*It's taken me a year to write this. Some parts are detailed, some parts are brief. Some are written in the first person and some in the third. It kind of depended on what was going on when I could find a few minutes to document this story. The day Grace was born was chaotic and not at all what I had expected. It was so against the "planner" in me. It was funny and stressful and full of awesome moments and support. I felt it deserved to be documented in some fashion. It's the story of how our Grace Callahan came into this world.
Thursday, December 22nd ended the way most days had lately. Dan and I stayed up to watch a few episodes of Parenthood on Hulu. I snacked on Crackers and Sparkling Lemonade and thought of all the things I needed to get done before the baby arrived. But I wasn't too stressed. This pregnancy was almost over and things were good.
It was almost Christmas. The doctor's appointment I had been to on Monday had gone well, and Dr. Gourley had said that if I "laid low" I should easily make it through the Christmas weekend and to my scheduled C-section date on December 28th. He had prayed with me before the end of the appointment, that everything would go as planned. I was banking on that. I was so grateful to have been able to schedule my C-section with him, since he had delivered Hollister as well.
It was going to be our first full Christmas at home. Because I was so close to my due date, we obviously could not travel. Highly unusual for us. We'd spent the last several years rotating between family in Texas, Connecticut and Florida. Hollister is an easy traveler, so it had always made sense for us to travel over the holidays. Yet, I was looking forward to Christmas at home. For the first time, we were going to attend the Christmas Eve services at church. I had bought Holl and Hope matching outfits to wear. At the last minute, I had bought the baby a matching sleeper....just in case. However, at this point-just 3 days before Christmas, I was pretty confident she would not get to wear it.
I remember thinking that I needed to get up and print out the list and schedule that I had typed up for my mother in law while we were at the hospital. It contained all the details she would need to know to take care of Hope and Holl. I had a few edits to make and it would be done. I'd been working on it for weeks, in between updating my will (any type of surgery makes me nervous), washing baby clothes, packing for the hospital and wrapping up a few camp things. I was finally nearing the end of that list. Printing out the list for the kids was one of the things I wanted to make sure was ready. With a 6 month old on a pretty set schedule and a picky 4 year old, there were lots of things to detail. However, I was feeling lazy that night-and opted instead to watch one extra episode of Parenthood with Dan before heading to bed.
I remember that a strange dream woke me about 4:30, but I can't remember what it was about. I do remember waking in a panic because I was lying on my back and I didnt know how long I had been that way. Lying on your back in late pregnancy is not the safest position as it can put the baby in distress. I quickly rolled to my side and waited for the freqent kicks that the baby typically gave me early morning.
After about 20 minutes, I started to worry. She was a very active baby, always moving, especially in the mornings. I rolled to the other side and waited...still nothing. So I headed downstairs to drink some more sparkling lemonade. I figured that might wake her up a bit.
After another half hour of not feeling her kick, I was really starting to panic. I knew she was probably fine, but the "mother" in me was obviously concerned. When Dan woke up, I told him that she wasn't moving and that I thought I might need to go in to the doctors office just to make sure things were okay.
I know he thought I was crazy.
But he went along with me. I had already lined up our neighbor Jenny to watch Hope and Holl for the morning because I needed to shop for a few last minute gifts. I suggested that maybe we just go ahead and leave the kids with her since she was going to watch them anyway. Dan must have had a 6th sense though because he suggested that we just take them with us. Jenny had to leave by noon and his rationale was that we might be there longer than 12:00 and then would have no one here to take the kids. So we loaded up all of their stuff-strollers, bottles, toys, even breakfast and made the decision to call the doctors office and let them know we were coming in.
Imagine my surprise when the doctors office told me that they had a water main break in the building. There was no way they could see me. They told me to hang on and that they would call me back. Dan and I sat in the driveway, arguing back and forth about whether to just "go" or to sit tight. I knew there was a chance they would send me to the main hospital OR their other office location which were miles apart. Dan didnt understand why, if the baby could be in distress-I didnt just go SOMEWHERE. He felt like we were wasting time.
So finally, I made the call to just head to the hospital and thankfully, before we left the neighborhood-the doctor's office called and gave me the same advice. I was in the new mini-van with the kids and Dan followed in his car so that he could head on to work after we were done. I planned to go ahead and take both kids shopping with me-convinced that I still needed to get those last few presents.
ON the way to the hospital, Hollister asked to listed to "Adele" on the radio. I cranked up his current favorite, "Rumor Has It" and tried not to focus on the stress I was feeling. About halfway through the second time we listened to that song-as we were singing together loudly, I felt the baby start to kick-Hard. She had apparently woken up....GREAT! I thought. Dan is going to be so mad...I even for a crazy second thought about not telling him, rationalizing that he would only "wonder" for about 5 extra minutes.
