Leading up to Violets birth our life was a bit crazy. Drew got a new job in January (director of HR over west region) which entails a lot more traveling. Then in the first week of March we sold our house. Getting the house ready to sell about did me in but we ended up selling the house in one day and getting what we asked for. Now we are in the process of finding a house which is a little stressful as well. Praying we find one in the next week. So as you can see our life was crazy and this being our last baby I had a good idea of how I would like Violets birth to go. I didn't want to be induced and wanted to labor mostly at home and have a natural birth.
The weeks leading up her birth I was progressing and just praying that I would go into labor so I would not have to be induced. Well the week of her due date came (due date was March 15) and still no baby so we set an induction and scheduled my moms flight for that Friday. Tuesday I went to my doctors appointment dilated to a 3 and the doctor stripped my membranes. That night I started having contractions nothing hard or consistent but contractions. I went to bed thinking maybe tonight was the night but woke up disappointed but still having small lite contractions that morning. So I went to the gym got a good workout in all the while feeling those contraction. Well that went on all day and around 4:30 I decided to start timing them. They were anywhere from 10-20 minutes apart. I called drew and gave him a heads up. He picked up pizza and I began cleaning, doing laundry, preparing the house, trying to keep my mind off labor. The contractions started getting closer together but still nothing painful or long. We got the kids to be early and drew and I hit the streets and walked 2.5 miles and the contractions were 6-8 minutes apart but only every other one were painful and lasting 40 seconds. I was still able to talk and walk through the contraction but we felt like we should probably head to the hospital so we called a friend to come sleep at the house and we headed to the hospital this was around 9:30.
We stopped at kroger, contractions were still coming but not as painful so I took a small swig maybe a tsp) of castor oil. We got to the hospital checked in and I was dilated to a "I'm going to be super conservative and say you are dilated to a 6"- nurse. They monitored me for 20 minutes. Contractions were picking up and then I started bounce on the birthing ball and walk and sway. In about 30 minutes the contractions got painful and I was having a hard time standing. So I went to the bathroom and I climbed into bed. The next contraction made me shake and the shaking didn't stop- I was in transition. Drew gave me a blessing and then ran to get the nurse. As the nurse got ready to check me my water broke and I was dilated to a 10. She ran to call the doctor and I felt violet slide down and crown and I just started pushing. The nurse came in and said "No! just pant, don't push" and I pushed anyway. Her head and shoulders were out and the doctor came in to deliver her feet and placenta. It was the most intense experience but perfect in every way. She came out screaming and purple, really purple. She was bruised- it looked like she wasn't breathing but it was the bruises. The birth was so fast and hard her face was bruised badly. Other than that she was healthy and perfect in every way. Weighing 7 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long.
I can't say enough how amazing Violets birth was for both drew and I. I couldn't have done it without Drew and he was the perfect partner.
We came to the hospital with a few names on our list. Nina and Sadie being the top with Jane as an alternative but after seeing her none of those names felt right so we went to our original list of names and when I mentioned Violet we both felt like that was her name. She has been such an easy baby. she sleeps hard and eats fast. Puts up with the constant hugging and kissing from her siblings and has the sweetest disposition. We love our sweet baby Vi.
