I was very anxious to give birth this time. Probably because after doing it three times previous, I knew how hard it could be. Although I have never really gone into labor on my own, I wanted to see if my body would this go around. Mainly because my last delivery was an induction and it was not good. The last few days of my pregnancy I was very uncomfortable and impatient, so I changed my mind last minute and we scheduled an induction for the 25th of February.
A few days before my scheduled induction, I was getting my hair done. My hair dresser and I were discussing giving birth, and she told me she had a client that was a labor and delivery nurse and said she would text her to see if she was working the day of my induction. I never heard back from her so I didn't know what she had found out. Well the morning of the 25th, we got to the hospital about 6:00am. When we walked into the Labor and Delivery floor there was a lady about in her 50's, waiving at us very excitedly. She called out, "are you guys the Jensen's? I been waiting for you and I have your room all ready!" Marshall whispered to me, "who is that?" I told him I had no idea, and then it hit me it was probably the client of my hair dresser. It turns out it was. Her name was Bonny and she was an angel! Heather (my hairdresser) had text her and told her we were scheduled to be induced on the 25th and Bonny was scheduled to work that day so she was ready and eager for us to arrive. Bonny was so amazing. She has worked in Labor and Delivery for 30 years and she was an amazing nurse. I feel like a great nurse can make the biggest difference in a delivery experience. She helped make this delivery my best one yet.
My biggest worry the morning of my induction was that my epidural wouldn't work. In my previous three deliveries, it has only worked once. One of my first conversations with Bonny was my past experiences with my epidurals and how I was worried it wouldn't work this time. She said, "Well, we have a very good anesthesiologist working today. His name is Dewey." I thought, "Dewey. I know a Dewey and that is not a very common name." So I asked, "Is Dewey's last name Driscoll?" She said "Yes! Do you know him?" I sure did! He was a year younger than me and we went to school together. He was a friend of mine. I was thinking, oh my gosh. I haven't seen Dewey since High School, and now he gets to see me in probably the worst state! Then I started worrying about how long he had been practicing his profession. If he was a year younger than me, he couldn't have been practicing very long with all his schooling. What if he wasn't a very good anesthesiologist? That would be very awkward! It turns out all my fears were in vain because he did a wonderful job. He was very confident and he told me he mixed up a special concoction for me :) My epidural worked instantly and we sat and visited and reminisced about our family and friends for a bit. I'm sure it was a little awkward for him too. He had to see my bare backside. Ha ha! So all in all everything went really well. When I got to the hospital I was already 2 centimeters dilated, which is a BIG deal for me. I have never dilated before on my own. I received pitocin and then my epidural at 4 centimeters. Everything was smooth sailing from that point on. I napped and relaxed. About six hours after we arrived at the Hospital, Willow Meg Jensen was born. She was prefect! She was born at 12:15 pm. She was 8 lbs 5 oz. She was my biggest baby yet. I am glad I didn't wait and try to go into labor on my own because who knows how big she would have been then.
My mom had come to stay with our kids the night before we went to the hospital. When they got home from school she told them they had a new baby sister. They were very excited to come and meet her! She brought them to the hospital that evening. They all loved Willow and all wanted to hold her right away.
We got a surprise visit from Grandma Marilyn, Jarred & Val (Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Jarred & Val. Probably because Val was taking all the pictures for me with my phone). It was fun to have them surprise us and we appreciated them driving down to see us!
Marshall is the absolute best! He is always so kind and sensitive during all our kids deliveries. He still can't stomach the epidural. He had to leave the room during the epidural with all four kids. I still love him :) He is the one that calms me down and makes me feel better when I get anxious or scared during deliveries. He gave me a beautiful priesthood blessing the night before we went to the Hospital. It truly made me feel more calm and less anxious. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary and now 4 kids later we are happier than ever. He loves our kids so much and I am so lucky to have him as a husband!
The hospital added a new service (new to us at least). I guess about a year or so ago they contracted with a photographer to take newborn pictures of the newborn babies. The photographer came to our hospital room the morning of our discharge and offered to take pictures of Willow. She brought all the props, wraps, bows, etc. We didn't have to commit to buy any pictures. She sent an email with a link the next day to view all the photos. How could we not buy these adorable pictures! It was the best deal ever. . . I didn't have to take Willow anywhere to get photos. We had my mom home with my other kids, I didn't have to do anything. It literally took her 20 minutes to take all the pictures (over 200) We were very impressed and wished they offered this service with all of our kids :) Here are a few of our favorites from the photo shoot.
