Blythe's Birthday

Dear Blythe,

You are here! We could not be happier to have you as part of our family! In your short little life, you have brought us immense joy, and this is a very meager attempt from me, your tired mom, to give a detailed recap of the day you were born....

First off, around June 20th, I started feeling mild contractions. It really freaked me out because I was NOT ready for your arrival. The next day, your Aunt Birdie (my sister Robin) and I went out and finished getting everything we needed for your arrival and spent the rest of the week getting your room ready. But, you stayed put. Fast forward to Wednesday, July 6th, we scheduled an induction, but the doctor was positive you would come before then. He scheduled me to be induced by Dr. Roberts, who was not the doctor I was seeing, but my doctor was going to be out of town. I had met with Dr. Roberts and felt very comfortable with him delivering you. He is the chief of GYN at Piedmont Hospital, where you were born, and where Mommy was born as well.

Over the weekend, I was in lots of pain at times, but you continued to stay put. I knew you weren't going to make an early debut at this point, so I enjoyed the last few days with just your big brother. Then Sunday night came, and Aunt Birdie came over to keep Harrison while we were in the hospital tending to you. Birdie arrived at 6:45 just in time to put H to bed with all of us. After that we just laughed like crazy which is what your Mommy and your Aunt do best...we laugh a lot together. I went to bed early that night, but woke up at 3:30 am and could not fall back asleep. I was so nervous and excited!

The alarm went off at 6 am and I jumped out of bed to shower. Daddy got up about 6:20 and we left the house about 6:45. We went through the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A for one last meal for me as I didn't know how long it would be before I could eat again.

My last pregnant picture with you, right before I changed into my hospital gown.

7 am: We arrived at Piedmont Hospital

7:15 am: We checked in to L& D room # 7 and met our wonderful nurse who hailed from the Republic of Georgia. Her name was Tea (pronounced Tay-a) and she was one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. She had quite a bit of spunk to her as well!

8:20 ish: She started my IV and pitocin. Unfortunately she had to stick me twice for the IV (and I am NOT good with needles). She was so angry with herself, exclaiming, "I am SO mad I did that to you...I suck!" At this point I was 2 cm, 70% effaced.

9:20: Dr. Roberts came in to greet us and break my water. I was already 3.5 cm at this point. He asked if I was feeling contractions, and I was not. I went ahead and asked for my epidural, but they wanted me to feel some contractions first, so I agreed to wait.

9:30: I felt my first contraction

10:30: I asked for epidural

11:00 am: epidural was administered by Dr. Whitley

11:30 started to feel numb and not feel anything. This was great!

All the while, I was texting friends, calling my mom to keep her updated, checking on Harrison, watching the Today Show, and Daddy went to go get me some magazines.

12:20 pm: Nurse checked me again...5 cm, your heartbeat was dipping with my contractions, so I was put on oxygen. I was very tired at this point, so I just tried to rest and take a snooze.

1pm: Doctor came in to check on me again. Tea said she was not going to up my pitocin because my body was working fast. She would come back and check me at 2pm.

1:45pm: My sister-in-law, Julie arrives with our nephew (your cousin) Carson. She and Brett switch places so that I can visit with her and Brett goes to be with Carson since he is too young to come back on his own.

2:00 pm: 7 cm, fully effaced. Nurse says she will come back and check me in an hour and I should be ready to push. I told her that I think something was wrong with my epidural because I can really feel the contractions in my right hip and leg. I can actually move my whole right leg. Julie asked if she should go get Brett. I told her let's visit some more and she can go get him in a few minutes.

2:15 pm: I am in A LOT of pain. I am grabbing Julie's hand saying, 'it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!' We call nurse (2 times), pump my epidural. Nurse comes in and checks me, and says "you are ready to have this baby, where is your husband?!" Julie runs to go get him, and Brett comes in the door and I'm crying because I'm in pain and I am startled that everything has happened so quickly. The doctor is called and he comes in and starts getting dressed. I tell Brett to call mom and get the phone chain going so that everyone can get to the hospital.

sidenote: Because my labor with your brother was so long, we told everyone to go on with their workday and we would call when we knew I was getting close.

About 2:30 pm: Nurse takes me by the shoulders and says to me in her mild accent..."Lauren, you can do this, girl! I know you think your epidural has worn off, but the baby is probably just sitting on a nerve! I know it hurts, but it will feel so good to push through those contractions...it hurts more with your second baby, and it will hurt more with your third, and you should have a third because you have cute kids!" Ha! Looking back, I think she was just trying to comfort me because she could tell I was so startled and in pain. Brett saw her and the doctor exchange a look, so I am sure something happened with my epidural.

