Saturday, March 17, 2012

Harlow Carol Woodmansee

There she is! The love of our loves, my little baby girl! Harlow Carol Woodmansee was born on Tuesday, March 13th at 5:34 AM. She weighed in at 8 lbs 5 oz and was 21.5 inches long. She is perfectly beautiful. For now, I'll briefly share with you how this angel made her wonderfully smooth entrance into the world. Turns out good things come to those who wait.
I was supposed to be induced on Tuesday morning. So, they wanted me to be admitted on Monday night so that I could receive a pill that would soften my cervix. Piece of cake, right? So, at about 7 PM I went on in with my mom and my husband on hand to keep me company. We played cards and joked and I had a good time. I was having some mild pains. The nurse hooked me up to the moniter and says "You're having contractions". Looks like the little miss knew already it was time to come out. But, they gave me to pill anyway just to see what would happen and speed things along.
After that, things SURE did speed along. Around 11:00 PM the contractions got down to business. Those things are TORTURE. I was in the bad place until about 2:40 when I asked for my epidural. I was 3 cm and 90% effaced. Ahhh pure bliss. Epidural, I do love you. Then, the nurse came to check me at about 3:15 AM. "Whoa, your membranes ruptured and you're a 5, this is awesome!" What happy words to hear from my WONDERFUL nurse. She they decided that I would not need to pitocin and that this baby was coming on her own.

About an hour later, at 4:00 AM, I was feeling really uncomfortable. Nauseous, back aches, sweaty, I knew something was up. So, we called the nurse. "Oh my gosh, you're at a 10, you're complete, the other nurses are not going to believe this. Call your mom, I'm calling the doctor and we're going to push". OHHHH my gosh! I was so excited/soooo nervous about pushing.

Mom and the doctor showed up very quickly. I pushed for 40 minutes and then heard my favorite sound. Harlow's voice. I'm crying now just typing about it. It was truly a beautiful experience. Michael was a giddy little boy with excitement. It was SO cute. And it was so special to have Grandma with us to see her grand baby enter the world. I will always look back on that moment with so much joy.


There's my team (with mom behind the camera). Dr. Broberg was FABULOUS and made me feel so important and so strong. But Alicia, my nurse, was just wonderful. She took such good care of us and I totally feel like we're BFFs. I'm so thankful to her. Michael was the best support a person could ever ask for in that kind of an overwhelming situation. And my mom kept me sane with all of her encouraging words and I just knew that I could do it. Here are some pictures, in random order, of our whole hospital experience.






I am healing up wonderfully, have had very minimal pain, and feel very, very blessed to have enjoyed this whole experience. There are not words for how much I love and adore Harlow. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Thank you all so very much for your kind words, love, and support. Now, let the fun begin!

13 comments:

Emily said...

OOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness she is so beautiful! I am so happy that your delivery went smoothly, that is the best. And that you're recovering well and feeling good. You're one of those people who should have 10 babies, you're a pro!

I love the family pic, you guys look so happy.

I love you all and am so happy for you. And I love that precious baby Harlow so much and can't wait to meet her in REAL LIFE!!!

Melanie said...

Ditto to everything Emily said. She is so beautiful and I am so glad everything went well! I get to hold her in 6 days!!!

Melanie said...

Ditto to everything Emily said. She is so beautiful and I am so glad everything went well! I get to hold her in 6 days!!!

Michael said...

Jenni was a champ, and I am not so sure about having 10 babies, we will see how well #1 goes.

We are happy! and I can't wait to meet Ivy, I just hope she isn't too big before that happens! I bet Easton and Carly are cute with her.

And can you believe the impeccable timing, within 24hrs of each other!

Danielle said...

Oh Jenni. She's so perfect! I'm so happy for you!!! I love her hair and chubby cheeks! SO CUTE! Love you!!!

Lanette said...

YAY!!! She is SO beautiful! (like her mommy =) Congratulations!!!

Courtenay Beth said...

You are a mooooom!!! Wow! Oh man jenni, for reals, Harlow is sooo gorgeous! She is so sweet, I love her already! What a lucky lady you are to have such a fast labor! Em is right, you should have 10 babes, lucky!

Oh I hope nursing and everything is going well, I can't wait to come over and chat it up and HOLD that little angel!

Soak up every single moment, you will not believe how fast she leaves this tender newborn stage!

Welcome to the world baby Harlow!! Aunt Courtenay looooves you!

Kate Curtis said...

Congratulations Jenni!! The epidural is seriously heaven sent.

Josh and Lauren said...

I am just so excited and happy things went so well! I'm sure every woman should wish for a pregnancy and delivery like yours!!! Can't wait to meet that little angel!

AMY AND MIKEY said...

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH my gosh Jenni I'm so SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!! Welcome to motherhood! She is just beautiful and totally looks like a jolley! She is so so so cute!!!!! I really want to kiss those cheeks. Nice and plump. OK- now that i have praised you- time for me to yell at you: WHAT IS WITH YOU GUYS HAVING THESE SHORT LABORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You and Steph are meant to have like 10 kids because your bodies were made to have babies. You should seriously consider going into the baby making business. I cannot believe how quickly you dilated!!!!! That is crazy! I'm so happy for you that it all went so well. I seriously just can't get over how awesome your labor was- I mean, just so efficient! It just dilated right along! yowsa. I'm so glad you're recovering well too. It sounds like everything has gone great! I'm so glad! And love the name! Harlow! really cute! and love that you named her after your mom too :) I hope the nursing is going good and not too painful!!! So happy for you! love you!!!!!!! can't wait to read all the updates! Oh yeah- and isn't that epidrual so amazing? going from extreme pain to no pain? a true miracle!

*Stephanie Lance* said...

I can't believe it took me this long to see this post!! I LOOOOOOVE that baby girl!!! I miss her right this second!!!! She is so precious and beautiful and perfect!!!! I just really miss her and can't wait to snuggle her some more!!! Love you all!!!

Stephanie said...

Congratulations!! She is so beautiful!! I just love all that hair and the chubby cheeks :-). I am so happy for you!!! I'm so glad that everything went well and that nobody fainted.

Carol said...

Perfect summary of that wonderful night. I love thinking about it every day and how blessed I was to be a part of it. Keep posting now because I know she is changing every second. Love you all so and am so happy for you.