Welcome to the World Sweet Hadley

I want to take a minute to record the whirlwind birth of our daughter, while it is still fresh in my mind. I am sure I will have little to no sanity left after the next few weeks.

Anyone reading this that has been in close proximity with me this pregnancy know that although I hoped and prayed this little girl would make her appearance before her due date, I secretly thought and dreaded that we would go way over like we did with her brother. At my 39 week appointment, when we made the 40 week appointment I almost couldn’t hold it together. You know how it goes, you are just beyond ready to meet the little thing you have carried for nine months. I wasn’t particularly uncomfortable this pregnancy, but I was just ready to have her in my arms. After experiencing Braxton Hicks for weeks, my body was tired and I was just game for anything. Or so I thought.

Friday October 18th, Brock and I took Hunter to Cumberland for some PF Changs. I had been craving it and thought the spicy couldn’t hurt. That evening we stopped by my mom and dads to just hang out and enjoy their company and I spent most of the night laughing. My dad has that effect on people. We went home, put Bug to bed and I poured the tiniest glass of wine known to man and jumped in the bath tub, trying to relax before bed. We went to bed, another day down. I woke up twice that night to pee, once at 3:00am and once at 6:00am. Both times I noticed a little cramping but nothing that kept me awake so  I would go back to sleep.

At 7:00am on the 19th a dream woke me up and I knew something was different. I woke Brock up and sure enough there was some fluid. I thought maybe I peed a little, but I got up and took a moved around just to see and when nothing else came out I figured it was not my water. As I was trying to get comfortable enough to go back to sleep I noticed I was having some contractions. I jumped in the shower and then started blow drying my hair, and we started timing them. They were a consistent 6 minutes apart. Sometime thereafter I noticed some pink when I went to the restroom so I figured that it was all just my mucous plug, no big deal, and that we would go on about our day. I called the midwife just to be sure it was okay to go stay at home. She said it was.

I had a nail appointment with my sister in law at 10:00 and with the okay from my midwife, I went ahead and planned to do that. I had contractions here and there but really didn’t time anything because it wasn’t enough pain to make me stop what I was doing. When we got back home, my sister in law took Hunter for the day so we could rest “just in case” this was the big day. I spent most of the day in the bath tub, which is the only thing that helped with the contractions. We did head to my Mom and Dad’s to take my mind off things for awhile. At this point it was close to 4:00 and I was starting to doubt that what I was feeling was labor. I thought maybe it was early pains but it would be days surely. We called my in laws and told them they could bring Hunter home. They did, and he went down for a nap. I continued the next couple hours on the ball, eating when I felt like it, and getting in and out of the tub. At 6:30 Hunter had been asleep for awhile and I told Brock we should wake him so he would sleep that night. He got in my bed with me and we cuddled. He was being so sweet. We spent the next couple hours being lazy, with me breathing through contractions that were still 6 minutes apart. Once again, I hopped back in the bathtub to see if I could relax a little. I quickly noticed that contractions went from 6 minutes to 3 minutes apart and I was finding it hard to breathe through them. At one point my Mom was on the phone, and one hit me and I just threw the phone a Brock and started moaning into the pillows. We called the midwife, and waited. And waited. And waited. It was probably only 15 minutes but it felt like an eternity. In the meantime we frantically started looking for someone to come stay with Hunter, Brock finished packing the car, and I lost my mind on the bed. The midwife called back, and said, “Come now.”

It hit me. We had labored ALL DAY and then, bam, come now. My sister in law got here, I kissed Hunter and we were gone. My Doula and sweet friend Val assured us she was right behind us and my parents and Brock’s mom and sister got ready to leave as well.

The drive was 45 minutes of torture. I tried to look out the window and stay calm but I was scared to death and I could tell things were happening, and happening fast. We were having a baby. Maybe not right away, but she was coming, and she was coming on her own! I couldn’t believe it! After a parking nightmare at the hospital we were checking in. I had one while we were waiting for triage and I could feel all the nurses watching me. Brock and I swayed till it passed and then we were going down the hall to triage room #4. They got a gown on me and I got on the bed. Off came the gown, I was so hot all of a sudden! She asked if she could check me, and we went over my birth plan for a few contractions. She explained I had to be monitored for 20 minutes. All of a sudden I had a contraction from hell. I yelled at Brock that I “COULD NOT” do this. I was scared, and I wasn’t going to do it. The nurse, a sweet girl names Jessica, grabbed my hand and my thigh and talked me down from the ledge. My doula made it in and we worked through a couple more hard ones and then Jessica said they had a room for me. We started down the hallway and I stopped along the way to ride another one out.

