Please welcome Abigail!

It all started last night… though I didn’t know it then. I went to class as usual and one of my other classmates commented that I looked like I was carrying lower… I thought she was crazy because it sure didn’t look like it to me, but whatever! Little girl was active during class… turning and kicking… she just wouldn’t stop moving. I had a few Braxton Hick’s, but I’d been having those for months, so I wasn’t very concerned. I even joked that she was going to be evicted in two weeks because that’s when Spring Break begins.

I drove home (stopping by Wendy’s first… hey, I girl has to eat!) and Ray and I watched the movie 9 (it’s different, but I really liked it!). I had a few crampy contractions before bed, but very far apart. Once again, nothing to be very concerned about. I woke up at 2:30 and 4:30 am because of random contractions (and because I had to pee). Noah woke around 5:30, had his bottle and then we went downstairs to start our day.

Around 6:30am the crampy contractions started pick up… as in they were coming every 5 minutes. I just turned 36 weeks, so I thought maybe it could be false labor. I had a big glass of water and laid on my left side, while Noah happily played with play-doh. Ray still isn’t feeling well, so he called in sick to relax and get better. He came downstairs shortly after 7 and found me hunched over the table, trying to put the play-doh away and feed Noah breakfast. 2 or 3 contractions later, he was upstairs in the shower and I was on the phone with the answering service at my Dr’s office… she called me back within 3 minutes! I told her what was going on and she said just to go into the office. That was at 7:45 am.

Knowing that an internal would be done and not wanting t o be dirty for that, I naturally showered first… 2 more contractions. Shower done, I got dressed and found pants for Noah to wear. I was about to go downstairs to get my pants when another contraction hit. They were coming closer together. I called out to Ray and told him to screw the doctors office, we were heading straight to the hospital. I think that’s when it finally hit both of us that she was coming today!! I called the doctors office and told them the change of plans (the receptionist actually had the nerve to put me on hold and check w/ the doctor and then come back to tell me that my plans were ok… um thanks, but I would have gone with my plans anyway!). I called my mom and let her know the change in plans (exact words during a contraction… Come straight to the hospital! end of conversation)

Meanwhile, Ray was running around trying to figure out what else needed to be done and get Noah ready to leave. Figuring that we still had time, we were not prepared with anything. No bag for me or baby, no bag for Noah… nothing. I was just telling Ray to just grab whatever and yes we should just take my car, because Noah’s carseat was in it, when it hit… the push contraction! At this point I thought to myself… “Oh holy F@**!!” She’s coming and she’s coming now!! The contractions were about 1 minute apart and I wanted to push. I leaned up against the bottom two stairs and braced myself with all might might against the urge. At the first chance, I told Ray to call 911 – there was no way that we could drive the 12 miles in suburban Chicago morning rush-hour traffic and deliver the baby at the hospital. He asked me if I was sure… I said yes and 911 was called at 8:30am

From what I gather, the operator neither had children nor assisted in a phone birth, because he/she kept telling Ray things “rub her back, make sure she’s comfortable and you can give her ice”… he knew that from Noah’s birth and was already doing that. Within minutes we heard the ambulance… all I could think was “thank God!” Ray and I both thought that he would have to deliver her in the hallway and he was thisclose to Googling the instructions! I was in the middle of another pleasant push contraction when the EMT came in and asked if he could help me up. I snapped something like “I’m having a contraction now… you’ll have to wait” and got up and onto the stretcher when it was done. They rolled me out (no socks or shoes on… I hadn’t even gotten that far) and got me in… another contraction and my lower half was bared… I helped get my pants and undies off… they were too slow! I’m glad I did, because no sooner had the EMT put them to the side, when my water broke with a huge splash that not only got the bed, blankets and floor wet, but also soaked my bare feet. That’s when the decision was made that we would not be going to “my” hospital, but rather the closest one! It was 8:45 am.

I had my first (and hopefully last) ambulance ride… and Ray and Noah were in hot pursuit behind them! Luckily, I had a nice little breather in contractions after the water broke, but they started up again with a vengeance right before we got to the hospital. Up to the 3rd floor… into the room… checked by the nurses and in walks the doctor. She checks me, grabs the stirrups and lets me have a go at it the next time. The first push got out Abby’s head and the second pushed out the rest of her. Thank goodness Ray and Noah had come in a few minutes earlier because I was at the hospital a total of 8 minutes before Abby was born!

So… despite all of the drama I got my wish… I was able to labor at home, I had a drug free birth and no episiotomy (though I did have a minor tear not worth stitching). Abigail was born at 9:14 am on 3/05/2010 weighing in at 6lb 1 oz (same as Noah!) and 19 1/2 inches long. It went so fast that we have no pictures from the delivery room… in fact it wasn’t even a real delivery room! We are both doing great and I feel fantastic… so much so that I would have loved nothing more than to be given the chance to go home again today. Instead I have to wait until Sunday, since they don’t know if I had Group B strep or not (I never had my first internal!).

I am going to try to keep posting regularly… I have 2 reviews that I want to post and a few more coming… but I hope you understand if in the next week or two, I end up making myself a little scarce. It will take some time to adjust to our new life! (I promise to post new pictures soon though!)