We all know that due dates are just a rough idea when baby should make their grand appearance. My due date was July 31, 2013. Now having two previous children I knew in the back of my mind that she wouldn't come early, that most likely she will follow suite of her sibling and be late as well.
On August 1st, I had my 40 week appointment and my doctor gave me the unpleasant news that I was only dilated to 4 and 75% effaced which was an improvement from the week before. He asked if I would like my membranes striped that it could cause me to start the labor process. I had never had this done before and I was very ready to meet our little one, so I said go for it. once he finished he told me that if this doesn't do anything when would I like to be induced. I asked his professional opinion since I've heard mixed thing about being induced and I wasn't with the other two. He said he would rather me be induced before 42 weeks, so we agreed on Wednesday August 7th as my induction and delivery date.
Upon leaving the doctors office I felt great! I grabbed lunch at Atlantic bread company (caught some rather odd looks from people), went to get new tires on Adams car (where a older women asked how far along I was and actually prayed for me), went to the mall to get my hair cut and colored and then finally went over to my in-laws to visit for my brother in laws birthday.
As usual I couldn't sleep so I was downstairs watching lifetime and around midnight that night my back started hurting more then usual. I headed up to bed, hoping that sleeping might help. I kept waking up every couple hours because of how uncomfortable I was. The pain in my back was starting to bring on contraction which to me was no big deal because unlike the other two pregnancies, this time I had been the victim of Braxton hicks contractions and didn't think to much of it. When I finally did get up I texted my husband who at this point had already been at work for hours. He asked me how far apart my contractions were and at that is when I started monitoring them. Once I started writing them down I noticed how strong they started getting and how frequent. I heard Caleb wake up but at this point the contractions would take my breath away and bear down on something till the it passed. A little while later I called my husband and through tears I told him it was time! He hung up and was on his way (around 25 mins away) at the same point my mother in law called and when she heard the pain in my voice she said she was on the way over (around 30 mins away).
The contractions were very unbearable, in the past I eased the pain by taking a shower or hot bath. knowing I had some time to kill, I decided to take a hot shower. At this point I noticed my contractions were 1-2 mins apart and I was starting to worry I would have to give birth by myself in the shower. Moments later Adam came rushing in and started throwing things in a bag. No more then 10 mins later Adams mom arrived and we were on our way to the hospital (which is 35 mins with no traffic). We have a lot of construction going on in our neighborhood and to save time we usually take the construction entrance because it usually is faster BUT it is bumpy. Well thinking it was faster, Adam decided to take the construction entrance in the middle of a contraction, screaming I told him to slow down! Once we get onto the main road we have to cross over some train tracks which in the time we have lived here, I haven't once been stopped by a train. As soon as we pulled up we noticed the red lights and bars going down for train crossing. Adam handed me his water bottle and said hold this. In a rage of panic I yelled "don't you DARE try to beat the train and go through". He yelled something back at me and made a U- turn to go back down the road we came.
It's a good thing that there is more then one way to get to the hospital BUT this other way we were forced to go was slower due to fact its going through little city/town limits. On the road in front of us was one of those obnoxiously huge trucks (you know the ones with the huge tires and big pipes) with 2 country boys just crusing. This really annoyed us because I'm having contraction after contraction possibly having a baby any minute. At the next red light Adam mumbles something and goes to pull next to them and I screamed at him not to (I mean seriously people have crazy road rage they could have pulled a gun out or something). We finally make it to the interstate which of course has traffic. while having contractions Adam is trying to be all sweet and hold my hand and telling me to breathe at which point I just want to scream at him to shut up! But I don't because I'm in to much pain. We are just about to get off on our exit and the traffic is backed up, while having a contraction I tell him that we are so done having kids and I will NEVER go through this again, he agrees with me!
We make it to the hospital and since I never did a hospital tour we have NO idea where to go so we pull up to the ER. one of the nurses see how huge I am and came out with a wheel chair. Trying to ask me questions during my contractions all I can do is nod and hope Adam will answer it for me. Seeing how much pain each contraction gave me they wheeled me right up to an exam room. A nurse came in to check me, I was dilated to 8 so they sent me up to labor and delivery.
Once in labor and delivery I ask the first medical person I see "WHEN can I have the epidural?". seeing my desperation she says I hope we can administer it to you but we have to wait and see what the doctor says and how your blood work comes back. What seems like forever, may have been 15 minutes, the guy came in and administered my epidural. while waiting for it to set in, I'm hoping and praying the guy did it right (with Alexis the guy didn't place it right and had to do it again). Within moments I start to feel amazing! The nurse came in and said that if everything goes well we should have the baby in a few hours and I should rest. I started to feel so good that I told Adam to go move our car from in front of the ER and bring in my bags. Once he got back we were cracking jokes and I remember laughing and being in a good mood. The nurse came back maybe 30 minutes later and just quickly checked me and said "well how do we feel about having a baby right now". I was in shock, she just said I had hours now she is saying I need to start pushing?!
Adam and I look at each other and laugh because we were both tired and looking forward to a nap. The nurse gets me into position and tells me that during my next contraction I need to push, I did and she said ok I need to grab the doctor. Literally the doc came in, said hello, said push during this contraction and out came the baby! We all were in shock she came out so quick and easy. The doctor made the comment that he wishes all his patients were in good moods and smiling right before delivery and that it was this easy every time. Our little one hadn't cried right away but was the color or a blueberry. Once on my chest they started wiping her off and she started screaming. In that moment Adam and I looked at each other and looked at her and just smiled. Our little family was complete!
Why the name change?
When we found out we were having a girl, we reviewed the names we considered for Alexis. Lillian was one of my all time favorites and we agreed on it. once we decided on Lillian we thought Grace went perfect with it. So from 18 weeks to 38 weeks our baby girls name was going to be Lillian Grace Smith. We had things monogrammed, engraved, and hand made with LGS on it. Some point at 38 weeks, I asked Adam if we were sure we liked Lillian and he said of course. I mentioned I wasn't really into it this time around and he asked what other names I had in mind. Jocelyn was another one I loved and then on TV we heard the name Madeline and we looked at each other and said that's it. Of course we couldn't make the decision on Madeline or Lillian and decided to wait till we saw her. When we had her we knew she was a Madeline. BUT now we have regrets. NOT the name but the spelling of her name. Some people might pronounce it Made-line, and we don't want it said that way so we debated changing the spelling to Madelyn but we already received her SS card and her birth certificate has been made.
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| Madeline Grace Smith Born at 12:50 pm 7 lbs 8 oz 20 inches long |
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