Haley Mae's Early Birth!

I was scheduled for a C section on Friday, February 26th, I had asked to have it scheduled on the Wednesday prior because I was so nervous about going into labor early & not having Mammy & Cheryl here in time. Oh, and I was so tired of being pregnant that even two days less of being pregnant seemed like a great idea...my Dr. didn't agree so I was scheduled that Friday, Cheryl & Mammy were coming in on Thursday morning.

I had some regular contractions throughout the week, regular enough to call my Dr. who said I could come in to be monitored but I knew if I did that, it was off to labor & delivery so I never went in. I kept telling everybody this baby was NOT coming early as her Mommy (me) is a planner and she would never go against the plans! I thought I was home free since I had no contractions on Wednesday, took Harper to the pediatrician for a runny nose, cleaned bathrooms, got the guest room ready, cleaned up the house,etc. Went to bed Wednesday night with no contractions, dozed off and woke up about 10:45 with a contraction, timed them for about an hour, kept having to go to the bathroom & they were getting much stronger. Got up to walk around, drink some water to see if they would please, please, please go away. They were NOT going away. I went into my organizational mode, printed off the girls instructions for my neighbor, got together the rest of my hospital bag (keep in mind, Jason is still sleeping away, oblivious to the fact we're probably having a baby tonight). By this time, my contractions were every few minutes so I woke Jason up and then I lose it and start crying because it really really hurts but even more than that, I didn't want to leave the girls and have them wake up without me there. Jason called Lauren who said she would be there right away, called the Dr. who of course said, come on in. Contractions were right on top of eachother & I felt horrible pressure. Jason asked if we should call an ambulance which I was NOT going to do since we could get there faster & the baby wasn't coming out without a C section anyway.

Made it to the hospital about 2am, they were ready for us. Dr. Huang came in so of course I reminded her that I really wanted my c section two days earlier for this very reason! I don't think she cared. I was still having really painful contractions but was only at 2cm. I told Jason that having C sections wasn't so bad because there was nothing remotely fun about labor. during all this, Jason is texting Cheryl that Haley is coming early, arranged a car to pick them up at O'hare in the morning so they can relieve Lauren. Took me to the OR for my spinal and at 3:30a, Haley Mae joined our family weighing 7lbs even, completing our family even if it was a day early.

For all of the chaos she caused by coming early, she is a pretty laid back baby. Probably because she's 4th, probably because she knows that she'll have to fight to get a word in & maybe just because it's time for us to take a breath and just enjoy raising our four healthy little girls.