Raylee's Birth Story

As cliche as this sounds I can't believe that I finally have a minute to sit down and update our blog! As I'm sure everyone knows from my constant Instagram spam, we welcomed little Raylee into the world on July 30, 2013! I didn't realize how quickly life changes from the moment that they hand your little one into your arms. Such a sweet, innocent life takes up so much of my time! However it's hard to put her down when she is such a snuggle bug :)

So let me backtrack a little to the day before:

On July 29th we had our 37 week appointment at the OBGYN. Everything went as we suspected, still having high blood pressure and I was only a fingertip dilated, which is basically nothing. During that appointment we met with a doctor who was not my regular so that we could be a little acquainted if she happened to be the doctor on call when I delivered. She expressed her concern about having high blood pressure for the 3rd week in a row but wanted to keep an eye on it and have us return a few days before my scheduled induction date.

As we were driving home after the appointment I got a call from my regular doctor who then told us that after meeting with the doctor we saw, she wanted us to come to the hospital to have the baby THAT NIGHT! Based off the high blood pressure and swelling she felt that it would be safer to deliver the baby now than to take the chance of developing preeclamsia, which could be dangerous and life threatening to me and the baby. So long story short we were told to go home to pack a bag and then come into the hospital to be induced that night.

Once getting to the hospital we began the long process of induction with some medication to help soften my cervix. Because we were basically starting from scratch, Aaron and I were very worried about in it resulting in a c-section. We really stressed it to the doctor and nurses that we wanted to do whatever was possible to avoid it unless it was absolutely necessary, of course. Throughout the night and into the next day we waited until I was finally 5cm. At that point I was able to get an epidural which made it possible to finally get some sleep!

Then we hit a dead stop. During the next few hours I was stuck at 5cm with little to no progress. This is when we became very worried that we would have to have a c-section and all I could do was pray, real hard, that it would all work out okay. After getting a little more sleep I woke up to some uncomfortable pain. My nurse came in to check me and found that I was still 5, maybe 6cm. About 20 minutes later I really started hurting and feeling a lot of pressure. At that point my doctor came in to check me and found that I had jumped to 9cm! That's when the panic set in haha! I couldn't believe it was really getting close to deliver the baby. My doctor estimated that it would still take me around 45 minutes until I would be ready to push but I guess Raylee had a plan of her own. About 10 minutes after the doctor left I felt the intense urge to push and I had reached 10cm! I began to push with the nurse while we waited for the doctor to come back and actually had to stop and wait because this baby was coming! The doctor had barely gotten her gloves on during my final few pushes and after 26 hours of labor and 20 minutes of pushing, Raylee was born! Phew!

Raelynn Joy Hefner (Raylee for short) was born July 30th at 6:57pm weighing 6lbs 15oz and as perfect as can be! We are completely in love with our beautiful little snuggle bug!

 

Full Term Baby!

That's right! Now being 37 weeks pregnant and considered full term, I am SO ready to have this baby!

It's been quite an eventful week here in the Hefner home. I'll start with the biggest news by announcing that we are planning to induce in 2 weeks so Raylee is expected to arrive on.....

August 8!!!

We are so very excited and it just blows my mind that she will be here in less than 2 weeks, or sooner!  We have been busy setting up all the baby things and getting ourselves organized in our small and temporary apartment. We have been so blessed to receive so many clothes for her that her stuff is starting to overtake our closet! I think her things are much cuter than mine or Aaron's anyways :) Here are a couple of pics of our Friday night highlights!

I feel so much better having these essential things set up now so if for any reason she comes before the 8th, we are prepared! Now all I need to do is get my hospital bag packed. 

Another surprise we had come up was some concerns with high blood pressure. 

During my past 2 appointments, my blood pressure has been coming up high so as a precaution, I had some testing done to rule out conditions such as preeclampsia. Those tests came back normal, which is a huge relief to us! However, my blood pressure is still quite high so at our appointment this coming Monday, we will be talking with our doctor about which direction to take in this situation. There is no real need for concern, but as a "first time mom", its a little stressful and scary not to have any definitive answers. All my prayers are with the doctor that she will know what the best direction is and that little Raylee continues to grow healthy as she has throughout this entire pregnancy! 

What it's all about!

For as long as I can remember I have always dreamed about one day being a mother. Sure I had other dreams throughout my life such as growing up to be a soccer star in the 2nd grade, then to owning a crepe restaurant in high school, and now I would love a career as an OBGYN! But even through all of these lifetime goals and dreams, I've realized that my greatest desire in life was really to be a mommy.

I remember when it hit me. You know, the baby craze. Aaron and I came up with a plan before we got married that we were going to wait to start a family until Aaron had graduated, so about 2 years. We were both anxious to one day have a family, but we also wanted to enjoy time as a couple for a short time.

Around 9 months into our marriage, I started getting those pesky little thoughts about babies. I would spend all my church meetings just baby watching and my heart would get all warm when I saw a baby while out in public. Aaron kind of got into this fun craze with me, but we were still pretty certain of holding to our original plan. Until one Sunday at church, it nearly smacked me in the face. I became completely overwhelmed with the feeling that I was missing something in my life. I couldn't shake it. I had never wanted something so badly. It was time.

So, long story short.....

Shortly after my emotional episode we were completely ecstatic to get our "Big, Fat, Positive" and we are expecting a little baby girl on August 15, 2013!


This little nugget right here is what it's all about! I already love her to pieces and she is my greatest joy!