Lainey's Birth Story

Warning: this is very long. I don't want to forget anything. I have gone back and read Cambry's birth story many times and I know I will read Lainey's story many times as well. I want to cherish every moment and thank God for all the details of that day.

Lainey's birth story starts on Sunday, October 20th. I was 4 days past due and so ready to meet our baby. We had gone to church that morning and then just hung around the house the rest of the day. Greg smoked a chicken and made us a good dinner.

9:15 pm - Contractions start 

A little after 9 pm I started getting ready for bed. By the time I was done I realized I had felt 3 braxton hicks during that time. I had never had them that close together so I thought, hmm maybe I should time them. So a little before 9:30 pm I started timing them with an app on my phone. 

They were coming about every 6-10 minutes. I wasn't sure if they real since they felt the same as braxton hicks, which had been uncomfortable for me lately. I also started getting a little shaky, which I read was a sign of early labor.

Part of me was trying not to get too excited in case it wasn't true labor. But part of me felt excited and nervous already because my labor with Cambry was fast and I knew this one may be fast or faster. Greg was getting excited and was already getting some things ready. Since I was already past 40 weeks and I had never had contractions this close together, I decided I would assume it was real labor unless they slowed down or stopped.

So we excitedly (but still cautiously) started packing the last minute stuff for our hospital bags. I had already taken a shower that night, and although I didn't wash my hair it was still fixed from church that morning. I did put on make-up. Go ahead and judge me but I didn't want to look hideous in all my pictures on this very important day :)

10:00 pm - Call parents

By 10:00 pm contractions were still coming consistently and getting more uncomfortable. Even though it hadn't been very long, we went ahead and asked my dad to come over and stay with Cambry. My parents were so excited to hear this! Greg called his parents and I texted a couple people.

My dad arrived around 10:30 pm and by then the contractions were around 6-7 minutes apart and getting painful. My doctor had said to come to L&D when they were 7 minutes apart (for a 2nd labor). I called my doctor's office before I left to tell them I was coming. 

We hopped in the car and headed out. It felt oh so familiar. Here we were about 2 years later, driving at night to have a baby. It was great having no traffic again!

11:00 pm - Arrive at hospital

We arrived at the hospital around 11pm. It didn't take them long at all to check us in and get us to a room. My mom and Ashley got there shortly after we did. They were so excited!

The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and started asking me a thousand questions. One of which I remember was "which method helps you learn best? Reading, hearing, or doing?". I remember looking at Greg and mouthing "irrelevant". I mean, I am having painful contractions here and you are documenting my learning style?

My OB was not on call that night, but Dr. Tejml, another OB in the practice was and had just finished up with a surgery. She came by to check me and said I was 3-4cm and 80% effaced. I was hoping I would be a little further along since contractions were very painful, but at least I had made some progress. They said once they had taken my blood and done a few things I could get an epidural. I was glad to hear that!

12:20 am - Epidural

When the anesthesiologist came in I was so happy to see him! The epidural seemed to hurt a little more than last time, but still DEFINITELY worth it! I think it was because my contractions didn't ever get quite as painful as last time since my water hadn't broken yet. Once the epidural was in place, after a couple contractions it kicked right in and I could barely feel them. They checked me again and I was at 5 cm dilated.

1:45 am - Water breaks

Suddenly there was a popping sound we all heard and then I felt a gush of warm. I said, hey I think my water broke! I asked Greg to check since I was pretty numb from the epidural and he confirmed yes. I called the nurse who came in and also confirmed it. She checked me and said I was a 7 and that I had a little bit of bag left. She said she wouldn't check me again until I felt pressure.

2:30 am - 10 cm

Well 45 minutes later I started to feel something. It was down low and only on the left side. I thought it might be a "hot spot" where the epidural had not taken. I wasn't sure if it was pain or pressure but I could definitely feel the contractions there. I called my nurse in to see if I should lay to one side or do something about it. She checked me and said - you're complete. Wait, what?? I am at a 10?? Yep. She said she would call the doctor. Wow. I couldn't believe it was time to push already.

Dr. Tejml had gone home so we waited for her to come back to the hospital. My nurse had me do a practice push to see if it moved the baby down. After the practice push she told me to cross my legs and not let the baby out, ha! Luckily since I had the epidural I did not feel that overwhelming urge to push so waiting was not a problem.

