As far as the birth story goes, on May 25th, which was Memorial Day, Tyler and I were lounging on the couch watching TV. It was around ten at night, and I was feeling so pregnant and uncomfortable, but I still had three weeks till my due date. Also, Brooks came three weeks after his due date so I had it in my mind that this baby probably wouldn't be coming for a while. The night before I had woken up to my body shivering like crazy, and and upset stomach, and I felt like it had something to do with the baby, but the next morning I just forgot about it. So anyway, on that night of May 25th, I decided to read some more about natural labor to prepare myself for not having an epidural. After I finished reading I was not feeling well so I told Tyler I was headed to bed and I stood up. As soon as I stood up I felt a little gush! I looked at Tyler and said "I am pretty sure my water just broke!" He didn't believe me and at first I just thought maybe I had peed my pants a little ( that happens to prego ladies you know, ha ha). But then My body started freaking out and doing that crazy shivering things again. Within the next few minutes there was no doubt that my water had broken. But my contractions wouldn't start! With Brooks I had a fast labor so I was nervous I might not make it to the hospital in time with this one, but I also knew tha if I went to the hospital with broken water and no contractions they would want to start me on pitocin.
A word to the wise, if you are planning on a natural labor, pitocin is not your friend. I knew this so I was wary about going to the hospital, but I didn't want to have a baby on the side of the road so we called Tyler's mom and when she got there we headed to the hospital. At the hospital the had me trying different natural things all night to get labor going, but my morning nothing had worked, and I was totally exhausted. By that point I could tell labor was not going to start so I gave in and said they could start pitocin. this labor was so frustrating for me because it felt like it took me so long to progress. And I was so terrified of how painful labor would be with pitocin, but I knew I didn't want an epidural.
Finally after a night with no sleep, and just wanting to get it or over with, I told them to give me pit between 8 and 9 am so we could get the show on the road. The contractions started aslowly and were not too bad for a while, then close to twelve ( I am already forgetting so much about when everything happened so I could be a little off) I could tell they were getting more painful and I couldn't talk through them anymore. Around that time my midwife, Christy got there, and she was awesome. She stayed with me and helped me feel as comfortable as possible, and talked with me to distract me, but pretty soon there was no way to distract me bc it was getting crazy painful. All I could think about was that I wanted this process over and this baby out of me. My body was ready for labor and I was going through transition, but there was one part of my cervix that would not dilate, so I stayed around a 9 1/2 until Whitney was actually born, it just wouldn't dilate the rest of the way, and on top of that, Whitney was cocking her head to the side so Christy had to keep straightening her head. After a long time pushing, I was starting to feel hopeless, and Christing fianlly told me she was just going to have to hold that part of the cervix back so the baby could come. It was ridiculousy painful, but I was willing to go through anything I had to to be done. Let me just say that it was the hardest thing I have ever done, having that baby, but as soon as she was born, it was so worth it. They handed me this beautiful little baby with a head full of hair, and she looked just like Addy. That moment after your baby is born is just so surreal, and Tyler and I just couldn't believe how much we loved her and how sweet she was.
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| Look at that hair! |
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| Brooksi couldn't sit still at the hospital and had to explore everything. |
I just still can't believe Tyler and I are the parents of four children now! It is definitely super having four children under six years of age, but the good days are just oh so good. They make everything else worth it. There are some moments I just feel like I am going to explode with happiness. Having a family is such a blessing, even though it is super hard. I definitely think that one of the reasons Heavenly Father planned for people to become parents is to help them learn to be selfless, and to put others needs above your own.
The first few weeks of having four little ones were an adjustment, and lets just say I lost my patience more than once, and made lots of mistakes. I do feel like things are starting to settle down a little, and like I am getting back into a routine.
Whitney is such an amazingly good baby! For a couple weeks now she will sleep from 9ish till about 4 or 5 in the morning. It is amazing. Keep it up Whitney girl!
I love you so much Whitney, and I am so so happy to have you in our family!!
