Haidyn

I promised to write more about Haidyn’s birth, and I’m finally getting around to it.  This mommy stuff has definitely been a full time job the past 3 weeks – the best job I’ve ever had, but an all-consuming one to say the least!  After being put on bed rest and then taken off at 36 1/2 weeks, Miss Haidyn decided she was nice and cozy.  I had one day (Dec. 2nd, to be exact) when I was sure I was going into labor – I even called into work and had them get my long-term sub there.  We spent the day having contractions, watching movies, walking the mall, eating spicy food – anything to get it moving along.  But by evening, nothing.  I felt totally fine.  And the next day I felt better than I had in weeks.  I was told it was probably “false labor” and that it happens a lot to first-time moms.  Whatever it was, I felt like a big idiot!  But what can you do?!?

Anyway, at my 38 week appointment, I jokingly asked the doctor when he was going to get the baby out of me.  By this point my entire legs were swollen like you wouldn’t believe.  It wasn’t just the feet and ankles anymore – it went all the way to my thighs.  Not only was it totally disgusting to look at, it was really painful.    He told us that if we wanted to, he would induce me the next week.  We had already discussed the fact that my mom’s birthday was exactly one week before Haidyn’s due date, and he was really sensitive to how special that was for us.  He said that if we wanted to, we could go into the hospital on Monday, December 13th in the evening so that we would have the best chances for her arriving on the 14th.  I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being induced, but since we’d made it this long, I thought it was worth a try.  Plus having Haidyn on that day would mean the world to us.  So he got everything set up for us to come in at 8 pm on the 13th – we actually got the last available spot for that evening.  My doctor came into the room after scheduling it and said it must be fate.

Around 6:00 on the 13th, I started feeling like I did before when I thought I was going into labor, only this time I convinced myself it wasn’t the real deal.  We went in at 8:00 as scheduled, and I was still 3 cm dilated like I’d been for weeks.  The nurses took their time asking us questions and getting us settled in.  They started my IV and began a round of antibiotics that needed 4 hours to complete before they would start the Pitocin.  My dad and sister got in town around 10:15 and came by to say hello.  They left around 11 to come to our house and get some sleep before the big day.  Jonathan’s parents had arrived the day before, so everyone was here and anxious for her arrival.

After my family left, Jonathan and I decided to get some sleep.  At this point we still thought we’d be there for hours, so we wanted to be well-rested.  That lasted about 15-20 minutes before I was in so much pain, I couldn’t stay in bed.  My contractions weren’t registering as the “real” ones on the monitor, so again I just thought my body was doing the same thing it had done for weeks – tricking me.  By midnight I couldn’t take the pain and asked for an epidural.  At this point I was having contractions one right after another with no breaks.  It was intense, to say the least!  But again, they didn’t register like you would expect on the monitor, so I thought I was in for a long day.  I could still feel a ton of pressure after getting the epidural, so the nurse tried to check me.  She got a funny look on her face and said she was going to call my doctor and see if they could break my water.  He agreed, so another doctor came in around 12:30 to do that.  Next they checked me for the second time and said I was complete – 10 cm dilated, 100% effaced.  The real deal.  I was so confused!  I couldn’t understand how this had happened or when they were going to start the Pitocin.  It all happened so fast! 

Jonathan called our families and told them to get here ASAP because at this point I was telling everyone I didn’t think I could hold this baby in any longer.    We were planning on having my sister and Jonathan’s mom in the room with us for the birth, so it was a huge deal for us that they made it about 20 minutes later.  Both of our dads also came to the hospital and hung out in the waiting room.  My doctor arrived shortly after, and Haidyn was here by 2:09 am.  After 6 or 7 pushes.  On my mom’s birthday.  All by herself. 

All I can say is, God is so good!  There are so many things about the day that couldn’t even be left up to fate, in my opinion.  The fact that we scheduled an induction gave our families time to get here.  Otherwise there is no way they would’ve been here in time since they are all about 6 hours away.  The fact that she came 2 hours into my mom’s birthday without any help just blows my mind.  And the fact that all of the people we had hoped would be there made it – including my doctor.  One of my good friends from work said, “If you didn’t believe in God before hearing this story, you definitely will now!”  And one of my mom’s best friends said, “This just proves how much God cares about each of us individually.”  She is so right.  For Him to orchestrate every detail like He did is absolutely amazing.  I’m just blown away.

My sister and Judy took some amazing pictures of the big event.  Here are a few of my favorites: