Hayes' Birthday Story...

Sit back...I've never been good at making a long story short :)

My last doctor appointment was on Thursday morning (July 10). I was about 4cm and the baby looked great. I hadn't had any contractions and was quite ready for my scheduled induction in a few days. I also learned that my induction was for July 13 NOT July 14 like I had thought for months. Can you say mega pregnancy brain lol.

My sister had been staying with me for a couple of days since Toby was working but after my appointment I felt good to have to her go home that evening after Toby got home from work. She and my mom were planning to come back the next day and the girls and I had a full day to keep us occupied while Toby was at work Friday. We just had to make it on our own from Friday at 8am until 2pm. Toby and I watched Big Brother while I ate spicy beer cheese and then I repainted the monogram in the nursery before heading to bed around 11.

Friday morning Toby woke me up around 7 to tell me goodbye before he headed to work. We talked about calling a plumber for a ceiling leak that randomly appeared the night before and I told him to have a good day. I woke up around 8:30 when the girls came in my room to tell me good morning ;) I realized my stomach was cramping pretty bad and my back was hurting...hmmmm. Thinking it was for SURE nothing I got up and put a show on for the girls in the playroom while I took a shower.

Shower came and went and the cramping was still there but didn't seem consistent or regular. I got ready for the day and called the plumber to come out around 11 am, then I posted this on Facebook. Leighton had her kindergarten check up at 1 so I went ahead and got the girls ready for the day too. We went downstairs around 9:30 am and I fixed the girls some milk. I started realizing that the cramping seemed to be getting a little stronger. Hmmm. Again, I was convinced it would stop so I grabbed a bottle of water and chugged it. Because cold water always stops labor...right???

The water did nothing and each cramp was starting to get pretty painful so I decided to time them. The first two I timed were about 8 minutes apart. And then when I timed again it was like 10 minutes. Not consistent but definitely painful. Since I have a history of fast labors, I decided to go ahead and drive over to my doctor's office. I mean the worst they could do was send me home and tell me it was nothing. Since we live about 25 minutes away I decided to go ahead and drive since the pain was tolerable. That was about 10 am. I called my sister and asked her to come to Louisville please :) And then I texted Toby and told him to get someone to cover his shift ASAP!

I called my doctor on the way and asked if I should go to her office or labor and delivery. The nurse said I needed to wait for her to call me back. Fine, I thought, I'll just drive over to the hospital and wait in the parking lot for her to call me back (by this time I was pretty sure it was the REAL thing).

In the parking lot I had an old man STEAL my parking spot I was waiting for. I contemplated getting out and yelling, "THAT WAS MY SPOT AND I'M IN LABOR!" but the pain was too bad haha. Instead I drove until I found a spot and waited for my doctor to call me back. When I felt like I couldn't wait anymore I decided to just head inside. On the way up my doctor actually called back and said to head over to labor and delivery! Whew! I was doing the right thing :) I also had this text conversation with my beloved husband. I didn't think he was getting the urgency of me saying he needed to leave work...NOW!

Of course, I got lost in the hospital and could not find labor and delivery for the life of me. God bless this sweet woman who obviously worked there and showed me the elevator which led up to it. The girls were starting to get very curious about what we were doing at the hospital haha. All I told them was that I wasn't feeling very good and Daddy was meeting us soon. I was starting to hurt pretty bad but was terrified of scarring them for life if they realized how much pain I was in so I had this permanent fake smile plastered on my face lol.

When we got up the L&D desk I quietly whispered to the attendant that, "I, um, am pretty sure I am in labor..." She took my insurance card and then a nurse walked over and said my doctor had called and they were expecting me. They led me and the girls to a room and told me to change into a gown. When we got in the room Lei said, "Are we here to have the BABY???? Because I see where we are going to put him!" I told her I didn't know but I needed for her and Gracen to sit still and be very good until Daddy got there.

We made it into the room about 11 am. The doctor on call came in and checked me and I was 7cm dilated and fully effaced. He told me that I was definitely going to have a baby soon and then I asked him for the epidural haha. Since my last labor I transitioned too fast for the epidural he went ahead and ordered one before my blood work came back. Hallelujah!!! While I waited on the anesthesiologist Toby walked in the room! I have never been SO happy to see him in my life...EVER!

He quickly took the girls out of the room while they waited on Kylee to get there. For the first time I could actually wince through my contractions. I had been faking like nothing was wrong for what seemed like eternity that even saying "ouch" felt amazing! Next thing I know the epidural was in and WORKING! I felt amazing and was on cloud 9! Toby came back into the room and for the first time all morning it really started to hit me that I was having a baby! We were both SO excited. We even took a labor selfie ;)

By now it was about noon and I was feeling great, the doctor on call came in and broke my water and said my doctor was going to head over to deliver (seriously she is the BEST). I got some ice chips and sat there relaxing and talking to Toby. The nurse came in a little while later and asked me if I was feeling any pressure but I wasn't. She decided to check me anyway and to my surprise I was a 10 and it was go time! We waited for my doctor to get set up and then it was time to push..

Two pushes later at 12:59 pm the sweetest little boy I've ever laid eyes on was born.

Hayes Robert...July 11, 7lbs 15.8oz & 21 inches

He is absolutely perfect and I think I've been floating on a cloud of happiness ever since that afternoon. It was a crazy morning and definitely not what we had planned but worked out perfectly in the end. I had been praying for months for a smooth delivery and while my biggest fear was going into labor alone with the girls, that seemed to be exactly what God had planned and God's plans trump my plans any day :) So wonderfully blessed by His perfect plan for our family and little boy!





For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. --Jeremiah 29:11