I thought about starting way back in the beginning, but that seems so long ago, and who really wants to see a bunch of pictures of me with a big preggo belly? Instead I am going to write what I can remember about the events on December 22, 2011.
When I left my classroom for Winter Break I was really hoping I wouldn't have to go back. My due date wasn't until January 7th, so I was really hoping that Lucy would make it out sometime before January 3rd. I did not think she was going to be here before Christmas however!
The week of December 20th I did laundry and packed a hospital bag, "just in case". I even went to a kick boxing class! The night of the 21st I did not feel any different or expect to be just 24 hours away from being a parent. Ben went to a Christmas Party with his department at work and I stayed him with the dog and the cat on the couch and went to bed early.
I woke up on the 22nd like any other day. I got in the in shower around 9:30AM. Ben had gotten a ride to work with his mom that morning and I was picking him up from work at 2:00 for a doctors appointment. When I got out of the shower and was drying off I noticed that the ground was still wet no matter what I did. I remember thinking to myself, "Is this what I think it is?" I immediately texted my friend Tonya who was working at a labor nurse in Seaside that day. I described what was happening and she said, yep call your doctor! I put the call in to Dr. Greco and she called me right back and told me to gather my things and come get checked into the hospital. At this point I still wasn't having any contractions. A little after 10:00 I called Ben at work. I remember kind of laughing and saying, "Well my water broke so we need to go to the hospital". He didn't have a car at work that day so he said he was going to have one of his co-workers bring him home to which I replied, "Oh it's OK! I'll just come pick you up." I quickly finished packing our bag, put the car seat in the car, a towel on the seat and away I went!
Ben then drove the 30 minutes to the hospital. We got checked in sometime between 12:00 and 1:00. Tonya was our nurse and I was so happy. Everything was relaxed and going well at first. Then the contractions started and were getting increasingly more and more painful. I feel like it went from no pain to TOO MUCH PAIN in a very short amount of time. When I got to the hospital I was at 3cm and when I finally got my epidural at 3:00pm I was at 7cm. The epidural was quick and painless. OK, it might have been a little bit uncomfortable but within 5 minutes of getting it I was in heaven. This girl was not made for natural childbirth! Once the epidural kicked in we decided we better call our families and let them know what was going on. Being there the first few hours without anybody knowing was kind of fun. :) I called my sister who thought I was calling to give an update on my weekly appointment. Both her and my mom were shocked! Next I called Ben's mom at work. Usually when I call I just get transferred to her phone and if she is busy I get the voicemail. The receptionist said "She is with someone can I take a message?" I said, "This is her daughter-in-law" and before I could even finish my thought she said "Oh my God, are you having a baby?!?!!?" Tory immediately called me back and even though we told her it'd be hours before we had a baby, Dan and Tory were waiting patiently in the waiting room within an hour or two!
After the epidural had kicked in we all got some rest. Ben and I both napped a little bit and watched TV and chatted. When Dr. Greco came in around 7:00 I was 10cm and ready to start pushing. Unfortunately Tonya's shift was over at 7:00 so she had to leave but the two night nurses Ann and Louisa were wonderful. I don't remember much about the pushing other than it HURT, and it felt like forever. There was a clock right next to the bed and I remember just looking at it thinking I was going to be pushing forever. I ended up pushing for just over 2 hours. At one point I asked Dr. Greco when I was going to be done. She of course didn't know. I then told her that I am a schedule person and I like timelines. If you have ever been in my classroom you know that statement is all too true! Luckily it wasn't much longer and Lucy was out!
Everything after that is kind of a blur. Ben cut the cord. They did the Apgar and let her be on my chest. I only have 1 picture of her just after being born. I do not have any pictures of Ben and I with her, and I am not in any of the newborn pictures. Part of me wishes I had these pictures, but the other part of me remembers what I looked like at that point and don't ever want to see that again! :) We had discussed names earlier in the day and were pretty settled on Lucy Noelle. Once she was born we both knew that was her name.
She was about an hour old when the grandparents came in to meet her, along with Aunt Nora and my best friend Lesli. Without thinking about it, I put a picture of her up on Facebook before they came in, so they were not the first ones to see her or her name! Oops!!!!
