Lacey Elizabeth is Here!

Blake and I are very happy to announce the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Lacey Elizabeth!

I'm not going to get TOO graphic, but if details about labor and birth gross you out, I suggest you skip this post.  Fair warning.

So early Wednesday afternoon, I'd guess around 1 pm, I started having contractions.  I wasn't sure if they were real contractions or more false labor, but I started making a few phone calls anyway.  I called Blake, who was at a conference in Patterson.  I also called my mom, Blake's mom, and Ariel.  After I ate lunch, Ariel came with me and Isabelle to walk around the block a few times.  I had to stop every so often to have a contraction.  Some were very mild and only lasting a few seconds, and others were more intense and lasted longer.  I didn't know if I was in real labor because the contractions were so irregular and I still had no bloody show (that's when you lose your mucus plug). 

I wanted to stay home during my labor for as long as possible.  My last labor with Isabelle lasted 28 hours start to finish.  We had gone to the hospital way too early.  I was only 3 cm dilated when we got to the hospital, and we were there for 14 hours before I delivered.  This time around, I wanted to labor at home, where I could be much more comfortable, for as long as I could. 

Around 3 pm, my contractions hadn't gone away.  They were still irregular, but I knew this had to be real labor.  Blake came home, and his mom and little brother came over to help with Isabelle.  Ariel and Catherine came over too.  We worked on packing our hospital bags and I tried to relax through my contractions.  Little did I know I would deliver only 3 and a half hours later!

Still managing to smile for a picture in between contractions, lol!

About to leave for the hospital!

My contractions started to pick up and get intense, so we decided to head to the hospital, which was about 30 minutes away.  Blake drove, I was in the front seat, Ariel rode in the back with us, and Mrs. Michelle followed behind us.  When we were in Broussard (about halfway there), I started feeling pressure in my bottom, meaning that the baby was descending and it would be time to push soon!  Blake called his Aunt Stacie, one of Dr. Hardey's nurses, and she called Dr. Hardey and the hospital to tell them that we were on our way and have a wheelchair waiting.  Meanwhile, the pressure on my bottom kept increasing and we all started to worry that we wouldn't make it in time. 

But thankfully, we did make it.  They got me into a wheelchair and up into labor and delivery.  They checked my dilation, and I was COMPLETE! 

I never thought I'd be so happy to be in a hospital bed!

By this time, I was feeling that overwhelming urge to push, and the nurses were trying to get me to wait until Dr. Hardey got there.  It didn't take too long for him to get there, and when he did, he broke my water (it still hadn't broken on its own) and he noticed I had some meconium in the amniotic fluid.  (This means that the baby had a bowel movement sometime while I was in labor).  After he broke my water, he told me to push - and I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl, Lacey Elizabeth.  She weighed 6 lbs 6 oz, and was 20.5 inches long!

After letting me see her for one quick moment, they took her across the room to suction her lungs out really good - when you have meconium in your fluid, it can get into your baby's lungs and cause an infection.  It was such a bittersweet moment, because I wanted Lacey to be okay, and all I wanted to do was hold her!  Everything actually turned out to be fine with Lacey - one of the nurses told me later that most babies with meconium have to go to the NICU, so we're lucky she didn't have to go. 

The only complication I had was my bleeding afterwards - I was bleeding quite a bit, enough for Dr. Hardey to be concerned and hang around a little longer.  With Lacey being tended to across the room, she couldn't breastfeed right away, which would have stimulated my hormones to make my uterus contract - so they had to give me pitocin and massage my stomach (NOT the kind of massage that feels good, by the way). 

Anyway, they got my bleeding under control and I was finally able to hold Lacey!  It was SUCH an emotional moment for me - I was so overwhelmed by everything that just happened, and so happy and thankful for my baby girl!

Finally getting to hold our precious little one!

Catherine brought Isabelle in, and our little family was finally together - it was so wonderful!  Isabelle was a little scared at first, but then all she wanted to do was touch, hug, and kiss baby Lacey!  My parents and Lauren came in too, and I felt kind of bad that my poor mother missed it again - but shoot - we almost didn't make it to the hospital in time!  And Blake's dad was in Houston, so he didn't see Lacey until Friday when we came home!

 

Our little family is together!

Isabelle didn't want to let me go!  :o(



If I had to describe Lacey's birth, it would be hectic.  My entire labor lasted about 5 and a half hours, compared to the 28 hours I labored with Isabelle!  I'm so glad the labor was much easier and shorter, but it was so scary thinking that we might not make it to the hospital in time!  If I had known that my labor would progress so quickly I never would have waited at home that long!  But at least now we can be better prepared next time around.

And really, all that's important is that me and Lacey are both healthy.  I'm so thankful for that.  Lacey is so tiny, beautiful, and perfect in every way, and I'm SO in love with her!