To back up just a little bit, this picture is from Sunday, September 5th. Eric and I had gone into Labor and Delivery after 12 hours of contractions, only to find out that there had been absolutely no progress from the Monday before, and that they were sending us home. Very sad for me, but at least we got to have an ultrasound to make sure that Avery was still head down. We had also realized that she still had her fists up by her head, which was keeping her from engaging. After that, we just planned on the scheduled c-section for Wed, Sept 8th, as the day she would join our family. (even though the painful contractions did not fully go away)
Avery had other plans, though.
Tuesday night, September 7th, I had decided to start taking Colace at 7:00 pm. If you don't know what it is, look it up. I wanted to be ready for the c-section and the fun of recovering. Silly me, though. I had accidentally taken the "Colace with stimulant". In other words, a laxative. Now, while I didn't have the typical affects of the laxative, I did begin what I "thought" were cramps from it beginning at 9:00 pm. By 9:45, I was in tears when Eric got home from the temple because they were so painful and I was just done having pain. Eric gave me a blessing at that point, and then we starting timing in the event they were regular and turned out to be contractions after all.
By midnight, after a long, hot bath, and a lot of pain later, we realized that these were not regular at all. Because they didn't feel like normal contractions, we chalked it up to being a side affect of the Colace. At 1:00 am, I told Eric to go to bed and get some sleep since I would need him rested for the c-section later that morning. At this point, I just walked around and tried to work through the cramping, and at 1:30 I decided it was time for another hot bath.
Then....BAM! A really painful one came at 1:45ish. I couldn't take it any longer and I just began to really cry in the bath. I kept thinking it was going to be the worst night ever and that I would have to suffer another nearly 6 hours until I could go into the hospital for the c-section. Thankfully, Eric jumped out of bed when he heard me crying and said we were going to go in and get some relief for the cramps. He called our neighbor Shannon, and she came right over. We were in the car by 2:00 am headed for the hospital. I cried the whole time in the car, while Eric timed them once again...and this time, they were every 1 1/2 minutes.
We had a lot of road construction on the freeway, and once the construction ended, the fun began. My water broke after 15 minutes in the car...or rather, it exploded. Thank goodness for leather seats! At that point, I realized that it was NOT cramps, and I was indeed in labor. We were driving right behind 2 big rigs at that point, and once my water broke, the big rigs parted (one went to the slow lane, the other to the fast lane) and Eric was able to step on the gas and drive right between them. The next contraction came, at which point the cries changed to screams of, "I have to PUSH!" Avery was indeed coming, and she wasn't waiting! Eric's reply..."On no you don't!"
After 2 pushing contractions, and knowing we were still 15 minutes away from the downtown hospital that we were supposed to go to, it was decided we weren't going to make it and we needed to get to the closer "sister" hospital. Eric was going 100 mph when I looked at the speedometer, in between screams and pushes. It was just a couple more minutes when we pulled up to the emergency room, with Eric blaring on the horn. The security guard and an ER nurse came out to see what was going on, and after Eric yelling, "Her water broke and she has to push!" the nurse ran for a wheel chair. There was no way I was walking. She wheeled me right up to Labor and Delivery while Eric hastily parked the car and followed, me screaming the whole way up. I did not want to deliver the baby without meds, and I was worried her fists were still near her face.
Several L&D nurses joined us in the hallway as went, reassuring me that it was too late for a c-section. We made it into the delivery room, with Eric right behind. He and the nurses helped me up on the table, the nurse made sure that Avery's hands were all clear, then away we went. Two pushes later, she was out....and then the doctor walked in. Great timing! At that point, the nurse informed us that she estimated us arriving at 2:18, and Avery was born at 2:20. I still even had on my sweatshirt! Thank goodness we didn't try to go downtown. She would have been born in the car!
And now the stats:
Avery Janae Warren was born at 2:20 am on Wednesday, September 8th. She was 7 lbs 2.8 oz, 19 inches long, with a perfectly round head.
We had been joking that we had her "eviction" date scheduled for the 8th, but I guess she wanted to leave on her own rather than being forced.
And later that day, she was able to meet her siblings, and they just adore her!
Welcome to the family, baby Avery!
1. picture (this one was from the 2010 calendar)
