Griffin's Birth Story

*warning: lengthy post ahead!

On December 28, 2019, our third child, Griffin Jack Lowery, made his entrance into the world at 38 weeks 6 days. My initial goal when we found out we were pregnant and learned my due date was early January was just to make it through Christmas Day. And thankfully, he listened and cooperated!

The night of the 26th I did not sleep well at all. I just tossed and turned all night and could not get comfortable--which was not the norm. I had been sleeping great the entire pregnancy! Friday, December 27th, I just felt "off." I had lost my mucous plug on Christmas Day so I knew labor was more than likely coming within the next few days (Daniel was really hoping it happened before January 1st so we could get the tax credit lol).  I had no appetite, I didn't feel super well and starting about 1pm I had some pelvic pressure. I took a hot shower to see if that would relieve it at all and it didn't. 

A sweet friend of mine is a L&D nurse and I knew she was working (fun fact--I initially met her because she was my nurse with Holt) so I texted her my symptoms. I had never gone into labor on my own before! She advised me to come in and just get checked out. Of course, we had dinner plans with our BFF's, so I texted Kaley to let her know what was going on. We decided they would go ahead and come over to our house, the boys would stay with the big kids and she would go with me to the hospital and just see if anything was happening. 

4pm--I get into a triage room. My contractions are irregular BUT I was 3cm and 70% effaced (at my appointment on Monday I was only a 1cm and 0% effaced). I drink some ice water and we decide to walk the hallways for an hour. 

5:45pm--they check me again. Still a 3cm and 70% but baby has moved down and my contractions are in a consistent pattern of every 2-4 minutes. They decide to admit me, believing I am in early labor. I decide to walk some more. The doctor on call is Dr. Farrell--she was extremely nice and really cute! I am so thankful for God's provision in that a great doctor was on call and Audra was working! I call Daniel and let him know what's going on--he finishes packing stuff for the hospital and gathering things together. I also call my parents (the 27th is their anniversary) and Daniel calls his parents, so they decide to get their stuff together and head to Fort Smith. 

7:45pm--Daniel arrives at the hospital. Kaley went back to my house to wait with my kids until my in-laws could get there. I get checked again. I am almost a 4. Baby is more engaged in the pelvis. 

10:00pm--my parents arrived about 9pm. My Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda (the photographer)  and my grandmother made it about 9:45pm or so. I have been bouncing on the ball and my contractions have still steadily been coming every 2-4 minutes. So far I have been handling the contractions really well and haven't had to request an epidural yet. I get checked again and I'm 5cm and 75% effaced. 

Starting about 11pm, my contractions started spacing out and calmed down for a while--maybe a contraction every 15 minutes or so. We finally decided to try and get some sleep and I slept from 3:30-5:30am. 

6:00am--check me again and I'm still 5 cm. They decide to break my water and get me on pitocin to get things moving again. I request an epidural because I know what pitocin contractions feel like an I don't want to miss my window.

6:40am--get my epidural

7:00am---Audra is back for the day shift so I get to have her as my nurse!

9:00am---I'm a 7-8cm. Things are moving!

9:30am--8-9cm. Audra has another lady in labor needing to push so she turns down the pitocin in hopes of me stalling a bit.

10:50am---I am feeling pressure and like i need to push. I call Audra and tell her to hurry!

10:55am--Audra rushes in and calls the new on call doctor--Dr. Hill. 

10:59am--I start pushing. Dr. Hill asks Daniel if he wants to announce the gender.

11:05am--its a BOY! Griffin Jack Lowery is born---he has some good lungs and is absolutely perfect!

7lbs 3 oz
19 ¼ inches


We did not find out with this pregnancy whether we were expecting a boy or girl--our first surprise! And it was one of the NEATEST moments of my life! Daniel got to call out whether it was a boy or girl and it was just like nothing I had ever experienced. If we decide to have a 4th baby, we will probably keep it a surprise again! It's always emotional when your baby is born, but this one was a little more so due to the fact he was our rainbow baby. It was a really precious moment!

