Bringing Home Baby Part 2

  Here's Lynnsie's story:
  September 6, 2009 = my due date.  Just as my doctor told me a couple of weeks before AB was due, she thought Lynnsie was going to arrive "any day".  I continued going to my appointments weekly and she kept telling me she didn't know how or why I had not gone into labor, yet.  I couldn't help but get impatient because Anna Beth was so early and I had always heard that the rest of your babies tended to deliver earlier than your first baby.  I was sure I was going to have an August baby and with every passing (blazing hot and humid) day, I just knew she was would be here soon.
 
  August 26, 2008 = I had been having some Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of weeks.  No biggie, right?  Well, this night, after church, they were a little more intense and seemed to be a little more regular.  My doctor had instructed me to head to the hospital when my contractions were 10 minutes apart because I lived an hour away - and we had no way of knowing of how quickly I would deliver once labor started.  My mother-in-law had been staying with us for about 3 weeks, helping with Anna Beth so I could get some rest, and, of course, she'd be there to stay with Anna Beth when I went into labor.  So, I told her and Jacob what was going on and we decided to head to the hospital.  These contractions weren't all that painful, but they were intense and they were regular.  We get to the hospital about 9 pm and they asked me a series of questions...mainly, "How much have you had to drink today?"  I told them a glass of milk, a small glass of water, and I'd munched on some ice earlier in the day (I've never been a big drinker)  They hooked me up to an IV to get some fluids in me...and the contractions stopped completely within an hour.  Did you know that when you're dehydrated, it can make you think you're in labor because your muscles are actually contracting - but not labor contracting.  Yay.  False labor run.  We got back home about 1 am.
 
  September 2, 2009 = I'd still been having contractions, they weren't painful - but didn't feel good either.  I went for my weekly appointment, where Dr. C was still surprised I hadn't delivered this baby yet!  I had some contractions in the room with her, so she sent me over to pre-natal testing for a while to see if they would do anything.  We called my parents (again) and they started to head down (again).  After a couple of hours, still no real contractions, thus no labor, resulting in...no baby that day.  UGH!!

  September 4, 2009 = I wake up with an energy like I haven't felt in months and I had to get out of the house.  So me, Anna Beth, and Mrs. Gaye (MIL) loaded up and headed into New Orleans to do some shopping.  We walked around the mall for hours.  Literally, hours.  At one point Mrs. Gaye suggested we get AB some frozen yogurt...just so she could me to sit down!  We headed back to Slidell about 4:30, when I noticed that my "contractions" were changing.  After two false runs, though, I didn't say a word to anyone.  I just silently timed them myself.  They continued to get closer and little more intense, but nothing big.  We go to bed about 10 and I finally tell Jacob that I'd been timing contractions for 5 hours and they were slowly getting closer together and starting to hurt.  He suggested we go to the hospital.  I told him I didn't think it was real labor!  I showered for a while and got back in bed...10 minutes apart...I tell Jacob that and he says it's time to go.  I still said no.  He told me when I came to my senses to wake him up, but that he was not delivering our baby on the Twin Spans (a bridge going across Lake Pontchartrain)!!
  10:45 pm = I finally say, "Okay, let's go."  9 minutes apart. 
  11:00 pm = After letting Mrs. Gaye know, we head out the door.  8 minutes apart.  I tell her I refuse to come home without a baby!  We called my parents and the hospital.  They asked how much I'd had to drink that day...seriously! Did they think I would make the same mistake twice? 
  11:10 pm = Jacob asks me to lean down and listen to a funny noise his truck is making on my side...I gave him a "look".  He said nevermind :) Ha!!
  11:45 pm = We get to the hospital...5 minutes apart...and park.  By the time we got the L&D floor, they were 4 minutes apart.  They check me and admit me into triage and tell me they're waiting on a room.  I'm begging them to hurry so I can get my epidural.
  1:00 am = I finally get into a room!  I'm still begging for my epidural and they say anesthesiology will be here soon.  Not soon enough, though.  They're every 2-3 minutes.
  1:45 am = Anesthesiology finally gets there!  And she tells me I haven't had enough IV fluid that she'll come back later.  NOOOOOO!!!!!  My nurses start pumping my IV bag and tell her to start setting her stuff up and by the time she's ready, they'll have me ready.  My nurses work hard, my anesthesiologist moves at a snails pace...then asks me to move to the other side of the bed because she can't reach me...I reminded her that her cart had wheel and I was in labor.  She moved to me :)
  4:20 am = Sweet Lynnsie Dale Coleman came easily into my arms.  Sweet little thing.  And, again, my heart exploded with a love I couldn't have comprehended before that very moment.