My due date was August 20th. It had been a long a hot summer and I had my hospital bag all packed, so I was super excited to get this baby out. However, I had heard one too many times that first babies always come late and I did not want to get my hopes up. That being the case on August 20th Quinn and I went to a Sugarland (a county music band) concert at USANA. It was great to have something to look forward to on that day besides not having a baby. Turns out the 21st was not the day to have a baby either so we decided to go to a Brandi Carlile concert at Red Butte Gardens, AMAZING concert and a great way to pass the time when you again, not having a baby. Monday morning the 22nd rolls around and I got up at 5:45 like any other day and went to my masters swimming group at the pool everyone commented on how amazing it was that I was 2 days past my due date and still swimming with them every morning. Throughout the swim I was feeling a little crampy and extra tired, after swimming 2 miles I showered and headed home. After breakfast and a little computer time, I had a few last minute things to buy and return. I hopped in the car and ran errands for the next 2-3 hours, the whole time I was feeling a little tired and what I thought may be small contractions. I got home and decided to lie down for a while. 3 hours later…I woke up from my nap and Quinn was home from work. We spent the evening together and while we were watching TV I decided to start timing my contractions because at that point they were pretty regular. After timing them for about 30 minutes we found that they were about 4 minutes apart. Quinn started getting nervous and was convinced that we would have the baby that night. I reminded him how long fist time labors are and how if we went to the hospital they would probably send us home and I was not about to be that person. We continued to time the contractions and at about 9:45 Quinn asked for the report, they were 2-3 minutes apart. He told me to get up stairs and get my things, we were going to the hospital whether I liked it or not. It was a really weird feeling leaving the house as two, knowing we would come home as three. I was surprised how calm I felt, I was more excited and determined to have this baby and kick butt at it!
We arrived to the hospital at 11:00 pm and brought us to a room. The nurse said she was not going to check us in until 12:00 so that we could have an extra day in the hospital. So because we did not have a room, we went outside and walked around the hospital grounds. It was such a peaceful summer night (besides having to stop every 2 minutes to breathe through a contraction) and we just enjoyed our last walk as just the two of us. At 12:00 they checked us into our labor and delivery room; at this point we were both starting to feel a little tired and were ready to sleep. Unfortunately for me, sleep was not on the docket for the night. I was hooked up to all my monitors and the nurse checked me, I was dilated to a 2, after being barley a one for the past three weeks, I was super excited. The nurse said she would come back the next hour to check me again. Quinn settled down on his couch and tried to stay awake and keep me company. The nurse came back at 1:30 and checked me again, I was a 2 ½, she informed us that most labors progress a ½ centimeter an hour…at that rate I was not going to have this baby until 4:00 in the afternoon. At that news, we settled in, Quinn made a nice bed for himself and I tried to take my mind off contractions with the TV. I told Quinn to get some rest because it was going to be a long night…little did I know, that was the last I would hear from Quinn until 6:30. The nurse came back in at 3:00; I was in a good amount of pain and really focusing through the contractions. She checked me and this time I was a 4, she asked me if I wanted the epidural and I could not get the words out fast enough…YES bring it on!!
The anesthesiologist came in soon after to give me sweet relief. I have to say that the epidural was by far the most painful part of labor. Luckily he was quick and I was feeling pretty good in no time. All I needed to do now was try and get some rest. I think I was able to sleep a total of 45 minutes all night, but I was so excited that I did not feel that tired, I was just ready to meet my little girl. At 6:30 the nurse came back to check me, I was a 10! She was surprised how quick I progressed and ran off the call my doctor and get things set up. Quinn was wide awake after that…We were going to have this baby in the next hour! My doctor was delivering another baby so it took her about 45 minutes to get to me. In the mean time the nurses got me all set up and were talking to me about pushing. We decided to do a couple of practice pushes to get the rhythm of it down. After two practice pushes the nurses told me to stop or I would have the baby without a doctor there to catch it. At 7:30 my doctor came in and we got started, 3 pushes and 9 minutes later, Ivory Cleo Millet was born. Nothing can describe how I felt while I was pushing fear, excitement, anticipation; I was awe struck. As soon as Ivory came out, my doctor put her on my chest and I saw my baby girl for the very first time. I cannot put into words the immense love I felt for her right then. This tiny little person that Quinn and I had created and I had brought into this world. After a few minutes of awing over our little piece of heaven, they took her away to clean and weigh her. Everyone in the room was amazed that it was my first baby and that everything has happened so quickly and that I had no tears considering she was such a big baby (8lbs 12 oz) I have to say I felt like super women for the rest of the day. We spent the next two days falling at the hospital falling more and more in love with our little girl.
Heading to the hosptial
All hooked up and ready to go
Pure bilss
Our big girl
Daddy holing Ivory for the first time
A rare moment of awake time