Griffin was born at 11:05am and our big kids came up to meet him about 2:00pm that afternoon. It was a precious time! They were pretty smitten with him from the beginning and were sad to leave the hospital without him, but we assured them we would be home the next day.

In true 3rd kid fashion, we didn't even decide on names until I was about 37 weeks pregnant. I think it was driving everyone else nuts more than us! We finally sat down and hashed it out one weekend in December--my parents had taken the bigs to Branson for the weekend with the rest of my family and we had an entire kid-free weekend---it was amazing!

Our boy name was pretty easy to agree on. Griffin had been on my list since college. It's just a name I came across and liked--it was different, not heard of often, very masculine sounding, and I loved the meaning--"fierce warrior." We also love to incorporate family names when naming our babies. Jack was my grandpa's name and means "God is gracious." I have always been very close with my grandparents and when Daniel joined the family, they treated him as if he was another grandson. So it was especially meaningful to both of us to use it. Boy name...done!

The girl name was much harder. We had a list of girl names but Daniel didn't really like any of them. So back to the drawing board we went! We finally found one we both liked and could imagine using if this baby ended up being a girl--Annelise. Annelise means "God pledged His grace" which we thought was especially fitting since this was our rainbow baby. It also incorporates family names--my paternal grandmother's name is Joanne, so we liked that it incorporated "Anne" from her, and Elise is a family name on Daniel's side. We both had already agreed on a middle name--Rose--after my maternal grandmother who's middle name is also Rose. So if Griffin had been a girl, his name would have been Annelise Rose. Maybe if we go for a 4th and it ends up a girl, we will use it then!

We got home from the hospital about 1:30pm on Sunday afternoon and my mom and grandmother stayed with us the first night to help with the big kids. They had decided that Monday morning they would take Holt and Evie back to Conway for the week to give us a chance to recover and just enjoy one-on-one time with Griffin. They left about 11:30am and at 12:15pm, my mom called in a panic. She told me that my grandpa Jack had died very suddenly that morning. I stood frozen for a moment before going into crisis mode and making a plan. The plan was they would pull off at Ozark, eat lunch, and Daniel would head that way to get Holt and Evie and bring them back home. Griffin had his first doctor appointment the next day, but as soon as that was over we would head to Conway to be with the family.

While we were shocked and obviously saddened about his sudden passing, God's fingerprints were all over the situation:

1) Griffin came on his own 8 days before his due date. In all reality, this shouldn't have happened. I don't have my babies early. If I had still been pregnant when he died, I would not have been able to travel for the funeral. Plus, since Griffin did come early, my grandpa knew he had a great grandson named after him before he died which I am so thankful for!

2) It allowed us to have some of the tough conversations about death and what happens after we die with our children. We believe the Bible is absolute truth and we believe God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to earth,  where he died for our sins on the cross and was raised to life 3 days later, conquering death and allowing us the opportunity to live in heaven with him for all eternity. We also believe that you will not go to heaven after you die unless you believe in Him--John tells us in his gospel that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We were able to tell our children that even though we were burying Poppa Jack's physical body, he wasn't there anymore. Instead, we know he is with Jesus in Heaven, because Jesus lived in his heart and he lived his life for Him. On the night of December 30th (the day Poppa Jack died), Holt decided he wanted to ask Jesus to live in his heart and be the boss of his life! We rejoiced in this news and I know my grandpa would have been so happy to know Holt made such a wonderful decision!

3) My grandpa had been battling the beginning of Alzheimer's for the last couple of years. Even though we miss him terribly, the Lord was so gracious in that my grandpa never had to suffer in the later stages of Alzheimer's and he was in great physical health, up until the moment he died.

Needless to say, the first week of Griffin's life was very eventful. We are so thankful to have a healthy, happy baby boy join our family and can't wait to watch him grow!

We love you Griffin Jack! So thankful you're ours! 

Evie's Birth Story

Last bump pic--39 weeks 5 days

*BEWARE: lengthy post ahead!*

In case you missed the complete barrage of social media posts over the last several days, our beautiful baby girl was born Thursday, May 12th!

