And Now...The Rest of the Story...

First, let me say that this is my 101st post! Chelsea actually had the honor of posting my 100th post with the news of Avery's arrival. How fitting that my first post announced Braden, and my 100th announced Avery!!

Now...to the...hmmm...fun part??

The Rest of the Story...

**disclaimer**

This post has the potential of being long and wordy...so I'll start you with a treat!

Thursday, Jan 31st
I went in for my regular check-up and sonogram to check on Avery's. She showed to weigh 8lbs 9oz, so we that we would go ahead and induce on Tuesday, February 5th. My doctor, Dr. Weprin, was leaving town for a long-scheduled vacation, so Dr. Lombardi (who also delivered Braden) would induce me in her place. All was planned and ready...

Friday, Feb 1st
I went to school. My kids and I talked about the plans for the next week, and I showed them sweet pictures of Avery's sonogram. Later that afternoon, my long-term sub came and met me and the kids. I showed her around the room...and completely overwhelmed her I think! I told her and the kids that I would be there on Monday, and then she would begin subbing on Tuesday.

**All day long Friday, I felt kind of "off." It was something between nauseous and crampy...I just didn't feel right.**

Saturday, Feb 2nd
5:00am:I woke up with a very small contraction, and thought, "I need to go to the bathroom." I got up and went, and went straight back to bed, thinking nothing of it.

5:15: I felt another

5:30:...and then another

5:45:...and another.

6:00: I decided I might get up and take a shower...JUST IN CASE! The contractions were 15 minutes apart...and didn't feel like Braxton Hicks. I woke Adam up and told him to pack his bag...JUST IN CASE. He did, and I got in the shower.

6:30ish: I was out of the shower and the contractions were now about 7 minutes apart. I was starting to think this was for real...but still in some denial!!

6:45ish: I was drying my hair and had two contractions that were only 3 minutes apart. Adam said, "We should be rolling..." He was timing them for me, but now admits to LYING to me so that I wouldn't freak out at how close they were getting.

7:20: We were packed up, loaded up, and left for the hospital. We called Chelsea to meet us there to get Braden, and she started calling family.

This part is so funny to me now...looking back. My contractions at this time were between 2 and 3 minutes apart. Adam started to call his parents and I said, "Don't you think we should wait until we know if this is for real or not? I would hate for them to start driving all this way and it to be false labor." HELLO!!! You would think I don't know a thing about labor. Can you tell I was in serious denial?!?

The whole trip to the hospital I kept telling Adam to slow down. In fact I said..."STOP DRIVING LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL! YOU CAN'T FREAK OUT ON ME." He told me later that he had his cell phone in his hand, ready to call 911. He said if a cop tried to pull him over he was going to call 911 and tell them he wasn't pulling over...but that they needed to get in front of him and get us to the hospital.

Did I mention that we live about 40 minutes from the hospital??

7:50: Arrive at hospital and sign consent forms...with contractions now 1.5 to 2 minutes apart.

8:00: Wheeled down the hall to the room. I changed into my lovely gown and called for the nurse to come back.

8:05: The nurse comes in and introduces herself. I was in the middle of a contraction so I didn't really care what her name was...but was very annoyed that she was talking to me.

She checked me. OUCH! Then she said the words I will never forget as long as I live... "Yep...You are complete." Here is how the rest of that conversation went:

Nurse: Yep...You are complete.
Me: I'm a what??
Nurse: You are complete.
Me: NO!! I want an epidural. Can I get an epidural? Do I have time for an epidural????? PLEASE! (With some...okay...a lot of panic in my voice)
Nurse: umm...I don't know.
Me: Please...please...I don't even know what to do. I didn't take a birthing class because I am getting an epidural.

At this point, I panicked. Seriously. I went between wanting to completely fall apart and realizing..."you are about to have a NATURAL childbirth....get it together." It was the craziest thing I have EVER felt. I was arguing with myself!!

They started my IV and also started me on antibiotics. I had tested positive for Group B Strep, but didn't even know it until we were at the hospital!! It takes about 30 minutes to get one dose of antibiotic in.

8:10: Chelsea arrives. Mark took Braden (yes...he was with us through ALL of the above) and their girls to play. When Chelsea walked in I told her, "I'm complete. I can't have an epidural." She tried to reassure me that I could do it...but I kept thinking, "How do you know if I can do this? Neither I nor you have ever done this before." She was great and stayed with me through it all.

