Juniper's birth revisited

I woke up at 2:48am Monday morning thinking I had a small gas pain. As I rolled out of bed to use the bathroom my water gushed all over the place :) We called the Dr. and she said since my water had already broke we should come in, just be checked, and then might have to go home again for a few hours, but we would see. Zach was walking back and forth faster than I could see. I was getting a little anxious so I asked him to slow down a little. He said he would try and then would walk so slowly in front of the bathroom door and then I could hear his footsteps as fast as a roadrunner as soon as he was out of my sight. :) He was trying, and he was excited too! Since we hadn't been expecting Juniper's arrival for a few weeks yet, we didn't have any bags packed. I was resting my head on the dresser through contractions as I tried to throw things into a bag. Finally we had what we needed to get out the door.

On the drive the contractions were so strong I was gripping the handle above the window so tightly I was lifting myself off of the seat. I remember thinking that if this was the beginning stages of labor, I couldn't imagine what was still to come. We arrived at the hospital, with our bags just in case, at 4:11am on 4/11/11. The contractions were strong and close together. I was having a hard time breathing through them as they were asking me to fill out paperwork and answer questions. I felt such a strong urge to push. 

After a "quick ultrasound" just to check everything out the Dr. discovered that baby Juniper was breech. Then quickly checked me next to discover I was already dilated to 9cm. It was time for everyone to move fast and get her out! Pretty soon I was literally signing forms with both my right and left hands as my IV was being hooked up, my blood was being drawn, and a gown was somehow put on me, and... and... and :) I remember it all so vividly, like when you are in a car crash and it all happens so quickly, but you can see it all happening just as quickly as it is happening.

I was wheeled into the operating room and given anesthesia to numb my body while Zach put on scrubs and had to wait outside the room before being told he could come in with the camera to sit down next to me. I couldn't feel the contractions anymore and at 6:04am baby Juniper was delivered by C section. She wasn't breathing so the nurse, Susie, gave her oxygen and then her vitals were taken and she was bathed with Zach's help, and wrapped up to be warm, before being brought over and shown to me. She was the cutest little baby I had ever seen. I was so thankful she was here with us and that we were all safe. I couldn't wait to snuggle her and feed her. 

Talk about the craziest 3 hours of my life! Our beautiful girl was now here early! Surprise! She couldn't wait any longer to be in our arms and we were so happy to have her. We had to stay in the hospital until Friday because of the cesarean and because she was born so early. Her blood sugar dropped right after birth and she had to go the NICU for the first day and a half. It made me so sad to be away from her, but her Papa was with her every second that he could be, only taking a quick break to walk to Taco Bell and get something to eat. By the time we got to go home on Friday we were both stable and so ready to be home and out of the hospital where they were in our room every hour for something or another. Sigh. We were now a family of three. We could not have been happier.