Taytum Hope's Birth Story
Wow! It's been almost three years since I posted last. I promised to share Taytum's birth and name meaning, and here we are, three years later. I'm about to share her baby sister's birth story and name meaning, however, I don't feel right doing that until I have posted about my sweet Taytum's. I can't simply skip over sharing her story because well it was three years ago... Her story is just as important, and honestly perhaps even more special, because her delivery was my favorite. Even three years later, and I get teary eyed by how great our God is. He cares about our hopes and dreams... So without further ado, here is my beautiful girl's story...
12/2/14
It was the night we put up our Christmas tree. Afterwards, Aaron headed out for soccer, and I joked that he should keep his phone nearby in case I went into labor. He laughed because she wasn't due for another two weeks or so, and he was about to leave for five days for interviews on the east coast. My doctor had checked me the day prior, and convinced us she wasn't going anywhere. He could safely leave because no action was happening. I had been praying she would come early though. I didn't want her to be a week late like her big sister, and really wanted her to have sometime in between her birthday and Christmas. Being that my birthday is on Valentines Day, I really didn't want her to share her special day. I'm selfish like that. That night though seemed like the braxton hicks just weren't going away. I decided to put on While You Were Sleeping instead of clean up our Christmas tree mess.
When Aaron got home, I decided to go to bed just in case. To my surprise, I woke at 1am and they were getting more intense. I knew something was going on. I continued to breath through contractions and began timing them. Around 3am Aaron woke up to me continually going to the bathroom. He asked me if I was alright, and I told him I thought I might be in labor. He asked how close the contractions were and I said every 3-4 minutes. Being through several deliveries in medical school by now, and one of our own, he knew I was. Again, just like with Haven, I wasn't convinced until I saw B.LO.O.D. By that point I began to panic because we weren't ready. I wasn't registered at the hospital, we needed to call my mom, Aaron was about to leave, and MY HOUSE WAS A MESS!
Between contractions I told Aaron what to pack for the hospital. With Haven we were ready and packed. As he packed, I hopped into the shower. I knew that I needed to stay at home as long as possible. I loved that I was able to deliver Haven naturally and had arrived at the hospital at a 7. (Read Haven's birth here). I was hoping to repeat that experience. We call my mom and she jumps in the car since she lived an hour away, and it was almost 4am. Traffic getting from her house to Puyallup usually picked up around 5am. Thankfully she arrived just before the traffic got crazy. Aaron made me a piece of toast which the smell made me incredibly nauseous so I had a feeling it might be time to head to the hospital. I tell Aaron that, and he continually asked me, "Are you sure? You seem to be doing well. Let's stay just a little longer. We don't want to get there too early." Rereading up on our Bradley Method book, he knew I needed to be incredibly uncomfortable before we headed to the hospital because things tend to slow down when you arrive. He knew I couldn't handle hearing that I was only dilated to a 4 so he encouraged me to stay at home, but I knew. We headed to the hospital. Thankfully arriving in 5 minutes with all the bumps and turns. We get there and Aaron suggests we hang out in the van for a bit. Perhaps until they open. At this point its around 5am. I tell him sure. I didn't want him to be right. These next 45 minutes were really some of the most incredible 45 minutes. I practiced some of my hypnobirthing techniques, and this was so much different from Haven's birth. I was so much more calm that I could in fact, feel my body pushing Taytum down the birth canal. I'll never forget it. What a beautiful thing God created our bodies, as women, to do.
"Okay, Aaron, we need to go in. I feel like I may need to start pushing soon."
"What?! It's only been a few hours. Are you sure you want to go in?"
"Yes, just in case."
"Okay." he said. We slowly and carefully walked, yes walked, from the parking lot to the hospital. I thought i was about to kill him, but I knew walking would help things pick up. I walked into the ER and the cute gal at the front desk pulls a wheelchair up. "Looks like we're in labor." She kindly said as I stopped and breathed through the contraction. The young boy next to her kindly wheeled us to Labor & Delivery. As I'm having contraction over contraction, I hear the guys talking. Aaron asks, "Do people ever come in here too early?"
"Oh yes, all the time!"
"Do you think we are coming in too early?" Aaron asks. At this point I'm in the zone and in my own world, but I could hear their conversation.
The boy responds, "Yes, probably."
