Our Birth Story

If you're not into the details... skip this post. But for all those that are, here is the story of how our little ones came into the world!

Tuesday morning, May 25th, I awoke with the usual dismay that another night on the downstairs couch had passed with no action... But my water broke at 7:06 am! I headed upstairs to tell Travis, and as I came down the hall I heard his alarm clock. I was glad he was awake because I figured waking him out of a dead sleep to tell him what had happened might really startle him. I walked in the door and saw him smiling at me. "What do you think about having our babies today?", I said with a straight face. "WHAT?!?", was his reply. I filled him in, called the doctor, and she confirmed we should bypass the OB/GYN office and head straight to the hospital.

I wasn't in much discomfort, that is other than being very pregnant, so we both showered and cleaned a little before loading up the car and heading out. We even stopped to take a picture of the belly one last time...

It was about 9:15 by the time we got to the patient registration desk. By then I was feeling none too comfy. We headed up to the maternity floor and they evaluated me for about an hour. Babies were still head down, yes I was definitely in labor, no I hadn't dilated any more than at the last check... and yes it was starting to really hurt.

We requested the epidural, and waited. I had real pain in about 4 places and the contractions seemed to be pretty close together, giving me very little time or inclination to focus. All I cared about was how hot the room was, how fast I was growing increasingly uncomfortable, and how I really wanted to meet the anesthesiologist...

Travis was great at providing me ice chips, hard candy and encouragement, often without me requesting it. He was just wonderful! Which was great because we ended up waiting the hour for the epidural in great discomfort. This culminated with the anesthesiologist asking me to sit on the edge of the bed (sorry Caden, MUCHO uncomfortable) and to hunch over my enormous belly (sorry Addison, also MUCHO uncomfortable). But I did, and the pain relief came...

Good thing too, because Travis and I spent the rest of the day in that labor room... I dilated about a centimeter an hour so it took until 12:30 am to get all the way to 10 centimeters. At some point in the evening the doctor started us on increasing doses of Pitocin to complete the process... I could definitely tell the effect on my contractions, even with the epidural. Finally ready to head to the OR for delivery! Travis changed into scrubs and they wheeled me down the hall for the big event.

At this point I am VERY hungry. Excited. Nervous. Anxious. I mean, I've been on bed rest for 9 weeks. My muscles have long gone, I have no stamina and have been able to do no prep for this major task. I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept well or been able to rest comfortably. The most I'd been able to do to prepare for labor was to read books about it. Still, I thought we'd progress quickly since Caden was so low in my pelvis. Alas, it was not to be...

I pushed for almost 3 hours before he decided to allow us to meet him. The doctor said she'd never seen any baby hover so close for so long... He appeared with a head full of strawberry-blond hair at 6 pounds and 8 ounces. Travis was able to see him delivered and cut the cord before the nurses cleaned him up and handed him back. His cry was just beautiful, but we had so little time to admire him for Baby B was coming soon! Travis held Caden as we began round two.

As soon as the doctor confirmed Baby B was still head down I began pushing all over again. After about a half hour we saw her heart rate race and then drop and the doctor insisted it was time to get her out. After one more unsuccessful push the doctor delivered Addison with a little vacuum assistance, and we heard... nothing.

She made no sound, and suddenly there were many people rushing to assist her. After what seemed like eternity one kind nurse turned to smile at us, letting us know everything was ok. We heard a tiny little cry and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Travis stood by my head with Caden in his arms, as we watched little Addison being attended to.

In a a little under 24 hours, our family of two became a family of four!