3.16.2011 - Audrey Belle Crancer Arrives!

Audrey has arrived and we are home from the hospital!

Sherman is taking a nap, Em's, G and baby A are sleeping and I am going to take 15 minutes to write about Audrey's birth story before life gets crazy again (aka: when Emma wakes)!

It all started Tuesday the 15th. I stayed home with Emma the whole day taking it easy. We picked up G from school at 3:00 pm and I spent the afternoon cooking dinner and helping G create a "crazy shoe" masterpiece for spirit week. I started getting contractions at random at around 5:00 p.m. I didn't think anything of this because I had been having contractions on and off for weeks.

My parents came over at around 7:00 pm as they were bringing G home from soccer practice. I was still contracting regularly but not in regular time intervals. My mom apparently knew I was in labor and kept telling us to call the doctor. We kind of brushed her off thinking that we were having this baby as scheduled on Thursday the 17th. Sherman looked up online when to call the doctor and apparently my contractions weren't cause for alarm. He thought they were from anxiety and thought I over did it during the day. My parents left for their place at around 9:00 p.m. However, my mom later told me she stayed by the phone in her clothes all night waiting for "the call". I went to bed. I wanted to get a good night's rest and gear up for my induction date on the 17th. For those of you who may be reading this and thinking "Isn't this her third kid?! Why doesn't she know what labor feels like?!". To answer the question, I was induced with Grace & Emma and I've never experienced "natural labor". I was expecting to be induced again but Audrey had other plans.

The contractions continued throughout the night. I tried sleeping but would awake every ten minutes to cramping. I was getting so frustrated. I was changing positions, emptying my bladder, putting pillows all around me to take the pressure off my abdomen. This continued until about 4 a.m. then I finally woke Sherman up and told him the contractions weren't subsiding and I had been up all night. He said a back rub might help and that I'm still just anxious. He rubbed my back until about 4:30 am. The contractions were now getting close and intense. I decided to take a warm shower. While in the shower things started getting worse and Sherman called the doctor. She told us to get to the hospital. I told Sherman that I needed to straighten my hair first and I had an appointment to get my brows waxed in the morning. He gave me a weird look and lovingly got out the blow dryer, straight iron etc. I got out of the shower and realized straightening my hair was NOT a priority and neither were my eyebrows. I told Sherman we have to leave NOW! My parents rushed over and Sherm and I had a very intense ride to the hospital. Sherm dropped me off and I walked in only to have another contraction at the front desk that brought me to tears. They put me in a wheel chair and wheeled me up to L&D.

Sherman still thought they would give me something for anxiety and send me home (thruthfully I didn't know if it was the "real" thing either). Oh how WRONG he was! I was yelling for pain meds and about how stupid I was for not listening to my mother when she said to call earlier. The sweet nurses were so kind and reassuring. I think L &D nurses are some of the kindest people on this planet. So in between contractions the nurse checked me- I was 8 cm dialated and 100% effaced. OH MY GOODNESS! I cannot believe that if I were to have stayed at home and straightened my hair I would have delivered Audrey in our bathroom! Thank God I came to my senses and realized I needed to get to the hospital.

The staff quickly got me an IV and epidural- which was very difficult considering I was contracting every 60 second by now. How on earth was the nurse going to perform a epidural in 60 seconds because it is very hard to stay completely still during a contraction. But she did and I stayed as still as I possibly could. Within 30 minutes of getting there my doctor said I was 10 cm and ready to deliver. It took a while to get Audrey out because she was "sunny side up" (which explains the intense back cramps as well). I will spare you the gory details and tell you she was born at 7:19 a.m. on March 16, 2011 weighing 7.12 and measuring 19.5 inches long.

Miss. Audrey Belle Crancer completes our family and is such a blessing to our lives. Our hearts burst with love for this little 7 pound bundle of joy!