More nurses flooded in and began to set up for the baby. I think there were about 5 different nurses in there. Greg and I just kept looking at the warmer and saying how we couldn't believe that soon our baby would be laying over there. It was so surreal. My mom and Ashley were still in the room and stayed for the birth.

About 30 min later Dr. Tejml arrived. It didn't bother me at all that my normal OB would not be delivering Lainey. My OB, Dr. Fogiel, is great. She delivered Cambry and I would have loved for her to deliver Lainey as well. But I had seen Dr. Tejml once and she seemed really sweet. I was just so excited to meet little Lainey that I did not really care who delivered her.

3:00 am - Start Pushing

I started pushing around 3 am. With Cambry I could not feel anything at all, but with this epidural I could feel some pressure. It was a good amount of feeling without being painful. The good thing about having lots of doctors/nurses in there was that I had a huge cheering team while I pushed. That really helped encourage me that I was making progress. 

I pushed through 3 contractions (3 pushes for 10 seconds on each one), and after the 3rd set they were all yelling keep going, your baby can be born!! I was confused at first if I was supposed to wait for the next contraction, but they said go go go! So I pushed more and then I heard an immediate cry! And I heard them talking about her eyelashes before she was even all the way out!

3:12 am - Lainey born!

Our little Lainey Reese was born at 3:12 am on Monday, October 21. She was so perfect. She made us wait 5 days past my due date but she was absolutely worth the wait!

I love these pictures by the way. LOVE. Greg did such a great job. They may be a little too much for some people but I think it just shows the miracle of life. One moment the baby is inside surrounded by fluid, and the next moment she is outside breathing air and crying. Praise and thanks to God, the creator of life! What a miracle!

Once again it was just so surreal. I didn't cry, I just took it all in.

They laid her on me right away. I couldn't believe all her dark hair.

She weighed 7lbs. 10oz.! I was expecting her to be in the high eights. I was so surprised that she was a whole pound lighter than Cambry. She was just as long though - 21 inches.

We love our beautiful Lainey!! I could not be more thankful for such a smooth, quick, and healthy delivery. 

Since she was born at 3:12 am we didn't sleep that night except for maybe 10 minutes. And things have changed since I had Cambry. Now the baby stays with you the whole time. They don't take them away to the nursery for hours while the check temp, bathe, give shots, run tests, etc. It is great that the baby gets to stay with you the whole time, but I have to admit I was kind of disappointed when I heard they weren't taking her away. I was exhausted and I was thinking I could get a couple hours of sleep during that time! Oh well, I got to snuggle with our baby so that was better :)

Later that morning my dad brought Cambry up to visit. We had Lainey in the little cart. Cambry didn't even notice her at first. Greg held her up and introduced her. Cambry smiled and was very sweet. But then she was more interested in all my "bracelets" (hospital wrist bands) and my IV. 

Greg's parents drove in from Waco that morning to meet Lainey. They stayed for the day to visit with us and drove back later that afternoon.

My sister and her 2 boys flew in that day and she and Kyler came up to the hospital late that afternoon.

That evening Greg walked across to the mall and got us Beck's Prime for dinner. Delish! We were exhausted by night time since we hadn't slept at all the previous night, but didn't end up getting much sleep Monday night either. The hospital now really encourages you to keep the baby in your room at night. They don't offer nursery as an option unless you request it, and then you feel like a bad parent for not wanting your baby in your room. So we kept Lainey in the room with us. Between her nursing every 1-2 hours and nurses constantly coming in we hardly got any sleep. We were supposed to be discharged Wednesday but we asked to be discharged Tuesday instead. We knew we wouldn't get a ton of sleep at home either, but at least we wouldn't be constantly woken up by people coming in. All the nurses were so sweet and helpful, but it just made it hard to sleep.

Tuesday we had family visiting throughout the day. Cambry came again to see us. At first she gave a little bit of cold shoulder but then quickly warmed up and had fun playing with Lainey.

First picture as a family of 4.

We left the hospital around dinner time on Tuesday evening. I can't believe we are a family of 4 now. I am so thankful for my 2 beautiful girls. I am so glad Lainey is finally here. She is beautiful and sweet and we love her to pieces!