How appropriate that on her due date I would post about the birth of our daughter!! :)
(Both kids are asleep so prepare for a looong post!)
The story:
Saturday afternoon, I was home alone watching TV resting on the couch. Ryan's parents came up and took Gavin out for a day of fun to give me a day of rest and Ryan was helping some buddies with a house project, so I was laying down actually relaxing for the first time in a while. I was debating on whether to get up and clean the kitchen or fix me some lunch when I heard and felt a pop/snap in my stomach. It hurt! I got up to go to the bathroom to check if everything was ok and noticed I was bleeding, so I immediately called the on-call doctor. He said to go to the hospital to get checked out. Luckily, I had been having some consistent contractions earlier that week so I had all of our bags packed and ready to go. Ryan came home and got me and we were out the door within 5 minutes. Got checked out at triage, and sure enough, it was my water that broke when I heard/felt that pop! So instead of a gush it was slowly leaking. The nurse said a lot of women have described it like a snap/pop. So we got checked in!
9 month picture:
I never got to experience contractions with my water broken with Gavin, and I do not recommend it!!! :) It was sooo intense and I waited for 1 1/2 hours to get my epidural before the doctor could get there. Whew. As soon as I got my epidural, it was time to update friends and family! Oh, how I love modern medicine!!!
I progressed about a cm an hour and finally got to 10 cm at 1:30 am. I had a c-section with Gavin so I was so anxious about attempting a VBAC because of all the things that could go wrong. But the doctor wanted me to try for it to be best for Henley and me, so we did, even though I kept trying to talk him out of it! I was just so worried I would push for 3 hours to only get cut open again. I only had to push for 24 minutes!!! What a gift from the Lord.
Henley Jane Hughes was born 2:01 am on 10/3/10
7 lb 3 oz
20 in long
The cord was wrapped around her neck 2x just like her brother! Even with that, she had APGAR scores of 9 and 9! The Lord really protected her!
I kept saying to Ryan, "I can't believe we did it!" I just did not think I would be able to have a regular delivery so I am thanking God every day. The recovery is sooooooo different this time! I've already done 2 loads of laundry today!
The grandparents stayed sleeping (and praying!) on the floor of the waiting room through the night. They got to see their granddaughter at 3 am.
Sunday morning, Gavin got to meet his baby sister!
Gavin got to wear his "Big Bro" shirt that he opened up on his 1st birthday to tell everybody we were pregnant!
He kept pointing to Henley saying "baby" and wanted to sit up on the bed with me. He's so gentle with her!
We were all pretty tired the next day from losing a night of sleep! Gavin of course was ready for the action!
Proud Pop
Gavin only showed his jealous side when his Papaw was holding Henley.
He tried to climb on top of Henley because he wanted Papaw to hold HIM instead. Thankfully he hasn't done this at home with us!
Sweet little Henley
We had a lot of visitors Sunday evening. Surprisingly with only 2 hours of sleep, I was ready to see my friends! Thanks for coming, guys!
Sarah
Lon and Sharon
Melanie
and Jonathan
Peter and Bethany
Aunt Amanda
(who was gone at a wedding in Atlanta and told me I could have Henley any weekend but this one--sorry Amanda! :) She had other plans!)
Ryan slept Monday morning with Henley on his chest because she wouldn't fall asleep otherwise. She is already a daddy's girl!
Ryan is a champ at changing diapers now thanks to Gavin. This little girl can fill some diapers!! :)
We are both so in love with this little girl
We got to go home around lunchtime Monday. We had to layer her going home outfit because it was freeeezing outside!
We got her a jacket with ears like Gavin had for his
going home outfit. It's a little big!
So excited to bring her home!
Ready to go home to be a family of 4!
We are so incredibly blessed with this little girl. She is an amazingly easy baby. She hardly ever cries, is a great eater, and so little and easy to hold! All of us keep passing her around. We are so grateful to the Lord for all the answers to prayer with her safe arrival. I prayed specific things for this labor and ALL of them were answered. I prayed to get a good night's sleep the night before going into labor so I would be well rested, to go into labor during the day (starting labor at night with Gavin was scary to me so I much preferred this one!), and I even asked for her to be born in October instead of September because almost all of my family members (including me) have September birthdays. And the fact that I was able to have a VBAC is miraculous in and of itself! And most of all we prayed for a healthy baby, and she most certainly is. What a gift from the Lord she is to our family!
"Every good thing and every perfect gift is from above."
~James 1:17
First bath. She looooves getting her hair washed! She gets completely relaxed!
And when she's on her back she crosses her legs on top of her like this:
Enjoying this beautiful Fall weather
I don't think the grandmothers minded too much getting to spend time with their grandkids!
Shannon and Libby
Next post: Gavin as the big brother! He's doing sooo well with her!
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