growing the goodwins: Hadley's Birth Story & Announcement

Hadley Boyd Goodwin was born on January 4, 2011 at 8:28 a.m. at St. Vincent's in Little Rock, AR

This is her Birth Story.

It was a typical Monday evening at our house. It was going on 8 p.m. and Daniel & I were getting Max bathed and ready for bed. I felt great the whole day, but when we were giving Max a bath, I started feeling a little different. I was not in pain, nor did I feel sick. It was just different. I told Daniel I wasn't sure what was going on...maybe the beginnings of labor?! Once we got Max bathed, I started feeling a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen and tightening of my stomach. I told Daniel what I was feeling and we both just blew it off as if I was experiencing Braxton-Hicks. So, 10 p.m. rolled around and I was feeling the same as I had been the last 1 1/2 hours. We just went to bed as normal. Around 1:30 a.m. I woke up and felt more pressure and stronger contractions. I was still not in any pain, so I tried to rest. I slept off and on until about 3:30 a.m. and then I decided to go downstairs and rest on the couch so that I wouldn't disturb Daniel. At that point I figured that I was probably in the early stages of labor, but that I probably had a ton of time until the baby would come being that I labored for 29 hours with Max. So I decided that I would just rest/sleep as much as possible. Around 4/4:30 a.m. my contractions were getting stronger and more frequent, so I decided that I should wake Daniel & tell him that we should probably head to the hospital. I am not sure what happened at this point, but it was as if the baby knew that we were headed to the hospital because the contractions really kicked in at this point!

I got Daniel up and he, of course, asked if he had time to take a shower. Um, sure, I will just hang out down here and labor a little more while you shower. Ha! Lucky for him, my Mom had to come and stay with Max, so he had time for his shower. I called my Mom and she said she would be right over. She only lives about 15 minutes from our house, so I was super relieved that she would be there shortly. I am quite certain that Daniel's shower was an eternity, as well as, the time it took my Mom to get to our house! Ha! Because I was no longer in denial that I was in labor at that point! (Only kidding...I have the best husband and Mom a girl could ask for!!!)The contractions were the knock-you-to-the-ground kind and they were coming hard and fast. As soon as Daniel got out of the shower, I politely asked him to call my Mom again to see where she was. She said she was almost to our house. Thank you Jesus!

Daniel and I arrived at the hospital around 5:30 a.m. and I was in a lot of pain and felt really nauseated. We entered the hospital through the ER and thankfully there was no one in the waiting area. I found the nearest trash bin and propped myself up against it while Daniel talked to the check-in lady. She finally called someone down to help us get up to Labor & Delivery. The nice man pushed my as slow as humanly possible. It was obvious that neither the man escorting us upstairs, nor the check-in lady had ever experienced birth, because they were taking their sweet time! I was feeling the worst pain I had ever felt and I felt so, so nauseated all at the same time. Not a good combination! When we got upstairs to L & D, I saw a familiar face...it was the SAME nurse that helped me deliver Max! Nurse Linda was fabulous during my delivery with Max. She stayed with me the whole time and even stayed after her shift to see us through. At this point I was not very friendly and did not feel like reliving my first birth with Nurse Linda, so I just told her that she helped with my first birth. This time, though, Nurse Linda was taking care of one or two other patients, so she could not give me her full attention. I immediately asked for an epidural this time. It felt like an eternity before they checked to see how much I was dilated and effaced. When Nurse Linda finally checked me I was 100% effaced and 8 c.m. dilated. Whoa! No wonder I was in such pain!!! She hurried things up to get me an epidural at this point. The anesthesiologist came and all was good after that! (I still had some feeling on my left side, but Nurse Linda said that was so I could feel to push.)

Around 7 a.m. or so my OB, Dr. Garner, came to visit with me. I was so super glad that he was going to be there to deliver Hadley, just as he had delivered Max. Although I couldn't fully feel the contractions at this point, I could feel them enough to know when they were beginning and ending. They were coming faster and stronger. Nurse Linda decided that we would do a few test pushes. I pushed once and she called Dr. Garner in. He got all his gear in order (very casually and slowly, I might add) and prepared for the delivery. I did not have to push very long at all and Dr. Garner said that Hadley's head had crowned. I could really feel this part. A whole lot of pressure! After a couple of more pushes, our sweet baby Hadley was born!!! She was perfect. They laid her on my chest and I fell in love right then and there!