She's here!...

We are SO happy to have little Hayden here with us! We just arrived home today, and she's doing really well. The girls can't get enough of her and they are all being so cute and helpful.

Here's the short version:

Hayden Virginia was born on May 16th at 3:42 p.m. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. She's got some dark brown hair (all the others were bald, so there may be hope!) and she is perfect in every way.

The long version:

Of all my labors, this was the longest. I thought it was supposed to get shorter with every baby, but this one seemed to just want to take her sweet time.

On Thursday afternoon while I was teaching piano lessons, I was not feeling great. I kept having these weird, strong contractions and I felt pretty nauseous, but they were really far apart and I assumed it was not a big deal. By the time Dennis came home I was really not feeling well, so everyone ate dinner while I spent some time on the couch. At this point I was having contractions every 10 minutes or so and they were definitly stronger. By 8:30 they were 5-7 minutes apart and strong, so I called my mom to warn her that I thought she might want to just sleep at our house so we wouldn't have to have her driving out here in the middle of the night to watch the kids.

My mom came over around 11:00 and we all watched "Lost" together. The contractions had spaced back out to 10-15 minutes apart, but were still quite strong. I was becomming increasingly frustrated wondering what was going on. With my last two babies I had 2 or 3 hours of strong contractions, my water broke at home, then I went to the hospital and had a baby 2 hours later. I took it for granted that this labor would be similar.

Dennis and I took a walk around midnight and that got the contractions going a little closer again, but I still didn't feel like I really wanted to be at the hospital. I told Dennis we should try to get some sleep because we were both exhausted. We went to bed and my poor mom decided to snooze on the couch.

I tried sleeping on and off from about 1 - 3:30 in the morning. I'd snooze for 10 minutes, then be hit with a contraction that would startle me awake. Then I'd have to calm down and try to go back to sleep. I was so frustrated and so TIRED, and feeling like something was wrong with me. After my quick previous labors, I was beyond frustrated. My poor mom was up with me from about 4:00 a.m. until everyone else got up around 8:00. At that point I called my midwives crying and told them that although I was still having contractions, they were 10-15 minutes apart again, but nothing I could do would make them go away. I think at that point I was just exhausted and desperate for anyone to tell me what to DO! I was told to go into the hospital and get checked and we'd take it from there.

I arrived at the hospital around 10:00 Friday morning. They monitored my contractions for quite a while and confirmed that I was having "real" and strong contractions about every 10 minutes. No kidding! They told Dennis and I to go on a walk again for a while, come back, and get monitored again. For some reason after about 14 hours of going through this, just getting checked into the hospital seemed to be all I needed to get things going! We went on a walk, I got checked about an hour later, and progress had been made! We were there to stay and I was assured that we'd be having a baby in a few hours. I was so relieved.

They didn't want to break my water, because Hayden was posterior and they felt that's why my labor had gone so slow. They wanted to try to get her in a better position. We tried for hours to get her to turn, but she wouldn't budge. Finally they broke my water, and Hayden was born about half an hour later at 3:42 p.m.

On a side note, after so many hours of this Dennis was still so great and supportive. He never doubted me even was I was doubting my own sanity, and somtimes his words of encouragement were all I was hanging on to. Whenever I'd get a little scared or overwhelmed he was the one suggesting I move into a different position or giving me ice chips or rubbing my back or telling me how great I was doing. He was exactly what I needed and I absolutely couldn't have done it without him there!

Hayden looked perfect and at first I felt great, but then things got a little scary. I started hemmoraging and they couldn't make it stop. I was feeling really bad and told Dennis to grab the baby because I couldn't hold on to her. I don't remember much after that. It was like I was watching what was going on but didn't really care because I was so out of it. They called a code and a bunch of people were in the room. Two nurses were trying to force an IV into me and couldn't get a vein, and they were giving me shots of various medications to try to make the bleeding slow down. My blood pressure was dropping fast...the lowest was in the 40's over 20's. I just remember feeling very cold and shaking all over and trying to reassure Dennis that things were okay but being unable to really focus or keep my eyes open. After about an hour they got the bleeding under control, but I'd lost so much blood I felt really out of it the rest of the day. They still aren't sure why it happened, but said that sometimes a prolonged labor can cause the uterus to just wear out and then it won't clamp down after the baby is born. Anyway, it was pretty scary and I'm relieved things are all done now!

So now my blood counts are really low and the orders are lots of red meat, fish, dark green veggies, and rest. I can definitely feel a difference from how I usually feel after having a baby. I'm so tired I keep falling asleep sitting up. Dennis has been a great help and is trying to take care of everything for me so I can just focus on resting and taking care of Hayden. He's been forcing water and food down me at every opportunity. I'm so relieved that he'll be home for the next week. I don't know what I'd do otherwise. I'm already a little scared for him to go back to work. I'm hoping with rest and good nutrition I'll be able to feel more like myself VERY soon. I hate feeling so foggy and out of it.

On a brighter note, Hayden is PERFECT in every way. There was some concern about her because ultrasounds while I was pregnant showed that she is missing a kidney. They did an ultrasound on her yesterday, and although she is definitely without a right kidney, the one on the left seems to be fully functional and perfect. I'm so relieved that she's healthy. She's eating and sleeping like a pro, which are really her only jobs right now. She's just beautiful and I'm already madly in love with her.

The girls all came yesterday to the hospital to meet their sister. It was so fun! Kaiya is like a little mommy and keeps telling me all the things she can do to help with Hayden since she's the biggest sister. Emmie just keeps saying, "Wow, Mom. Hayden come out of your tummy!" She thinks the whole thing is pretty amazing.

We came home earlier today, around 1:00. Claire has been a little clingier than usual, but so far is as sweet as can be with the baby. She's being very gentle. While we've been home today Claire will walk by and give her a little kiss or rub her head, then moves on to more important things.

Thanks to everyone who visited or called while I was at the hospital. We've already had so many people offer meals or help with kids, and I really appreciate it.

Also a BIG thank you to my mom. After staying up all night Thursday, she had my kids Friday and Saturday while Dennis spent time with Hayden and I at the hospital. The girls had so much fun spending time with Grandma, Grandpa, Shannon and Trent. They got pretty spoiled and loved every minute of it. Claire spent most of the afternoon today on her pretend phone talking to "Na-maw".

I feel so blessed and so happy to have my sweet little girl here. I love being a mom and I LOVE this newborn stage. I'm so relieved that she is healthy and well, and so grateful to my Heavenly Father for another beautiful daughter. I can't help but stare at her and feel completely overwhelmed that I get to keep this perfect little person. I am so happy that she is here and we are home!

No girl likes to get weighed...



Our family...



Dennis and I with Hayden...



Kaiya and Hayden...



Emmie and Hayden...



Big sister Claire!



Grandma, Claire, and Hayden...



Grandpa and Hayden...



Claire helping us take pictures...



All the sisters...



Sweet kisses...



Chicken legs...



Our little angel...