And then there were four...

Well hello there!

I suppose you're wanting the full update on the comings and goings around here over the past week! There's a lot to tell but let me first say that I am amazed at how smoothly things are going. Chalk it up to number 2 being easier because you know what you're doing but I think it is also because we have such a calm and complacent little boy and a sweet and enthusiastic big sister.

I would be amiss in telling how Teddy's birth story continues without talking about the events of Saturday afternoon. I ran upstairs to grab a headband for Katherine and stubbed my left pinky toe on the bathroom door. Now, if you know me and know how ungraceful I am, you would simply chuckle at that (which is what Ted did when he heard me do it). My poor pinky toe has been stubbed so many times it's getting a bit misshaped. I let out my usual yelp and went about my business. Except it kept hurting...bad. It was all I could do to make it down the stairs. Within 30 minutes I was on the recliner, with my foot up and on ice. And the toe was red and swollen. Still, no problem I thought, rest it for a bit and your good to go. An hour later I got up and realized I couldn't put ANY weight on that foot. I was pretty sure I had broken that toe and who knows what other damage to my foot. I hobbled my way upstairs to lay down and thought, this is great, what happens if I go into labor tonight? Because I had no idea how we would get me out the front door into the car or better yet from the car into the birth center. Imagine a 9 month pregnant woman literally crawling to get herself back from the potty during a middle of the night pee run and you have a sense of the predicament I was in (let me tell you, it was cute). Luckily I didn't go into labor Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon I could put weight on the foot provided I was wearing flip flops. And it appeared there was no other foot damage other than to my toe. But you don't realize how important that little toe is for walking until you break it.

Labor started very early Monday morning. Katherine woke up at 2am needing to go potty. She actually had had a slight accident and was quite upset about it so after cleaning things up I laid with her until she fell asleep. I had a contraction or two but basically ignored them. But when I went back to our bed the contractions kept coming. I decided to go downstairs for a bit, get a snack and see what was happening. Well, within 20 minutes, the contractions were fairly strong and only a few minutes apart. I went to the living room to sit on my right side for a bit (just to be safe). Same thing. I woke Ted up to let him know what was happening. Honestly I was not interested in heading in to the hospital unless it was the real thing after Thursday's experience. I called the doctor who said that really there was no way to know if it was the real thing unless I came in the get checked. So after letting Ted's parents know what was happening, off we went. The contractions were strong and consistent in the car.

As with Thursday, the first step once you get to the birth center is to head to the triage area for assessment. So there I was again, hospital gown on, back on the monitor for an assessment. Funny moment when they asked me, now on a scale of 1 to 10 how painful are the contractions? Hmmm let's see I broke my toe Saturday afternoon and that sent searing pain through my whole foot, are we talking more or less painful than that? Because really that whole number scale is crap compared to that reference point. But I gave them a number of some sort.

And wouldn't you know, the contractions started slowing down. And wouldn't you know I was no more dilated than I was on Thursday night although the nurse did think I was a bit more effaced. I was told to walk around for a bit see if we couldn't get things going again. Based on my foot situation this was going to be interesting but I managed to hobble around for about an hour before my toe said STOP! Contractions started up again but not as strong as before. The nurse checked and thought I was a bit more dilated but she wasn't sure that it was anything noticable. She talked to the doctor who wanted me to walk around a bit more if I could. So off we went again. Honestly at this point I was at the end of my rope, I saw the whole walking thing as pointless. Obviously we were dealing with another round of false labor and there was no point in me walking or hanging around the hospital for that matter. It was almost 5am and I was ready to go home. And more toe was really not willing to put up with any more walking, especially walking that in my opinion had no point. However, because my doctor was in the middle of a C-section I had no choice but to sit and wait to be officially discharged (even though I hadn't been officially admitted). So my nurse had me lay down for a bit to relax (and assured me I was no crazy with all this false labor business). Just for kicks, she put me back on the monitor. And a funny thing happened, the contractions started up again, not incredibly strong, not all that consistent but still, something was happening.

After she finished up the C-section, my doctor came by to check things out and talk to me. She told me that if I really wanted to go I could but she also asked me if I was willing to wait an hour first to see if something was happening. She had a feeling that it was the real thing (and I had a feeling that she was crazy). I obliged. At the end of the hour (and a nurse shift change) I was checked and the new nurse felt I was at almost 4.5 cm dilated. However, she cautioned that since it was her first time checking me, it may or may not mean progress. She checked with the doctor who declared that we were having a baby and I was being admitted. Honestly, I still thought the lady was crazy. But off we went to a labor room.

Things kind of continued along at their own pace for the rest of the day. And I spent a good part of the rest of the day in disbelief that this was not false labor. Gradually the contractions got stronger and more regular. At about 11:30 I got an epidural, which was right on time because things got even stronger right at that point. I spent the afternoon snuggled in bed (foot up!) watching CNN (big news story, the Tiger Woods news conference). At about 3pm the doctor broke my water and declared that I was 9 cm dilated. At some point after 4pm I started pushing. Teddy made his arrival at 4:43pm weighing at 7 lbs, 10 oz. and 21 1/4 inches long.

So how are things going? Amazingly well. Teddy seems to be a very calm and complacent baby. The most amazing thing is that nights have been incredibly smooth, starting right from Monday night at the hospital. This means that I have been getting some sleep, which is the huge difference between Katherine's first few days and now. And Katherine has been adjusting very well, better than we expected. She was so excited to see "baby brother" at the hospital and since we've been home she's been very eager to help as much as she can. Bedtime has become a bit more of a challenge but I'm not sure I can even say that because she has been settling herself down and going to sleep pretty much at her normal time. Ted and I have both said that it all seems pretty sureal that we now have two kids. The pregnancy flew by so I had a hard time believing that I was actually in labor (as much as wanted it to happen the last week).

I getting caught up on the photo albums, everything is uploaded to Shutterfly. They should be available on the photo site either later today or some time tomorrow. We've got some great pictures of the baby and there's some pictures of Katherine in her bubble bath in February that I completely forgot that I had taken. So head on over to our picture site and take a peek!