The week Emily was born was SO busy.
After grocery shopping on Monday, Feb. 29 I spent the afternoon making 5 freezer meals to have ready for when the baby comes (beef stew, lasagna, chicken enchiladas, taco soup, and chicken and rice).
Post-cooking dishes
Then Tuesday I went with Jack and Candy on the joy school field trip to the butterfly museum. I also had my 38 week checkup that day, so I sent Jack and Candy home with a friend and ran to the doctor. I was only at 1 cm, unchanged from the week before and baby girl was healthy and doing fine.
Wednesday I took all 4 kids to the livestock show with friends from playgroup after the big girls got out of school (it was early release, so we arrived around 1:30 and stayed all afternoon). We didn't get home til 6:30 pm and I was EXHAUSTED. I'd been having random contractions for a few days, and they were coming more often each day, but they weren't painful or regular. I thought maybe all that walking would bring on labor, but it didn't!
Brooke our mutton buster...
On the tram at the end of the day...
Thursday was a quiet day, I got stuff done around the house while Candy was at joy school and went to a Relief Society activity that night (a talent show for the RS birthday celebration).
Friday I spent the morning doing some sewing while my visiting teacher/good friend Colette watched Jack and Candy. I made a carseat cover for baby and a scripture cover for Megan. It was so fun to get a few projects done. And then we hosted babysit night since baby was not here yet--12 kids eating pizza, watching a movie, and falling asleep all over the house. It was a busy evening!
Saturday was a blast. My brother Shad had called earlier in the week to let us know that he would be taking his new speedboat for a spin on Lake Houston on Saturday. Dan had a meeting at church from 10 to 12 and Shad was heading out on the lake at 11. So I loaded up all 4 kids and we met Shad, Zach, Chloe, Molly, Dad, and Sally to spend some time on the water. I LOVE boating and had so much fun riding around and watching Shad and the kids try out the new toys (kneeboarding for Shad and Zach, wakesurfing for Shad, tubing for the big kids, including Megan and Brooke). Jack and Candy were both a little nervous when we started, but got used to the boat and had fun too.
We headed off the lake at 2 pm and drove straight to pick up Dan and head right out to Megan's soccer game at 3. One more hour in the sun and then home for dinner. There were members of the general presidencies for Primary, YW, and RS in the Houston area and there was a fireside for all women age 8 and up that evening at 6 pm. So I went to that with Megan and Dan's sister Ali.
It was really the first quiet time I was sitting all day, and as I took notes on the talks, I also noted that I was having contractions. During the 2 hour meeting, I was having contractions every 7 to 15 minutes. They weren't strong and I was interested to see if they would stop or not. I mentioned to Ali that maybe she should leave her phone on just in case we needed her to head to our house in the night.
I came home and told Dan and we watched a little TV before heading to bed just before 10 in case we ended up being awake in the night. I was still having contractions, but if I was distracted, I didn't notice them. I fell asleep quickly and slept great until about 12:20. I woke up to use the restroom and noticed the contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes. I decided to try to stay in bed and see if I could fall back asleep. But I stayed awake. This was similar to my other labors and at 1 am, I woke up Dan to tell him I was pretty sure we were having a baby today. I also told him I wasn't ready to go to the hospital yet and to get some rest while I puttered around for a while.
Most of my other labors have started in the wee hours of the morning like this, and I like to use the time when I can't sleep anyway to get the house in order so everything is neat and clean when we leave. I did the same this time. I picked up the toy room, did dishes, and sat on my birthing ball and folded laundry. All the while the contractions kept coming steadily and I was doing just fine breathing and relaxing through them. I was listening to Jim Gaffigan (a hilarious comedian) on my phone while I was puttering and keeping track of contractions on an app. I got clothes ready for the kids for church and an overnight bag and when that was all done, it was almost 3 am. The contractions were getting a little stronger at that point, so I filled up the big bathtub in our room with nice hot water to relax in for a while.
The hot water felt so good and it really helped me relax through the contractions. I stayed in there for an hour, and for the last 15 minutes or so was really feeling the contractions getting stronger. At 4 I was ready for a change (and was SO hot!), so I took a cooler shower. The contractions were every 3 minutes and I was now really concentrating to breathe slowly through them. I knew we needed to go to the hospital soon, but I thought it would be nice to just wait for our kids to wake up at 6 and drop them off on our way. I blow dried my hair really quick and at about 4:40 am I decided to get back into bed and listen to my relaxation tracks until 6 when we would leave.
I had just gotten all comfortable and turned on my tracks when I had a contraction at 4:45 and felt a POP. I wondered if my water had just broken but didn't want to stand up and check when I had just gotten settled in! I then had the longest break in contractions since I'd woken up--about 7 minutes. With the next contraction, I felt a gush and immediately jumped out of bed so I wouldn't get the bed dirty and ran to the tile. I said, "Dan! My water just broke!". He said, "What does that mean?" and I said, "We need to go now". He asked if he had time for a quick shower and I said yes as long as it was fast. I called his sister and she came right over. We got in the car around 5:10 am and called my doctor's office on our way to the hospital. There were problems with the paging system, so the doctor didn't call us back right away. At this point, my contractions were strong and were coming every 2-3 minutes. When the doctor finally got back to us, it was about 5:35 and we were almost there. There were a few funny things on our way. Being 5 am on a Sunday morning, there was no traffic on the freeway and Dan was flying! He was going about 85 or so when some guy tailgated him for a few minutes and Dan thought, wow man! Where do you have to be right now? Is your wife in labor in your car? We also saw another car coming up fast in the next lane--it was a state trooper, going at least 90 and he went right by us.
