Welcome Kendall Claire!

I love reading other people's birth stories. Bringing a baby into the world is so exciting and dramatic. Here is the story of our Baby Kendall's birth!

On Friday, the 5th, I had contractions all day. They were pretty consistent at 7 minutes apart, but not overly painful that I felt we needed to rush in to the hospital anytime soon. But they were painful enough that I was pretty confident we were going to be having a baby within the next 24 hours. We told our parents we thought the baby was coming and to stay tuned! I went about my normal day... got dinner in the crock pot, did a little light cleaning, took Avery to the children's museum for a while. Toward dinner time I felt like my contractions were easing off a little and I wondered if maybe it was a false alarm.

Because I was feeling like my contractions were slowing down, we decided to go to volleyball at the church like we usually do on Friday night. I wasn't planning on playing at all, just thought I would watch and play with Avery while Tyler played. But when we got there I couldn't resist jumping in for a couple games. Around 8 we decided to pack up and get Avery to bed. At 8:15 I was walking out to the car and my water broke! Tyler was still in the gym talking to the missionaries so I rushed back in to tell him "we need to go, NOW!" We scooped up Avery and Tyler sped home. I think driving to the hospital is Tyler's favorite part of having a baby. He was speeding and driving through red lights and weaving through traffic. It's almost like he wants the cops to catch him just so he can tell them off. Unfortunately, no cops were out that night and we broke all sorts of traffic laws with no consequences and made it home in record time.

My contractions still weren't that bad by the time we got home. We were rushing around trying to get ready, but I wasn't that concerned. With Avery, my water broke at 3am and I didn't deliver her till noon the next day so I thought I still had plenty of time. We put Avery to bed, called our friend to come stay with her, took really fast showers and headed out the door. We decided to walk to the hospital because parking in the garage would have saved us like one block of walking and I didn't think that was a big deal. As we walked over to the hospital, the contractions started to get really painful, but not enough that I had to stop walking. I wanted to get there as quick as possible so I would have plenty of time for an epidural! 

We got to the hospital about 9:30 and they were soooo sloooow checking me in. My contractions were getting really bad at this point and were every 1-2 mins. I was ready for the epidural! They finally got me in a room and changed into a gown and when they checked my cervix I was already dilated to a 7! The midwife told me "you might not have time for an epidural", but I was dilated to a 7 when I came in for Avery and I still had time so I wasn't that worried. They called the anesthesiologist and everyone was getting prepped. My contractions were horrible at this point. I was in so much pain! The anesthesiologist came in and had me sign all these consent forms. I was trying to rush him through all his questions... I just wanted him to get that epidural in quick!  The contractions were more than I could bare. When he was finally done, the midwife said she was going to check me one more time before he started the epidural and this is where everything went south. She check my cervix real quick and she's like, "oh hun, you're at a 10 already. There's no time for an epidural, this baby is coming right now! Scoot down on the bed!"

I basically flipped out when she said this. I started crying and telling Tyler I didn't want to push out a baby without one! I was completely terrified! But what choice did I have?  The contractions were basically constant by now and at some point I just started having the urge to push so I did. I was yelling and screaming and crying and the nurses and midwife kept tell me to quit yelling and put all my energy into pushing, but it was impossible for me not to scream! It hurt so, so bad!  I've never felt more pain in my life. Thankfully, it was only 3 pushes and out came baby Kendall! 

Tyler was holding my hand the whole time until the midwife told him to come put his gloves on so he could catch her. (We had told her when we arrived that he wanted to deliver her and she was really friendly and supportive about it, which I really liked.) Tyler said he didn't see any baby so he turned around to put on his gloves and when he turned back around she was practically coming out! He was fumbling with his second glove, but he barely got it on in time to get Kendall's head and help pull her out. So fun! It was really neat to have Tyler deliver her. I felt like we were a team bringing her into the world rather than me just doing all the work! Even though he totally got the easy part. 

Right after she was born, everything got way better. It's amazing how I could go from being in complete agony to perfectly comfortable within seconds. Okay, "perfectly comfortable" might be a little of an exaggeration, but it was a complete turnaround from how I was feeling seconds before. 

Tyler went over and helped them get Kendall all cleaned up while they stitched me up. She was a little screamer! She got 9s on her Apgar test and was perfectly healthy!

She was born at 10:14pm, only 45 minutes after we arrived at the hospital!!!!

She was 6 lb 13 oz and 19.25 inches long. 

We named her Kendall Claire Hedman.

 Avery has been the cutest big sister ever. She LOVES Kendall. She wants to hold her all the time and likes to help me take care of her. She says "it's ok" when Kendall cries and pats her on the tummy and gives her kisses. She's so interested in all the taking care of baby business. She does all the same things with her baby doll that I do with Kendall. 

Kendall, all dressed and ready to come home from the hospital!

My friend, Megan, delivered her baby boy just a couple of days before Kendall was born. I took Avery to visit at the hospital and she loved baby Henry. It was so fun to see her with him. It made me really excited for Kendall's arrival. 

It was also a really crazy experience knowing that Megan's baby was on the outside and my baby was still inside at that point. I couldn't believe I had a little human that size inside of me!

Here's Avery and Troy, Henry's big brother. Avery and Troy are only a week apart in age. Kendall and Henry are only 2 days apart! I wonder if we can get our third kids on the same day!

Our friends have been a huge blessing to us as we are making the adjustment from 1 kid to 2! Avery has been on lots of play dates the last couple days and we have been so grateful! It has given me a lot of peace of mind knowing that Avery is being taken care of and loved while we focus on our little Kendall for a little bit. The moms have sent me fun pictures of Avery playing and it helped give me peace of mind that she was happy and also that she wasn't being a burden on my friends! (Thank you Stephanie and Lizzie and Sarah and Jocelyn!)

Playing with Sydney 

Eating dinner at the Walton's.

I love this picture because I know Avery was loving eating her dinner in a big girl chair. She thinks she is too big for her high chair these days and wants to eat at the table with us all the time.

The Pratts took Avery to Dickens on the Strand and sent us a picture and video of her going on a pony ride! I almost cried. It was so adorable. And I was just so grateful that they were so sweet and treated Avery like their own.

I am blessed with such good friends.

Avery loves to share everything with Kendall. I have to come rescue Kendall from being buried alive. I think it's especially sweet that Avery will give Kendall her blanket. She is very possessive of it so I love that she wants to share it with her baby sister.

The Anderson's came to visit today. Avery is a big fan of Lawson. Usually she gets jealous when other people hold her baby, but I guess she's okay with Lawson having a turn! Lawson is getting good practice for his baby brother coming in March :)

We have had a lot of snuggle time in bed the last few days. Avery wanted to hold Kendall while I read her her bed time stories.

I have two girls!

And a couple more pics from the hospital... 

Tyler is a proud daddy. He has been super awesome helping out with the girls. He pretty much does everything around here right now since I'm tied up with nursing 23.5 hours of the day.

A welcome home sign for me and Kendall!

I love Avery's page :)

 Snuggling my girl.

We are a family of 4 now!

(Crappy photo by some hospital worker. Lame! We had her take like 5 and they were all terrible. ha)

We are loving our baby Kendall!