Grace Leonia Higgins

So my little one is a month old today, I guess it's time I finally posted a blog about her. Throughout my entire pregnancy I had excessive amounts of amniotic fluid; this can be a warning of future potential problems (certain organs not working correctly, gestational diabetes) so things were checked and rechecked multiple times. I had to retake that stupid blood glucose test several times just to make sure I hadn't developed gestational diabetes since the last time they checked. Thankfully, all potential problems were ruled out (to the best of their knowledge) and it was decided that I just had a lot of fluid. The problem we then faced was that during delivery there was the potential for the cord to come down first before the baby's head which could then shut off all oxygen and blood supply during delivery. To prevent this I was told to not purposely do anything to start labor and had a scheduled induction.

The weekend before I was to be induced I started to lose my mucus plug which had me very nervous. When that happened with Laura I had her within 12 hours. Thankfully (again) I was slowly losing my plug and lasted until the day of my scheduled induction. Tuesday, November 13 was cold, windy, and rainy and I was not very excited about being induced. We got to the hospital bright and early and I was hooked up and ready to go by about 9am. They had me going on pitocin for hours and all I really felt was once in a while mild contractions (though the monitor would tell you otherwise). Just before they broke my water I opted to get an epidural even though the contractions were still very bearable because with Laura, once my water broke things went really fast. This time, however, they broke my water and we still waited 3 hours for baby to come. With my other two deliveries I was in so much pain by the time they were giving me the epidural that I don't remember a thing about it. With Grace, because my contractions were still a joke I had nothing to take my mind off of what was going on and felt everything. Whatever is used to numb your back stings and burns like crazy and I could still feel intense pressure as they put the big needle in my back. I also had several painful zings shoot up my back during the process... lovely nerves.

For the next few hours I slept off and on until about 2pm when it was 'go' time. After a few pushes little Grace came out in less than 5 minutes, blowing my 9 minute record with Cayden and Laura out of the water! I had a few minor tears, but didn't require an episiotomy this time (yay!). Once Grace came out then came the waterfall. (Because of all the extra fluid I had, they expected a waterfall when my water broke and were surprised that not much came out. They figured the baby was blocking most of it and like suspected, the gush came after the baby.) My Dr joked that she was glad she had decided to wear her boots. Ha! She also informed me that she learned the stitch she was using to fix my few minor tears in Girl Scouts. Ha ha! :)

The first hour after Grace was born was a little scary. She had the cord wrapped around her neck once and wasn't breathing very well. Her oxygen levels were also pretty low and so the nurses and Dr spent the next hour trying to convince my little girl that she wanted to breathe on her own and getting her oxygen levels up. I was a little sad that I didn't get to hold her right away, but glad that they were doing what was necessary to make her healthy.

There you have it. Grace's birth story. It's not quite as exciting as either Cayden's or Laura's, but all that matters is that Grace is here. She's healthy and happy and we love her like crazy.

Grace Leonia Higgins

November 13, 2013

2:26 pm

9 lbs 4 oz

21 1/2"

Just born and trying to breathe. Poor little girl.

Love those chubby cheeks!

Daddy and baby. Love these two!

Exhausted parents with Grace.

The obligatory family photo. This is the best of the ones we took and even this one is awful! Neither of the big kids could hold still and both Chad and I look drugged. It was one l o n g day.

Grace loved her first bath! The nurse kept commenting on how odd it was that she didn't scream or fuss. To this day, Grace still loves her baths. :)

Going home!

And for the record, Grace's middle name is pronounced Lee-oh-nah NOT Lee-oh-knee-uh. It's like Princess Fiona from the movie Shrek, but with an L. :)