And So the (Labor) Story Goes...

Introducing
Hadley Theresa Andrus



Indulge me with the following. I must record.

First, the stats:

Trent: water breaks while sleeping in bed, five hours later I'm a mother
Hadley: water breaks while shopping in Salt Lake and right before going to airport to pick up brother, four hours later I'm a mother duckling with two little baby duckies. At 4 pm I was walking through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, at 1o pm that baby in my belly was now on my belly. Surreal. One minute my family was looking in the mirrors in the sealing room at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, thankful to know we can be an eternal family, and later that night someone we didn't see in the mirrors then was now a part of that picture.

(My brother had just flown in from Denver for the weekend to be at my twin brothers' homecoming on Sunday. How amazing is it that my whole family was in town when she was born?)

Trent: dilated from a 1 to an 8 in 40 minutes
Hadley: dilated from a 2 to a 9 in 40 minutes

Trent: four hours of active labor
Hadley: two hours of active labor

(Is anyone starting to see a pattern and worry for a bit with what would happen with a third delivery? Scary! Could I get a friend on duty with me 24 hours the last six weeks of pregnancy? But really, are we thinking about baby #3 at this point? No no. Let's just calm down now.)

Trent: three pushes
Hadley: three pushes (could have been two pushes really according to doc, but since she was born posterior which means head facing straight up instead of down, just means it's harder for the mother to push the baby out and adds a pound to her weight as far as difficulty of delivering. Guess Hadley was ready to face the world right from the start!)

Trent: 9 days early
Hadley: 19 days early

Trent: 8 pounds, 2 ounces, 20 1/2 inches
Hadley: 6 pounds, 10 ounces, 19 inches

Trent: no epidural until I was a ten for the last 20 minutes, miserable, horrible, even horrific at times, almost hit the nurse (stopped myself a few inches from her body...I'm violent?)
Hadley: wonderful, heavenly experience. The nurses believed me when I told them my water had broken and they gave me the epidural when I asked for it! No attempts to harm the nurses.

Trent: Sorry if any men are reading, but it felt like a bomb went off in my underpants. Why hadn't anyone told me about this before! Yowza!!
Hadley: Much better recovery so far.

Trent: struggles latching on, severe engorgement, lots of breastfeeding trials in the beginnings weeks
Hadley: I hope it's not too soon to tell, but all is going really well so far!

I tell ya. Knowing what to expect is half the battle! This is really great so far. I feel extremely blessed and so undeserving.

So since my brothers' homecoming was on Sunday, and it was so important to me, guess who went to church in her Juicy's, no garments, hospital undies, and hospital wristbands in Huntsville on Sunday? 36 hours after having the baby? Yeah. It was a bit awkward. Just looked like I was the sister in street clothes that fell off the right track while the boys were gone. It was interesting, but I'm so glad I felt so well. I was very blessed I made it. Tim wore his plaid shorts and rainbow sandals. Maybe humorous if you think about it.

Love this little thing. I worried about how I could love another, but of course it came automatically as everyone attests. The bonding is still coming. I think that's natural. And it's wonderful to see it build. Just worried about the hormonal roller coaster I hope I don't have to ride for too long...Not so fun. Maybe if I start posting really weird things and getting extremely emotional about them, you'll know I need some postpartum patience.

Can I still post my maternity photos now after the fact? I mean, I feel a little awkward doing so. But...a belly full of baby must be celebrated, right?