Abigail Ann Jennings

Abigail Ann Jennings

April 12, 2012, 8:09 am
8 pounds 1 ounce, 20 inches

Well, we knew she was coming on April 12, we just didn't know how early that day! I was scheduled to be induced at 9 am, she was born at 8:09 am, so yeah, we didn't quite make it to that appointment :)

Here's what happened

I finished that blog post at about 10 pm the night before she was born. That night I had packed my bag, taken a shower (luckily) and laid out everything for the morning. We were planning on leaving for the hospital around 8:15 and had one of Jackson's favorite babysitters come over to the house at 8 am. Everything was all arranged and it felt almost too perfect that we were able to plan it all out like that. The last thing I did before going to bed was dry my hair. I sat on the bathroom floor and Tyler brought me one of my favorite treats - an orange scone from Panera Bread that he got for me earlier that day. I wasn't supposed to eat food starting at midnight so I got that down around 11 pm.

We got to bed around 1130 and Tyler immediately fell asleep, I was exhausted from a busy day running around the house and hoping to fall asleep quickly. It wasn't happenings though. I had this weird pain in my lower back that just started bothering me when I laid down. No contractions, just a constant pain in my lower back. After 30 minutes or so it got more sharp for about 15 seconds then went away and the less intense pain returned. Then 10 minutes later the sharp pain came back and went away again-- and I started to realize something weird is going on.

I woke up Tyler to let him know what was going on, I told him these weren't contractions that he needed to start timing because it's all in my back, but he realized we should take it seriously. I was freaking out because I had not felt anything like this with Jackson. I was very uncomfortable and in constant pain though so I told Tyler to look up "back labor" on his phone or in my "what to expect" book because I had heard of the term but wasn't sure what it was. He started looking stuff up, and was convinced we were going to the hospital and just started getting ready. I was frustrated because I still hadn't felt a contraction in my tummy yet - how do we show up at the hospital and tell them that? But as he took a quick shower and got dressed I felt a pain in my tummy too so I finally realized this was real.

We had a friend lined up to be our "middle of the night" go-to babysitter so Tyler called her around 130 and told her to come on over! She thought she was off the hook since I was getting induced the next day, sorry Semra! She came over 10 minutes later and slept at our house while we took off for the hospital. I was still in shock that this happened so fast and in such different pain than I felt with Jackson. Once we got in the car I started having more regular contractions - I felt them in my tummy and back but I still had the constant pain in my back. We called my mom and let her know what was going on. She (and we) were just shocked that it was happening in the exact same timeframe it did with Jackson. We drove the 25 minutes to the hospital along the empty freeway and my contractions started coming faster and more intense, probably every 3 to 4 minutes. Tyler decided to just speed and put his hazards lights on because the roads were empty and I was in tons of pain.

Well the roads were empty until we saw a police car up ahead heading the same way on the freeway. I'm told Tyler to just pass him, he'd see our lights on and realize something major is going on - he wouldn't stop us. But I was wrong. As soon as we passed him we looked back and saw the cop pull behind us and turn his lights on. Tyler was mad but I for some reason was calm about it (probably the only time all night that was the case). I knew as soon as he saw me screaming in pain he'd let us go. So the cop walked up to the car Tyler yelled out the window, "my wife is about to have a baby we're going to the hospital!" I don't think I was having a hard core contraction at the time but I started acting the part. When he saw me he immediately changed his demeanor and told us, "I'll escort you there!" So we were only about 2 miles away but he turned on his lights and we followed him the rest of the way. He even went out in the middle of the red lights and cleared the way so we could go right through. It was pretty hilarious actually and Tyler snapped a pic with his phone.

As soon as we pulled up to the hospital I was having an actual contraction so I stayed in the car while Tyler got out, grabbed my suitcase and rushed inside and got me a wheelchair. I then got out of the car and the police officer was standing right there asking if he could help. Tyler pushed me in the wheelchair while the police officer carried my bag in the door. I wish we had a picture of that scene.

Other than the whole not getting sleep part, going into labor in the middle of the night is pretty ideal. The hospital and triage is empty and you get to be seen by the nurses much quicker. As we wheeled up to the desk I remember looking at the clock and it was 2:30. I still feel like it takes forever to get processed and back into an exam room, but it was probably only 10 minutes. They got me back in a room and checked that I was dilated to about 6 cm, I was so grateful I wasn't farther along so I could get my epidural. I had to lay in that room for about 10 minutes before I got up to the delivery room. The anesthesiologist was in the room really quick and started asking me tons of questions and finally gave me the miracle drug. Up to this point the pain in my back was still constant and had not gone away, and my contractions were coming every 3 minutes.

After the epidural was put in the pain went away within a couple minutes and I was so grateful. But I still felt a little off, I told the nurses I wasn't feeling great but didn't know how to explain it but I had chills and started shivering. Turns out my blood pressure was dropping dramatically and I got really nauseous. Luckily they handed me a little barf bucket because that orange scone came right back up. It was not my finest moment, but after I got it out I felt so much better. The chills lasted for about 30 minutes and finally went away. After everything got back to normal I was checked and just still at 7 cm, my water still hadn't broken. So they gave Tyler and I a couple hours to just lay and rest before I would need to start pushing. I don't think I ever completely fell asleep but it was good to rest pain-free.

They came back in with the doctor for the first time around 6 am and checked me, still at just a 7 or 8, so they broke my water around 6:30 to start getting my labor going. Within 30 minutes I was starting to feel pain and pressure and I had dilated all the way. My epidural was starting to wear off and so for the first time I pressed the "i need more drugs" button, but it wasn't really doing anything to stop the pressure. It was time to start pushing around 7:30.

Tyler was a great help during the pushing. Seriously, he was amazing during the whole process, don't know how I could have done it without him! He was right by my head telling me to breathe and giving me ice chips during my breaks from pushing. After 40 minutes of pushing she finally got low enough and I knew it was time for her to come out! Just my luck, the doctor and the rest of the staff weren't in there yet and took about 3 minutes (felt like 30) to come in the room. I had to wait to push until they all got there and it was the hardest thing of the whole process. But then as soon as they got in position I pushed one more time and there she was. I heard her crying and it was the best noise I could have ever heard. I was thrilled she was finally here and looked so healthy.

They immediately put her on my chest and she stopped crying and looked up at me. It was such an amazing experience and I was so in love with her right away. The 2 pictures below and above were taken during this time. She was also starting to look like she was ready to eat right away which I was thrilled with. She ended up nursing great right there in the delivery room an hour later. After holding her for 15 minutes or so I started asking if they were going to clean her off and make sure she was healthy. The doctor had said she seemed heavy so I was kind of anxious to know how much she weighed too. When they did take her to the scale, they told us 8 pounds 1 ounce, and it was just the weight I thought. Well I thought she'd be 8 5, Tyler thought 7 14 so we were pretty close. But of course Tyler points out he was closer :)

It was a great delivery, and seriously so similar to Jackson's it was like de ja vu. With both babies the contractions started between midnight and 1 am, we got to the hospital at 2:30, was dilated to a 6, got the epidural, rested for a couple hours, the doctor broke my water and a couple hours later the baby was born. I am so grateful for my 2 healthy babies and have loved these first days with our little Abbie.

Meeting big brother for the first time, Jackson was amazing! He just got excited to see her and kept giving her kisses.








Looking over at Daddy, at his school downtown Orlando.