But of course my conscience would not let me do that so as soon as we arrived at the hospital, I told him that she was now kicking and that we were probably fine to go home. Surprisingly, he suggested that we go ahead and just let them check her out and make sure everything was okay. So we headed to check in downstairs and then went up to the 8th floor.
One of the things I remember most is that Hollister insisted on wearing his Spiderman mask while we were in the elevator. I took a random picture with my cell phone (he would not pose), thinking that perhaps I should be marking this moment. Little did I know.
Once we got up on the floor, arriving like a herd of elephants-strollers, games, bottles, kids....we were moved into a nice large room where we could spread out. The nurse immediately hooked me up to a monitor as I apologized several times, saying that I had panicked unecesarrily. As I predicted, the baby's heartbeat was fine. She was moving and active and I was just annoyed that I had spent my one free morning at the hospital for no reason. The nurse said that she wanted to monitor the heartbeat for about 20 minutes and then we would be free to go home. She left the room, promising to be back soon.
I remember telling Dan that he should be to work by 10am and feeling that perhaps I had not wasted too much of his day. We chatted about our weekend plans as he gave Hope her bottle and Hollister played with the random cowboys and indians he had brought along.
I soon realized that about 45 minutes had passed and started to get restless. So I asked Dan to take Hope for a walk in the stroller and see if he could find my nurse and see if she was ready to let us go home. He came back about 5 minutes later and said, "Do you have an IV in?"
HUH????
I looked at him like he was nuts. He could clearly see that I did not have an IV in. Plus he had been with me all morning...he knew they had not done anything but monitor the baby. He looked a little confused and just said, "Well she mentioned something about an fluids and an iv. She said the baby's heartbeat is fine, but wanted to know if your'e feeling the contractions you are having every 5 minutes?"
Say what?
Contractions?
I HAD been feeling some pressure all morning, but that was normal for this pregnancy. Every 5 minutes though? I stopped talking for a few minutes (hard to do), and realized that the pressure was coming in regular intervals.
You see, when I had Hollister-I was induced. So I went from nothing to full on contractions in about an hour and then wound up with a C-section. I didnt really know what it felt like to gradually be in "labor." The nurse came in to do an IV at this point, explaining that they were going to give me some fluids to see if it would stop the contractions and that she was sending the doctor on call in as well to chat with me.
I was not happy about this. Dr. Gourley and I had A PLAN. And it did not include someone else delivering my baby. I was certain that the fluids would work and I would be back the next Wednesday to deliver my baby on schedule.
RIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a half hour of fluids, the contractions were still coming, so they sent the doctor on call in to chat with me. She explained that I was in the early stages of labor and that her recommendation, because we were going with a C-section was to go ahead and deliver the baby. I casually asked her if she minded if I went on home for a few hours, lined up childcare and printed my "document."
Sidenote: I had arranged childcare for every single day the two weeks before and had everything lined up from the 25th on. However, the 23rd and 24th were so close to Christmas, that it had been hard to find anyone available to help. Two of my single friends, Traci and Michele had both said they would "Be around" if we needed anything, but all along I thought the chances of delivering on those 2 dates were slim and we would not need them. Of course....
Anyway, back to me wanting to go home for a few hours. The doctor patiently looked at me like I was nuts and said I was free to do what I wanted but that I was putting myself at risk if my labor progressed quickly. I asked her how long I had and she said, "Oh I'd like to get her out of there within the hour!!" THE HOUR...
Then she said, "We will just leave the room for a few minutes and let you arrange your childcare situation and then I'll send anethesia in."
That's when all hell broke loose.
Dan and I looked at each other in shock. We had not brought my hospital bag, our cord blood collection kit, the FREAKING DOCUMENT for our kids.....I had one bottle for Hope, Holl was running around the room like crazy....and I had two single friends with no kids who had no clue they were about to get THE CALL....
The next 30 minutes happened like this:
1. Dan looks at me and says, "So who's on call for today?" (He knew I had lined up friends for the 2 weeks prior to my due date in case my mother in law was not in town yet). I reply, "Michele, and possibly Traci" to which his eyebrows raise (not because they are not fantastic but because our 2 kids were wild and they were not used to rangling the crazies on a daily basis). He proceeds to leave the room to call his mom and my dad (and Michele, though I did not know this). Did I mention there was no cell service in our room? Lovely....
