Bubbles, Balloons, & Blessings: Sarah's Birth Story

The week before Sarah was born I had a doctors appointment. The doctor told me that he was pretty positive he would not see me the following week for my next appointment. He was sure I would have delivered by that time. Well....a week later I was driving to my doctors appointment...feeling very angry with that doctor and not very happy that I was scheduled to see my least favorite doctor in the group. It was also a bleary and rainy day, which didn't help my mood. As I drove past Dunkin' Donuts I thought what a great idea it would be to surprise Bekah and my mom (who was watching Bekah) with donuts. Yummm!

After a short wait the nurse took me back and checked my blood pressure. It was elevated and she kinda hinted that I might be having the baby that day. I wasn't having any contractions, though, so I thought maybe she was joking. When the doctor came in to examine me he found that I was already 5 cm. Because of that and my raised blood pressure he immediately sent me next door to Labor and Delivery. I was so excited that I called Nathan before I even made it to the elevators! He was at work (which is an hour away) and I knew the first thing I needed to do was to call him. When I got him on the phone he was as excited as I was. I reminded him to take his time....I wasn't having any pain and didn't even know if they would be keeping me. I was actually still thinking I would be getting donuts soon! I called my mom who said, "I KNEW I should have gone with you!" She had my dad stay with Bekah and she came to be with me. It was such a whirlwind of a morning.

It felt very surreal as I drove myself over to labor and delivery. I stood making out papers at the front desk very thankful that I wasn't in pain...yet. The doctor on duty there checked me and decided to start pitocin. (I had this same drug when Bekah was born.) The nurse was wonderful and I was surprisingly calm through all of this. My mom and Nathan were there in no time. It all went rather quickly. I got to the hospital at 11 AM. They started the pitocin at 1 PM. Sarah was born at 5 PM. It was a very smooth birth and I ended up not having any problems with my blood pressure. (Thank the Lord!). She cried right after being born (it was so good to hear that cry) and she weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz.!