But, let's back up a bit:

I turned 38 weeks on April 30th, which was our goal after putting me on bed rest at 32 weeks. Once we got there, I went off of bed rest because baby girl was welcome to make her appearance anytime! However, she proved to be QUITE comfy in there and was absolutely not interested in coming out. After praying for weeks that she would stay put, we turned around and started praying she would come on out!

My mom and grandma came up the week of May 2nd and stayed for about 4 days, going to doctor's visits and helping with Holt because we were all convinced that now she could come, she would! Well, obviously she didn't. I didn't make any progress that week, but my doctor felt pretty confident we would have a baby by the end of the next week. So they went back home for the weekend to get a few things done before coming back.

Saturday, May 7th: we took advantage of our last weekend as a family of three (and the GORGEOUS weather) and headed over to the Wild Things Farm in Pocola, OK for their Strawberry Festival. Of course we stopped to get donuts first (or as Holt says, "no-nut") and then met our best friends for a couple hours of fun! We rode a hayride, went to a petting zoo where we got to pet and feed baby goats, and picked a couple pounds of fresh strawberries. We all had a blast!

My mom and grandma came back on Mother's Day and we geared up to go back to the doctor first thing Monday morning. He told me to bring my packed bags because if I had made progress then we would go ahead and have a baby! ANNNDDD…..I still hadn't made progress. He hooked me up to a non-stress test to monitor Evie's heart rate and make sure my placenta wasn't showing signs of wearing down and then we had an ultrasound to measure how big she is and how much amniotic fluid was in there. She measured 7 lbs 14 oz (which could be off by half a pound either way) and fluid levels looked good, so he suggested we continue to wait and see if I would go into labor on my own.

Over the next couple days, I walked and walked and walked some more and I bounced on our exercise ball at home to try to induce labor. NADA. I was going to eat spicy food, but my heartburn was so bad it wasn't worth it. Wednesday night (the 11th) was the worst night of sleep I had had my entire pregnancy--I was up until 2AM with refluxing heartburn--even propped up. It was awful!

Thursday, May 12th: we headed back to the doctor first thing. I was convinced that I still hadn't made progress and almost didn't throw in my hospital bag because I thought I was going to just be pregnant for forever. Daniel didn't even come to this appointment because I didn't think anything would happen. Well, wouldn't you know I had made progress! I jumped to 3 centimeters dilated and 60% effaced. Plus I was having somewhat regular contractions, but nothing super consistent. So, my doctor told me that he was comfortable with inducing if that was what I wanted to do. Um, YES PLEASE! I'm ready to meet my daughter! So, he calls down to L&D and they have a room for me. I call Daniel as we head downstairs---he didn't believe me when I told him "hey, we are having a daughter today!" Haha! But seriously, I told him to hurry up and get his rear to the hospital!

Ready to meet our daughter!

I also called my BFF, Kaley, to let her know because she and her family had agreed to keep Holt for us while we were in the hospital. It worked out so perfectly because Holt is already so comfortable with them--we have playdates at least once a week and he is best friends with their daughters. I don't think I can ever adequately thank them enough. Let me tell you something, when you find friends that are more like family than anything (we call them our TRIBE) you hold onto them for dear life. It is such a sweet time to have friends going through the same life stage and struggles as you----it's a great support system, especially when you don't have a lot family living in town.

9:45AM---Daniel has made it to the hospital and we are admitted to a room, we signed all the necessary paperwork, etc.

10:25AM---they start my Pitocin to get my contractions going into a consistent pattern. I handle the contractions so much better than last go round. That's the nice part about knowing what to expect with labor and delivery after your first kid. I was able to relax a lot more and was actually talking and smiling for a good bit.

11:55AM---Dr. Riche came in and broke my water. I was still 3 cm dilated.

12:35PM---The nurse rechecked me (my contractions were getting quite a bit more intense since my water broke) and I was dilated to a 4---hooray! I immediately requested an epidural.

1:35PM---Yes, an HOUR later, I finally got the epidural! It worked pretty well, although not as good as last time. I still felt contractions pretty good and I ended up getting a hot spot (a spot where the epidural doesn't numb and there's nothing you can do about it). However, it was much better than not having an epidural at all I'm sure! They bump up my pitocin at this point to try to get my contractions about 2-3 minutes apart. I continue breathing through contractions, talking, etc…and even used what's called a peanut ball to relieve some of the pressure and try to help move the baby further down into the birth canal.