In the room, I sat down on the edge of the bed and they said they would get the tub ready. I decided to go pee before they got me all hooked up. Brock went with me and I peed, stood up and I had a contraction and all of a sudden my water broke! I screamed because I thought I had just had the baby. On the floor. In the bathroom. It was so loud and sudden. Everyone rushed in, and I could hear the nurses and midwives start getting excited. As I got back to the bed I could feel myself bearing down, (very much like having a bowel movement) and I somehow managed to tell whoever was holding me up that I felt that way. She said I was pushing and that was okay. They raised the bed and I got on my knees leaning over the back. Val kept putting cool rags on me and giving me water. I remember someone saying that we were having a baby. I thought they were lying. I thought they were trying to make me feel better. I wanted the tub. Someone told me there was no time.

After this, everything is such a blur. At this point I was contracting every minute or so and with each contraction I was pushing my baby girl out! I had no clue I was doing it, I just knew it felt better and I wanted her out! My body took over completely. They said they wanted me to turn over. The said she had hair. I started telling Brock I couldn’t do it. I told him I was too scared, and that I wasn’t doing it right. I kept apologizing for being a baby. It was completely instinctual. I moaned/screamed my way through them, gritting my teeth and gripping the pillow. Brock was always there, always telling me I WAS doing it, and that we were having our little girl. He told me “Good Job” so many times I started believing it.

We got flipped over and I pushed again. They said that was it! I was pushing her down! They could feel her. They asked if I wanted to and I said no. I wanted her out though. Funny now that I was trying to joke even then. I don’t know how many contractions we pushed. No one counted, or told me what to do, and I was glad for that. I wouldn’t have been able to listen anyways. Hadley and me knew what we were doing and we did it. It got really bad for a minute, I think she was crowning. Brock got all excited and I knew she was coming. We pushed and her head was out. I remember someone saying that it was out, and the shoulders were coming. One push later the shoulders were out and so was the rest of my little girl! They put her on my belly and I honestly can’t describe it. She was right there and so perfect! She was looking right at me, and was so beautiful! A head full of dark hair. Brock kissed me and I was in heaven. Here was my little Haddie all safe and sound and we did it together!

After maybe thirty minutes of pushing she was here. Hadley Joy Watkins was born at 11:25pm on Saturday October 19th, 2013. She was 7 lbs 6.5oz and 18 1/2 inches long. She looked incredibly, just like her big brother!

The nurse and I started cleaning her off, and they let her be. Just she and I and it was wonderful. They left her there with me until they had to take her to start working on me and it was seriously the most precious moment of my life. Brock cut the cord, and he was so proud.

I am still in shock. Looking back at the weeks I spent wondering it all happened exactly like it was supposed to. I remember reading stories of fast labors and just shrugging them off. That wouldn’t happen to me. Hunter took 28 hours and a C-Section, surely Hadley would be as stubborn!  From the time we checked in to the time she was born was only an hour and half. How crazy is that? I never had time to adjust. My body did, but my mind didn’t. Even as I was pushing out my daughter I was saying I couldn’t but I did do it! We did it together and it was everything I had ever hoped it would be! I am so proud of how my body took over and got my girl here the way it did. I was so proud of Brock, for never letting me doubt myself. & I was so proud of me! I trusted myself and I came through!

Now we are home with both babies. It is pure bliss. I look at this little girl and I am so grateful. I am more in love with Brock than I thought I could be. He amazes me with his willingness to take care of us and how in love he is with both our son, and our daughter. Hunter is amazing as well. He loves his little sister and I know he will be an amazing big brother. & then there is Hadley…

You create these tiny little beings, and you spend nine months or longer waiting to meet them. You picture their hair, and their nose, and their little smiles but nothing prepares you for meeting your children. She is everything I wanted and so much more. I love every little thing about her, from the way she keeps her tongue stuck out to the way she curls her hands up by the sides of her head to sleep. I will never forget the moments that got her here to us. Thank you Lord for your many blessings.