A Baby Story

Warning: LOOOOONG post ahead. ...continue reading for a full run-down of the birth, welcoming our newest little girl to our family and lots of pictures.

The hospital was supposed to call on Monday night to let us know what time to come in on Tuesday morning to be induced. They didn't call, so at about 10 PM I called and found out that all inductions were on hold because they were full. Ugh. I was so bummed and worried that things wouldn't work out, etc. because Brian was already not going into work that next day and our girls were already at his mom's house. The hospital said they would call as room opened up. So we went to bed and I didn't sleep well--just thinking that they would call any minute. I woke up a little before 7 and got ready. I called my doctor wondering what I was supposed to do but had to leave a message. I was getting anxious because who knows how long it would take the nurse to call me back. When I started going every week to the doctor, I made my appointments four weeks out and fortunately I made an appointment for the 27th. I called the office again and made sure I still had that appointment. Sure enough I did, so we went to my appointment at 9:15. We took our bags and I was hoping that he would just send me over. That morning actually, I was having quite a few contractions. They were totally tolerable but harder than I had been having.

OK--while waiting the usual 1 hour in the waiting room, the nurse would call patients back and one time she said, "It's not looking good for today." That's not what I wanted to hear. But she finally called me back and Dr. McKernan listened to her heart (and could feel I was contracting), then he checked me and I was dilated to a 5. So he said I was in labor and said he was going to send me over to the hospital. Yes! I was glad to be going in on my own, too.



We walked over to the hospital to the labor and delivery nurses’ station and they were cleaning a room for me. Dr. McKernan had called over and told them I was coming, so I was glad about that and glad I didn’t have to go to triage, etc. I got into my room around 11 AM and got all dressed (or is it undressed?). The nurse started my IV and I got fluid and she started my antibiotics. She also hooked me up to the monitors. We just hung out while the bag of fluid finished, then I got my epidural right away. I had some more contractions but they were manageable, but I knew I didn’t want to wait for the epidural. The anesthesiologist ended up being just fine and he did a great job. The first numbing shot is a little “pinch” but after that it doesn’t really hurt—just some pressure, but it is WAY worth it for the end result. For me, it makes labor and delivery something very enjoyable and fun. But I got the epidural just fine (and NO spinal headache this time) and the epidural worked great. There was one spot on my right side that was in pain, so I pushed the button to give me some more. I did that for a while and I didn’t get any relief, so I was worried that I would feel that the entire time. After some looking, Brian noticed the button wasn’t hooked up. So we got that hooked up and it helped right away and I didn’t feel a thing! After the epidural I also got my catheter.


OK—after the epidural, I just had to wait to get the second dose of antibiotics for the Strep B. He didn’t want to break my water before I got that second dose and they have to be given 4 hours apart, so that is why it took so long. They also started a little bit of pitocin just to move things along even more. After that dose of antibiotics was in (4:50 PM), Dr. McKernan checked me (dilated to a 6) and he broke my water. I still felt great and didn’t feel like I needed to push. But he came back in at 5:20 and checked me again. I was complete and ready to deliver. So they quickly broke down the bed, turned on the “stage” lights and got me all ready. Brian got one leg, the nurse got the other and when the contraction started, they had me push. I started for like two seconds before he told me to stop. She was practically out. They had me do a little ½ push and she was out. Too easy!!! I reached down and pulled her up to me. She was so cute and looked a lot like Ellie when she came out. Brian cut the cord, then the nurse got her and did her tests (8-9 APGARS) and cleaned her off. She was my second smallest baby at 7 lbs. 7 ounces and 20” long. I just had to have one stitch. While they were cleaning her off, the doctor and nurse got me all cleaned off. When she came out, I knew she looked like a Hattie. We didn’t really even have to go through our other names because she just looked like a Hattie—dainty and girly. We went back and forth a little bit about the middle name, but Brian said he really like Blair and how it sounded. So that is what we chose. Hattie Blair Trimble. It’ll take people some time to hear what her name is and get it right…after we say it, people will say “Addy” or “Patti.” No—it’s Hattie! And it was a name on our list, but we didn’t really share it with many people—you have to have some element of surprise in there!








I got dinner right away; I was starving having not eaten since breakfast. My parents were there and enjoyed Hattie, then later Brian’s parents came and brought the girls. They had to look at her through the window since kids under 12 can’t come in the rooms because it’s RSV season. They were so sad—Eliza was crying—because they really wanted to hold her. So hard for them to understand they had to wait.

After they left, I got taken to my post-partum room and it was a private room. Yay! The rest of the hospital stay was pretty low-key and normal. Hattie ate about every 4 hours, so it wasn’t too bad. Yesterday we had lots of visitors, so it made the day go quickly, but by the end I was so tired. Hattie is a good eater. They did give her a bottle during the night last night but that was just so I could sleep. The nurse said she loved it!! I’m sure she did. She’ll probably get a bottle every couple of days just so she will take a bottle so I don’t have to be her only source of food! I did have the nurse help me this morning with her latching on because I was hurting. That has been the case with the other 3 girls, so I didn’t want this to get out of hand. I think we might have it down this time so it doesn’t hurt. The after-birth pains were real again, but my nurses were great about keeping me up on the Ibuprofen and Percocet. They were my friend! They aren’t so bad anymore, so I should be able to just do the Ibuprofen.





We came home around noon today and it was a smooth ride home—Hattie just slept. After we were home for about 30 minutes, Brian’s mom arrived with Eliza, Libby and Ellie. They were so excited to see Hattie and just looked her all over and held her and rocked her and made sure she had everything she needed (and more!). Ellie was more interested in Hattie’s car seat, so that was helpful. She did like to point at Hattie and touch her face. We’ll have to watch that. Libby just wanted to keep looking at her feet and legs. She loves them! After a while of taking turns holding Hattie, I fed her and put her down for a nap. I ended up having to lock the door in our room to keep her “safe” and sleeping. But she slept for a long time!







Tonight our friend Meg from the ward brought a delicious dinner and we had some family visitors to see Hattie.

Here is to a good first night home!!!