July 10th, the day we had been anticipating for months!!!
Today is the day we meet our daughter!
We woke up early on Wednesday, July 10th and got ourselves and the boys ready for the day. We let the boys stay home a little later than normal and then Craig and I went and dropped them off together at daycare. All the teachers wished us luck and we told the boys we would see them later at the hospital so that they could meet their baby sister!
We went back home, finished packing and really just tried to waste time messing around with my parents before we could finally hit the road at 10am. I was nauseous (from not being allowed to eat since the previous night), anxious, nervous and excited! We finally got in the cars at 10am and made our way down to the hospital (stopping at the liquor store to pick up a bottle of champagne of course!)
Dad taking some last prego photos of Craig and I together :)
Gifts ready for the boys!
The pink one is a gift Chase got his baby sister and he wanted us to bring it to the hospital for him :)
I got this email from Brady's teachers as we were about to leave home :) Made my morning!
As we were driving down to the hospital, my phone rang when we were about 10 minutes away. I answered it and it was a nurse from the hospital calling to see if we were still coming. I was so confused because my C-section had been scheduled for 1pm and you have to arrive 2 hours early. We were right on track to be there by 11am so I wasn't sure what she was talking about. I told her yes and we would be there soon. She told me you are supposed to be there 2 hours early. I said I knew that and we would be there at 11am because my C-section was set for 1pm. She said, No, it is scheduled for 12pm! WHAT?! I was so confused because on 3 separate occasions at my doctor appointments I had been told 1pm, this was definitely a mistake by my dr office. I explained that I had been told 1pm and I was really sorry and we were 10 minutes away. She said it was fine and they would be ready and waiting! I called Craig because he was driving in a separate car with my Dad and told him the mix-up.
We got into the hospital as quickly as we could, checked in downstairs and before we knew it a nurse was meeting us and my parents in the lobby ready to lead us upstairs. We walked into one of the hospital rooms and I was told to change and then it was like a whirlwind! They wanted to stay on track for the 12pm C-section so everything was in full speed ahead mode. I have to say, this was probably the BEST thing that could have happened and it was truly a blessing in disguise. I think if I had to sit around another hour my nerves would have been through the roof so speeding up the process was fine with me! At one point I had a nurse putting an IV in, another one asking me a million health questions and an anesthesiologist explaining the procedure to me, all at once! It was a little overwhelming but again, I think a good thing in retrospect :)
Getting ready to go!
Right at 12pm, the nurses and doctors had done their job and we were ready to go deliver our baby girl! We walked our way to the operating room, I sat on the operating table, held Craig's hands and I got my spinal tap. I was sooo nervous about this part but it really wasn't too bad and it all felt very reminiscent of Brady's birth. As we waited for the numbness to kick in, the doctors kept poking at me to see what I could and couldn't feel until they felt like we were ready to go. At one point I asked if they started and everyone started laughing because they were already totally involved in the procedure. My doctor took her time and had to work around some scar tissue and although it felt like forever, I think it was only about 10-15 minutes before our baby girl was here. I felt like I was holding my breath the entire time but Craig was once again my rock and kept telling me to take deep breaths and was so calm and relaxed (on the outside anyway!)
I remember the doctors telling me they were ready to take her out and that she was under my rib a bit but without too much pulling or a struggle she was out!!! My doctor said, "Are you ready to see her?" and over the curtain she held up a tiny little ball that was dark purple, had dark hair and was screaming - she definitely had a set of lungs on her - lol! They said she looked great and the baby nurses took her to the side of the room to clean her up and I finally took a breath and a wave of relief fell over me. Craig went over to cut the cord and take pictures of his brand new beautiful daughter!
Some photos Craig got before I saw her
HADLEY ANN HOELTING
Born at 12:35pm
Weight: 6lbs 10 oz
Length: 19 inches
Head: 13 1/2 inches
Meeting my sweet baby girl for the first time!
First family photo
As soon as they took Hadley out of me, the doctors worked on stitching and stapling me up. Once they took Hadley out my chest got really heavy and my right shoulder was aching like crazy but these are all totally normal symptoms and I actually remember feeling the same way with Brady. Once I was out of surgery I was transferred to a bed and moved to the recovery room so Hadley and I could be monitored closely for an hour and a half. The recovery room was just Craig, Hadley and I and a few nurses and we got a chance to melt over our baby girl and this is also where we decided on her name! Craig needed to go out and tell our parents how we were doing but we needed a name first :) After relaxing with baby girl a bit we let our parents come in just to take a quick peak at their granddaughter and then they left and waited for us to make our way to our hospital room a little while later.
The recovery room is usually where you start having reactions from anesthesia if you are going to have any. With Chase I had a super itchy face, with Brady I was dry-heaving like crazy and with Hadley the itchy face came back. It is seriously horrible and you feel like you want to itch your face off - ugh! They gave me some benedryl but it didn't help much and I had to live with it for about the next 6-8 hours.
After we got released from the recovery room we made our way to our room for the next few days. Hadley was whisked away with Craig for her first bath and brought back to us to finally enjoy time holding her.
All clean, cozy and ready to snuggle!
Daddy's Girl
That night Brad & Melissa picked our boys up from daycare, fed them and brought them to meet their baby sister!
Getting their first peak...
Disclaimer: I was so drugged up that I didn't realize I was half naked until I looked at pictures later! Lol
Chase couldn't wait to get his hands on Hadley, love at first sight :)
Brady wasn't quite as sure what to think :)
We tried to get a family photo but Brady started wiggling and going crazy before Craig could get in. Still a cute one of me with my 3 sweet kiddos!
Opening a gift from Chase to Hadley. They were pink and purple paci's and a handmade card!
Chase opening his Big Brother gift from Hadley
Brady got some new books for his Big Brother gift
Celebrating with some champagne!
Aunt Melissa gets a turn to hold her new niece
Uncle Brad
Chase has a heart of gold...he was so concerned if I was ok
More kisses for Hads
The boys left after about 30 minutes and my parents stayed a bit before Craig and I spent our first night alone with Hads.
Super Daddy changing one of many diapers in the hospital. I can never help while in the hospital because of the C-sections so Craig always has diaper duty (and I pass out and sleep a lot in the background - haha!)
So in love with our tiny peanut! At 6lbs, 10oz, she is a good pound smaller than both the boys were and it really did feel like she was so much smaller! She was an angel in the hospital, sleeping all day, eating great right away and letting me hold her all night long while we caught patches of sleep here and there.
It doesn't matter that this was our 3rd baby - the arrival is still as magical and as much of a miracle as it was the first 2 times. We are so blessed that she arrived healthy and is here to complete our family. Newborns are as close to angels that we have on earth...so amazing!
More to come on the rest of our hospital days...
