THE STORY OF ANNA

Last Wednesday, August 24, I went to the doctor for my 39 week check-up and left very disappointed because I had made no progress from the week prior.  I was still 1 1/2 cm and only 25% effaced.  The least you could say is that Chris had a very bummed out wife on his hands.  Since I was convinced that my daughter was never going to make an appearance (yes, I have a flair for the dramatic) it was back to business as usual for the 3 of us.  Thursday morning I woke up and went for a long walk and then instead of sitting around waiting for a baby, I took Alexander to a friend's house to go swimming.  I had been feeling kind of bad that morning, but figured a distraction would help put me in a better mood.  We had a great time with Alexander doing his favorite thing - jumping in the pool and then me lifting him back out and doing this over and over again.  After putting an exhausted little boy down for his nap at 2pm, I decided to lay down as well.  I napped for about an hour and then woke up feeling like I might be having a contraction.  I figured it wasn't real, but decided to keep track of the time, just in case.  Well, about 20 minutes later I felt another one and then another 20 minutes passed and I had another one.  Chris came home soon after they started and I let him know what was going on.  He didn't seem like he thought they were very serious either.  As the evening progressed and I started to make dinner they got a bit stronger and a bit closer together and by about 6pm they were about 10 minutes apart.  Chris finished making dinner for us and we sat down to eat while the contractions continued every 10 minutes.  After dinner I laid down on the sofa to see if they would continue and they did.  At about 7pm I called my good friend and back up for Alexander and told her to be on alert.  At about 8pm I called the hospital and told them I had been having pretty strong contractions and they were between 8 and 10 minutes apart.  When I told them my water hadn't broken and there was no sign of blood they told me to stay at home and wait for them to be about 5 minutes apart for an hour and to make myself comfortable that it could be a long night.  The contractions continued to get worse and worse and were lasting for about 1 minute each, but were still a good 7 minutes apart except every now and then I would have one right after the other, but then it would be another 7 minutes before the next one.  Also, anytime I would stand up and walk around they would come more often.  Well at about 10:20pm Chris asked if I wanted to go to bed and I told him that there was no way I could sleep and I wanted to stay right there on the sofa.  He turned out the light and got comfy next to me.  At 10:30pm my water broke in a major way and Chris, my hero, jumped into action.  He got me new pants (mine were now soaking wet), he grabbed our bags and started to go and wake up Alexander.  The contractions immediately started coming every 3 minutes and had really picked up strength.  I called my dear friend and told her we were on our way, then called the hospital and told them the same thing.  I didn't give them any chance to tell me to stay home.  I knew that this was it. 

We put Alexander in the car and took him to my friend's house and I tried to smile as much as possible so that he wouldn't be afraid.  Luckily he loves our friends and feels right at home with them.  He was a super brave little guy!  By the time Chris made it back to the car I was in a lot of pain and feeling the need to push.  I did not tell Chris this because I was so afraid I was going to have this baby in the car.  I just focused on keeping her inside.  We pulled up to the hospital at 11pm and they put me in a wheelchair and I was in so much pain, but really trying to not push.  The nurses knew I was coming in so they were ready for me, but really didn't act like there was much to hurry about.  I was put in a bed and hooked up to some monitors.  The nurse didn't really believe me that my water had broken and then went to check me for dilation.  I was 8cm!  She immediately began to realize that I was serious and called the doctor who, of course, was at home.  As she was quickly heading out the door (it's amazing how fast they move when they realize you're 8cm with the need to push) I yelled out asking for an epidural.  She looked at me like I was nuts and said that there was absolutely no time for that.  I looked at Chris and started to cry a bit because it already hurt so much.  I had not anticipated a drug-free delivery.  He immediately turned into the best coach and gave me a pep talk and told me that I could totally do this.  I was having serious doubts, but he kept me focused and breathing.  The doctor made it in, and I was finally allowed to start pushing.  4 pushes later I was holding my beautiful Anna Margaret at 11:36pm.  And she was howling!  As she lay in my arms she just cried and cried and so did I.  It was quite a dramatic entrance, but she was worth every ounce of pain.  She weighed in at 7lbs 7oz, 20" long and she looks just like her father.  She is absolutely perfect. 

We stayed in the hospital until Saturday morning when they released us to go home in the middle of Hurricane Irene.  We had lost power that morning at the house so things were a bit interesting.  Luckily my mom had made it in on Friday afternoon so Alexander had a playmate.  We entertained him with glow sticks all day while the wind and rain whipped around outside.  We ate a dinner of cheese and crackers and wine by candlelight.  Sunday morning we woke to beautiful weather, but still no power.  As it started to get warmer and warmer on Sunday I was starting to lose my patience and hit my breaking point.  When the power finally returned at about 2:30 I almost wept with relief. 

Since then things have calmed down and we're settling in with our family of 4.  Both my mom and dad are here now and are a huge help.  Alexander loves his new baby sister and loves to kiss her on the head and pat her when she's crying.  If you ask him what Baby Anna does he says, "Eat, sleep, poop".  And that pretty much sums it up.  She's a great little nurser and is filling out nicely.

We didn't share this with everyone, but about 2 1/2 months ago, Anna was diagnosed with hydronephrosis.  This is a dilation of her right kidney.  We were told that nothing could be done until she was born and they were able to do an ultrasound on her kidney to see what we were dealing with.  Well, after 2 months of worry and prayer they did an ultrasound on her at the hospital to find no signs of the condition.  Thank God!  The doctor explained that this happens sometimes and we are so thankful.  They gave her an absolute clean bill of health!  We could not be more happy!

After all of that, here are some pics of our beautiful daughter and our Family of Four.