Georgia's Birth Story, Part 1

Once I reached full term, I was ready for our baby girl to make her appearance! We were eager to meet her and I was getting tired of being pregnant {but yes, I sort of miss it now...}. I wasn't technically ready though - I had a pretty long to-do list for both myself and Perry. The week of her birth I nested like crazy! After dinner on Tuesday (5/20) I was up until 1:00am working like a mad woman! I blogged my 38 week post (and noted all I still had to do), then got a majority of it done: worked on laundry, finished packing Gabe's overnight bag, my hospital bag & Georgia's diaper bag, wrapped Gabriel's "Big Brother" presents from Georgia, painted my toenails...

I went to work on Wednesday (5/21) and left a Honey-Do List of all the items I couldn't/didn't finish. Perry faithfully tackled everything and even added more chores to it! We didn't know it yet but we both finished the must-be-done-before-Georgia-is-born things just in time! Thursday (5/22) I was off; after spending the morning all together, Perry went to work around lunch time. I did some laundry and light cleaning (microwave, kitchen sink, picked up around the house) but mostly Gabriel & I played. I knew it wouldn't be long before my attention was divided so I soaked up time with just my boy!

Belly love & bubbles

Gabriel was asking to play outside again so around 7:00pm I decided to go for a walk. It would be fun for him and just might get labor going! I loaded him into the wagon and walked briskly around the neighborhood- for 45 minutes! The last 15 minutes Gabe wanted to walk so I let him pull the wagon (sure, burn off some more energy, boy!); he thought that was awesome. He asked me over and over again, "You coming?" I noticed the number of my Braxton-Hicks contractions increased while I was walking but weren't painful. I didn't expect that the walk would actually stimulate labor!

Just as we got settled back at home, we heard the ice cream truck! Que a wildly excited boy! I scrambled to find 6 quarters and get Gabriel's shoes back on. It stopped right on our corner (with its obnoxiously loud music); Gabe & I had a good time eating his orange push up on the porch and watching our neighbors.

About an hour and a half later I was finishing up Gabe's bath when Perry got home from work (around 9:30pm). He pointed out that I was bouncing with each contraction. Apparently I noticed a difference from my usual BH contractions- they were getting stronger at this point. After I got Gabriel into bed, I had this impulse to "get stuff done", I guess just in case I was going into labor! I did start timing my contractions with an app on my phone (around 9:50pm). I kept telling myself that maybe I just overdid it on the walk and if I laid down, the cramping contractions might stop. Silly me! I unloaded the dishwasher, took a shower and ran a load of laundry, then was straightening up downstairs when Perry suggested we pull together the items on our "Grab Last-Minute for the Hospital" list even if we had to put them back later. Smart man. He actually started loading the car! Over the next hour, my contractions were anywhere from 4.5 - 8.5 minutes apart. Around 11:00pm, I called work to tell the Charge Nurse that I might not be at work the next day. By 12:00am, my contractions were 3.5 - 6 minutes apart lasting 30-50 seconds. At this point I accepted that I actually was in labor! Perry called my doctors' office and the MD on call, Dr. Wyckoff, called me back at 12:10am - she sounded so sleepy. She instructed us to head to the hospital!! Gabriel had no idea what was happening when Perry woke him up. Poor buddy!

Not great pictures, but they're the last I have of Gabriel as an only child!

We were on the road at 12:34am (that was easy to remember!). I was surprised Gabriel stayed awake the whole trip. As we were rounding a bend in the road, there was a sudden loud "thud"- something hit our windshield! It definitely startled us; Perry guessed it was a bat or a bird. Aw and ew!

It was bittersweet dropping Gabriel off at his Nonny & Boo's house. He was (and will always be) my baby!! And soon, he would instantly transition to his new role as "first born" and "big brother"! It was exciting and nerve-wracking. We had never left him overnight and now we were leaving him in the middle of the night! For a couple days! We gave him kisses & hugs, grabbed a bottle of Coke and water, paused for a contraction, and were back on our way.

My contractions slowed down when I was in the sitting position. I didn't pay attention to how fast Perry was driving, but we made good time! We pulled up to the hospital at 1:15am. Like my labor with Gabriel, I was most comfortable standing, so I hovered at the registration desk while Perry & I worked together to fill out all the paperwork. We were then escorted back to Labor & Delivery. The Registration lady said "Room 10" to the nurses as we walked past. I asked "Is that the first room after the nurses' station?" It was... and I got so excited!! Georgia was going to be born in the same room Gabriel was born in!!!!

To be continued in Part 2...