Lucy Mae Hinson

February 19th, 2014

The day we had anticipated for months, had finally arrived.  Of course the 10 or so days leading up to this day were brutal because every morning I would wake up and think, dang I didn't go into labor last night.  Lucky for me I had an amazing OB who agreed that settling on an induction day nice and early before my due date was a great idea!  My due date was March 1st, or maybe it was February 26th?  Either way, this baby girl was coming on February 19th!  We showed up at the hospital at 5am, or maybe just a few minutes before.  I did not get a wink of sleep the night before, I was so excited and maybe just a little apprehensive as well.  Lets not kid ourselves, by this time it had been weeks since I had gotten a decent night's sleep.  The nurses were expecting me so they took me to a room and got me all hooked up, Neal kissed me goodbye and raced back home to get the kids on the bus and off to school.  While he was gone, I started pitocin around 6am.  The nurse reminded me I could get my epidural at anytime.  So at 7:45 when my contractions were nice and steady and building strength, and I was dialated to a whole THREE, we decided it was time for the Candy Man to come and give me the happy juice so this experience could remain as beautiful and lovely as it had been thus far.  While this nice man was placing a giant needle in my back, my husband showed up, surprised to see that things were progressing so quickly.  By the time the Anesthesiologist was done working his magic, and I was definitely in that happy place, Doctor Reed showed up at 8:45am to break my water.  Just before he left, he checked me again and I was a comfortable FOUR, (to me this progression was slow and not epidural worthy, but I wasn't complaining).   Within the hour, as I drifted in and out of sleep and yearned for a nice long nap, baby girl made her way into position and at 9:55am it was time for her to make her appearance.  Within 15 minutes, the room was full of people: my wonderful OB, some more nurses to help figure out the interesting brand new contraption of a bed I was delivering in, another couple of pediatric nurses to help with the baby when she came.  Before I knew it, Dr. Reed was saying push, and with three big pushes, our little angel was born at 10:14am.  Everything about this morning was perfection.  Even right down to our baby girl's little quivering bottom lip that we saw within minutes of her birth.

The name debate was going on before she was born and continued on as they whisked Baby Girl Hinson off to bathe her and do whatever they do down in the nursery after a baby is born (I have never been down there so I wouldn't know).  Chloe or Lucy?  What would it be?  Justin's entire fourth grade class already knew her as Chloe since he insisted on her having some sort of identity before her birth.  Noah was adamant it was definitely Lucy, so his preschool class knew her as that.  We really loved both names and decided on Lucy based on the fact that neither of us knew any Lucy's personally (besides our animated friend Lucy in Despicable Me 2).

Lucy Mae Hinson
8lbs 2oz
22 inches long
10:14am

The post-partum story isn't nearly as glorious and perfect.  Actually quite the opposite.  In a nutshell, the after-birth cramping was incredibly painful, so intense that I passed out on my bed, while I was in my recovery room, alone.  When I came too, I remembered I was getting up to go to the restroom.  As I stood, I realized too late that I was about to lose everything I ate post baby (believe me, I was a hungry un-pregnant woman at that point, so it was alot).  I made quite a mess, as I crawled into the bathroom, pausing only to page the nurse.  Apparently the doctor had prescribed me some new meds that were supposed to help "control the bleeding".  Something new to this hospital and routine for all post-partum mommies needing rapidly shrinking uteruses.  Needless to say, I did not take a second dose of that terrible drug.  Instead I got a couple shots in my rear-end of something resembling morphine to get me through the night.  If you spoke to me or texted me during the first 48 hours after I had Lucy, I apologize for anything I may have said.  I really don't remember much.  Except how beautiful and perfect my little Lucy Mae was and still is!

I felt as deathly ill as I look in this picture.  But so so so incredibly blessed at the same time.

Feeling much better and ready to go home!