The Fast and the Furious

Annie has arrived and she made it into this world in record time!  I figured I would go ahead and get the birth story down before getting home from the hospital.  For some reason, once I get home, I'm thinking I might have my hands full.

Now, because this birth was incredibly fast, so too will the story be quick.

Brittnee called me at 5:38pm just to check in and say hello.  When she asked what I was up to, I told her I was cooking dinner (a delicious meal of chicken spaghetti that I never got to eat!) and trying to decide if I was having contractions or just stomach issues.  By 6:00pm, Brant was home and I called Lana to see if she would come over and hang out with McKenzie so we could go to the hospital and just get checked out.  After calling my parents for the second time and telling them to head to town, Brant and I hit the road.  At this point, my contractions were about 3 minutes apart, according the iPhone app we looked at later.  Once I got to the room, the nurse checked me and confirmed my suspicions: this baby was on her way.  I was at an 8 and contractions were increasing in strength and frequency.  The epidural was ordered STAT and I was looking forward to the relief it would offer.  Unfortunately, epiduals don't always work.  I had heard this rumor, but had such a great experience with McKenzie that it never crossed my mind.  Now, natural childbirth was crossing my mind and I was a bit concerned, to put it mildly.

The next thing I knew, it was time to push.  The nurse didn't want me to push because the doctor had not arrived, but there was no turning back for me now.  It's incredible to think that a female body is made specifically for childbirth and having the epidural fail helped me see that.  I literally could not keep from pushing, despite all of my efforts.  The nurse grabbed a random doctor off the hospital floor and brought him in just in case.  Minutes later, my doctor made it in and within probably two minutes, baby Annie arrived.

I later learned that the cord was wrapped around her neck and there were a few tense moments while the nurses worked to get her airway cleared.  But she is just fine now and I can assure everyone that her lungs work just fine.

Annie Marlowe  6lbs, 9oz, 19.5in

Sweet Big Sister

Even after a night of no sleep, today has been pretty good.  Annie is nursing well and I think I'm still on a little bit of a high thinking of what my body was able to do.  McKenzie has been a very sweet big sister and I hope to post a few more pictures of that sweetness later.  For now, I plan to enjoy a few more moments of silence until little Annie rejoins me in the hospital room.