Brooke Nicole :)

Our sweet Brooke

"Celebration Dinner"

Relaxing in our room

Our third (and final) sweet baby girl came into the world on the best day ever, my birthday! Of course, she was due on April 9, and I made up my mind that I wasn't going to expect her to come early. I finished up work on Thursday, and I went to my appointment. They did not have any specific ideas about when the baby would come. I was dilated to a 3, and she said she wouldn't be surprised if I had the baby that day or next week. So, we went home to wait...

I wanted to be there for the girls to do their Easter basket hunt, so we set it up that night for them to find in the morning.

That night, I woke up around 2:45am with some contractions. I knew they were real contractions, but they were not too terribly strong or too close together. Around 5:30, I started thinking that it might be a good idea to call the midwife to get her opinion on things. I kind of thought that it would be smart to get out of the house before the girls woke up, also, the midwife that I really wanted to deliver the baby was on call until 7am that morning. When I called her and told her what was going on, she said to wait one more hour to see what happened. I remember, I was outside on the porch when I hung up the phone. I looked up at the sky, and the moon was beautiful, and it was so peaceful. It was a strange calming feeling, and I felt like at that moment waiting was the right thing to do. I went back to bed and only had two contractions for that whole hour.

Adilyn woke up really early (around 6:45) because she was excited to see what the Easter bunny left her. I got her to lay back down for a while, and then all of a sudden, I started having contractions again. She was in bed, messing with my hair and talking to me about the Easter bunny, and I was trying really hard to get through these contractions. Finally, I told Cory that we should think about leaving, but Adilyn was the only one awake. We decided to wake up Mom and Kacy, and do the Easter hunt very quickly. They came downstairs to find all their little toys, they were jumping on the bed, and screaming about what presents they got...meanwhile I am having strong contractions every five minutes or so. It was not the ideal situation to stay focused and calm! :) After they got through with their hunt, I jumped in the shower, and we headed out. I knew the minute that we got in the car that we were in for another treacherous ride to the hospital. I could tell that we had waited too long, once again. It was 8:15am, but luckily it was Good Friday, so there was not much traffic. My contractions started coming closer together, and my rest times seemed to fly by. Every bump in the road was excruciating, but we finally made it to the hospital. I was so relieved to pull into that parking lot, but little did I know that my adventure had just begun!

I had them get me a wheelchair because I knew that I couldn't walk that far without having to stop for contractions, and I really wanted to get in a room as soon as possible. We get up to the 11th floor, which is triage where they assess you before you go to labor and delivery. As soon as we get to the desk, the lady says in a very sweet, soft voice..."Good morning, welcome to the Pavilion for Women. We are so glad you are here." I kind of thought in my mind..."don't you see, I need to get in a room, quick!" But, I tried to be nice and answer all their questions between breathing through contractions. After what seemed like an hour, they let us go back to the triage room. They got me set up on a fetal monitor and were asking me all kinds of ridiculous questions. I asked where Mary, the midwife, was, and the nurse said that she was waiting for me at labor and delivery. Mary came down a few minutes later, and she asked me why I was on this floor. I told her that is where I was told I had to go. The nurse said, "All patients must come through triage." Mary said, "That is not true." The nurse replied, "Yes it is, obviously there is still some confusion about protocol." As this is happening, I am thinking to myself...who cares about the damn rules, I need to have this baby!!! Of course, the hospital had not even been open for two weeks, and they apparently have some issues to work out between triage and midwives!

When Mary checked me, she said that I was complete and ready to deliver. I immediately had a flashback of Adilyn's delivery! I was glad that I was at a 10, I was glad that Mary was with us, and I was glad that this was all almost over! We were trying to get up to labor and delivery, and the triage nurse said that we couldn't leave until the l&d nurse came down and got us. Mary told the friendly triage nurse that she needed an emergency delivery kit in case she needed to deliver there. I think at that point I said something like, "Why are there so many rules in this hospital?!?" After what seemed like forever, the nurse finally came. She asked me if I could get in a wheelchair, and I said no way! The nurse said at that point, "Make sure that bed gets back to us because it belongs on this floor." Seriously?!?! We went down to the elevators, and the nurse's badge would not work to open the elevator doors, so we couldn't get in. I couldn't believe it, just when I thought that we were almost through all our issues, another one would pop up! They wheeled me down to the other elevators, but the bed wouldn't fit in there. It was ridiculous! We went back to the original elevators, and as we passed the nurse's station Mary was screaming for someone to help us open the doors. They opened...thank goodness! We got into the labor and delivery room, and I finally got to start pushing with contractions. It is so much better to be able to do something productive while you have the contractions vs. trying to just endure them. The baby was still pretty high, so Mary had to break my water. After that we started pushing, and she still was not coming down enough. We changed positions, and after about 4 more pushes, out came little Brooke! Only 50 minutes after we pulled in the valet parking!

I really feel like natural childbirth has been the best way for me to deliver my babies, but I always forget just how much it hurts when they are coming out! Wow! I screamed louder than I think I had before, and I am pretty sure that I grabbed Cory's arm quite hard. He said that I barely screamed at all, but I sure felt like the whole hospital (even the nurse in triage) could hear me! But as painful as it is, it is completely over the minute the baby comes out. Mary put Brooke on my belly, and that same feeling of relief, joy, and complete unexplainable love came over me as it always does when you see your child for the first time. She cried for a minute or two, and then she just calmed down and looked around. So sweet!

We had to stay in the labor and delivery room for a while because we had to fill out all the paperwork and documentation that we should have done before the baby was born. I think I even signed a paper giving consent to have my baby at this hospital, while I was holding her in my arms! :)

Eventually we got to the mother-baby room, and got settled in. I was so glad that Brooke got to stay with us the whole time. With both Adilyn and Kacy we had to be separated for a little bit for either my medical issues or theirs, but Brooke and I were both fine this time, so she never once left our room! We had a great room, with a great view, and the hospital itself was very nice. Our nurses were all very good, but the best parts about the Pavilion for Women were the food service and the shower. The food service was kind of like a room service type thing, and it was pretty good food. The other thing that was very sweet was that they had a "celebration dinner" for us complete with a white table cloth, flower centerpiece, sparkling red juice, and a birthday cake.

We had lots of visitors, and it was a great stay. As nice as it was, we wanted to get out of there! We got them to let us leave the next evening. I felt great after delivery, and I was up walking around by that afternoon. I am so glad that delivery went so well, and of course, that sweet little Brooke was healthy!

PS - Here are all her "stats" 8 pounds 1 ounce, 20.5 inches, born at 9:44am.

I love all my girls!!!