3:50PM---The nurse rechecks me because I'm starting to feel pressure and pain in my back and I'm now a 7.5-8cm dilated! Daniel had to do some serious counter-pressure on my back, even with the epidural. This was new because I didn't have any back labor with Holt. Things start moving pretty fast at this point!

4:05PM---Dr. Riche comes in to check me and it's time to push!

4:15PM---I start pushing! I'm not sure why, but I got tired so much faster by pushing this go round. Maybe because I didn't sleep well the night before, but man I got worn out. However, I still only had to push for 23 minutes!

4:35PM---Dr. Riche gets prepped to deliver and tells us she is face up. On my next push, mom tells me they see a head full of dark hair….and that her head turned all the way around so she ended up face down. Apparently that's a pretty rare thing to witness!

4:38PM---She is here! Evie Elizabeth Lowery came out screaming and perfectly healthy with a head FULL of her daddy's dark hair! Of course I immediately started crying and talking to her and they immediately laid her on my chest for some skin to skin.


After a few minutes of skin to skin, they took her to weigh her and do her Apgar (she got an 8 and 9) while I started getting sewed up (Again, I got a 2nd degree tear). I was shocked when they told me she weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz and 19 inches! I thought for sure she would be at least 8 lbs or more. She seemed so tiny! Just like her brother, she immediately latched and started nursing like a champ. I am so blessed and thankful for another good nurser!

Just like last time, I had a wonderful labor and delivery experience. Start to finish, it took 6 hours---once we get going, my babies like to get it done!

So how did Holt do with meeting her? Since it was so late in the day that she was born, we waited until the next day for him to come visit. He wasn't really that interested in her, oddly enough. But there were lots of distractions with all our family in the room. It was really a sweet time though---my heart was overflowing with love and gratitude as I held both my babies in my arms!

My aunt was able to capture the birth story again and once she gets the pictures edited I'll share them! Overall, we are so thankful for the Lord's protection and for a chance to welcome another little life into this world. Excited to see what Evie's life has in store!

Holt's Birth Story

I am so excited to share with y'all the story of my son's birth. It truly was one of the best days of my entire life! Let me start with the days leading up to Thursday, August 7th.

Monday, August 4th: We had my last doctor's appointment (see that post here) and decided to induce me bright and early on Thursday, August 7th.

Tuesday, August 5th: I rested ALL day. Literally. I think I maybe got out of bed to eat and go to the bathroom, but other than that I lounged around, watching TV and reading books. Plus, Daniel and I had our last date night to celebrate the final days of being a family of 2.

Wednesday, August 6th: At this point, I'm starting to get anxious and nervous with anticipation of the next day. My mom and dad, my grandmother (mom's mom), and my grandpa (dad's dad) all drove up to meet us for dinner. My other grandmother and my aunt (who took pictures for us!) also drove up later that night and stayed at a hotel close to the hospital. I maybe slept 2 or 3 hours.

Thursday, August 7th: Daniel and I woke up at 4 AM in order to be at the hospital by 5 AM. It was so surreal waking up that morning, knowing it was my last time to wake up pregnant.
       
