Looking back I remember very little from Stella and Amelie’s birth. I remember being pretty much alone in the whole thing and while welcoming my children into the world was amazing and life changing, I didn’t really felt I shared it with a present partner. I guess that’s why I’m so excited to share Lucy’s birth story. It truly was one of the best days of my life!
Saturday morning we woke up pretty early, I had been in prodromal labor (look it up, it’s real and it sucks!) for almost three weeks and it was exhausting. These were different though, I know I’ve had two children previous Lucy but you forget (hence more kids, lol) The girls were with their dad and my mom for the rest of the weekend so Jake and I had some alone time and we took advantage! We walked! We ran errands, who doesn’t need to go to target while in labor? We had an awesome and eventful lunch, we decided to stick close to the hospital so patio dining at 1900 when the weather is gorgeous sounded amazing! …Until a hawk flew into the window and scared the bejesus out of everyone dining outside (hawk ended up being ok). We got ice cream at Elizabeth creamery and continued to walk around the neighborhood. Then we drove around the neighborhood. Ok, so I had already gone into hospital twice, and been sent home twice, we were super hesitant to go back this time so we waited as long as possible to go in! Thank God my husband is funny….and cute, he had me laughing through contractions and while they were painful, it did make me feel so much better (thanks Boo!)

We finally made our way to Novant and checked into triage (3rd time in two months). I was only 1/2 centimeter dialated still but 90% effaced, they gave me a gown and had me walk laps, again, Jake making me laugh the whole time…30 minutes later I was just tired and frustrated and no change so we reluctantly went home. Of course I was huge, emotional, tired and pissed so I cried the whole way, dooming myself to have a 12 lb baby and a c-section… (I’m not dramatic at all lol) As soon as we got home I blew up the exercise ball we had gotten earlier that morning and sat on it for about 10 minutes, mind you I’ve been having contractions 5 minutes apart for about two days straight at this point so I just decided to throw in the towel and go lay down. 5 minutes later I felt a pop and the most excruciating pain I’ve ever been in and it was fast paced from there on out. Jake rushed us back to hospital and as soon as I was in a gown my water broke! I don’t remember contractions at all with Amelie, but with Stella I had back labor, for 8 hours. If you’ve ever experienced it I’m truly sorry because it’s bad, and when I say bad, I mean the worst, I’d rather go through almost anything but that. Jake and I had decided to try a natural birth this time and as much as I wanted to bring Lucy in drug free, that back labor is no joke, so epidural it was! The problem is, when you’re in that much pain, every second counts, but to get an epidural they have to draw blood and make sure your platelets are high enough and you have to have a full iv bag in your body. We got our room and the team of nurses started to work. This was our first delivery at Novant, the first two were at CMC, I have nothing but amazing things to say about Novant! Except for the half wit that got the iv started and yanked it out accidentally with her glove, my arm is still swollen and green ; / Luckily Jake’s mum was with us, after 90% of the drip was in, I was feeling like I needed to push so she got the nurse and expedited the process and we got the epidural just in time! About three pushes later and Ms Lucy was safely in our arms! Jake and I were so impressed with the team that helped us, during delivery there must have been about 15 nurses in our room but as soon as Lucy was born she was on my chest and they cleared out. The Dr and one or two nurses stayed to deliver the placenta (which we encapsulated!!! More on that later!!) and they quietly left too! The didn’t clean her off or weigh her or anything, it was family time! I have never been happier (or more tired) in my life, Jake and I have this amazing creature to love on and watch grow and I never thought I’d be able to experience this again, this time I feel like I have support. My love is here experiencing this with me and it’s amazing! He’s such a hands on dad, changing diapers, feeding Lucy, up at night with us. We have a family, a large one now and it’s the biggest blessing! The support and love that have been showered on us by Jake’s family and our friends is just mind blowing! From meals and groceries to family loving on Lucy so we can take naps and taking care of our four leggeds so we could adjust, It’s more than I could have ever dreamed of! So here’s our tired, ecstatically happy, beautiful Family….