A Baby Story

I thought I would take some time to recall the story of how Annalie came into the world. 41 weeks into my pregnancy, I finally went into labor. Contractions started Sunday afternoon, but were not very regular, so I thought that nothing was happening. I tried to rest throughout the day and when it came time to go to youth group, I was ready to go, but then thought that I might be a distraction, and decided to stay home. In the few hours that Tony was gone, the contractions started to become more regular and were about 7 min. apart. When Tony finally came home I let him know that I was very confident that I was in labor and would be having the baby soon. Tony stayed up with me through the night as my contractions continued to get closer and closer together. By 2:30 in the morning, I knew that it was time to get to the hospital.


The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever and there were red lights the entire way. When we finally arrived at the hospital, we walked in through the emergency room entrance and the guard at the door told us to check in with the emergency room. She did not realize that I was pregnant and in labor until we started walking towards the ER check-in. She then said, "Oh, you're pregnant!" I said, "Yes, we need to get to Labor and Delivery." She apologized and directed us where to go. When we got to Labor and Delivery, the nurses could immediately tell that I was pretty far along and got me into a room immediately. My contractions by this point were 2-3 minutes apart. They were so surprised that I lasted so long at home. The doctor came in to check me and found that I was hardly dilated but almost completely effaced. I was so disappointed. I thought for sure I was dilated more than a finger tip! So, the nurses asked me if I wanted to walk or lay down. I decided to walk.


After walking for a half hour, we headed back to the room and waited...and waited. I think they put me on Pitocin at some point. By 1:00 in the afternoon, my doctor finally arrived and broke my water. He said he would be back in two hours to check on my progress. Two hours was 30 minutes too long. By 2:00 I was in desperate need to get my baby out!! I didn't make any demands of anyone until that point. I insisted that I needed a doctor and that I needed to push. At first, the nurse didn't believe me, but then saw that I was truly ready to go. She called for a doctor to come, but no one came. Finally, my dad had to go out and yell at the hospital staff for someone to help. When they saw the urgency in my dad's plea, they came running. Within minutes there were 4 or 5 doctors in my room prepping me for delivery. Within 30 minutes Annalie was out! My doctor didn't make it in time. In fact, he got to the room a couple minutes after she was born.

Annalie Grace born Nov. 3 @ 2:36 pm. Weighing 6 lbs. 15 oz. and 19 in. long

Annalie came out with her big eyes wide open and so alert. It was amazing. She was beautiful! Now, two weeks old, she is such a joy. Still alert as ever. I have to say that I am glad that I did not get an epidural. The contractions were definitely painful, but pushing was by far the best part. It my be too early to say, but next time, give me the drugs!