Right before we left for the hospital.
At the hospital about ready to deliver Hazyn.
The team working on Hazyn.
Our little Hazy girl!
Riley bringing Hazyn to me. He was so happy and so was I
Our first family picture!!
Here is Hazyn Jane's birth story:
On Friday May 11, I had a Dr. appointment. At the previous appointment, I was told that I hadn't dilated at all. I was hoping this visit would be different because I was ready to meet my baby girl. Well, the appointment proved to be disappointing because I again hadn't dilated. And to make matters worse, I had to follow a couple taking their newborn baby home out the door. That about killed me.
So that Friday night I decided that I was going to try some Japanese food because I heard that it can induce labor. (I don't really believe that it can do that - I just was craving sushi (California Roll)). We went to dinner with our friends/cousins and then came home and went to bed.
At 2 am I woke up to a sudden gush of fluid and ran to the bathroom. I was pretty sure that my water had broke so I decided to wake Riley up. I quietly said "Babe" because I didn't want to freak him out. But I must have had a tone in my voice because he bounced out of bed quicker than he ever has (he is usually hard to wake up).
Riley sprung into action getting all our bags packed in the car and I wandered around the house in shock. My contractions had started, but I didn't realize it at the time. Finally, at 2:30 we were ready to go to the hospital. I was still in shock and Riley was really excited. At 2:45 we checked in, I got dressed in my lovely gown, and the nurse checked me to verify that my water had in fact broke. Then she told me that I was dilated to a finger tip (ugh - I was worried that this was going to be a long process at this point). After she checked to see that my water had broke, she told me that I had meconium (baby poop) in my water. She explained that it was going to complicate things a little bit and that we would need a team of people when I delivered. I was a little worried, but she was great to calm me down.
At 4 am, my contractions started getting really bad. I don't tolerate pain very well, but I'm convinced that these contractions were pretty bad no matter what type of pain tolerance. Sadly I was only dilated to a 1 and this point. But because my water had broke, they let me get an epidural. Unfortunately, because of paperwork and a few other women ahead of me it took until 5:30 to get my lovely drugs! My contractions were really bad at this point. My back was on fire and I was miserable.
Once my epidural was in, I was in heaven. I even got a few cat naps in:). At 6:15, I was dilated to a 2 and was put on oxygen to keep Hazyn's heart rate up. At 7:15 I was dilated to a 3 so we decided to call our families. We told them they didn't need to hurry because it would probably be a while before she was born. None of them listened (thank goodness).
At 8:30 am I was dilated to a 4. I was pretty happy that I was progressing so nicely. Then, it decided to slow down a bit. At 11:15, I was dilated to a 5 finally.
Then things got wild. My nurse Joni (who I absolutely loved) came to check me at 12:10. All of us were surprised when she said you are dilated to a 9. I was in shock and began getting nervous. I wasn't prepared for delivery that quick. In fact, I was actually terrified of the task that laid ahead. At this point I started to shake pretty bad. I think it was adrenaline, nerves, and absolute fear.
At about 12:30, our families started to arrive. My dad, my sister Callie, and my brother Zach were the first to arrive. They were followed by Riley's parents Carl and Julie and then my mom got there a few minutes later. Everyone was excited!!
At 1pm my nurse checked me and said I was fully dilated. Everyone came in to see us one more time and then we kicked everyone out. At 1:35 pm I started pushing. Riley was really excited and was really good at coaching me through everything. I thought that pushing would be horrible, but it was actually not bad at all. I could feel the pressure, but there wasn't any pain at all (thank you epidural)!
While I was pushing, everyone in the room kept saying "look at that hair." Riley could see it any said that their was tons of black hair. In fact, while I was crowning, the Dr. was playing with Hazyn's hair. Riley said she was twirling it with her fingers and even put it in a Mohawk! I was pretty excited and couldn't wait to see my pretty girl.
Finally, at 2:42, my princess was born. Riley got to cut the cord and then because of the meconium the team of doctors, respiratory therapist, and NICU nurse had to take her immediately. Fortunately they stayed in the room. I was so involved with watching them work on my little girl that it distracted me from my Dr. stitching me up.
They weighed Hazyn and said she weighed 7lbs 11oz. Riley then said she was our little Slurpee (because of 7-11). Everyone in the room got a kick out of that one. The NICU nurse went out and told our families that we had a little Slurpee - ha ha. Hazyn measured 20 inches long.
Finally they handed Hazy to Riley who brought her to me. I was so in love and happy in that moment. Words can't describe the feelings I had so I'm not even going to try writing them down. That moment is the most sacred moment in my life.
Well that novel is Hazyn's birth story. Everything went so smooth. In fact, everything was perfect!!
