Welcome, Allison!

I had worked all weekend AND there was a full moon. I should have known…..

I woke up to go to the bathroom at about 2:45 Monday morning the 25th and noticed a trickle. I was officially one of those ladies that didn’t know if I was leaking amniotic fluid or if I was just peeing myself. And I felt like an idiot. I was up and down over the next couple hours and finally was starting to think my water might really have broken. Luckily, at my last doctor appointment, she gave me her cell phone number and told me to text her anytime if anything started happening. I knew I would at least have to go in to get checked, so I decided to jump in the shower first. By this time, it’s now about 5:15. Brian heard me so he got up to shower and I filled him in on what was happening. He, of course, laughed at me.  🙂

I sent a text to my doctor and yup, she wanted me to go to the hospital. By this time, it’s now about 6. We woke Adam up and dropped him off at daycare for the day, but didn’t tell him what was going on. We just told him we were both going to work. Brian and I drove separate cars. He told me, “If you’re just peeing yourself, I’m going to work!” I thought that was fair.

We got to the triage area just after 7. As soon as my nurse pulled back the covers and tipped my bed back, she could tell it was in fact amniotic fluid and we would be meeting our baby girl! I was 5-6 cm.

I was excited and nervous at the same time. I was only 36+5 weeks and I REALLY wanted to be at least 37. I was insanely happy that we had made it to the hospital, Adam was taken care of, and my doctor was also on her way to the hospital for another delivery. The stars aligned! These were my biggest fears about giving birth this time around.

I got into my labor room about 8 and decided to walk the halls for a while. I was having contractions but they weren’t super painful. My doctor checked me again about 8:30 and offered some pitocin, but instead I wanted to walk some more and see what would happen. The contractions really started coming a lot faster and stronger. I walked until about 9, then got checked again. 8 cm. Time for the IV to get started. At 9:30 I got an intrathecal which is similar to an epidural, except it’s very short acting and it’s not a continuous infusion. I loved it!

The room was so calm and relaxed. I had my doctor, nurse, and Brian in there. We were just hanging out waiting for me to be completely dilated. After a few more minutes, I was and it was time to push. I pushed through 3 contractions over about 4 minutes and she was here at 10:14 AM! She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz (huge for her age we all thought!) and was 20.5 inches long.

Allison checked out great, had her first meal, then was awake and checking out her new surroundings. We called family to let them know of our new, early addition. Sadly, my parents are on vacation in South Carolina. That was the only thing about Allison’s birth that was a bummer.

We chose the name Allison Tracy Aanderud. Allison…we just really like the name. It would have been Adam’s name if he would have been a girl. And Tracy is my maiden name, so that was an easy choice for us!

Allison is now 4 days old. We are settled in at home and enjoying our sweet baby girl. She is a great eater (she has gained 4 ounces in 2 days!) and loves being swaddled and napping in her bouncy seat or someone’s arms.

Adam is loving being a big brother. He loves to help out however he can. He’ll ask to hold Allison and sit and snuggle her on the couch for a few minutes. He strokes her little cheek and talks to her. It is so sweet! Our first night home, I was holding Allison, Adam was sitting next to me and Brian was on the other side of Adam. Adam read his sister a whole Dr. Seuss book and it was such a wonderful family moment. I am truly in new mommy bliss.

I have some great pics to share, but both kiddos are napping, so I am going to take advantage and grab a snooze as well! I’ll get around to the pics at some point…

Thank you all so much for the calls, texts, cards, gifts, and Facebook messages of congratulations! We feel so lucky and blessed to have a healthy, happy, baby girl and family.