It has been a fun and CRAZY month!
First of all, I really didn't think I was STILL going to be pregnant! Grandma flew in from Texas on the 17th. We were so excited!!! She had even changed her ticket to come earlier since my OB was so confident for my last 4 appointments that I wouldn't make it to my next appointment….Ugh.
Even though we didn't have a newborn Granddaughter for her to hold right away, Ava and Reese had a whole week of time to take all of Grandma's attention before Valerie arrived! They loved it!!!
On the early morning of Dec 20th I woke up at 2am to a contraction. I fell back asleep and woke up 5 minutes later to another. I laid there and another one came. I got up and started to time them. They were about every 3 minutes apart. Raf had fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie. I got up and took a shower. He came in and I told him I thought labor was starting! We woke up my Mom and headed to the hospital. They checked me and I was 3cm dilated (I had been 3cm for almost 3 weeks!!) NO!!! So, it turned out I wasn't REALLY in labor. I couldn't believe that this was my third baby and I am having false labor! I thought that only happened to first time Mom's! They sent us home and the doc said "I will probably see you back here in less than 24 hours!" That gave us a little hope!
Rafael and I spent the next 3 days walking. Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening we walked over 2 miles each night, hoping it would make our little Valerie come out! We wanted her to come out before Christmas! She had presents under the tree and everything!! Walking proved to do nothing. I had an appointment with my OB on Monday the 23'd. This is the appointment that my OB practically promised I would NEVER make it to! Well…I did. They had stripped my membranes for the last 3 visits with no result. I was 3cm dilated and 70% effaced for 3 weeks!! She offered to do it again on this visit, but we decided to wait. It was now the 23'd and we went from wanting to go into labor, to trying to keep baby Valerie inside my belly until after Christmas. I was so worried about Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We really didn't want to end up spending it in the hospital away from Ava and Reese. For the rest of that day and Christmas Eve, I just took it super easy. I didn't make any sudden movements and just walked around like an old lady to try and keep labor from coming! I prayed and prayed that she would stay inside of me until after the Christmas festivities so we could enjoy them with our girls.
Well GUESS what?! My prayers were answered and Valerie finally decided to listen to her Mommy!
I had on and off contractions on Christmas Eve, nothing major. We decorated Christmas cookies for Santa. We sprinkled reindeer food outside so the reindeer would smell it and come to our house. Ava and Reese opened one present under the tree. They set out their stockings for Santa, and we tucked them into bed.
Then Santa went to work!!
Santa even put out Valerie's Christmas JUST in case!
On Christmas morning, we gathered in Reese's room to get ready and go out to see what Santa brought! Ava was SO excited!! Reese was tired and a little unsure what was going on.
What a GREAT Christmas morning!! I started to have some more painful contractions pretty early in the morning, but they were still spread far apart, so labor had not started yet! I was SO relieved that I got to be home for Christmas Eve and morning! Grandma made us Eggs Benedict for breakfast. YUM! We just hung out all morning and played with our new toys!!
When Noon rolled around I told Valerie that it was ok for her to come anytime now…. HA!
We got ready and headed over to Aunt Na's house for Christmas dinner around 4pm. It was about an hour drive to North Bend. Despite still having painful contractions, they were still spaced far apart. We thought we would be safe to go. There were 2 hospitals along the way just in case.
On the drive there the contractions got closer together and worse! I was starting to get a little worried, but they were still about 10-15 minutes apart.
We made it to Aunt Na's! It was a relief for me to be close to my Mom and Sister. We ate dinner and the contractions slowed down a bit, but when they did come, they were bad! After dinner we sat down on the couch and watched the kids open some presents.
I can't believe how awful I look here!! I had been having contractions all day, so I think by this point it had caught up to me and I was just tired!!
Once we hit the freeway (still an hour away from home) the contractions started coming about every 3-5 minutes, and WOW they HURT!! Definitely the kind you can't talk through! We contemplated stopping at one of the hospitals in Puyallup on the way, but decided we could make it. We got home and got the girls inside. Grandma pulled up just a few minutes later. We got their jammies on and brushed their teeth. We gave them big kisses and told them we were going to go, but we would be coming home with their baby sister! This whole time, the contractions just kept coming!!
We got in the car and headed for the hospital. On the way, my contractions stopped for about 20 minutes! I was so worried that when we got to the hospital they were going to send us home again. Just before we got there, they started again. PHEW! We checked in around 9:15pm. The nurse checked me and I was 6cm dilated and FINALLY in LABOR!! YAY!!!!! We told the nurse that since we were in the hospital on Christmas, we wanted her to come out on Christmas! She had just under 3 hours to be a Christmas baby! They moved us from the triage room to a real room. The doctor came in. She said "I hear you want a Christmas baby?!" We said "YES!!" She said "Well all right, let's break your water and start patosin and get her outta there!"
Around 10:30 or so the anesthesiologist came in with my epidural. YAY!
Grandma put Ava and Reese to bed and went to get our neighbor, Christianna. She came over and stayed with our sleeping babies so Grandma could come and see Valerie get born!
I can't quite remember, but I think Grandma got there around 11 or so. My epidural had kicked in and I was feeling pretty good! We kept watching the clock, getting more and more nervous as midnight approached!
Kim (one of the nurses) turned off my epidural because I was getting numb a little higher on my chest than you are supposed to. She decided to empty my bladder as well. They were having a hard time getting the monitor to pick up Valerie's heart beat because my bladder was full and in the way. When she was doing it, she checked and said "Ohhh, you are complete and baby is ready!" She called the doctor and started setting up for Valerie! I think it was about 11:35 or so now.
The doctor came in and got her stuff ready and checked me around 11:45. It was time to push! I only pushed 3 times (1 contraction) and out Valerie came!!! 11:47pm! 13 minutes to spare! They put her on my tummy and OH MY GOSH!!! SHe was SO beautiful!!!!!!! She was round and had the cutest little rolls! The first thing I noticed were her chubby little arms!
My umbilical cord was pretty short, so I couldn't pull her up close to me until Daddy cut it. Once he did, I snuggled her for a good 45 minutes before they took her away to weigh and clean her!
She was JUST SO PERFECT!! All I could think about was Ava and Reese and how excited they were going to be in the morning!
