Judah Bristow Hopper

We were so happy to have Judah Bristow Hopper arrive on Tuesday, July 28th at 11:28 am. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces, 21 inches long.

Birth Story

At my 40 week appointment on Thursday, July 23rd, I still had made no progress as to have Judah.

40 weeks

My OB told me she wanted to see me the following Wednesday and if I still had not had Judah we would discuss induction. I was induced with Lawson, so I really wanted to go into labor naturally. I was occasionally have Braxton-Hicks contractions, but no real contractions. We were preparing ourselves to go in for an induction on Thursday. However, it is true that things can change in an instant. Around 2:30am Tuesday morning, I woke up because of contractions. They were intermittent and not long. I couldn't go back to sleep so at 3:15am I began to chart the contractions. They were ranging from 5-10 minutes, were only about 20-30 seconds long and weren't getting any stronger. At 4:00am, I woke Lawson up and told him I thought I was having contractions and he should pack for the hospital. He said "O.k." and rolled over and fell back asleep. I was planning on calling my OB at 4:15am and tell her that I was having contractions. After I told Lawson to pack, I got up to check the Internet about the contractions and have some cookies (oatmeal with dark chocolate chips) and milk. I decided not to call my OB because the contractions weren't getting any stronger and charted the contractions I was having for another hour. At 5:00am, I decided to go back to bed. When I went to lay down I asked Lawson if I should call my OB. He said to go ahead and call so I would feel better. I didn't want to show up to the hospital and them tell me to go home, that I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions. I called the operator at my OB's office and told her I was having some contractions, they were less than 10 minutes apart, but were not building in strength or getting closer together and she told me to come in immediately. I was not expecting that. I told her that I was able to walk and talk through the contractions and they weren't getting any stronger. She was adamant. So I went back in to wake up Lawson and tell him to pack (again) that we were going to the hospital. I called Damaris to come over to stay with Lawson.

Lawson and I got our stuff together and drove to the hospital. We didn't take anything up with us because I was sure they were going to send me home. A nurse took us into a room and when she checked me I was 4 cm dilated. Shocker! This was around 6:00am. She told us that we might as well get comfortable because there was no way they were going to send me home. Around 6:45am, one of the OB's in the practice I go to came in and broke my water. He said we would have a baby by noon. We were also waiting on my epidural. All of the epidural medicine had been used the day before and since it was the end of the month, the pharmacy had to make all the epidural medicine until a new shipment of the premade stuff arrived. My OB, Dr. Lassiter, came in and told me that Tuesday was her surgery day, but she was hoping to deliver Judah. If not, another doctor, Dr. Woods, would deliver Judah. She also wanted to start me on Pitocin just to keep me progressing. After my water was broken, I dilated to 5 cm quickly. My labor and delivery nurse, Susan, held off on the Pitocin hoping my epidural would come. The contractions got a little bit stronger after my water was broken, but were still bearable. Susan was impressed with mt toughness. I was impressed with my toughness. I am a big wimp.

Waiting for the epidural.

Unfortunately, the pharmacy was taking their sweet time with the medicine for my epidural. Around 8:30-9:00ish, the nurse went ahead and started the Pitocin at a small dose so they wouldn't have to up it when I got my epidural. I labored for about an hour with the Pitocin without the epidural. Those pains were a little tougher. I was a silent laborer. No making noises or anything. At last check I dilated to 7 cm and then about 30-45 minutes later I got my epidural. The nurse thought I probably made it to about 8 cm without an epidural. Never, ever thought I could do that. I will say that the epidural hurt the most. For some reason it was more painful this go around than last time. But I will say I enjoyed the relief it gave me. And Lawson was so sweet. He was mad for me that we had to wait so long for the pharmacy to get the epidural medicine to me. And the bottle was huge! It could have taken down an elephant. Or maybe a whole herd of elephants. At 11:00am I began pushing and at 11:28am, Judah made his arrival!

Judah Bristow Hopper

Dr. Lassiter was able to deliver him too! He was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful miracle! We were all shocked that he weighed so much.

At this rate the next baby is going to be 9 pounds!

My dad was already in town helping Damaris and Ryan remodel their laundry room. I called my mom at 6:00am and told her that I would definitely be having Judah that day. Lawson's parents made it to Alabama around 5:00. Since they live in North Carolina their drive was a bit longer. And their vehicle was in the shop, so they had to wait for that too. We are so glad that everyone made it to see Judah on the day he arrived!

We had matching PJ's!:)

What a precious, precious baby boy! We are so blessed to have Judah in our lives. Thanks to all who prayed and called and texted and visited. We love you all so much!