinner, but I was feeling excited & optimistic with everyones big smiles surrounding me. I decided to have my sister in the room with our Mom’s because we found out I was allowed to have one more person in the room! It didn’t make sense to have her wait in the hall 🙂
At 6am I started pushing, pushing, and pushing! Erika holding my right leg, Brad on my left, and our Moms down by my feet watching all of the action! After two hours of pushing and losing some motivation my doctor showed up. I felt a whole new burst of energy when he put on his gown and started doing his thing. I felt like I was finally starting to get this pushing thing down when he started showing our moms the head, “Look at all that blonde hair!” they exclaimed. I started pushing in intervals of 4 instead of 3 – I wanted this baby OUT! I then kinda saw him giving me an episiotomy and quickly looked away to Brad’s face. It didn’t scare me as bad as I though it would, and it helped having such a comforting husband by my side through it. I seriously have never felt such a deep love for him before. Another half an hour went by when my Mom started jumping up and down saying “This is it! This is it!!” I will never forget that moment as I looked up at my husband and sister’s faces, all three of us covered in tears. All my hard work was about to pay off, and my heart felt so full! I gave another push and Mom & Gladys started freaking out again “Look at that face!”
Then I gave my final push and the baby was out. Brad exclaimed “It’s a girl!” behind his tears and I was shocked! The last week of my pregnancy I was convinced I was having a boy 😉 They lifted her over the sheet and onto my chest.. She looked completely different than I had imagined, but she looked familiar! My heart felt like it was going to burst – I started crying uncontrollably. I looked up at Brad in disbelief – was this perfect little angel really ours!? Her little cry was heart melting, I could die. It was crazy cool to see the umbilical cord still attached – our doctor handed Brad the scissors and he cut it!
Everything happened so fast, I think I was in a small state of shock. They whisked her away to be cleaned/weighed as I got stitched up. I quickly forgot about the stitching when they brought my perfect little naked baby back to me and placed her under my gown onto my skin.
The feeling of love was incredible, she stopped crying and was gracefully (hence her middle name) looking around the room and up at me. I could have basked in that moment forever. My little Lucy Grace. Brad held us and the tears were uncontrollable.
There we were for the first time as a family.
Congratulations! She is absolutely beautiful and such an appropriate name. I adore that picture of her staring up at you like she knows you by heart, which of course she does 🙂
Oh this made me tear up. What a beautiful story, a beautiful name, a beautiful family, and a gosh darn BEAUTIFUL BABY! xo
Beautiful story! I love this! You guys deserve the best in the world. Congratulations!
xo.
So amazing!! What a beautiful blessing! I'm so happy for you all!
How amazing! Congratulations!!!
Oh, I'm just soooooo happy for you guys!!!!
You're going to be amazing parents!!!!
And I can't even imagine what a blessing it is to have this little angel with you!!!
This news is amazing!!!!!! Congratulations again!!!!!
Maybe it's just because I'm pregnant, but I was totally bawling as I was reading this! Your little girl is so sweet! you guys are going to make the best parents!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
what a beautiful birth story! congratulations, little lucy is a doll.
Congrats! little babies are just the best. Who took your pictures? I am in the market for a birth photographer.
so incredibly happy for you!
you two are already the most darling parents..
How beautiful!!! Congratulations! And what a beautiful name. You brought me to tears!
Loved reading your birth story! Thank you for sharing! And what a sweet and pretty newborn.
gorgeous.
What a beautiful delivery! I eat birth stories up! Haha. Congrats to you and your little family!
you guys are the most beautiful family. what a beautiful story. i love it! lucy sure is a cutie!
oh this is the most beautiful thing ever. i'm crying! welcome lucy grace to your beautiful little family 🙂
This just made me tear up Hays!!! This is adorable!
Thank you for sharing your story, brought me to tears! You inspired me to wait to find out the gender until after the babe is born. Whenever that is for me, I hope I can hold out and wait!
Congratulations!!! This is just beautiful, and you three are a great lookin' family. 😉
What a gorgeous baby! Congratulations
Gorgeous baby and another beautiful post! 🙂 Congratulations!
congratulations! this is so amazing! thanks so much for sharing!
AH i teared up!!!! Such a beautiful baby,and a beautiful momma! Congratulations to you and Brad!
it makes me so beyond happy to hear that you went through with a natural birth. so happy she got here safely. love love!
Loved this! You are so brave to have everyone there for delivery! So sweet that they could be there for it though! Welcome to the world little Lucy!
Congratulations!!! She's beautiful!
Congratulations! Such a beautiful story and a beautiful family!
Love this! I've been waiting to hear your birth story! I had my little girl one month before you. It's crazy how different everyone's birth stories are. Yet there were similarities in ours like the "shiz is getting real" comment haha and it is incredible the love you have for your husband through it all and as they hold your baby girl you never knew how much love you could have for two people. That daddy daughter bond is so amazing. So happy for you! If you are interested here is my link to my birth story apenaparty.blogspot.com
She's adorable! Congrats!! Love your blog!
Ah! This is absolutely precious. <3
I just cried like a baby reading this. I am 9 weeks and can't believe come December I will have a story like this of my family beginning! Congratulations! She is just beautiful!
Que depoimento mais lindooooo!!!! Parabéns Hailey! FamÃlia Linda, maravilhosa *-*
What a beautiful life you have! Thank you for sharing! It was nice to meet you today at Red Robin (my husband and I sat in the booth next to you with our 7 month old little girl). Congrats on your adorable baby! Every day is so precious and it only gets better from here 🙂
Congrats, such a beautiful baby!
http://thegirlinredlipstick.blogspot.com/
What a miracle. Babies are so precious! Congratulations to you both! You're such cute mom!
You tell your birth story so beautifully! I bawled! Congrats to you guys! You are the sweetest little family.
Well, if that doesn't make you cry, I'm not sure what will! I am currently 36 weeks pregnant with my first with so many feelings of anxiety and nervousness. This was a beautiful account of things I can have to look forward to. Thanks for sharing!