She's Here!!

Maylee Kate Giddings

December 23rd, 2009

5:37 am

7 lbs. 5 oz. 19 inches

What a whirlwind! I can't believe I am now the mother of two beautiful angel little girls! I feel so lucky, so blessed...what a Merry, Merry Christmas!

The story begins last Friday, after I had lost my "plug" and already being dilated to 3 cm, and 70% effaced, my mom decided she was NOT going to miss this birth and therefore hopped on a plane to come be with me. Many thought that I might not make it through that weekend, but I did. It was so nice to have her help with last minute preparations for baby, along with entertaining Brooklynn, as my energy level had decreased DRASTICALLY and my irritability level had increased DRASTICALLY!

I had a Dr.'s appointment on Tuesday and thought it would finally give us some direction as to when to expect our little girls arrival, as already plans for Christmas were hanging in the balance and I was beginning to feel like I was going to disappoint so many Christmas plans on both sides of our family. So when I got to the Dr. we discovered that I had indeed progressed farther... 4 cm and 80% effaced. He wanted to strip my membranes but because I tested positive for Strep B, he couldn't. TOTAL BUMMER. He had me schedule another appointment in a week (the day before my scheduled induction on the 30th), but for my sake he hoped I would not really need it. He also said I could go any time and so therefore don't travel more than an hour away from the hospital. I was determined to have that baby within the next 48 hours, and Paul thought it would be really neat to have Maylee's birthday be the 23rd of December since Brooklynn's is the 23rd of January... then they also would be exactly 23 months apart! 

So Tuesday night we had already had plans to meet all the Giddings family in Salt Lake for dinner and to walk around and look at all the "pretty lights" as Brooklynn would say, at Temple square. We went and it was wonderful. Brooklynn really enjoyed seeing the kids and the temple and all the lights. It was cold, but the walking for sure brought on needed and desired contractions. On the way home, I continued to have regular contractions about 10 minutes apart and every other one was starting to get more and more uncomfortable. I told Paul that we would for sure be having this baby in the next 24 hours and would he rather me get home and really bring on the contractions in order to be admitted into the hospital or go home and get some sleep first and start bringing on the contractions in the morning. He asked for some sleep, so when we got home I just sat down on the couch. The contractions didn't go away however. They started getting closer and closer together, 4 minutes apart, and then I got the chills (which I had really bad in labor with Brooklynn). Once that happened, my mom and I were convinced I couldn't hold it off any longer and we needed to get to the hospital. We called my BFF, Steph, who came over to stay with our very tired Brooklynn. As soon as she arrived we took off (at about 11:15 pm)! The contractions were really starting to get intense and I thought for sure when they checked me at the hospital I would have progressed even farther than I was at my Dr.'s appointment that morning. I was wrong. When we got there, the nurse said I was actually 4 cm and only 40% effaced, but they would monitor me for an hour and then go from there. I continued to have the regular contractions, every 3-5 minutes, but at the end of the hour, NO progression. What a disappointment! Paul was sad to have to do another "WALK OF SHAME" out of labor and delivery like we had done once with Brooklynn. The sweet, sweet nurse felt so bad to have to send me home, but her advice was to take a little percocet and to go home and get some rest. If I woke up on the drugs in pain from contractions, then FOR SURE I would be in labor. So we arrived back home at 1 am and got ourselves settled in for the night. At 4:00 am, I woke my mom up because I was starting to feel contractions that were painful and had woken me up out of a deep sleep. Within 5 minutes they got extremely intense so we woke Paul up and decided to go back to the hospital. They came STRONG and FAST and brought on tears. In the 8 minute trip to the hospital, I had 4 MAJOR contractions, which both Paul and my mom helped me breath through. When we arrived at the hospital, the security guard helped us up in the wheelchair because I was in SO much pain. When we got to labor and delivery the AMAZING NURSES were so happy to see me back and SPRANG into action! They knew I wanted an epidural so they screamed for one right away and got me hooked up to the IV (unfortunately after 3 attempts, lots of blood and a queasy husband) and the antibiotics for the strep B by 4:35 am. The next hour becomes so surreal and such a whirlwind for us all. My contractions were a minute apart and oh so painful! I couldn't wait for that epidural. They checked me and I was 4.5 cm and completely thinned so I got the okay to receive the epidural. That Dr. hurried and I am so grateful because by the time he was done (about 5:15ish) I was at an 8 and then it seems within seconds I was feeling the urge to push! He gave me a strong dose cause it looked like I was barely gonna get relief in time to push this baby out! The nurse, KIMMY (loved her), checked again and I was complete... fully dilated by 5:25. Unfortunately my Dr. was not on call, Dr. Smith, a female, was and she came to deliver. I had to wait for her to arrive, barely being able to breathe through the pressure and desire to push. Then in 7 minutes, 4 pushes, at 5:37 am, Miss Maylee Kate came into this world! HOLY COW...what an hour! Instantly we all thought she looked a lot like our little Miss Brooklynn! I was in love all over again! She was perfect! All went well and surprisingly smooth for the intensity and the quickness of the whole experience. I had anticipated a quick labor this time around but had no idea it would be that fast. It took both Paul and I several hours after her birth to really take it all in and then of course we are still trying to catch up on our sleep!

We are so happy and so far all is looking healthy and recovery is going well. More pictures to come soon!

Merry Christmas Eve from our family to yours!