Savannah Jane's Birth Story!

This is the birth story of my second little princess Savannah Jane... I will warn you all in saying that this is a very lengthy post but I never want to forget a single detail.  I jotted down notes for Raleigh Grace's birth story but never wrote out the whole story and all the great details- many of which I'm sure I have forgotten now, so I am being sure to document well this first day of Savannah Jane's life! I will only post a few pictures in this post since the post itself is lengthy on its own. I hope you enjoy it and can see how God really does work miracles!! We are so blessed!! 

Wednesday May 22nd:
I had a doctors appointment that K wasn't able to make because he had to work. They did an ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid (it was a 12- which was great), a non-stress test to measure babys movement over a 20-30minute period (it too was great- Doc said "now that is one happy baby!"), and to check to see if I had dialated any more (I had not- I was still 1cm).  They scheduled a doctors apointment for the following Tuesday, the last appointment of the day.  The doctor said they would check me again and if I hadn't progressed any more by then that they would check me in to Labor and Delivery immediately and start me on a dose of cervadol to ripen my cervix- I would  spend the night at the hospital and they would start petocin the next morning.  If I had progressed by my Tuesday appointment they would schedule an induction for that next morning- I would go in first thing in the morning and they would start me on petocin (thats what they did with RG).  We didn't tell anyone in our family this - we were going to wait and see what happened Tuesday before saying anything to anyone.  I just knew I would be induced either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thursday May 23rd:
K and I had one last "date night" and went to poll night at the speedway- my aunt watched RG while we were out.
My mom and sister drove in from Mississippi and arrived around 1:30am.  They had been trying to get here for several weeks but thankfully Miss Savannah Jane decided to be late because my sister was out of school for the summer and was able to come and stay! There were several complications causing them (mainly mom) to not be able to come... my dad was having some biopsies done, their new church was doing directory pictures, then my dad ended up in the ER with what they thought were complications from his procedure.  He ended up having to stay in the hospital for a week (so glad mom was still there to be with him!) - it ended up he had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite.  Thankfully, he got to go home after several days in the hospital and finally started healing and feeling back to normal.

Friday May 24th:
My mom, sister (Audrey.AJ), Raleigh Grace and I spent the day hanging out and playing.  I had planned on sending my mom to the mountains (where her parents live) for the weekend so K, RG and I could enjoy one last weekend together- just the three of us- then having her come back on Tuesday before my doctors appointment. Around noon, K called me while working and asked me if I wanted to go to the Coca-Cola 600 that was on Sunday-- I told him "of course I do, but I don't want you spending money on tickets"- he told me he didn't ask me that, but did I want to go? I said YES! and he said okay, well we have tickets!  His boss had tickets for the party deck (free food and free drinks!) and gave them to K.  I asked mom if she and Audrey would stay the weekend and watch RG on Sunday so K and I could go to the race- she said of course and joked that if I went into labor before then that she and Audrey would go to the race.

Saturday May 25th in Sunday May 26: (here comes the good part ;) )
I woke up around 7:30am having some contractions- they were about 20-30 seconds long and coming every 3-5 minutes.  I didn't think much of them at first- they weren't too strong and I had had contractions similar to them before that ended up going away after a couple of hours (like a week prior).  I tried to go back to sleep and maybe dozed off a couple of times but the contractions were still there.  Around 10am K woke up and I think one of the first things I said to him was "we might not get to go to the race on Sunday."  He asked me why and I told him that I had been having some contractions since about 7:30am.  I still really wasn't convinced I was in active labor.  We laid around in bed and let mom get RG up and play with her.  At 10:30 K, RG and I drove to McDonalds for breakfast- I was still having contractions.  I ate two bacon, egg and cheese bagels and some orange juice. My contractions continued every 3-10 minutes lasting only 15-30 seconds.  We came home and around 11:30 or so I decided I needed to take a shower just in case I really was in labor.  My contractions were still about the same.  I showered and got ready- put my make up on and did my hair.  My mom asked K if we were going to the hospital to which he laughed and said no.  K and I sneakily started adding the finishing touches to our hospital bags and getting everything ready- we told my mom that we were just cleaning up my room and getting things ready for when it was time to go. ;)  K looked up "when to go to the hospital" and found that we should wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart or less, lasting at least a minute and that happening for an hour; or when the contractions were too painful to talk through.  I wasn't there yet but K decided it really wasn't a good idea to hold on to the race tickets- (I was not ready to give them up) we called my uncle and asked him if he had any interest in going.  He said he would love to go so we told him he could have the tickets.  K downloaded an application on his phone to monitor contractions (he had previously downloaded it on his phone when I was pregnant with RG but we never had to use it- and since then he had bought a new phone).  I started monitoring my contractions with the app.  K did some laundry while I was packing and still getting ready.  Mom and Audrey played with RG and kept her occupied.

