A Baby Story: SURPRISE!

So far I have been blessed with fairly normal/healthy pregnancies. My first child came the day before her due date, I was in labor a total of 10 hours, no epidural, and no major complications. So the second time around I was planning for about the same process. Except this time, we wanted to be surprised, so we skipped finding out the gender early. Little did we know this kid would surprise us in more ways than one.

Everyone told me the "second baby comes faster"... and sometimes "sooner," so in my head I thought "that's great, maybe baby will come a week early!" However, I still tried to keep my "nesting" instincts to a minimum until after I hit the 36 week marker... sounds silly, but I didn't want to get myself overly anxious and then end up going past my due date. So when I went into labor BEFORE 36 weeks I was totally unprepared! No "go bag" ready, no freezer meals made, and, worst of all... no call list of people who could watch my 2 year old. Boy was I stupid!

My contractions started around 2:00 AM. I was half asleep through most of them thinking it was all a dream... in my mind there was NO WAY I could actually be in labor this soon. Around 4:30 AM, the contractions were coming too close together to possibly be Braxton Hicks contractions and too painful to be 'just a dream,' so I whipped out the trusty contraction tracker app on my phone. They were about 10 minutes apart. The hubster started waking up around this time to get ready for work; I rolled over and said "don't want to freak you out, but I'm pretty sure I'm in labor." Took a while to convince him this was happening FOR REAL... he was even more in denial than I was.

This pregnancy I'd been seeing a midwife who worked with 2 other doctors. I called my midwife and filled her in on what was happening... at this point contractions were around 5 minutes apart. The hospital I was planning to deliver at did not have a NICU, and since I was technically 2 days before being 36 weeks they wanted me to go to Kapiolani Medical Center instead, just in case there were any complications with baby. Sadly only one of the doctors from my OB's office is able to deliver at that hospital and, of course, he was on vacation!

The hour we spent getting ready to go to the hospital is a blur. Between contractions I sat there staring at my empty "go bag" trying to remember what the heck I was supposed to put in it... ended up with a few pairs of underwear, nursing bras, and a toothbrush (it was pretty pathetic to say the least)... later on I had to send hubby home with a list of everything I forgot... it was a big list.
I managed to send out a mass text to any of my friends I thought might be awake and able to take on my toddler.  I managed to get ahold of my friend Lala, but she couldn't take her until 9:00 am when she got off her morning shift at work. So what did we do with our daughter? Took her with us to the hospital. That was fun.

Part of me wanted to keep this baby in another week or so... I wasn't mentally ready for this. That same part of me was going through all the worst case scenarios of things that could be wrong with the baby. What if it's lungs, heart, or other organs weren't fully developed yet? What if the baby was in some sort of distress that triggered early labor? I tried not to focus on all the "what if's" too much... but that is easier said than done. When I got to the hospital I was already 8 cm dilated and 100% effaced... ready or not, this kid was coming!

My toddler made for great comedic relief in the delivery room. She was bright eyed and full of energy, prancing around the room. She squished into the narrow bed with me, tried to help daddy rub my back, threw the tennis balls around (meant for rubbing my back), tried to roll me off the birthing ball (it was "her turn"),  and was fascinated with all the buttons on the monitor. It was cute and entertaining until I started to hit the "transition" phase. I was pretty sure my 2 year old was gonna see EXACTLY where babies come from if we didn't get her out of there soon. Out of desperation I called my good friend Julia, who was even more pregnant than I was with TWINS and had a 3 year old to chase. I felt horrible even asking but I was so desperate, I just needed someone to watch her until 9:00 when Lala could take her.  Julia was my hero and got there just in time before things got too intense.

As with my first pregnancy, my water never broke, so the doctor had to break it. The Dr. seemed a bit impatient, which really annoyed me. Once he broke my water it wasn't too much longer til I was ready to push. It took just a few big pushes and out SHE came! It was a GIRL!!! Hubby and I both thought it would be a boy. We had 5 different boy names ready to go and had struggled to think of any girl names. She was absolutely beautiful and melted my heart the moment I held her. To my surprise, she had a head full of dark hair! She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz, 19 inches long... pretty good size for being a month early. Our little girl was perfect and totally healthy.

We stayed in the hospital for two days. She struggled with nursing at first, but with some help from the lactation consultant we learned a few tricks to help her latch. Poor girl was nameless until just before we left the hospital when we finally decided on naming her Grace Michelle. I feel so blessed that everything worked out so well despite how unprepared we were. Grace was so excited to join our family, she just couldn't wait any longer.  I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for our beautiful baby girl! Our family is so in love with her.