Around 7AM I realized that my stomach was getting stomach pain pretty consistently every 10 minutes. At this point it finally dawned on me that these were contractions. I woke Malcolm up and he started timing them. My parents were out here for the weekend so around 8AM I woke up my mom and told her what was going on. My doctor had told me to wait and come in when my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. During this time Malcolm was still in denial I was in labor. He kept saying, "I just really don't feel like today is the day." I think that was wishful thinking on his part because it was super bowl Sunday. He had jokingly said he a few weeks before that I better not have her on super bowl Sunday.
We waited and waited and finally around 10:30am the contractions started to get very painful. I joked with Malcolm that I was ready for my epidural. Around 11AM my contractions were only 7 minutes apart but I was starting to feel pressure and I told Malcolm we better go. I was so terrified they were going to turn me away because I wasn't going to be very far dilated. I told him, "If they send me home I will die! This hurts!"
We got to the hospital and Malcolm dropped me off in front while he went and parked. As I walked in the door I had a BAD contraction. I just braced myself against the door feeling a little stupid while everyone in the lobby looked at me. The lady at the front desk looked up and asked, "Do you need labor and delivery?"
They got us back into a room and checked me and I was dialated to a 6! Umm... What?! I never wanted to go that far without an epidural! Ooops! I got the epidural a short time later and after that I felt WONDERFUL. I kept saying over and over, "Why would anyone do this without an epidural?! This is great!" They came in at about 2PM and broke my water. After that things started to go pretty fast. I started pushing at 3PM.
About an hour into pushing Gracyn's heart rate crashed. All of a sudden there were a lot of people in the room and the doctor was telling me that they needed to get Gracyn out right away. The NICU team was brought in to take the baby once she was born. At this point I was terrified. Malcolm stayed very calm the entire time assuring me that everything was going to be okay. With assistance of the forceps it did not take long at all after that. Gracyn Layne Thacker was born at 3:14 pm. She was 6 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long. Right away she began to cry and it was the best sound I had ever heard in my life. I was so relieved. The NICU team was able to check her out in the room. She was perfectly healthy and they would not need to take her. The nurses kept commenting on how they couldn't believe how cute and alert she was. Her eyes were wide open and ready to explore the world.
They brought her over and layed her on my chest and I saw these two giant blue eyes staring up at me. I was instantly in love. I knew that from that moment forward I was forever changed. I would do anything for this little person. I couldn't believe that this beautiful little baby was mine. Malcolm just kept commenting on how beautiful she was. I don't know what we did to deserve this little angel but we are thankful for her everyday.
Waiting for Gracyn
Love at first sight
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