They were having a picnic outside :) 

I had been expecting a few packages of cute things for SJ in the mail so right before going to lunch I went and checked the mail.  To my surprise, all of the things that I thought wouldn't be here until Tuesday arrived on Saturday (a matching hat, blanket, and onesie- all coming from different sellers ha!)  I was SO excited but wanted to have them monogrammed in time for SJ's birth. Around 2pm K, Audrey and I went to Jersey Mikes for lunch- I was hesitant to let Audrey go to lunch with us because my contractions were starting to be a little painful and we still weren't ready to tell her or my mom that I was in labor.  I tried to hide the pain at lunch and hide the fact that I was timing the contractions on K's phone the whole time.  I asked K if we could go get some grey embroidery thread after lunch and he said he was going to surprise me and take me there next.  I thought I was doing a good job of hiding my contractions from my sister... until we were in the car driving from Jersey Mikes to JoAnn's fabric store... K was driving down a curvy on ramp when I started having a really bad contraction... I squenched up my face and Audrey (who was sitting in the back seat) asked me if I was okay... apparently she could see my face in the side view mirror (oops ha!) -- I told her yes, I was fine, but that K's driving was making me sick and that SJ was kicking me in the ribs ha! She bought it ;).  We went to JoAnn's and picked out the thread.  As we were checking out the lady at the register asked me when I was due and I told her "a week ago"-- she was shocked and started asking me why I was out and about and shouldn't I be at home in bed or something.  She even asked me if my doctor knew I was out shopping and if that was allowed (oh some people...).
At this point my contractions were about 2-5 minutes apart (still only about 30 seconds long) but they were getting quite a bit more painful.  I knew at this point that I really was in labor since the contractions weren't going away and were getting more painful.
When we got home my aunt Donna and uncle Greg were at our house- they had been in town that morning for a funeral and just stopped by to say hi really quick.  They left and I felt a little bad knowing they were going to drive two hours home and I knew I was in labor (but we still hadn't told mom).  They had to babysit my cousin's son, Jackson, that night so that made me feel less bad.
After they left I immediately started embroidering the blanket and K started on the onesie.  I had to go out of the room every couple of minutes because I would be in so much pain I didn't want people talking to me or noticing ha.  Audrey and RG were on the porch playing with a squirt bottle and having a picnic with RG's play food.  It was a beautiful day and we had the backdoor open so RG was just coming in and out playing with Audrey.  Mom was eating her lunch we brought her from Jersey Mikes.

Around 5:30pm K and I decided it was a good time to tell my mom that I was in labor.  K handed his phone to my mom with the contraction app pulled up- it was just a screen that had several rows and columns of numbers and the columns were labed "frequency" and "duration."  K asked her if she could make any sense of it.  She looked at it for several seconds with a confused look on her face and said no.  He questioned her about what it meant again and she said "is it contractions?" and I said yes! She got so excited and said "REALLY!? Your contractions!?" -- I joked "no, K's!" haha!  K had not wanted to tell her any earlier because he didn't want her (or anyone) telling us what we should do and he said "as soon as I tell her she is going to tell us to go to the hospital." Well, at that point she asked me how close together they were and I told her 4 minutes and she said "wow! Yall need to go to the hospital now! What do I need to do!?"  We told her we weren't going to go yet and I told her I wanted to finish SJ's blanket and onesie first ha!  We finished packing the bags, finished embroidering, started the blanket and onesie in the wash, etc.  The contractions had moved to my back and were so painful I almost was doubling over with each one.  During each contraction I was singing in my head "Our God is an awesome God" and sometimes even singing it out loud.  If I wasn't doing that I would countdown (in my head) from a random number I picked- usually 30 seconds but sometimes 60 seconds and keep telling myself that the pain wasn't that bad. And I would pray through them.
I told K that I thought it was time to go.  He agreed as my contractions had been about 4 minutes apart lasting on average one minute (sometimes a little less, sometimes up to a minute an a half) for about an hour.  I remember being in so much pain that I thought "I want to hurry up and get to the hospital so I can get an epidural as soon as possible" haha!

