Introducing Meredith Evelyn Hall! Being my third, she was my biggest baby weighing in at 8.9 and was 19 inches long. Surprisingly, she was also my easiest to give birth to! How did I come up with the name? Well, I've never been too keen on modern names because they all seem to sound alike or even be used more than once. With that being said, I have always had an admiration with Victorian names or just older names. Meredith has Welsh and English roots and was popular in the 1920s. The name Evelyn came to me as I watched the movie 'Transcendence' one night with my husband. I sat there and thought, "Wow, what a beautiful name." I knew that the name in and of itself was older and putting Meredith in front of it just rolled off my tongue like silk. I never let it go after that. My first girl is named Laura. Laura is also a Victorian name, so keeping the tradition seemed fit.
The Day Of:
It was on a Wednesday night and my husband had come home earlier from church. I had stayed behind because at this point, being 40 weeks and 1 day, I could barely stand to walk. It was around 1130ish at night and I remember grabbing the headboard and screaming while my husband was sound asleep. He rolled over and asked if I was okay and I told him that I could literally feel my pelvic bone crack and pop. My contractions had went from being every 30 minutes to every 10 minutes. It was time to go.
We popped up and got our bags together and the kids ready and headed out the door. My husband just held my hand and told me that he loved me and that he was excited to see her. We arrived at the hospital a little after 12am, Thursday morning and had my husband's sister come get the children while we stayed at the hospital. When I was in triage, a very kind Nurse, named Carla, had checked my dilation and told me that I was already 5 centimeters. My husband was in shock!
While waiting on the Anesthesiologist for my epidural (yes, I am built too little for going completely natural!) for my vaginal delivery, I had a couple of hours alone with Carla. It so happens that the previous night, I had written a blog about my testimony and I felt led to share it with Carla. As embarrassed as I was by writing the testimony, I shared it personally with a complete stranger. As I kept talking, I realized how comfortable I felt sharing it and it so happens that when I did, she revealed that she was a believer too. Before she left her shift, she asked me if she could pray for me and I remember feeling overjoyed and told her that I would love it if she did. It was a night that I knew after that moment, that was filled with God's presence. It was as if God had my contractions come at that particular time so I could meet Carla. I needed her encouragement. I needed to hear God through her. Thank you, Carla!
Hours upon hours later (haha), the man with the goods came! During this process, I get extremely nervous because if you know anything about how precise the process is for inserting this medicine in between your spinal cord is, you would know that anything could go wrong. At the time, I happened to be shivering from the cold air in the room and being still is the most important part, but thankfully, I held on tight and started counting aloud so I could distract myself from the ordeal and my shivering! Moments later, the medicine finally kicked in and I went numb! I was so happy!! Contractions are absolutely painful (thank you, Eve) and I don't do pain very well!
Now, I think this was around 330am...maybe. I can't really remember, but I do remember falling asleep because the medicine made me sleepy. After waking up, I do remember finally dilating to 10 and with 3 simple pushes, I saw Meredith arrive! Just with Laura, I looked over and saw Dustin crying his eyes out and smiling from ear to ear. When we heard her crying for the first time, nothing but joy filled our hearts. If you are a parent, you probably remember how different it felt before and after. After, it seemed as if it was real because you could finally see and hear your precious baby for the first time. That feeling overwhelmed us and still does to this day.
Only with Meredith was I able to get up and walk around as soon as the delivery was over. She weighed in at 8.9 and was 19 inches long and being that she was my biggest baby, she was my easiest. We spent the next 48 hours at the hospital and enjoyed quite a few visitors. Now we are home enjoying our time with our newest addition to the Hall family trying to keep away from all this flu going around! I do want to take a minute to thank everyone who has prayed for our family, sent encouraging texts, commented lovely comments on our media, etc. We are very appreciative of all of you! Please enjoy our pictures as a family! XOXO
