When we scheduled our c-section, my doctor offered us the choice of January 21 or January 23. With MLK day and child care concerns on my mind, I picked the 23rd. Dr. Schafer noted the only risk of waiting was that I might go into labor on my own. Considering I've always said Colin would still be in my belly if we hadn't gone in to get him, I laughed him off.
On Monday, I was feeling crappy and spent the day on the couch watching the inaugeration. A friend of mine who was due the same day as me with a little girl had her baby that morning and I made several comments to Mike that I wished we had just scheduled the c-section for that day. I may have said that a few too many times. Later that day, daycare called and sent Colin home with a fever, which made me even more upset that we hadn't just planned to have the baby that day, so I could avoid catching whatever Colin had.
That evening, I started having more and more regular contractions. At first I thought they were just braxton hicks, even though they were like clockwork at 10 min. apart. Mike put Colin to bed and within the span of an hour, they rapidly closed to 3-4 minutes apart. I was starting to get a little worried. We had no plans for anyone to watch Colin that night! Mike finally realized that I was serious when I told him to start calling people. At about 930, Mike asked his parents to start driving to Indiana. His friend Cory agreed to come over and stay at our house until Mike's parents could get here. I called the OB on-call and they told me to head to the hospital.
On the drive there I was in lots of pain, with contractions 2 minutes apart. That was a long and stressful drive! After getting checked in and sent to L&D, they confirmed that I was in labor and already at 3 cm. The oncall OB told me I was having a baby that night! It was 10:30 pm at this point, and the next hour passed in a blur as they prepped for the c-section.
This was a totally different experience than my calm, slow scheduled delivery with Colin! Everything was moving so quickly and before I knew it, we were having a baby! As they delivered her, the doctor asked, "did you know this one was breech too?" No, we did not! Good thing we got to the hospital in time!
At 11:55 pm, Miss Charlotte entered the world, wailing away.
throwing up the peace sign as she enters the world....
As they got her cleaned up, Mike cut the cord and snapped a few pictures to show me. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 5 oz - over a pound more than Colin - and everyone commented on her size and her reddish blonde hair. When I saw a picture of her little face, I told Mike, she looks like a chubby little Colin!
She settled right down and I was able to hold her in recovery. Before I knew it, we were back in our room recovering and relaxing - less than 3 hours after we had walked into the hospital! A few hours later, my real doctor came by on rounds and we said, "surprise!" I was sad that he didn't get to deliver her, but still so grateful that everything went okay and that she was here, safe and sound.
The next few days passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to come home. Here we are getting ready to leave the hospital. Charlotte was not pleased to learn about car seats.
Mike, bringing her home.
We were a little (okay, very) worried about how Colin would react to her coming home. Mike picked him up from daycare, and he ran right up to us and wanted to jump in the chair with me and baby. He seemed very interested in her and cuddled with both of us. Then, he ignored her for the rest of the night. So, it went better than we hoped. He has developed his own nickname for her, "reck-tina" (a butchered rendition of my middle name). Whenever we call her Charlotte, he yells RECK-TIIIIIINA! to correct us. He even told his teachers at school that that was her name. He has since acknowledged her real name, but says, "I'm going to call her Reck-tina." Ok, buddy. I love seeing my babies together!
Since we got home, she has just been hanging out, bonding with daddy....
Getting sponge baths...
And giving us sassy faces.
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