Around 7:40 K loaded up the car with all of our stuff, we headed downstairs and Mom, Audrey and RG followed.  They took a few pictures of K, RG and I (our last pictures as a family of three) in front of our house, and then K and I left for the hospital- he had backed the car into a spot by the house so we could leave quickly :) .

our last pictures as a family of three! 

Kisses for our first little baby!

On the way to the hospital K had Steeldrivers playing and the song "Sticks that made thunder" came on- it was so relaxing during my contraction I told K it was going to be my laboring song and to play it when I was at the hospital ha!
As we were driving I asked K what we were supposed to do... do we just show up or are we supposed to call first? He didn't know and neither did I but I thought I remembered hearing a message on my Dr's office answering machine saying "If you are a patient in labor press number _"... so I called the Dr's office at 7:45pm (remember it's Saturday and the office is closed).  The first time I tried I got a message saying the office was closed for the Memorial day weekend and to call 911 if it was an emergency. Um. No.  I had another number for the office and I called that one- one of the last options was to press number _ if you were in labor so I did that-- the whole time I had the phone on speaker and told K if I handed him the phone it was bc I was having a contraction and that he would have to talk to them.  I was on hold for several minutes (at least two contractions) and I finally got someone on the line.  She asked me a few questions like had my water broken and if my contractions were at least 5-10 minutes apart for the past hour- I told her um, yes since about 7:30am! hah.  She transfered me to a nurse... I was on hold again for about 10 minutes.  Right about the time she answered we pulled into the hospital.  I told her I was in labor and she asked some of those same questions again.  She told me to go ahead and head to the hospital and I told her I just pulled in.  She told me she would call the hospital and let them know I was on my way.  Surpassingly, all of the phone calls were timed perfectly to where I wasn't having contractions while talking.
8:00pm-- We parked in the "Expectant Mothers" parking for the last time and took a small load of our things up to Labor and Delivery. I had to stop a couple of times walking up to L&D to get through the contractions.  When we walked in one of the nurses was on the phone with the lady I had just gotten off the phone with.

8:15pm-- They checked me in and got me in a room- I asked for one of the big rooms and they gave us room 223 which was about twice the size of the room we had with RG.  At our hospital you labor and recover in the same room so we wanted lots of room for all the visitors we knew we would have :) .
As soon as we got to the room my nurse, Betsy, had me put my gown on and started filling out more paperwork.  I told her I wanted an epidural and that I wanted it as soon as I could get it.

8:30pm-- Betsy told me she was going to check my cervix.  As soon as she checked me she was like "OMG - you're 5cm... no wait, you're at least six! WOW, your bag of fluids... its bulging... its like RIGHT there... wow..." and she kept saying "WOW!!!"  After she checked me she went to throw her gloves away across the room and you right as she did that you hear a huge POP noise and my water broke...! Betsy said "OMG you're going to have this baby tonight!" and called for backup nurses.  She had me hang out in the bathroom while the nurses came in and changed all my bed sheets and got my IV things ready to go.

its GO time! :) 

8:45pm-- they got me settled in the bed, got my IV going, took a blood sample to have my platelets checked (for the anesthesiologist- so I could get the epidural) and K started texting our family letting them know we were at the hospital and I was in fact going to have this baby! He went out to the car and got the rest of our bags and brought them up to our room.

I think around 9:15 my doctor came in to check me and I was 7cm.  He told me that the anesthesiologist should be back in the next 15 minutes.  My contractions were super painful (both in my stomach and back) and K was so helpful in rubbing my back and holding and massaging my hands or back.  He talked to me and was so comforting!  I kept singing in my head "Our God is an awesome God" and sometimes hummed it through the contractions.

9:30ish - Anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural- he had me sit on the edge of the bed and hug a pillow while leaning forward.  The nurse stood in front of me with her hands on my shoulders and she too was very comforting and helpful -I remember the epidural taking a lot longer this time compared to with RG (with rg they had me laying on my side) and it was quite painful as I had several contractions while the Dr. was trying to administer it. It was almost like I could feel the tube going into my spine and then inserting whatever they insert into the tube... it also sent a shock through my left left which is normal. With RG only one leg went numb so I had two epidurals and afterwards couldn't even move my legs.  With SJ my legs and feet just felt like they were asleep and I was freaking out that the epidural wasn't working-- both the nurse and doc assured me that I wouldn't feel any pain.  Eventually, my contractions eased up (pain wise) so I knew it was working... I couldn't feel the contractions in my stomach anymore but I still had pain in my back.
(At some point K called my mom and she came to the hospital with RG and my sister Audrey.  My aunt Donna N also came up to the hospital sometime before SJ was born.)

