Remember how in my last update I was going to start doing daily updates? And then, two days later Sophia Raye decided to hastily enter the world. So no daily updates needed. :) Baby is here and we are enamored with our one week old little girl.
When I say hastily, I mean it. Her birth story can be written out in few paragraphs because she came that fast! (Warning, if you don't want to read birth story details, scroll on the down for the cute part of the post - pics.) :)
I went to work Wednesday morning, setting my sights on a Oct. 13th arrival. That would put baby 8 days past due, like her brother, and it would be after all the grandparents' visits were over. So I had 13 days to go. At 10:07 I sent Ryan this email:
I am definitely having contractions but I am pretty sure they are Braxton Hicks,
which means nothing. Also, they are slightly painful….and I forgot how much of a
bummer contractions are. So I kept on working with my "Braxton Hicks" contractions. I was heading to the chiropractor over lunch, and my mom was picking me up for the appointment because we'd dropped my car at the dealership for some work. The "Braxton Hicks" got a little stronger so I decided to organize my desk a bit, just in case I didn't come back that afternoon. My mom showed up at noon, and I swung by my manger's office to let her know I was heading to my appointment and also that I felt like I was having some minor contractions but didn't think they were anything major so I planned on being back. Oh, funny, funny.
When I got to my mom's car a few minutes later the contractions were stronger and a bit more painful so I had her drive us because it hurt to sit up straight. I timed them on the way down....4-5 minutes apart. We got to the chiropractor and I let them know that I thought I was in early labor and asked if I could still get adjusted. They told me I could and said on rare occasions, they'd actually had people's water break because of the adjustments during labor and also that babies often showed up 2-3 hours after their adjustments. I just thought to myself, riiiight......do you know how long my first labor was (21ish hours, if you are wondering)? So I got adjusted and we left. The contractions were getting stronger, though, so I called Ryan right after the chiro to let him know I thought we might have a baby on the way so he was headed down. My mom wanted to go ahead and take my to the hospital, and my compliant self said I did not want to go and sit in that bed for unending hours. So instead we went to a park and walked around, where my contractions went to 1-2 minutes apart. Oh - did I mention that I contemplated having my mom take me back home after the chiro so I could get my last minute items packed up? Yeah, I debated that. We ended up at the park instead.
Once we realized the contractions were so close, I think I made Mom a little frantic. It was 1:21pm. She called my doc who told me to come in so he could check me. (Everything - chiro, doc, hospital - are within about 2 minutes of each other.) So to the doc we went. I could hardly sit on the ride over or to get checked, I was just super uncomfortable (I mean, besides the obvious pains of contractions) if I wasn't standing. My check revealed I was 8cm and in transition.
Poor Ryan was driving around between the hospital and doctor's office, getting a little lost since we don't spend much (read: any) time in that neck of the woods. Based on the call log in my phone, I think he made it to the doctor's office at 1:59pm. Off to the hospital we went...again, Ryan was a little lost and confused on how to get there. As calmly as a laboring lady in transition can, I told him I needed him to figure it out. I'd guess we were at the hospital by 2:10. Doc Gunby had called ahead to let them know I was on my way so they were ready and waiting. We hooked up to various monitors and they begin admitting procedures. I still could not sit down...it was just entirely too much pressure. At 2:51 my water broke and they told me I had to get in bed so they could check me. I went to get in bed and realized baby was not staying in much longer. (Maybe TMI....but Ryan said he could see baby's head as I was getting in bed.) I told the nurses I HAD to push...seriously, it was not an option. Ryan said the place was like a movie - everyone yelling for a doctor or a resident or someone to get in there. The nurse with one glove on, getting ready to do her check. And then I pushed 2 more times (first push was when I was getting into the bed) and nurse Reyna caught the baby. Things were still a bit frantic with a resident scurrying in and the nurses calling for time of birth, but no one had a clock. Ryan said it was 2:55 so we took off a minute and made delivery time be 2:54. Somewhere in there, Ryan asked if it was a boy or girl....and nurse Reyna told us we had a little girl. I'm smiling just writing this....such a sweet moment in my life.
It took us a few hours to decide on her name. We had this name board at home but nothing we'd put up there seemed right. And then, what I swore wouldn't happen happened - I just looked at her and knew. I'd stressed over this naming thing for months and was certain there was no way I'd be able to just know when she was born - it was totally not me and my personality. But I did just know. So Ryan and I chatted about it and he was on board so we had ourselves a little Sophia Raye - born 10/01/14, 2:54pm, 6lbs 11oz, 19 1/4 inches - completely loved and adored.
