And Finally, A Brief Birth Story (for Posterity)

I was induced with Gwen, took FOREVER to progress even on Pitosin, and went from mild, crampy pains to sudden excruciating pain when my water broke completely. Even then, I was still only a 4.

So at my wed dr appointment for Caroline when the doc told me I was almost a 4, I really began to wonder what to expect. I had been having contractions off and on for over a week. Nothing consistent. I certainly didn't want to have our lil one arrive suddenly at home, so on Thursday when my contractions became more regular, we decided to go in to the hospital.

We packed Gwen up for an overnight at a friend's house (which she was stoked about, as you can see), and realized we didn't have a prego pic of me, so we took one. You can see from my face that I'm pretty comfortable. Yeah, my contractions were definitely there, but not too painful. Just crampy feeling like I had on the Pitosin with Gwen.

The hospital deflated us. I wasn't progressing. They told us to walk around for an hour and come back. We did. Let me assure you, the hospital did not design a nice path for pregnant ladies to help their labor along. We were off roading it. Came back, got checked again. Contractions were super close together... for about 15 minutes... then they tapered off again. At 9:30 pm the hospital sent us home. While they admitted we'd probably be back around 2 am, they didn't want us to wait around there, I guess.

We picked up Gwen, ordered a consolation pizza, and I prepared myself for what I thought would be a long, increasingly uncomfortable night with a delivery in the early morning on a night of little sleep. I was pretty bummed.

But, tender mercies abound, and sometime around midnight I fell asleep. Woke up at 5 am with absolutely NO contractions. I wondered about false labor, etc, etc, still having no real concept of what to expect.

Between 6:30 and 7:30 I had 2 contractions. Much stronger than the day before, but clearly not a regular pattern. 7:30 they all the sudden picked up the pace and became quite painful. We packed Gwen up, dropped her off at the same friend's house (thanks, guys!), and arrived at the hospital by 8:30 am. I was pained, but still worried that this wasn't the real deal and that they would send me home again. I was relieved to hear that I was almost a 7. They got us a room right away.

Got an epidural, hung out with Eric making phone calls and updating everyone. Started pushing around 10:30. There was miconium in my water, so they called up specialists in case she inhaled any. Also, her blood pressure was dropping with each push (which made me nervous because I was worried about her health but did NOT want to have a C-section after all that work I'd already done!) so we wanted to get her out quickly. OB told me that it would have been easier, probably could have gotten her out in 2 pushes, if she had not been posterior (facing front instead of back). Her forehead kept running into my pelvis. She wasn't coming out. Tried the suction cup, but eventually just helped me out with a healthy episiotomy. After that, she popped right out. No need to worry bout the inhalation of miconium, she was born bawlin and kept it up for a solid 15 minutes.

After a couple minutes of skin to skin, tried nursing. And she took right to it. Nursed for an hour. Yes, an hour. What a blessing, especially in contrast to how much Gwen HATED it!

The nurses and staff kept congratulating us on our speed. Apparently there were 18 other women in labor that morning. I was the last to arrive and the first to deliver. Go us!

So, in summary, hard labor started around 7:30, arrived at the hospital at 8:30, started pushing around 10:30, had Caroline at 10:53. Not a bad labor and delivery, I'd say!

Caroline Isabel

Caroline Isabel

born April 8, 2011 10:53 am

7 lbs 7.7 oz

19 in long

13 in head

head full of dark hair! We love it!

Labor and delivery were actually not too bad at all. I can't complain. In fact, I received some great blessings for which I continue to feel really grateful. I suppose I'll do a longer post about the whole experience, but not today. We are home now. Recovery is going well, Caroline is a champion eater (no kidding--she would eat ALL DAY LONG if I'd let her) and loves to sleep too.

Gwen is only interested in Caroline in small doses. When she arrived at the hospital, Eric said, "Gwen, there's your baby sister, right there!" and she said, "Yup. ....I look out the window?" as she gave only a passing glance at Caroline and bee-lined it for the curtains. :)

She asks to hold "my baby", but is ready to be all done after about a minute. She is mostly intrigued by her sister's tiny features and wants to touch her ears, nose, cheeks, hair, etc. She giggles as soon as Caroline is on her lap, though, which is really cute. She also LOVES the teaset that Caroline brought as a gift. She wants to play "Tea Party" with someone, anyone, ALL DAY LONG. Good gift, Caroline. You've found the key to winning your older sister's heart. :)

Can You Believe I'm 38 Weeks?

Well, I am. Today. Two weeks from today is my due date. I can hardly believe it. 2 weeks sounds like... any day... ya know? But, I am not predicting anything. I am prepared to go for a couple more weeks.

However, now that I've gotten both papers down to size (though it wouldn't hurt to come back in a few days and reread them just to have a fresh view), I feel comfortable with baby coming any time. After all, even if the papers aren't perfect, I know I can turn them in right now, as is, if necessary and still pull off at least an A- in both classes. And that takes all the stress and pressure off. I feel great. and relaxed.

and, lil girl, you officially have my permission to come any time you would like now. :)

"I Saw God Today"

Gwen Elizabeth Allan

born: Sunday, November 9, 2008 6:26 am

7 lbs 7 oz
19 inches long

more on the story when I can sit down and type with a lil more gusto... :)

still here

Well folks, if you thought I would go 2 weeks early... I didn't. Of course, if I went into labor today I would still be closer to 2 weeks than 1 week, but I'm not feelin it. Looks like baby girl Allan is going to obediently wait at least til after Eric's test on Friday. Just wanted to update you all!

I'm almost finished with the baby's room, so stay tuned for photo updates in the next couple of days! :)

Poll: When Will I Go Into Labor?

37 weeks today. Wow. (This pic of our lil buckeye baby belly is actually 36 weeks and 5/7, but that's close enough, right? Can you see that she's dropped?) Okay, so here's the fun part where anybody's guess is game: when will I actually go into labor? If you believe the whole 'like mother like daughter' thing or that you can get a good feel for maternity trends by looking at Mom and sister stats, here ya go:

My mom was 2 weeks early with her first baby, my older sis. Then pretty much right on time with me, my bro, and my younger sis. My older sister was 2 weeks early with her first baby and right on time with her 2nd. Keep in mind that my mom and I have very similar body shapes and my maternity pictures are strikingly similar to hers when she was expecting. But, both my mom and my older sister are shorter and more 'petite' than I am. Especially my sis. She's teeny and thin, so we really don't look anything alike physically and I can't honestly anticipate that our bodies would respond all that similarly in labor patterns.

One final detail. I'm dilated to a 1 now. (yes!)

So, will I go into labor 2 weeks early during week 38 (which would be NEXT week-- and a test week for Eric. Not extremely convenient timing...), 1 week early during week 39, pretty much right around my due date on Nov 17th, 1 week late, or more than one week late (pushing towards a Thanksgiving baby! Please don't let this be the case!)? Cast your votes in the poll to your right! :)