And her name is......Makayla Brooke Jeffries

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Pb6fIylsOucm84NTd3VFZhNWs/edit?usp=sharing


Here is a video Mama took of us announcing her name! I got a little choked up, because we had waited so long to share her name with our parents! It was a very special moment. I wish Tom's Daddy could have been there too. I'm sure he would have melted like everyone else when they saw her! It was a really long night for them, but she was worth the wait!


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Labor and Delivery

No I'm not going to go into every last detail, but I know I will want to remember the story of how she was born!

I stalled out around 5-6 cm, so they told me it would be a good time for an epidural if I wanted one. I decided to go ahead. As Dr. Boles said "why would you get a root canal without any Novocaine???!!!!"  I've decided that Epidurals are from heaven! :) Tom's description was very different, but I won't go into any details! :) The fear of the actual procedure was way worse than the procedure itself

Dr. Boles broke my water and decided to start me on pitocin. Pitocin is a synthetic version of the natural hormone oxytocin, which causes contractions. This augmentation helped my labor progress. Obviously the contractions grew stronger, longer and more frequent. The epidural was wonderful!!! I was able to take naps from 7 cm to 10 cm! I still felt some of the contractions, but the little button they give you is AWESOME!!!!!

The next thing I knew, the nurses were setting up the room for the delivery! I was nervous, but I said a quick prayer that God would help us both through the delivery! Tom moved from his very uncomfortable "daddy chair" and stood by my side. When it was time to push, Dr. Boles was as Tom said "a little league coach!" He told me to take a big breath and push for a count of 10 or a quick breath and a push for 5. It really didn't take long at all to have her!!!!

She cried right away and that made me tear up, because that's what I wanted to hear. I was nervous being early, but that cry was the best thing I had ever heard!!! Dr. Boles handed her to me right away and then Tom cut the umbilical cord. Dr. Boles said she looked great and was a BIG baby for 37 weeks!

The nurse checked her out, cleaned her up and handed her back. I asked Tom if he wanted her first and he said that I could hold her first. She calmed right down in my arms!!! I decided to let everyone meet her before I tried to feed her for the first time. Mama, Daddy and Ms. Mary Sue came in and then we announced her name...

Change of Plans!!!!!!!

Well, my nesting and resting didn't last very long!!! Saturday I enjoyed a wonderful day with Tom. We went to Walmart and Tractor Supply. Usually Tom would go to the magazine aisle, but he walked the entire store with me. I had started getting really uncomfortable on Friday with those stronger irregular contractions. I guess he could sense that I was close too! I was walking really slow, because of the low pressure and just overall lack of comfort. We were pretty much lazy the rest of the day. I thought to myself...I'm starting maternity leave early this Monday. I'll have time to do more nesting then. I'm tired! :)

Sunday I didn't go to church, because I was still uncomfortable and tired. I took it easy and we rented some movies that evening. We watched one movie and I started noticing that my contractions were getting closer together. I started writing them down. I didn't say anything to Tom though. We started the second movie and I sent Mama a text to see what she thought. My contractions were weird and different. One might be like low cramps and the next a wrapping squeeze from top to bottom. They didn't hurt, but I couldn't ignore them either. Mama text me back and told me to go on to the hospital. I was having contractions every 5 minutes, but all of them weren't strong or pushing downward. I wasn't sure if I should count all of them.

Anyways, I told Tom that I thought we might need to go on to the hospital. He was kind of stressed, because I couldn't tell him definitely that I was in labor. I told him "I don't know! I think I need to..." He thought it would be a definite thing like "WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW!!!!" Oh well! One thing I've learned throughout my pregnancy and this whole process is to quit planning! Educate yourself on how things work and give it all over to God!

We went to the hospital Sunday evening. They monitored me for an hour or so and checked me. I was 4 cm (I was 3 the past Wednesday), the baby was really low and I was pretty close. We don't need to share every detail. They talked to Dr. Boles and they decided to keep me, since we live 40 minutes away and sometimes women can change fast after 4 cm. My contractions had started to level out and not do much. They still wanted to play it safe. They moved me into a labor and delivery room and then my contractions started to get stronger. I also changed to about a 5. They said I wasn't going anywhere!!! :) We were having this baby!!! Yay!!!! I was exactly 37 weeks!!!