Harlow Quinn Sharp

She is here! I felt like my pregnancy lasted forever but before you know it, it's over! This is my last pregnancy picture, I was 9 months (36 weeks along).

Towards the end of my pregnancy I was really uncomfortable and getting through a work day was a struggle. At my last doctor's appointment (my 38 week appointment), my doctor said they could induce me at 39 weeks if I wanted to. I took the option and was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday (January 28th). I got everything settled at work and last Friday was my last day. It had been a looong day; gym at 5 am, worked all day, taught 2 dance classes, and went to the grocery store. That night at about 8pm I started feeling some 'contractions'. I didn't think they were contractions for a while because they were super far apart. At about 10 o'clock I decided they were the real deal, they were getting stronger and a little closer together (8-15 minutes apart).

Josh came to bed at about that same time, I told him not to get too comfortable and that I thought I was having contractions. He jumped right out of bed and started wandering around the house getting everything together. I told him to calm down a bit, that they were far apart and I still wasn't positive it was the real deal. We waited around a while, I called my parents to let them know, and at midnight we decided to go to the hospital. Beckett was asleep so my dad came over and stayed the night with him which was a life saver.

We got to the hospital and checked in. They put us in a room to make sure I was progressing before they would admit me. The contractions were definitely getting stronger but they weren't getting closer together, which was frustrating. I was expecting to move along faster than I was because my labor with Beckett wasn't very long considering he was my first. When I got there I was dilated to a 4 and an hour later I was still at a 4. She told me if I didn't progress within the next hour that they would send me home. That totally devastated me, it wasn't what I was expecting at all! I couldn't imagine going home with the contractions I was having. She said she was going to come back at 3:05 am to check me one last time. Before she came in I said a quick prayer that I would progress and not have to go home. At 3:04, literally one minute before the nurse came in, I had a big contraction and my water broke. Yay! I was so relieved. They admitted me and took me straight up to the delivery room.

Once there my contractions really started picking up and I was dilating quickly. I got the epidural, which was not a fun experience. It wasn't too bad with Beckett but this time the anesthesiologist hit a nerve that made my leg jump, so I laughed because it was unexpected, then my laughing made him hit some of my back nerves which made them go crazy. It was not very smooth to say the least. Once I got the epidural I dilated to a 10 within 30-45 minutes. They called my doctor at home, Dr. Thackeray, to come in. We waited for him and as soon as he arrived it was go time. I pushed through 3 contractions and like the miracle it is, baby girl was born at 5:31 am.

 She was 7 pounds even and 22 inches long, tall and skinny! It took us a while to finally commit but we named her Harlow Quinn Sharp (Quinn is after Josh's middle name, which is Quincy). So far she has been a great baby! She doesn't cry much, unless you unwrap her or try to get her to eat when she doesn't want to. Other than that she is very peaceful. We'll see if it lasts! We had a lot of visitors our first day, the most important being Beckett. He seemed pretty comfortable when he came into the room with my parents. We showed him baby sissy right away. He wasn't interested in holding her but he did look at her and touched her. Luckily, the preparation we did with him seemed to work. He made the connection that she was no longer in my tummy and that she decided to come out to play.

 

Josh and I were absolutely exhausted that first day. Neither of us got a wink of sleep the previous night so we were zombies. That's parenthood! We went home from the hospital the next day (Sunday). We had a few more visitors and my parents brought us dinner, which is a life saver. Beckett also came home that day and it has been a bit of an adjustment. B has gone back and forth with how he is acting. Sometimes he'll ignore Harlow, sometimes he'll want to hold her nonstop, sometimes he seeks extra attention. It's been a roller coaster for everyone so I think it'll take a few weeks to get back into a routine. One thing I know is that there are no lack of pictures around here. Here are a few other pictures of our precious baby girl!