Amelia Paige

February 2013

Life is crazy!  With my other two kids, I was dying to have the doctor induce me early, and I had time in my schedule to do so, but this time around, I still wanted to have her early, but I had way too much to get done before she made her arrival.

In the spring of 2012, I had signed up and registered for the Washington ProCert teacher portfolio, to be completed June 2012.  It needs to be completed within 5-7 years of your initial WA certificate.  So I figured that I would just get it out of the way.  Well school got busy, like it always does, and I decided to pay $75 to extend the completion deadline to January 2013.  Which is all fine and good...................until I found out that I was pregnant at the end of the school year, due February 8.

I was also committed to being the choral rep for our local music teacher association, so I added 2 extra things in addition to my 2 kiddos, my high school choirs, and for the first time also teaching 3 middle school choirs.  I was scheduled to work at another regions solo/ensemble festival February 2, and then my students were to participate in our solo/ensemble February 9, which coincidentally Garry and I were hosting at our school.  Since my other two kiddos were both served eviction notices, and born 2-3 days after their due date, I just figured I would finish my portfolio, due Thursday, Jan 31, go to SF solo/ensemble, Feb 2, go to our solo/ensemble Feb 9, and then beg the doctor to induce me, Monday, Feb 11.

So as I said, I really, really wanted to have the baby early, but I was a little afraid to have her too early, because I knew I had way too much to do.

My ProCert portfolio was my number one priority because it cost $500 to register, and I didn't want to have to pay for it again, so instead of procrastinating until the very last minute, I worked diligently through the month of January, and had it mostly completed by Monday, January 28, and just had to put the finishing touches on it and got it submitted the night before it was due.....very, very late on Jan. 30.

We took Carson to his first Pinewood Derby on Thurs. Jan 31, and I kept telling people I had a good week and a half left, and the baby was in no hurry to get here..........  :)

Carson was excited because he got third place, and he wasn't even officially in scouts yet!

I went to school on Friday, Feb 1, and was feeling utter exhaustion!  My high school kids kept telling jokes, and trying to be funny, and I told them my sense of humor might come back one day, but right now, I didn't think they were funny!  I had gone to the doctor earlier in the week, and he didn't seem to think I was very close so to just keep going, and he would see me next week....Grrr!  

Garry and I were supposed to be at Rogers High School at 7 am, Sat, 2/2.  I woke up about 4:30 an hour earlier than my alarm, feeling contractions about 15-20 min apart.  When I went to the bathroom, I felt like things were "on their way!"  So after talking briefly with the on call dr., I told Garry to call and tell them I didn't think we would make it to solo/ensemble but would be going to the hospital instead.  We got to the hospital and they had me fill out what seemed like a ton of paperwork, and then took me back to triage to check and see how things were progressing.  I had been dilated to a 2 at my appt. and when she checked me I was at a 3, so they hooked me up to the monitor to keep track of the contractions........ and they pretty much stopped, I was having some very minor ones, but not enough for them to admit me....dang it!  They told me to go walk the halls for 30-45 min then come back, and they would check me again.  At the next check I was at a 4, but still not feeling very many contractions, and the painful ones had all but vanished.  So she gave me a pill to help me "relax", and smiled at Garry and told him she would probably see him later that night.

We left the hospital and decided to run to Costco and Target to get a couple things since we figured we would probably have a baby before the weekend was over.  I was miserable, and getting more tired by the minute so we sped up our trip and went home.  Carson and Natalie were with Garry's parents, and I told him I wanted to see them for a little bit especially if we ended up going back later that night, so he let me rest for a couple hours, and then brought the kids home.  They woke me up, and we talked for a while, and my contractions came back with a vengeance! About 7-10 minutes apart, I told Garry we needed to go......like NOW!  We loaded the kiddos up and dropped them back off with Garry's parents.  As we were en route, my water broke amidst a massive coughing fit about 10 minutes before we got to the hospital....ugh!  My other two kids were induced, and they ended up breaking my water, and that was a totally different experience.  I'm thankful it wasn't the same!  But every time I would cough, I would have another gush.  We pulled up to the valet parking at Sacred Heart, and we missed it by just a few minutes because there was nobody there, so Garry went to get a wheel chair, we left the car at the entrance of the hospital, and he wheeled me up to the maternity wing.  We walked through the door at 8:01pm.

The nurses made me fill out the same paper work I had filled out earlier that day, and then told Garry to bring me back to triage to see how things looked.  Then one of the nurses saw that I was leaving a trail of amniotic fluid everywhere I went, and my pants were totally soaked, and told the other nurse to just wheel me back to a room they were admitting me......YAY!

Contractions at this point were 2-3 minutes, and I was getting very uncomfortable!  They had me change into a gown, and then asked if I wanted an epidural, I said YES! so they called the dude to come do it, and another nurse came to put in an IV................it did not go well.  Before the second nurse got there for the IV, they checked me and I was dilated to a 7, so they called the doctor, and told her to hurry.  The nurse tried and tried and tried to get the IV in, no luck, so she switched arms about the time the happy man got there, but he said he couldn't do the epidural until I had a working IV.  This is all happening about 8:20.  My contractions were becoming continuous, so they decided to check me again, and I was at a 10.  So they halted everything, the happy man slithered out the door, the nurse failing to insert the IV took a small break, and they set up the room to deliver, and my on call Dr. wasn't there yet. 

They told me if I felt like pushing that I could go ahead.  I started pushing, and then they told me to stop, but while screaming my head off, I could not stop.  Garry kept telling me to calm down.......uh....sure?  So about 8:29ish, my Dr. finally comes in and the nurses and interns tell me I can continue pushing...I'm pretty sure I never stopped, it was like I had no control! And Miss Amelia made her appearance at 8:32 pm.  30 minutes from the time we walked through the door, with no IV, no pain meds, and almost no Dr.!

She came out chunky, and screaming!

Amelia Paige LaPlante

Saturday, February 2, 2013

9 pounds, 12 ounces, 22 inches, 14 inch head

All of my babies have been big and water-logged, but by the time we leave the hospital 2 days later, they lose all the water weight and are down around 8-8 1/2 pounds, and from there just progress like normal.

She ended up just being pretty peaceful about the whole ordeal after her initial arrival.

 She enjoyed her warm bath once we were transferred into our new room.

 Then I just let her sleep...........We were both exhausted!

 Garry went and got the kids after church on Sunday, and they were so excited to see her!  Carson kept taking pictures on his DS, and Natalie just could not stop touching her.

 She was absolutely so excited to have a little sister.

 We stayed in the hospital until Monday, and then we got our new little princess ready to come home.

This time around the whole experience has been way more surreal!  She came a week early.....totally unexpected, but she has been such a delight!  Truly a gift from heaven.  I sure do love her, and she has been such a good fit into our little family puzzle.