Laila's birth story

Being pregnant with a young toddler meant not really noticing I was pregnant at all. That's not to say I didn't cherish that time, but I also didn't get the chance (read: have the time) to analyze, question and document every single thing I felt during my pregnancy. Chasing after Olivia was my primary directive, and I paid attention to myself only after I made sure she was taken care of. Which is probably why Laila's birth played out the way it did:

Around 2am I started feeling some lower abdominal pains, so I went to the bathroom but nothing happened. I thought it was probably gas since I made cabbage for dinner, or it could be Braxton-Hicks, but I couldn't possibly be in labor because I still had another 3 weeks to go. I kept feeling pains throughout the night and went to the bathroom another 3-4 times with nothing happening. When Vince got up to go to work I told him that I was feeling something throughout the night but I didn't think it was labor, but I just wanted him to know. I got Olivia up and was giving her breakfast, still feeling the pains but they were inconsistently spaced, ranging anywhere from 3-15 minutes apart, so I still chalked it up to gas (less likely now) or Braxton-Hicks (had to be, right?) But I called my mom to tell her I was feeling something just in case, and she came over to help me out with Olivia. The pains continued and I was using an app to track the space and duration to see if they were getting closer together, but I was still unconvinced that they were labor pains. To take my mind off the pain I suggested to my mom that we take a walk to Starbucks, so we bundled O into her stroller and took a walk, during which I had about 3 contractions, and of course I had a contraction while I was paying so I had a weird wincing smile the whole time (poor barista!)

I was scheduled to work at 2pm and was still planning to go, but around 11:30am the pains became worse so I called out just in case it was real labor. I called my OB at Vince's insistence but I already knew what they would say, (wait until the contractions are 5 minutes apart for 1 hour) so I went about getting Olivia's lunch together and started to get a bag packed just in case. The pains were really starting to get bad so my mom took care of putting Olivia to nap and I laid down in bed. At 12:45 they were 5 minutes apart so I said I'd give it an hour before calling the OB back. In the meantime I tried to be really quiet through the contractions so that I wouldn't wake Olivia up and had to sneak around gathering things for my bag. Finally at 1:45 I called the OB back and told them that I had been having pains every 3-5 minutes for an hour and the nurse told me she'd call the doctor to meet me and to get my butt to the hospital ASAP! I then called Vince at work and asked if he could leave now (he was supposed to get off at 2pm and I tried to wait until then, but the baby couldn't wait!) Vince's nephew was staying with us in the downstairs guest room and he must have heard my heavy breathing while I was in the laundry room, so he came out and asked if I was ok, and I told him "yeah I'm just in labor"

As soon as Vince got home I whispered bye to my mom (Olivia was still sleeping) and we were in the car by 2:09pm. At this point the contractions were pretty much on top of each other, and I was entering this trance-like zone where I just looked out the window trying to block out the pain, but I got mildly irritated when Vince was his usual polite self and stopped to let people cross the street. I wanted to snap "I'M IN LABOR KEEP DRIVING!!!" but instead I kept thinking "be Zen". We got to the hospital and I thought I would just hop out and run into the ER but then Vince entered the parking lot, and then I did snap "ARE YOU LOOKING FOR PARKING?!?" But then I let Zen take over again and just rode the contraction out. We walked into the ER and they got me into a wheelchair but I had to wait a few minutes for an attendant to wheel me up. I breathed/moaned/winced through another contraction when an attendant finally arrived and brought me up. The labor floor was chaotic and I heard snippets like "we have no rooms" "there's no beds" "where are we going to put her" which probably would have freaked me out had I not been in my Zen place, but I figured as long as I was already in the hospital I'd be ok. Around 2:45 they brought me into the early labor room (the only bed available) where the nurse said I was fully dilated with bulging membranes, and everyone sprang into action. They told me not to push yet (I told them I didn't want to anyway), and the poor woman who was in the early labor room before me had to be kicked out because apparently I was going to deliver right then and there. My doctor arrived a few minutes before 3:00 and it was a huge relief to see a familiar face. I think he broke my water and I started pushing. After about 3 rounds of pushing her head came out and they practically had to yell at me to stop pushing (I was still in the zone), the rest of her slid out and at 3:17pm Laila entered the world. Her first cry was loud and strong, and when they laid my little early bird on my chest it finally hit me that I was holding my baby girl and our family had just grown by one.

After everyone had cleared out of the room and they took Laila to get checked out and cleaned up, it was just me and Vince and I'm thankful for that time because it allowed me to process what had just happened. Everything had happened so quickly it was surreal, I mean a few hours prior I hadn't even realized I was in real labor and now our baby was here. Rinne came afterwards and hung out with us until my room was ready, and amazingly it was the same exact room I stayed in after I had Olivia! This time around though I didn't have nearly as many visitors and even Vince couldn't stay with me that long because he had to be home with Olivia. So most of the time it was just me and Laila, and that was just fine. I will always cherish those precious hours I had to bond with my Laila.

After we got back from Starbucks

After the stress of not hearing Olivia cry when she was born, Laila's was like music to our ears.