Harper's Birth Story

Pretty sure most of the people that read this are women, so I am going to give a lot of detail. This is mostly for my own record but also because I like to know all the labor details of others-so in case you are like me, here you go!
I was due on March 21st. Since Beckham was induced 11 days late, I have come to realize that I have a 5 star uterus and I was not really expecting her to come on her own will so I just assumed I would have her on her induction date which was Saturday March 28th.
In the meantime, I had to go in for some non-stress tests to make sure the baby was kicking, I was contracting and her heart rate and my blood pressure were doing well. Apparently once you hit 40 weeks, you turn into a ticking time bomb...
I was in there on Thursday and they said her heart rate was going down with each contraction and I needed to head to the hospital for further monitoring. Cue tears...
(This happened with Beckham too but for my blood pressure) I started to cry uncontrollably. I blame it on the hormones. The most they would do is induce me that day which really wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but apparently, I was not mentally ready for that. I went in for monitoring and my mom started making her way here just in case so she could take care of Beckham.
After being monitored for a few hours, I headed home with a "see you Saturday." I hung out with my mom the rest of the day and we made plans to get some shopping done the next day before the big induction day on Saturday.
I went to bed early after drinking 4 Red Raspberry Leaf Teas. (I drank 3 the day before because I heard it really helped with labor. My plan was to drink 5 the next day as well. Seriously, this stuff is nasty, but I will swear up and down this was a miracle worker for me).
I woke up at 1:30 to some contractions and tried to ignore them. At 2:30, I gave up and just got up. I thought maybe they were from being hungry so I went downstairs and had a snack while bouncing on my exercise ball. I started to time the contractions thinking if I have to deal with this for the next 24 hours, I will never get any sleep! The contractions were 4-5 minutes apart lasting 1+ minute each. They really weren't that bad so I thought, "Well, just in case, I am going to go take a shower." Took a shower, curled my hair, packed my bag and did my make-up. The contractions weren't going away and it was about 5am at this point so I decided to wake Mike up. You could tell he didn't really believe me. I think he was expecting me to be screaming and yelling, but I think I was a little apprehensive myself and really unsure of what was happening. Mike got ready, shaved and packed up. By the time he was ready, I was really starting to feel the pain and was starting to have to breathe through contractions. I told my mom and we headed to the hospital.
The whole time on the way there, I was thinking, "Please, please, tell me I am further along than 2cm. Please don't send me home!"
I got there and you could tell the nurses were sizing me up and practically taking bets how far along I was. "So how many kids have you had?" "How much pain are you in?" "How long have you been having contractions?" Turns out when you have had a kid before, you get a lot of street cred in the hospital. They seem to not bug you as much or ask you as many stupid questions.
Anyway, they finally came in and measured me-I was an 8!!!! I was so excited! I even gave a "Wahoo!" in the triage room. I can't believe I made it to an 8 all by myself!! The nurses were all laughing at me I am pretty sure it was because of that tea!
They headed me over to the labor room and all the nurses congratulated me on the way out and I told them I had proven enough and they can send the epidural guy on over!
He came in quickly and the last few cms were a walk in the park until I hit a 10. My water still hadn't broken and there was sooo much pressure! I was trying to hold off from calling the doctor in because I didn't want them to make me push longer than I wanted to.  

Finally, I was ready for the doctor to come in and as luck would have it, they were all in surgery! Finally they found some random doctor to come in. I couldn't have cared less, I am so done with this pressure! He broke my water and said, "Push when  you are ready." I started pushing and 8 minutes and a 2nd degree tear later I had a little girl in my arms. The doctor and the nurses all said multiple times, "Wow! This is a big baby!" They were guessing a 9 pounder, but they were a few ounces off.

She cried for a second and then just looked around and then wanted to eat and eat and eat while I got all stitched up.

It is strange not seeing little boy parts. I am still a little thrown off by it.

We were taken to the next room and she was all cleaned off and we decided to take a much needed nap!

Grandma came on over to meet the little girl. Since it is still Flu season Beckham wasn't allowed in, so Mike took Beckham to Toys R Us while my Mom held the little Angel.

We only stayed at the hospital until the next afternoon. Although I don't mind the hospital food, I get so tired of those dang nurses coming in right when you fall asleep to poke and prod you and your baby every few hours.  We got home to a very excited Beckham. I was nervous about how he would react but he did really really well. Right when she came in it was almost like he knew exactly who she was. I swear he remembers them being buddies in heaven. He gave her a hug and has given her kisses on the head since. He likes to check on her in her swing and turn the music button on too. The only animosity we have seen so far was when Mike got home today and went to pick her up, he had a mini break down that he didn't come pick HIM up when he got home.  I do feel like Beckham went to bed a baby on Thursday and when I came home on Saturday, he was a full fledged toddler. I swear he gained 5 pounds while I was gone too.