Welcome Hailey Sophia!

So Friday was the big day.....the day I was being induced! It proved to be an interesting/exciting day for sure.

We had to be at the hospital at 7:30 to check in. It was almost 8:30 by the time they got the pitocin drip started. I should mention that going into this I was only dilated at 1cm. So there were zero changes by around 10. I could only feel a few of the contractions that the medicine was causing which would explain no progression. I was laying there talking to my mom when out of nowhere my water broke. Kind of took us all by surprise because the baby hadn't even settled far enough down to cause the water to break. And I don't think the nurses really believed the low amniotic fluid claims when they saw the amount that came out! Anyways, shortly after my water broke, whenever I would have a contraction Hailey's heart rate would drop from the 140's down to the low 100's or 90's. That immediately put the c-section need on the table which was a little scary for all of us. My OB decided to continue to monitor and see if this was going to continue to happen or correct itself. One of the causes for the lowered heart rate could be that the umbilical cord is compressed underneath the baby somewhere. That was a very likely cause in my case because of my water breaking and there not being anything for her to float around in there anymore. So they flipped me to my other side where it would only do it when the contraction was really strong. On my back, they quit all together! Phew! At sometime between 2-2:30 my OB came in and checked on me and found that I was now dilated at 3-4cm. Ugh it was going slow and starting to get painful! I went into this whole thing with a very open mind about the epidural. I had not had time for any pain meds with my labor with Kayla and Emma (got to the hospital and they were born within a half hour of arrival) and with Eli I wasn't really open to it. After having been induced with Eli though, I knew how much I hated it and how uncomfortable I was just lying in the bed. So by 3, I was all hooked up with an epidural....worked so well my leg kept falling off the bed and people would have to put it up for me. My nurse came in and checked me at about 3:30-3:45 and I was at 9cm! Nice! She told me whenever I feel like pushing to let her know. Well I never really felt the urge to push like I did with the other 3 kids so I didn't say anything for a while. She checked me at 4ish again and said the head was right there and she would call my OB to have her come down so I could start. Once OB got there, she was getting dressed in her protective gear and told me to go ahead and push....I gave one good shove and she told me to quit. Hailey's head was right there already and she could see her hair! Once more push and out she came! I can now see why so many women opt for the epidural! :) Though I didn't like not feeling my legs for another 2 hours afterwards.

Hailey Sophia was born on June 27th at 4:42pm weighing 8lbs 1oz, 20" long.

Take note the absence of dark, dark hair on her head. Her hair is like a light brown (the other 3 were dark brown) and she has no where near the amount they had. Of course Emma had the most by far! And her eyes are a grayish color. Kayla had blue eyes but Eli and Emma had brown. Really makes you wonder exactly how DNA works.