I tell myself, "I'll show them!" We get into the room to be admitted and checked. The lady asks me all of these silly questions like what's my birthday, my doctor, my insurance company... "What?!" I'm in labor I'm thinking to myself as I'm trying to tell myself to focus on her questions and my contractions at the same time. "I don't know." I respond. "Aaron, you tell her please." While Aaron is looking through my wallet for our insurance card, I announce, "I gotta push!" The nurse responds, "Oh, no! Not yet. You can't! I need to check you!" She quickly stops what she is doing and rushes over to check me. "Oh yes, honey! You are. Somebody call her doctor! She's a 10!"
I looked at Aaron with a big grin on my face! HA a 10! I did it all at home, and I showed you!
They literally ran me to the Labor and Delivery room.
"Okay, Jessica, Dr. Taggart is on his way, so you can't push okay? If you have the urge to just try to relax it. Do you understand? He will be here any moment!"
Literally maybe five minutes later my doctor walks in. A good friend of Aaron and I's, and sort of jokingly asks, "What? Could you not have called me earlier!?"
"We didn't want to wake you!" We responded. "
"Well, I literally drove over 100 mph to get here. Don't do that again! Okay, Jess, you ready?" I absolutely HATE pushing. With Haven, I had the urge to push for hours, before I received the green light, thanks to my cervix not fully dilating. I had prayed this wouldn't happen with my next baby, and thankfully it didn't. However, I still hated the awkward on your back pushing.
"I don't want to push. I hate pushing!"
"You got this, Jess. Let's do it!"
Within 15 minutes she was out. Phew! I felt amazing. They handed me my baby. I'll never forget my first response. "WOW! She has RED hair?! And she stinks! Why does she stink? And why isn't she crying? Is she okay?" Then she started to cry and they joked that she pooped on herself on the way out. They made sure her lungs were good, and that she didn't inhale any of the meconium. Another beautiful girl I had. They then placed an IV in for pitocin with the placenta and checked for any tearing. Of course, the one thing I complained about the most was the IV (just like with Haven... I hate needles, however, this pregnancy made me get use to being poked since my thyroid with her was low). Within a couple hours, I was ready to take a shower, put makeup on and do my hair. I felt so incredibly different than from after Haven's delivery where I was exhausted and could barely get up to use the bathroom. It's amazing what your body remembers and can do. Some photos from our first moments with Tay.
Born on 12/3/14
Taytum means, "full of spirit." My prayer is that she would be FULL of HIS Spirit. Being born at Christmas time, she is my little Christmas spirit baby. Lastly, anyone who has seen a photo, a post, etc. about Taytum, you know she is full of so much spirit. My little mischevious redheaded gal.
Hope comes from my "word of the year" for 2014. After a hard previous Christmas in 2013 with losing our angel baby, I asked God for a baby by Christmas. I was putting my hope in Him and His will. I had hope and belief that He would fill this desire. He truly does care about our hopes and dreams.
12/2/14
When Aaron got home, I decided to go to bed just in case. To my surprise, I woke at 1am and they were getting more intense. I knew something was going on. I continued to breath through contractions and began timing them. Around 3am Aaron woke up to me continually going to the bathroom. He asked me if I was alright, and I told him I thought I might be in labor. He asked how close the contractions were and I said every 3-4 minutes. Being through several deliveries in medical school by now, and one of our own, he knew I was. Again, just like with Haven, I wasn't convinced until I saw B.LO.O.D. By that point I began to panic because we weren't ready. I wasn't registered at the hospital, we needed to call my mom, Aaron was about to leave, and MY HOUSE WAS A MESS!
