On October 22, 2014, at 4:56AM, our daughter was born-Harper McKinley Proffitt.
She weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 20.5 inches long (like her older brother). She joined the world after I pushed through a few contractions for 20 minutes-10 less minutes than it took to push out Austin.
She had swallowed some meconium so she was quickly suctioned out, but was crying to the process, which was music to our ears. It brought tears to my eyes.
I started feeling my contractions early the morning before and even took Austin on a 5 mile walk with me, where I lost my plug. By 11:30AM, my contractions weren't painful yet but were 4 minutes apart. They seemed to stay 4 minutes apart but increased in intensity throughout that night.
Stephen came home from work at noon, I put Austin down for a nap (and teared up a little), and we left for the hospital at 2:30PM when my brother arrived to watch Austin.
We stopped at Walmart to by a SIM card for the camera, walked around a bit, then drove to check-in at the hospital.
My weight was the same as it had been the day before at my doctor's appointment, and my blood pressure was even better than the day before. I was only 2/3cm dilated, but my water broke as the nurse checked me. So, we were there to stay til I delivered a baby.
My blood pressure and the baby's heart rate were textbook the entire labor. I had read that exercise during pregnancy can help reduce the chance of your baby becoming distressed during labor since they are accustomed to a higher level of stress from pregnancy exercise. I'm not sure if that was the case, buy either way, Harper was healthy the entire labor.
I was sure to drink water throughout to help keep my body and baby both hydrated for the labor and delivery process. I had to be monitored because my water had broken, but I was also given a birthing ball to bounce and roll on. It helped for a few hours, but the last two hours when I was at 5/6 cm dilated, nothing seemed to ease the pain.
I took long, slow, deep breaths through the contractions, and my nurse encouraged me to keep going without the epidural because it seemed I was managing the contractions well. The only thing of comfort during those contractions (that hurt like wow), was having Stephen by me & knowing the contraction would eventually end and give me a little break.
I asked for the iv's (for hydration before an epidural) at 7:15PM, but didn't get them until about 9:30PM, followed by the epidural at 9:45PM. Those 2 hours hurt. I didn't get the iv's when I first asked because a lady came in delivering twins with no time to spare. All the nurses rushed to care for her and her babies. I understood, and I heard her yelling. But, I didn't want to be like her and in that much pain, so I prayed for that epidural during those contractions in that 2 hour wait.
As it always goes, I had a few contractions while having the iv's and epidural needle put into my body. Just breathe, and don't move. I found out I had great veins, but they are also very deep in my skin.
We had some visitors until 12:30AM, and then every 1.5-2 hours, I was progressing. I tried to rest but my epidural had a leak in it so the nurses had to come take care of that. I got sick once during this time, and Stephen was quick enough to get me a bag to avoid a mess. I little later I got Zofran, to help my nausea. Before we knew it, it was time to start pushing. After the first push, I got sick. The nurse was quick on the draw this time and got my bag for me before things got messy.
Stephen helped hold my legs, and I felt her move down with the pushes. It really was love at first sight. We had been waiting for so long to hold our baby. Now, we finally could.
The doctor held her upside down at first to section out the meconium she had swallowed, but Harper quickly started crying which automatically brought tears to our eyes & erased all our fears of something going wrong. It was a relief & a beautiful moment.
We both got to hold her soon after, & we felt successful & at ease after the labor & birthing marathon. It is a wonder how God creates us all inside of another human being. I am so grateful to God for allowing me to take part in it again, as well as for a healthy baby & pregnancy every step of the way. I do miss having Harper on the inside already & even running with her there, but I am so overwhelmed to hold her safely in my arms now.
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