london kristi

I am going to try to write out London's birth story while I still have everything fresh in my mind. Sorry it's so long, but I want to remember the details!

I went to my new doctor in Nampa just twice before she was born. They did things kind of differently in their office compared to Dr. Cannon in Burley, but Dr. Lynn seemed like a nice enough guy...

I went in on Tuesday, September 4th for an appointment. I was barely 39 weeks and he wanted to see if I had progressed from the previous week (I was only dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced). He had told me if I had progressed he would induce that week, before my due date. He checked me on the 4th and told me he had bad news. I had not progressed at all! Crazy, since I had been contracting all week. He must have seen the look on my face...I was completely devastated  :) I almost started to cry. He asked if I'd had any problems and I told him no, just uncomfortable and not able to sleep at night, and I was just SO tired. He asked me about my last induction (when I had Lucy)...I told him that I was hooked up to pitocin at 8 a.m. and had Lucy by 11:45. It was fast. And she was big, 8lbs 9oz., so I have big babies and go really fast. He said, "Well, that's a good enough reason for me to induce you tomorrow! You live far enough away that if this baby comes fast it could be a problem." :) Woo-hoo! 

We got our kids off to Burley that night last minute, and prepared to be at the hospital the next morning....

Sleeping was hard, I was so anxious. I knew it would be a big, emotional day the next day. I knew that I was in store for some pain, since I had told the Dr. that I didn't want an epidural. Lucy had come so quickly that I didn't have time for one, and I had a feeling I could do the same thing again. I was only in real pain for about an hour with Lucy. Not bad.

The next morning was so beautiful! Jared and I talked about how it was a crisp September morning as we walked into the hospital in Nampa.

I got hooked up to the pitocin by my awesome nurse and my contractions started within minutes. They were very regular and getting stronger. My nurse said I just must be super sensitive to pit, because I was progressing nicely. The Dr. came in around 10 and broke my water. Nothing big happened, and the morning was spent just waiting around for the contractions to get more painful. I wasn't really dilating in the first couple of hours either, but with Lucy I went from a 3 to a 10 in one hour. 

11:30 came and went and I was still have steady, mediocre contractions. I decided to walk around my room and sit on the "birthing ball" for a while to see if that helped things to progress. 

Around 12:30 my sister called me and I was just watching t.v. while sitting on the ball and giving her an update. Immediately after I hung up the phone the nurse came in and upped my dose of pit to her "magic number". She said it's the number that always gets things going. That is when the contractions got hard and painful. I got back on the bed and would squeeze Jared's hand or the side handles on my bed whenever one came. They hurt. I kept thinking, "now why didn't I get the epidural again? Seriously!" She kept checking me and I was dilating quickly, so that kept my spirits up. The pain got worse and worse (obviously) and every time a contraction hit I thought I was going to pass out because I wasn't getting enough oxygen. The nurse decided to pull out the oxygen mask which helped SO much. Every time I grabbed the mask Jared knew a contraction was coming and that I would squeeze the crap out of his hand as he talked me through it. He kept saying, "BREATHE Abby!" I think sometimes I'd accidentally hold my breath through the pain. The nurse would massage my lower back as hard as she could when a contraction would come and that helped so much.  The pain was so intense...I'd kind of moan and groan through it. I remember thinking, during a contraction, "how do the ladies in labor in the movies scream so much? I can't muster enough air to scream." :)  Finally I started getting the urge to push, which was such a welcome feeling. I love when that comes, because I know it's close. The Dr. took his sweet time coming in...which panicked my nurse just a bit with how fast I was going. 

Dr. Lynn made it in our room just in time. When London's head was crowning he said, "Wow, she has a nice, big round head!" I thought "Oh....fantastic." Not the best thing to say right before I was going to PUSH it out of me. I pushed probably 3 times, then once more for her shoulders, then at 2:05 London came screaming into the world! The nurses were surprised how loud she was. They immediately put her up on my chest which was new for me. I'd only ever seen the baby after they'd cleaned them up a bit. It was fun seeing her right after. The pain was all worth it. Jared got to cut the cord, which he'd never been able to do before, which was pretty awesome. London was really blue and sticky laying there on my chest, but Jared and I loved her from the start! 

London weighed in at 8lbs. 10 oz., 20 3/4 inches long.....and that was a week early. Biggest Jones baby yet!

After she was born the nurses were a little concerned with my blood loss. It didn't stop for quite a while, but finally by that evening it was under control. Kind of scary...

We started analyzing who she looked like, whose nose she had...how her eyes were so different from the other girls, how she hardly had any hair and her eyebrows and long eyelashes were so blonde. It's so funny comparing, but not really knowing who she looks like. All we know is, she's cute.

Our time in the hospital was sweet. Jared and I just got to love this new little perfect spirit by ourselves and really focus on each other too. Jared was so awesome through the whole labor & delivery, encouraging me and cheering me on. It really brings a whole new dimension to your marriage seeing your spouse in that kind of situation. I just love that guy.

The next day we were ready to get out of there. We were really lucky to have the best nurse for delivery, but our nurses after she left weren't as good. They kind of made the stay frustrating...so we were happy to head home and have one more day just the 3 of us before the girls got there.

We had a few visitors come and see London, Jared's dad came over the day after we got home right when my parents brought Grace and Lucy home and stayed for a couple of days with us. 

This is when Grace and Lucy first came through the door and saw London for the first time: 

Gracie asked to hold London first, so she ran to the couch and Lucy had a little meltdown because she wanted a turn:

Finally Lucy gets a turn to hold her:

The girls both really love her so far, no jealousy or anything. They only get mad at each other if they want a turn holding London.

Here is Grandma McMillan holding London for the first time:

Her sweet sisters, holding her for the first time!

Lucy thought she'd like her my little pony to play with:

Lucy kept saying, "She's so cuuuuuuuute!" :

Grandma Jones, holding London for the first time:

We have had so much help over the last couple of weeks. First my parents came and took care of us, then Jared's parents brought us dinner and visited, then my sister Jenny and her daughter Ruby stayed with us for 5 days, cooked cleaned and took care of everybody. We've had visitors and meals, lots of calls, gifts and well wishes. It has been so great, we've definitely felt the love. We are just so grateful for our families and friends and especially for sweet little London making it safely to our family. 

Most people know that we had a hard time choosing a name this time around. In fact, a few days before we had her we really didn't know what her name would be. I heard London pretty early on in my pregnancy and really liked it. Jared liked it too, but liked Audrey most. There was a point when we both vetoed the name London altogether and it wasn't even on our top 5 list. That is how wishy-washy we were with names. Finally, in the last weeks of my pregnancy I told Jared that I really really loved that name. We both had our doubts (would people think we are Olympics super fans? :) )but the name just grew on us. The other top contenders were: Audrey, Hattie, & Annie. Kristi is her middle name, named after Jared's younger sister Kristi. She is the best aunt and loves her little nieces and nephew so much that we thought she'd love if one was named after her! She is such a good example to everyone of being Christlike, loving and kind. We hope London will be like her someday.