2. I call our friend Carrie Keuten who works in the hospital to see if she can loan me a camera since we failed to bring ANYTHING with us. She tells me that she and Michele (She is Michele's aunt) are leaving soon to pick up her mom at the airport. So I assume that Michele is out as a caregiver. I did not want to interupt her getting to see her grandmother.
3. I call Traci (these calls are all from the hospital phone) and leave her a message, rambling on and on about how I am going to have the baby in an hour and might need some child care so if she's free, can she call me back. Oh and I can't remember my room number, but maybe just ask for it when she calls back. Oh and I don't know the number here either...(HOW LONG have I worked at this hospital?)
4. Then I call my friend Jennifer thinking SHE has probably headed home to Syracuse, but maybe JUST MAYBE she is working today...She answers the phone (She works at the hospital too), and tells me she is leaving town in a few hours but that she can at least come down and sit with the kids for my surgery and possibly even take them home if we can get someone to come stay with them.
5. At this point, I'm feeling better. Jennifer knows the hospital well, my kids know her well and at least I can have this baby knowing SOMEONE is with them. It was around this time that anethesia came in to start my IV and Dan walked in and said, "Michele is on her way" just as the nurse comes in and says, "Traci called. Her parents are driving into town right now for the holidays and she has sent them to get the kids!" YIKES...in a matter of minutes, I now had 3 people coming for my kids. I told Dan I had already lined up Jennifer to which he replied, "BUT you told me Michele was on call!"
True....
I did.
6. Oh and as they were putting my IV in, my mother in law called wanting to chat about flights and whether she should go ahead and come in town that night. I had to pass that call on to Dan because I was a bit overwhelmed at this point.
7. So in the end, Carrie brought us a camera to use, Jennifer came and took the kids to lunch, then met up with Michele who took the kids home and sat with them until Traci got off or work and she spent the first night with them until my mother in law got in town. They were just awesome.
8. Our friend Karthik flew to our house and picked up our cord blood kit and made it the front of the hospital in record time. Our nurses met him at the front entrance and ran it upstairs and into the Operating Room just as my surgery was starting. It was all very dramatic.
9. I WALKED to the O.R. I don't know why I think this is funny, but it is. I remember my friend Jennifer saying, "What kind of hospital are we running that a woman in labor is walking into the OR to have her baby?"
10. And so that's how our baby girl came into the world. On a crazy Friday afternoon right before Christmas. Her delivery after the dramatic events of the morning was amazingly smooth. I remember the nurses chatting with us about Hope's adoption and our unexpected pregnancy. I remember Dan wiping a tear off my face just before she was born because the stress of the morning had finally caught up with me. I remember the first time he held her up for me to see and how I said, "Well she's a funny looking little thing!" (I'm sure she will love reading that someday). We spent a quiet Christmas weekend getting to know her despite all of our grandiose plans for the holiday. Our friends rallied to help us through that first 24 hours and we have slowly adjusted to life with 3 kids over the past year. I can't imagine life without her.
I've said multiple times this year that I might not have survived this first year of craziness if Grace did not have the personality that she does. She is the absolute happiest baby who has a smile for everyone she meets. Her smile can literally light up a room. She has a deep and hoarse little voice that she is learning to use in order to let us know that she needs something. She is always trying to keep up with her siblings, and started walking at 10 months old. She has no fear, barrelling through the house, running into walls and furniture in an effort to not be left behind. She is my snuggler, the first of my babies to curl up against my chest for long periods of time. She is famous for her trademark 2 fingers in her mouth. She's remained toothless for most of the year, but even when her few little teeth have come in, you'd never know because she's still smiling. The only time she really cries is when she's hungry and boy can sister eat! She LOVES food. All of it. Any of it. Her brother can make her laugh harder than anyone else, but she also adores her sister. She loves books. She'll sit for the longest time, turning pages and pointing at pictures. (Definitely got this from her mama!). She is a tiny thing, consistently measuring in the 10th percentile for height and weight and her eyes are an amazing blue that matches the blue of my mom's eyes perfectly. There are few things I enjoy more than her deep rumbling giggle.
We didn't plan for her. She was always God's plan. But she is most certainly "Our Amazing Grace." and we are so thankful for her everyday.
photos by SnookySmiles.com
Happy Birthday Grace Callahan!
And Callahan was the county where my families beloved ranch was at. We had to sell the ranch a few years ago, but it held a great amount of importance in the Warren Family. My mom always wanted someone to use the name for a baby. We wanted her to have some sort of "family" name since Hollister and Hope's names are so connected to family. So that's how she became Grace Callahan.
You can scroll up to the post above this to watch Grace's One Year Slideshow. :)
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