The morning of February 5th, I checked my email and there was one from Mom telling me that she had just looked up flights from Dallas to Mpls., and if I were to go into labor while they were on their trip there later in the month, she could be home within about 8 hours. She was wondering if she should go on the trip, or not. A decision that she had been going back and forth on for quite some time. She said "This is why you should just go this weekend." I responded and said I thought she should go, and said "Keep praying for this weekend, or early next week!" I was dreading having to do daycare for another couple weeks, since it was getting to be rather difficult to move around so much, so was really hoping Friday had been my last day for awhile.
At about 1:30 that afternoon, I was taking a much needed nap and starting feeling a dull ache in my lower back that was going around to my lower abdomen. I was induced with Isaac due to the high blood pressure I had during my pregnancy with him, so didn't really know what it would feel like to start going into labor naturally. I got up and moved around, had something to eat and drink...all the things they say to do to see if the contractions stop. They did not, so I called the hospital and told the nurse I wasn't sure if I was in labor, but thought I might be. It wasn't as painful as I'd remembered the beginning stages of labor with Isaac being. She suggested I come in and get checked out just in case...that it sounded like my body was thinking about it, is how she put it. So, at 4 o'clock, we grabbed the bags I'd had packed for several weeks already and got in the car to head to United. I had a feeling it was most likely a false alarm, because what were the odds that I would actually be going into labor on the very day I wanted to, and two weeks before our due date? Isaac came with us, since I was sure we would just be sent home with some meds to slow down or stop the contractions, as a friend of mine had happen when she started labor with her son.
When we got to United's Birth Center, they had me sign some forms, and then took us back to one of the birthing rooms. We ran into a couple in the hall. The woman was being pushed in a wheelchair by her husband and they said something about us having a baby today, too. I said I wasn't actually sure if I was in labor or not and the wife kindof chuckled and said "oh, you'll know", making me doubt myself even more. I changed into a gown, laid down on the bed and waited for the nurse to come in...all the while telling Brian how foolish I felt and they were doing all of this for nothing...we would just be sent home.
The nurse came in and asked a bunch of questions and then said she was going to check if I was dilated at all. She said "well, it's not a false alarm, you're dilated to 5!" I was so relieved I immediately had tears running down my face. But, I was also not really prepared to have a baby in the next 12 hours or so. We had planned to go to Target that day and buy groceries to freeze some meals to have on hand after the baby came, I was going to write down some instructions for those caring for Isaac while we were at the hospital, the house still needed to be cleaned, etc.
Brian called our friend Jess and asked her if she could come and pick up Isaac at the hospital, since they live about 5 minutes away and bring him to our house. Brian's mom and step-dad headed to our house to be there soon after Jess got there. My parents quickly got out of their greeting duties at church for the Saturday night service and headed down to the cities. After kissing Isaac goodbye and telling him we'd bring him home a new brother or sister, Brian and I made ourselves at home in our little birthing room.
Our nurse was absolutely wonderful. She had a "let's get down to business" attitude, which worked very well for me. I asked her when her shift was over, hoping it wouldn't be soon. She said "I'm here until 11, so I think we're going to have a baby together!" It gave me great hope that she thought baby would be born within the next 6 hours! She gave us her plan of action. Once she got me hooked up to an IV to start antibiotics I needed to be on during labor, we were to go for a walk for about 45 minutes, then come back and she would evaluate things. We walked down to the part of the hospital that Brian had been in just a few days prior for a blockage in his small intestine. The nurses recognized us and said to me "wait a minute...weren't you walking him around this floor a few days ago?" It was pretty humorous. The bills that have started coming in for these stays...not so humorous.
When we got back to our room, I rested for a bit while Brian ran to Burger King to grab dinner for himself. Then our nurse told us she'd like us to go climb some stairs to help baby move into the right position for birth. We did this for about 30 minutes and then went back to our room. I was instructed to sit on a birthing ball for an hour...one of those large exercise balls. Up until this point, my contractions had been uncomfortable and only slightly painful. When I was up and moving around I could barely feel them. The doctor had come in to introduce herself (I was bummed to be missing my doctor's shift by about 8 hours) and our nurse said she'd come back out and told her I looked a little too comfortable. That all changed in the next few minutes when our nurse decided it was time to break my water. By this time it was about 9:30pm and for the next 1 1/2 hours I experience by far the worst pain in my entire life. I definitely second guessed a few times my choice to not have any pain medication. As long as Brian was rubbing my back through each contraction and my nurse was talking me through them I was okay. A little after 11pm, I started pushing and 3 pushes later all of the pain disappeared (well, most of it, anyway), and I heard the doctor say "it's a...Dad, what is it?" And Brian said "it's a girl!" Our nurse was not expecting her to be born quite so quickly, and the dr. didn't get in the room in time...she was putting her gloves on as baby entered the world. She arrived at 11:11pm weighing 7.2 pounds and was 19 inches long. We spent the next 2 hours in the delivery room holding Emma, feeding her, calling our parents, taking pictures and resting. I was a little concerned that her face was so blue, but the doctor assured us it was just bruising from being born so quickly, and that she was completely perfect. We were so thankful to be holding a healthy, beautiful baby girl.
I was then wheeled down to the room we stayed in until we went home Monday afternoon. After watching the nurse give baby her first bath we once again tried to decide what we should name her. We were still debating between two names. Brian decided we should sleep on it, and decide in the morning. So, he curled up on the not so comfy chair and slept, and I got on the computer and looked up girl names some more. =) When morning came, we decided her name would be Emma Grace, and I think it suits her perfectly. So, that's our story of how our second born joined our family...a little bit early, but at the perfect time...God's time.
