A Greta Story

I am the mom of a baby girl! I can’t even believe it! I officially spend half the day taking mental pictures of her cute face, little movements and sweet baby sounds! I’m so in love with this little human being!

Having a child is just a mind-blowing experience. To think that Patrick and I created this tiny life from us, is just crazy to me. She’s half him and half me. She formed in my womb and grew inside of me, she’s a complete and utter miracle! I look at her and wonder how someone could ever doubt the existence of God. We were created to do this!!! It’s amazing! Getting to experience it is a privilege and an honor, and I couldn’t feel more blessed to have been chosen to be her Mommy!

A friend and fellow blogger told me before the birth of Beau that I should write out his birth story so I don’t forget it. I did the same for this little one and thought I’d share!

Little Miss Greta Rose Bailey was born at 1:03 pm on January 24th, 2015. That is the beginning of her life, but not nearly the beginning of her story!

A week prior to her birth, I was in false labor. I had 45 second contractions every 3-4 minutes for 7 hours straight. I felt like it could be the real thing, but I also felt like it could be a false alarm. The contractions were strong, but I could still talk through some of them which should have been my indicator that this was not the real thing. We went to the hospital anyhow, fearing they would get worse overnight and we’d not have anyone to take care of Beau. Alas I was sent home, being told I had made no more progress from my last check, which was 50% 2 cm.

Those contractions may not have been the real deal, but they indeed lead to it! At my next appointment, 3 days later, I’d made major progress being bumped up to 70% 3-4 cm. My doctor told me it could happen at any moment and I may not make it to my next appointment, which was on Friday. Lo and behold, big ol pregnant me trudged into that appointment! I explained that I was helping friends move that night, half hoping they’d tell me not to – haha! Sorry Ericka and Jon – truth! But they just told me not to do too much manual work or heavy lifting.

That night Patrick and I (but mostly Patrick!) helped our friends move. Myself and my other very pregnant friend Stacy (due 5 days before me!), helped to pack boxes. We both hoped our hard work would put us into labor and laughed thinking how funny it would be if we both ended up in the hospital the next day! We also agreed that if it didn’t put us into labor, we’d go have some Eggplant Parmesan, a new labor inducing wives tale I had just heard that day!

I went to sleep that night, but woke up at 3:46 AM to a terrible and I mean awful contraction! I lay there in bed wondering if this was labor and how long it had been going on for. A few minutes later, I had another, then another. I decided to get up and walk around a bit. The contractions came more rapidly, but were shorter in duration and not quite as strong. I decided I should get ready while I was still feeling okay, just in case this was the real thing. A little later, I laid down again and the contractions got further apart, but more powerful and long lasting. By the time we were leaving the house at 7:30 am, I was balling up on my bed in pain willing myself to just get through the minute. I just kept saying “It’s only a minute, you can get through this.”

We got to the hospital at 8:00 am and after one check they admitted me saying “You’re gonna have a baby today!” I had progessed to 90% 5 cm!

We had brought Beau with us, not knowing for sure if it was the real thing or not – haha. He was super sweet that morning and I’m glad I got some last moments with just him. He had a ball playing in the window of our first room.

When I got transferred to my delivery room, he sat with me on my bed and we watched Curious George while I got hooked up to all the machines and IV’s. He was so good just sitting with me…maybe he sensed that was the last time I was going to be only his Momma.

Once Beau was gone, things moved pretty quick. Because I wanted an epidural, they talked me into getting it before they broke my water because the contractions would get significantly worse after. I got my epidural, which is always a kind of scary moment for me. The song “Long Slow Beautiful Dance” by Rascal Flatts, was playing while I received it, which was really calming for me. There’s a lyric in the song that really stood out in that moment and made it a special one to come on at the time.

“The house is filled with so much love
We got more than enough for two
So we’ve been thinking about having a baby
I know it sounds crazy, but it seems like the natural thing to do.”

