The Story of Miss Kaelyn Elizabeth

Kaelyn Elizabeth Hudson joined our family on Monday, July 6, 2009 at 3:41 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19 3/4 long. We had an interesting journey getting her here, but couldn't be more delighted to finally have our precious little girl.

The doctor had scheduled for us to be induced on Thursday, July 2nd, but as we arrived at the hospital, my cell phone rang and the nurses asked us to stay home (little did they know we were sitting out in the parking lot since we were supposed to be there 8 minutes later) because the hospital was full. They gave us every indication that they were going to reschedule us for later in the day, but about an hour later, I received a personal phone call from my doctor (never a good thing since the nurses usually call) letting us know that she put us on the schedule for Monday instead because the hospital was so busy. Needless to say, Robbie and I were disappointed and frustrated. All of our families had planned to be there with us (and were on the way). We knew it was going to be a long weekend since our only plans were to spend time with our new little girl. How could you replace that with anything worth while? We trusted God and knew he had a plan for us and boy did he! When Robbie's parents arrived (they were already in Dallas when we called with the news), they brought an extra surprise passenger, Robbie's Memaw from Little Rock. We spent Friday looking for Memaw a place to live in Frisco and were successful. This would not have been possible without the delay in Kaelyn's birth and we are all anxious to get Memaw closer to us! She will be moving to Frisco in mid to late October! Kaelyn will be so excited to have her GiGi (Memaw) close by!

We spent Saturday resting up and went to have a steak dinner with the Hudson clan at Bentley and Lisette's house to celebrate the fourth of July! I began having contractions very consistently on the way over to their house. Robbie began keeping track of them, and we ended up missing the dinner because they were consistent enough for us to head in to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 9 p.m. and they hooked me up to the monitors. I was dilated between 3 and 4 centimeters and they wanted to monitor the contractions and my progress for several hours. Around 11:30 p.m., the nurse came in and we had not made any more progress. We had two options: stay at the hospital for a couple more hours to see if there was any change or head home and come back if anything changed. We decided to head home to the comfort of our own space. Another little set-back, but we knew God had a plan.

Monday morning arrived and I called labor and delivery to make sure we were on the schedule and wouldn't arrive and be turned away again! Good news, they were ready for us! Robbie and I arrived at the hospital at 7:15 a.m. and they set us up! My doctor was going to deliver us (which I'm thankful for) and the nurse was the sister-in-law of my friend from school, Andrea Sciano. Everything looked great! The nurse set my IV up and hooked us up to the Pitocin to induce contractions. I was dilated to a 4 already and was progressing quickly with the Pitocin. My doctor came in around 8:30 a.m. and broke my water. Boy, did that increase the intensity of the contractions. It wasn't long before I'd had enough of an experience being a tough mom trying to go the natural way (I just wanted to experience REAL contractions for a bit) and was ready for the epidural. Around 10:00 a.m. I had my epidural and was pain-free. I was able to relax a bit and Robbie went out to greet the family. The family was 20+ strong in number and everyone was anxious to meet Kaelyn! Shortly after lunch time, the nurse came in to check me again and I was dilated to a 7 (progressing a little more rapidly than planned), but decided to increase the Pitocin. About 10 minutes later, the nurse came back in and was concerned because Kaelyn's heart rate had dropped. She checked me again and I was dilated to a 9.5. I had dilated 2.5 centimeters in 10 minutes! She quickly turned off the Pitocin to increase Kaelyn's heart rate. They monitored us for another 2 hours and then called the doctor because Kaelyn's heart beat was still lower than what they would like it to be. Her heart rate should have been between 120-160 beats per minute, but was getting as low as 40 bpm. Kaelyn's head was so low that the contractions were squeezing her head, suffocating her. Around 3:15 p.m. the nurse called for the doctor because things were getting worse. A c-section looked like the next step. The doctor arrived around 3:30 and wanted to try to get Kaelyn out naturally while the operating room was prepared. She quickly called for a full team and about 11 nurses arrived in the room. The doctor tried to use a vacuum to suck Kaelyn out, but it kept slipping off because Kaelyn had so much hair on her head! The doctor told me to keep pushing (whether I was having a contraction or not) to try to get Kaelyn out as quickly as possible. I think I pushed about 6-8 times before I had her in my arms. All the NICU nurses were there to check her vitals (since we'd had a scare) and everything looked okay. Kaelyn was healthy and I was okay too! Praise the Lord! Robbie was so great throughout the whole process. He definitely kept me calm and focused (though he later told me he was the most scared he had ever been).

It all seems like a whirlwind now, but we thank God each day for how everything turned out on Monday. After delivery, Kaelyn fed well for the first time! All the family was excited to meet her, and Robbie and I just couldn't believe how lucky we were to be parents to this beautiful little angel.