Monday, October 26, 2009

The Story

I was MISERABLE. (Wasn't sure I'd made that clear enough yet). At 38 1/2 weeks I had my membranes stripped, but all I got from that was a lot of false labor and even less sleep than usual. At 39 weeks, still no baby. By Saturday (39 1/2 weeks) I was cramping and contracting on and off all day, with some serious back pain. Still nothing consistent though. Same story Sunday. Paul was on back-up call and got called in and was gone all day. I was MISERABLE. (Did I already say that?) Had a breakdown or two that day. Paul got home at about 9pm. We were talking about how on earth I was going to survive another day of pregnancy and wouldn't it be perfect if I had the baby on Monday, Paul's day off? At 10pm, we were getting ready for bed...and my water broke.

HALLELUJAH!

I was standing in the kitchen having a snack, Paul was sitting at the computer in the next room. It was such a strange (and wonderful!) moment.
It went a little something like this...
ME: "What the...Paul I think my water just broke!"
PAUL: "Are you sure?"
ME, running to the bathroom: "Yeah I'm sure!"
Followed by lots of cheering from me : )
PAUL, following me to the bathroom: "What do we do?"

And this is where we experienced a role reversal. Paul, normally the calm and decisive one, really had no idea what we should do - not from a medical standpoint, just the logistics of it all. Me? Calm, cool, and collected.
I told him to start packing clothes for the kids while I called a friend to see if we could drop them off for the night. I got changed and threw the last minute things into my hospital bag while Paul woke the kids and loaded them into the car. I called Labor and Delivery to let them know we were on our way, and then called my mom so she could book a flight.

After dropping off the kids (who were a little groggy and confused, but excited as well) we got checked in and settled at the hospital. I was still only at a 3, which I'd been a week earlier at my doctors appointment (disappointing considering all the contractions I'd had throughout the week). I was having contractions at this point and they were starting to get painful. They told me I could have the epidural whenever I wanted it and for some reason, I hesitated. Seriously, do I never learn? Paul looked at me like I was crazy and told me to, "Get it now." I did, which turned out to be a wise decision : ) My contractions weren't real regular so to speed things up a bit they started me on pitocin. The baby didn't like that very much though, her heart rate kept dropping, so they turned it off. But it gave me the jumpstart I needed because after that my contractions were regular and strong and I went the rest of the way on my own. The baby's heart rate was still dropping here and there though so they put me on oxygen and had to come in periodically and move me from one side to the other - my epidural was so good I couldn't even wiggle my toes at this point. All of this, combined with the fact that I always get the shakes when I'm in labor meant I got zero sleep that night. Paul slept some of course. When it was time to push things happened really quickly - it was less than 10 minutes until our baby was here, arriving at 6:26 am. It was an exciting moment, looking down to discover it was a little girl. She was such a sweetheart, not crying much at all, just laying in my arms and staring up at us. I also remember feeling instant relief that I wasn't pregnant anymore : )

So that's our story.
My mom caught the first flight out that morning - luckily Avery arrived before she boarded her plane so we could tell her it was a girl.
Paul brought the kids over later that afternoon to meet their new baby sister, whom they were both very excited about.
And Paul and I worked on a name for our little girl. It took us a day and a half, we decided on Avery Jane the day we came home from the hospital.
And we couldn't be happier with her.

Here she is in her going home outfit.


A few days later my mom had some fun with her new camera and my pretty baby girl.





We love our Avery Jane.

21 comments:

Tiffany said...

Yay, I have been waiting for this story! Not that I didn't already know exactly what happened, but I just love the way you tell stories on your blog :) I am SO happy you went into labor on your own and that everything went so well and baby Avery is finally here! I can't WAIT to meet her and hold her in just a few more weeks!! xoxo

The Larsons said...

I feel the same way about not being pregnant anymore... not nervous about labor as much as excited to not be pregnant anymore! :) So happy everything went so well... she is a beautiful, healthy little girl! I think Alex and Avery fit so well together. Sisters!--how fun! Enjoy!

Carrie Anne said...

oh summer SHE IS SO FREAKING CUTE!!!! i just want to eat her...well not really...just hold her for you! oh my gosh!!! i'm glad things went well...tender mercies for you on having your water break!!! i'm so glad both of you are happy & healthy...i hope the adjustment is going well for you.

Sarah said...

Oh my goodness she is ADORABLE. Those pictures your mom took are so, so cute. Avery reminds me just how big Blaine is now. sigh. Oh, those sweet, soft, cuddly, yummy newborns! I want mine back! I have this crazy, squirmy, wiggly baby now... but he is still delicious :) I hope you're enjoying your new little one, I can't believe how fast it has flown on this third baby. Enjoy it all... as much as you can! :)

MARE + 3= CRAZY!!! said...

She is such a pretty baby. I LOVE her name. It's also pretty & fits her just right. I am so glad that things went well with her entrance into this world. She was just taking her time making sure she looked just right & felt just right & was well just right :) Congrats to you all, what a blessing of happiness. :)

Shellie said...

YAY! I have been so excited to hear this story....would have been better in person but I'll take it! She is positively perfect! I can't wait to meet her :) I hope everything is going well!!

Steph & Wade said...

What a great story...I'm glad it all worked out so well. And you got the epidural. Yeah! Avery is so precious! P.S. When I saw you at Churchhill you looked so good! I wish I could have stayed to chat.

Lori said...

She is so cute it makes my heart hurt!! Yay Summer I'm glad everything went so well - and easier than the other 2 right:)

We're happy about Rhode Island, but we would've love Mayo too! I get so excited when i thought about being neighbors again. Thank heavens for the blogging world. Take care!

robyne said...

Summer,
Avery is so dang beautiful! I wish I could meet her in person! Congratulations to you, Paul,Noah, & Alex :) Love you guys!!!

Elise said...

Yipee!!! I wish I could have visited, but we've been sick around here. When we're all better, we look forward to meeting little AJ : D You're a trooper girl! Congrats to the whole fam!!!

E

Elise said...
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Lexie said...

Wow, I'm sorry it was so miserable, but I'm so glad for you it didn't have to go another day and that Paul was there! She is just so adorable and your mom is great with her new camera. Those pictures are fantastic!

Nellie said...

She is BEAUTIFUL!

rachel said...

That is so fun. I love baby storys. Yours was great. I love the name you guys picked its so cute. We are so excited for you guys.

[BrookeO] said...

CUTE. CUTE. CUTE!
When can I come over?!

mandy* said...

I LOVE baby stories!!!! Congratulations. Avery is absolutely beautiful!

SKIPR said...

Congrats! She is adorable!! And I especially love the last picture - haha! I seriously love crying baby pictures... it's a problem.
Anyway, congrats again - we're happy for you. And especially for you, that you're no longer pregnant. WooHoo!

Lisa said...

Yay! Congratulations!! Avery is sooo cute! I love the name too - we actually thought about that name if Brigham ended up a girl. You look great too!

Tracey said...

Congratulations!!!! I am so excited for you and she looks adorable!!! I'm sorry you had to make it to the bring of insanity before she finally came but I suppose that just makes it all the better when she got here, right? :) Good luck with three kids, I would say I was nervous for you but I saw you in action with the crazy nanny job you had and I know you can handle anything!!! Keep the pictures coming, I love them!

JohnK said...

She's beautiful! Can't wait to see her and hold her.

Rachel said...

YAY! I'm so happy that all is well and you have a beautiful baby girl! I love her name choice as well! And I couldn't stop laughing at that picture of Alex with Avery! I think anyone would be able to tell that she is VERY excited to be a big sister! Very cute!