I don't think I ever put in my blog that I was pregnant, but it's a little late for that now! On April 25th I spent the day wearing myself out more than usual. I vacuumed the entire house, took Piper on a walk, and make bread. While on my walk, I called a couple of friends and told them about my plan to be induced the night before my due date so they could make plans to visit me in the hospital. That night many spring storms rolled in and we spent the evening watching tornado reports on the news. We went to bed at 10:30 and at midnight I woke up and my water had broken! I had to go the hospital to receive antibiotics, so we packed a meager bag and waited a few minutes for my sister to get home from work.
My doctor happened to be on call that night--a rarity, by I was glad. The nurses told me that it is very common when storms roll in for the hospital to get quite a few women in with their water broken due to the change in pressure. In fact, that night I was followed by four other women! I got hooked up and we waited a while for contractions to start. They didn't, so I was given pitocin to get them going. Finally, a couple of hours later, my contractions were strong enough to get me to dilate enough for an epidural. The whole process was even easier than with Piper, which is saying a lot because that delivery was very low stress as well. Since Gracie was ten days early, she was much smaller than Piper and only took three pushes! Thanks for paving the way, Piper!
Once it was time to push we had to find my nurse while I tried with all my might to hold Gracie back for the doctor. Our doctor was out enjoying lunch with her family, so when they finally found my nurse, I waited another ten minutes for the doctor. Three pushes later and Gracie was born. She arrived with her hands in fists in a praying position up next to her right cheek. All the nurses began commenting on how "Grace" was born saying "grace" all on a Sunday. Very cute.
Gracie's official arrival time was 12:57 pm on Sunday, April 26th. Her weight was 6 lbs 11 0z and she was 18 3/4 inches long. We snuggled for about 45 minutes before she went for her bath. She has been a very quiet, sweet baby ever since. She loves to nurse and is gaining 10 oz a week! She's almost eight pounds now!
