from mrs to momma: Part Three.

Part One. Part Two.

The alarm clock went off a lot sooner than I had anticipated and after a quick shower, a few “last belly” pictures, a goodbye kiss to my sleeping baby and a grateful hug to her Nana, Nick and I climbed into the car and headed to the hospital excited to meet Emily.

& now the fun begins…this story is long, and I know that there’s no way I can recount every detail without just jumping right in and letting my thoughts and memories retell the events of that day. Excuse me if this is all a bit scatter brained. Get ready…here goes!

I remember the excitement I had as we videoed our drive into the hospital parking lot. Lots of “hi baby Emily….we’re here! Can’t wait to meet you!!”

I squeezed Nick’s hand as we made our way from the car to the registration desk just passed the heavy double doors of the hospital entrance. I remember feeling that giddy excitement and knowing that the next time we walked through those same doors we would have another baby in our arms.

We arrived at the hospital at 7 am and 15 minutes later I was gowned up and checked into room 211. Only 2 doors down from the room I was in when Carley was the baby in my belly. There’s something surreal about walking past the room you had your first baby in and knowing that that same miraculous event is about to take place for the second time.

I remember the nurse bringing out the monitors and smiling when I heard that “thump, thump, thump” of Emily’s heartbeat fill the room. A few half hours later, my doctor came in and broke my water in hopes of getting things started after an earlier failed attempt.

I remember thinking how different this all was from the last time we were at the hospital with a baby in my belly. Labor with Carley was HARD! But this? This seemed easy. I was on Skype. Nick was busy sending out mass text messages to our family and friends to keep them updated with the day’s events. Carley was snuggled up next to my mom on the pull out couch while we all watched “Ayo” (also known as Elmo in other parts of the world). And who can forget the sweetest background music of “thump, thump, thump” - a little heartbeat bringing it all together. I remember looking around the room so desperate to take it all in and thinking “this is perfect.”

Five hours after having my water broken, the contractions became consistent coming every 5-6 minutes or so. My nurse and my doctor took turns coming in and checking on me. Checking my vitals. Checking my progress. And wondering what the heck I was on when I greeted them with a smile each time they walked in the room pausing only when a contraction would start and picking up right where I left off once the contraction had faded.

I remember making it to 4 centimeters and my nurse starting the pitocin drip into my IV. I had always heard that inductions were supposed to be awful. And at this point, I started to get a bit nervous.

I remember praying for a successful VBAC. I so badly wanted this delivery to go smoothly with no necessary NICU visits like last time.

I remember complaining about being sooo hungry. And wanting to kick Nick out of the hospital room as he ate a burger while I was stuck with chicken broth flavored water and ice chips.

I remember thinking this was taking so long. And wanting to meet her and hold her so badly.

And then smiling every time I saw this face.

She was trying to cheer her momma up with her silly antics and cheesy smiles.

I came up with a guessing game to pass the time while we waited. I even got my nurse and anesthesiologist in on it. We each wrote out our guesses including arrival time, weight, length, and hair color.

And then we waited.

By 10 pm, I had only progressed to a 5.

I remember my nurse telling me to try to get some rest while we waited since it could still be a while longer before Emily decided the time was right. And since most everyone guessed she wouldn’t come until well after midnight (someone even guessed she wouldn’t make her debut until 6 am!!!), I figured we were safe enough to give in to Emily’s plan and catch a few zzz’s.

An hour later I started to feel funny.

“But I’m only measuring at 5 cm,” I silently reasoned with myself. “Emily must just be moving around in there trying to get comfortable” – after all, nighttime is her most active time.

By this time, the lights in the room were dim and my mom, Nick, Carley (and our family who we still had on Skype) were snoozing, so I watched the clock and tried to brush it off.

Twenty minutes later I was still feeling funny. I reached over for the little nurse button and waited for her to dial my room back.

“I think it’s time,” I remember telling her.

At 11:30 pm, sixteen and a half hours after we arrived at the hospital that morning, I was a ten.

The lights came on and I remember saying “I’m a ten? I’m a TEN!” as life began to whiz and stir in my room while my nurse and OB prepped. I’ve never seen Nick wake up so fast. The light from my laptop and my mom’s iPhone glowed signaling that our family on Skype also heard the message. There wasn’t a bleary eye in sight…we were all ready to get this show on the road.

Skype picture (excuse the quality)

Amidst the excitement, I remember crying because I was about to meet my littlest girl. This was really going to happen.

Twenty minutes later I was in the middle of a few practice pushes with my nurse.

It was beautiful.

It was perfect.

And I felt incredible.

At 12:22 am on Friday, April 22^nd, 2011 I saw her come out of me and I waited. Waited for that big ol’ cry I didn’t hear when her sister was born. & thankfully she didn’t make us wait very long. Little sister opened up and let us hear what she was made of us. And then I took a breath and cried and smiled.

Oh the tears. They came a flowin’.

She was here. She was mine. And she was perfect.

Five pounds, 14 ounces and 18 inches of beautiful, perfect, crying baby. A little sliver of heaven right in my arms.

& I washed her in kisses and told her I love her and whispered “happy birthday baby” at least a dozen times in her ear as the tears rolled off of my face and onto hers.

And at that moment no one else was in room 211. Just me and her and Nick and Carley. The four of us. Hugging and laughing and swapping I love you’s and “ohmyGod can you believe she’s ours” – pure joy.

And I was so grateful that it all went as planned. That my mom was there to witness her birth. And that our family, although 1000+ miles away, were able to be a part of such an incredible moment.

God is good. No…God is great!