Welcome, Audrey! ~ Gee and Sis

Two week ago at this very moment I was being wheeled into my recovery room at the hospital feeling pretty dazed and elated from the labor and delivery experience I had just had with my second kiddo. My beautiful baby girl, Audrey Dianne. She was born on Sunday, January 26th at 7:59pm weighing in at 6 lbs 15 oz and measuring 19 3/4 inches.

Her entry into the world went nothing as I expected it to, but it was pretty incredible, nonetheless. Because I was induced with Will, I had no experience with going into labor naturally or what I should expect that to feel like. Because of this, I found myself pretty frustrated in the days preceding Audrey's birth. Had I known better, I would have known she'd be coming soon. I had been having pain and cramping for a couple days, but didn't realize this was the early stages of labor. Friday and Saturday before she was born I spent A LOT of time walking. I'd push Will in the stroller and have contractions here and there and will them to continue. Saturday night, Geoff and I left Will with Dizza and Papa and went out to dinner, figuring it would be the last time we'd get a night out for awhile. We went to PF Changs and had a nice time. At the end of dinner and on the way to the car, I was having some pretty strong contractions and feeling optimistic that "maybe I'd have a baby by Monday."
Well, in the middle of the night on Sunday morning, around 3am, I was woken up by contractions. I took a shower and was able to fall back to sleep. We went to church and I was having contractions about 7 minutes apart that weren't too painful.
So, I came home and took a nap. I was able to sleep through any contractions I may have been having until about 3pm. At this point, although they were still 7-12 minutes apart, the intensity was increasing. So, I called my mom and said, "I need my mama." She came over to be my moral support. Around 10 to 4pm we decided to take a walk. We loaded Will into his stroller and head out. We walked for about an hour. We talked on the walk about how maybe we'd have a baby in the wee hours of Monday morning, maybe head to the hospital around 7pm.
The walk worked on speeding things up. By the time we got home, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart. It was 5pm at this point, so I decided if things stayed steady for an hour, I'd head in. By the time 5:45pm rolled around the contractions were averaging 2-3 minutes apart and were getting painful enough I'd have to stop walking or talking during them. So, I called Labor and Delivery to let them know I'd be in before too long. Geoff finished up Will's bath and packing up the final items on our "hospital" list. We left just after 6pm.
We arrived at the hospital around 6:15pm. Geoff asked me if I wanted a wheelchair and, honestly, the idea of sitting was pretty terrible, so I declined. Once we were in the hospital, however, and I was staring down what seemed to be a never ending hallway, I regretted that decision. We had to stop 2-3 times for me to manage a contraction, but finally we made it Labor and Delivery. We checked in at 6:23pm. They took me to triage to get me on monitors and see how far along I was. I remember feeling pretty upset at this point - they seemed to be moving in slow motion and I told Geoff that they weren't moving fast enough, that this baby was coming sooner than they thought.
The midwife came in to check me and I was 6 centimeters dilated. I remember everything after being told "6 cm" seemed pretty surreal. Just before 7pm, while I was waiting in triage for them to admit me and get me to a room, I remember telling Geoff to tell my mom that my dad needed to get to my house (to take over Will watch) so my mom could get to the hospital. She was going to miss the baby's birth. It was at this point I started to panic - things were moving too fast. I was in a lot of pain. No one was moving fast enough! A couple of contractions went by and I did not handle them well.
Finally, they moved us to a room and started working on my IV. They had some trouble getting the IV in my arm (this happened with Will, too) and ended up putting it in my hand - for the sake of time. Around now is when I realized that I probably wasn't going to get an epidural and the acceptance allowed me to really focus and manage the contractions surprisingly well. Although, Geoff's may have some photographic proof that I was squeezing his hand pretty hard!
It was at this point (7:30pm) that I started telling the nurses I felt that I wanted to push soon. They checked me again and I was a 9.5 centimeters. Then, the anesthesiologist arrived. Our eyes met and I shook my head at him. I knew there was no chance that an epidural was going to happen in time. He came over and patted my shoulder and told me I was making the right choice and wished me luck.
Around 7:45pm the nurse told me they could have the midwife break my water, which would probably dilate me the last half centimeter and allow me to push. I told them I really wanted my mom to be there, so we should wait another few minutes. Gratefully, my mom did arrive a minute or two later and they called the midwife in for delivery.
She broke my water and, sure enough, I was ready to push. Audrey was face up, but she did turn during delivery (Will was the same). I didn't handle the pushing too great, but that was mostly because it actually felt really great to let go - I'd been so focused up to that point, I kind of wanted to just scream. :)
After, maybe, 5 minutes or so of pushing, she was here! I couldn't believe it. I had really only considered my labor to have started around 4pm that afternoon. Here I was, just 4 hours later holding my tiny little daughter in my arms - sans any pain meds.

Now, two weeks later, I find myself getting tears in my eyes any time that I drive by the route that my mom and I walked on that beautiful Sunday afternoon. And, although I probably should have been on my way to the hospital at that point, I'll never forget those moments walking and pondering the baby that would be soon arriving and musing over all the possibilities. Welcome, Audrey. You are a perfect little piece to our family and we're so glad you are here.