Aubrielle Elyse Kelly

Four or five days before Aubri was born I began having Braxton Hicks each evening.  The contractions would last 5-6 hours but never get closer than 7-8 minutes apart. Sunday our whole family, including my mom, went to Calvary’s fall festival.  I began having contractions while we were there but they were inconsistent.

Around 9:00 pm I started timing the contractions because they got a bit stronger.  However, I was very skeptical that true labor was beginning because of the Braxton Hicks I’d had every other night.  Around 10:30 Josh went and got our toiletry bag and told me to “get in the van.”  He was very adamant that he had one job, to get me to the hospital without having the baby in the van and he wanted to do his part well.

We arrived at Rex at 11:45 p.m. and checked into triage.  Upon the initial check the doctor said I was only 3.5cm dilated and that I could not be admitted yet.  The same thing happened with Eli so I asked permission to start walking.  The doctor said that after one hour he would check me again.

At 12:30 a.m. I started speed walking the halls of the hospital.  I’m so thankful for my husband because although I was in pain from the contractions and uncomfortability, he was being his normal self and making me smile and laugh.  At one point he started making fun of me because my 2^nd hospital gown (the one that covered my bottom) was flying like a cape behind me because we were walking so fast.  He pulled out his phone and started trying to video me.  I was laughing so hard that I could not tell if I had peed on myself or if my water had broken.  At another point, one of the women on the cleaning crew stopped to tell us she’d seen a lot of pregnant women walking the halls trying to induce labor but we were by far the fastest walkers she’d ever seen.  We just laughed and kept going.

At 1:30 a.m. the nurse ran a test and confirmed that my water was slowly leaking (and that I hadn’t just peed on myself). The doctor came in, checked me and was surprised that I had progressed to 5cm.

At 1:50 a.m. we were admitted to room 240.  I took a quick shower because I literally had been sweating we were walking so quickly.  The nurse went ahead and prepped me for an IV.

By 3:00 a.m. my contractions were 3 minutes apart.  At 3:30 a.m. the doctor confirmed I was 7cm dilated.  We were excited things were progressing pretty quickly.  In comparison to other labors this one was going really well.  The contractions we not as horribly strong as they had been in the past but I certainly had to concentrate a lot more.  The nurse recommended that if I wanted to get an epidural, now was the time.

At 3:45 a.m. I requested Staidol.  It always amazes me how quickly that stuff takes effect.  All I remember is Josh and the nurse making fun of me.   Soon after I got good and loopy, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural.  He was an extremely young looking guy but he did an amazing job.   It was as painless as it can be and it took effect quickly in the exact right spots.   Funny enough I always have more anxiety over the epidural than any other part of labor and delivery so I was glad that everything went well.  By this point I was very relaxed.  We turned out the lights and I tried to rest as much as I could.  I was thankful Josh was able to get a couple hours of sleep.

Around 5:45 I told the nurse that I thought labor would progress quicker if the doctor would go ahead and break my water.  So, around 6:00 a.m. the doctor came in, told me I was still only at 7 cm, and then broke my water.  She left but the nurse stayed with me.  She sat down and we chitchatted for about 25 minutes until she said she had to go complete her paper work before getting off at 7:00 a.m. 

Not two minutes after she left I started to feel the urge to push.  So, around 6:30 I woke up Josh, paged the nurse, and asked her to get the doctor.  The nurse came in and began prepping the room for delivery; however, the doctor had just gone in with another woman who was delivering at the same time.  She tried to tell Josh to keep my legs closed and to not allow me to push.  I told her “That’s not how it works.”  LOL Fortunately, our nurse was able to find another doctor who had happened to show up early for his 7:00 shift.  The second he walked in the room and put on his scrubs I announced to everyone I was pushing on the next contraction.

At 6:46 a.m. on October 31^st 2016 sweet baby Aubrielle Elyse Kelly was born!  I was thrilled to finally have her in my arms.  There is nothing like holding your newborn in your arms.  I can’t believe the Lord has given me that blessing and joy four times now!  How amazing.  Soon after Josh cut the umbilical cord and she was wiped off, I was able to try nursing her.  She didn’t latch immediately but I just enjoyed taking in her beautiful chubby cheeks.  She looked so tiny and yet so big for a newborn.  We were amazed at all of her long black hair!

At 7:45 a.m. she was given a bath and her initial shots.  We were told that she weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces and was 21 inches long.  We began sending out text messages to friends and family announcing our great news!

Around 9:30 am we were moved to room 211.  Once we got settled I tried nursing again and she took quickly.  I was so encouraged.   We ordered breakfast and made arrangements for my mom to bring Addilyn, Josiah, and Eli to come visit. 

Others that came to visit during out hospital stay included, Becca, Rion and Kristen, Joy and her kids, Sarah, Mara, and Susu.

We got to take Aubri home the morning of Wednesday, November 2^nd!!!

Thankful List ~ October 2016

October Thankful List

Addilyn and Josiah are growing up too fast.  They are doing really well in school.  Addilyn is great with math, her phonics rules, and spelling.  She has started reading really well and I’m delighted that she is gaining confidence.  Josiah is also doing great with reading.  He is starting to sound out all sorts of stuff!  They have really gotten into a routine with schoolwork and many times can work independently.  Both of them did amazing in soccer this season too.  We were blessed to have two really great coaches.

Eli is growing and changing so much.  He has started saying all sorts of new words and phrases.  He’s become quite the parrot and will repeat just about anything.  My favorite things he’s said this month is, “yee haw” when he was rocking on his horse.  I also see him using his imagination much more; making sounds when he is playing with cars and trucks as well as making action figures interact with one another.  More than anything, he has made it apparent how rough and tough he is.  He loves wrestling, jumping or doing flips on the trampoline, swinging on the big boy swing, and jumping off of stuff (namely the couch).  He climbs on everything especially the shoe shelf, kitchen counters, and I even found him on top of the stove at one point.

I was very excited to start a new medicine to increase my iron.  It helped my energy level so much.  This allowed me to get a few big projects finished that I had hoped to get done before baby girl arrived.  These included switching the kid’s bedrooms around, finish making the t-shirt quilt for a family friend, and making our family Halloween costumes (Mario Kart).  In addition, my mom came up for a little over a week and helped out around the house and with the kids.  She was such a blessing.

Hurricane Matthew hit the east coast this month and flooded much of Rocky Mount.  We were so thankful that our home/property did not receive any damage.  In fact, we never even lost power.  In a weird sort of way it was a blessing to have several of our normal commitments get cancelled so that we had more time to rest and prepare for the arrival of baby girl.

We saw a lot of grace this month in establishing deeper friendships with people in Rocky Mount.  I was able to have lunch/dinner/coffee with a couple different women.  We had a family from our small group come cheer on the kids at a soccer game.  My Sunday school class through us a baby shower.  And we were able to celebrate several different friend’s birthdays by going to different parties.  It has been a blessing to feel more connected!

Calvary hosted its annual fall festival but this year they decided to do a trunk or treat.  It went really well and the gospel was shared with several hundred parents and children! Our kids had a great time!

And, the most exciting news and greatest blessing of the month is the birth of our sweet Aubrielle Elyse Kelly!  Born on October 31^st at 6:46 a.m.  It was a quick labor.  She was perfectly healthy and we were overjoyed to finally hold her in our arms!