After being released from the hospital I had quickly completed Haven's nursery but we hadn't had our baby shower yet so there were still things we were needing. Thankfully the date we picked for our shower landed on the Saturday before my 37th week. At my next obgyn appointment my Dr told me that she would be out of town on spring break with her kids for my induction but that the doctor who saw me in the hospital, Dr. Chastain, would be happy to perform my delivery. I was upset for a brief moment at the thought of a man delivering my baby after searching for female obgyn's for each of my pregnancies. I came to terms with the fact that nothing had quite gone the way it was supposed to lately with Haven's pregnancy and what was most important was to get her here healthy! They set the induction for Tuesday March 15th. I had just rescheduled my hair appointment for that day and was concerned about spending the day in the salon as opposed to spending my last day before I had two babies doing something fun with Everett. So my doctor pushed back the induction to Wednesday March 16th, however after "checking" my cervix at the appointment and discovering I was not very progressed she said I would have to be put on Cervadil in the hospital the night before the induction. This meant I would be admitted into the hospital Tuesday night at 7 pm. So I left the appointment in tears, not quite believing I would soon be the Mom to two precious babies and not quite sure I would know how to handle it.
Neeley and some friends from my small group threw us an amazing baby shower the next weekend and we got everything we could possibly want or need to bring Haven home. Drew and I took Everett to Chuck E Cheese for his first time as a little fun for him before becoming a big brother. My understanding of Cervadil was that it was to "ripen" your cervix and not that any real progression would be made. Our plan was for Drew to check me into the hospital on Tuesday night and stay with me while they got the cervdil applied and then go home to be there for Mom and Everett. I was a little nervous about being induced and began to read on the Internet about what to expect. I quickly found out that cervail could cause you to go into labor itself without the help of pitocin and there was a possibility of me having Haven on Tuesday night. I called a friend who was a Labor and Delivery nurse for a long time and she confirmed the information and suggested Drew stay with me in the hospital just in case. Aunt Cindy was going to be in town the week of Haven's birth due to her spring break so she agreed to stay at the house Tuesday night with Mom and Everett while Drew came with me. The following morning Mom would go to Jan Werner as usual and Susie would come stay with Everett while I was in labor, he would then go spend the night with Aunt Neeley and Uncle Lane. So with everything planned Drew and I spent our last evening home with just Everett feeding him and putting him to bed before we welcomed Haven into the world.
We checked into BSA at 7 pm on Tuesday March 15th and settled in for a long night. At 10 the nurse put cervadil on my cervix and gave me an ambien to help me sleep. I was completely anxious and nervous about delivering another baby sometime within the next 24 hours. Dr. Chastain called the hospital room to check in on me and see if I had any questions. The nurse said she had never heard of a doctor doing that before. He was an older man who was very laid back each time I met him. Always wearing a baseball cap with a sweater draped over his shoulders. Drew and I both agreed that if a man had to deliver Haven he was the one we wanted. The ambien did it's job and I slept pretty soundly that night with the exception of the nurse interrupting to take my vitals. Around 7 am the next morning I was allowed to get up and take a shower and "prep" for the day. With a quick shower and makeup refresh I was back in bed by 8 am and the pitocin was started. Pitocin is a medicine delivered through an IV to stimulate a woman's body into contractions and therefore inducing labor. Everett's labor was 19 hours from the time my water broke to the time I delivered so we were settling in for the long haul. I was told that at noon Dr. Chastain would come into break my water. I began the day with my cervix dilated to a 2. Contractions quickly kicked in and I was feeling them consistently and painfully in no time. My nurse reminded me not to be a hero and there was no need to wait for an epidural so by 11 we had the order in for one. Neeley came and joined Drew and I for the waiting game in the room. I was given my epidural sometime between 11- 12 and I immediately felt nothing anymore, it was glorious! Dr. Chastain finally came in to break my water at 1:00 pm and told me I was dilated to a 3. I urged Drew and Neeley to go get something to eat because this was going to be a while! The ambien was still very much in my system so I was ready for a nap. I remembered my OB from Everett's delivery telling me to rest as much as possible while I was laboring because there wouldn't be much sleep afterward, I didn't heed her warning and certainly got no sleep after he arrived. Drew and Neeley went to the cafeteria for a little bit and I slept.
When we arrived to check in to the hospital Drew and I passed the gift shop with a giant stuffed animal tiger in the window. He said we needed to get that for Everett. I asked if they checked the price of the tiger when they went to the cafeteria. Since they hadn't we took quick bets on what we all thought it would cost and Neeley went down to see. I had only had my water broken for about an hour and a half at this point and confident we would be waiting on Haven's arrival for the rest of the day if not into the night. I began to feel some pressure, nothing too serious just a constant pressure that hadn't been there since I got my epidural. I was to nervous to mention this feeling to Drew since he would most definitely call the nurse. Neeley quickly returned telling us the outrageous price of the tiger, poor Everett would definitely not be getting it. Within minutes the nurse came in saying Haven's heart rate had taken a dip on the monitor and she wanted to check my progress. She did and reported that I had dilated to a full 10 and she could easily feel Haven's head. She told me she was going to call the doctor but not to push at all. We were all in complete shock! I had expected to be in labor for hours and hours. Drew, Neeley and I looked around at each other in anxious excitement and amazement.
Pretty quickly the nurse returned and began to prepare the room for delivery. Neeley got the camera ready and Drew got in position on my right side. Doctor Chastain arrived and was impressed with the quick progress. I wasn't expecting the army of personnel that arrived when it was time to push Everett out so I was prepared this time and expected even more since Haven would be taken to NICU right away. However since the birth was coming so quickly not all the staff could get in there and I ended up having less people than when Everett was born. My epidural was still so fresh that I couldn't lift my legs at all so my nurse took my left side and with Drew on my right they held my legs as I pushed Haven out. I pushed 3 times and sweet baby Haven Molly Neal was born at 3:05 pm on Wednesday March 16th. She was quickly whisked to the incubator at the bedside where the NICU team quickly assessed her. I was consumed with tears of joy at the wonder of welcoming my beautiful baby girl. Drew was in tears also and quickly became protective father overlooking the doctor and nurse's assessing Haven.
My biggest concern about knowing that Haven would be taken to the NICU immediately upon being born was that I wouldn't get to see her or hold her. No one had given us a clear answer as to what would happen and if I would be allowed to hold her or not. When the time came Neeley was telling me how beautiful Haven was and Drew was telling me how proud he was of me and that she was just awesome! The doctor was working on her quickly and half announced that she was doing good to me! No one knew exactly what her heart would do once she was breathing on her own and completely disconnected from me. They wanted to get her into NICU asap. As they were about to take Haven out of the room Drew asked the NICU doctor if I could hold my baby for a minute. He was reluctant but agreed for just a moment I could hold her. Drew has been my hero many times but for this I will forever and ever be grateful! They wrapped Haven in a blanket and placed her on my chest. She was the most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen in my life. I whispered to her how beautiful she was and how much I loved her. As I spoke to Haven her eyes fluttered like she was trying to open them but before she could she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring.
Less than 2 hours after my water had been broken Haven was born into this world at a small 6 lbs. 8 oz. 19 inches long and she was absolutely perfect in every way!
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