8:20ish: I started feeling like I was pushing with contracitons...involuntarily. It was really weird. I told the nurse that I felt like I was pushing, and she said..."Just do whatever you need to do."

The feeling of NEEDING to push got stronger and stronger, until all I wanted to do was bear down with everything in me. The nurse told me to go ahead and do that.

I cannot describe the craziness of the conversation going on between me and myself during this time of pushing. I wanted to push. It felt SO MUCH BETTER to push. But...with every push I knew I was getting closer to her actually coming out...which scared the HECK out of me! So then I would stop pushing...feel the pain...and start pushing again. At one point I even said to the nurse..."But I'm so scared."

Dr. Lombardi had been paged but was not there yet. He was actually headed in from home. They were trying to let me push without actually having her for that reason...and because they really wanted me to get a full dose of the antibiotic before having her.

8:25ish: The nurse says to go ahead and ask Dr. Brannon to come in and deliver because we can't wait for Dr. Lombardi. Pretty immediately an older man walks into the room, all in scrubs, ready to deliver baby Avery. I really didn't care AT ALL...I just wanted it to end.

8:25ish and 30 seconds: Dr. Lombardi walks in right behind the other doctor. He is wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, with his cell phone and keys still in hand. In the other hand he is holding a blue smock, hat, and mask. He said, "I broke all kinds of traffic laws to get here," set his phone and keys down, quickly dressed, and joined me at the bed. I have never been so happy to see that man!!!

8:30ish: Dr. Lombardi broke my water and told me to push. It was almost instantaneous that I could feel her coming. At that moment I started saying "OUCH OUCH OUCH..." Dr. Lombardi told me to push, and I said...quite frankly..."BUT IT HURTS!" His exact quote was, "Well, it is going to hurt. BUT...you have to push this baby out." He was right. It did hurt...and I did have to push her out.

8:31 and 3o seconds: Chelsea said, "You're doing it! You're having a baby!" I...in my frustrated state...said "CHELSEA..." in a tone that implied she should stop telling me how great I was doing.

8:32: Chelsea said, "No, I'm serious...He's holding her. She's here." And there she was.

So...from my first contraction to actual birth was almost exactly 3 1/2 hours...though only 40 minutes of it was spent in the hospital.

The difference between Braden's birth and Avery's birth is so vast...I can't even compare the two. Take a look at these pictures...

This picture was seconds after Braden was born. We both cry tears of joy...

Seconds after Avery was born...I am so relieved that this fiasco is over...

So there you have it...the birth story. Now for the funny parts...the "out-takes" if you will...

1. I actually said "I can't." I have always laughed at the people on A Baby Story who say this, because YOU HAVE TO!! You don't get to back out now. And...I actually did say it. I apologized to the nurse afterward for saying "I can't" because logically I know how ridiculous that is!

2. Confession...I told Braden...for the first time (and hopefully the only time) to "Shut Up." In the car on the way to the hopsital I was in the middle of a contraction. He said, "mama...mama...mama." That's when I did it. I am so glad he won't remember that! It wasn't very nice of me.

3. When the nurse walked in the room and introduced herself, she also asked Adam a few questions. I was breathing (quite loudly) through the contractions, so he spoke louder so that she could hear him. I yelled, "DON'T TALK LOUDER THAN ME!" She was probably wishing she could pass me on to another nurse at that point. But...I turned things around...

4. Adam was spoon feeding me ice through the delivery. The spoon would touch my lip, and it was annoying the heck out of me. In my most patient voice I said, "Would you please not let the spoon touch my lip when you give me ice?" I was quite proud for not biting his head off...which is my first instinct when in pain. We all laughed at that comment after it was all over.

5. When they laid her on my stomach after she was born, I was still gripping the side rails of the bed. In fact...my hands were stuck. I couldn't let go. I just looked down at her...hands still glued to the rails...and said "I sure do love you...but that was NOT a nice thing to do to Mommy."

I could probably keep going...and I am sure that there will be things that pop into my head for weeks as I process the craziness of that morning...but I will stop for now.

God indeed blessed us Saturday morning in so many ways. He gave us a beautiful, healthy daughter. He gave me strength to make it through some pretty tough stuff. He gave me peace in the middle of my turmoil. He proved again to be my provider, sustainer, protector!

We are so thankful!