After my epidural, we just relaxed and listened to my “Brooksletta” playlist. Music calms me, so I always choose to have music on over the TV when giving birth. I had prepared a list of songs that was 23 hours long…thankfully I didn’t need all of them 🙂

My sweet doctor, Nicole Schlechter, came into the hospital on a Saturday just for this birth! She is amazing! She heard Patrick was complaining about the weekend hours of the cafeteria, and what bad timing I had (Yeah, that happened! I ALMOST felt bad for him – haha!) so she brought him a scone, like I said, she’s the best!

I progressed to a 6 when she broke my water at 11:30 am. I’ll never forget us getting into telling jokes as it was happening – haha! Hey, whatever it takes to make the moment less awkward lol – it definitely made it more memorable!

A little later, I started to feel my contractions again, so they bumped up my epidural. 15 minutes later, I could still feel them, so they checked me again, and it was officially go time! They warned me that the baby was face up and would need to be turned so it could be a harder labor. As I prepared to push, I asked Dr. Schlechter what she thought I was having. She asked what I thought and I said “Boy! 100%” and she replied that she then thought it was a girl. She said she hoped it was a girl because she would LOVE to see what Patrick would do with a girl – haha! She then asked the names, and I told her what I’ve told everyone, “Brooks if it’s a boy, Charlotte or Greta if it’s a girl.” She said “Oh, I love Greta! You know, of all the babies I’ve delivered, I’ve never delivered a Greta! It would be an honor to deliver a Greta!” Her and my nurse both picked girl, and Patrick said “It’s probably a girl” while I still felt boy all the way.

10 minutes of pushing and I got the surprise of my life when Patrick yelled out “It’s a GIRL!” at 1:03 pm! I was shocked!

I of course started crying and just kept saying “I can’t believe I have a girl!” I don’t think it sank in till sometime the next day when I changed her diaper that I actually had a girl! I asked Patrick if we could give Dr. Schlechter her Greta and he said “Okay, she can be Greta!” So that’s how the big name change came to be!

One funl fact about her birth, she was born while the song “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong was playing 🙂 So special and fitting with lyrics like,

“I hear babies cry,
I watch them grow,
They’ll learn much more,
Than I’ll ever know.
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.”

We spent the next couple hours just savoring the moments and drinking in our new baby girl! Patrick told her she’s not allowed to wear makeup, or get her hair dyed. He also told her she’s going to wear her brother’s hand-me-down PJ’s, saying dinosaurs and footballs are okay for girls too – haha! It’s been really sweet watching him become a dad of a girl. I was her first kiss, but dad was her first “I love you!” 🙂

 

That night, our sweet neighbors who were watching Beau for us, brought him to meet his new baby sister!

I didn’t know how he would do, I really had no expectations because he showed zero interest in the word “baby”, my growing belly, or the title “Big Brother” leading up to the birth. He did amazing! He sat next to me on my bed as I held Greta and he just looked at her. It was really quite sweet! Below is a link to the video of their first meeting 🙂

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0vflcm8noj89nse/AAA_pvmSAKepy8GanPiKxJ5Va/MVI_4260.MOV?dl=0

When it was time to leave, he gave her a kiss goodbye and waved “bye bye” to her and left us with no problems. Our neighbor also got this one on video!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0vflcm8noj89nse/AADUpMSipJPOYcXoQAqEa9GPa/MVI_4275.MOV?dl=0

I was quite shocked it all had gone so smoothly, but mostly relieved it had!

To have 2 healthy babies, with 2 uncomplicated births is such a blessing! When I look at their faces, I can’t help but think of the sacrifice God made for us, giving up his only Son for us, to save us from our sins. As a parent, I don’t know how He did it, because I know I couldn’t, but I’m so thankful He could so I can have this life I live today.

Today was the day I was to be induced. I’m so thankful I got to experience going into labor on my own, and even more thankful that I’ve gotten to spend 6 extra days with my Greta Girl! She is truly a dream come true, and I’m so thankful I get to call her mine!