The last 6 weeks of pregnancy

The last 6 weeks of my pregnancy was a very long 6 weeks! The doctor told me about a month before my May 15th due date that he would be surprised if I made it all the way to my due date without going into labor. For all you doctors reading this... NEVER tell a pregnant woman that!
That whole month I ran around trying to get last minute things done in Zoey's room and get all her clothes and blankets washed. I got my hospital bag packed and a bag for Zoey bug. Once I was "ready" every single ligament pain or stomach rumble made me think I was about to be in labor. Every Friday I would leave work thinking "I might not be back on Monday" but, alas, I would wake up Monday morning still pregnant (and cranky) and head off to work where every person would make a comment like, "I can't believe you are still here!" or "you haven't had that baby yet?" to which I would smile and exchange pleasantries while in my mind I was lighting that person's hair on fire for making obvious observations or asking stupid questions. This got harder with each passing day.
By the time the weekend of my due date rolled around I was more than a little disappointed that I was still pregnant and not holding a sweet new baby! One of my friends was getting married on the 15th (Chris' birthday & my due date) and since I hadn't had my baby yet I was a bridesmaid! I felt like a huge blimp in my dress and it was pretty cold out for mid May (it was an outdoor wedding) but it was a pretty wedding on the steps of Old Main on the U of A campus!
I went to work the following Monday a little depressed that my due date had come and gone and Zoey was making me wait! I went to my doctors appointment on Tuesday and Dr. McAlister wanted me to schedule to be induced the following Tuesday but I wanted to wait and try to let her come on her own time. He agreed to let me wait and come in on the 24th for an ultrasound and a non-stress test.
I decided to schedule to take the whole day on the 24th off so I could try to sleep in before my 11:00 appointment and then go get my hair cut at 3:30 since I kept putting it off thinking I was about to go into labor at any second.
Chris took the morning off to go with me to the doctor and my appointment went well, I was still dilated to 3cm (for the 3rd week in a row). We decided that if Zoey wasn't here by Thursday the 26th that we would induce that morning at 5:30 (yikes).
I started feeling contractions while I was there and the nurse said she could see them on the monitor but didn't seem concerned.
We left the office and Chris headed off to work while I stayed at home and watched the weather (since it was suppose to get pretty bad that night with some nasty storms) and continued to have contractions. Around 3:00 my doctors office called and asked me to come back in and get back on the monitor. I told the nurse that would be fine and that I was still having some contractions. I called to cancel my hair appointment and headed to the doctors office.
Mom ended up going in with me and I stayed hooked up for almost an hour... Contractions were showing up every 7 or 8 minutes. Mom just knew I was in labor (I was starting to think so too) but the doctor didn't act concerned at all so I went home.
I got home around 4:30 and talked to Chris on the phone (he was getting off work). He had told a guy from church that he would come look at his A/C and wanted to make sure I was ok before he went. I told him that the contractions were about 7 min apart and weren't too bad so he went.
Jana (my mother in law) was making baked ziti for supper and offered to bring some by... By the time she got here (around 6:30 I think) I was hurting pretty badly. She decided to stay here with me until Chris got home (by this point he was on his way).
When Chris got home I told him to go ahead and shower and eat before we left.
We headed to the hospital around 8:30 and checked in at the ER. The wanted to monitor me for an hour before they would admit me. They put me in a gown and a bed and hooked me up to a monitor before checking to see how dilated I was (I was at 4cm).
By about 9:15 my water had broken and I was dilated to 5cm so they decided to go ahead and admit me and call a Labor and Delivery nurse (Super Angie).
Super Angie came and got me and by around 10:00 I was dilated to 8cm. I was begging for an epidural at this point but that wonderful man with the drugs was in a surgery. I started to panic thinking that I wasn't going to get an epidural in time with as fast as I was going but he made it! I got my epidural at about 9cm (I have no idea what time it was).
After I got the epidural they let my mom, dad, sisters, brother and nephew in for a few minutes. It was pretty stormy outside and at one point Super Angie had everyone but Chris and I get in the bathroom (gotta love tornado warnings).
At 11:00 it was time to clear out the room and start pushing... two and a half hours later Zoey was here!! She was face up so it took longer. She was born at 1:26 am on Wednesday, May 25th! She was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 5 oz. With a full head of brown hair. I fell in love right away!
After they got Zoey and I cleaned up a little they let my family back in and by then my mom's sister had gotten there too! Everyone stayed until around 2:00 and then they went home while Zoey's nursery nurse (my friend, Megan's mom) helped me get ready to feed Zoey for the first time.
We had some amazing people taking care of us while we were in the hospital. The staff at Willow Creek is amazing and truly make the whole experience better!
Okay, it's almost 3:00 in the morning and I'm tired. Goodnight all :)


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