Lauren is here: Her birth story

Now we officially have 3 under the age of 2 :). Lauren Olivia was born Dec. 30, 2011 (right under the wire, huh?) :) I went in to the dr for my 38 weeks appt and my bp was elevated (which it always is when I go into his office {white coat syndrome}). He told me he would need to induce me that night. Ahhhh!! I hadn't planned on that. I was planning for 5 days later so I had to go home and get some last min things together. I was very nervous but excited. We went to the hospital around noon and they got things started with cervadil later in the evening and 12 hours later they let me get a shower! I was contracting on my own pretty well at that point so they thought about waiting for the pitosin and when they did start it they only gave me a little bit to get things moving. I was feeling the contractions but they were bearable. Once I needed the epidural they called the anesthesiologist into the room and sent everyone else out :(. I really wished Jared could have been there at least. When he put the needle-thing in my back he asked if I could tell if it was in the middle of my back (isn't that his job to know?). I could feel that it was a little more on the left side so he adjusted it some and started putting the medicine in. He told me things were going perfectly so I didn't worry. I started feeling my legs go really numb (especially the left leg). I could still feel the contractions though so I asked them what was going on. They came and gave me another dose of epidural and that only made my left leg even more dead weight-feeling...not cool! The dr came and broke my water around 9am, Friday, December 30. The epidural did start to slow the contractions down.  Ugh...so they had to up the pitosin, of course. My body started to take over at a certain point and contracting on its own so they lowered the pitosin so I wouldn't contract too hard. I really feel like the nurse I had was very very observant and knowledgable! She did such a great job with me. Like I said, I could still feel the contractions and everything else with the baby making her way into the world :/. I wasn't expecting that at all. I had talked about having the baby "all natural - with no drugs." I then decided against that :). But I guess I got my wish afterall. I could feel that the baby was really pushing down and was getting close so I kept asking the nurse to check me and I was a "good 6" she said. They said it may be a couple more hours but I progressed from 6-10 in a matter of MAYBE an hour. That was probably one of the most uncomfortable hours of my life! I was finally allowed to push and that helped things some. They checked me again and I was READY! They had to call the dr away from doing a circumcision somewhere else just to help me deliver. I was thankful for God's timing. My dr. hadn't started his other procedure yet so he was able to leave and come help me. It seemed like it took forever for him to get there though. At one point I actually yelled calling his name. LOL...the nurses were probably laughing at me...but I was serious :). Once he got there he kind of took his good ol' time to get his long gloves on and his other gear. I was thinking..."come on!" He told me just breath, don't push. Yeah, easier said than done for sure! The nurse told him, "You probably want to come over here now." It literally took only a couple sets of pushes before she was here. I was so glad it went so quickly since I could really feel the whole thing. Once she was here it was the sweetest thing. Jared and I were both in tears! With the twins they had to go to the NICU right away. I didn't even get to see Grant and only got to see and kiss Kara for a few seconds. This time was so different. I got to hold Lauren and get her to cry for us. She is such a good baby! She doesn't really cry unless I make her mad. She loves being with mommy (which mommy loves too). A couple neat things....my bp actually was really good the entire time I was in the hospital and I was able to go home with Lauren the very next day! I really missed my buddies and my bed!

>>>>On another note...the twins seemed to have blossomed overnight when I was in the hospital. We came home and they were saying new words and connecting words into phrases. Our babies are growing up! We told them they're not allowed to do that! :) They really seem to like the baby. They look at her and say, "Baby."<<<<

We decided it was time to go out as a family of 5 (4 days after Lauren was born). Mommy really wanted to walk so we went to dinner and then to the mall to walk. It was interesting with one more little one to keep track of. I think it will be a special occasion to go out for the next half year or so. :).