At home ready to get in the car at 5:05 am... (1 hour before Emily was born!)
I was closing my eyes during contractions and doing my best to stay relaxed, and as a result, Dan missed the exit for the hospital. It wasn't a big deal, we just took the next one, but it was pretty funny. We pulled in to the hospital entrance at 5:40 and the valet attendant wasn't there. Dan mentioned that he could just go park in the garage and then meet me inside but I said no, that I wanted him with me while I checked in and we'd just tell the check in desk not to tow us. As we walked through the doors I had a contraction and stopped to breathe through it with my hands on my knees leaning over. The check-in desk lady saw me and brought me a wheelchair--I was glad to have it. Dan's sticker from the check-in desk said 5:46 am. As he got his sticker, the valet guy showed up so that was taken care of.
I had another contraction as we took the elevator upstairs and it ended as we got to the check-in outside of labor and delivery. The lady there asked if I was in too much pain to answer questions and I said no, between contractions I feel great. I do not remember what she asked, but it was quick and we were through the doors. Because of the delays in talking to the on-call doc there was not a room ready for me yet, so the nurses had Dan wheel me to a little waiting room on the floor. I remember at that point hoping the room would be ready quickly as my contractions were getting stronger. Another contraction or 2 later and we were shown into our room.
The nurse (Misty) was going through the check-in process, asking lots of questions and trying to get all the paperwork filled out. I remember her asking a question and I put my hand up like "just give me a minute here" while breathing through a contraction. In a break, I hurried to change into the hospital gown before another one started. As I changed, I noticed some meconium in the amniotic fluid which made the NICU nurse in me panic a bit, and I was glad we were at the hospital and would soon be on a monitor to make sure baby was doing well. My nurse quickly helped me into the bed and put monitors on and I was relieved that the baby's heartbeat was great. The contractions were coming strong and fast and I preferred sitting up indian style on the bed when one came. Dan was there holding my hand and rubbing my back.
At 6:06 am, my nurse checked me and I was at a 9! I was SHOCKED! I looked at Dan and just laughed a little because I knew this baby would be here soon. Misty (the nurse) immediately realized things were moving and grabbed 4 other nurses to help her get things ready for baby to come. She also called the doc (he was down the hall) and he said to call him when I was ready to push--silly doc. About 6 minutes (3-4 contractions) later, I looked at my nurse and said, "these are coming hard and fast"--translation "I'm about to have this baby". One nurse kept trying to start an IV. She asked if I could make a fist--but I was trying with all my might to stay relaxed and I just shook my head. Meanwhile she blew 3 veins and kept apologizing for poking me--at that point she was a fly on my arm and I could not have cared less.
With the next contraction, I started to moan and the nurse setting up the tray caught my eye and came to check me. I was crowning--I remember looking down and seeing that the baby's head was halfway out. My nurse ran over and told me to push and the baby was born after just one push! She was expertly delivered by my nurse Misty. It was 6:18 am--30 minutes after arriving at the hospital. Despite the meconium, she pinked right up and cried like a champ. My nurse handed her to me to hold skin to skin and I looked at Dan and thought, "Wow! We're done already! And it's only 6:20!". Compared to the 8 hours laboring in the hospital before Jack was born, this seemed unbelievably fast. She was so alert and wanted to nurse right away--she was latched on before the placenta was even delivered.
The doctor did make it in time to deliver the placenta and do the one stitch that I needed for a small 1st degree tear--and after 4 episiotomies, that was also amazing to me. The doc was really rough with massaging my uterus to help it clamp down and I finally said, "what are you doing?!?" before he backed off a little. I think he forgot I didn't have an epidural and could feel everything. I got a shot of pitocin in my leg and then let them start an IV to keep pitocin running for a while. I felt so great, the adrenaline was pumping and I wasn't tired at all and I just couldn't believe baby was born.
With the baby coming that fast and that close to shift change, we got to just snuggle her for a long time. I held her skin to skin for that first hour and then Dan got to hold her for a bit. She pooped on me (twice!) in that hour but I didn't want her to be taken away yet, so we just wiped it up and kept snuggling. I loved holding her close. While I would not have planned to cut things so close with getting to the hospital, it really worked out great. I was happy that I got to labor at home for so long and be comfortable and then have the help for the delivery when we needed it. My only regret was that Dan only got to be my supporter through the last little bit of labor! It was a whirlwind morning.
We had sent a text to both sets of parents when we left for the hospital just after 5 and it was pretty funny as we called them just before 7 and said, "The baby's here!". We were a little sad that the nurse's name wouldn't go on the birth certificate because her name was "Misty Sugar" and that would be awesome. Nope, the doc gets the credit. Poor Misty had to stay after her shift for a while to fill out an incident report and she came to say goodbye just before 8 am. We weighed her around that time: 8 lbs, 3 oz. By then I was eating breakfast and we were chatting up our day shift nurse, a 9th generation Texan with a huge love for genealogy and Texas history. She was giving us some awesome Texas history themed names (Texia among them). When we discussed names for this baby, I would tell people if I was picking she'd be Emily and if Dan was picking she'd be Naomi but that the only name we both agreed on was Lauren. I was fine with that name, but Dan was having second thoughts and at some point he mentioned that he liked Emily--I said, "Well you don't have to convince me, I love that name!", so by 9 am, Emily she was.
It was just Dan, me, and Emily for the whole morning and we loved the quiet time together. I moved rooms around 10 am and we rested and held our girl. We love her so much!
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