It has been a whole year (cue the ugly tears) so I thought it was past time that I share Lucy’s Birth Story with you guys. Our journey to bringing our sweet girl into the world was a smooth one and I am thankful to share such a joyous moment of our lives with you all.
I went in for my 39 week check up with our doctor, Dr. Jonathon Snead with Alliance Women’s Healthcare. I was pretty sure he was going to tell me that I hadn’t made any progress and that our baby would come when he or she was ready. But, to my surprise, he said that I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. All signs said that baby was ready to make her way into the world!
I had read a million books on how to have a baby naturally and thought that I would be hell-bent on waiting for her to make her arrival in her own time. But, our Doctor surprised us when he said that he would be out of town the following week. Just like that, we scheduled an induction for her due date. 
We arrived at Texas Health Resources Harris Methodist at Alliance at 6:30 in the morning on August 30th. Within the first hour, Dr. Snead came in and broke my water and then I was hooked up to the Pitocin to start contractions. Considering how determined I was to have a natural childbirth, I couldn’t help but laugh when it came to my birth plan.
Pretty much everything that I had planned was out the window before we even got to the hard part. I tried to do natural labor. I did heavy breathing for almost 5 hours before I got on all fours and told our nurses (Marta + Katrina’s, aka legit angels on Earth) that it was time for the CRNA to bring me that sweet relief. I had come in at a 3 and made it to a 6 before getting the epidural.
Shortly after I got the epidural, I could tell that something was wrong. But, to be honest, I felt great so I was kind of curious as to what could be happening. I could see the panic on Russell’s face. He said, “Ang, you are as white a ghost.” I could feel my breaths getting shorter and shorter but I felt so relaxed that I assured him everything was fine. The nurses were worried too.
They called the CRNA back in and as they monitored the baby’s progress, the nurse anesthetist administered ephedrine to speed up my heart rate. I had to wear an oxygen mask for awhile but within minutes, I was back to feeling like me, me in labor but me nonetheless. The epidural was perfect once we calmed it down a bit. I could feel my legs and still knew when I was having contractions but I didn’t feel the pain anymore. We spent the next 2 hours watching Thor Ragnarok and filling out our Baby Book.
At around 2 PM, I started to feel my contractions coming on, really strong. I could feel intense pressure. Considering that both of my nurses had assured me that induced labor can last for days (though the average was 15 hours), I hadn’t even thought of the possibility that our baby would make her way into the world a mere hours after being induced. So, when Marta checked me and exclaimed that I was 10 cm and ready to go, I almost didn’t believe her. After all this waiting, these long 10 months, I felt a rush of panic like “Wait, like now? We’re going to have her now?” I texted our friends and family and said “It’s go time” but again, I was so very wrong.
I assumed that when you reached 10 cm, it was time to starting pushing that little munchkin out. But, that was not the case. Our nurses called the doctor and he told them to have me sit in a chair for awhile and try to get some rest. So, from 2PM to 5PM, we sat and waited. We watched movies and prayed and I moved from side to side in anticipation all afternoon.
I could hear the machines beeping with every contraction and the monitor was letting us hear baby’s heartbeat. When 5 o clock on the dot hit, I knew right away that it was time. I told my nurses that they would need to get the doctor in our room or I was just going to do it on my own. I could feel the pressure, so intense, and Jumangi was playing in the background. Kevin Hart and Jack Black’s voices were drowning out the all the extra noise floating around the room. Marta checked me and said, “Yep, we’re ready. Baby is crowning!”
Dr. Snead showed up as if from out of nowhere and it was officially go time. Russ stood by with his camera ready to go and a cup full of ice. At 5:01, I started pushing. At 5:08, our little girl was born. I literally could not believe it. I had no clue what the gender of our baby was. I am a planner and I knew that if I found out the sex, I would overexert myself trying to plan out all the little details. So, I chose not to find out. But, Russ did know. He had known for 5 months and never once did he spill the beans. In fact, he brought along a bag full of pink onesies and bows for Lucy and an “L” necklace for me.
I was so shocked when they told me it was a girl. My entire pregnancy I had thought she was a boy. I had called her Beau for months. I had packed all boy clothes in our Hospital Bag. Heck, I had spent the better part of August walking around Target buying boy clothes. I even brought a “Welcome to the World Robert Beauhannon” sign to the hospital and I was so very wrong. I was so surprised. I couldn’t stop crying and neither could our sweet girl.
All the books I read said that skin to skin contact would calm the baby and that giving birth would be this magical experience of bonding. Our sweet little girl literally wouldn’t stop crying. She had all of us on edge. I kept waiting for that peaceful moment but she was not having it. The book did have one thing right though…I was so in love with that little girl from the first moment they laid her on my chest. Even with all the screaming, I had never seen anything more beautiful. Her nose was squished, her hair was blacker than night and her fingers were made for one day tickling the ivories. She was nothing I could of expected and in a wonderfully weird way, that was peace I sought.
On August 30th, 2018 at 5:08 PM, we welcomed our daughter, Rebecca Loucille, into the world. Weighing in at 7 pounds even and 19 1/4 inches long, Lucy made us a Family of 3. Her name is derived from the Bible, Rebekah being a pillar of strength for her family and Loucille was a play on both of our Grandmother’s middle name, “Lou”.
Thanks for letting me share a little bit about our sweet baby and her entrance into the world. If you are expecting and have questions or simply just want someone to talk to, please feel free to reach out! I would love to be able to offer advice or answer any questions you might have about this next big adventure.
Huge thank you to our Fresh 48 Photographer for capturing Lucy’s first day in the world! Photo Credit: Stefanie Rose Photography
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