March 17 started off normal, I got up and made my way into work early so I could leave in time for my 38 week check-up.  I tried my best to tie up any loose ends at work in the hopes that I wouldn’t be returning.

I arrived home and picked up Evan to head to the doctor.  He was insisting that I ask to be put on bed rest or he would ask for me (I’m sure he was sick of me complaining about my swollen feet!)  I had already been pretty miserable for the past couple weeks and was really hoping to have made some progress from the previous appointment.  

When we arrived the nurse took my blood-pressure and noted that it was high.  Then the doctor came in and discussed my swelling with us.  She asked me how I would feel about not going back to work and I was thrilled.  My original plan was to work until I went into labor (little did I know!) but at that point I was so uncomfortable that idea went right out the window.  With that out of the way we moved on to the rest of the check-up.  Then she offered to do a procedure called “Membrane Sweeping“.  Knowing that I had already been contracting and that this was what put me in labor with Austin I agreed.  I was ready for this baby.  We listened to the heartbeat first and then she checked me.  I was a 4!!  Already almost half done before the hard part even started.  She went ahead and did the procedure and sent me on my way.  I was having regular contractions before we even made it out of the office.

We got home around 5:30 after picking up Austin from daycare.  Evan made dinner for the two of them but I didn’t eat.  I was too preoccupied with timing my contractions with this cool site called Contraction Master.  All I had to do was hit the spacebar every time a contraction started and ended.  It was clear in a very short period of time that we should probably get moving.  I was contracting every 5 to 7 minutes for 1-2 minutes at a time!  We we supposed to get to the hospital at least 4 hours before delivery so I could get my antibiotic IV since I was Group B Strep positive.

I called my mom and got the ball rolling.  She headed over right away and Dana and Alisa also came.  In the mean time Evan said he needed to run a quick errand that he hadn’t done since he’d thought he would have more time.  So as he ran out I quickly threw together a hospital bag for us.  I know I said I was “ready” for the baby…but I meant mentally, not necessarily at home!!

My mom arrived to stay with Austin and we excitedly explained that Mom and Dad were going to the hospital and his little brother or sister was going to arrive soon.  Dana and Alisa showed up shortly after my mom.  We finally got everything together and we were off around 8:15.  

Once we got into the car Evan showed me why he needed to run out so quickly.  He had gone to Borders and bought me the newest Jodi Picoult book “Change of Heart“.  She is my favorite author and he thought I might need something to occupy me at the hospital if we had to be there sitting around for a while.  It was such a sweet, thoughtful gift!

We got to the hospital around 8:30 and got checked in at the desk.  They escorted us to a sort of “triage” type area where they did an initial check and made sure you were really in labor before they got you set up in a room.  I was a 5-6 according to this nurse and she went ahead and got me fully checked in.  We moved down to the labor room where I would be until the baby was born.

The new nurse got me all hooked up to the monitors, one for the contractions and one for the baby.  Then it was time for my IV.  Now, I’m definitely not a fan of needles but I’ve made progress from where I used to be.  This nurse however, was not gentle.  She started trying to insert the IV into the side of my wrist.  This was not a comfortable spot to begin with since it was right on my bone but I gritted my teeth through it.  Well, right as she was inserting the needle another nurse came in and started asking her questions.  So my nurse is distracted and “can’t get it to work.”  She was jamming me and wiggling the needle around.  It hurt a lot.  Finally she gave up and inserted it into the top of my hand.  I wish she would have just done that to start with.  She asked if I was interested in a birth ball and I said yes.  She brought that in to me and got me set up with it.

At this point she left Evan and I alone for me to labor for a while.  I sat on the ball for a while until the contractions started to get pretty uncomfortable.  I then decided to get on the bed and lie on my side.  That’s when things really started to get going.  The contractions were coming pretty frequently and were getting really intense.  I had a lot of pain in my back and had Evan pushing on it as hard as he could to help some.  I finally asked about getting something to help.  They gave me a shot of Nubain which helped me to relax between contractions.  Shortly after that a nurse checked me again and said I was about a 7.  Unsure of how much longer I could handle I was thinking about getting an epidural.  No sooner did I tell Evan I thought I might want the epidural did I start to feel some pressure.  I told the nurse and she checked again and said I was still only an 8.  Just a couple contractions later I REALLY felt pressure and I said I needed to push NOW.  

At this point most everything was a blur to me but Evan said the whole room started to move like clockwork.  All the nurses started prepping things and the delivering doctor arrived.  They asked me to get on my back so they could check me again.  That was no easy task with how intense the contractions were.  When I was finally able to move the doctor checked me and said I was about a 9 (I swear he said 8 but Evan says 9).  He broke my water at that point and told me to push when I felt ready.  

Well, I was ready.  

Roughly 5 to 6 pushes later the nurses were placing the baby on my chest and announcing “It’s a girl!”  A GIRL!!  I held her for a minute and then the nurses took her to get cleaned up.  I promptly reminded Evan “The camera! Pictures!”.  

She was beautiful!

Coming in at a delicate 7lbs 10oz (compared to her big brother who was 8lbs 14oz!) and 21″ long she was born at 11:57 p.m.  She just barely made it on St. Patrick’s Day.  That’s my girl!