Never our plan, always God's plan.

Life has been so insanely busy. I checked and my last post was July 22nd talking about how insanely busy we were going to be. Never in my mind did I think that it would be ten times more than what I thought it was going to be. SO. Josiah's due date was September 2nd. Notice I said, "WAS."

I'll start on Monday, August 8th. I was feeling pretty good still although I did notice things that I didn't feel with Matti. I just coughed it up to me working in this pregnancy. That Friday could have been my last day at work if I felt that I just needed to stop working. I really wanted to make it to the 19th, which was the following Friday. I woke up and I did the usual morning routine & one of those things was logging onto Facebook. Haha. That day, I wrote a status regarding how I needed to stop being lazy & just pack my hospital bag. Matti was born "on time." He was born 5 hours & 26 minutes after his due date--close enough. In my mind, this was going to happen again. I had an appointment the 9th and I had questions to ask my doctor. Anyway, I went to work  (11am-6pm) and everything was fine. I felt some Braxton Hicks but nothing out of the ordinary. (I find out later that my boss & head teller noticed that I was extremely low at this point..but it didn't bother me) I called my mom during my lunch break to let her know I wanted to come by her house this week to get Matti's baby clothes & the baby shower gifts so I can get started on washing them. After work, I went to get some things for dinner that night. Bacon Wrapped Chicken was Jason's request. Remember, we were in the process of moving (lease ended 8/26) so our house was a mess so I was making dinner for him. He'd been really good about taking on house chores :) We had dinner and we just watched TV the rest of the night. I convinced him to stay up a little later with me and around 10 or 11, we went to bed. I was already an insomniac at this point so I kept the TV on in the room until about 11:50 pm. I browsed on the iTouch for a little bit and eventually, rolled over to crowd Jason. I was almost asleep when all of a sudden I felt a pop, and a gush. My eyes popped open so fast and I just kinda lied there waiting for it to stop. When it didn't, I woke up...well tried...Jason. "I'm all wet. I'm ALL wet. The bed is getting wet." I kept repeating this until he fully realizes what I'm saying. "Your water broke? What?! NO!" Now, he was only saying no because we WERE  ABSOLUTELY FAR FROM READY. The apartment was a mess, we had NO baby clothes washed, the bassinet was still at his parents' house, our bags weren't packed, Matti's bag wasn't packed. He immediately started getting everything together. I swear he's the best husband ever. What was I doing? Contemplating what the next step was. This was one of the questions I had for the doctor. What do I do if my water breaks? My water didn't break with Matti. I was pushing already & they popped it for me! So, I asked for the netbook and I went to my BFF Google to ask what I should do next. This I did for thirty minutes before I decided to get up and get myself cleaned up. There were differing answers and my main concern was that I was going to go in & end up progressing REALLY slow and they would induce me which I didn't want to do. I wanted an all natural deliver again. I sat in our dining room and saw Matti fast asleep. I got really sad because I realized, "Oh my gosh. He is not going to be my only baby anymore." I told Jason, "I'm sad. I'm notd one with Matti being my only baby :(" After about an hour, I decided to call the doctor to make sure I needed to come in & of course I did. Jason called my parents and we met up with them to switch cars. Our van was full of our stuff to move & of course Matti and Teddi. The contractions were starting but they were just cramps more than anything. Matti woke up and asked to come. We told him I had to go to the hospital because Josiah wanted to come out. He was happy to go with Lolo & Lola though. My mom was surprised I was still smiling and laughing & she kept telling me she knew I was a brave woman. haha. I think we got to the hospital around 2am and made our way to the maternity ward. They put me in the post partum room since the delivery rooms were full. The nurse took a strip to see if in fact my water broke. It was to turn blue if it was my water & I would've been embarassed if it wasn't blue lol. Of course it was. We were getting admitted & we looked at each other thinking the same thing. "Is this happening NOW?!" It was only August 9! We were waiting for them to clean a room & by 3am, we walked over to Delivery Room #2. We love our 2's! We got settled in & I got hooked up to the monitors which showed I was having contractions. I was only at 1 cm so I was still feeling good. I slept here & there but it's hard when you have people coming in & out. It was Tuesday so USA had Law & Order SVU on all day--which is my favorite show. Around 5, I could feel the contractions, but breathing through them. I was