The unexpected weekend

I need to write down about the day Avery was born. (before I forget the details.)

This was the plan: We were going to unpack/arrange the kitchen. Melinda and I were going to paint our fireplace Saturday morning. Saturday evening we were all going to go up to Sacramento to celebrate Grandpa Doll's 80th Birthday.

Instead, this is what happened:
Friday (August 29, 2008): The whole day was an "off" day. Alexandra woke up that morning around 4:30. I remember giving her a bottle and just sitting on the couch and holding her for a half an hour. I couldn't go back to sleep after that. Our kitchen had been finished the night before, so our contractor showed up at our house at 8:30 and started loading up all his tools and we were breaking down boxes so he could recycle them. After he left I hopped in the shower and then went visiting teaching. After that, I picked up Caden from school and we went to the park for playgroup. I talked to my mom on the phone while at the park. I told her I was tired, but didn't feel any labor pains ... I still had 2 1/2 weeks until my due date. I stayed at the park until 1:30 and decided to go home and rest, because it had been an extremely busy day. I picked up Miles from school at 2:45. Then Tim called me around 3:15 and said that he needed to be picked up at Moraga Auto Care (aka John's shop), which is about a 30 minute drive. So I forced the kids into the car (Miles did NOT want to go) and drove out to Moraga to pick up Tim. (His car kept overheating and needed to be fixed.) We picked up Tim and he drove home the "back way" through Lafayette, which is a windy road. When we got home I wasn't feeling good and laid down on the couch. I started to hurt more and went and put my pajamas on and laid in bed. The pain became so bad that I started to cry. I didn't know what to do because I will still 2 1/2 weeks from my due date and these were "real" contractions, just everything hurt everywhere. Tim called his mom and asked for advice. (She was on her way to the airport to pick up Suzi & Kati). I decided to start packing a bag -- just in case. I has hobbling around our bedroom trying to put things I thought I would need in a bag. Tim started packing a bag for the kids. We decided to drop the kids off at his parents house (Thankfully Jeff & Melinda were there) and drive over to the hospital. In the back of my mind I kept thinking, they are just going to send me home - nothing is really happening. I called the hospital to let them know that I was on my way. They asked me how far apart my contractions were. I lied and said 5 minutes, because I didn't feel like I was having any. I then called my mom and told her that we were on our way to the hospital. She started crying and couldn't believe it was happened so fast, remember, I had talked to her on the phone hours before and I felt fine. We made it to the reception area around 6:00 and had to check in. We were sitting there and the nurse asks me "So are you ready for this?" I replied "No!" We had just moved 2 weeks ago into our new house. The kitchen wasn't unpacked, no baby clothes had been washed, no diapers bought and I had just cleaned the car seat a few days before but had not put it back together. They took me into the triage room and checked me I was dilated to almost to 4 centimeters but wasn't having consistent contractions. (Side note: All my labor/deliveries have been very quick, Miles was 4 hours, Caden 4 1/2 hours and Alexandra was the longest at about 8 hours). They decided to admit me and take me into a room but didn't think I would be having the baby for a while. We got settled into the room around 7:15 and gave me all the normal IV's and frequent BP's and such. The pain was starting to get worse so I asked for an epidural. I do have painful back labor and had Miles natural (not by choice) so I would rather not feel much. The anesthesiologist came in and put in the epidural, when she was finished she made sure it was in the right place but blood came out of the catheter (which is called a bloody tap) so she had to take it all out and try putting another epidural in. This was THE MOST painful part of the whole process of giving birth with Avery. For some reason it stung and burned and hurt more than any of the other epidurals that had gotten in the past. I told Tim if the anesthesiologist "messed up again, I am not going to have an epidural with this birth." Luckily it did work. This was probably around 9:30. The nurse said she would check on me around 11:00 to see if there was any progress, and plan on having the baby the next day. We hadn't ate dinner (I ate a few graham crackers in the car on the way to the hospital) so Tim ran down to a restaurant nearby and got a BLT and fries. They had me sitting up to see if the labor would progress. About 10:05 I called the nurse and said "I'm pretty sure my water just broke." She checked me and yep ... it had broke. Tim had just gotten back and had started eating when the Mid-wife came into the room just to meet me, when she checked me I was dilated to a 10 and they got everything ready to have a baby! I pushed about 5 times, and little Avery Gale was born at 10:26 pm! She weighed in at 6 lbs. 8 oz. was 19 1/2 inches long. Tim didn't even get to finished eating his dinner. What a long but exciting day it turned out to be.

This picture is minutes before I delivered Avery.
Avery is only a few minutes old:
This is me talking to my mom on the phone probably 10 to 15 minutes after Avery was born:
And now for the rest of the story:
Saturday: Avery seemed to be doing good but started choking on this clear liquid the morning after she was born. They QUICKLY took her into the nursery and had to suck out a bunch of amniotic fluid that she had swallowed. She had to stay in the nursery for a few hours, which was a little stressful, but everything turned out to be okay. We had to stay and extra night (which I wasn't too happy about). My sweet sister-in-laws unpacked my kitchen that day. Tim took the kids up to Grandpa Doll's birthday party on Saturday night and me and Avery chilled at the hospital. April Jacobs came and visited me that night and brought me a Pepsi and some chocolate! I had to share a room part of the time with this new mom who snored so loud! I didn't get much sleep. Thankfully we were able to go home Sunday afternoon.

I am grateful this little girl came into our family. It hasn't always been easy, especially the first 9 weeks or so. Mainly just adjusting to little sleep, having a newborn and a baby at home already who was 17 1/2 month old when Avery was born. She has been more of a demanding baby wanting to be held, needing a binky (which none of the other kids ever took), and spitting up frequently. She is getting better and starting to get a personality. We are finding out that she is very ticklish. She is adored by Alexandra and Caden. (Miles is indifferent most of the time.) But I truly love this little girl.