and Baby makes 6!

In an effort to document my thoughts and feelings for future reading, I am going back in time a few months to recall some major family happenings. Read on if you'd like, OR get back to whatever you should be doing. :)

Juliet was born on a Tuesday morning in April. Tax day and Drew's 6th birthday to be exact.
After a full 40 week pregnancy I was ready to birth this little girl. When I went to bed the evening before and I had no idea I would arise at 2:30am to the familiar yet deniable pain that labor was beginning.

With that first contraction I got out of bed, popped open my trusty MacBook and began keeping track of the minutes between labor pains. 10 minutes approximately was the distance. At around 3:30am I woke Dan and told him I thought labor may be starting.

His response as he shot up in bed, "Should I go get the doughnuts right now?"
No, I didn't require Krispy Kremes as part of my birth plan, today was Drew's 6th birthday and we had planned to bring in doughnuts (his favorite) for his treat to share.
After I calmed Dan down and assured him that the Krispys could wait, we called my mom.

Now if you know my mother, she had very likely been laying with her head next to the phone and sleeping with one eye open for the last few weeks of my pregnancy just in case she was needed in a middle of the night rush to the hospital. Rushing wasn't needed as my contractions were not coming closer together and seemed tolerable. We decided to mozy on to the hospital, arriving at 7am. Shift change. I remember praying on the way to the hospital that I would just have one contraction, so I would feel justified in going there. Can you imagine my embarrassment this being my 4th pregnancy and being turned away if I was in false labor?

Will I stay or will I go? Sitting in triage is always a nerve wrenching experience. You are waiting for someone to tell you to pass go, collect $200 (or in this case pay $3000) and have that baby! I felt like I needed permission. Permission I was given. After being examined, I was dilated to 8cm! "When did this happen?" I thought. For some unknown reason when my body goes into labor, my mind goes into denial. Suddenly the room was a flurry of nurses, tubes, fluids, and most importantly--a wheelchair! Yes! I had gained access to the delivery room at last!

By some work of God ( and I mean that) I was able to receive an epidural block. I was hoping for this pain relief this time around after experiencing births the old fashioned and extremely excruciating way. So there we sat. Waiting on those last 2cm.
At one point Dan, looking bored, said to the Dr. "what exactly are we waiting for?"
The Dr. replied, " I am just waiting for Michelle to indicate that she is ready."
"Oh, I thought. I was just waiting for you to tell me when to push."
We were just a bunch of idiots sitting there staring at each other for 45 minutes.

I was ready. After pushing through 2 contractions at 9:13am our Baby Girl was delivered into our arms.

I don't know for certain, but Dan may have still been worried about those Krispy Kremes.

Next Post: Bringing home baby and the first 6 weeks.

First hospital photo: