I know some people are curious or enjoy reading birth stories, so if you are here it is. I stayed up late the night of October 9th feeling this urgency to finish up some projects. I had a contraction or two, but nothing to even worry about. I went to sleep around midnight and at 5:00 am I woke up to my water breaking. Most women I talk to experience contractions and labor before their water breaks, but I guess that isn't how it works for me. Both with Leo and with Lucy my water broke signaling it was time to have a baby. I was a little bit vain. I wanted to take a shower and paint my toe nails so I at least looked a little nice before going to the hospital but when we realized my contractions were 4 minutes apart, Allen put a stop to that idea and said we needed to get to the hospital. I got dressed and I had to see my "baby" before we left. Leo was snuggled in his bed sleeping peacefully. (Luckily or dear sweet friends the Hubbards live 3 doors down so they were able to watch over Leo without waking him up.) As I looked at him realizing his life/our lives were going to change forever, I felt so grateful for the 23 months we have had him in our lives and for special time we had had at the park the night before.
Allen and I then drove to the hospital and checked in. When we checked in I was at a 4. I knew I was going to get an epidural. It is pretty much a requirement for any woman trying to have a VBAC but Allen and also felt it was a good idea in case I did need to have a c-section my body wouldn't be as worn out. They gave me the epidural around 9 and unfortunately it didn't kick in until 10. By that point I was at an 8. They let me rest for an hour and a half and then they started prepping me to push. At this point I became very nervous. I was the same place I was with Leo. I was scared about pushing and whether my body was going to be able to do it this time. Around noon I started pushing. Our doctor was fabulous. He knew I wanted to deliver vaginally and did all he could to make it possible. Our nurse Sharon was the perfect southern coach. She was yell, "Come on Girl, push push push push.".. etc. She reminded me of my dad at the end of a cross country race. At one point they were both a little worried. The heart beat started to drop and things were getting a little tight. He said we could try just a couple more pushes, but we might have to prep for a c-section. But after a couple of pushes her head was out. And then Allen was able to tell me we had a little girl. She was smaller than Leo. Lucy was 6.5 lbs and leo was just about 8 lbs. If she was any bigger I don't know if I would have been able to do it.
Recovery from a vaginal birth has been amazing compared to a cesarean. We have also been so blessed to have so much help. So many families from our ward watched Leo while we were in the hospital. My sister came down our first weekend home. My mom was able to stay with me for 2 weeks and then my sweet friend Kendra came for a few days. I honestly don't think I could have adjusted to this new life without everyone. We have our ups and downs but we are in love with our two little ones and we feel so blessed to have Little Lucy here. Allen wrote this and I feel it describes both of our feelings. My first feeling and the accompanying thought was that of my love and joy being expanded. Having a new daughter does not diminish my love or joy for Cameo or Leo. Every parent has experienced this and I knew it in my mind, but it still was surprising. I think love is unique in that way. Patience seems to run out. You never have enough time or energy to do what you want or need. But love can be an infinite resource. I know that more now.
