Hazen Philip Abbott Arrives

Cally is officially a big sister!

Hazen’s birth story:

After a few false alarms, at 4am on Sunday, January 30^th, I woke up with what would become my labor with Hazen. John and I stuck it out in the bedroom for an hour, timing the contractions and trying to come up with a plan for Cally care and our trip to the hospital. Not wanting to disturb anyone else’s valuable sleep, we did our best to wait to call the doctor and our dear friend Medora (who had volunteered to watch Cally until her grandparents could get up here). By 5:45am, when contractions were averaging about 7 minutes apart, I decided I couldn't really wait much longer and we called in the troops. Our doctor encouraged us to stay home until contractions were 5 minutes apart, but by 6:30, I felt like I just needed to be getting the ball moving towards the hospital. We woke up Cally and had Medora meet us at the Cumberland Farms in Richmond. Cally didn’t seem to miss a beat and was thrilled to be spending the day with Medora, Addy, Tanner and Spencer.

John and I arrived to the hospital at 7:30am. By then, my contractions were just about 5 minutes apart (some a little more frequent, some less). I was hooked up to a monitor for 20 minutes and told by the nurse that I was in “early” labor. Even though some contractions were 2 ½ minutes apart, others were five minutes apart and the nurse explained that my body still needed to “organize” the contractions. At this point a resident checked my cervix and told me I was 4.5 cm dilated (considering I had been 3cm dilated for the past three weeks, this was disappointing news). I was also told that I couldn’t get in the big bath that I was dreaming about because it could slow down my labor.

By 8:15, my doctor arrived and chatted with me for about 30 minutes, coaching me through a bunch of contractions. Eventually, she encouraged me to get in the bath, so by 8:45, I got in there. Within minutes of being in the comfortable tub, my water broke. By 9am, I felt like I couldn’t handle the intensity of the contractions and cried “mercy” to my nurse, claming I wasn’t sure if I could do this (without an epidural). She told me we could talk about it after the next contraction, a few times. A little after 9am my doctor came back in the room and checked my cervix by using a mirror in the tub. At that point I was 9 cm dilated and she informed me that I’d be having this baby very soon. In fact, she wanted to be sure that I was all right having the baby in the bathtub. I labored for a few more contractions and realized I didn’t want to be in the tub anymore, I was overheating and kind of grossed out by being in the tub……. The doctor needed to drain the tub enough to get me out through a door, have a contraction, and then scurry to the bed. So, about ten minutes later, Hazen Philip was born.

We didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl. Cally kept telling me I was having a girl, so I sort of let myself believe that. In any case, John and I were both really surprised when a little guy came out. What amazed us even more was the red hair! Not just the red hair, but the uncanny resemblance between Cally and Hazen. It’s pretty wild. Can you guess which photo is of Cally and which one is of Hazen?

Cally is so, so happy to be a big sister.

She was also so happy to have her Grandma and Bumpa around to play with her (they arrived on Sunday afternoon to relieve Medora and her family of their duties). They were incredible! Grandma got Cally up and dressed her for four days in a row…… letting her pick out outfits that clearly didn’t match and letting us catch a few more winks of sleep. She also must have done 10 loads of laundry and almost as many loads of dishes. Both of them made sure we were well fed, rested, and comfortable.

Cally really hasn’t missed a beat with the expanded family. She loves helping and she’s making sure she gets what she needs. It’s definitely a juggling game for us (especially, now that the grandparents have left), but she continues to make us laugh, express her love, and is learning to entertain her little brother.

And the parents are doing pretty well, too. We are getting some sleep, bonding with the little guy, getting great meals from friends, and John has even gotten some skiing in. And yep, that's me drinking a well earned beer!