Kelsey Mae Hawkins Born December 11th 10:33PM, 7lb 4oz, 18 1/2 inch

Having this new addition to our family has been the most incredible experience. I was so nervous for the delivery because everyone tells the horror stories. I had such a perfect pregnancy that I thought labor would have to have some issues because not everything can be perfect right? Well I was wrong my labor and delivery was just as smooth as my pregnancy, so here is the story.

On Friday December 11th we (Chad, my mom and I) went to the hospital for a stress test secretly hoping that they would induce me that day. My mom had been up all week waiting for Kelsey to
come and would have to leave in a few days. My due date was on the ninth so they wouldn't be inducing me early or anything. After the stress test they said everything looked great and we could go home. Chad and my mom talked the nurse into checking my cervix to see if anything had changed because we did not want to go home without the baby. Plus if we did go home I was scheduled for an induction for the following Wednesday which is the same day my sister was being induced. The nurse checked me and I had made some progress so we pleaded our case and she said she would call our doctor to see what she could do. We waited for 45 minutes and the nurse came back and said that we should go get some lunch then come back and they would induce me. They put me on pitocin at 12:15 and we just waited. Around 3:00 I started to get “REAL” contractions instead of the Braxton Hicks that I had been feeling the previous 10 days. Everyone said you will know it when the real ones hit and they were right. I got hot flashes, threw up, wanted Chad to fan me then didn’t want him to, wanted Chad to rub my back, then didn’t want to be touched. Luckly that only lasted a half an hour, then out came the best drug on earth, the epidural. After it kicked in, which was quick, labor was smooth sailing filled with movies and waiting. I liked how the epidural made it so I could still feel but had no pain at all. It was like the bottom half of my body was asleep. The only incident happened around 8:00 when I had 7 contractions in 8 minutes and Kelsey’s heart rate dropped. None of us knew that anything was wrong until 6 nurses came in and they put an oxygen mask on me. Then they took me off of the pitocin and 7 minutes later her heart rate went back up.
It is amazing how you know what your body is doing even when you have an epidural. I had been dilated to a 1 for three weeks. After getting the pitocin I went from a 1 to a 3 in 5 hours then from a three to a nine in an hour and 15 minutes. I keep telling Chad and my mom to have the nurse check me because I could tell the baby was dropping. Both Chad and my mom told me to wait but I convinced them and the nurse was surprised at how fast I dilated. At about 9:15 PM we began the pushing process. Chad was a great cheer leader saying “come on babe, you can do it, almost there” over and over like a recording. Pushing felt like the most stubborn BM that I have ever had. The doctor got there for the last 20 minutes of pushing and our little girl was born at 10:33 PM.
When I was dilated to a three I asked the nurse if she could feel any hair when she was checking me and she said “oh ya I grabbed and it just keep going” I thought she was joking but no Kelsey has a head of hair. When I was pushing I got to watch with a mirror, I recommend this. It is amazing to see what is going on as you are pushing. When Her head came out I just started saying “oh my gosh” because it was so surreal. Then when the rest of her came out and they set her on my chest I was overwhelmed with joy, relief, and love. Chad started to cry and when I say cry I mean it. He told me later “I knew I would get emotional but I didn’t know I would burst into tears” I want to clear up a myth, I never once yelled “you did this to me” at Chad, maybe I would have if I didn’t have an epidural but our common phrase was “I love you so much” and after chad just keep telling me how good I did and how amazing I am. I am so lucky to be married to a loving husband and now father. Our little Angle is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen and I fall more in love with her and Chad everyday.