saturday, july 7 we went to the water park with caroline and our friends mandi and rafe. i figured this would be the last trip there for the summer and i was right. we had a wonderful evening and went to bed at a decent time so we could get lots of stuff done after church on sunday. well, i woke up a little before 1am needing to go potty. i didn't feel any contractions, pressure or anything to make me think it was "time". i went to the bathroom and then kept leaking...my first thought, was "no, not yet...i'm not ready...i have stuff i want to get done today!!". after making sure it was my water breaking, i called out to john. it took several tries before he heard me, but when i told him my water broke, he was shocked for a second and then went into go mode. i wasn't feeling any contractions so i figured i had time to shower and pack. i had laid out a bunch of clean clothes and stuff for the hospital, but had not put it in my bag. i know, i'm an idiot...who doesn't pack before their due date? me, i guess! it's amazing how much more relaxed you are the second time around. john called his parents, i called mine and my sister and then we called our friend leigh anne who had graciously offered to keep caroline for us until the grandparents arrived. i continued to "leak" (for lack of a better description) as i got ready, but no contractions. i showered, dried my hair, put on my makeup and got my stuff together. in the meantime, leigh anne arrived and john got impatient :) i could hear him stomping around the house getting stuff together. i knew he was annoyed that i was so slow, but he wasn't about to say anything. we finally got everything together, took some pixs on the way out the door and headed to the hospital downtown. by this time, it was a little before 3am. we were amazed how many people were out and about on the roads. what do people do at that time of the morning? never mind, don't answer that :) john and i were both a little giddy...it's strange to make small talk with your spouse when you're about to welcome your child into the world. i started to feel pressure as we got closer to the hospital. it seemed like the contractions were 8-10 minutes apart. we called our parents to check in and both were well on their way to charleston. we pulled into the deserted parking garage, got our luggage out and headed to labor and delivery. we walked to the front desk around 3:15am and they were not expecting us...i said, "i'm lauren and i'm in labor" and she just looked at me. the message service people were supposed to call and let the hospital know, but they didn't. no big deal b/c i was the only one there in labor. talk about undivided attention! i immediately loved the nurse who took us in the delivery room and got us settled in. john gave them the lowdown on my addison's disease and they went right to work figuring out the stress doses of steroids i needed. john was so awesome taking care of me and making sure all of that got done. obviously having those was critical. i found out later that was the source of his impatience with me at the house...he was worried about getting those steroids in my body before labor began to stress me physically and emotionally. makes sense :) another nurse named mica came in and said she would be the one with me until 7am and i loved her, too. turns out she lived right down the road from us in a different neighborhood. we talked and chatted and had a great time. she was excited we didn't know what were having. she finally checked me and i was around 3cm dilated. the contractions were not bad so no epidural yet. i really wanted to see how far i could go without one. they determined how much of my steroids i needed and gave me that, which then slowed down my labor. it was so relaxing this time around...john and i hung out, he slept some, i played on the computer and tried to rest for the next 2 hours or so. the contractions continued to get stronger. it was so quiet in the hospital. loved that! i got checked again around 5:00am and i was about 4 cm. still didn't want an epidural. the next couple of hours went by fast and then my nurse went off shift and another one came in who i ended up loving just as much! the dr came in around 7:30am and told me she was so surprised i had not asked for an epidural yet and really thought i should get one. what does a girl have to do to try and go natural??? actually, the dr was just worried about my body being able to compensate for the stress of a natural birth and she wanted me to be very careful. she had them start me on pitocin, which REALLY sped up and intensified the contractions. there was barely time to catch my breath between them. so, around 8:15am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. but, after looking at how low my blood pressure was, he said he only wanted to give me a little bit of pain relief b/c he wasn't comfortable with what could happen if our blood pressure (me and baby) bottomed out. let me tell you, he barely gave me anything b/c i felt it all!! about 8:45am, i knew this baby was coming soon!!! the dr and nurse got ready and after 2 contractions and pushing, miss susanna kristen fortney entered the world at 9:16am! it was amazingly quick and easy. we just laughed and cried when we saw it was another sweet girl. john said right before she came out that he knew it was a girl. the dr laid her on my tummy and i will never forget how incredibly warm she was, like a little heater. it was such an awesome moment looking at her for the first time. love at first sight! she was so chunky and pink. the nurses kept saying the baby would be small b/c i was "all baby", but i knew better...my guess was upper 7lb range if not an 8lber. i was right!! she weighed in at 7lbs, 10z and was 20 3/4 inches long. i was so proud when they weighed her :)
john and i just cried tears of joy and smiled like crazy while the dr and nurses did all the medical stuff that has to be done after birth. no details necessary on that :) we were so full of joy and couldn't wait to introduce caroline and our parents to susanna. caroline was first up and the nurse was sweet enough to video her (and us) as she met her sister. it was so sweet. she was quiet and in awe of susanna. it was such a tender, magical moment as our little family came together for the first time. we then let the anxious grandparents in and introduced her. my sis was extremely disappointed not being able to be there so mom had her on the phone as we announced it and then i got to talk to her about her namesake. after lots of pics, the nurse came in to take susanna away for her bath. the family filed out and i rested until they brought her back all bundled up and asleep. i will never forget staring at her as i enjoyed a few moments with just the 2 of us. i remember especially noticing her dark eyebrows. a while later, they moved us to our room and by that time, david and connie and their kids were there to meet susanna. our tiny room was packed full of family and it was awesome!! i loved every minute of our stay at the hospital.
another b'day post to come tomorrow...more pics from her arrival last year can be found here and here.
2 comments:
It doesn't even look like that you had just birthed a baby! She's beautiful & you guys are so blessed. HOORAY for one year.
Blessings sweet Fortney Family
Love ya
Ramona
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