The Birth of Number 3...

Rob tells stories much better than I do, so sorry that you are getting my version...

Let's just start off by saying that my OBGYN won't strip membranes until week 38.  The OBGYN that I had when I had Lyla stripped them at 36 weeks.  I was disappointed when I found out this information because I wanted the baby to come earlier in the month.  So, at week 36 I was dilated 3cm, 40% effaced and the baby was at -1.  Week 37 same thing only 4cm dilated.  Week 38 - YEAH its here!  Got stripped the morning of December 22nd, started having Braxton Hicks contractions at 3pm.  I had been having contractions daily since week 28, and three days prior I was up half the night with them so it didn't really mean much at that point.  By 8:30pm the contractions were starting to turn into real ones and were getting uncomfortable.  I showered and got ready for bed anyways.  While I was up walking around the contractions were lasting about 30 seconds and were coming every 3-4 minutes, however when I laid down or sat down they were coming every 5-6 minutes and lasting 40 seconds.  I ended up deciding to get up and go downstairs and get on my hands and knees and mop the entryway tile.  A few nights earlier I had done the same thing in the kitchen, and once I started the contractions stopped.  This time they didn't.  They kept getting worse.  I called the hospital about 10:30pm and they told me to wait until the contractions were stronger before we came in, so I stayed up and kept myself busy.  An hour later I told Rob that he better pray about showering and heading to the hospital.  We left about 12:20am because every 2 minutes I had to stop to enjoy the pain of the contractions that were lasting 50 seconds now.  The girls were already asleep, so we woke Izzy and told her we were leaving and to listen for Lyla.  She babysits for us all the time, so we felt comfortable leaving them home alone in the middle of the night.

Luckily, the hospital is only 2 miles away.  It was raining outside and I told Rob to not drop me off at the emergency entrance, so we went and parked and walked in.  We had to stop twice while we walked in from the car to deal with a contraction.  Rob wasn't happy with me for making him park the car so I could walk.  Once we got inside they wheeled me right up to Labor and Delivery.  I could hardly talk it was so painful.  I pretty much kept my eyes closed the entire time because it was hurting so bad, so I have no idea what was going on around me.  

Rob filled out the paperwork and I was in a room by 12:30am.  The hospital is pretty small and they didn't have any doctors there already, only 3 nurses.  The nurse checked me and I was dilated 8cm and my water bag was coming out.  The contractions were super strong at that point and so they called the doctor (she took 20 minutes to arrive) and spent the entire time we waited for a doctor trying to put an IV in my hand and arm.  They tried 3 times.  I think that hurt worse than the stupid contractions.  Poor Rob had to sit there helpless while I was squeezing the life out of his hand.  Once the doctor arrived she broke my water and I pushed the baby out.  Rob has been saying that her name was going to be Shanaynay since I got pregnant, but once he saw her, he decided to name her Lauren.  So, Lauren Stephanie Sollis was born at 1:04am on December 23rd.  She weighed 6lbs 3oz and was 19 1/2 inches in length.