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| Happy Birthday to Mom! |
The days before Sadie was born, I had a feeling that something was up. I had a few of the tell-tale signs that a baby was coming, but it took a visit to my doctor to make me slow down and listen. At my weekly check-up with my OB, she informed me that I was already three centimeters. She got a smile on her face and said, "I hope your bag is packed. I'm on call all weekend, and I think I'll be seeing you." I was trying to convince her otherwise, but she said that if she were a betting woman, she'd put money down that I'd be holding a baby by Sunday at the latest.
As with Stella, there had to be a bit of drama for the birth of this child. My dad had been asked to go to San Jose to watch a few of the games for March Madness (including the UNLV game) but he was afraid to go and miss his second grandchild being born. When I left the OB, I was ordered to call my dad on the way home to let him know if he could attend the game. I told him that he better go, especially to the UNLV game for me, and that there would be no action from this baby while he was gone. However, I did like the date 3/23/13, so I told my dad that I couldn't promise that I wouldn't be trying for a delivery on Saturday.
I went to work the next day, and it started to feel like a similar Thursday about a year and a half ago. I had been laboring for months to create a master binder of plans for my substitute to finish out the year for me, and I had just finished it a week prior. With the news that my OB had given me, I was glad that everything was good for me to leave if this baby came early. Although I was not teaching Shakespeare, I was in the middle of a poetry unit, and this day we happened to be working with haikus. Just like the Thursday I went into labor with Stella, I started having contractions during my classes.
Truth be told, my mom had me a bit freaked out. She kept telling me that your second baby will come much faster than the first, so I was trying to keep my eye on the clock. I did not want this labor to progress too quickly, and horror of horrors, I had to do something like deliver this baby at school! Thankfully, my contractions stayed twenty minutes apart at work. Since my dad had gone to San Jose, we happened to have my mom staying with us while he was out of town. When I got home, I let Steve and my mom know that I was feeling a bit off, but not to worry. I was really trying to convince myself that this baby was not going to come, while not freak out that my downplaying could ultimately ruin my chances of getting to the hospital. Seriously, my mom clearly had me thinking that your second baby came at lightning speed!
So, we sat and waited. More than anything, I wanted to watch the UNLV game at 4:00, so I kept telling myself to calm down so that I could at least get through the entire basketball game. My contractions were ten minutes apart, so I was really banking on wishful thinking at this point. Let's just say that the basketball game did not help things! My boys were not having their best day, and their terrible play was stressing me out. My heart was pounding and I was yelling at the TV, and the next thing I knew, my contractions had jumped to five minutes apart! Stella was getting ready for bed, my mom had called my dad and told him to drive fast back to Reno, and I started to take some deep breaths.
More than anyone, my mom was really worrying me. She kept telling me that no one had the power to control their contractions and that I really aught to think about heading to the hospital. However, through a lot of coaxing and quiet relaxing, I managed to slow my contractions down to ten minutes apart. Yes, I told my mother, I AM magical! I still did think that I had a date with the delivery room, so I made sure to alert the authorities (my bosses) that I would not be at work the next day.
Apparently I am more magical than I thought because my contractions only slowed down even more! Stella and my mom were long asleep, but Steve and I were up watching the clock. How could we be holding steady between ten and fifteen minutes apart and not progressing? Steve finally got a bit of sleep, but I could not even close my eyes. I made sure that everything was packed, did final prep around the house, and I sat there and waited.
Honestly, I am glad that I had already called into work the night prior because I did not sleep at all that night. At around 5:00 a.m., my contractions finally started to play again! We were on our way to five minutes apart and speeding up quickly, so I made sure to take a shower and get everything ready to get on the road. Stella woke up, so I prepared to say goodbye and head out the door, but then it happened again... we slowed WAY down. How do you go from having contraction every five minutes to then slowing back down to ten? I called my OB and told her about the events from the last twenty-four hours, and she just told me to hold tight. In my head I kept thinking, "How was my first baby so clockwork and quick, and my second baby is the taking forever?"
By this time, my dad had arrived after driving through the night from San Jose. I felt terrible; I had my dad rush through the night to get back, I had taken off work, and there was still no baby! I was tired, uncomfortable, and beyond ready to have my baby. My contractions continued, but nothing was getting anywhere. We all started to get crafty to get this baby moving. I hung out on my yoga ball, went for a long walk, put extra Siracha in my tortilla soup and lunch, and order the spiciest sushi they made for dinner; we were going to have this baby! My parents decided to stay the night in the hopes that this baby would make her grand entrance, so everyone went to bed with me still holding steady at ten minutes apart.
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| My last preggers pic... ever! |
Steve and I got on the road to St. Mary's just after midnight; we had made it to a very cool birth date and after two days of early labor, I was ready to have this baby! Even though my contractions were five minutes apart, I honestly was not in a ton of pain. When I left for the hospital with Stella, I could barely speak, so I was worried that after all of this we would be turned away.
We checked in and prepared to be checked out to see if we could be admitted and have this baby. I still had a horrible feeling that after all this we would be sent home. By the time I had changed into the ultra-stylish gown, the nurse came and informed me that I had visitors waiting to see me. I was so worried that my family had woken up in the middle of the night just to go home. It seems that my fears were pretty spot on- yes, my contractions were five minutes apart, but I was only three and a half centimeters!!! Really? I wanted to crawl under the thin hospital sheets and die.
