That wild and crazy night...

Since her actual due date is tomorrow, August 17th, I thought it appropriate to tell how excited Mary Cate was to arrive and what excitement she caused in the hospital.

The fun really began Tuesday afternoon the 2nd of August. I went into the hospital at 7pm because first, Mary Cate hadn't moved at all that day. Second, I thought my water might have broken (I had very little amniotic fluid so it was determined I wouldn't feel much) and third, I was having contractions. I was put in triage (the ER of the Maternity wing) and was hooked up to monitors. Of course, within 5 minutes Mary Cate started moving and I stopped having contractions...go figure! The nurse came in and checked and we found out my water had not broken...yeah, I felt like an idiot:) Anyway, the nurse said that my doctor wanted me checked again in 2 hours and then they'd determine whether to send me home or keep me for monitoring. Two hours later (9:30pm) and the only thing that had changed was that I was 5cm dilated and I was having some minor contractions that were far apart and very sporadic. The doctor decided to keep me overnight in triage for monitoring and then in the morning, when he got in, he would get my labor started. So, I called my parents and asked if they would come down and stay with the girls so I could have Andy with me in the hospital. At 10:15pm the decision was made and Andy went home around 10:30 to wait for my parents. It all went downhill after Andy left. At about 11:15 my body was rocked with a contraction that registered 91 on the monitor. So I went from the 20s straight up to the 90s. 3minutes later it registered 102...yikes! I pressed the call button to get a nurse to see what was going on...no response...I tried again...again, no response. This went on for about 30minutes until Andy got there at 11:45pm. Mind you, the maternity wing was packed. There were no rooms available and they seemed to be short staffed. Anyway, I sent Andy out to find a nurse because I was feeling the urge to push and was in serious pain (which I thought was crazy because I figured I was just 6-7cm dilated). A few minutes to midnight, my nurse finally showed up...all the while I'm barely holding my own. Poor Andy was holding my legs together because he was afraid I was going to push...looking back, it's pretty hilarious, but at the time I was not finding any of this funny!! I was then checked and the nurse was shocked to see that I was 9cm dilated because I was still in triage and earlier I had had no signs of labor or any indications I would go into labor. She left to call the doctor and the moment she walked out the room, my water broke (midnight). I finally told Andy to let go of my legs and that I had to push...luckily my nurse walked in at that moment and was able to catch Mary Cate on the next push (12:02am)...whew, that was ridiculous! I will say that it was the worst labor (imagine going through your worst contractions in a room by yourself and not being able to get anyone to help, then when it's crunch time, not having anyone around until you push the baby out...yeah, not so fun!), but it was the best recovery...I had not been admitted to the hospital at the time of delivery (due to being a triage patient), so I had no IVs, no epidural...nothing. Once I got that bowling ball out, I felt great:) The bad thing was that I delivered in a room not set up for deliveries and it was pure chaos after I delivered (I didn't see a doctor for 2 hours after I delivered and MC wasn't weighed or cleaned up/weighed/checked for 2 hours either). With all that said, All I can say is thank goodness I was kept for monitoring or I would have delivered MC in our living room! I will definitely take my triage delivery experience over my living room!

our sweet little thing who decided to come early and quickly

the sister twins

she found her thumb:)

so this is how she likes to sleep (when we don't have her swaddled)

such a thinker:)

Despite the crazy, wild delivery, it was a wonderful experience. I couldn't have had a better nurse caring for me during the delivery (even though it was only 45minutes from first contraction to delivery!!!). We are happy to have MC in our lives two weeks earlier than scheduled:)