Before I forget...

I just realized that I never recorded the full details of Grace's birth like I did for Morgan's. Before I forget all the fun details, I need to write it down. This may be a little more detail than most need to know but too bad. These are the things I want to remember.

SATURDAY (June 6)

Brad, Morgan and I went for a walk that morning to check out some of the annual neighborhood garage sales that were happening. Around noon I noticed some contractions but didn't think much of it. I'd been having some off and on for weeks and my doctor had said that my repeated urinary tract infections (UTI) might be causing them. Just in case I started to track them. By about 5pm, the contractions were coming every 3 to 5 minutes so we decided to call my doctor. At my last appointment on Thursday, I had been dialated to 3cm and had lost my mucas plug so the doctor said go ahead to the hospital. At this point the contractions were not very painful. Sort of like bad menstral cramps. I might need to take a deep breath but could easily talk through them. We call Tiffany to come watch Morgan and also call my mom and Brad's parents to let them know we are on the way to the hospital.

6pm - we arrive at the hospital and are taken to a triage room. They hook me up to monitors and confirm that, yes I'm having contractions. I'm now dialated to 4cm. However, the nurse tells me that I don't appear to be IN ENOUGH PAIN. They will come back in a few hours to check on me and see if I've progressed. If I haven't, they might send me home. So Brad and I settled in to watch the Stanley Cup finals and wait to see what happened.

9:30pm - the nurse checks me again and I'm still at 4cm with contractions every 3 to 5 minutes. They will call my doctor to confirm that they should send me home. The nurse comes back and says that Dr. Palabrica told them to send me home. I also get a perscription for sleeping pills since it might be hard to sleep while I'M IN LABOR.

10:30pm - We are home again. Send Tiffany home and my mom soon arrives. By now, Brad's parents are on their way back to Newburgh since nothing is going to happen anytime soon. Mom has decided to stay.

SUNDAY

Had a great night with little sleep. I didn't take any sleeping pills in fear that I might go into full labor and not be able to wake up. By that morning, the contractions has slowed down to every half hour or so. That continues for most of Sunday.

MONDAY

I stay home from work and go to a previously scheduled doctor's appointment with my mom in tow. They can't induce me until I'm at 39 weeks (I was at 38.6) so my doctor decided to "scrape my membranes" in hopes of starting up labor. This had been planned before the Saturday trip to the hospital. On the way to the doctor's office we travel down North Ave which is under construction. I think all the bouncing around started up contractions again. By the time we got to the office they were about 15 minutes apart.

A fun bit of information... My doctor asked me why I wanted to go home on Saturday night? WHAT!?! I was not given an option. I was told by the hospital staff that my doctor instructed me to go home. Turns out she never said that. She was ready to come to the hospital and break my water but the staff told her I wanted to go home. I guess they were so busy that night that they didn't want to bother with little old "not in enough pain" me. I'm never having another baby at that hospital again.

So the doctor scrapes my membranes. NOT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE. By this time, I'm at 5cm. She then tells me to go have lunch and go for a walk. Also I should schedule an appointment for Wednesday. If this doesn't work then she will break my water at her office on Wednesday when I'm officially 39 weeks.

My mom and I go to lunch and within a half hour, the contractions are back. This time it's every 2-4 minutes and still not really painful. I decide to wait this time until I'm in real pain. By 9pm that night, the contractions are slowing down again. Back to every half hour to an hour.

TUESDAY

I go into work. Why sit around the house and wait for something to happen? I was a little on edge by now. Tired of waiting and being uncomfortable. It's rather hard and painful to go to the bathroom. Not that this is a new experience for me after having one UTI after another for the previous 3 months.

I work all day and have mild contractions every 30 to 60 minutes. I was glad I went to work because I tied up a lot of loose ends and the day flew by.

WEDNESDAY (June 10)

9:30am - This time I bring my bag for my stay at the hospital and Brad with me to my doctor's appointment. As soon as I walk in, I see Dr. Palabrica behind the receptionist's desk. She tells me there is a slight change in plans and she has a proposal for me. What now?!?