Between contractions I told Aaron what to pack for the hospital. With Haven we were ready and packed. As he packed, I hopped into the shower. I knew that I needed to stay at home as long as possible. I loved that I was able to deliver Haven naturally and had arrived at the hospital at a 7. (Read Haven's birth here). I was hoping to repeat that experience. We call my mom and she jumps in the car since she lived an hour away, and it was almost 4am. Traffic getting from her house to Puyallup usually picked up around 5am. Thankfully she arrived just before the traffic got crazy. Aaron made me a piece of toast which the smell made me incredibly nauseous so I had a feeling it might be time to head to the hospital. I tell Aaron that, and he continually asked me, "Are you sure? You seem to be doing well. Let's stay just a little longer. We don't want to get there too early." Rereading up on our Bradley Method book, he knew I needed to be incredibly uncomfortable before we headed to the hospital because things tend to slow down when you arrive. He knew I couldn't handle hearing that I was only dilated to a 4 so he encouraged me to stay at home, but I knew. We headed to the hospital. Thankfully arriving in 5 minutes with all the bumps and turns. We get there and Aaron suggests we hang out in the van for a bit. Perhaps until they open. At this point its around 5am. I tell him sure. I didn't want him to be right. These next 45 minutes were really some of the most incredible 45 minutes. I practiced some of my hypnobirthing techniques, and this was so much different from Haven's birth. I was so much more calm that I could in fact, feel my body pushing Taytum down the birth canal. I'll never forget it. What a beautiful thing God created our bodies, as women, to do.
"Okay, Aaron, we need to go in. I feel like I may need to start pushing soon."
"What?! It's only been a few hours. Are you sure you want to go in?"
"Yes, just in case."
"Okay." he said. We slowly and carefully walked, yes walked, from the parking lot to the hospital. I thought i was about to kill him, but I knew walking would help things pick up. I walked into the ER and the cute gal at the front desk pulls a wheelchair up. "Looks like we're in labor." She kindly said as I stopped and breathed through the contraction. The young boy next to her kindly wheeled us to Labor & Delivery. As I'm having contraction over contraction, I hear the guys talking. Aaron asks, "Do people ever come in here too early?"
"Oh yes, all the time!"
"Do you think we are coming in too early?" Aaron asks. At this point I'm in the zone and in my own world, but I could hear their conversation.
The boy responds, "Yes, probably."
I tell myself, "I'll show them!" We get into the room to be admitted and checked. The lady asks me all of these silly questions like what's my birthday, my doctor, my insurance company... "What?!" I'm in labor I'm thinking to myself as I'm trying to tell myself to focus on her questions and my contractions at the same time. "I don't know." I respond. "Aaron, you tell her please." While Aaron is looking through my wallet for our insurance card, I announce, "I gotta push!" The nurse responds, "Oh, no! Not yet. You can't! I need to check you!" She quickly stops what she is doing and rushes over to check me. "Oh yes, honey! You are. Somebody call her doctor! She's a 10!"I looked at Aaron with a big grin on my face! HA a 10! I did it all at home, and I showed you!
They literally ran me to the Labor and Delivery room.
"Okay, Jessica, Dr. Taggart is on his way, so you can't push okay? If you have the urge to just try to relax it. Do you understand? He will be here any moment!"
Literally maybe five minutes later my doctor walks in. A good friend of Aaron and I's, and sort of jokingly asks, "What? Could you not have called me earlier!?"
"We didn't want to wake you!" We responded. "
"Well, I literally drove over 100 mph to get here. Don't do that again! Okay, Jess, you ready?" I absolutely HATE pushing. With Haven, I had the urge to push for hours, before I received the green light, thanks to my cervix not fully dilating. I had prayed this wouldn't happen with my next baby, and thankfully it didn't. However, I still hated the awkward on your back pushing.
"I don't want to push. I hate pushing!"
"You got this, Jess. Let's do it!"
Within 15 minutes she was out. Phew! I felt amazing. They handed me my baby. I'll never forget my first response. "WOW! She has RED hair?! And she stinks! Why does she stink? And why isn't she crying? Is she okay?" Then she started to cry and they joked that she pooped on herself on the way out. They made sure her lungs were good, and that she didn't inhale any of the meconium. Another beautiful girl I had. They then placed an IV in for pitocin with the placenta and checked for any tearing. Of course, the one thing I complained about the most was the IV (just like with Haven... I hate needles, however, this pregnancy made me get use to being poked since my thyroid with her was low). Within a couple hours, I was ready to take a shower, put makeup on and do my hair. I felt so incredibly different than from after Haven's delivery where I was exhausted and could barely get up to use the bathroom. It's amazing what your body remembers and can do. Some photos from our first moments with Tay.
Born on 12/3/14
Taytum means, "full of spirit." My prayer is that she would be FULL of HIS Spirit. Being born at Christmas time, she is my little Christmas spirit baby. Lastly, anyone who has seen a photo, a post, etc. about Taytum, you know she is full of so much spirit. My little mischevious redheaded gal.
Comments
Post a Comment