December 15th

So like every other pregnant lady, I had to go potty in the middle of the night, this time around 2:30am. I went back to bed. Then my stomach started hurting, and it went away. It came back again about 10 minutes later. I started to time it and it was official; I was in labor! Knowing I can't sleep through it, I went downstairs at 3:00am. Since I had a 10 minute break, I started on the dishes, then watched TV, and finally around 5:00 had breakfast. I decided to called Darlene at 6:00 to see if Wayne could watch the kids since he has no other responsibilities during the day. However, I stopped having contractions by that time. I was devastated and confused since I didn't have a false start with other kids. After an hour of no contracts I tried to go back to bed. I still didn't want Nathan to leave (there was a grading committee he needed to be apart of) since I didn't know when the contractions would start again.

Around 9:30am we went to the mall so I could walk around some to see if that helps. However, by 10:30 we knew they wouldn't came back and I took Nathan to his office. He came home at 2:00pm so I could go to my doctor's appointment.

I told them how the baby is moving less and the nurse had a hard time getting a steady heartbeat. The heartbeat range was 110-130 which is a lot slower then her normal rate. The nurse also found protein in my urine and my blood pressure was slightly up. The doctor checked me and I was dilated to a 4 and 75% effaced. He was concerned about toxemia (which cause pre-eclampsia) and we set up an appointment for me to get induced at 6:00am the next day. I was afraid of getting induced by knew Hannah need to come now whether she wanted to or not.

So, after I got home I made Nathan's birthday cake and got things ready to be induced in the morning. Wayne said he could be here at 6:00 to watch the kids and Darlene would join him after work. Also, I couldn't watch Chloe for the rest of the week and informed her mom about it.

Around 4:30pm, the contracts came back but were once again only 10 minutes apart. So we had a nice dinner for Nathan's 28th birthday.

Then he opened his presents.

I bound some e-books he printed, which Nathan appreciated.

Hailey and Robert wanted to help with the unwrapping.

From my parents, Nathan got Battlestar Galactica DVDs Season 1-4. He was very excited and grateful for it.

Then we had cake and ice cream. Hailey helped with the sprinkles and the extra candy decorations.

He blew out all the candles in one breath.

I'm so thankful to Nathan and had fun trying to make his birthday special.

We put the kids to bed as usually and Nathan stayed upstairs to work on his last final.

By 8:00pm we realized that most likely these contractions will stay and we arranged for our neighbor, Kendi to watch sleep over. Hailey cries randomly in her sleep and can get out of bed so we needed someone here. I'm so thankful that she was willingly to do that especially since she had a final in the morning.

After everything was arranged Nathan gave me a priesthood blessing which was very special to me.

Now after 6 hours of contractions 10 minutes apart, they finally got closer together. We called the hospital and they said that I should drink water to make sure they wouldn't go away. That back fired on me because it made it more intense. We quickly got ready to leave and went to the hospital at 10:30pm. When the nursed check me I was dilated to a 6. From there everything got more intense. Luckily, the anaesthesiologist was already in the hospital and could come quickly. Instead of getting an epidural like I planned the nurse suggested a intrathecal which only lasts 2-3 hours but starts immediately and is easier to put in (still through the spine). By the time he came, the contractions were so close it was hard to feel one end before the next began. The nurse checked me real quick before I got injected and instead of saying how much I was dilated (a 10), told the anaesthesiologist to hurry. Nathan had to sign some paper work and couldn't be there when I had the intrathecal done. Luckily I had a long enough break that it went smoothly and it worked instantly.

The resident broke my water after that. I remember laughing and joking with the people there. I really loved that drug. After draining for a couple of minutes, they told me I can push now. So, I pushed once and saw he head and shoulders. I was amazed that it only took one push. With Hailey it took an hour and with Robert 16 pushes.

So, here I am, pain free for the moment and admiring my baby from a far while they clean and measure her. She's 6 lbs and 13 oz and 21 inches long. She came out at 12:13am on Wednesday, December 16th. We are happy that she has her own birthday.Hannah came out ready to eat. So while the doctor (who was not Dr. Cox but another doctor who was on call) and the resident stitched me up, I was able to nurse Hannah. Thankfully, we had no problems with feeding which is always my biggest worry after they are born.