We get into the exam room and my doctor checks me over. I'm now at 6cm. She says that she is concerned that if they break my water at the office, I won't make it to the hospital in time to give birth. NOT MY IDEA OF FUN! Instead, she noticed there is an open slot on the hospital schedule for 1pm. What do I think about having my water broken at the hospital then? My question to her - Can I still have an epidural? YES! She will make sure I get set up with an epidural as soon as I walk in the door. Sounds good to me!

So Brad and I go run an errand (I think we went to buy some dog food) and head back home. We eat lunch with everyone (Mom, Tiffany and Morgan) and then head over to the hospital. I remember Brad saying that there was something wrong with this situation. Everything is too planned out. It's very different from Morgan's birth. I'm all...TOO BAD! I'm ready to have this baby!

1:00pm - I again go through the admission process but this time I bypass triage and get sent directly to a room. They knew I was coming. A few people come in and ask me questions to fill out some forms. One question I remember very clearly, "Why are you getting induced?" My response, "Because I've been in labor FOR FIVE DAYS." They start setting things up for the epidural. At this point, I'm not having many contractions and the are very mild.

2:15pm - epidural is in place and numbing up quite nicely. The anesthesiologist notices that it's taking effect rather quickly and asks if I have been exercising. I say that I've been working out about 3 times a week. She comments that women who exercise tend to numb up faster and also the effects wear off faster once the epidural is taken out. Hmmm.

Then they break my water. I don't feel a thing (YEAH!). The doctor says that he thinks I was double-bagged because he had to break the membrane twice. Maybe that's why I'm 6cm and NOT HAVING A BABY. Labor starts to pick up a bit but they decide to give me a little pitocin. Labor kicks in pretty quickly after that.

4:00pm - I notice that I can still feel contractions in my lower right abdomen. The same problem I had with Morgan. They send for the anesthesiologist. Two of them arrive to talk to me about it. She says that some nerves are immune to an epidural. It's probably the case since it's the same problem I had last time. The doctor then asks how close I am to giving birth because there are a few options depending on timing. By now, I'm at 10cm and we are only waiting for my doctor to arrive. She gives me a shot that won't last a long time but is quite effective in numbing up my problem spot.

4:45pm - Dr. Palabrica arrives. She asks me to get set up on the table and push a bit. She then starts to get suited up in her scrubs and glances over at me as I'm doing my practise pushes. All of a sudden she says, "WAIT A MINUTE! DON'T PUSH!" I guess the head is already crowning and she starts to quickly get her scrubs on and the nurses hurry to get all the equipment in place.

My doctor along with an intern coach me through the birth. At one point, Dr. P asks if we were expecting a blonde baby. Since Morgan is a blonde, I'm not surprised. She then mentions that it looks like I'm going to tear so she is going to make a little incision to prevent tearing. But nothing like my last incision. I guess my scar is rather large. That explains some of my problems last time recovering from birth.

5:00pm - After pushing for about 10 minutes, the baby arrives. Dr. P asks me what her name is. I look at Brad and ask him. Since I decided on Morgan's name, I've given him the choice this time. We had narrowed the list down to Gabrielle, Grace or Taylor. He listed off the three options and Dr. P thought Grace was a great choice. Brad's response - then her name is Grace. I decided then that I got to pick the middle name and had chosen Alexis.

So Grace Alexis had a name within a few minutes of birth. Much different from the 1+ day it took to decide on Morgan's.

One other funny thing that happened was during the "cleanup". Dr. P was instructing the intern on sewing me up. Then she started asking the intern what his plans were upon graduation. I was just odd to hear them talking about career plans while cleaning and sewing me up.

This birth was easier and harder than Morgan's. Morgan was a month early so there were concerns with her health and it was a huge surprise to us. My water broke so there were no discussions on sending us home from the hospital. Labor was gradual but only lasted for about 12 hours (not 5 days!) and pushing was longer (~30 minutes).

If I didn't have to go through pregnancy and the first 8 weeks of infancy, I'd be tempted to have another child. But I'll be at least 2 years older and I just have to remember that Grace's pregnancy was more difficult so the next one will probably be even worse. And remember the agony of sleep deprivation while dealing with a 2 year old Drama Queen. Thoughts of a 3rd child soon seem A LOT LESS appealing.