Thankfully, the nurse we were assigned was extremely kind! She said that even though I was not progressed enough, she wanted me to stay an hour to run a few tests and monitor the baby. In truth, I could tell she was stalling because she could knew that I did not want to leave only to return a few hours later. The rule of thumb that I had heard was, "Less than four- out the door," so we waited and hoped that my labor would progress. My poor family who had come to witness the blessed event (my dad, aunt, and Sadie's godmother-to-be) were all sent home until further notice.
Somehow, between the tests and checks over the hour, we were officially at four centimeters, so I could stay! Like I said, after having contractions Thursday, Friday, and now Saturday, I was ready to have this baby! Because of this, I was also extremely tired; I had not slept more than an hour since Wednesday night. The doctor on call (who actually delivered Stella) decided to get my epidural going so that I could get some sleep. My OB would not be in until about seven that morning, so we decided to wait and break my water until she arrived. Boy was that a mistake!
We sent texts to the family that we had sent away and told them to return to the hospital around seven to be sure to be there for the birth. We had a feeling that once my water was broken we'd have a baby about an hour later, so Steve and I got a little bit of rest while we waited the few hours for my OB to show.
When seven o'clock rolled around, my family was there, but my OB was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, she was monitoring my progress from an app on her phone (seriously, all my monitors can be checked from her phone) and I guess she didn't want to break my water just yet. I am not sure what her master plan was, but I think I have a general idea of what happened. She had a scheduled c-section to do at 12:30 over at Renown, and she had another patient and me both waiting to deliver at St. Mary's. I think she wanted to break our water right before her surgery, head over and deliver that baby, and then come back to deliver the two babies at St. Mary's. I can only assume this because I did not see her until noon!
By this point, I was not only ready to have a baby and see my other baby, but I was not too happy with my OB. I thought that I would have had my baby hours ago, and I was made to sit and wait while she had a nice workout at the gym and enjoyed her morning. She came like a lightning bolt, broke my water, and was out the door to deliver her scheduled c-section across town. Before she left, she told me that I shouldn't bet on delivering for another hour or two, so to sit tight. Since I'm a bit competitive, I informed her that she better hurry because I bet that I would be having my baby within the hour.
In all the joy of enjoying my company in the room and watching another March Madness game (mainly in the hopes that I could get stressed enough again from a basketball game to get this baby moving) I noticed something a bit strange. When you get an epidural, you are numb from the waist down. If you start to feel any pain, you have a happy little button that you can push to increase the medication. I had just explained the whole process to my aunt and cousin, and told them that it was so nice to be able to control my own pain and enjoy the moment. Right after my water was broken and at about eight centimeters, I began to feel a whole lot of pain on the left side of my body. I was smiling and trying to calm myself as I pushed my magical button, but nothing seemed to happen. My nurse noticed me pushing the button a few times while she was in prepping the room, and she let me know that as much as I pushed, the machine would not let me overdose. I kindly informed her that I was not trying to take an extra dose, but that I was now feeling everything on my left side. It was the strangest thing because I was totally numb on one side, but I could feel every bit of my labor on the other side. I later found out that this was called a "window." Sometimes when an epidural is administered, there ends up being a nerve that is missed, and you are therefore given a window to the pain that you were trying to block. Lucky me!
Between the pain, the lack of sleep, the frustration, and being so over this process, I somehow managed to progress in just thirty minutes. I let the nurse know that she better get on the phone and call my OB or get someone else in there; I was going to have this baby NOW! Thankfully, my OB came screaming in the door about fifteen minutes later. She said she ran all the red lights and stop signs, but she had made it. I told her that I would have the baby within the hour. No joke, two contractions later, at exactly 12:48 p.m., there was Miss Sadie!
Sadie came into the world rather quietly. Besides her initial cry, she was cool and calm. In truth, it was like looking at Stella's twin! She looked so much like Stella when she was born that it was uncanny. She was the same length and only weighed a touch more. The only difference I really saw was the hair- oh the hair! Sadie came with much more hair than her sister, and it was R-E-D from the first time we saw her! Stella's hair turned red after some time, but Sadie was the tiny redhead that all the nurses were talking about. Besides that familiar appearance and notable hair, the only thing that Steve and I kept commenting on was how quiet she was. She never cried or made any fussy noises, except that she would make tiny squeaks on occasion. They were so soft and cute, and she became our Minnie Mouse that first day in the hospital.
Having a baby during the day is very different because you're not really ready to go to sleep and be quiet. You want to eat and see family, and in particular, we really wanted to see Stella. Luckily, having Sadie during the day meant that we could have Stells come visit without interfering with her sleep. My dad was already at the hospital, but he stepped out to pick up Port of Subs for us (bless him!) and now we were waiting on Stella and Nonna. Sadie had her first bath while I devoured my sandwich; it's amazing what not eating for about 18 hours and labor can do for the appetite! Besides actually having Sadie, I was very much looking forward to seeing my two girls together for the first time.
Throughout the entire time being at the hospital, I really missed Stella, so I was thrilled to see her come in the door! The moment I wanted most, to have our little family together, was finally here. Steve brought Stella over to Sadie to show the big sister her new buddy. Stella smiled, checked out Sadie, and she waved at her little sister. We then brought her over to the bed so that we could have Stella actually sit with Sadie. In truth, Stella treated Sadie much like Gwen; she wanted to pat her on the head and give her a kiss. It was a short and sweet moment, but I was overjoyed to see my two girls together for the first time. Our family was complete with the addition of Miss Sadie Ryan Adkins.
