Lively’s Birth Story

Baby’s Name: Lively Mae Hunter

Birth Date: January 24, 2018 at 2:08 a.m.

Birth Size: 7 lbs | 19.5 inches

I am so excited to share with you the birth story of our first child, Lively Mae Hunter! First up, a little about Lively’s name…. Her name actually came to me years ago before we were even trying to get pregnant. I’d been hanging on to it and was careful not to share it in case we did end up having a girl one day. Her first name, Lively, is actually a last name that comes from my husband’s side of the family. I loved that it was different and the fact that the Lively’s have a long legacy in Tallahassee (you can read more about them here) made it extra special. Even the church we got married has a cute little lunch spot called “The Lively Cafe” that was named after my husband’s great aunt. I already foresee some lunch dates there with her in our future. 🙂 Her middle name, Mae, was my grandmother’s middle name. I adored my “Grannie” and had quite the special relationship with her so it was super important for me to incorporate her name as well.

Now on to Lively’s birthday….. Right on schedule, Lively was born the day after her due date (we just missed it by two hours!). We had a typical Monday night at home where I cooked dinner (one of my easy go-to sheet pan recipes of chicken sausage, butternut squash and broccoli) and watched an episode of The Bachelor. We went to bed around 10 p.m. and at midnight on January 23 (my actual due date), I awoke from my sleep to my water breaking (totally thought I was peeing myself!). I got up and quickly ran to the bathroom where the water continued to flow… and flow and flow. At first, I wasn’t convinced it was my water breaking. I hadn’t actually known anyone whose water had broke by itself. All my friends had their water broken after checking into the hospital. But after about five minutes, I started having contractions and knew this was the real deal. I went and woke Todd up and told him, “I think this is it!” He jumped up out of bed and began to pack his bag while I hopped in the shower and got ready myself.

About an hour later, I wrapped a towel around my waist and we headed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. We checked in quickly and by 2:00 a.m., I was being examined in triage – I was only 2 cm dilated. My doctor came by and we came up with the game plan that we’d wait a few hours to see if I’d progress naturally and if not, then he’d start me on Pitocin to help speed things along. We were moved to our labor and delivery room and the next few hours were spent hanging out with not a whole of change. At about 8:00 a.m., they checked me again and I still hadn’t progressed so they started me on the Pitocin. They warned me that once I got my epidural it could slow the labor process down so I tried to wait it out as long as I could. I moved around the room, sat on the birthing ball and recited Scripture in an effort to distract myself from the intense pain that was taking place. After about 5 hours, my demeanor shifted and I knew I couldn’t go any longer. I requested the epidural and in about 30 minutes, I was a new woman. 🙂

At this point, it was mid-day and both sets of our parents had arrived at the hospital. We figured Lively would make her debut in the next handful of hours so they all decided to camp out in the waiting area right outside our room. Little did we all know… ha!

More time went by and I still wasn’t progressing enough so they continued to up my Pitocin. As we moved into the evening, they discovered that Lively was “sunny-side up” and had me start using a giant peanut ball in attempt to flip her around. Because I had my epidural and couldn’t move, by husband and the nurses had to continue flipping me from side to side with this giant ball between my legs. My legs were super tingly, my belly itched like crazy and my contractions had intensified so much I was in pain even with the epidural.

At around midnight, I had finally reached 10 cm and it was time to push. However, my body was so exhausted from nearly 26 hours of labor that I physically couldn’t do it at that point. The doctor gave me the option to try and push right then, or to “labor down” for about 30 minutes and then give it a try. I remember being so out of it that I couldn’t articulate an answer at that point. Thankfully, my husband stepped up and made the decision for me that I would spend the next half hour laboring down. That was the best decision and biggest blessing because I ended up falling asleep for a full hour which gave my body more time to naturally bring the baby further down and rotate.

After I woke up, the doctor and nurses came back in and it was time to push. Despite having an incredibly long labor process, the pushing part was a breeze. I made 5 long, hard pushes and on the last one, the doctor told me to reach over and grab my baby and finish pulling her out. That is not something I would have ever thought I would do, but am so glad I did. It was such an incredible moment! We immediately had skin-to-skin and Todd opted not to cut the umbilical chord (he gets super queasy and was worried he might pass out, but he does regret not doing this!).

Our parents came in and had a quick peek at our girl before heading home – they had all been there close to 24 hours too! The first thing I did after they left? Scarfed down a chicken salad sandwich and lemon cookie from Zoe’s Kitchen while snuggling my girl on my chest. I was in heaven. 🙂

The next three days in the hospital were full of highs and lows and of course very little sleep. We were discharged from the hospital on Friday and on Sunday afternoon, we noticed Lively was incredibly lethargic, hadn’t had a bowel movement in 12 hours, and  was overall pretty unresponsive. Not knowing much about jaundice but that something was definitely off, we called the hospital and they told us to head to the ER. With the flu season being the worst in years, my anxiety was off the charts as we walked in the door and the waiting room was filled with people in face masks. After several hours of waiting in a little triage room in the back, they admitted us to the pediatric ward where Lively was treated for jaundice (using phototherapy) for the next 48 hours. These two days back in the hospital were ROUGH, but looking back on it now, I can already see why it was a blessing. Being back in the hospital was not only good for Lively, but it gave me more time with the lactation consultants (the ladies who teach you how to breastfeed). Had I not gotten two more days with them helping me get the hang of it, I honestly think I would have given up. I am happy to say that we are now a month into breastfeeding and both Lively and I are doing great.

We are so blessed with our Lively girl. She is truly the answer to every prayer I prayed while she was in my belly. She has the sweetest disposition and the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). We are beyond grateful for this gift from the Lord and pray that His blessing would be upon her and that her heart would overflow with a love for Jesus and others in her days ahead.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

Photography: Sophie Smith