The Holt Happenings: Harper Elle Holt

The biggest news for our December..... We finally got our sweet little baby here!!! Harper Elle Holt was born Wednesday, December 18 at 7:23 pm. She was 7 lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She has brown hair and blue eyes. She was 3 weeks and 1 day early and our biggest baby by a lot!!

I started having contractions late Monday night, but figured they were probably fake since I was still early. It has been almost 9 years since I last had contractions and I honestly couldn't remember how it would be!! My water never broke with Reagan, so I didn't have that experience either. I woke up Tuesday morning a little nervous thinking that I better get things ready because it really could happen at any point. I had Reagan three weeks and one day early as well and Hunter, well eight weeks early and both times I didn't have a bag packed or had even finished the prenatal classes! This time, we didn't take a class, but I did start a bag! Tuesday I ignored the bed rest rule and started cleaning slowly. I did take breaks and chill too. I showered and did some laundry and all the while continued having contractions. I never really timed them, but I couldn't totally ignore them either. I told Nick early in the day that I was having them, but I told him I was sure they were fake so don't worry. Well, he got home from work at 1 late Tuesday night (Wed AM) and I was still up, google-ing real labor vs. fake and had begun timing them at this point thanks to a handy app. :) I told him I was still contracting...he layed in bed and closed his eyes not really thinking too much. He asked how far apart and when I said about 5 minutes, he sat right up and asked if we needed to go in! I really didn't want to be "that girl", so I just said no way, let's wait and see. About 30 minutes later, Nick was snoring and I was starting to hurt so I called labor and delivery. Of course they said they'd only know if they were able to check me. I still wasn't sure I was ready to go in so I waited more. Nick was snoring so bad so I kicked him to the couch. As he's walking away, I told him I was still contracting and they were closer now...he says "ok, thanks" and kept walking....um, thanks for the support babe!! :) So I waited a few more hours but couldn't really sleep so I started getting dressed and doing my makeup, finished packing and woke Nick up. It was about 4 am by the time they had me in a bed and checking me. My blood pressure was high so they had to run labs and they were also waiting to have my doctor check me out too since I wasn't quite 37 weeks, they were all sorts of nervous. By the time they checked me and got labs back and my doctors talked about me and they decided that they would keep me, it was 9am-ish and I'm really hurting at this point. I hadn't slept very good Monday night with peeing lots, heartburn and contractions, oh and a ginormous belly getting in the way! And I didn't sleep at all Tuesday night and I'm also starving at this point since I didn't feel good to eat Tuesday. So, I"m out of energy, tired, hungry and super pregnant...not the best combination! :) So now, they decide I can have a Loretab...well about 45 min later it's still not working. They move me into a birthing room and give me a different drug in my IV, which only works for an hour and made me sick. It wasn't the best and I wasn't progressing. They can't give me pitossin though because I was doing a VBAC and they didn't want me to have hard core close contractions and rupture and bleed out from my scar tissue and die..no big deal. :) I told them, give me an epidural, break my water and it will speed by. They acted like, ok sure...but ordered the epidural. The guy comes in, heaven sent at that point and I lean over like a champ ready to find my happy place. It's not super numb, but I'm tough...but it's start hurting and I can feel where the needle is and it's really kinda hurting and I tell them I feel a lot of pressure in my head and I'm getting beet red and my heart is beating out of my chest at this point....he's like, oh well I must of inserted into a blood vessel, let me try and roll it out to the right spot....(that was not fun and it didn't work). He's like, well the pressure is going to your brain so I need to take it out and try again....um, yeah you think...it's my brain and pretty sure you just made me sign a form that says you could paralyze me, but yeah let's just take our time taking it out and trying again!! :) Pretty much, that part was not fun!! However, the after was great and I was able to sleep and I did progress really quickly after they broke my water. Sleeping for a bit was heaven and SO needed. Nick went home to change and check on kids and I literally had to call him because they were setting things up for me to push. Thankfully, he was parking! I pushed for about 10 min during contractions and she was out. A very successful VBAC. I did hurl a few more times right after because of the drugs, but otherwise felt great. They said she has lots of hair...Nick and I were like what?! Our babies don't have hair till like 2! And they said it was brown and we were not believing that at all!! Then they placed her on me and the three of us bawled. It has been such a long time coming for this perfect little miracle to come to our family. (Look in past posts for that story.) Nick cut the cord, they weighed her and cleaned her off and we just couldn't believe how big she was. Can you imagine if she had kept baking?!!! Anyways, they wheeled us up to a different room and the three of us got comfy for the night. Life was so good! Pretty much we are just so thankful that she and I were healthy and able to come home after a few days. It was such a drastic change this time. Nick and I chose to stay 2 days just so we could be "us" for a bit before all the crazy started again. We ordered food and just talked and slept and chilled with no kids, jobs, bills...distractions. We just soaked it all in and it was pretty perfect. We honestly didn't want to leave!!