♥ Haven's Birth Story! ♥

I will start from the beginning again.

Saturday the 26th (at 40 weeks, 3 days pregnant) Jason and I decided that we'd do everything we could to get her out that day! We even walked around Lily Lake (which is about a 2 1/2 mile walk). I was having some BH contractions while walking and feeling a lot of pressure, but I felt perfectly fine. When we got home, Rick, Lisa, and Ricky decided to come over and see Venily and Jason went off in the woods to continue building his new bicycle trail, lol.

I was down in the basement getting something for Venily when I first thought my water broke at about 4:30pm. But then I thought maybe I peed my pants or something (lol, though I've never done that before, even while pregnant!). I went back upstairs and was in the bathroom when I felt another gush of water. I still wasn't sure though, so I didn't say anything. I was going to wait until Jason got home to see what we should do, so I just pretended that everything was fine as I started cleaning things up and getting things ready in case we were going to the hospital. I was having HUGE doubts though since I just read that less than 15% of women have their water break before they go into labor. Then, when it was still leaking out a bit later, I started to feel a little more confident that it had.

Jason got home and I told him and he took the fastest shower that I have ever seen him take before, lol, and wanted me to call the hospital right away. I called Labor & Delivery and they told me to come over and they'd check me to see if my water had in fact broke. We packed up our bags and headed out.

We got to the hospital at around 6:00/6:30pm. They put me in triage first, but after looking at my pad said that my water had obviously ruptured, so they didn't even need to test it and I went straight into a labor and delivery room. I was checked and was at 3cm. According to the monitor, I was having contractions 4-5 minutes apart. I could feel them, but they felt like my normal BH, not painful at all. If I had been home, there is no way I would have gone to the hospital, lol.

At 9:30pm the contractions had picked up quite a bit and I started getting nervous that if I waited too long, they wouldn't give me an epidural. The nurse checked me and I was at 4cm and 80% effaced. She said I could have the epidural if I wanted it, but she warned me that sometimes it slowed down the labor completely so I decided to wait a little longer. I really wished that I hadn't though, lol!! The contractions were painful, but tolerable. I could talk through them, but they hurt.

At 10:30pm I knew I wanted the epidural! The contractions were really painful and I couldn't talk or open my eyes through them. They felt a lot better while I was sitting up, but when I did, they would space out more and I wanted them to hurt and speed up the process! I was scared of waiting too long and not being able to get the epidural. I was checked again and I was at 5cm. About 15-20 minutes later, I got the epidural. It went fine. Didn't hurt too bad to get it, but at that point the contractions were one on top of the other and getting REALLY painful. When he was done, he said that in 10-20 minutes I should notice a definite improvement. I DIDN'T. With each contraction, he kept asking me if that one was any better and it wasn't. He said "well, they should get better within a couple of minutes" and he left.

My nurse noticed that I was still in a LOT of pain so she wanted to check me again. The pain had actually gotten even WORSE after the epidural so she knew something wasn't right. She said it was probably one of 2 things. Either I had progressed really fast or she was going to need the anesthesiologist to come back in and fix it. When I was checked, I was already 10cm!! My body had moved too fast though for the epidural to work. She called my doctor right away and said he was going to be there in 15-20 minutes. I thought there was no way that I was going to make it that long! I started shaking really badly and had to breathe like crazy to get through the contractions. I held on tightly to Jason with both of my hands. This was SOOO not how I was with Venily! With Venily I had almost no pain at that point!

The nurses were getting nervous and thought they were going to have to deliver her, but my doctor showed up just in time. Literally! Haven wanted OUT!! I only pushed about 2 times before her head was out! And WOW was it different than pushing with Venily! I felt really bad, burning pain. With Venily it didn't hurt to push AT ALL! I was laughing though when they told me to push as soon as I felt a contraction b/c it hurt so bad all the time that I didn't know if I was having a contraction or not, haha. When Haven's head was out, they told me and I was able to lean all the way over and see it! ♥ It was soooo amazing! With Venily I closed me eyes the whole time and was really focused. Looking at Haven's little face, I already could see that she looked JUST LIKE VENILY!! I pushed one more time and her shoulders came out, along with the rest of her body. They put her on me right away and I was just SOOOO IN LOVE!!! And as soon as she was out, the pain was COMPLETELY gone. I did have a small tear this time and had to get that stitched up, but I think it has been a lot better than the 1st degree episiotomy that I had to have last time. Jacki took pictures during the birth and my MIL took a video with her camera. I'm so glad they did. It turned out so good!

