I started having contractions around 11:45 pm on Thursday, 12/17, shortly after getting in bed. I turned to Craig and told him I thought I would be going into labor soon. I really had no idea - just thought I'd keep him on his toes, well that and I hadn't had these kind of pains before.
By about 2:30 am Craig said it was time to start timing the contractions b/c they were coming more regularly. (You have to be 5 minutes apart before they want you to go to the hospital.) They started about 10 or so minutes apart for a short bit and by 3:30-4:00 am we were ready to go to the hospital. By the time I got there my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I could barely walk.
We got to the hospital around 4:30 am and I was 4 cm dilated. By 8:30 am I was 10 cm and ready to go - except the baby hadn't dropped for me to start pushing. So I had to lay around, switching positions for a couple hours hoping she would drop... but she never budged. They told me to go ahead and start pushing, thinking that might help her out but after an hour and a half she was still in the same place. Guess somewhere in the middle of it all she changed her mind about coming out. :)
By this time I was running a fever of 102.4, on oxygen (almost the whole time) and the baby's heart rate was high. The Dr. finally dropped the bomb that I would need a c-section, not only b/c the baby wasn't fitting but b/c my fever was endangering her. A c-section was the last thing I wanted but in birth you have no control on how your body responds, you just do what's best for the baby.
So at 1:58 pm on 12/18 - baby Addie came into this world weighing 8lbs 5oz and 20" long - looking just like daddy.
