Bailey Rose

We welcomed Bailey Rose Froese on April 1st at 3:44 AM.  She was 8lbs and 20 inches long.  My labor was fast and extremely painful, but worth it all in the end when she was placed in my arms for the first time. 

LABOR STORY: I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about 3 weeks prior to actually going into labor.  On Thursday night I was waiting for the labor pains to go away like all the previous times.  Well, they didn’t go away and they started getting slightly worse around 10:30pm.  I suspected that I was in active labor, but wasn’t totally convinced.  Drew was playing hockey, and when he got home we started actually clocking the contractions.  They were all over the place, in time apart from each other, but intensity was strong and they lasted consistently about a minute or so in length.  I called the Labor and Delivery around 12:30 am and they told me to wait about an hour and continue clocking the contractions.  They wanted me to be consistently 5-7 minutes apart.  I should have gone with my gut instinct and just insisted on coming in because I REALLY REALLY wanted an epidural.  My biggest fear was not having enough time for an epidural.  Needless to say, we didn’t make it an hour before I called to let them know we were on our way.  The contractions were still 7-10 minutes apart, but were strong as ever!  We had to pack up the car, and called my sister-in-law over to be at the house with Makenna.  By the time we got in the car and to the hospital it was about 2:15am.  I had to stop in the parking lot twice to breath through my contractions.  I was extremely proud of myself for staying on top of the pain and being able to manage without crying or yelling, just quiet breathing.  That would soon, very soon, change…After getting admitted to the observation room, we waited.  Drew had to flag down a nurse to let them know I was in a lot of pain.  The whole time I kept thinking I just need an epidural and it will be fine.  The nurse came in, hooked me up to a monitor, saw that my contractions were about 2 minutes apart, and called in the doctor.  She checked my progress and I was 7.5 cm dilated.  The first words out of my mouth were… “do I still have time for an epidural?”  They told me I did and quickly wheeled me into  Labor and Delivery.  It was getting harder to manage the pain, but I tried to stay on top of it.  As they tried and failed to get the IV started for the epidural, I started pushing.  They checked me again and in ten minutes time I progressed to 9.5 cms!!!  The nurse told me that I would not have time for an epidural.  Shear panic came over me… well that sucks!  One minute later my water broke and I began pushing.  Yikes!  The pain was the most intense thing I have ever felt.  But after about 30 mins of pushing she came out healthy and crying.  Yes, I have had a baby naturally.  Yay for me.  But next time, I still want an epidural. 

 

My brother and sis-in-law brought Makenna to the hospital after she was born.  She came in around 5am.  She was so mesmerized by her new little sister it made my heart melt.  She just kept looking at her, kissing her, and saying I love you.  

Makenna helped us pick Bailey’s middle name.  We gave her three choices and she adamantly picked Rose.  We even tried to trick her to make sure and she was positive she wanted Bailey’s middle name to be Rose. 

Proud Daddy.

Makenna picked the pink Monkey outfit for Bailey to come home in.

Makenna also picked out the fabric for Bailey’s “b.b” her blanket.  She helped tie the knots around the edge. 

 

Makenna adores her sister and we adore them both!  It has been an adjustment to go from a family of 3 to 4, but we are managing.  We are richly blessed and thankful….