It’s our little girl, Meghan Wardle’s birthday today! I know it’s cliché but this little sweetheart has added so much to our family since the day she was born four years ago. It’s funny but I actually remember her birth like it was yesterday, partly because of how it all transpired and also because we were just so excited to have a baby girl! I remember I was feeling really stressed that morning, like I had so much to do before baby came and not enough time to do it! Now, I was 10 days past my due date mind you so that was really rather funny. 😉

I had been having Braxton hicks for a long time actually so when I got up that morning and was still having mild contractions off and on I didn’t think much of it. I got my hubby, Jay and little man, Roy, their breakfast all while still having mild contractions and all during the morning they were off and on. After lunch my husband ran some errands while Roy was napping and I decided I just had to deep clean the house.

So I scrubbed the kitchen top to bottom, moved the small furniture and mopped the wood floors in the living room, dining and hallway, cleaned the bathroom and I was getting ready to scrub the shower when Jay got home. After Roy woke up I worked on dinner and we had an early meal. I wasn’t really hungry but ate anyways and then did up the dinner dishes. By this time the contractions had become more frequent and harder and I was beginning to wonder if maybe I was in labor.

 

See, all this time I really wasn’t thinking I was in labor! Silly, I know but with my first baby I was 12 days past my due date and for some reason I figured this baby would be even later. Also, my water hadn’t broken and with Roy, before I had had any contractions my water broke and then labor started. But anyways….I got back to scrubbing the shower, the contractions were still coming but were nothing but mild and sporadic. I talked to Jay and we debated on trying to call our Midwife but since she had already texted to let me know that she was going to be out of cell service range with a patient in labor that was high risk I wasn’t sure I should disturb her since I really wasn’t sure if I was even in labor. I knew I wasn’t high risk at all and my Mother was already planning on helping me so I decided to call my Mum instead.

I told her I might be in labor and since she had a half hour drive (or more because of the snow on the roads near her) to get ready to head into town just in case and I would update her soon. I put Roy to bed and the contractions were still mild and sporadic so nothing to be alarmed about.

At this point I was really tired because of all the housework I had been doing (I know. That was such a great idea! 😉 ) and just wanted to get some sleep. I had sat down to just rest for a bit and…the contractions stopped! Like completely STOPPED! Nothing. Nada. I was like, Oh goody, now I can go to bed, and since nothing had been going on for awhile I called Mum to tell her that I was thinking maybe baby wasn’t coming tonight after all! She said okay, and since she hadn’t left home yet to call her if anything changed and to get some sleep. So, I hung up the phone and since I hadn’t had contractions for a while decided to get ready for bed.

I stood up, walked down the hall to the bathroom and just outside the door, my water broke! And instantly the contractions were back, nice and strong this time and close together. I had Jay call Mum to let her know that, nevermind, I was having a baby and could she please come asap! Contractions were coming fast and hard now and I realized I had just been in transition. Yeah, I know I’m a dork for not figuring it out sooner but I seriously think it was all for the best. I didn’t have time to call the midwife and since she really needed to be with her other patient anyways it was really better.

So, Mum walks in the door, realizes that baby is coming, like right away, so she quickly gets some towels warmed up and gets the stuff I had set out for cutting the cord and everything nearby so it’s handy. I had been pacing all over the house. Yep, I pace when I’m in labor. So, literally it was less than 5 minutes after Mum arrived and I had gone into the restroom that I felt like I really needed to push so I yelled for Jay and he and Mum came running just in time for Mum to catch Meghan right before she hit the rug on the bathroom floor! :-O

I instantly took Meghan and held her and then I moved to our room so I could rest while we waited for the cord to stop pulsing, then we cut the cord, I birthed the placenta and we weighed and measured her. Oh, and until we weighed and measured her we didn’t know if it was a boy or girl because we had instantly wrapped her up in a towel to keep her warm. So yeah, that was fun to find out! 😉 We had already picked out both a boy and a girl name so we knew her name right away, Meghan (Means little Pearl) because I’ve always liked it and “Wardle” is a family name.

So, that’s the birth story of how our little girl came into the world. If birth stories are your thing I hope you enjoyed reading. And if you have a birth story posted on your blog, do share the link below!

Happy birthday, Meghan! We love you little girl and we are so excited to watch you grow into a little lady! Your smile, cuddles and hugs, your sweet spirit and energy, your love for all things girly, your constant copying of mommy are showing parts of what you’ll be like when you get older and we can only pray that you never outgrow your love for your Daddy and Mommy and that you grow up to be a strong Godly woman with an immense love for the Lord!

Now I’m off to finish decorating her cake….:-)

~Hannah

P.S. I knew my pictures were getting better but the change from beginning to end of these photos is amazing! Yay for a better camera!