Dear Alice,
As your due date quickly approached I became both excited and nervous. I couldn't wait to meet the little one growing inside of me and finally find out whether Addie would have a little brother or sister. But knowing I'd be going through labor and delivery again made me a little anxious. With your first, its the fear of the unknown that can make you nervous towards the end of your pregnancy and I found with my second it was the fear of the known that got to me! But I knew as soon as I would hold you in my arms I would quickly forget any pain I felt.
Labor started March 9th, your aunty's birthday. I surprised myself with how easily I was able to handle early labor. In fact I was able to lay in bed the whole night, dozing in and out of sleep with each contraction. By morning my contractions were much more intense and with each one I would yell for your dad to come push on my back to help relieve some of the pain. Still I wasn't convinced that it was time for me to head for the hospital. After all I had been able to lay in bed all night and it was early morning yet, surly I hadn't been in labor long enough to warrant the trip. However, your dad, aunty and a call in to L&D made me have a change of heart.
After snapping one last picture of our family of three we were off. I remembered during the drive out I started to get the shakes really bad, something I had felt after your sisters birth. We arrived at the hospital around 11 am after making a quick stop for gas and McDonalds for your dad. The first thing the nurse said to me was
"I can tell you're a keeper."
She was right! 5cm dilated and 90% effaced I wasn't going anywhere but straight to their jetted tubs. My contractions at this point would slow down anytime I sat or laid down and pick right back up again when I would stand. But I didn't care, I was going to relax as long as I needed in that tub and enjoy the longer break between each contraction.
At 2 my progress was checked again and I was now 8-9 cm dilated and 100% effaced! The Dr. made the suggestion of breaking my water to speed things up. I debated about this for what felt like a long time. I knew after she would break my water the pain level would get even more intense and I just wasn't mentally ready for that (I was going med free). But I was ready to meet my baby and be done with the pain. So I decided to go for it, my water was broken and I was told to let them know when I had an urge to push. When that urge came the nurse returned to check me and with a strange look on her face she asked the Dr. if she could verify something she had felt. The Dr. checked and sure enough she felt what the nurse had, a nose, my baby was coming out face first. Apparently this is rare, in the 9 years my Dr. had delivered babies she'd never seen it occur nor had any of the nursing staff in the room that day. They would all tell me later how cool your delivery was and how they wish they had taken a picture of it. I'm told that I pushed for all of about 5 minutes, though it felt longer. With your unique presentation, the pain from pushing was much more intense than it had been with your sister.
We welcomed you into our lives at 2:50pm, March 10, 2012, your due date. 7lbs 5oz and 20in long.
Holding you for the first time was pure heaven. I had my baby in my arms, another precious little girl to love and watch grow.
You are so loved Alice Lynne.
This year Addie knew exactly what she was doing.
