She's Here!

Our baby girl is here! Its almost surreal that the long nine months are over and that we are now holding our sweet little daughter in our arms! I feel so blessed that she has arrived safely with no complications and is such a healthy, happy baby.

Haiya's Birth Story

The big day was Wednesday April 23, 2014. For about two weeks I had been having some pretty strong contractions and dilating quite a bit. By 37.5 weeks I was at 4 cm and 80% effaced. My son had come on his own a week early (I hadn't even dilated or effaced yet when I went into labor), so my doctor and I were both expecting baby girl to arrive any minute. However, by 38 weeks there was still no action. That's when my doctor threw out the option of induction. I initially said no. I have always been a little against elective induction- I just really favor the idea of letting things happen when they are meant to happen- but after talking extensively to my doctor, weighing the options and turning to the Lord in prayer, I started to feel a lot of peace about inducing. My biggest motivating factor was that they were estimating my baby to already be over 9 lbs and I was worried that if I went past my due date it might present complications getting her out without a c-section (I'm only 5' 4"). We decided to induce Wednesday, April 23rd, just three days before my due date. 

The call came that morning at 11 am. They told me to eat something and then head to the hospital. We had to drop off my little boy first to my friend who was going to watch him for us. It may have been the nerves or the hormones, or just the fact that my life was changing in such a big way, but I broke down in tears after we dropped him off and cried all the way to the hospital.  For two and half years that little boy and I had been inseparable- he was my little buddy, my partner in crime, my everything! In a way I wanted nothing to change- I wanted him to always be my little baby. 

We got to the hospital and checked in at about 12 noon. They took me up to our room in labor and delivery, handed me a gown and told me to change and then climb into bed. Compared to my first experience of going into labor on my own, this almost felt like we were pretending to have a baby. It was the weirdest feeling to have everything be so calm, to have my hair and make-up done, to not be in any pain. I almost kept laughing the whole time, it just felt so strange!!

By 1:30 I was all suited up and situated and my nurse started a slow drip of pitocin. I was dilated to a 5 and 85% effaced upon arriving. She got me comfortable and told me it would be just a little bit before my doctor would be in to break my water. 

At about 3pm,  the doctor came in and broke my water. That's when I started to feel the contractions. They were surprisingly strong and painful so I had the anesthesiologist come to do my epidural at that time. He came right in and by 4 pm the epidural was in and I was back to feeling comfortable. The nurse told me that it would be about 4-6 hours of waiting time for the pitocin to continue to do its job, and to just sit back and relax. 

This is me in labor...

Pretty rough, right? 

Only one hour later I started to feel a tremendous amount of pressure and the sensation to push. I hurried and paged my nurse who came in and checked me. She was shocked to find that I was already dilated to a 10 and was 100% effaced. The baby was on her way!! She ordered me not to push and hurried to call my doctor.  Up until that point everything had still felt so pretend, but at that moment it got real! I was just about to meet my baby girl for the first time! I wasn't sure I even felt ready! The nerves got to me and I started shaking uncontrollably all over. You could even hear my teeth chattering! It was so bad that I asked my husband to give me a priesthood blessing. During a quiet moment when the nurse was gone, he laid his hands on my head and gave me a beautiful blessing of comfort. 

About twenty minutes later, the doctor arrived and the nurse got me all ready and situated to push. My epidural was absolutely perfect this time. With my son I couldn't feel anything at all so it was really hard to tell if I was pushing or not. This time though I felt absolutely no pain but could still feel everything, even the baby making her way down the birth canal. It was so cool! I was so amazed to get to have the sensation of her moving down and eventually crowning. I was also able to push really well since I had so much feeling so it only took a few pushes for her to crown. 

That's when her head got a little stuck. Since I dilated so fast she didn't spend any time in the birth canal so her head didn't have time to shape into a cone- it was just a really round head. My doctor administered a little mineral oil and gave me a tiny level 1 snip and she was free. No tearing or anything. 

However, as soon as her head emerged it became apparent that she had a "necklace" - the cord was wrapped around her neck TWICE!  The nurse and doctor worked fast to free her. It was a nerve wrecking couple of seconds but then it was just one more easy push and she was here! 

Haiya Elizabeth was born at 6:13 pm. 

The nurse laid her on my chest right away and started vigorously rubbing her to help her breath. She was dark purple from having her air cut off with the cord but in just a couple minutes her color improved and she finally let out her first cry! I was so grateful! She was here!!!

My beautiful baby girl was here!!

My favorite part in those first few minutes was when she grabbed onto her daddy's finger and wouldn't let go! There is nothing in the world more beautiful than watching your husband become a father... [ again :)  ] 

After a little bit of skin-to-skin time they took her to clean her up and weigh her. The verdict was in: 

8 lb 12 oz   21 3/4" long

 (However, the pediatrician's office only measured her at 20.5" long) 

Our amazing OBGYN  Lisa Jaacks! 

After about an hour we were all snuggled in for the night in our maternity room. Thanks to amazing friends who watched Beckam for us, Caleb was able to stay the night with me and help me. (My mom wasn't going to be there for a few days- I asked her to come when Caleb had to be back in school so that I could spread out the help.)

The next morning my husband picked up our little boy Beckam from the babysitters and brought him to the hospital to meet his new sister.  They brought a rose for mommy and a rose Haiya. So cute!

He was a little nervous and quiet, like he didn't quite know what to think. And of course all the buttons and cords in the hospital room were by far more interesting than the baby :)  But it was beautiful seeing the two of them meet for the first time. I know an amazing, lifelong friendship is in the works. 

I couldn't have asked for a better delivery or a more beautiful baby. We are so in love with our little Haiya and feel so grateful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with this new little addition to our lives.