This pregnancy wasn't my easiest and I was SO ready to be done before July came, but it wasn't meant to be. I had gone into the doctor at 36 and 38 weeks thinking that my water was leaking like it had with Eve. I think those fake-outs really got our hopes up, and we were all so anxious for her arrival to happen. There were many "Are you having contractions?" and "When is Mae going to come?" There were a few times I had to say "STOP asking me questions because I want her to come more than anyone!" I wasn't in pain or losing much sleep, but just uncomfortable and so done being pregnant (like all pregnant ladies ever). I hadn't felt like that at the end of my other pregnancies, so it was a new feeling and I just wanted that baby out!
(This pic was taken on June 23, but this was me more than ready to have baby girl out!)
Well, when July 1 rolled around I finally decided I didn't care if I had a July 4th baby or if I went all the way to my due date. So we just went on with business as usual and hung out at the pool during Wes' practice, went grocery shopping at Costco (maybe I subconciously thought that lifting Costco items could increase my chances of labor), did all the laundry and had an enjoyable summer night together. Brian left around 6:30 p.m. to go shopping for food for High Adventure (he got called as YM president a couple months ago but everyone agreed he wouldn't go on any camp outs or youth conference this summer, so he has done as much as he can without going because he's the best), and the kids and I enjoyed the evening outside playing and catching fire flies.
This picture was taken about 8:45 p.m. and it was around then that I finally admitted that what I had been feeling throughout the late afternoon and evening was most likely contractions. They weren't super painful, but coming and going somewhat consistently, so I figured it was the most likely possibility. With Thad and Eve I didn't go into labor on my own, and with Wes the beginnings of the contractions felt very different so if I went into labor on my own I was expecting to start the same way Wes's did. But, as most women know, even if you have had multiple children, nothing is ever the same! You think you know what's up, and then you have another kid and it's a completely different experience! So I put the kids to bed right before 10pm and debated about saying something to them, but decided to tell them that I thought I was maybe having contractions and that Mae might be coming soon. I didn't want them to wake up in the morning with us gone and have no idea that I had even been contracting. Brian got home right after I put them to bed and I told him the same thing and that we should probably start timing them. It was a little confusing because if I was up and walking around the contractions were much farther apart and if I was sitting they were pretty consistent within a 7-10 minute window. I also texted my friend Melanie to let her know she needed to keep her phone on and close by in case I needed her to come over in the middle of the night. We watched a few episodes of The Office and the contractions kept coming, but I still wasn't convinced it was labor. We got ready for bed and I tried taking a bath after Kelli suggested it to see if anything changed... but nothing did. I was still not convinced, so I told Brian we should lay down to see if that changed anything. Brian was so good and if I asked told me that he figured it sounded a lot like labor and that we should go in...but like most women, my wheels were turning and all things ran through my head about WHAT IF it wasn't the real thing? Then I will have called Melanie over in the middle of the night, driven 25 minutes to the hospital and got our hopes up all over again...for nothing. We laid down around 12:30 a.m. (with our light and clothes on on top of our bedding), and Brian started dozing around 12:45 while I timed contractions and at about 1:05 a.m. I woke him up after I started to consider what would happen if it was the real deal and I didn't make it to the hospital in time: birthing a baby in the car or no epidural?? NO THANK YOU! Brian was relieved that I had finally come to the same conclusion and we were ready to walk out the door when Melanie got here at almost 1:30 a.m. I did end up waking the boys to let them know I was headed to the hospital and they were both drowsy and darling as they expressed excitement about her arrival! I didn't wake Eve, but I did go in and stare at her and kissed her and cried a little bit as I soaked up the last moments of her being the baby. It's so amazing how having another baby makes you love and appreciate the ones you have even more! Families are so amazing.
On the ride down, my contractions started coming three minutes apart and increasingly uncomfortable--especially in the sitting position! Luckily it didn't feel like too long of a ride and there wasn't much going on at the hospital at that hour, so I got up to Labor and Delivery fairly quickly to check in (about 2am) while Brian parked and brought our stuff up. They took me back to triage and were somewhat surprised to find that I was at 6cm! The same thing happened with Wes--they didn't think I was acting like I was in enough pain to be dilated that far... I guess I just dilate gracefully, and for that I am so grateful! The scenario playing out was exactly what I had hoped for: that I would go into labor on my own and be far enough along that there would be no question I was in labor and things would move along quickly. Well, they got me in my room, set me up with my IV and got my fluids flowing so that I would be ready for my epidural as soon as they got the go ahead. We also got to wear these fancy hair nets before I got my epidural for sanitary reasons and they were just so flattering we had to take a pic-
At this point while were waiting for the epidural, my contractions were getting pretty strong. I was breathing through them really well, but I was getting nervous and had the nurse check me again to make sure I wasn't dilating more because I did not want much more to happen without that epidural! Luckily I was holding pretty steady at 6-7cm and they weren't worried about me being able to get epidural and I was able to relax about not having to have her without an epidural. I got my epidural around 4am and started feeling better almost immediately. The epidural is just how I like it: can't feel the pain of the contractions, but can feel them coming on and I can still move my legs a bit.
This is my face after that epidural kicked in! Feeling good and ready to go!
And it was so fun to look over and see this spot all ready for that baby girl on her way...It was so close!
