And Now We're Four!

To say Lauren's birth was a completely different experience from Brenden's would be the biggest understatement of my life. Tim and I have laughed about just how crazy it is to look back and to know that each of our children have their own, very unique stories of how they came into this world.

Last pregnant picture!

Wednesday night I made sure the house was as clean as possible, watched Brenden and Tim eat pink banana pancakes for dinner (I had one bite...thank you, Brenden!) and left Brenden to drive Susan and Craig crazy while we went to Southcrest to have our little girl. It was so relaxed, so laid back, that Tim and I kept randomly saying, "This is so...strange. And calm." We made it to Labor and Delivery about 7:05 pm. They told us not to be early! They led me to our room and I thought for sure they were giving us a room that was already in use. Nope! They just had everything set up for me, even water. Great service!

I got dressed in one of those oh-so-attractive hospital gowns, settled into the bed, and waited for something to happen. It's very strange to just wait to be in labor, to know the pain is coming and not be able to speed anything along. I went through my history with the nurse, who was super sweet, and by 9 pm I had my i.v. going. She finally checked to see if I had progressed at all while I held my breath and waited for good news. I was still 2 cm but I was 70% effaced and -2, which means Lauren had started dropping into my pelvis. That was significant because it meant I was able to start pitocin right away to start contractions. If I hadn't progressed I would have spent the night on different medication to ripen my cervix. (No, I have no idea what medicine that is or exactly what it does. That's just what the nurse said.) I was happy that we were getting the show on the road! "Give me the epidural and I'll get her here ASAP! (Oh how that statement would come back to haunt me.)

By 1:15 am I realized that I was never going to get any sleep. I was having contractions clumped 4 together every 2 1/2 minutes that would stop for a bit. The nurse explained that the anesthesiologist was coming up to give another patient her epidural before he went home and that if I would like one, now would be the time to get one. Put to me that way I was completely in agreement! By 1:45 am I had survived the placement of the epidural. That was a scary experience. Last time I was in a ton of pain when they were placing it so I didn't have time to think about what he was doing. This time it felt like he was trying to thread a water hose down my spine. Tim got lucky...they don't let dads stay in there while they are putting it in. They've had too many people faint and found it was easier to just have them leave.

After that I had planned on sleeping. Unfortunately, getting the epidural really freaked me out so I could not calm myself enough to relax. I spent some time updating facebook and reading. I'm so glad that I put some things online so I can remember how all of this went! Plus I was bored out of my mind and couldn't feel anything. By 3 am I dozed off but not an hour later I woke up itching like crazy, which is a common side effect of that type of pain medication. Tim went out and got the nurse for me and she brought some Benedryl. Ahhh...finally some rest. (Although drug induced rest is not really my favorite type of rest.) I dozed on and off until 5:30 am which is when my doctor happened to wander in and tell me he was going to break my water. I was so happy! I wanted to get this show on the road!

I slept on and off again until 8:30 am which is when the nurse came in to check me. She announced I was "easily 4 to 5 cm" (I'm not sure why "easily" was necessary but...it was.) and 90% effaced. I think I asked her what station she was in my pelvis but she didn't really say. She did have me turn on my right side to see if we could convince Lauren to start moving down. (I'm still not sure if I should thank her for this or go back and throttle her.)

Tim wandered out to tell the parents how everything was going and I, of course, updated facebook and checked in with Susan and Brenden. At 8:41 am (yes, I double checked the time stamp on the text.) I told Susan that my contractions were starting to really hurt and that I was going to send Tim out to get the nurse to get something better going in my i.v. if I could. He walked in right after that and I told him to get the nurse RIGHT NOW. By the time he walked back in, not 30 seconds later, I was yelling "SHE'S COMING OUT!" The nurse checked me, told someone else to page my doctor, and told me that if he didn't show up she would deliver me, but that she didn't want to. I begged for more medicine and she told me there was nothing they could give me. If I could have grabbed her and shook her I would have. (Not my finest moment.) Instead I grabbed the bed rail and yelled my head off while Tim rubbed my head and kept repeating, "Breathe!" I think I only listened half the time. That hurt!

All I really remember about those next few minutes was continuing to say, "SHE'S COMING OUT. SHE'S COMING OUT RIGHT NOW." Tim still laughs about that because he had no idea why I kept repeating it. What he didn't understand was that while I was gripping the side of the bed with my eyes closed and I couldn't see that there were at least 8 people running around getting things ready. They got the room completely ready to have a baby in less than 2 minutes. I do remember hearing that my doctor was 2 miles away but I really didn't care who caught the baby. She was coming no matter what anyone did, especially me. Suddenly they pulled the stirrups out, I watched my doctor throw on some scrubs, and they were telling me to push.

I went from 4-5 cm to Lauren being born in less than 20 minutes. Two pushes was all it took. I still remember one of the nurses saying "That's the one!" and then she was here at 8:50 am. Let me tell you, I have never felt that kind of pain in my life. I have never wanted to be done with anything that badly. My doctor told me that I should have 5 more kids because I give birth so well. I'm not sure what look I gave him but he laughed and said, "I'm sure if you could lift your leg right now you would kick me right in the head." I had a great doctor. :)

The moment that I finally got to hold her was one of the best moments of my life. With Brenden I was confused. So many random thoughts popped into my head. It was memorable but clouded. With Lauren I was just so HAPPY! I think this was due, in part, to the fact that she showed up so fast and painfully. It was such a relief for her to be out!

Hi baby girl!

Proud daddy!

After about 30 minutes Tim ran out to tell the grandparents that she was here. They were shocked! Not an hour before they were talking about how she would probably get here that afternoon. Mike had actually left the hospital to go get a new pair of reading glasses. When Connie called him to tell him that she had been born his response was, "Are you sure it's the right Kelly?" :)

Amazing. Painful. Exhilarating. Exhausting. Shocking. All words that come to mind when I think about that day. Part of me wishes that I had requested some stronger pain medication. The other part of me wouldn't change a thing. It's her special story...and I'll always be able to bug her about how she was impatient from the moment she was born. :)