Introducing Miss Tenley Victoria

Our pregnancy with Tenley had the makings of an action movie with the happily ever after ending. Our joy of finding out we were pregnant was sometimes overshadowed by fear especially after our previous pregnancy and loss. As that seemed to subside we were thrown with a curve ball when a work related fall and injury put us into preterm labor 7 months along. This resulted in a hospitalization, bed rest and weekly visits to labor and delivery triage for ongoing contractions/false labor and periods of high blood pressure. And, our "little" one wasn't so little measuring weeks ahead and running out of room. Quite active this little one was....always moving and swimming and dancing...wanting to come out and play. With an original due date of August 21st the realization this baby was coming early made itself load and clear. 

About 6am on August 2nd, 2013, I rolled out of bed to go to the bathroom. As I was standing up my water broke. In the moment though, I honestly thought I may have peed myself.....Justin sure did. He has a habit of crawling into bed with me in the early hours of the morning and witnessed this event stating, "Oh no mama, you had an accident!" He proceeded to tell me it was OK and accidents do happen. haha  As I slowly realized what was happening and that we were having a baby that day, the panic set it.

Due to my difficult pregnancy with Justin and emergency c-section, we had a c-section scheduled for Tenley also. I didn't have it written in the cards for my water to break or actually labor. Like I said, the panic set in and I wasn't sure what to do....The first person I called was Steven at work who I vaguely remember trying to act like he was calm, but he was clearly excited and as me, slightly panicked. The second person I called was my OB who laughed and assured me I had not wet myself and yes, I was having a baby that day. She told us to get ready and head over to the hospital. I then called my mom and Steven's mom. My mom and dad were coming to sit with Justin until we got situated at the hospital. I called Steven's mom so she could hit the road to make the trek from Fremont to Ann Arbor (in record time I am sure). As for Justin during all this, you would have thought he was a little adult. He was so helpful and excited and laughing at mom for peeing her pants lol 

As I waddled around the house packing my mom and Steven arrived. Poor Steven. He was ready and wanting to hit the road and head to the hospital asap. Me, not so much. I drove him crazy taking my time by showering, shaving head to toe, doing my hair and cleaning up the house. At this point I had definitely started laboring....something I didn't have to worry about with Justin. Honestly, I had NO contractions with Justin and with Tenley.....OMG! Ouch! We finally left for the hospital and were ready to make our family of three into a family of four!

Arriving at the hospital contractions were steady, painful and pretty close. Upon examination and only 2 hours after my water breaking they checked me and were shocked I was about 5 cm dilated. Everyone was in hyper speed prepping me and getting me into the OR for my c-section as my bp was elevated and this baby was really wanting to make her way out one way or another. 

A grin and bare it smile between contractions. Excited to meet our baby girl!

I was in shock to see how many staff members I had assigned to my case. With Justin it was very fast paced prep, and in the OR I went to get him out. With Tenley, we had a bit of prep time and my OB practice wasn't taking any chances with problems this time around. I had 2 IV sites, several units of blood put on hold, a NICU team in room and a slew of other ppl. It was a a bit overwhelming. Finally came the time to wheel down to the OR. 

I loved my anesthesiologist with Justin's birth. I didn't quite care for the one I had with Tenley's. While he seemed nice enough I didn't feel he had a warm and fuzzy disposition.....and he took forever getting my epidural in to the point I wanted to turn around and punch him. Granted, the contractions didn't help the matter. With Justin, I didn't feel anything. No tugging or pulling. Nothing. With Tenley, I felt all the tugging and pulling and it was super uncomfortable. The medication used made me feel like I could not breathe which set me in a panic. Thankfully, he was receptive to my choice words and let the meds flow to my comfort. Justin's procedure seemed like it didn't take long at all. And with Tenley, it felt like it was taking forever. I had quite a bit of scar tissue from my previous c-section so it took a bit longer. But FINALLY, I heard them say, "Here comes baby....It's a.....GIRL!" Of course, Steven and I knew she was a girl, but we chose to not tell anyone else we knew. Her first cry set off the water works and I sent Steven to tend to our little princess.....Tenley Victoria Hawes....

The moment she arrived and I saw her and touched her little hand and kissed her adorable cheeks I was in love. And, this may sound weird, but seeing Steven hold her it was as if I was watching him fall in love for the first time. Daddy's girl. And praise God, we didn't need that NICU team and she was able to meet me in recovery and I could finally snuggle my girl. The days that followed we survived the typical post c-section adventures and again, praise God that Tenley prevailed the battle of the blood sugars and a bit of jaundice.

So, there you have it. Our happily ever after. And after all of the challenges with all my pregnancies I would tell you I would do it all over again in a heart beat. And...we just might! A trilogy! To be continued..... ;)