Baby girl did come "any day now" and was 2.5 weeks early!
Friday night Ben and I went to the movies (for the last time in a while).
One of my neighbor, friends threw a last minute baby shower for me on Saturday morning, January 24th at our house. Baby girl got lots of cute clothes and it was just in time before her arrival. Saturday night we went to the BYU tennis match and out to dinner.
As my belly grew bigger it became very uncomfortable to sleep. I woke up about five times Saturday night. Sunday morning I felt a few cramps but I had felt these the weekend before so I wasn't too alarmed. I continued to be uncomfortable at church and through the afternoon. Sunday night I didn't feel like making dinner so we had waffles and eggs, breakfast for dinner before going to a youth fireside with William. We were both supposed to go so we decided to bring Will with us and trade off playing with him in the nursery. I had the first shift with William and as I sat and watched him play I became more uncomfortable and started having contractions. A half hour later (at 7:40 p.m.) I decided to time them and see if they had any pattern. They started off shorter and farther apart (30 seconds and 7-10 minutes apart). Around 8:15 the contractions became stronger and closer together (40 seconds and 5-7 minutes apart), I told Ben I wanted to go home and lay down to see if they would go away. I texted my mom and sister my contraction times and they both told me to pack my bags! I was still in denial.
We headed home and things only sped up rather than calming down. Ben quickly put William to bed around 8:30 and we called my sister-in-law, Annika, to see if she could come over. I also called my doctor and explained what was happening and she said it was probably alright to go in to the hospital. Annika arrived around 9:00 and I was still in denial at what was happening. Ben had quickly packed his bag and I luckily had already done so a few days earlier (thanks to my sister's persuasion). We headed out the door to the hospital a little after 9:00 and at this point the contractions were every 3-5 minutes about 45 seconds long. I started getting nervous and we made it to Orem Community hospital in ten minutes at about 9:20.
Ben dropped me off at the front and I walked myself in and checked in at the front desk. Ben followed right behind and they slowly let us in to a room with a nice nurse named Ana (like Frozen). She asked a ton of questions and I got changed in a gown and was very uncomfortable. I had told her I wanted an epidural, I didn't want to do a repeat of William's birth. She finally check me around 9:30 and I was at a 6, Ana said she was prepping our delivery room and I asked if she thought the baby would come before the day was over and she said it was very likely. I started to get antsy and had Ben check for the nurses in the hallway and they said it would be 2 minutes before they switched me to my new room. At 10:00 they walked me to my delivery room #114 (not sure why I had to walk and wasn't in a wheelchair?!). Ana got my IV in my arm ready to go for the epidrual. She asked what my strep B test results were and I didn't know because I was supposed to find out at my doctor appointment the next day. They found out I tested positive for it so they had to put some drugs in my IV to help protect the baby. (Apparently you need to have 4 hours of the drugs to make it effective and baby girl just came too fast). The anesthesiologist was luckily already in the hospital but felt like he was taking forever. I layed in the bed on my left side, the most "comfortable" position at that point. At 10:20 Ana checked me again and I was at an 8. She thought the epidural would not kick in fast enough so she suggested doing a spinal tap instead. Another 2-4 contractions went by until he finally got there and he asked a few questions before deciding that a spinal would be better than an epidural at that point. I asked what was bad about a spinal and she said it just wears off and you can't keep adding more drugs. It's a one time shot, literally. The anesthesiologist let me stay on my side but I had to curl up in a ball so he could get to my spine easier. He put a cold gel on my lower back and I went through a few more contractions. I was having flashbacks to William's stressful labor as my current contractions were so strong I felt the urge to push already. I asked for an oxygen mask around this time as it helped me during William's birth. The doctor said I would feel like a rockstar in a few minutes and after he put the shot in my spine the then put the "meds" in a few minutes later. After he took the shot out it was about a minute before I started to get tingly and not feel things. At 10:30 they finished the spinal and I felt amazing. The numbing was almost instant and I wasn't feeling contractions. I layed on my back and they checked me again and said I was already at a 10 and was ready to have the baby!
Friday night Ben and I went to the movies (for the last time in a while).
One of my neighbor, friends threw a last minute baby shower for me on Saturday morning, January 24th at our house. Baby girl got lots of cute clothes and it was just in time before her arrival. Saturday night we went to the BYU tennis match and out to dinner.
As my belly grew bigger it became very uncomfortable to sleep. I woke up about five times Saturday night. Sunday morning I felt a few cramps but I had felt these the weekend before so I wasn't too alarmed. I continued to be uncomfortable at church and through the afternoon. Sunday night I didn't feel like making dinner so we had waffles and eggs, breakfast for dinner before going to a youth fireside with William. We were both supposed to go so we decided to bring Will with us and trade off playing with him in the nursery. I had the first shift with William and as I sat and watched him play I became more uncomfortable and started having contractions. A half hour later (at 7:40 p.m.) I decided to time them and see if they had any pattern. They started off shorter and farther apart (30 seconds and 7-10 minutes apart). Around 8:15 the contractions became stronger and closer together (40 seconds and 5-7 minutes apart), I told Ben I wanted to go home and lay down to see if they would go away. I texted my mom and sister my contraction times and they both told me to pack my bags! I was still in denial.
