back story: the big delivery day! (jaelyn's birth story)...

the two weeks leading up to having jaelyn were crazy busy, almost like a blur. we celebrated josh's birthday, jordyn had a fairy tale ball at school and the kids started their fall break - just to name a few things. so i will tell the birth story starting at my last weekly midwife appointment. ( i will catch up on the other family stuff later!)

on wednesday october 1, i had my weekly midwife appointment. i was making good progress, already 3 cm dilated! i knew it wouldn't be long until we would meet our precious baby girl! of course the planner in me was dying to know when and all the details. but i didn't know when, just soon!

on thursday october 2, i was exhausted. i was very tired and feeling lots of pressure and different things going on.

on fridayoctober 3, the kids were off school, they began their fall break the day before. so we headed out the door to get haircuts, go to target and have lunch with daddy. while we were in target, i was feeling pretty uncomfortable, lots of pressure and knew the day was coming. i kind of thought i would go into labor that day or that evening. that night jamil and i went out for a date night, knowing it would be awhile before we would have another one.

saturday october 4, was a busy day, my sister and i went for a pedicure - yeah! one last one before the baby arrived - glad i made it to this appointment! we also attended our dear friends' daughter's birthday party that day. and that evening we went to have a little fall fun at aw shucks corn maze in monroe.

on sunday october 5, my contractions began while i was at the 11:30 service at church. they were not regular and didn't hurt. that afternoon they became a little more regular. we were suppose to be heading to elevation's praise and worship night, but i wasn't sure if we would make it. in the end we decided to go, contractions and all. they didn't hurt and there wasn't a true pattern. so off we went! i had contractions throughout the night while we were there. they stayed 15-20 minutes apart and didn't really hurt. i was so glad that we were able to be there that night. jaelyn knew she had to hold off until after this event!

i couldn't sleep that night and was up for most of it with on and off contractions. i slept from 11:00 to 12:45. and then was up the rest of the night. by about 3:30 am, with the fear of going into hard labor at home and not making it to the hospital, we decided to call my midwife and tell her what was going on. when i talked to her she told me to come on in. we left for the hospital at about 6:00 am.

jamil and i were able to get things in order at our house, finish packing and take a leisurely drive to cmc hospital. my mom came up to watch the kids and we told my sister, who was planning on attending this labor and delivery, to go into work and we would call her with the details. on the way to the hospital, we stopped by krispy kreme and got some donuts! who would have thought that would have been my last "meal" for another 12 hours.

after we arrived at the hospital and got settled in our labor and delivery room, we learned that our friends from church, the lineberger's were two suites down and autumn was in labor too!!! how fun!

when my midwife came in around 7 am, i wasn't having any contractions and the baby was doing great. i was 5 cm and 80% effaced. after i was monitored for awhile, they let me do some walking, so we met up with greg and autumn and walked the halls. it was so special to have a friend there and share in this experience together! the walk did great for autumn - she had her beautiful baby girl within the next two hours of our walk. for me it was another story. at least it made it easy for our midwife to have our two births so far apart.

for the next couple of hours, i walked and rested and still the contractions hadn't started back. so at 11:15 am we decided to break my water. i was still only 5 cm. in the past once my water breaks, my babies make their appearance within 2 hours. so we called my sister and had her come to the hospital. we expected to meet our little baby girl in a short amount of time. i braced myself for a fast and furious active labor and delivery.

it took about an hour for the contractions to start again and become steady and hard. once they did, i was taken off the monitors and began to do all kinds of things to get this baby born!!! i walked, took a hot shower, used a birthing ball and tried to rest. the contractions became harder and more intense. by about 4:00 they were pretty painful and i was getting tired. i started thinking that i would need to have some drugs to make it through. about 40 minutes later, my nurse checked me and i was at 7 cm. some progress but not where i was hoping to be. when my midwife came in, i was in such pain and we talked about the drugs. she really encouraged me that it wouldn't be much longer and i could do this without medicine. she felt like the slow part of my labor was over and it would pick up and she would be here in no time. i opted not to get the drugs and keep on laboring! praying that it would be over soon. i was getting so tired and losing my strength.

about 20 minutes later the contractions were really hard and closer together, i felt a lot of pressure. my midwife checked me and i was still only at 7 cm but my cervix had changed enough and was really thinned out, that we could work through the next phase of labor. without giving a lot of graphic details, i will just say that i began to push through the contractions at about 5:45 or so and jaelyn was born at 6:03pm!!

i was so excited to see her. words never can express the range of emotions that i feel once i have brought a new baby into the world. and it was no different with her! i was in complete amazement of this miracle! i felt so relieved that all of the pain was over and i was holding the best gift ever.

later that night, my parents brought the kiddos up to the hospital so that they could all meet jaelyn!

it was a long day, but a wonderful one! i love being in the hospital after having a baby! i love everything about it. it is like a retreat for me. it is such a special time, one i have enjoyed with each of my babies and definitely with jaelyn's birth too. i stayed in the hospital until wednesday afternoon. i was feeling pretty good. this labor and delivery was probably the easiest on my body, as far as recovery time. but i guess after having four, it knows what to do!!

during my stay there we had a lot of visitors, lots of friends and family came to meet our little blessing. i was so happy to show jaelyn off!!

the big delivery day and hospital stay were just the beginning to a very joyful time in my life and in the life of our family.