Laurel's Arrival
Laurel Grace was born 8/04/97,
she weighed 6 lb 8 oz, and was 18 1/2 inches long.
I must start by telling you that for a first time mom, I had it VERY easy. There was nothing difficult about Laurel. Conception, pregnancy, and delivery all went extremely well! I never had morning sickness, no swollen ankles, and I didn't even show until I was well beyond six months along. I have felt guilty about all of this when I have heard some of the "horror" stories out there, but I have since decided to count my blessings and be thankful that I am one of the lucky ones. I wish everyone could have as good of an experience as I did. I credit a lot of my ease from eating and behaving in a healthy manner, walking EVERY day, and having an excellent doctor.
Laurel's arrival story is a cute one, so we thought you might enjoy it!
Laurel's due date was August 22, 1997. At my 37 week appointment on July 31, 1997, my doctor found that I was dialated to 2 cm and said that I was "very favorable" for delivery. It looked like it wouldn't be long before I got to see those little feet that always kicked me! Over that weekend, we knew we wouldn't have to wait until her 40 week due date because I lost my plug, cleaned everything there was to clean, baked everything there was to bake, and was going for two walks a day. On Monday, August 4, I went in to work until noon (Mondays are normally my days off, so I was out of there!) At 1:00 pm, my parents called and were going to go look at a house. . . did I want to come along? "Sure!" It's not like I'm going to have a baby or anything. I stayed with them until 3:00 pm, and then decided to get some last minute items, like trash bags for the diaper pail. Some emergency when you have no diapers to put in the pail! :-)
I went to get the trash bags at a local store, and as I was looking over the selection I felt a tiny "tweek" and then a little dampness - you know, like when you laugh, cough, or sneeze during pregnancy? But, I HADN'T laughed, coughed, or sneezed, so I thought I'd better check it out. I went in to see my doctor and he said that my water had definately broken, and I was dialted to 3 cm. Here we go! I agreed to go home for my things, and my husband, and then meet him at the hospital.
When we got to the hospital at 4:15 pm, we had pre-registered, so we just walked right up to OB. The floor looked vacant. Not a soul around, which would have been ok except for the fact that I was having contractions very fast and I HAD TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!!!! Finally a nurse appeared and explained that the labor rooms and beds were all taken by women that had been there all day (one woman was dialted to 6 cm and the other to 9 cm)and that I would have to labor in my regular hospital room. Fine! The nurses weren't concerned because they thought as a first timer I'd be there all night!
I got settled in my room by 4:25 pm, and my contractions were right on top of each other. The monitor recording contractions was placed too high on my belly, so it wasn't picking up contractions very well. Because of that, when I asked to be checked at 5:10 pm, they thought I was crazy - and I was dialated to 6 cm. At that point I got onto a "birthing ball," which I highly recommend to everyone! It seemed that I was only on that for moments and all of a sudden I began to push. When I asked them to check me again at 5:55 pm, I was fully dialated and ready to go to the delivery room.
Since they had never had to wheel a regular bed around before, they were bumping me into walls and it looked like a comedy routine. I felt very sorry for my doctor also, who is used to sitting at the base of a break away bed and found himself leaning over the side of a hospital bed to catch her. Sitting at the bottom was too far away. After 6 - 8 pushes, at 6:12 pm, Laurel shot out like a canon ball all at once. As a dear friend put it, "If you would have sneezed, she would have hit the wall!" She weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz., and was 18 1/2 inches long.
Then, my doctor being the only one there, had to run across the hall to the mother that had been at 9 cm and catch the next baby who was born at 6:30 pm. He came back to finish with me around 6:45 pm, then went back to finish with her. When he finally got the two of us all sewn up and on our merry ways, he delivered the third mother who had been at 6 cm when I came in. He was a very busy guy! It all worked out beautifully though, because while we were waiting for him to come back and finish, we got to just sit,hold Laurel, and chat with the nurses. It was fun!
When we were finally through in the delivery room, they wheeled Laurel off to be weighed, measured, etc., and I hopped right down off the bed and followed. I felt great! She was a sweetie then, and still is our sweetie today!
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