Almost All of the Gory Details

Dallas shared his version of Caroline’s birth.  Now it’s my turn. As most of you are aware, I tend to be more long-winded than Dallas so pull up a chair, get some snacks, and enjoy.

As my due date approached, I kept feeling like I was going to have the baby about two weeks early and my water was going to break.  My due date was July 10 and I couldn’t imagine being pregnant that long.  I felt so huge (who doesn’t when they’re 9 months pregnant?), I was so uncomfortable, and I felt like my body was preparing to have the baby, so I was expecting an early arrival.

On Saturday, June 27, we went up to North Salt Lake to spend some days at my parents’ house.  My brother Ben was leaving for his mission to Singapore on July 1 so we had all of my siblings in town and we were ready for days of partying.

We had a fun cookout on that Saturday.  Later that evening, the boys went to see “Transformers” and the girls watched a movie at home.  I tried to go to bed that night but could not fall asleep.  My heart felt like it was racing and I couldn’t relax and go to sleep.  I was FINALLY about to fall asleep when Brooke woke up screaming.  Apparently she didn’t like sleeping in a new place and refused to go back into her Pack ‘n Play.  I rocked her for a while expecting her to fall asleep, but that didn’t work.  Finally I laid her beside me in bed so at least I could try to sleep.

Just as I thought Brooke was falling asleep, I had the strangest sensation. It felt like someone had plucked a really thick guitar string inside my belly.  Of course, my crazy pregnant mind immediately imagined the worst case scenario.  I thought the umbilical cord had snapped.  I waited and waited to feel Caroline move.  There was nothing.  I could hear my parents’ grandfather clock chime away every fifteen minutes and I still hadn’t felt her move after several chimes.

At last I felt a flutter.  I felt warm relief flood over me…and then warm wetness flood over me.  Caroline started moving like crazy.  With each movement, I could feel more and more liquid.  I woke Dallas up and headed to the bathroom.  There I experienced quite a gush.  I mopped up as much as I could, changed clothes, and got ready to go to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Brooke completely perked up.  We woke up my parents to tell them the good news that we were having a baby and the bad news that Brooke was awake and showed no signs of sleeping.  It was about 4:30 a.m.  My Dad was nice enough to go into the basement with Brooke and watch “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo” with her.  What a great grandpa!

Dallas and I got in the car to head to the American Fork hospital.  Dallas ran a couple red lights and passed a highway patrol car.  I think he secretly wanted to be pulled over just so he could say his wife was in labor.

We made it to the hospital and were quickly admitted.  I got an epidural and a few hours later Caroline was born!  It was such a better birth experience than with Brooke.  Here’s a comparison:

BROOKE

6:00 pm–Contractions began.

3:00 am–Drove to the hospital.  They monitored me for three hours to see if the contractions were the real thing.

6:00 am–I was finally admitted and given an epidural soon afterward.

11:30 am–I started pushing.

1:44 pm–Brooke was born.

TOTAL TIME:  Nearly 20 hours

CAROLINE

4:30 am–Water broke.

6:00 am–Admitted to hospital.

7:00 am–Epidural.

10:05 am–I started pushing.

10:30 am–Caroline was born.

TOTAL TIME:   6 hours

I have felt so much better this time around than I did after having Brooke.  I was not nearly as exhausted after giving birth.  Plus, Caroline is a great sleeper so far.  So good, in fact, that sometimes I have to wake her up in the night to feed her.  Brooke was a great eater and wouldn’t let more than 2 hours pass without eating during the first few weeks.  I hope Caroline is eating enough and gaining weight!

We take her in to the doctor for her two week appointment tomorrow–on her due date.  How glorious not to be pregnant anymore!

We were happy to have the baby early since that meant all of my siblings were able to meet Caroline while they were in town, and Ben was able to see her before he left for his mission.  We were just sad that we missed Ben’s farewell talk in church.

After Caroline was born, Dallas went to work documenting the event in pictures.  However, at one point I noticed Caroline was in the baby warmer getting weighed and Dallas was taking pictures of something else.  I heard him say, “You’ve got to see this!  I’m taking a picture of the placenta.  It’s disgusting!”  He’s right.  The placenta is disgusting.  I’ll withhold posting that picture.  However, if you need dinner ideas, click here.