Our beautiful little girl entered the world on Monday May 31st at 11: 55am. She weighed 7lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. I went into labor around midnight and had my mom come over to be with Hailey since Tim's parents were out of town. My poor mom had 2 long nights in a row since my grandmother (her mom) had passed just the night before, but she's quite the trooper and came over right away. My contractions were strong very quickly again and I freaked Tim out good. I insisted on washing my face and brushing my teeth before we left, but it took me a while because the contractions were getting quicker and stronger so I kept having to stop what I was doing and focus on getting past that one. And guess what- they were all back labor again! I swear my girls just like to really make me work for it cause those hurt so flippin bad.
Our fabulous doula met us at the hospital and I swear if it wasn't for her Tim would have many more bruises than he walked away with. She was wonderful at helping me get through the contractions with all sorts of different pressure points while Tim let me squeeze his hand, shoulders, etc to death until they could call someone in for the epidural, which took FOREVER since it was about 4 in the morning by that point! I knew the minute that I started having back labor again that there was absolutely no way I was doing that again without the pain meds. I progressed pretty quickly and before I knew it I was nearing the end. That's when Hannah started being stubborn. Her heart rate kept lowering so they had to monitor me very closely. There was one point when I was dilated to a 9.5 and her heart rate went way low and wasn't coming back up at all and the oxygen and different postions didn't help. They said c-section and started wheeling me down to the OR room to prep for surgery. Of course I started bawling- I've wanted a v-bac the whole time and it was just so frustrating to get so far just for another c-section. When they hooked the monitors back up her heart rate had stabilized, but the dr still was trying to push for the surgery. Tim wasn't there yet either because he was getting prepped for the surgery too. I told her that I didn't want the surgery and I was so close and asked if I could try pushing. She reluctantly agreed, but said that I only got one try. So without the hubby there, I pushed with everything I had and the dr and nurses got all excited because I started making good progress. I yelled to get my husband here NOW! There was no way I was letting him miss that. So... I made short work of the pushing progress and our little girl was born. What a fabulous feeling that was! I was so glad that I fought for what I wanted and that everything worked out ok.
V-bacs are FA-BU-LOUS! I was out of bed within the next 2 hours instead of 2 days compared to the c-section! I got to see all the fun first-time stuff with Hannah like bath, footprint, etc. I got to leave the hospital within a day. I can fit back into some of my pre-pregnancy pants already and the list just goes on. I feel so very very blessed that things worked out because they could have gone the other way very easily. This recovery has been so much easier on me than the c-section was and I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy even though I feel so great already. Now it's time to focus on managing my time better with two little girls to keep me busy.