Harlow Louise

As August 3rd crept closer and closer, the more anxious we got. When I get anxious, I start eating a lot, like, I have to be eating something all the time. Emily was so ready to be done being pregnant.  

On the morning of the 3rd, we double checked to make sure we had everything. Emotions naturally started setting in as we said good-bye to Hadley and Cambri. We made the drive to Everett, but not without stopping at Taco Bell for breakfast. We arrived a little before 8am, and getting checked-in was a breeze. 

They put us in a little curtained room to monitor the baby before sending us off to a room. The nurse hooking Emily up to the sensors and said it had been a crazy morning. She said they had already rescheduled multiple inductions, which is obviously not what we wanted to hear. She came back ten minutes later to let us know they had a room ready for us. So that was a massive relief, to say the least.

After getting settled in, and Emily hooked up, they checked to see how far along she was. She was measuring at 3cm dilated. Since that was the starting point, they didn't feel the need to do any pre-labor mumbo-jumbo, they could get her started with Petocin. The plan was to get her going, then after a while they would give her an epidural before breaking her water. 

As she progressed, the contractions started coming more and more regularly, and every time the nurses would ask where she was on the pain scale, she'd say about a 2 or 3. They had a hard time gauging Emily and her pain/contractions because she was cool, calm, and collected the whole time. We then played the waiting game for the next hour or two. 

At one point Emily got up to go to the bathroom and worried that she peed on the floor. The fluid was too clear to be urine, though. I grabbed a paper towel to wipe it up and got a huge whiff of it, and it was obvious that her water had broken. Emily sat back down and I called the nurse. The fluid just kept coming, and the nurse seemed genuinely surprised with just how much their was.

So, the original plan got thrown out. They called the anesthesiologist to give Emily an epidural. It wasn't really doing what it was supposed to, and Emily said the contractions were feeling worse, but she could feel a little numbness, so the epidural was trying to kick in. It was at this point they decided to check Emily and couldn't even feel the cervix. They think things were moving so fast, it didn't allow for the epidural to keep up. 

They called the midwife, who was finishing up another delivery, so we had to wait a couple extra minutes. As soon as she came in, it was go time. It only took three contractions of pushing until the baby's head popped out. At that moment, it seemed like everyone was surprised with the way the baby just came out like that, that everything just stopped. Then everyone was yelling for Emily to keep pushing just a little bit more. At 3:41pm, our little Harlow Louise was born.

She was placed on Emily's chest and didn't really cry all that much. She was just immediately comforted.

After a little bit she started getting a little color to her, as opposed to the weird purple color.

After a little bit they weighed and measured her. She came in at 7 lbs 4 oz, and 19.25" in length. So that is pretty much splitting the middle between Hadley and Cambri's measurements.

Since the epidural was never able to fully kick in before Emily had to start pushing, the midwife and nurses said as far as they are concerned, Emily delivered this baby naturally.

I can't remember if we've said it on here before or not, but we're naming our kids after towns/cities in England. When going through the list we both agreed on several, Harlow being one of our favorites. Louise as a middle name is after my Gma Helen Louise.

They moved us up a floor to a recovery room where we would stay the rest of our time. I went to Chops to get us some bulgorritos for dinner. Apparently when I was gone, the nurse asked Emily if she felt safe at home or if I beat her and was controlling. So, I guess I give off abusive husband vibes. The nurse said it was protocol to ask, but, I think that was just a cover.

It was actually a pretty relaxing evening watching Family Feud. Harlow basically slept most of the time, with the exception of the nurses taking vitals every couple of hours and feedings. 

Emily was a champ. I can't express enough how impressed I am with her. I've said it before when Hadley and Cambri were born, but it's extremely humbling sitting there next to her as she dismisses the pains and discomforts of labor to grind through that process. Her pain tolerance is incredible, and the nurses kept mentioning it as well. They said it's pretty rare to go through all of that without screaming and moaning. But Emily hardly made a peep, which also made it very difficult for the nurses and midwives to judge where she was at in labor.

I owe so much to Emily. No other woman has suffered the pains of birthing my children. I am incredibly grateful for her. She makes it look easy.

Baby Harlow came out with a little hair, and so far it definitely has a strawberry color to it.

Thursday morning they came in to do the hearing test. It took a couple of times, but she passed.

Right after the hearing test, the lab came to test for jaundice. Everything came back good, so we were able to be discharged earlier than expected.

We forgot just how small babies look in their car seats.

We arrived home in the afternoon, and the girls were so excited to see Harlow.

Cambri, especially, was crazy excited. "Baby Harlow right there!"

Hadley looks like she's not excited, but she really was. And after a while she really took a liking to her new sister.

Cambri kisses.

We weren't even home for a couple hours before Emily felt like she needed to do a little weeding.

The plan was for Meemaw to make hot dogs for dinner for the girls, but since we were able to make it back home in time, we decided to get a fire going to roast the hot dogs.

And when there is a fire, there are s'mores.

The girls love giving attention to their new little baby sister, which is something we were worried about. Anytime she cries, Cambri is first to grab baby Harlow's pacifier and attempt to give it to her. Hadley enjoyed showing off her toys to the baby.

It's amazing just how quickly you can love someone so fiercely.