Introducing Halle Jane...

This is a very photo heavy post. --and many of the pictures are almost exactly the same shot, but it is my blog and I had a hard time choosing which to put up, so up they went! 

On Tuesday morning, December 17th, Hudson and I got up started our normal routine for the day. There was a lot I wanted to get done, and I was hoping to get through my long list before the day was over. We headed off to CrossFit at 9:00am and from there went to the commissary to stock the house. Garrett called me from work to see how I was feeling. I told him I felt great and that I thought I was going to be pregnant for another 2 weeks. I also let him know that this was my last grocery shopping trip, regardless of when the baby came. :) With traffic around this area, by the time we went to the gym and finished shopping, we got back to the house around 12:30. Hudson and I made lunch and put all the groceries away. We played for a little bit, and then I put him down for a nap around 2:00. I remember setting the goal of getting all the bathrooms cleaned and the kitchen floor scrubbed while he was asleep. 

By 3:30, I had completed two of the bathrooms and finished some laundry. I wasn't feeling very well, but just chalked it up to the normal aches and pains of the end of pregnancy. I sat down for a little bit and took a break, but quickly decided to attack the last bathroom as I wanted to be finished before Hudson woke up. With this baby as well as with Hudson, I never really felt (or could articulate) Braxton Hicks contractions. With Hudson, my water broke at home and BAM, I knew I was having legitimate contractions. However, at this point (about 4:20), I knew that I was experiencing a consistent pain that was starting to take my breath away. I finished cleaning and then decided to lay down and drink some water to see if it would go away. I noticed they were about 8 min apart and very consistent. 

I called Garrett and let him know how I was feeling, but that I still wasn't sure if it was going to turn into the real thing or not. Because we were relying on friends from church to watch Hudson, I was really hesitant about going to the hospital in fear that we'd go through all the trouble and bother someone just to be sent home. By 5:30, my contractions had become much stronger, longer, and were only 4-5 minutes apart. I wasn't sure how soon it was going to happen, but I was confident we needed to get ready to head to the hospital. We called our pastor's wife and since they were running errands they decided to come to our house to pick Hudson up. **Side note: It is a bad idea to go into labor at 5:30pm in rush hour traffic when you live in an area known for the nation's worst traffic. By the time our pastor and his wife got to our house (although they were only a few miles away), it was 6:30 and I was starting to get very nervous we weren't going to make it to the hospital. 

Garrett drove like a maniac to get there in 20 minutes (although it felt like much longer). He dropped me off at the entrance and went to park. By the time he got up to labor and delivery, they had determined that I was dilated to 7 centimeters. I asked for an epidural, and it took about an hour or so for them to administer it. 

Just arrived. Between contractions.

Waiting and waiting for the epidural to kick in. Dilated to 8.

After my pain level had been reduced, they went to perform a c-section on someone else, and returned at about 10:30 to break my water. Because there was meconium in the fluid, we had about 10 different doctors in the room waiting to check her out immediately. By 10:47, after 2 pushes, Halle Jane made her grand entrance into the world. I could not believe how big she was! 8lb 4oz (exactly like Hudson!), and just an inch shorter than her brother at 20in long.

I couldn't believe how fast it all happened. Couldn't believe how great I felt just a few hours prior to going into labor, and how quickly it all changed.

Proud daddy and his little girl.

Hellooooooo cheeks.

That night, we got about an hour of sleep by the time we switched rooms and everyone was done checking us all out. I couldn't wait for morning because I was so excited for Hudson to meet his little sister. He had been obsessed with the baby all throughout my pregnancy, and I was so anxious to see his face when he met her for the first time…

*I have an adorable video of him coming to the hospital that I will have to upload in the next few days.

He was instantly in love. :) He thinks he has this big brother thing under control, and didn't want my help holding her.

He doesn't like giving kisses to mama anymore…just to Halle.

Lucky for me, I was able to kill two birds with one stone and let Hudson meet Santa while we were in the hospital. We haven't really talked about him much, so I'm not sure Hudson even understood who he was supposed to be, but we got a picture nonetheless. 

Our recovery stay ended up being pretty short. Halle tested positive for DAT which is some sort of incompatibility of antibodies being passed from my blood to hers. Basically they just wanted to watch her bilirubin levels and make sure she didn't need any type of light treatment. 

After getting the clear on Thursday morning, we were ready to head home. Although we were so grateful to know Hudson was in such good hands, I was looking forward to having him home with us.

We've been home for three days now and she truly is an angel baby. God is so so good. I prayed and prayed that she would be born a little early or on time, so that Garrett would get as much time with her as possible before deploying. As always, He was faithful to care even about the little details. I am so very grateful for our beautiful family and feel so incredibly blessed. 

Thank you Jesus.