We headed home and things only sped up rather than calming down. Ben quickly put William to bed around 8:30 and we called my sister-in-law, Annika, to see if she could come over. I also called my doctor and explained what was happening and she said it was probably alright to go in to the hospital. Annika arrived around 9:00 and I was still in denial at what was happening. Ben had quickly packed his bag and I luckily had already done so a few days earlier (thanks to my sister's persuasion). We headed out the door to the hospital a little after 9:00 and at this point the contractions were every 3-5 minutes about 45 seconds long. I started getting nervous and we made it to Orem Community hospital in ten minutes at about 9:20.
Ben dropped me off at the front and I walked myself in and checked in at the front desk. Ben followed right behind and they slowly let us in to a room with a nice nurse named Ana (like Frozen). She asked a ton of questions and I got changed in a gown and was very uncomfortable. I had told her I wanted an epidural, I didn't want to do a repeat of William's birth. She finally check me around 9:30 and I was at a 6, Ana said she was prepping our delivery room and I asked if she thought the baby would come before the day was over and she said it was very likely. I started to get antsy and had Ben check for the nurses in the hallway and they said it would be 2 minutes before they switched me to my new room. At 10:00 they walked me to my delivery room #114 (not sure why I had to walk and wasn't in a wheelchair?!). Ana got my IV in my arm ready to go for the epidrual. She asked what my strep B test results were and I didn't know because I was supposed to find out at my doctor appointment the next day. They found out I tested positive for it so they had to put some drugs in my IV to help protect the baby. (Apparently you need to have 4 hours of the drugs to make it effective and baby girl just came too fast). The anesthesiologist was luckily already in the hospital but felt like he was taking forever. I layed in the bed on my left side, the most "comfortable" position at that point. At 10:20 Ana checked me again and I was at an 8. She thought the epidural would not kick in fast enough so she suggested doing a spinal tap instead. Another 2-4 contractions went by until he finally got there and he asked a few questions before deciding that a spinal would be better than an epidural at that point. I asked what was bad about a spinal and she said it just wears off and you can't keep adding more drugs. It's a one time shot, literally. The anesthesiologist let me stay on my side but I had to curl up in a ball so he could get to my spine easier. He put a cold gel on my lower back and I went through a few more contractions. I was having flashbacks to William's stressful labor as my current contractions were so strong I felt the urge to push already. I asked for an oxygen mask around this time as it helped me during William's birth. The doctor said I would feel like a rockstar in a few minutes and after he put the shot in my spine the then put the "meds" in a few minutes later. After he took the shot out it was about a minute before I started to get tingly and not feel things. At 10:30 they finished the spinal and I felt amazing. The numbing was almost instant and I wasn't feeling contractions. I layed on my back and they checked me again and said I was already at a 10 and was ready to have the baby!
Apparently I was asking a lot of questions
like what my legs were doing. They scooted me down the bed and put my
heavy legs in the stirrups. Very different than William's birth where I
held my own legs. My doctor, Dena, was being nice and funny and asked if
I had any special requests before the baby and I said I don't know!? They
turned on the brightest spotlights I've ever seen and were ready to go.
Dena said she was going to break my water because it was bulging and ready
to go. She turned around for a second, turned back and gasped a little
and said there's her head. Baby girl was coming out in her bag of waters.
I asked if I should push as I couldn't feel the contractions at this
point. It was amazing not feeling the pain but knowing she was ready to
be born any minute. It was almost like it was fake because it was too
easy. It seems so crazy saying that after William's birth in New York
being so different. I knew what was going on with baby girl and the
nurse, Ana told me to push if I could. I tried focusing on the area and I
felt like I was pushing a little bit but nothing compared to the force I pushed
with William with all my body strength. I think I pushed 4-6 times and
then she was here at 10:40 pm!!
They placed her on a cloth on my stomach
and I watched the doctors clean her off for a bit. Ben cut her cord and
took pictures. I couldn't believe she was here just like that! She
didn't cry because (they told me this later) her cord was wrapped around her
neck two times. Ana said "I guess she really is supposed to be
here." My hands felt tingly at this point and I held her wrapped in
a blanket for a few minutes. Ben mentioned that she looked bigger than
William. A few minutes later they took her across the room to weigh and
clean her up. She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces, was 19 1/2 inches long and
her head was 33 cm. My body was a little bit shaky at this point as the
spinal was wearing off. They brought baby girl back over to me in a
diaper and hat. Dena finished up and said it was her favorite delivery of
the weekend. I tried breastfeeding and baby girl latched right away with
a wide mouth and a hard suck, again the opposite of William. It was about
midnight and Ben and I went to the nursery to watch her get her first bath.
She cried a little as she got her waxy coating off (apparently she had a
lot of it still because she was 2.5 weeks early). They got her footprints
and asked me what color bow I wanted for her. Ben slept at the hospital
with me that night and we had baby go to the nursery a few times. There
were only 3-4 other babies in the hospital at that time.
My mom flew in early the next morning and
stayed with me for most of the day while Ben and William played together at
home. I was sad because of the Utah county hospital rule that noone under the
age of 14 could go in the hospital rooms. I guess it was a really bad flu
season for the area, so William could only "meet" sister through a
glass door. I was allowed to see him in the lobby area but couldn't bring
the baby out. I stayed in the hospital until Tuesday night and we finally
arrived home with baby Lucy Rae Lewis around 7:00 pm. William was really
excited to see "baby sister Wucy".