Shortly after it was clear my epidural was working they called in the OB from the hospital to come break my water while the on call doctor from my practice was on his way over. By the time he got there, around 4:25 a.m., I was completely dilated and ready to go! He got all set up and we were ready to start pushing shortly after 4:30 a.m. I pushed through the first contraction, and as soon as that was over I was really wishing I would have pushed the button for more medication to my epidural, but I couldn't really think straight to say it or do it. I felt so much pressure and wasn't getting relief between contractions and my head was kind of spinning. The doctor had to remind me how to push (don't exhale my breath, bear down, etc) because it had been a while and with Wes and Eve I didn't have to put much effort in, they easily came out in a couple pushes. I only ended up pushing through 4-5 contractions, 10-15 minutes, but it felt like an eternity because of all the pressure! But at 4:45 a.m., that perfect little girl made her entrance into this world. It was the best feeling in the entire world!
They placed her directly on my chest and I breathed that girl in, every ounce of her perfection.
These are the moments.
I don't know how many more moments I'll get like this, but I thank my Heavenly Father every day that I got to experience this for the fourth time. Nothing compares.
I am so glad Brian got these pictures of me and I wish I could have done the same for him. Luckily I have a good memory and took some mental snapshots of his proud, tender, teary-eyed face as he stared at our precious girl and told me what a wonderful job I did. I am so grateful he is the one by my side for all of these moments. I couldn't do it without him.
Sitting with this girl on my chest was so wonderful and the nurses didn't touch her for an hour and a half! It was so wonderful to not have her whisked away to be poked and prodded and weighed and bathed. She was as calm as could be, and there was just no other place she and I would rather have been. Brian and I just stared at her in awe and gratitude and could not believe how much she looked like Eve!
It was almost time for me to head up to post-partum, so at about 6:30am it was time to take her stats and get her eye drops and Vitamin K.
8 lbs 9 0z, 21 1/4 inches
She is officially our biggest baby!
And then dad finally got to hold her for the first time-
She is perfect.
We made it up to our post-partum room and just kept staring at her in awe and wonder. Luckily the nurses were amazing and left us alone as much as they could. We were hardly bothered during the entire stay unless I called someone in or I had to have my meds or something. But if I was sleeping, they were sure to leave me alone and just let us enjoy life with our new babe.
She also has this crazy toe that we love and have gotten several pictures of. The pediatrician says it will most likely straighten out, but we love her crazy toe!
They wait until the baby is at least six hours old before bathing, so at around noon a nurse came in a cleaned her all up for us and Mae loved it!
It was so nice to have her all fresh, just in time for the kids to come see her! Melanie was so awesome to bring our kids down to the hospital so they could meet their baby sister and it was pretty much the sweetest thing ever to watch them meet her!
I just love all of their smiles and looks on their faces when they finally got to see her. She was as amazing as they'd hoped she'd be!
Watching each one of them take a turn with her was the sweetest-
Even Porter got a chance to hold her and loved it!
I am so grateful for everything Melanie did for us and was willing to do! She is such an amazing friend and I am so grateful I didn't need to worry about my kids while we were gone. She was so sweet with Miss Mae and I'm glad she got to see her, too!
And here we are. The SIX of us.
It felt so good to finally have her here and have all of us together.
I am really digging the even numbers this girl brought to our family!
The rest of the night was spent staring at her, FaceTiming with a couple people and staring at her some more.
As you can tell, I got as many pictures as I could with this proud daddy. It was so fun to watch him love her so much-
He was so proud of himself for getting some great pics with her eyes open and it is still his very favorite thing...when she is alert and looking around he tries to be with her as much as he can!
He also got SUPER sleepy that night and luckily got a 20ish minute snooze to carry him through until about 11:00 p.m. when we sent her to the nursery. We were surprisingly sad to see her go (we didn't mind so much with our other 3), but she hadn't been out of our site for the entire day and we didn't want her to go! BUT, Brian had been awake for 43 hours and desperately needed sleep and I wasn't too far behind him on those hours and knew it would make all the difference if we could both get a decent nigh'ts rest. Brian fell asleep pretty darn quick and it took me a bit, but when I did I slept fabulously (hello sleeping on my left side--I hadn't done that for months!) and didn't budge until 5:00 a.m. when I needed to use the restroom and get some more meds in me. I was so grateful my nurse held off on doing my vitals and giving me my meds and just let me sleep. It was awesome! They didn't bring Mae back until about 6:15 a.m., and Brian and I were getting antsy because we wanted her back! She came back and we just kept up the staring and enjoyed those last few hours in the hospital with just the three of us before heading home.
She was perfect even when she was crying!
And before we knew it, it was time to head home! They didn't make us wait or beg to be discharged because they were at full capacity and needed our room, so we were out the door by 12:45 p.m. and on our way home.
We got home around 1:30 p.m. and rounded up our kids from the Slavens and Buskens and just all soaked in this baby girl together... well, except for Brian. I made him go take a nap so that he would be awake and alert for the evening and also be able to help feed her in the night.
This was an "I can't believe I have four kids!" moment-
And Eve is fake sleeping here, but Wes had really fallen asleep on my shoulder while staring at Mae and eventually that fatigue traveled to me and Mae and finally Eve-
It was a miracle when I opened my eyes and everyone had fallen asleep. We were all tuckered out from the excitement Mae brought with her, and a little nap refreshed us all!
I'm not sure what we ended up watching that night, but Eve loved her time with Mae and I just have a feeling these sisters are going to be the best of friends!
And there you go, the day Mae came and changed our world forever.
Mae, we sure love you and are so glad you are finally here. We couldn't have asked for anything better than your perfect little body and soul to join our family. Thank you for choosing us.
