Never had I wanted to hold a baby so badly. To feel those ten little fingers wrap ever so gently around mine. To kiss those ten little toes. To smell that fresh little head of hair.
What started out as a surprise pregnancy turned into months and months of anxiously awaiting our sweet baby girl to arrive. Oh how I couldn't wait!! I sure as heck couldn't wait to have my own body back too! It's exhausting sharing your body with another person.
My original due date was April 14th, but the fact that I was already dilated to a 4 and 70% effaced two weeks before her due date, I knew she was coming soon.
Being my third baby, I really wanted to have my mom in the room with us when the baby was born. The original plan was to call my mom when I started going into labor and she would either fly out or drive the six hours to be there. It was Thursday the 4th and my mom had plans to go up to San Francisco the next day to take care of some family business. I told her that I really felt that if she went up to SF that she would miss the baby being born. So instead she flew into Tucson late Friday night. We had a ton of fun on Saturday going from place to place getting things in preparation for the baby. Dragging two kids along with us wasn't quite the fun part. :) So, after dinner, Alex watched the kids while my mom and I went out for a couple more hours. At about 8:30pm I started feeling mild contractions every ten minutes. My mom asked if I wanted to go home, and I insisted that we stay out and about. I wanted this baby to come!! We got home after 10pm and settled in for bed. My contractions had slowed down quite a bit. I was totally disappointed. At about 11:30, the contractions started picking back up again. Come 1am, the contractions were between 5 and 8 minutes apart. My doctor had told me to come in when they were 6 minutes apart. I shook Alex awake and told him we needed to go. Being dead asleep, he didn't quite process what I said and pulled the sheets up over his shoulders. I shook him harder and emphatically repeated that we needed to go to the hospital
now. He jumped out of bed, I made sure that I had everything that I needed, and we headed out the door. It's funny how much more calm I was this third time around. Looking back on when I had Lucy, my pain tolerance was so low. I have definitely become a lot more tough over the last few years. What once would have felt like an 8 on a pain scale of 10, was now a 4.
I checked in, they checked me (I was at a 5 and 80%), and we checked out our new living quarters for the next 36 hours. That empty plastic bassinet was soon going to have a new life sleeping in it.
I got an epidural in at about 4am.
Now was the waiting game...
We turned down the lights and tried to get some sleep. Well, Alex slept just fine, but I couldn't sleep between the contractions and the fact that I was so itchy all over from the epidural! The itchiness was a first for me. So annoying!
My mom was at home with the kids awaiting my call for when she should have my friend come over to watch the kids so she could meet us at the hospital. The doctor came in and broke my water at about 6am. After breaking my water, everything was ready to go! I just had to wait to finish some antibiotics before I could start pushing. I called my mom and told her to come as soon as she could. She made it to the hospital at about 6:30am. Shortly thereafter, I started pushing. Alex was there to help coach me through and after a few pushes, the doctor had Alex put on some gloves so he could deliver the baby! Alex was right there, guiding the way for the baby.
At 7:11 am on April 7th, Alex delivered our little baby girl and put her right onto my chest.
Anna Dell Geyer was lovingly welcomed into this world!
She was 7lbs, 2oz and 20.5 inches long. A perfectly healthy, beautiful little girl.
Who knew that our hearts would grow so much that day...three sizes in fact! We're so grateful for and so in love with our precious little Annie.
(And a special THANK YOU to my mom for the beautiful pictures!)(This is my I've been up for over 24 hours and just had a baby face)
And a little welcome home sign made by the kids (with a little help)