At that time, the doctor said to me, "you lost your smile." I told him I was in pain and a little nervous and scared. He told me I could go ahead and push while he was getting ready, and I whimpered, "I don't remember how!" So, they gave me a quick reminder and we were all set to get you out. The nurse was right...it felt so much better to push through those contractions. I was hoping you would come out after 2 or 3 pushes, but you didn't! They asked me how long it took to push Harrison out and I said, "Hours!" They told me not to worry this would not take as long. As I kept on pushing the doctor and nurse were amazingly comforting and encouraging, and I was able to calm down. They were asking me all about your brother and keeping me engaged in conversation while I pushed. I ended up pushing about 30 minutes, and your head was crowned. The doc said, "there's your baby's head, would you like to touch it?" So, I did, but I knew that meant that the next set of pushes meant that you would come out, so I was ready for that!

Sure enough, the next set of pushes, your head came out! The nurse said, "Oh that is SUCH a cute baby...it's gotta be a girl...that baby is too cute to be a boy!" Once your head and shoulders were out, the doctor asked, "Do you want to pull your baby out?" To which I replied, "ME?!" He said yes and I said "Sure!" So, he made sure I was holding your head and shoulders correctly and I PULLED YOU OUT! He then asked, "So, what do you have there?" You were facing me and Daddy, and I exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, it's a GIRL!" I looked over at Dad and his mouth was dropped to the floor. He was speechless! Immediately my tears of pain turned into tears of laughter. I was crying like a little girl....you were finally here, and you're a GIRL! I kept saying, "Brett, we have a girl....she's so pretty! She looks like Harrison! We have a girl, she's so pretty! Oh my gosh!" Your dad was speechless for the first few minutes, but the look in his eyes was just pure love.

This is what you looked like minutes after your birth.....Completely perfect....

As we watched them bathe you, I said to your Dad...."Brett, is she a Blythe?" We knew this was our number one choice for a name, but we just wanted to make sure we did not change our minds! We knew within the first few minutes that would definitely be your name and I will write more about why we chose that later.

As the nurse was bathing you, another nurse came in to tell her that her other patient was ready to push. Our nurse replied..."Really?! You mean I have to leave this beautiful baby?! I can't leave her now, she just came out!" However, duty called, so she left, but she came back as soon as she could....so sweet!

As the doctor was stitching me up, a nurse came in to tell him that another one of his patients was also ready to push...he was having an extremely busy day. He said he would be there in a minute, and stayed with us until I was holding you in my arms. He continued to talk to us asking us about Harrison, telling us that was his brother's name. He then told Brett, "let me have the camera....the dad never gets in the pictures, I would like to take some pictures with you in them." So thoughtful. And he also told us not to worry they would bring the scale in soon so we would be sure not to miss getting a picture of you on the scale....and he was right! Here you were getting weighed for the first time...

7 pounds, 14.5 ounces, 20 inches long, 3:10 pm

Our wonderful doctor, Archie Roberts. I get teary eyed every time I think of him and our nurse because they took such good care of me. Dr. Roberts stayed with me the entire time I pushed, talked me through the contractions, and stayed with us for what seemed like forever. I felt we were in such good hands and so taken care of....He definitely did not rush the process!

First pic with your parents!

By the time we were ready to announce your arrival, Dad went out to the waiting room and got your brother....his whole family about killed him for not making the announcement right away but it was important to him that you meet your sister first. So, he brought Harrison back to meet you for a brief few minutes and we took a picture. Your brother's first words to me were, "Mommy, why did you change?" He always asks me that when I have a different outfit on. Then, Daddy took him back out to the waiting room where Harrison got to announce that you were a girl. There was lots of cheering that we got on video which is special!

Here is our beautiful nurse, Te'a...She is also expecting her second child in October. She came to our recovery room to say goodbye to us. She was absolutely wonderful and I loved her spunk!

And here we all are going home from the hospital! We had such a wonderful experience and I can't wait to post pictures of all the visitors you had in the hospital, and all that you have had since then. When we took this picture, an older man nearby hollered to us, "Congratulations! It's so nice to see a young, happy family!" We sure are!

There is much more to write and I hope to capture some more important details that I don't want to forget of your first few days very soon! We love you, little Blythe! Welcome to our family!

Love,

Mommy