She's Here!

 December 20, 2012 

2:00 am - contractions start

3:00 am - call Jake's mom to start driving the 4 hours to our house

4:00 am - Parker wakes up due to all the commotion we're making downstairs; call my friend Kylie to see about dropping Parker off while waiting for Grandma to get there

5:00 am - drop off Parker at Kylie's house and we leave for the hospital

5:30 am - check in at hospital and they confirm I'm in labor (only 3 cm dilated)

still smiling between contractions for Baby 2...

 9:00 am (approx?) - got epidural; Jake almost passes during the process

10:00 am - checked again (only 5 cm);  they break my water; 

I begin having extreme contractions that I can feel especially on my right side and back so I tell the nurse.  She lays me on my right side to see if gravity will help the epidural reach that side of my body while she calls the anesthesiologist to "fix" the epidural.  

11:00 am - while waiting for the anesthesiologist the nurse can tell I'm in extreme pain and she decides to check me just in case...  Looks at me and says cancel the anesthesiologist - you're at 10 and ready to push.  I started bawling my eyes out because I was so scared.  This pain was not what I was expecting and I did not think I could push this baby out through all the pain.  What can I say? I'm a wimp!  I asked for an epidural at 3 cm.  I make no apologies; I don't understand people who choose to do it all natural... modern medicine has provided us with epidurals and I appreciate that.  Why have pain when you don't have to?  Well, modern medicine failed me and I had to feel this birth.  I was in shear panic when the nurse turned the anesthesiologist away at the door.  I was crying hysterically and during every push I was a maniac.  Screaming, crying, yelling... I was the crazy woman you see on tv or in the movies, but I couldn't help it.  There is video that exists of the first 20 minutes, but I remember screaming at Jake to put the camera away.  I haven't watched the video yet, but I doubt it will ever be seen by anyone.  I'm sure every nurse, receptionist, other patient on the floor heard me, and I'm embarrassed anout that.  Even more embarrassed that she was delivered after approximately 40 minutes of pushing and weighing only 6 pounds, 11 ounces.  So, yeah, I'm kind of a wimp compared to my mother (and countless other women) who are in labor for days, pushing for hours.  Or, compared to my friends who have delivered nearly 10 pounds babies.  Oh well, it was a painful experience for me and that's how I dealt with it.  Get over it.... but, yeah, I'm embarrassed.  

Now for the good stuff:

HOLLY MICHELE HILTON

born December 20, 2012 at 11:38 am

6 pounds 11 ounces

19.5 inches long

Me... right after she is born getting over the extreme terror I just went through... thinking, "I used to want a lot of kids!"

 Holly's first few minutes.  She went through a lot, too!  Apparently her little head was not in a good position and needed to turn before she could come out.

 "OK, maybe you were worth it..."

 

 It's been about 20 minutes and I'm still wiping tears away... traumatized... seriously, videotapes of this birth could be shown in high schools for birth control... haha, well that's what I was thinking

 Ok, she's worth it...

 Aw, a good sleeper... she really was worth it...

 Has Parker's lips

 Trying to burp this little peanut... really hard to hold with all those damn bracelets

 Jake looks more graceful

 Love her...  but, still thinking, "you're my last one..."

 Getting dressed to go home!!  (24 hours after she was born... we didn't want to wait a second longer)

 We got home a little later than we were hoping.  Left the hospital at 2:00 pm on December 21st.  We got to our house and Parker was still napping.  We even thought about waking him up because we missed him so much.  When he finally did wake up, Jake and I went in to get him. Our usually grouchy boy was excited to see us and we started telling him his baby sister was downstairs.  Knowing my son, I prepared by having a dinosaur book and piece of candy as a present from his sister.  He was so excited by this gesture of kindness from Holly he was instantly her biggest fan.... also it kept his hands busy and he wasn't trying to climb in the car seat because he had to keep that candy safe. 

 Pointing to Holly and all her facial features

 Seeing her little hands... he was so sweet and gentle

 Pointing to mama's belly where baby used to be.  Then, he would say, "baby right here," and point to Holly.  Such a smartie.... also very happy he didn't think a baby was still in there... I have some working out to do before my Key West vacation in May. 

 Thinks his sister is awesome for giving her candy.

 He was SO excited when I said he could hold the baby.

 Huge smiles and lots of kisses

I don't think the homecoming could have been better!  And all of the preparation for getting to the hospital could not have gone smoother - HUGE thanks to my mother-in-law and friend, Kylie, for watching Parker that morning.  I never had to worry about him the whole time we were away.  This entire pregnancy and labor was completely different than my experience with Parker.  I'm so grateful that even though the journeys were different, the end results were the same: healthy, beautiful babies.  I feel so much love right now I think my heart could explode!  

(PS ... really love that she's a good sleeper and Jake is here to entertain Parker or else this post would have never happened.... although halfway through typing Parker did need some mama time and I typed with one hand.  Holly has been sleeping the whole time...  happy mama)