Elizabeth's Arrival Story

Elizabeth made her appearance into this world in her own style. I had been praying about her delivery for months, and I know my prayers were heard and answered. Everything went the way it should and Elizabeth came out fast and healthy.  Here's how the evening developed:

We worked out with our doctor to be induced on Friday (November 16) at 2:00. Jack and Lynne were coming into town to watch the boys and arrived around 5:00 on Thursday. After a taco dinner, we put the boys to bed and Jack, Lynne, Wesley and I stayed up to chat.

Throughout our conversation, I started having contractions. I wasn't worried about them since they were coming every 6 minutes, but I could tell Wesley was concerned. He remembered how quickly Philip's contractions had picked up two year ago. I sensed his anxiousness and decided to take a warm bath. While the in bathtub, I realized it probably was a good idea to call the doctor and explain my situation. 

After discussing the regular contractions and my past history of a quick delivery, they encouraged us to come on in to the hospital. We kissed the boys, left them in perfect hands, and headed downtown.

It was a relaxing drive to Northside. We parked and walked in. As soon as we stepped into the hospital, we broke into laughter. 

When we came to the hospital in labor with Philip, I almost collapsed as soon as I stepped into the front doors. I couldn't take another step. Wesley looked at me and said, "Either you keep walking or I am going to put you in this chair and push you." I looked over and there was an old, rolling chair sitting in the corner. There was no way I was going in that chair and thankfully, a nurse saw us and brought over a wheelchair.

Well, as we walked into the hospital Thursday night, greeting us was the SAME chair! We laughed at the irony of seeing the chair and not having to use it! I was comfortable enough to walk.

We went to the registration desk and filled out all the paperwork. Then we were escorted to our Labor and Delivery Room. Can you imagine the surprise when we walked into the same room we were in with Philip! There are over 40 Labor and Delivery rooms at Northside and we were in E2 with both Elizabeth and Philip! Crazy! (And we were in E1 with Jackson!)

As we got settled into our room, I was put on the monitor. Harriet, the Kaiser midwife on call, came in and I was examined.  I was only 3 centimeters. That news was a little discouraging as I was 2 centimeters on Tuesday.  I thought for sure we would be further along than 3 centimeters. Oh well, Wesley and I realized this wasn’t going to happen as quickly as before.

It was now12:30 am. and Harriet said she would be back in 2 hours. Until then, we were given the okay to walk around the hospital. Isn't that what you are supposed to do while you wait!?

Wesley and I walked for about 30 minutes and had a blast. You aren't supposed to laugh while you are in labor but with Wesley around, laughter comes naturally!

After our little stroll around Labor and Deliver, we went back to the room. I turned on Jimmy Fallon and Wesley curled up to sleep. I enjoyed watching Jimmy and his guest, Katie Holmes, until about 1:30 when my contractions started getting stronger. I had to wake Wesley up and ask for his help getting through the intensity of the pain. We worked together to "breathe" through the pain and rest during the "down times." Wesley was a great coach and kept me under control until around 2:45. 

At 2:45, Harriet checked me again. I had progressed to 5 centimeters. Though Wesley and I wanted a natural childbirth, the pain was getting to be an issue (imagine!) and we decided to go with an epidural.

Unfortunately, I wasn't set up for one so our nurse, Ellen, had to quickly administer an IV and draw blood. Also, unfortunatley, Ellen's strong suite was not administering IVs. It took two attempts to put in a successful IV and draw the necessary blood. This delay meant my blood work didn’t get to the lab until 3:10.

Ellen said it would take about 20 minutes to get the results back and then the epidural could be given. At 3:30, when the epidural was supposed to be ready, we were told the lab was running behind. Ellen was able to give me some "happy medicine." This medicine didn't take the pain away, but made it so I didn't care about the pain. It was really nice but the carefree feeling only lasted 10 minutes. At 3:45, we inquired about the epidural again. Still no word about the timing. 

Wesley had been doing a fabulous job at coaching me through the pain, but by this time, I had had enough. The screaming started (don't worry - I had warned the nurses this would happen at some point!). It provided the release/relief I needed. One of the other nurses wanted to check me to see if I was ready to being pushing but I wouldn't let her. Not knowing how close I was to the end for some reason at the time was better than knowing the "hard part" was ahead! 

Just as things were about to get put in place for the epidural – Ellen had come in to say we were next in line for the anesthesiologist – I realized Elizabeth was not going to wait. I looked at Ellen; said, “She’s coming!” and had the uncontrollable desire to push.

Sure enough, she was on her way out! The screaming intensified and a multitude of nurses came running. I vividly remember one saying to shut the door – I guess I was loud! – and all of them got in position to deliver Elizabeth. One sweet nurse informed me this wouldn’t be her first to deliver – at that point I really didn’t care! Thankfully, Harriet arrived just in time.

She came into the room; commented that “someone didn’t get her epidural;” and was ready to catch Elizabeth. Things got dirty as my water exploded but that was soon forgotten as Harriet said, “On the next contraction push and we will have a baby. “

So, we all waited. Wesley and the nurses were looking at the monitor waiting for the next contraction. I was enjoying the brief moment of relaxation and then the contraction started. I was so focused on getting through the contraction, I forgot I was supposed to be pushing. Thankfully, everyone else remembered and I was serenaded by a room full of people yelling PUSH!

I quickly came to and started pushing. Seconds later, Elizabeth was born looking so beautiful! They quickly sent her to the NICU team to be checked out but we all knew that was just formality. She was screaming and pink – two signs of a healthy baby.

Wesley stayed over with me while they cleaned off Elizabeth until one of the nurses said, “Dad, do you have a camera?” We had been caught off guard by the quickness of my progress that we hadn’t gotten the camera ready so Wesley quickly sprang to action. He started snapping away at the beautiful blessing we had in front of us.

He stayed with Elizabeth while Harriet tried to calm me down enough to examine me. I was a little tense and she even suggested getting an epidural after the delivery to help with my nerves. I informed her I wasn’t going to go through an epidural now! Anther nurse quickly came to my aid and calmed me down enough for Harriet to do her work. The nurse helped, as did Wesley who brought over our daughter for me to see.

She was so perfect and I enjoyed watching her resting in her Daddy’s arms.  I was still getting attended to as they gave Elizabeth her first bath. Finally, I was able to hold and be mesmerized by our third born!

For 9 months, I envisioned how Elizabeth would enter the world. Would it be a slow process like Jackson? Would it be too close for comfort like Philip? Would it be somewhere in between?  Would we have help at home or have to call a neighbor or friend to watch the boys? How would it all play out?

Though I wondered, I tried not to get anxious or worried about the process. I prayed for peace and guidance throughout the pregnancy for her delivery and was granted that peace. She came on her own when she was ready. She gave Wesley and me time to get to the hospital but not too much time that we were discouraged with the wait.

She showed us pain but when we called in for help (aka an epidural) she quickly came and allowed us to once again experience a non-medicated recovery. There were some hiccups along the way (IV, delayed blood work etc) but I like to think they just paved the way to answered prayers.  

She came in her own memorable way and at 4:12 am, our family became complete.