Acadia's Arrival

(This will be a recollection of the day Acadia was born, so if that sort of stuff does not interest you, you might skip this entry...)

Wednesday the 6th started like any other. At that point I was 3 days past my due date & very uncomfortable. I started to feel the uneasiness of labor early in the day. I knew it was early and I did not want to alarm Colb, so I just called & told him I wasn't feeling well and asked that he made it home by 5:30 to get Annika to dance class. I told him I was ok to pick Ariana up from dance camp at 4.

At around 2ish I put Annika down for a nap & laid down on the couch. At 2:38, I felt my first contraction, although very light. I laid quietly so I could see when the next one would come, but it was at least half an hour. I called Colby back & told him the contractions had started and asked him to start heading home. I Then gathered Annika & got myself together & headed off to pick up Ariana. When I got to the dance studio, Ariana gave me her typical hard time about leaving... just at that moment I stood in the middle of the studio asking her to hurry along, surrounded by little kids, Annika bolts for the stairs & a contraction kicks in! I breathed the best I could, ran after Annika & right out the door to my car. Ariana followed a couple of minutes behind me & we headed home. I only had one more contraction on that trip, but unfortunately I was driving a standard car & at a stop sign... Now, I am very versed at driving a standard, it is second nature, but, at the peak of a contraction, trying to concentrate on my body & shifting and pushing the clutch & watching for traffic as I pulled out... it is all very hard to do... especially with 2 kids in the back trying to get my attention.

I made it home after that and we had dinner (which, thankfully I had put in the crockpot earlier in the day. I told Colb around 6 that I was going to lay down & get some rest. He put a movie in for the girls & they settled in for mellow time. I did relax & read a book for about half an hour, but then the contractions seemed to start coming much quicker. I called Colb's mom at 7:04 to tell her what was going on. At 7:04 I had a contraction & had to let her go. At 7:16 the next contraction came so I called Colby upstairs & told him to get the bags in the car & start preparing, we would be going to the hospital. "Tonight?" He said. "I wasn't really prepared for this." He apparently didn't realize that I was really in labor! I also asked him to go fill the truck with gas as it was on empty.

The next contraction hit at 7:22... it went from 12 minutes apart to 6!!!! I called Colby back upstairs. "Call the Doctor. Call Lori (our friend coming to watch the girls). We are going to the hospital NOW!" I knew that with the 3rd child, this would come quick. The doctor agreed and was immediately on her way to the hospital also. Thankfully Lori was there within 2 minutes and we were off.

By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were only 2 minutes apart and getting very strong. We got into triage & before I even got my clothes off, I told the nurse to get the epidural ready!

I will continue this entry later, as I only have 10 free minutes at a time now with 3 kids!!!