2013 has been a very exciting year for us! It all began with telling everyone the news that we were FINALLY having a baby! After 11 years of marriage, this moment was long awaited from our family. We of course captured all of their reactions as seen in this video here..
The following months were filled with joyous moments such as hearing the heart beat, the first kick, followed by many more kicks, and of course finding out the gender! (View it HERE)
The excitement grew as we approached the due date.
Things were all set in motion starting at 3:00 a.m. on Monday August 26th with early labor contractions. I remember waking up out of a dead sleep thinking “OMG, is that what i think it is?” about 8 minutes later another contraction. This continued until about 8:00 a.m. at which point I was able to finally get some much needed sleep. After waking up at 11:00 a.m. the day went on as planned with a contraction occurring occasionally. Lunch with friends followed by working on the baby’s room. It was this way till 8:30 p.m. when the contractions grew closer together. So at this point I thought, “hmmm, maybe I should try and sleep” Okay, so I didn’t think that, but I really really wish I had! It was a long night of timing contractions, bouncing on a yoga ball, and taking warm baths. Finally about 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the contractions were 4 to 5 minutes apart and picked up intensity. After talking to the fabulous nurse Lory at Dr. Presley’s office, we were off to the hospital around 9:30 a.m. We get all settled in (ugly hospital gown and all) and wait as the nurse checks my progress. Drum roll please….. I was only 2 cm dilated! Very disappointed seeing that I was 2 cm 2 weeks ago. With the hospital only admitting you once you are 4 cm, the nurse suggested I walk for an hour. ” Yippie, I get to walk around these boring halls in this ugly gown.” So we walked, stopping with every contraction. After a very long hour, I had only progressed to 3 cm. Disappointed (and hungry) I asked to go home and labor there. It was a full day of ball bouncing, tub hopping, and a long walk around the neighborhood, basically anything to get things moving! Around 8:30 p.m. the fatigue hit and I tried to nap. 4 minutes into the nap, I woke up screaming with a STRONG contraction. Frustrated by the lack of sleep, I yelled for Danny and said lets go! He quickly got everything together and we were off.
I tried to hold back emotional tears while the nurse rolled me down the hall way. As the doors to the labor room opened, I was relieved to see some familiar faces as two of our past brides were the nurses on duty. Nurse Shannon got me settled in, checked my progress….. only 4 cm dilated! Not what I wanted to hear, but at least I was staying. Then the best thing happened next… the epidural! Ahhhhh sweet relief and finally sleep! At 2:45 a.m. Danny and I were woken up by the sound of a POP! My water had broken and it was the coolest feeling! An hour later, our fabulous friend and fellow photographer Suzie Webster arrived to document these amazing moments. Unfortunately, she arrived at the same time that my epidural wore off. There may or may not have been a few choice words used at this point. But even through the pain, Suzie and I talked photography which was a nice distraction. The epidural was fixed and I was back to sleep. Finally around 8:30 a.m. I get the great news that it was getting time to push!! They also took away my happy button, which administered the epidural 🙁 But, the room was filled with beautiful sunlight, which as a photographer made me very happy. After an hour and half of pushing, little miss Lucy made her grand appearance. Danny was immediately smitten by our little girl. It was an amazing experience and I am so grateful to all of those who have showered us with love and support.
