Paige's Arrival Story

(This is kind of long so just a heads up)

I had been hoping baby would come early and she did, 1 week exactly!!  I was trying everything to get my cervix to ripen and dilate, especially because it never did with Grace.  I tried it all - Pineapple, licorice, primrose oil, love making stuff, walking (LOTS of walking), and raspberry leaf tincture drops.  I guess the culmination of everything brought on contractions. 

This is somewhat of the breakdown: Wednesday Sept 1st, we set out for the mall to "walk the baby out" around 2pm.  We were there for about 3 hours. I hadn't been feeling too much, so we went home.  Around 10pm Kimball gave me a blessing and I also took some raspberry tea leaf drops.  Within an hour or so I was having contractions!  They were about every 20 minutes apart, so I didnt stress too much about it.  Kimball went to bed and I of course sat up restless for hours!  Around 3am they were getting pretty regular, about 8 minutes apart.  I finally woke Kimball up at 4 and told him "its time." 

We packed the bag (I had been procrastinating that), called Grandma to watch Grace and headed to the hospital.  We checked in around 5 and got all settled.  I was only a 1 but when the nurse checked me my water broke!  I was excited because my water had broken at home with Grace and nothing was going on, so this was definite progress.  We got all situated in the labor and delivery room and my doctor came in around 8am, checked me (only a 2) and we got started on pitocin.  An hour later the contractions were awful (or im a wuss) so I got my epidural.  Dr Allen came back around 12pm, and I was a 5!!  We were all very excited.  With a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) you can only get a mild dose of pitocin and your body has to do a lot of the work naturally.  So, around 5pm Dr Allen came back in and I was a 9!!  She let me brew a little bit longer and at 6:30 came in, checked again and said..."ready to push".  Umm, in my head I thought NO im not!!  I don't know how and I needed more time, ha ha.  Time was out.

Paige Elizabeth (who was Juliette for 2 days) was born 7:29 pm on 9/2/10.  Weighed 7lb, 9oz, and 21 inches long.  She is SOO beautiful with lots of dark hair, olive skin and dark dark blue eyes.  I was elated to hold her right after birth and was crying with an overwhelming feeling of love and a sense of accomplishment.  I know that sounds silly but after having a c-section with Grace I was thinking I'd never get to experience the birthing process.  It was the neatest experience and we are just loving her.  Grace is a proud big sister and has been an angel with her (aside from occasional eye pokes).  We are doing great and enjoying our new bundle of joy.  Here are some pics!

Found out I was a 9!