We had actually scheduled to be induced the evening of the 20th, but Henley girl decided to come on her own earlier in the day. Contractions started right as I was going to bed on the 19th, and continued through the night. I was too uncomfortable to sleep and finally woke Jeff up around 3am. We called the hospital and were told to come in. Side note: we were so lucky to have Jeff's mom get here just in time to stay with Morgan. Since we had scheduled an induction, she had arrived late on the 19th to be here with him for that. My contractions started right after she arrived, so it was seriously perfect timing!
When we first got to the hospital my contractions were consistent, but I was only dilated to a 2.5 (I had been at a 2 at my doctor's appointment a week before, so being at a 2.5 wasn't super substantial). They monitored me for 2 hours, during which time my contractions got super intense and I dilated to a 3.5. They admitted me at that point, put in my IV, and started prepping me for an epidural (for which I was begging, ha).
Nothing like trying to pose when you are in labor and haven't slept for over 24 hours :-)
I got my epidural around 8am, and then the waiting game began. It took them a few hours to get my pain totally under control and then after that it was mostly us waiting for the doctor to come break my water. My doctor was out of town that day, so the doctor on call was the one supervising my care. It was a super busy day at the hospital with a lot of emergency c-sections happening, so the doctor wasn't able to come see me for quite a while. Jeff and I spent the time attempting to sleep and watching good ole daytime TV.
Around 1pm I started to feel a lot of pressure, so my nurse checked me and quickly realized the doctor needed to come in ASAP. Baby's head was crowning but my bag of waters hadn't broken yet. She also noticed that the bag of waters had a green tinge to it, which meant Henley had pooped and a NICU doctor needed to be in the room during delivery in case she had trouble breathing. My nurse went to work prepping the room and calling all of the doctors in. I started pushing at 2:10pm and Henley was born at 2:13pm. Yep, only 3 minutes of pushing!! It was like a dream!
Thankfully Henley came out breathing and didn't experience any ill effects from the meconium in her bag of waters. Turns out she just likes to poop; she pooped a ton right after she was born and basically hasn't stopped since.
Right when we first saw her, Jeff and I looked at each other and said "it's Morgan!". She looked so much like Morgan (still does) and we couldn't believe the likeness they had to one another. After about an hour of skin-to-skin time, the nurse took Henley to do an initial assessment of her as well as get her measurements. We were then taken down to our recovery room.
A few hours after we got to our recovery room Morgan came to meet his sister. He immediately took charge and made sure we were doing everything right as far as taking care of her. It was pretty funny.
The rest of our hospital stay was great. We have been so lucky with both Morgan and Henley's births to have wonderful hospital experiences with amazing nurses. We spent the time resting, recovering, and getting to know our little girl. She has been a champ at nursing and sleeping since the beginning and we are so grateful for that.
Heading home!
First ride in her car seat
We are so grateful that we had a healthy pregnancy, safe delivery, and that our Henley girl is here with us. We love her so much and already can't imagine life without her!
Congrats she is gorgeous
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