This time last year...

I was at home, asleep. I was trying to catch up on my sleep after having gone in to the hospital the night before. I knew I wasn't in labor but I guess I was hoping, maybe hoping that by going there it would get it started. We had an awesome nurse named Shauna, and when we left she said I'll know it's real labor if I feel like I want to cry.

I spent the rest of the day at home with Neil and my mom. Will was at daycare. Neil and I went and walked the mall and the contractions kept coming, but it still wasn't time yet. Finally around dinner time they started getting pretty strong. I remember sitting at the table and Will was asking me what was wrong. I told him mommy's tummy hurt. He then started making fast breathing and moaning sounds like I was then said "my tummy hurts". What a ham! At that point we decided Neil better take him out of the house for awhile so he didn't see mommy in pain. They left and Neil got him a Matt Hasselbeck jersey which he came home wearing proudly. By this time the contractions were a lot stronger and closer together.

Neil got him to bed and around 10pm we decided to head upstairs, knowing there would be no sleeping. I laid down on the bed and had a major contraction (and discovered my cat had peed on the bed!). When I got up the pain was so bad I ran to the bathroom thinking I was going to throw up. At that point Neil decided we were heading in. We left for the hospital and when we got off the elevator I started crying from the pain. I guess Shauna was right! I could barely walk but I made it to the room. When we got there Shauna walked out of one of the rooms, took one look at me and said "now that's more like it!". She wasn't assigned to me but asked the nurse that was if she could switch and be our nurse.

I made it into the bathroom to change and almost threw up again from the pain. I finally made it to the bed and the pain was really intense this time. I didn't think it could be worse than the back labor I had with Will but it was so much worse. They checked me at 10:45 and I was at 5cm. About 15 later the doctor came in and checked me and I was at 8cm! She started talking about breaking my water and pushing. I thought, "holy crap, I just got here!". We hurried up and called Rhonda to go over to our place to sit with Will so my mom could come. We did not expect it to be so fast. And the pain was getting really bad. I wanted drugs and I wanted them now! there were a lot of people there that night and some "VIP" doctor lady who wanted the epi first, even though she was onlyl at 2cm. Shauna fought for us and I got the drugs first. Good thing she did too because I found out later that 30 min more and I wouldn't have gotten them at all!

The drugs helped a lot, but I only got the initial dose so I still felt the contractions a bit. My water ended up breaking on it's own and around 12am I started pushing. I remember being able to feel the pain and I kept telling Neil I couldn't do it. He kept telling me I could, that she was so close. I kept insisting that she wasn't, that I couldn't do it, but he kept telling me she was right there. Every time he said that I wanted to punch him! I honestly didn't think I could get her out. But at 12:19am, with one last push, she was born. It was so different than with Will, because with him I had been there for 12 hours and was groggy and tired and had a lot of drugs. But with Gabby I had been there less than two and wasn't drugged up that much. I just started laughing I was so happy. I felt like I was on cloud 9 the rest of the night. I didn't sleep at all until the next night. I loved just holding here and showing her off. I was on such a high that I never even got pain medication after having her.

And now my little girl will be one tomorrow. I never could have imagined how she has changed my life. Seeing her and her big brother together and realizing the kind of friendship they already have warms my heart. Gabby is walking and talking in her own way. Her and Will dance together and she frequently wakes him up in the morning. She plays peek a boo by turning her head from you and then turning back to look at you. She knows when she is getting in trouble because she starts laughing and does it anyway! I think I had forgotten how much they change in one year. I can't wait for the next one.

Happy Birthday little princess!

Then



Now