 5:00 AM--arrive at Labor and Delivery, get checked in, sign paperwork, etc.
 5:30 AM--the nurse I LOVE starts my IV. We discuss how sad we are that her shift is almost over and she won't get to see my baby being born.
6:00 AM--she checks me and I've had no change since my last dr. appt (2.5 cm and 75% effaced). Then she starts the Pitocin to get my contractions going.
 6:45 AM--my Dr. comes in and breaks my water. Y'all. I seriously disliked the feeling of my water breaking. TMI, but it felt like I was peeing myself over and over and over. Ew. The contractions really start to pick up at this point. Think of the most intense cramp you've ever had and then multiply that by at least 10. That's where my labor pains were centered and they were coming every 2-3 minutes. Luckily, my mom and Daniel were in there helping me breathe through them. They were so intense, I felt nauseous and I didn't really say a word for about an hour and a half.
8:20 AM--the nurse comes in to check me and I am a 4 cm--yay! I immediately request an epidural.
9:10 AM--I FINALLY receive it! I completely understand now why women say they want to marry their anesthesiologist. The epidural seriously changed my life.
9:30 AM--I feel the full effect of the epidural and my mom and Daniel tell me I'm a completely different and happy person!
10:50 AM--I very suddenly got nauseous and ended up being sick. It hit me like a ton of bricks. No fun.
11:30 AM--I get checked again and am still a 4 cm. So, I send Daniel and my dad to Chick-fil-A right across the street for them to eat some lunch. My mom and I reassure them that nothing will happen while they are gone--I mean, I've been at a 4 for three hours now.
12:00 PM--Holt's heart rate starts dropping. I can't personally see the monitor because it's behind a cabinet. BUT, I can see my mom's face. I can tell she is trying to be calm, but that something is seriously wrong. Three nurses come into the room, check me (still a 4 cm), put me on oxygen, and start flipping me from side to side, trying to move him around and get his heart rate back up. I start FREAKING out--in my head I'm imagining the worst possible situation and that we are going to have to do an emergency c-section to get him out. Plus, my husband isn't in the room!
12:20 PM--The nurse decides to check me because she thinks the monitor is indicating that his head is getting compressed during contractions (this indicates he has moved lower into the birth canal). She tells me I am an 8 CM and COMPLETELY EFFACED! She calls my doctor to let him know. Mom calls my dad and Daniel and tells them to get back to the hospital ASAP.
12:35 PM--Daniel makes it back into the room!
12:45 PM--My doctor comes in to check me and see what's going on. As he is checking me, he asks if I feel any pressure or an urge to push, to which I respond "No." THEN, he says, well that probably means you won't feel it, so let's start pushing. I am shocked and say, "You mean right now?!" He says, "Yep. You're complete. Let's get this baby out." WHOA. They start disassembling the bed and getting everything ready for Holt when he arrives. So, with my mom and Daniel's help, I start pushing! They lowered the dose of medicine in my epidural so that by the time I actually pushed him out, I didn't feel any pain, but I felt the pressure. I pushed for exactly 32 minutes.
1:17 PM--I'M A MOM! As soon as I saw him, I started bawling. They put him on my chest and I just looked wide-eyed at Daniel and said, "I just had a baby!" He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. And I was completely shocked that he had my blonde hair!

My doctor starts sewing me up (I got a 2nd degree tear---not bad for how big of a baby I just birthed) and they take Holt over to clean him up and weigh him. We asked my doctor how much he thought he weighed and he guessed 8 1/2 pounds. You'd think he had done this before because Holt weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz and was 21 inches long! We knew he was measuring to be a bigger baby, but whoa! I am SO thankful we did not wait another day (can you imagine??). After the doctor finished with me, we tried breastfeeding and he instantly latched on! So a HUGE thank you to all my prayer warriors out there---this was so important to me and I am happy to report we have been extremely successful.

The labor and delivery experience I had was truly amazing and if I had to do it all over again, I would do it the exact same way. Overall, I labored for 7 hours from start to finish. Can't beat that--especially with a first baby. The Lord definitely had His hand over all the events of that day and I am so incredibly grateful for this blessing He has bestowed upon us. It truly is the most amazing miracle I have ever experienced.


My Aunt Linda had the opportunity to capture the whole day on camera! So, OF COURSE I want to share a few of the moments with you (any excuse I have to share photos of my adorable little family, right?).

Our last picture as a family of two

Such a big, healthy boy!

The first time Daniel got to hold him

The first time my parents saw him

Words cannot express the love I felt the first time I saw this face

He has hair! And lots of it :)

Sweet little baby feet

The photographer getting her chance to love on him

My dad, his dad, and Holt. We have not had a boy in the family since my cousin Will was born 20 years ago.

This absolutely melts my heart. Every. Single. Time.

Headed home as a family of 3!

Introducing Sophie to her baby brother. It was love at first sight.