WARNING: Read only if interested in long and boring labor and delivery details. Last Saturday night around 11:30pm I started having what felt like strong menstrual cramps
(later found out they were contractions) every 15 minutes. They weren't strong enough to bother waking Greg, so I kept busy all night doing crafts and organizing things in the house. By 5:30am they were getting stronger and about 3-5 minutes apart. By 6:30 Greg was awake and timing them for me, as they got more painful. I kept thinking,
'if my water only broke then I would know when to go into the hospital. I just don't want to be sent home yet again'. But, the pains kept coming pretty consistent and I would have to stop to brace myself while pacing around the house. Finally Greg informed me I had 3 contractions in like 8 minutes. With little convincing we packed the car and drove to the hospital. Thankfully we live like 6 blocks away, and I literally had like 1 or 2 contractions in the car, so it was a quick ride
(and I was so thankful for that!). Once the nurse set us up in the room, the contractions quickly got more and more painful, and less and less apart. I was gripping the side rail of my bed while Greg gently rubbed my back. By 9:30 I was ready for my epidural. With a quick prick in the back, the contractions got less and less with each one. All the while, the graphs were printing out on a bedside table that showed the curves of each contraction. Greg kept saying,
'man, that was a HUGE one...did you feel that?'.....'ummm, nope.' I was numb from my sternum down. I actually felt better right then, than the whole nine months being pregnant. IT WAS AMAZING :). So....the afternoon was full of naps, and chatting with my mom, and watching baseball.
Then around 4:30 I was dilated to 10 and ready to push. With Greg on one side, a nurse on the other, and the delivery doctor in the middle....it was a whirlwind of breathing and pushing and focusing. I tried to treat it like the biggest athletic event of my life, and that's pretty much what it was. I closed my eyes and just focused on when the nurse and Greg told me to push. At this time I started feeling the contractions again, and the pelvis pain heightened tremendously. But, it helped me know when to push. I just cannot imagine the pain WITHOUT an epidural. Holy Cow. So, to wrap things up, 45 minutes later our big-beautiful-healthy girl arrived. :) When they placed her on my chest immediately afterwards is when I finally lost it. Tears and sobbing erupted. I think it was a combination of knowing I was finally done working so hard, and literally seeing the product of what God had created over the last nine months. So special. I will always remember that moment.
We both looked at her and looked at each other and just knew her name was Kensie. We had a couple other options on the list, but Kensie Michelle it was. It just had to be. The name originally started out as Mackensie, but we knew we would just call her Kensie, so why not name her that? And, Greg has always loved my middle name Michelle, so it seemed appropriate to mix it in the middle. With that, our little miracle was given life
and a name. We are so grateful for how God has blessed us. What a beautiful creation she is!
She has only gotten cuter over the last 6 days. Here's one from yesterday...
