Jaelyn Faith

On Friday, July 16th at 6:43pm, Jaelyn finally decided to make her grand entrance!  And what an entrance it was!

(Most of these pictures are from our iPhones, so please forgive the quality!)

Justin was home from work that day, so we spent the morning cleaning up the house and making a CostCo run.  I was having contractions pretty close together but not very strong still - and I never would have guessed that I'd be holding her later that evening!  When we got home I noticed that the contractions were getting stronger, and after timing them and seeing they were less than three minutes apart we decided to head to the hospital.

After getting settled in at triage, my first check said I was only 4cm, and not very "soft".  Since my contractions were five minutes apart, they were talking about sending us home.  We had an amazing nurse named Robbie who, knowing I wanted a natural birth, suggested we walk the halls for an hour and come back to get checked again.  Almost two hours later I had a check and was at five and told I could stay.   I was thrilled!  The thought of getting sent home brought tears to my eyes - I was so DONE!

After that things moved very quickly.  Robbie gave us some coaching on breathing techniques and laboring positions, and we were off walking the halls again.  My contractions were much stronger, and I was questioning my own ability to get through labor unmedicated (because I was assuming I still had a long way to go -- my water hadn't even broken).  We were given a room, and shortly after I was in the tub - which I wish I had thought to use in my other labors!  It was much more comfortable than standing or sitting!

Around 6pm, I told Justin that I was feeling a lot of pressure - and that he should let the nurses know.  The ones at the nurses station assured him it was normal and fine.  A few minutes later, Robbie was back in asking me about it.  She suggested I get out of the tub for a check - after drying off and just making it over to the bed to sit, another contraction began that broke my water.  I remember calling out, "Now I want to push!"  She and Justin got me on the bed somehow and after a very quick check she was yelling down the hall for help, and call Dr Newman, and get the on-call doctor in here... the baby was ready!

I was shocked and relieved - those WERE intense contractions and I was not going to have to have medication!  I never even had an IV put in this time.  That, coupled with not having my water artifically broken, made this my first birth without any medication or intervention.  Yay!

An army of people came rushing into the room, including Kristen Self, our birth photographer, who made it just in the nick of time!  Two contractions later, Jaelyn had arrived!  She was 7 pounds, 9.5 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  She has a tiny dimple on her chin, and a bump on her ear - both features right from Daddy!  Actually, I think she looks just like his baby pictures!  I will have to post comparisons on that later!!!

Justin went to call his parents to say she arrived, and they were just pulling into the parking lot!  My parents arrived from Vegas just a few hours later - so everything truly lined up just perfectly.

She has some dark hair, about as much as Paige did - but with even more of a widow's peak.  She has been a great baby so far, nursing like a champ and looking all around healthy and perfect!

On Saturday the girls were able to come see her, along with Aunt Jen (who bought them their adorable shirts!) and Grandma Nel.  They were SO excited, especially Lauren!  

All the staff was really great to us, they even arranged everything so were were able to go home at 7pm on Saturday!  We were so happy to be able to sleep in our own beds (for the small amount that we have been sleeping!).

Jaelyn wasn't too excited about the carseat.  LOL!

She settled down just fine once we were moving.  =)

We picked up the girls and made in home just in time to tuck them into bed!

It was an amazing experience, and I am so glad we were patient and waited for when she was ready to arrive!  She is a sweet and snuggly addition to our family, and we are busy just loving her to bits right now!

Welcome home, precious girl!