A Woman With a Plan: When Libby Came Into the World...

The weeks & days leading up to Libby's birth...

After a girls trip to Canton with my mom and some of her friends at 37 weeks pregnant (yes, I definitely rented one of those motorized wheel chairs...that's the only way my mom allowed me to join them!), I started having contractions late in the evening. Because they were pretty consistent, my doctor wanted me to head to triage to be monitored. When we got there, I was dialated to 1cm, and my contractions were pretty consistent. Right then and there, I panicked. I wasn't ready to have her that night. I know that sounds weird, but Cale had already gone to bed before we headed to the hospital, and I didn't like that I hadn't had a chance to "prep" him. Plus, I was supposed to be heading to Buy Buy Baby the next morning, for a really great, very selective, shopping event that I had been chosen to attend - I was NOT going to miss that! Ha!! So, I asked the nurse to do whatever it would take to stop my labor. She kind of looked at me funny, but my doctor consented, saying that since I was only 37 weeks along, she would like it if Libby had a little bit longer to "cook". The nurse gave me Norco, the contractions stopped, and we headed home. That Norco allowed me to have the best rest that I had had my entire pregnancy! :)

One week came and went, and the following Saturday, November 9th, at about 2:45am, I woke up having contractions again. I figured I should time them, so I headed out into our living room and did what any normal pregnant woman who was pretty sure this was "it" would do...I started painting Libby's door sign for the hospital! Adam woke up around 3:30, and came into the kitchen to see what I was doing. When I told him I was timing contractions, and that he should just go back to bed, he just looked about me, shook his head, and headed back to the bedroom. I do love that he doesn't even question why in the world I would be painting at 3:30am - he knows not to ask anymore! :)

My contractions stayed pretty consistent, but never really increased in pain, so I headed back to bed around 4am, and was able to sleep until 8am. We had plans to go to breakfast with a bunch of friends that morning, so we carried on with our planned day, all while I was continuing to have consistent contractions about every 5-6 min. We went to breakfast, came home and cleaned up around the house, put Cale down for a nap, and I headed out the door to go get a mani and pedi...I just had a feeling it would be the last one I would be having for a while! By 4pm, I knew Libby would be coming in the next 24 hours. I decided to call my OB and tell her about my consistent contractions. She told me to call her at 7pm and report in. At 7pm, I did call back and report in...from my bathtub. She told me to go ahead and head to the hospital, ready to have a baby. I told her that I wouldn't be there until 9pm, as I was going to put Cale to bed first, and spend a little bit of time with him. As excited as I was to meet my new daughter, I was sad that the days of Cale being my only child were coming to a screeching hault. I was thankful that the Lord had allowed things to happen the way they did, so that I could prep Cale about coming to see me in the hospital the next day, and about meeting his new sister.

Sad to say, my c-section was actually scheduled for the following week, and Adam's mom had been planning to come for the delivery. Because I delivered her early, Adam's mom wasn't able to be there on her birthday, but she came just a few short days later!

My parents, who now live in Dallas, had taken a day trip with some of their friends up to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to celebrate the proposal of one of my sister's best friends from college. I called them around 3pm to let them know that I felt pretty confident that I would be going to the hospital to have Libby that night. They scrambled to finish things up in Arkansas, and made the trip back to Dallas.

Adam and I made it to the hospital around 9:30, and after about 20 minutes on the monitor, the nurse told my doctor to head on in for a c-section. My parents made it to the hospital about 15 minutes before I walked to the OR to deliver.

And now, a side note...I didn't realize how different two c-sections could be! With Cale, I had labored for 14 hours before they decided to take him via cesarean, and so with Libby, we had planned to do a C-section the whole time. Although I had been having contractions most of the day, I was never in a lot of pain. With Cale, I had been on a pitocin drip and my body was already tired from my contractions. I also had gotten an epidural, so they had to wheel me into the OR before I delivered Cale. With Libby, they waited to do my epidural until I was in the OR, so I was able to walk myself into the OR and lay down on the OR table...that was a bit of a surreal experience! My recoveries with both Libby and Cale were very different too! I felt like my recovery with Libby was faster than my recovery with Cale. I'm sure it had something to do with the events leading up to each c-section, along with the fact that I knew what to expect going in the second time! I know c-section recovery can be pretty miserable for some people, and I'm so thankful that they haven't been brutal for me!

The next morning, Cale woke up to Honey and Chief, who told him that Libby was here and he was going to go to the hospital and meet her soon! They stopped by Honey and Chiefs house so that they could get ready for the day, and Cale patiently watched Bubble Guppies on TV until it was time to head to the hospital.

Finally! They arrived at the hospital and Adam and I were so excited for Cale to meet Libby! We had spent months talking to him about his little sister that would be coming soon, and we couldn't wait to watch Cale love on her and be such a sweet Big Brother!

Cale walked in with a Happy Birthday balloon for Libby. Libby was in her bassinet, and I was sitting on the bed. He saw me first, but immediately asked where Libby was! He was on a mission to see her! He ran to the bassinet when he spotted her...

He had the most precious reaction...we really couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more tender moment right then. He loved her as soon as he saw her!

And he COULD NOT WAIT to hold her...

He and Adam had gone to build-a-bear earlier in the week, and he made a special bunny to give Libby at the hospital.

Sweet boy couldn't get enough of her.

Finally, when he realized that Libby had a few presents to give him, he decided to let go of her long enough just to see what were in the bags!

And this was the sign on the door to my hospital room...the one that I was up painting while timing contractions! :)

We had lots of visitors stop by, but I tried to be protective of my rest time as well. I felt like it was important for Cale's world not to be turned upside down more than necessary, so I told Adam I would rather him stay at our house at night with Cale, and get good sleep while he could! My mom kept Cale during those days and Adam went to work. We decided that it would be better for Adam to take time off of work when I was home from the hospital, so Adam went to work during the day and would come to the hospital and visit when he finished up at work each day.

Libby did a lot of this when it was just us in the hospital...

I really soaked up my down time at Baylor, knowing that life would not be this calm when we headed home. It was great to get one-on-one time with her, and Cale and Adam came up every night to visit. It was such a sweet stay...so much so that I begged my OB to give insurance orders to stay one more day (which she did, since Libby was born so late at night)!

Eventually, we had to go home...