Fickle Me

Well, told you I was weird. She (my blog) is back online. For a few hours?
Sweaty Mess

Alana

Hello. It's me. I'm over here.

Abby Matilda Williams

We welcomed our newest family member into the world on Tuesday, March 6th, she weighed 8lbs. 10 oz. and was 20 3/4 inches long. Abby Matilda was born at 2pm, 20 short minutes after I arrived at the hospital. I was already dilated to a 10 and wishing I would have gotten there sooner because it was chaotic and stressful but she made it safe and sound and is healthy and beautiful. The only hiccup was her shoulder got stuck but she came out okay with nothing broken and she was breathing. (When Herbie was born his shoulder got stuck and when he came out he wasn't breathing and he was blue. They had to resuscitate him.) Thank goodness for good friends who push you to do things when you just aren't ready. Of course, she is a clone of our other children.

It was a normal day. I was having sporadic contractions throughout the night and day but nothing consistent. I got my haircut, I did laundry, took Herbie to school, cleaned house, went grocery shopping, ate my favorite Arby's sandwich for lunch. I started timing contractions at 11:30am and planned to time them for an hour. Herb was working in Vancouver and I didn't want to pull him away unless this was the real thing (didn't want to have two false alarms) so I was just making sure. I think I was somewhat in denial that it was even time (10 days early, same as I was with Nora, what are the chances). I even told him to just wait until I got to the hospital and I would call him with the status. My friend Julie came over and drove me to the hospital around 1:15pm and told Herb to leave now and meet us there. It is a good thing because by the time we got half way to the hospital, my contractions were only 3 minutes apart. He would have missed the whole thing and he pulled up at the same time we did. The doctor told me that next time (if there is a next) that I should come in when my contractions are 10 minutes apart since things move so quickly. Again, it was my OB's day off so we are 4 for 4. We have never had my doctor that I have seen throughout the pregnancy deliver any of our children.

I feel great. Recovery is going well (not being sick makes a world of a difference). I came home from the hospital Wednesday evening and the kids are so excited to be able to hold Abby. They are obsessed with watching me change her diaper and feed her. When I got home, they had hung a sign on the fireplace that Sage had made at school that says, "Welcome Abby! Congratulations Williams Family" Aunt Ashley helped the kids make cupcakes and bought a bunch of balloons to welcome us home. Thanks to Aunt Ashley for being there on Wednesday to help Herb with the kids and make dinner. And thanks to our friends Julie, Pete, and Michelle for taking our children during our frantic rush to the hospital on Tuesday.

Why is it that I never took any pics of me in high school wearing plastic, fake fur, and platform shoes.

The fact that I don't have any pics of this event makes me sad.

Williams - Who Knew?

Apparently, it is RARE but POSSIBLE to have two sacks of amniotic fluid. One surrounds the baby and the second one sometimes attaches to the outside of the other one. They call the second one a forebag.

Leave it to me to beat the odds.

On Wednesday night (leap day), my water broke and so we went to the hospital thinking that Abby was going to be born possibly on leap day or the next day. Come to find out after 17 long hours in the hospital (waiting for labor to either start or for the doctor's to determine if it was safe for me to go home) they decided that I must have had a forebag and that is what ruptured instead of the one surrounding the baby. I was dilated to a four so they gave me the option of breaking my water and letting labor begin or they said I could go home and wait. The only risk is that the actual bag could have broken instead of a forebag and the babies head could just be blocking the fluid from leaking and resealed a new bag. Herb and I decided that we would go home and wait until Abby is ready to come.

It is extremely frustrating to know that your water broke and then to be told that "maybe you peed your pants". Seriously, I can tell the difference. It is also a bit disappointing to think that it was all happening and then didn't and then coming home tired and exhausted from no sleep and worrying about what to do has taken its toll. So here I am, two more weeks, just playing the waiting game.