10:26 Doctor checked me and I was 9.5 cm and 95% effaced.

10:31pm called my best friend Erin and let her know I was in labor :)
K went to the waiting area and got Raleigh Grace and brought her back to the room so we could see her and cuddle on her some before the baby came.  We snapped a few pictures of she and I and of K and RG.  Raleigh Grace was sooo tired but she was still in good spirits.  She didn't seem too concerned that I was attached to machines and in a hospital bed.  I even got a little smile out of her for a picture.  K then took her back to the waiting room to be with my mom, sister and aunt.  K said that she was just running around the hallways like it was 4 in the afternoon!

Hanging out with Mommy and Daddy before the baby comes

So excited about meeting her little sister :) 

11:00pm checked me again- still 9.5 cm but baby was very very low.  They drained my bladder.  The dr. and nurse asked me if I wanted to have the baby tonight or tomorrow and I said tonight!! They told me they would be back in 20 minutes to check me again...20 minutes went by, 30 minutes went by, FORTY minutes went by... I became very frustrated with my doctor not coming back on time and told K to go to the desk (which was right outside of our room) and tell them to send my nurse/doctor.  (I also started thinking if they didn't get there ASAP that I wasn't going to have a 5/25 baby but she was going to be born on 5/26).
I was facebook chatting with some of my favorite "blog girls" and they were all guessing when I would have SJ and how big she would be :) They kept me sane and excited during this long wait period!!

Finally at 11:50 my nurse came in -- I asked her if they forgot about me and she insisted she was just there 20 minutes ago-- I told her she was wrong and that it had been FIFTY minutes and she seemed to lack concern.
The doctor came in too and when he checked me he seemed surprised that I was ready to push-- I knew it was time as I could feel the pressure and had been a 9.5 for over an hour and a half.  They brought in all of the birthing supplies and nurses as my nurse got me ready to push.  I asked for a mirror and they brought that in as well.   I "practiced" once with her (K holding my left leg and her on my right) and she told the doc to come.  It was hard for me to feel my contractions every time while laying back so she was feeling on my stomach and watching the contractions monitor to help me know when to push- but most of the time I would say "okay, I'm having one" and I would push.  I think I pushed about 5 times (three pushes in each time- for 10 seconds each)... I LOVED having the mirror because I could actually SEE the progress I was making as well as feeling it! It was truly amazing!! When her head came out it took one more push and her shoulders and the rest of her body came out!

12:06 Sweet Miss Savannah Jane was born!!!!!
The doctor laid the sweet baby girl on my chest and let me touch her and rub her and talk to her while Daddy cut the cord.  They then took her and cleaned her up a bit, and measured her.
7lbs 7oz and 21 inches long! I was shocked she was so long and shocked that she was almost a full pound bigger than RG because she seemed SOOO tiny!! Daddy got to hold her and then I nursed her for a little while before letting my family come back.

1:30ish Karl went and got Raleigh Grace and brought her to the room to meet her little sister.   She was suprisingly bright eyed for it to be so late.  Raleigh Grace was just PRECIOUS with Savannah Jane. As soon as she set her eyes on her little sister, RG just grinned from ear to ear and did not take her eyes off of her.  K asked her if she wanted to touch her and RG took one finger and gently touched her hand and real quick pulled her finger away.  Then K reassured her it was alright to touch her so RG touched her with one finger again and grinned ear to ear.  Then he asked if she wanted to rub her back and she said "ya", then commenced to rub her back ever so softly.  Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

1:40am K called Mom and told her that they (Mom, Audrey, Donna) that they could come back.  Everyone was in love with Savannah Jane and OOO'ed and AHH'ed over her and took turns holding her.

2:30am  Mom, AJ, RG, and Donna left to go home.  As they were gathering things to depart, K was holding Savannah and mom had RG.  I asked RG if she had her bunny (she didn't), and AJ brought it to her. She cuddled it and put her head on mom's shoulder.  I told RG that we needed to get Savannah Jane a bunny, then one of the sweetest new sister moments ever occurred.  RG took her bunny and laid it on Savannah Jane.  This was huge because RG almost never shares her bunny, especially with new people.  I almost teared up.  Then RG leaned in to get her bunny back and kissed Savannah Jane on the head.  Then there were hugs all around and we had the room to ourselves for a few before sending Savannah Jane to the nursery so we could get some shut eye.

The monogrammed blanket I made while in labor ha!