What just happened?........

DISCLAIMER: This post contains a birth story. For those of you unfamiliar with birth stories, they can be gross. Also, I am a chronic oversharer. Reader discretion is advised.

So, with this pregnancy, I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about the last three weeks. Some days I would have a few. Some days, I had that ALL DAY. So, last Monday, when I started having contractions at about 2:30 in the morning, I didn't necessarily think too much of it. I had contractions all day again, but these were consistently 30 minutes apart. That night, they stopped for about two hours and I thought, "Ah man, ah well, we'll just wait some more." When I went to bed, they started up again and were about 20 minutes apart. They stayed that way for most of the night....15 minutes apart by morning. I was about to sleep for about 4 hours which was nice.

Ok, so Tuesday morning....

- Early Tuesday morning, the contractions continued getting closer together. By 8:30, they were about 7-8 mintues apart. (side note: my phone has a fun stopwatch app, which I became a little bit addicted to. This proved to be a good thing in the end).
We decided to go to the hospital at this point as the contractions were getting harder to get through. Sandy needs to win a prize for the best driving ever. We live in College Place, which is actually known for having horribly pot-hole filled streets. He did an amazing job!
So, the drive from our house to the hospital takes about 5 minutes. By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were a minute apart. At this point, I had abandoned the timer, but it proved to be invaluable because if we had waited.....well, you'll see.

Sandy wheeled me upstairs. By the time I got into a bed, the contractions were basically on top of each other....get ready for overshare. The nurse checked me, I was dialated to 3.5 cm....For those not in the centimeter loop, that really bites. I almost cried. Thirty hours of contractions and I'm only 3.5???!?! I have to get to 10 before this thing is over...LAME! I didn't have too much time to whine because the contractions were getting worse. The nurse told me that she'd call me 4cm so they could admit me.

I wasn't too worried. I had a plan. If they sent me home, I was going to have Sandy wheel me back downstairs to the lobby where I would holler up a storm until they let me in. Thankfully, I didn't have to.

Ok, so at this point, we've been at the hospital for about 15 minutes. They started an IV. I confirmed that I was in fact interested in an epidural. I had considered med-free, but after laboring at home for so long, I was done. At this point, I was pretty much hollering....loudly! I sort of figured that the louder I got, the quicker the people around me would move!

25 minutes into the whole thing, I told the nurse that my body was starting to push. She said, "Ok, let me check you again." After she checked me, she yelled, "Somebody get in here!" and told them to call the doctor. The nurse told me to do the stereotypical hee-hee-hoo...which it turns out actually helps. Five minutes later, the doctor literally ran in. She said, "Ok...go."...which I did. It was such a weird experience. I obviously felt the pain, but I also remember thinking....hmm, nobody said it would feel like this?.....I would be happy to tell you about this, but have been told that it's too much for a blog...even one with a disclaimer :-)

In two contractions, Josie was born.

Basically, the contractions were 7 minutes apart when we left the house.
They were one minute apart when we got to the hospital.
We arrived at 9:00
She was born at 9:38

I tell you what! If you're going to have a natural child birth, 38 minutes of actual work is seriously the way to go! :-)

A few weeks ago, I tested positive for a strain of Strep. It's a common thing to have and not a big deal for me, but it's potentially a major bummer for the baby. They had wanted to get two doses in me before she was born. That obviously didn't happen. So, we were in the hospital for two days while they made sure she wasn't going to get super sick. She didn't and all is well.

So far, she's a good eater. She will be a good sleeper....someday :-) Sandy's parents were able to come up and are still here - which has been wonderful! Even mamas with crazy fast labors can take a little tlc :-)

Here are a few pictures...enjoy!

Addi giving "the belly" a kiss. 

Brand New Josie who looked soooo much like

brand new Addi. She looks much more like

herself now.

Introducing sisters

Grammy and Josie

Addi helping Papa hold Josie

Nana, Josie and Adalie

Pops and Josie

Addi and Nana being so silly :-)

Very little feet

So much blond hair...just like her Papa.

I didn't want to use the flash, but had to get

this picture, because she was just so content.

Sleeping on a pillow

This is what Mamas do in the wee morning hours

when we've already been awake for most of the

wee night hours...take pictures of ourselves....

Three girls at home