labor and delivery

Brittany here. Just going to recount the arrival of Miss Ada Olivia Moncrief. Ada was originally due on Feb 14, 2008. I had been antsy for approximately a week prior. I was completely ready for her arrival. I had Friday February 8th off from work due to being scheduled to work the following day. I was in nesting overload. I washed curtains, cleaned base boards, reorganized cabinets etc. At 4 o'clock that day I had my second of two fabulous 1 hour pre-natal massages of the pregnancy at Natural Body. I was waiting to use my last gift card as close to my delivery as possible. Little did I know labor would begin just 8 hours later (coincident, I guess we will never know). After being completely rested and relaxed, Jimmy and I went out to his belated birthday dinner at Southern Star with my parents and my nephew Preston. We topped off the evening with some Clumpie's ice cream and then headed home. Jimmy and I went to bed as normal, with no thought that the next 24 hours would be life changing. At 2am I woke up with strong contractions which made me think I may have slept through the preliminary set. I did not awaken Jimmy until around 6am when the contractions were 7-10 minutes apart. It was really hard for me to make a decision on whether or not to go into work. I felt so bad that I had the previous day off. I told Jimmy I could do this. I just didn't want to freak out the members. At 7am I got Jimmy to go ahead and call my manager and let her know I would not be able to make it in that day. Jimmy called the doctor when they were 5 minutes apart and the on call nurse told us to go ahead and go to the hospital.
I completely stalled at that point and tried to do anything around the house to distract me with the few moments in between contractions (or transactions to any of you c.u. folk out there). Finally we left for the hospital after timing contractions at 3 minutes apart. We arrived around 2pm. I was taken to a preliminary room to be checked for dilation. To our huge disappointment I was only 2cm dilated. Leona, the nurse taking care of me called the on call Dr. (The fabulous Dr. Newman was not on call that day). Dr. Brown said to monitor me for another hour but if I did not continue to dilate then I would be sent home. At about that time my sister Jennifer and her husband Mark appeared. We all prayed for dilation. I did NOT want to go back home. Jimmy was wonderful. He helped me through all the contractions, he was encouraging, gave me massages and held me in several different laboring positions. After and hour I had progressed to 4cm..yippee! I was taken to my new home for the next four days. The official name of the home, the Pansy Room (yes, Hamakers we know, you told us the Violet Room and yes, you can harass Jimmy for this). Once in the room the birthing ball became my new favorite item. At around 5:30pm I was at 6 cm and decided I was ready for some pain relief. Jimmy was so sweet he kept saying it was the hardest thing ever to see someone you love so much, in so much pain. Bring on the epidural, which happens to be the most fabulous medical invention known to woman. Happy as can be and pain free at 7:30pm I was at 10cm, fully effaced and ready to push. I had an internal monitor by this time (which broke my water) and Ada did not like the contractions so she was monitored closely. Her heart rate would drop everytime a contraction would come on. I was having very strong contractions (which thankfully I could not feel) which lasted 3.5-4 minutes long. The nurses said this was unusual because contractions usually only last around 2 minutes long so it made me extra thankful that I had the epidural. After pushing for four hours, trying several different birthing positions and having an ultrasound that showed Ada was face up instead of face down Dr. Brown encouraged me that a c-section would be the best. Ada had been under alot of stress with her response to the contractions and he had seen only a hand full of women be able to deliver with the baby positioned as Ada was.

In addition to positioning, during the c-section it was discovered that Ada's hand was also in front of the birth canal which proved that Miss Ada came exactly the way she was suppose to. To hear her little cry upon exit was the most exhilarating feeling ever, even more so than skydiving in Hawaii. Jimmy described her every detail as I awaited to hold my little bambino.

Now: I am so in love. I can not believe she has finally arrived. I know we are partial, but we think she REALLY is a beautiful baby :)