The story of how our precious girl entered the world

The week leading up to her birth

In the days/weeks leading up to the birth of our sweet girl it was such a mix of emotions. We soaked up every minute of our time as a family of three, while also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Remi.

With Ollie my water broke on it’s own at 38 weeks, so I wasn’t sure what to expect this time around. Would she come early too or would she be nice and cozy in there? Would she come on her own or would my body need a little boost? Would labor go fast or slow? Would we get Ollie where he needed to be and get to the hospital in time? So many questions played on repeat in my head every single day. ;)

For a few different reasons, we decided to schedule an induction at 39.5 weeks. We prayed labor would begin naturally before then but if not that God would help the induction process go smoothly when the time came.

The weekend before her arrival, sweet friends of ours came to visit and we finished up the fence in the backyard. We took Ollie to the pool. We went to a graduation party. Made a quick trip to the lake. Grabbed Culver’s and made it a picnic dinner. Played at the park. We tried to make the last few days fun for our sweet boy and being spontaneous while we still could. ;)

Induction Night

We were scheduled to check into the hospital at 7:45pm Tuesday night. Friends of ours from Tennessee face-timed to pray over us before we left for the hospital. My parents arrived to stay with Ollie. We squeezed him tight and told him how much we loved him. This was the first time he had stayed overnight away from mommy & daddy and I’m not sure who had a harder time with it. 😉

We headed to the hospital, chatting the whole way there and couldn’t believe it was really time to meet our sweet girl. Her pregnancy flew by. As we pulled into the hospital parking lot, we reminisced on how it felt like we were just there for Ollie’s birth.

We checked in and settled in to our room and met our nurses. When they hooked up the monitors, I was actually having contractions about 5-7 minutes apart but they weren’t super strong or doing much yet. They started the first induction method around 9pm that night and around midnight we finally tried to get a little bit of sleep.

I had contractions on and off all night but they still didn’t seem to be super consistent.

Wednesday Morning

Around 8am they came to check me and I was still around 2cm and hadn’t made much progress so they started a second induction method. I bounced on the exercise ball, walked around, we ate some breakfast, watched some HGTV and contractions started to pick up by this point.

Around 10am I told Ry I was ready for the epidural & by 11am they had the epidural in. I was around 5cm at this point and was encouraged that at least there was progress.

We tried to relax and rest throughout the afternoon but it seemed to drag on and on and on. 😉 We tried the peanut ball, rotating positions, breaking my water, etc. but each time they checked, I was still at 5cm…I was feeling more and more discouraged as the hours passed. Around 5pm my doctor came in and we decided to start pitocin.

At this point I was in tears and feeling so discouraged. I looked up at Riley and told him through tears that I felt like this baby was never going to come out. ;) My heart was missing Ollie big time and it felt like time was crawling being away from him but with no baby in our arms yet.

Wednesday Night

6:00pm

Somewhere around 6pm I FaceTimed my sister to update her and just told her down I was feeling at this point. She’s a nurse and has worked in labor and delivery, and offered so many sweet words of encouragement from a nurse’s standpoint and just as a sister too. We started laughing and reminiscing and for the first time since arriving at the hospital, time seemed to pass quickly.

6:45pm
Around 6:45pm we hung up and she said to FaceTime again later if I was bored to help pass the time. Riley had just updated the rest of our family and friends & we were going to try and rest for a bit.

We talked about what time we thought she’d arrive. On the way to the hospital, I had said “I just hope she’s here by 8pm tomorrow night” but that was looking pretty slim at this point. The last they had checked, I was still at 5-6cm still & I had no idea what pushing would look like this time around - I pushed for hours with Ollie. At this rate, I was guessing it would be around 6am the following morning before we’d get to meet our sweet girl.

Here’s where things get wild and turn into a blur…

7:00pm

15 minutes later I asked Ry to check her heart rate on the monitor because she was moving around like crazy and it was so uncomfortable. Her heart rate had jumped up to 190bpm. This happened with Ollie too when we started pitocin and they ended up having to turn it off with him.

