quinntessential whit and whimsy: At Last

Quinlan Lucille burst onto the scene last Sunday morning at 1:00 am. In retrospect, I had been having contractions for a day or two, but nothing super strong or regular. Saturday found us out and about at the U of I basketball game, running errands, and having a final dinner out as a family of three at one of our favorite restaurants. Around 11:00 pm I started to feel more uncomfortable, and in true chaotic nature, I went from 0 to 60 in an instant, with contractions coming about every two minutes. Once I realized that I was going into labor, I started bawling. This was all new to me since I was induced with Whit, and I was freaking out...much to Andy's surprise. The next 45 minutes consisted of my dying cell phone missing calls from the on-call OB, and me dialing seven different phone numbers before finding someone who was awake and able to come be with Whit (it ended up being our landlord, and I'm pretty sure that wasn't in our lease agreement. He is amazing). My friend Hallie also came to our rescue once she got our message, and we were incredibly blessed to have two wonderful people come over and let us simply worry about getting to the hospital. We each kissed Whit goodbye in bed, and then jumped in the car.

While Andy was waiting for the gate to open at the ER parking lot, I leapt out of the car like an escaping kidnapped victim and hobbled into the hospital, where I expressed some choice words at the sight of only one registration attendant who was busy with a family that had just walked up to the desk. A security guard came to my rescue and quickly wheeled me up to L&D...on the 10th floor. Perhaps poor planning on placement there, but hey, I'm sure I was the first patient ever to need to get there fast... I changed into a gown while contractions came faster, and as soon as they had me hop into bed, I was starting to push.

It was then that Joy, the girl who almost never takes pain medication but never in a million years wanted to be anything less than doped up for childbirth, had to quickly adapt to a new reality. "I need medicine!" I screamed multiple times, knowing full well that I was not going to get any. The nurses were amazing. They kept telling me I was "Super Woman" and was doing so well, and I kept thinking they were insane and perhaps not aware of the situation, a fact which I later jokingly shared with them. The on-call OB was not going to be able to get to the hospital in time, so the hospitalist came and quickly took her post. After my water broke - or rather exploded like a grenade - the next push left us with Quinn's head showing. I thus very kindly and calmly (or loudly and roughly, who can say for sure really...) screamed, "Then just grab her head and pull her out! Pull her out!" Well, those silly medical professionals didn't listen to me, but with the next push, Quinn was born. I was able to feel every wonderful detail, including my first degree tear. So, about 20 minutes after getting to the hospital, we had a baby! Throughout the night I just kept praying and feeling confident that God was going to get me through the pain, and I was immensely grateful for only having a first degree this time. Just like that we became a family of four!

We came home on Monday, and Whit immediately started to take care of his baby sister. She is now rarely without Piglet and "a banky to help her sleep."