Our lives have been very crazy lately! Violet was born two weeks early and we closed on our home loan two weeks later than planned. Meanwhile Kirk is amidst the busiest time of year for his job. So, just a week after Violet was born we moved into our new home which was not move in ready. Fortunately Kirk's mom, Dana, flew out to our rescue! She packed up the rest of the house we were living in and unpacked everything after we moved into our new one! We also had tons of awesome friends who helped watch our kids and bring us meals! We could not have done it without everyone's help!

A few days after Dana left, on Violet's original due date, my parents flew out to help us out. They have been a great help too: painting walls, building a bunk bed, cooking meals and taking care of the girls.

So that is why I am barely getting around to blogging about Violet's birth.

Here are the details from that special day our sweet baby girl was born:

March 23rd
2:00am

I woke up from a dream that I was in labor. The night before Kirk mentioned that he had a really busy day at work the next day. I joked that I would go into labor just because it was a busy day. When I woke up I was feeling crampy, but was not having contractions. I couldn't fall back to sleep though and went upstairs to lay down.

3:00am

As I was laying down I felt a click. Nothing happened after so I figured it was just the baby moving. A few minutes later I rolled over and out came the water. Too much to be pee:). I decided it was time to wake Kirk up.

3:30am

Kirk gave me a blessing then gathered together some last minute things while I called the doctor and my good friend Mindy. This is the second time I've woken her up at 3:30 in the morning to babysit. She was so sweet and came over to our house so we didn't have to wake our girls up.

4:00am

We arrived at the Emergency room to check in. I still was not having contractions. It felt so weird to arrive at the hospital not in agonizing pain. I called my friend Jenny, who was going to be my doula, to let her know we were having our baby.

5:25am

After getting all checked in and hooked to the monitors they checked my cervix and I was only dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced. At my doctors visit the day before I was dilated to a 2 and 60% effaced. I still was only having occasional contractions so they took me off the monitors and had me walk the halls for a while. We walked around the same loop for 20 minutes, then I sat on the birthing ball for a little bit, then walked some more.

6:15am

I still wasn't progressing so my doula suggested nipple stimulation. I thought that was weird, but I gave it a try and sure enough it worked. My contractions were immediately stronger and 2-4 minutes apart.

While mentally preparing for this birth I planned on going without an epidural. I thought my labor would be as fast or faster than it was for Clara so I assumed I wouldn't even have it as an option.

When my contractions started coming consistently the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I honestly didn't know if I did or not. The pain was still manageable so I said I was fine for now but might want one later. Jenny said I should decide now if I wanted one and suggested that I didn't since my blood pressure was already low. I guess epidurals can make your blood pressure drop even lower. So I went forward without anything.

I hate IV's and was hoping I wouldn't need one since I wasn't getting an epidural, but they still make you have the heplock in. When the nurse was putting it in I got really faint and almost passed out. I was sitting in the rocking chair at the point so they called in more nurses to lift me into the bed. I think IV's are almost as bad as labor. The worst part is being in labor when you get one.

7:15am

They checked my cervix again and I was dilated to a 5 and 90-100% effaced. I was able to sit in the shower and have the hot water pound on my lower back.

8:05am

I was dilated to a 7-8 but my cervix was still posterior. They had me roll around onto each side for a couple of contractions then on my hands and knees to get the baby un-posterior (is that a word?)

8:25am

I was fully dilated and effaced. The doctor and his crew all came in. At this point I was really wondering what I got myself into. The nurse told me to start pushing and I was not ready at all. I was trying to listen to my body and do what felt right and at this point pushing didn't. I pushed a little bit and the nurse looked at me and said "That is not effective pushing!". I just wanted to smack her! (I was not a huge fan of this nurse. She was way old school and wanted to do things as routinely as she always had).

8:49am

She was born! I thought I was going to die for a little bit, but I survived! Jenny had mentioned to my doctor how important it was to me that I didn't tear, so he focused a lot of attention on making sure I didn't. He used mineral oil and then guided me with my pushing so she wouldn't come out too fast. When her head was starting to crown he had me stop pushing for a contraction for it to stretch. It was honestly so hard to do because I was in so much pain and just wanted her out. After her head came out he had me stop pushing again as he slowly guided her shoulders out. In the end, it was worth the few extra minutes of pain because I didn't tear! When she came out, her cord was short so they could only set her on my hip area. They had Kirk cut her cord right away rather then waiting and the old school nurse whisked her away and got her foot prints and all that stuff before she let me hold her.


My doctor

My doula, Jenny


My sweet baby Violet!




Luci and Clara were so excited to meet their new sister! They seemed to not even notice I was there until my food came.


Kirk's sister Janice was flying into Harrisburg on the 23rd and had made plans to rent a car and come visit her nieces for a couple of hours. She got lucky and got to meet her new niece that day too.


One nice thing about this hospital is they prepare a special meal for you and your spouse during your stay. They set the table nicely and even brought in sparkling cider. My friend was watching Luci and Clara during this time, and Violet was sleeping, so Kirk and I got to enjoy a nice meal alone.


When Clara was born, I only spent one night at the hospital and then asked if I could go home early. I was so lonely without Kirk there and didn't sleep good on their bed. With Violet, I still didn't sleep good, but didn't want to come home to a house full of boxes, so I stayed the full time. I really enjoyed my time alone with Violet and being fed hot meals for breakfast lunch and dinner.

On Sunday, my family came to take us home. We had Violet wear the same outfit that I wore home from the hospital when I was a baby and the same one we brought Luci and Clara home in.







The hospital

Welcome home Violet!