We are so happy to welcome our newest blessing, Hadley Kate! She arrived on August 23rd at 2:57pm. After much anticipation (and a lot of family dying to know if it would be a boy or girl), we were so excited to find out that Maddox has a new baby sister. I think he was pretty excited too! Hadley came a little bit earlier than we were anticipating, although after our 36 week doctor's appointment, at which the advice of my doctor was to do nothing for the next several days, we kind of got the feeling she was probably going to make her debut a little early. I guess girls always love to make an entrance, ha!
I woke up around 3:00 am on Tuesday morning with a few sharp pains, nothing too major or out of the ordinary since it seems like I'd been having weird random pains for a while now. I dozed back off to sleep and woke up again around 5:00. This time I couldn't go to sleep, but the pain I was having still wasn't just awful so I really wasn't sure if it was anything or not. I did start timing my contractions and they were starting to become a little more consistent, but it was nothing like when I had Maddox at this point so I still just wasn't sure what was going on. I call the doctor when the office opened at 8:00 and they told me just to come on in for my 37 week appointment since it was the next day anyways. We loaded up the car with most everything we would need just to be on the safe side, although I figured if we did this, they'd end up telling us to go home. We waited at least an hour (during which my pain started to become a lot more frequent) before I was called back. When I went back they checked me and I was definitely having contractions. The doc said I was 4-5 cm, which was progress so they said we were having a baby that day...woohoo!!
We called the family to let them know what was going on and headed down to Labor and Delivery to get checked in. Once I got hooked up to the monitors and they did all of the initial paperwork, IV, etc. the doctor came and broke my water. Once that happened the contractions became a lot more intense. Fortunately my epidural came soon after and then it was pretty much just a waiting game. Blake's family came to the hospital to wait it out and Poppy picked up Maddox from school and brought him to the hospital. He looked like a mismatched ragamuffin when he got there because some kid from his class had spilled yogurt all over him, but fortunately we had his super cute big bro shirt that Aunt Jess had made for him to wear. Things seemed to be going fairly slowly which was good since my parents were on their way from Mobile and Jessica, Jackson, and Bailey were coming from Atlanta. Fortunately they were still packed from their last trip to Trussville since they had just left the day before. I guess Hadley couldn't have made it easy on them and arrived a day sooner!
Once I had my epidural and they started me on pitocin, things started progressing much more quickly and before I knew it it was time to start pushing. After about 15 minutes (so much faster than last time) of pushing, Hadley made her way into the world. We were so surprised and excited to find out we had a baby girl! Part of me had a feeling it would be a girl, but I guess I just couldn't imagine it since I was so used to just having a boy. Hadley weighed in at 6 lbs, 7 oz., and was 19 1/4 inches long...such a tiny little miracle!
Maddox was the first person to come back to see his new baby sister. He was pretty smitten right away! He was also pretty excited about the present Hadley had brought for him, a cool talking Buzz Lightyear. At this point no one knew but us that it was a girl and they were all dying to find out. We sent Maddox back out to share the good news. When asked what he got, he first responded, "Buzz". Then he was quick to let everyone know he had a "baby sister". My parents didn't quite make it to the hospital in time since Hadley decided to come so quickly, but we still waited and let Maddox tell them the good news when they arrived. I never thought I would want to be surprised, but it really was so much fun not knowing. Sure it made things more complicated as far as planning the nursery, buying clothes, etc. goes, but it was definitely an awesome surprise and so worth the wait.
We are so in love with Hadley...God could not have made a more perfect angel if he tried! We are incredibly blessed with two beautiful babies and could not be more thankful for these amazing blessings in our lives.
Here are a few pictures from Hadley's birthday!
I woke up around 3:00 am on Tuesday morning with a few sharp pains, nothing too major or out of the ordinary since it seems like I'd been having weird random pains for a while now. I dozed back off to sleep and woke up again around 5:00. This time I couldn't go to sleep, but the pain I was having still wasn't just awful so I really wasn't sure if it was anything or not. I did start timing my contractions and they were starting to become a little more consistent, but it was nothing like when I had Maddox at this point so I still just wasn't sure what was going on. I call the doctor when the office opened at 8:00 and they told me just to come on in for my 37 week appointment since it was the next day anyways. We loaded up the car with most everything we would need just to be on the safe side, although I figured if we did this, they'd end up telling us to go home. We waited at least an hour (during which my pain started to become a lot more frequent) before I was called back. When I went back they checked me and I was definitely having contractions. The doc said I was 4-5 cm, which was progress so they said we were having a baby that day...woohoo!!
We called the family to let them know what was going on and headed down to Labor and Delivery to get checked in. Once I got hooked up to the monitors and they did all of the initial paperwork, IV, etc. the doctor came and broke my water. Once that happened the contractions became a lot more intense. Fortunately my epidural came soon after and then it was pretty much just a waiting game. Blake's family came to the hospital to wait it out and Poppy picked up Maddox from school and brought him to the hospital. He looked like a mismatched ragamuffin when he got there because some kid from his class had spilled yogurt all over him, but fortunately we had his super cute big bro shirt that Aunt Jess had made for him to wear. Things seemed to be going fairly slowly which was good since my parents were on their way from Mobile and Jessica, Jackson, and Bailey were coming from Atlanta. Fortunately they were still packed from their last trip to Trussville since they had just left the day before. I guess Hadley couldn't have made it easy on them and arrived a day sooner!
Once I had my epidural and they started me on pitocin, things started progressing much more quickly and before I knew it it was time to start pushing. After about 15 minutes (so much faster than last time) of pushing, Hadley made her way into the world. We were so surprised and excited to find out we had a baby girl! Part of me had a feeling it would be a girl, but I guess I just couldn't imagine it since I was so used to just having a boy. Hadley weighed in at 6 lbs, 7 oz., and was 19 1/4 inches long...such a tiny little miracle!
Maddox was the first person to come back to see his new baby sister. He was pretty smitten right away! He was also pretty excited about the present Hadley had brought for him, a cool talking Buzz Lightyear. At this point no one knew but us that it was a girl and they were all dying to find out. We sent Maddox back out to share the good news. When asked what he got, he first responded, "Buzz". Then he was quick to let everyone know he had a "baby sister". My parents didn't quite make it to the hospital in time since Hadley decided to come so quickly, but we still waited and let Maddox tell them the good news when they arrived. I never thought I would want to be surprised, but it really was so much fun not knowing. Sure it made things more complicated as far as planning the nursery, buying clothes, etc. goes, but it was definitely an awesome surprise and so worth the wait.
We are so in love with Hadley...God could not have made a more perfect angel if he tried! We are incredibly blessed with two beautiful babies and could not be more thankful for these amazing blessings in our lives.
Here are a few pictures from Hadley's birthday!
Last picture as a family of three!
Not a happy camper!
Dr. Woods and Hadley...unfortunately Dr. Heaton wasn't able to deliver Hadley either, but we couldn't have asked for a better back up!
Loving on our sweet baby girl!
Here comes the big brother!
Maddox meeting his new baby sister!
Family of Four!
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