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!
