The first time I saw her, it was like a scene out of a movie. She came out screaming, hands and legs flailing in the air. They placed her on me and the first thing that came out of my mouth was "is it still a girl?" Haha...I guess from the time they told me I was having a girl (back in August), I couldn't believe that I was indeed, having a girl!
Rewind to December 18th. I went in for my 39 week checkup and to my surprise and my doctor's, I was already four centimeters dilated! My doctor stripped my membranes, told me she wouldn't be surprised if my water broke and sent me on my way. I remember driving home and thinking "I'm going to have this baby tonight". And yet, it still felt so surreal, like I wasn't ready for all of this to be happening.
Dustin had gone with me to my doctor's appointment and then went back to work to tie up loose ends, because I think he had a feeling that he wouldn't be at work the next day.
After putting Elijah to bed that night, I started getting everything ready for the hospital. At the same time, I was trying not to make a big deal out of things because I wasn't having contractions yet. I didn't want Dustin to think I was crazy, but I had such an internal feeling that we would be going to the hospital that night.
To get my mind off things, I decided to sit in the living room and watch 19 Kids & Counting. Around 8pm, I started having contractions. So, I quietly sat on the couch and timed them, without letting Dustin know what I was doing. I don't know why, but I was so concerned about giving off any "false alarms" that I just kinda kept to myself about what was happening. Eventually, Dustin went to sleep and I stayed awake, while my contractions came and went.
Around 10:30, I started to doze off and had convinced myself that this wasn't the real thing. My contractions were anywhere from 6 to 13 minutes apart. But, when they came, they were STRONG! I was confused because I thought they were supposed to come at regular intervals. I had no idea what it was like to go into labor on my own because I had been induced with Elijah.
So, I lay in bed until midnight, trying to decide if I should wake Dustin up. Again, I was so afraid to say anything, just in case this wasn't the real thing. My contractions were still irregular, but I could hardly stand the pain of them. I started to calculate the time it would take for Susie to get to our house (about 30 min) and the time it would take for us to get to the hospital (about 40 min). Then, I started to get scared..I was already 4cm dilated at my appointment and I've already had a bunch of contractions....what if we don't make it to the hospital...I don't want to give birth in my car...so, I finally gave in, woke Dustin and told him to call Susie.
While waiting for Susie to get to our house, Dustin was frantically running around, trying to make sure we had everything. I was starting to get worried that I had waited too long, as my contractions were coming more frequently. The only regret I have, is that we didn't get one last picture before heading to the hospital. I guess when you're in extreme pain, you don't think to stop and take a picture!
We were off to the hospital around 1:00am. I probably had 5 or 6 contractions on the way to the hospital and one right as we were parking. I remember sitting in the car and telling Dustin to wait outside the car until my contraction had passed. So, we walk in and I tell the receptionist "I think I'm in labor, but I'm not really sure"...she probably thought, well, if this lady isn't sure she's in labor, she probably isn't. But, I continue to check in and head straight to triage.
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