still trying to sleep lol. I remember looking at the clock waiting for the time to call my boss to let her know I had my last day the day before. Jason finally called at 730 or 8. I just remember focusing on my contractions and relaxing my body. At 830, I asked to be checked because I remembered the feeling from last time so I wanted to know where I was. 4 cm 80% effaced. HUH. 4 cm? Still with no sleep since Monday night, I was a little bummed. They knew I wanted to go all natural, but I know they need to let me know I still could change my mind. The nurse asked if I wanted Demerol. I paused & contemplated........and said, "No I'm still good." Jason said he saw my hesitation. I know I would've been upset with myself if I had said yes instead. The next hour flew by so fast. Around 930, I was getting two contractions at a time so I knew I was extremely close. Jason was really good about telling me to breathe and that I was doing a great job. The nurses were really good about it too. I had that urge in my bottom again so I knew we were almost there. I asked to get checked and yes, I was at 8cm but very close to 9cm! The nurses kept asking if I was okay after the contractions & I told them, "I'm good now...it just sucks when I have one haha." We were so close and the excitement was building. Dr. Davis came in to let me know he was there and ready for me. He said, "Well...you've been here a while huh?" I told him it was longer than with Matti (4 hour labor after admission), but hey, at least it wasn't 30 hours like some women! We also joked about how this is what happens when you have a "boring" pregnancy. I never had questions or complaints at my visits and they kept telling me to "stay boring." haha. I think around 945, the nurse said I could practice pushing if I felt I needed to & asked if I remembered how to push. I made a mess of myself every contraction at that point and kept apologizing to the nurse, Tiff, who was really sweet. So, I tried pushing and they said I was pushing perfectly. At this point, I just kept my eyes closed and focused on the contractions and rested the time between. All I could hear was Jason and Tiff, but apparently there were more people in the room. I was in the zone and focused on getting Josiah out. There was a point when my concentration was broken, haha. I was between contractions and I heard a voice, which I believe was the midwife, say, "You are stretching beeeeeuuuuuutifully!" LOL...I was close to opening my eyes and looking at whoever it was and give her this look and say, "Really now...?" Josiah was smaller than Matti so I account that to the fact that I couldn't tell that he had made most of the way down until Jason said, "Fran! Open your eyes! He's here...his head is out..LOOK BABE!" I remember thinking, "WHAT? Already?" I'm telling you, I was in disbelief from the start of this whole thing! He was crying already & out he came and I remember saying, "Look how tiny you are...hey...that's not my nose!" He had a cord around his neck & body & he had one arm draped across his chest to his other shoulder. He was perfectly fine and his breathing was fine. They let me know that since he is considered early, he might have some breathing issues, but nope, he was fine. He was born 5 lbs & 9 oz and 19 inches long. I did tear but it was a small one and only got a few stitches. I swear, getting those is worse than labor & delivery! We were given the choice to go home the following day, but they weren't sure if Josiah would be released so we ended up staying. Tiff came to my post partum room the next day to say bye to me and to tell me that I did more than awesome. One of the other nurses that was watching me had never seen an all natural birth until mine and she said I was a good model since I didn't scream my head off. I'm so glad to have done it again. We went home (my mom's where we are now) Thursday but Friday his jaundice levels were too high so he was admitted again to go under the lights. Saturday, he was released and we've been home since.He's 4 weeks already! He now weighs 6 lbs 10.5 oz and is 20.5 in long! & he's running off mommy's milk :) My recovery has been great! I felt almost normal within a week and was doing stuff around the house. I guess my body just remembered how to get back on track.

Apparently 8/9 was the day to have babies. The maternity ward had 12 babies that day. My friend who was due the day before my due date had her son that day too! & then another friend had her grand daughter born on that day as well. Josiah wanted in on the fun! Oh...he was born on his great grandmother's birthday :) The nurses said that whenever the weather changes drastically, a lot of babies are born. That week, it went from extremely hot to a nice comfy summer day. So, it's not the moon to watch out for ;)

This just goes to show that no matter what we plan, it's never OURS. It'll happen all in God's time. Thank you Lord for letting me have a safe labor & delivery with Josiah. Although he was early, he is perfectly healthy. Thank you.