Haven was born on Saturday, September 26th (though just barely, lol) at 11:44pm. I was in SHOCK when they told me that she was 9 pounds, 9 ounces and 21.5 inches long!!! Head circumfirence was 14inches. I KNEW Haven was going to be bigger than Venily, but I didn't realize how much bigger! Venily was 7lbs, 8oz and 20in long. No wonder it hurt to push her out, lol, she was 2+ lbs more. And no wonder she was so strong inside of me, haha, she didn't stop kicking and moving through the whole labor process either! I'm surprised I only gained 25 pounds with her though!

She looks EXACTLY like Venily. Like I've gotten deja vu a million times with her so far, I can't believe how much they look a like! Haven seems to have a slightly lighter complexion than Venily did though and a little bit lighter of hair, and a little less hair than Venily. Her eyes are also more of a medium blue than a dark blue (like Venily's were).

So far, Haven has been a REALLY good baby! She is nursing GREAT!! I have not had a single problem with her nursing. With Venily it took a couple of days to get the whole process down, but with Haven, she came out knowing JUST what to do! She is sleeping good too. Doesn't cry very much. Just when I change her diaper. Last night a nurse came in and pricked her heel and squeezed blood out of it for 20 minutes straight and she didn't cry at all but then I went to change her diaper and she starts crying, lol. Everything is looking good with Haven too. She passed her hearing test, doesn't appear to have jaundice, and is going to the bathroom and eating right on schedule. The only thing is that she SPITS UP!!!! :( I hope she outgrows it! Venily spit up every day, 20 times a day, for about 10 months before she stopped! While we were in the hospital Jason was FREAKING out about her spitting up. He was so scared she was going to choke on it. He called the nurse at least 6 times to make sure she was okay!

I'm doing good too. Everyone kept telling me that they couldn't even tell that I just had a baby, so that's nice! Hopefully I'll be back to my old self again right away like last time! My bleeding seems to be a lot less than it was last time even, so that's good and my stiches don't hurt very much at all. I am having some pain with my uterus contracting back to normal, especially while nursing, but I am taking Motrin for that and it's helping.

Jason is doing WONDERFUL as a second time Daddy! I think it helps that Haven came out the size of a 2 month old, lol! He hasn't been afraid to hold her or change her diaper or anything this time around! And she already has him wrapped around her finger, just like her big sister!!

Venily is doing really well also. She was gone for TWO nights from us and did great! (She has NEVER been away from us before so it was a really big deal!). She spent both nights at my Mom's and had a really fun time! When she saw Haven for the first time, it was the CUTEST thing ever!!! She was so excited and wanted to keep kissing her and kissing her and kissing her!! I had someone tape it with my camera, but it turns out they didn't push the button and none of it got recorded! :( Venily has been testing us quite a bit though at the hospital and now that we are home. I feel bad because she has been so out of routine lately and things have changed so much now that she has a new sister, but we are still trying to be pretty strict with her. She LOVES Haven so much though! I so can't wait to watch them grow up together, I am beyond excited about it! They are going to be such good friends!

Haven goes back to the hospital Wednesday morning to get her weight checked and check for jaundice and all that. And I need to schedule her a 2 week appointment with her pediatrician which I will also try to schedule Venily's 2 year well check that day as well.

Thank you to everyone who has congratulated us and stopped by!! We are so happy to have this new addition into our lives at last!! I will try to put up more pictures tomorrow if I get the time. Here are some of the birth pics that Jacki took! Isn't she amazing?! It's sooo hard not to cry while watching it! :) Thanks again Jacki!!! ♥


Haven's Birth