On November 7th at 7:57 am, Hailey Ann made her entrance into the world! God had his hand on the whole experience and everything went so well! Matt and I had to be up at the hospital at 5 am to get checked in and everything. I wasn't nervous at all about anything until they wheeled me into the OR. There is just something so scary about those rooms! I know that have to be sterile, but sheesh, they just feel so cold and scary! Of course when they took me in there for the spinal I had to be alone without Matt. He had to wait outside while they put that in. I was very, very nervous and was thinking maybe I should go... I'll just keep her inside... haha but I knew that wasn't an option either. My last c section experience was very negative so I had good reason to be scared. After Matt came in and my doctor I started to relax some. I remember feeling cold and also feeling a sudden onset of nausea. My anesthesiologist was absolutely fantastic and stayed on top of everything. I told her about how I felt the entire c section last time so she was very good about checking on me. She kept asking how I was doing, and I said I was doing fine just nervous. I then turned to Matt and said, "I just really, really hope I don't feel the incision this time"! To which his response was "Oh, babe don't worry they've already started". Biggest relief ever! I didn't feel a thing this time and it was wonderful. Matt even got to watch the whole procedure and get some really neat pictures of Hailey coming out. As soon as they got her out everyone said "Whoa! That's a big baby!" My doctor was super excited to see how big she was going to be. He continually commented on how "huge" she was throughout my pregnancy. He did say your belly is all baby a few times so that made it better... haha. As soon as they cleared her airway she let out a nice healthy cry. It was such a sweet sound. After seeing her I just thanked God for a healthy sweet little girl! What a blessing it is to have a healthy child! It can be so easy to take that for granted but I try not to. It seems that all to often I am reminded by a story of a friend or even a friend's friend that didn't experience that. Miss Hailey was as pink as could be and the girl had some cheeks and a sizable double chin! I love, love, love it! Another blessing with this delivery was that I was not separated from her for hours like last time! They checked her out right there in the OR and did most everything right there. About 10 minutes before my doctor was finished sewing me back up they took Hailey into my recovery room and promised they would wait to do the bath until I got there. Wow! What a different experience from last time. I was only away from her for about 10 minutes and of course Matt was with her the whole time. As soon as I got into recovery I was able to feed her for the first time and then after that they bathed her right there so I could see! I know I may sound super excited about this, but this was such a huge difference from Callie's birth. The moral of the story here is that if you ever have to have a c section, tell the hospital how you want things to be done. They absolutely can accommodate a more natural feeling c section where the Mom gets to be involved. I just told the nurse when I got there that I wanted as little time away from her as possible and that I wanted to breastfeed her as soon as possible. I was very pleased with my experience with this hospital! Callie and Mimi came at 930 am to meet sweet Hailey. They were both excited! It was such an amazing moment to watch Callie with Hailey for the first time. It's one of those memories that I will cherish and never forget. She was so excited and sweet with her. She was thrilled about getting to hold her, but soon after we got her all situated Callie said, "Ok, you can hold her now". It was cute! Callie has been a tremendous helper and big sister to Hailey! Oh and a shout out to my amazing Mom for taking care of Callie while we were at the hospital. It was so nice not having to worry about her. I knew she was in great hands! Thanks Mom you're the best! From start to finish Hailey's birth was a wonderful experience! My recovery has been wonderful. Apparently not being in labor and pushing for hours before a c section really makes a difference! I was sore for a week or two and ever since then I have just been telling myself to slow down and not do too much. I feel so good, but I certainly don't want any setbacks!
We had such a great time visiting with all of our amazing family during this time! My mom was here for a week and a half. Then it was just us for a week. Matt had that whole time off so it was wonderful! Then Matt's parents came the week of Thanksgiving and then my sister and Ryan came! It was sooooo great having help with Callie. She did get a little spoiled though! I sure missed my Daddy this time around but I know that he is smiling down on his 2nd grandbaby. I wish he was here. I really, really miss him. There are no words.
Well at Hailey's 1 month check up she was in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th for height. Who knows, maybe both of my babies will escape the short genes! Haha! We sure are enjoying this sweet baby girl!!! She's starting to look a little more like Callie did as the days go by. She has been a pretty easy going baby so far. Her big sister Callie was not so easy at first! Hailey is sleeping well at night and usually goes back to sleep right away after a feeding during the night. That makes for one happy and fairly well rested mama! Little Miss Hailey does like to be on the move though. She is happiest when being walked around in the baby carrier. So much for my back! I will post some pictures soon of Christmas. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2014!
Much love!
Erin
