The Arrival of Sadie Rose

Friday night, October 5th, I went to bed after another day of waiting for this baby to come.  My wonderful mother-in-law had planned on leaving that day, but decided to stay one more night. . . just in case.

At 3:30AM, I woke up to some decent contractions that were about 10 minutes apart.  I could tell that these were probably the real thing.  They were longer and more intense than any others I'd been having up to this point.  So, I tried to still rest, but kept track of how often the contractions were coming.  At about 5:30AM, I woke up Bryson and told him we would probably need to go to the hospital soon.  My contractions were getting closer together, longer, and more intense.  I was still more comfortable in my bed than I would be in the hospital, so I wasn't in a huge hurry to get there.

We finally got up and got ready to go.  When I got out of bed, the contractions got a lot closer together and were very . . . intense.  I started thinking that we should had gone earlier.  By the time we got to the hospital, it was 6:30AM and I was having lots of . . . very intense contractions.

We got registered and then they wheeled me up to the triage room.  Here's one of very few prego pictures I have.  I have to get that last one before the baby comes. . .

I tell the nurses that I had been dilated to a 4, 80% effaced and had my membranes stripped earlier in the week.  They go on about how if I am still at a 4 they will blah blah blah. . . I was just thinking in my head, there is no way I am still at a 4.  So, at about 7AM, the nurse checks me and says, "You are at an 8!  We will admit you and I will go call the doctor!"

And she says. . . it is probably too late for an epidural.  Sigh. . . in some ways, I kind of wanted a quick labor without an epidural.  At least, that's what I had thought during the past year.  In that moment, though, I very much wanted some relief.

Around 7:30AM, the doctor came in and tried to break my water.  I must have a really thick sack because she couldn't break it.  But, I was about at a 10 by then, so she asked me if I wanted to start pushing.  If the end was that close, then, YES, I wanted to start pushing.

Right about that time, a nurse knocked on the door and said that there was a lady having her baby downstairs!  So, my doctor and one of the nurses left to go help her.  A couple minutes later we could hear her screaming out in the hallway.  She went into the room next to me and was soooooo loud.  I have never heard another woman screaming during labor.  The nurse that was left in the room with me went and closed the door. :)  There was another doctor with me, but I think she was a resident. . . I'm not totally sure.  So, after listening to this lady yelling, "GET THIS OUT OF ME!!!!"  it was my turn to start pushing.

I had talked to friends who have delivered naturally and knew that the end was going to be painful.  And, I have to agree.  IT WAS PAINFUL.  Between exhaustion and pain. . . aye de mi!  I pushed for at least 20 minutes and finally got this beautiful "little" girl out! Sadie Rose Perkins was born at 8:02AM.

Just look at how BIG she was!!  9 pounds 3 ounces!  I never imagined she would be that big!  My previous babies had been 8lb 3oz, 6lb 5oz, 7lb 4oz, and 7lb . . . sorry Benson, I can't remember!  But, still I was not expecting a 9 pound baby.

And here is an afterwards picture. . . she was so alert for the two hours after she was born, just looking around at us.

I LOVE the recovery rooms.  The hospital has four family rooms.  This one has a king size bed with lots of super soft fluffy pillows, a leather chair, a kids table and chairs and an adult table and chairs.  It feels a lot less like a hospital. :)  The kids were so excited to get meet Sadie that they had their shoes on by 8:30AM and were all ready to hop in the van.  We told Bryson's mom to give us a couple hours. . .

The kids each took a turn holding Sadie.  They were all so excited. :)

Grammy and Sadie. . .

Daddy and Sadie. . .

Grandpa and Grandma and Sadie. . .

Here she is in the carseat, ready to come home.

And, here is the attention she got as soon as we got home.  The kids surrounded her and just looked at her for at least 10 minutes.

We are so blessed to have Sadie as a part of our family now.  She is so sweet.  I love to see how excited her siblings get around her.  Nathan has surprised me the most.  He is always wanting to hold her.  I expected that from the girls (which, they do), but Nathan came to the hospital when it was time for us to go home and sat and held her for awhile.  He was anxious to see her hands and feet, too.

And that's our story!