The Girl in the Red Shoes

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Annabelle’s Birth Story Part 1

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support while we transition to being a family of FIVE! Our new little lady has completed our family and brought so much joy (and sleepless nights) to our lives. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Looking at all THREE of my children can bring tears to my eyes. I’m just feeling very, very blessed. 

Okay, so here’s how it all went down! Long time readers will know that both Hudson and Sadie were born at exactly 40 weeks, aka, on their exact due dates. And yes, Hudson was a planned c-section…but we planned it for my due date (it was around labor day and my doctor was out of town, and I was also scared, so I pushed it off as long as possible!). My water broke at 4am and then I went in to labor on my own the morning of my scheduled c-section. So I think it’s safe to say if he wouldn’t have been breech he still would have been born on his due date. And Sadie came on her due date too! But Annabelle? Not so much. She broke my streak, little stinker. She was born at 40 weeks + 3 days. 
Fun fact: All of my kids were born on a Wednesday! So there’s that! Also, they were born on the 5th (Hudson), 10th (Sadie), and 15th (Belle)….which is cool too, right? Plus now we are a family of FIVE and Jon and I were married on 10-5. Give us all the fives! And, for more number fun, the kids were born in months 3 (March – Belle), 6 (June – Sadie), and 9 (September – Hudson). So how’s that for crazy birthday numbers?
Anyway, back to Annabelle’s birth story. My due date was March 12th, which was a Sunday. The previous week I had scheduled an appointment for Monday March 13th to have a non-stress test, amniotic fluid check, and for my midwife to sweep my membranes. I was convinced I wouldn’t need the appointment, so needless to say I was feeling a little disappointed on the 13th when it was time to go in. Jon was off from work (because we thought we would have a baby by now!) so he went with me to the appointment. Baby passed all her tests and looked great….and we found out I was 2cm dilated….which was pretty good, because that’s what I was when I went to the hospital in labor with Sadie. The my midwife swept my membranes…and holy cow, that HURT! I had to have her stop because I wasn’t expecting it to hurt as much as it did….and then I had her start again. My tolerance for pain is super low, but dang, that hurt.

It’s no fun going past your due date. I started to feel like April the giraffe….people kept asking when I was going to have the baby (um, I’m not God, I don’t know!) or worse yet, told me I better hurry up and have the baby. Like I could just snap my fingers and make it happen. That totally got on my nerves. Write that down as something to NEVER say to an over-due pregnant lady. To make matters worse, the week before I was due everyone in my house was sick. One week before my due date Hudson, Sadie, and I all got pink eye. And we had terrible colds too. Thankfully a call to the pediatrician got us all some eye drops….and our eyes looked much better two days later. Unfortunately as soon as we were better my mom and Jon got pink eye too. I was super nervous that I would go in to labor and one of them wouldn’t be able to go to the hospital with me due to the infection. But praise God we were all better before Annabelle came! God totally let me go past my due date so that everyone would be healthy before baby girl made her debut. 

So, the membrane sweep did it’s magic and I started having contractions Monday night. I had had irregular contractions here and there for the last few weeks of my pregnancy, so I wasn’t convinced this was the real deal. But around 3am the next morning they were getting stronger and more regular. I sent Jon to work because we still weren’t sure what was going on and I didn’t want him home all week with no baby on her way! Some time around noon on Tuesday, March 14th I texted him that things were getting REAL. So he came home early to help me with the kids. Speaking of kids, Hudson picked up on the fact that something was going on and he decided to be as difficult as possible. I remember trying to go upstairs for some reason and stopping halfway up due to a contraction and BOTH kids trying to crawl on top of me. My mom pulled Hudson off of me and he had an epic meltdown. I know he was scared and just wanted mama….but when you are having an intense contraction the last thing you want is a crazy 4 year old crawling all over you! I took a few hot showers to help with the pain while my mom and Jon made arrangements for the kids. 
When I was pregnant with Sadie it was my first VBAC, so we headed to the hospital right away once labor started and I labored for a long time before being admitted. So I knew this time I wanted to do as much laboring at home (where I was more comfortable) as possible. But once I couldn’t talk through the contractions we all knew it was time to go. It’s funny, because during my appointment with my midwife, she told me that she was on call the next day (Tuesday)….and that if I could come in around 6pm that would be perfect. Well, I called her around 5:30pm or so to tell her I was on my way….and I met her at the hospital at exactly 6pm. Ha!
Having a midwife was an awesome experience, and probably deserves it’s own post. But for now, just  know that I am a fan. My midwife met us at the hospital and basically did everything….helped me get in to my gown (Jon had major trouble with all the snaps and ties),  got my IV started, and then checked me….I was at 5cm (yay!) and I remember Jon being happy I wasn’t still at 2. She asked if I needed my epidural and I was like YES PLEASE, and then got me checked in. My mom arrived a little bit later. I chose to have her in the room when I had Sadie, and I loved her being there, so of course I wanted her again!

And now don’t hate me, but this post is getting LONG. Come back on Monday for part 2….where we get REAL. I promise you don’t want to miss it.


Comments

  3. Yay for birth stories! I love how your babes are born every 3 months, on Wednesdays and in 5 day intervals!! Both Kinsey and Brielana were born on Fridays at 8:13 and 8:26 in the morning on the 4th day of their months! It would be beyond awesome if little boy followed suit 😉

  5. I LOVE all those numbers friend, so amazing!! The only numbers we have are all three girls are odd numbers (9, 7 and 13) and hubs and i are even (10 and 22) and the girls are consecutive months (March, April and May). Can't wait for Monday x

  6. I love birth stories! And the numbers thing is too cool! Our anniversary is August 25th, we found out we were pregnant with Mason on Sept 25th, he was born on May 25th (5th month). 🙂 So, I love the numbers thing. Going to read part 2 now.

  7. So many comments! One, suuuper jealous of all your cool connections! I so badly wanted a baby on a multiple of 6 date because my other two were! And Brantley and Holden were both born on Fridays of a holiday weekend…Rhett was due on Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, but he was way to stubborn to make his appearance on his due date! And seriously, being overdue with #3 (and not the others) is brutal! Talk about mind games. P.S. I'm a big wimp, too!

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