After having my first come into world (two-weeks early, according to the OB’s dating) at eight pounds, 11 ounces, I didn’t think it was quite possible to have a small baby. And so I packed a couple of newborn outfits and a couple 0-3mo outfits just in case, little did I know we’d have a baby weighing in at only six pounds, 11 ounces (leaving the hospital at six pounds, five ounces) and drowning in her adorable newborn coming home outfit.

Penelope’s birth story is one that makes you think, wow, having a baby is so easy! However, with Huntley’s birth story I know it isn’t always as easy…

It all started at 10:30 p.m. the night before Memorial Day. The hubby and I were so excited to have our master bedroom addition painted and finished. No curtains to cover the windows yet, no furniture other than the new Restoration Hardware Cal-king Maison bed un-assembled and neatly wrapped, alongside our just-arrived memory foam mattress and box springs. I was giddy with excitement to finally be able to put the bed together! Before moving around the furniture pieces, I felt a small gush of water… I knew that this could’ve meant that my water had broken, however, unlike my water break with Huntley, it wasn’t a lot of water and it wasn’t something that I was sure of. I felt no contractions whatsoever. With my first the contractions came instantly and I had dilated to 5 before even entering the hospital. And so we kept going forth with our plan of assembling our bed!

As I helped move around pieces at nine months pregnant, I would feel more and more little gushes of water trickling down my inner thighs, but still no contractions. It wasn’t when we had put all the finishing touches to the bed that both my hubby and I knew my water had really broken, but again there were no contractions. And as with the first, I decided I’d want to labor mostly at home if I could, and so I went to bed (with lots of towels of course).

Feeling a bit uncomfortable and uneasy, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. I called my doctors office and let the nurse know that my water had broken the night before and that I was feeling no contractions throughout the night. She told me to quickly head to the hospital – which I didn’t. I took my time at home packing away some odds and ends for Huntley’s stay with her grandparents while she and the hubby slept in an hour more. Then I took a shower and freshened up a bit while the hubby packed our car with our getaway bag and woke up our little girl (soon to be big sister), got her ready and set in the car. We dropped her off at my parents house and headed straight to the hospital.

At the hospital they confirmed my water break and determined that I had only dilated half a centimeter since my last doctor’s visit in which I was dilated two and half already. Since the process wasn’t moving along the doctor and the nurses decided that it would be best to start the contractions with Petocin (something completely foreign to me considering I had nearly dilated to 8cm with my first sans epidural or any drugs for that matter). It felt like time was at a stand-still as I was given the epidural before the Petocin and  I actually was able to take a short 30-min nap with the hubby napping beside me. An hour had passed (which felt like three hours) and I had dilated 2cm. Another hour passed and I had dilated to 7cm. By the last hour I was at nine and half and felt ready to push – and so I did!

I pushed for a bit but it wasn’t until my last five pushes with the doctor that I knew baby girl was making her way out! Her head came out so quickly that she actually had lots of facial bruising (hence the reason she looks so purple), followed by her teeny tiny beautiful little body! I was so elated and filled with so much joy, all I could say was thank you over and over again to the amazing team of nurses and the doctor, who all kept telling me “What a beautiful birth this is” and “You made it look easy!”