Madeline Kristine's Birth story

I am a planner, and although I wasn't thrilled with the idea of a repeat c-section I liked the idea that we would know exactly what to expect. I had all the details worked out. Who would be with Max, would be with me, who would take care of me when we got home, etc....literally I had a schedule on my calendar.

Well life doesn't always go the way you plan it, and Madeline's birth day was a surprise.

At my Thursday(7/8) appointment the doctor said I hadn't made any progress and we planned on the surgery on Tuesday(7/13). I told her I had felt some small contractions and she said they were probably just Braxton Hicks since the baby was high and no real dilation. She went over all the details for the day. "See ya Tuesday!", is what I said as we left. Boy what a difference a day can make. I began having periodic contractions on Friday during a play date with our neighbors Jennifer and Jaxen. It was uncomfortable, but not a big deal. By Friday evening, I was having contractions about every 10 minutes for about an hour. I decided to go to bed. I hardly slept because I was so uncomfortable and I was having contractions about every hour. I remember asking Shawn to go sleep in the guest room so he could get some sleep since I was tossing, turning, complaining, etc. By 6 am the next morning the contradictions were every 7 minutes, it lasted about 2 hours, plus I was having a few other signs of labor. Around 8 I called the doctor, just to get an answering service and the promise of a call back in an hour. At this point the contractions slowed down, so I decided to rest. I asked Shawn to take Max downstairs and I napped. About 2 hours later I got a call from Dr. White, the on call doctor. He said if I went into labor he would be delivering the baby. His instructions were if my water broke or if the contractions were 5 minutes apart for 1-2 hours to go to L&D.

I didn't want a doctor I didn't know to deliver my baby. So I thought I will just take it easy and this will pass. That Saturday, we got a visit from Rosie, Joey, Aimee and Penny. Rosie and I talked about babies, labor, c-sections, etc. They went shopping and we made plans for dinner at Chuy's(I've been craving Mexican food this pregnancy)! After she left I decided to relax and take shower, then I thought, "a bath would be better". I felt pretty good afterwards. We decided to go run an errand. Max fell asleep in the truck, so Shawn ran in while we stayed in the truck. I started having contractions, 5 minutes apart. I called my mom, told her, waited on Shawn, Max woke up, we got out, contractions continued, etc.

It was about dinner time. I text Rosie to let her know I wasn't up for dinner. I was still hungry so we decided to pick up Chuy's to go. Yummy! We started home, but I was still in pain. We decided better safe than sorry, so off to the hospital we went. I made the call to Suzy and Mom to be prepared, but I didn't want them to come in case it was a false alarm. I asked Shawn to drop me off in the front and for him and Max to eat in the lobby while I checked in. I figured I'd eat my Chuychanga later. So I checked in and the nurses checked me out. Turns out I was in labor!!! I was told that Dr. White would be there in 20 minutes and they began to prep me. Panic hit me, the tears began, etc. Who would watch Max? Would I have surgery alone?

We started to make the calls. Our parents started to head our way, but who would watch Max. We were so blessed to have Chuck, our neighbor to come and watch Max until Suzy got there. Whew!, that was my biggest concern. During all this I was getting prepped for surgery. Shawn made it in the room right as the surgery began. I had a great anesthesiologist and Dr. White did a fantastic job.

At 8:10 p.m. our beautiful baby girl was brought into this world. Thanks be to God!! Not quite as we expected it, but it was perfect nonetheless.