Suddenly she stopped moving completely and Riley’s eyes got huge. I asked him what was happening and he said her heart rate had dropped to 40bpm.

Three nurses came running in and I was so scared. Tears filled my eyes, was our baby girl going to be okay? Was this going to end up as an emergency c-section? So many thoughts raced through my mind in a matter of seconds.

The nurses helped me turn over into a new position and her heart rate started to come back up, but they warned me that if her heart rate started to dip again, we would have to stop the pitocin. Tears filled my eyes again, and discouragement started to creep in. It felt like we were already at the point of
”last resort” using pitocin, and things still didn’t seem to be moving along (or so we thought).

Seeing my discouragement, my nurse offered to check me again before we did anything else…

Not more than a few seconds later she said “OH MY GOODNESS YOU ARE TEN CENTIMETERS & FULLY EFFACED! THIS BABY IS COMING NOW!” as she hollered for another nurse to call the doctor in.

I looked up at Riley started SOBBING tears of joy and relief. One of the sweet nurses asked if I was doing okay and I just remember saying through the tears “I’m just so happy. I’m so happy that this moment is finally here.” The wait was over. Our baby girl was coming. She was going to be okay. I was going to get to deliver her. Praise Jesus!!!

Within a few minutes our room was filled with doctors and nurses, they rolled the little warmer and bassinet in and I was just in awe that this was actually happening.

My doctor said “okay let’s do a practice push!” Riley grabbed my hand and I started pushing…until I heard my doctor say “oh my goodness mama!!! hold on, her head is coming out!” and in one push…our Remi Kate entered the world at 7:27pm…just before 8pm. God is SO faithful. They laid her on my chest and I sobbed all over again, praising Jesus that our baby girl was here safely, and she was healthy. So many answered prayers.

The next few hours we felt like we were on cloud nine, truly. We were both in awe that she was here, that she was healthy, and just couldn’t stop smiling and crying tears of joy. It was the most intense thirty minutes of my entire life. Going from the scariest moment of seeing nurses run in, hearing her heartrate drop, not knowing if she was going to be okay, thinking we weren’t going to have a baby until the following morning, not knowing if her delivery would end in a c-section…to hearing the words “she’s coming now!” and delivering her into the world in one push. It was a WHIRLWIND of emotions. :)

After things had settled down a little bit and we had a chance to just soak up her newborn sweetness, we let our families know she was finally here!

My sister had mentioned earlier that I could FaceTime her again later if I was bored, so…we decided to FaceTime her…except this time we got to surprise her with her sweet goddaughter on the other side of the screen. :)

After a few hours of pure adrenaline, we settled in for the night to get a little rest. We had the absolute sweetest nurses who loved our girl so well in the nursery that night.

The following morning

Our hospital only allowed one visitor during our stay, so the following morning, my mama came to visit while Ry snuck out to spend a few hours with Ollie & my dad. We watched HGTV, sipped iced coffee, she snuggled sweet Remi, and just sat in awe that she was really here.

We decided to stay one more night to rest up a bit more before life as a family of four began. Our sweet Remi was the only baby in the labor and delivery wing that night and was loved on yet again by so many sweet nurses. We put together a little gift basket for them as a small thank you for taking the best care of us.

Going Home

We were so eager to get home to squeeze Ollie the following morning and introduce Remi to everyone.

We were welcomed home with the sweetest sidewalk chalk notes, pink flowers on the front porch, lunch ready in the crockpot, and a clean home. So so grateful for my parents for taking such good care of Ollie while we were away and all that they did to make the transition home so special.

We had no idea how Ollie would react to a new baby. We prayed for months that the transition would be smooth and for his little heart to adjust. God showed up yet again and Ollie surprised us in the very best way when he wanted to hold his sister just a few hours after arriving at home. His love for her melted my mama heart to pieces (and still does). :)

Remi Kate, you are a dream come true sweet girl. We are so thankful God gave us you. From the moment we found out you were in my tummy, God has had His hand all over your story and we cannot wait to see how He uses you and your story for His glory. We love you to the moon & back times infinity sweet girl.

xoxo Mama