Lucky Enough: Our New Addition

Friday, March 2, was my last day at school. I said, "Goodbye" to my students, but promised them that they would see me again before the year was out, even if it was only briefly. Ken and I spent a rather low-key weekend at home, venturing out one last time for dinner as a family of two.

A Last Picture of Me "pre-LE"

Monday, March 5, I had a doctor's appointment. Dr. Bar.ron had told me previously that it was at this appointment we would discuss induction if I hadn't progressed any more. Well, as luck would have it, I had not progressed and, after our discussion, we made the decision to admit me to the hospital Monday night to "move things along" and induce Tuesday.

Monday night was fairly uneventful in the hospital. Since all I was going to be doing was sleeping, for the most part, I told Ken to go home to sleep and he said that he would be back bright and early the next morning.

Spending the day in the hospital was a tough job

About 4:30 Tuesday morning, I began having some contractions and by the time Dr. Bar.ron came to check on me about 7:30, they had become much more intense. I had progressed some, but not enough to be in labor. She ordered the epidural, which was a great relief and said she would be back to check on me around lunch. I spent the rest of the morning reading, texting, and emailing, while Ken tried to entertain me and nap. When Dr. Bar.ron checked in during lunch, things hadn't progressed any further. She said she would be back after her office hours and, hopefully, I would have progressed and, if not, we'd discuss our options then.

I spent the afternoon pretty much doing the same things I had done that morning. And, again, when Dr. Bar.ron came back shortly after 5:00 P.M., nothing had changed. We discussed waiting as opposed to a C-section and Dr. Bar.ron was extremely frank with me, saying that with the fact that I hadn't progressed all day, the likelihood of progressing over the next few hours was not very high. So, after much discussion, I opted for a C-section. There wasn't anyone ahead of us in the OR, so things kicked into high gear. I was wheeled into the operating room shortly before 5:30 P.M. where I found that Dr. Dav.is (my doctor prior to Dr. Bar.ron) would be assisting in the surgery. I knew I was in good hands, Ken was with me, and I was ready to meet this little one who had been with me for the past 40 weeks.

The surgery was quick, went well, and at 5:51 P.M., we met LE! I was wheeled into recovery where we spent the first hour of her life having her checked out, poked and prodded, and were then moved to a room. When we arrived, my parents were there waiting. (There is a whole lot of those first few hours that are a blur due to the newness of everything and the pain medication I was on, so many of the pictures were taken by my mom to document what was going on.) Steve and Emily arrived shortly after we got in the room and we all celebrated LE's arrival for a few hours, watched while she had her first bath, was fed, and loved on by everyone. (Sue would have been there, but, unfortunately, she was in Phoenix attending a meeting for work.) After my family left, I sent Ken home and LE was taken to the nursery. I was exhausted, but SO VERY HAPPY!