Friday May 11th, 2012

I always like to read birth stories that people write and I believe I did one for Sallie Rose's birth, but can't remember. I just know, that every year on my birthday my Mom tells me the story of my birth and it makes me feel very warm and tingly. I am not sure why it does, but it does and so I am going to record Lulie's birth story here and then save it in her baby book. That way she can read it for herself whenever she would like.

I had gone to see Dr. Smith on Thursday and they checked my progress. I was 50% effaced and and dilated to a 2. He told me he was on call that weekend and that if he didn't see me over the weekend, then he would see me Thursday May 17th for an induction. Her actual due date was May 19th. So, we went home and I tried my hardest to continue to get things done that were of the most importance. Making sure we had enough diapers, wipes, clothes, etc. I also went and bought her a baby book, which I did not have yet and wanted to make sure I had that before she came.

Sallie Rose was at home sick with Susan. She had been sick the day before with the stomach bug and had thrown up once already on Thursday and just did not feel well. I tried to keep a little bit of distance from her so that I would not catch it, but it is so hard for me not to take care of her when she is sick. It makes my heart hurt. That night she still did not feel well and we put her to bed hoping she would wake up feeling much better.

Friday I woke up at 6:00 am with a gassy feeling in my lower abdomen. I assumed it was contractions, but I was not sure. I went back to sleep and woke up to Sallie Rose crawling in bed with me (which never happens) and her falling back to sleep, around 7:00 am. I was still having the gassy feeling. Sallie Rose did not look good and I was afraid she was still sick. I called my Doctor's office at 8:15 and told them my symptoms and they advised me to come in at 9:00 am to get checked. I told Kevin I did not think he was going to work that day. He was a little surprised. We had to call Donna, his assistant at work and Sallie Rose's 4th grandma, and ask her to come stay with Sallie while we went to the dr. to get checked out. Sallie Rose was asleep until we left at 9:00 am and I had to wake her to tell her we were leaving.

She felt so bad and said her stomach still hurt and she needed medicine. I tried to explain to her that Mommy and Daddy had to go see about baby sister and Ms. Donna was going to stay with her. I knew that we would not be back for 2 days. She cried and begged me to stay. I cried and told her Mommy was sorry, but I had to go look for baby sister. She eventually calmed down and we left her watching a video and eating a Popsicle. That was one of the hardest moments as her Mom that I have had to experience. I cried the whole way to the hospital. I felt awful having to leave her feeling so badly. She ended up having the stomach bug for a full week, but she only threw up randomly throughout the week.

We got to the doctor's office and they monitored my contractions and they were 3 to 4 minutes apart, but I really couldn't feel them. My doctor came in and told us to go to the hospital and let's have a baby! I was so nervous. I couldn't believe I was about to give birth again to another little girl. They wheeled me over the hospital and then it all began.

Dr. Smith came soon after we got checked in and checked my dilation and broke my water. That was probably about 11:00 am. He came back again around 1:00 pm and I had not progressed much so they started a Pitocin drip to speed things up. The time went by so quickly that I have already lost track of how things went, but I know that I just laid there and wondered when I would begin to feel that pressure of the baby and know it was time to push. Dr. Smith had a C-section to perform at 3:30 and I was really hoping that I would not start the real labor during that time.

The nurses made me lay on my side, then on my other side to try and get the baby moving. Dr. Smith came in again about 4:15 pm and checked my progress. He said the baby was turned the wrong way and they made me get on my hands and knees to try to turn her. It actually felt really good to be off my back and tail bone. My rear end was starting to hurt from laying on it all day. I stayed that way for about 15 minutes. I could tell that the pressure was increasing and the nurse had me lay back down.

The baby was coming. We were getting closer. The nurse called the doctor and he showed up about 5:15 pm and after a few great pushes (I told the Dr. I was raised on a farm and therefore I was very tough and could really push. I'm not sure he thought it was funny), my baby was safely in the World. The minute I heard that cry, I couldn't help but sob and thank God that she was safe and as far as I could tell, she was healthy. She was a much bigger baby than her sister and she had all that hair! Was this my baby?

 She is definitely my baby and she is home and sleeping a lot and eating a lot. We couldn't be happier for another little girl and most days her big sister is happy she is here too!