TP's Teepee: Piper Cathryn Hardy Is Here!!!

(I am documenting this for my memory so I am sorry if it is too much detail!)

On Wednesday, August 28th, at 5:05 am, I woke up to my water breaking. After 9 months of waiting, it was finally time to meet our sweet baby girl! I woke Jonathan up and he jumped up and began getting everything loaded up in the car. He was so excited! I had everything packed for weeks. I got in the shower. Yes, I knew I wouldn't have one for a day at least so I wanted to be clean. I text a few people to let them know that would be the big day Piper would arrive. We left the house about 6:00 and ran by Hardee's to get a biscuit. I knew that they wouldn't let me eat once I got to hospital so I made sure I got something in my stomach! LOL I am so glad I did because I was starving by afternoon.

We got to the hospital around 6:30 and they took us straight to a room. My nurse that day was Krisalyn. I have to say that she was AMAZING! I am so thankful that I had great nurses. She called my Doctor and then checked to see if I was dilated. I wasn't. She explained that they would have to start a pitocin drip to help speed things up. But before they could do that, they had to start an IV. Well, who knew that starting an IV would be such an act of Congress. It took 4 people 8 sticks to get an IV in me. Let me repeat that......FOUR PEOPLE, EIGHT TIMES!!! The anesthesiologist finally came and it even took him 2 of those times. I have good veins, but wobbling veins, or so I am told. So after all that, I finally got the drip started and the contractions began to increase. I did well with the pain until about 1:30 when I had had enough. I called for the epidural. Jonathan watched while they gave me the epidural. When they were done, he informed me that I was to never tell him that I was a wuss again! LOL His face was white and he did not like the HUGE needle they stuck in my back. I, on the other hand, could have cared less! I felt MUCH better after they gave me the good drugs! lol They came back in to check me again and I had dilated to 1. Still not near as far as the had wanted. At about 2:45 the alarms started going off and my nurse came running in the room. She flipped me on my side and said that Piper's heart rate had dropped. About that same time, I had started feeling yucky too. My blood pressure had dropped a bit. They put me on oxygen and turned off the pitocin drip. Krisalyn stayed right there with me and kept flipping me from side to side. Dr. Glasgow was watching my monitor from her office and called my room to talk to Krisalyn. By this time, I was a little freaked out. Okay, a lot. After a little bit of her heart rate doing better, they started the drip again. It wasn't long before her heart rate began to drop again. Dr. Glasgow came in around 5:30 and I still hadn't gotten past 2. She told us then that since I wasn't progressing and since Piper wasn't doing well, that I needed to have a c section. By that point I was fine with that option. I was worried to death about her and was just ready to get her out. As soon as the Doctor left the room, I began to throw up. I think the medicine got to my empty stomach. They wheeled me back while Jonathan got geared up. I think I asked for him 100 times while they prepped me. I was so scared that they would start without him. (I think I was just nervous and the drugs were talking!) They brought him back and started. He watched them the whole time! I threw up the whole time. Lovely. And my loving husband held the bucket for me. If that isn't love folks, then I don't know what is! Piper Cathryn Hardy was born at exactly 6:00 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 13.4 ounces and was 19 inches long. After she was born, he went to go be with her, which is what I wanted! I was just so glad the whole thing was over and that she was healthy. Jonathan took her back to the room to wait on me while they stapled me up. He wouldn't let any of our family see her until I got to see her, hold her, and feed her. I am sure they didn't like that, but it meant the world to me that he waited on me.

As soon as I got back to the room, he gave her to me and she immediately wanted to eat. She latched on and stayed there almost an hour. My Mom, Dad, Nanny and Jonathan's Maw Maw and Mom were waiting outside of the room in the hall waiting to meet Piper. After she ate, the family came in to meet her. They all agreed with us that she was just beautiful.