Abigail's Birth Story

     It all started on Monday, August 17th.  I woke up early that morning not feeling well and finding it hard to stand up straight.  I was having contractions, but not that close together and had a lot of back pain.  I also hadn't felt Abby move since the evening before, which really made me nervous since I knew her movement patterns so well at this point in the pregnancy.  After talking to Jim, I decided to call the doctor for advice.  Dr. Penn said to go ahead to the hospital, that he would meet me there to see what's going on.   Jim had to head into the ballpark, so I drove to the hospital where I met my Mom.  

      Right away, the nurse was able to find Abigail's heartbeat and she was monitored for 20 minutes.  Everything looked and sounded great!  Dr. Penn then came in and I was STILL only 1 cm dilated and about 85% effaced.  He said to go ahead back home and come in when the contractions or the uncomfortableness got worse.  I was glad everything was okay, but shocked that this was a false alarm.

      Later that afternoon, I started to feel a little better so I decided to go to the baseball game, thinking it would probably be my last game for a while.  My Dad, Heather, Justin and Emily came along and were the first ones to witness my labor pains!  Throughout the whole game, I felt contractions and more pain.  I was sure at this point that something was going on, but kept fighting through it... wanting to be able to say bye to Jim after the game, since he was off to Tampa to start a long, 9 day road trip.  

      After waiting to say my goodbye, I headed back to my parents house so I could get some sleep and hopefully feel better.  At about midnight, I woke my parents up and said "It's time to go!"  My Mom and Jen drove me to the hospital, where I was admitted.... I was in labor!  So the second trip to the hospital in the same day.... wasn't a false alarm!  Dr. Penn had me walk around and drink water for an hour straight and this just made the pain intensify.  Sure enough, it put me right into active labor.

     I called Jim around 1:30am, just as he arrived in Tampa to tell him he needed to get a flight back that we were having a baby!!  He got a flight out at 5:30 am.  While waiting for things to progress, I was given some sleeping medication that made me pretty silly.  I just remember my Mom laughing as I was falling asleep.  Who knows what I was saying to her or the nurse, but THANK YOU.... I couldn't feel the pain and I got some rest before it all began.

      I woke up that morning on August 18th and things started to progress on their own.  However, not at a fast pace.  Dr. Penn had to leave and Dr. Keith was taking over his shift.  I had never met this doctor so it was awkward at first, but she was wonderful!  My water was then broken and I was put on petocin to speed things along.  I received the epidural early on ... thanks to my low pain tolerance! Jim arrived at the hospital around noon, in plenty of time!  

     Over the next several hours, Jim stayed by my side and helped me get through the pain.  He did a wonderful job. At 4:15 pm Dr. Keith said it was time to start pushing and that Abigail was right there.  She didn't think it would take as long as it did... but almost 3 hours later, at 6:43 pm, little Abigail Grace was born!  What a special moment to share with Jim.  We both shed some tears and were amazed that we could bring this sweet little baby into this world.  I was very thankful to have the nurse that I did.  She sweat just as much as I did (the air conditioner shut off halfway through), pushed everytime I pushed, and she actually said it best herself... When my family came in to see us, she said "We all had a baby in here tonight!"

      Abigail was then taken to the NICU to check on some things.  She was very pale and lethargic when she was first born.  The doctors just wanted to make sure things were okay.  Two hours later, she was brought back to us with news that everything was fine!