Kinley's Story----pictures to come later

Tuesday morning, January 26th, I woke up feeling 37 weeks pregnant. I was rested, but still very aware I was in the last part of the third trimester. I got Emily up and ready for daycare and when I finished changing her diaper and lifted her from the changing table back down to the floor, I felt my back get really sore. After I dropped her off and headed to work the tension in my back didn't feel any better. I turned on the seat heater in my car because it often reaches to my lower back. I got to work and was really uncomfortable throughout the day. It finally hit me that maybe what I was feeling was actually contractions and not braxton hicks.

I had sporadic contractions throughout the day---nothing consistent---nothing really even noteworthy except for that I was uncomfortable. I met with students, I wrote letters of recommendation, I dealt with parents--a normal day. I took a short lunch because I just wanted to get home to rest. I was able to lay down without Brian or Emily around for about 40 minutes. Brian got home with Emily and he left to get his hair cut while Emily and I played games. I didn't have any contractions during that time. In fact, I didn't really have anything for several hours. The pain from the day helped me realize that I didn't have anything packed for myself or Emily for the stay in the hospital so I got busy doing that. I even washed Kinley's "going home from the hospital" outfit. Around 9:00 I started to feel the contractions come on a bit and started researching braxton hicks----from what I could remember they didn't start in the back and I was right, but was I really having contractions 19 days early?

I decided to turn in at 10:00, but contractions started coming every 10-12 minutes and hurt more while lying down, so I got up and walked around a bit. I started praying. I didn't know what all of this meant. With Emily, my water broke before I felt an ounce of pain from a contraction, so I really didn't know what to expect. They started coming a little more regular under 10 minutes so I decided I should wake Brian up. We timed the contractions for 45 minutes and they were now falling every 5-6 minutes and lasted 45-60 seconds. We called the doctor on call and they suggested I head to the hospital. We had to wake up our friends Shannon and Jeremy to come and watch Emily. Once they got there we headed to the hospital.

I was so nervous it was going to be a false alarm and that we woke our friends up prematurely. I just kept hoping it was legit. We arrived around 1:00 am and they had a billion questions to ask me before they did any type of check. Around 1:45 am, they checked me and I was dilated to 4 cm. I was admitted shortly after that. We headed to the delivery room and again, I had to answer several questions all the while breathing through contractions that were now coming every 1.5-2 minutes. Contractions are not my friend. You know who is? Mr. Epidural. Once the epidural was active, I was able to rest. My mom, dad and sister got there right after they medicated me and we had some nice conversation before I decided I really needed to close my eyes and rest while I could.

The nurse came in around 5:00 and let me know that the doctor was next door finishing up a delivery and that she would be in to check me shortly. I was at a 10. It was go time. At 5:30, I pushed 2 times and they had me wait because she was already ready to come out, but the room wasn't ready. So, we waited. I was watching the clock because Emily was born at 5:51 and I thought it would be cool if I had them at the same time. Unfortunately, they finished setting up 2 minutes too late! 2 quick pushes and Kinley entered the world and changed my life forever on January 27, 2010 at 5:53 am. (18 days early!!!) She was already "talking" with the doctor. It was so cute, she wasn't crying, she was cooing with her. (Don't worry, the cries came.) She weighed 6 pounds 6 oz and measured 19 inches long.

For those of you who know me well know I am a little silly about numbers. You'll be glad to know that her birthdate---01.27.10 can be added up 1+2+7=10.