Cadence Emilia Bailey
Born December 21, 2004
8 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long
Cadence in Mom's bed a few
hours after being born
Our third birth experience...
Quick Cadence
About 2am on Tuesday morning
(Dec 21st) I felt a little trickle and I knew my water had broken.
Immediately I felt the contractions coming on and I layed in bed
timing them for about fifteen minutes. They weren't real hard,
but they were only three minutes apart lasting a minute right
from the start and I knew things were going to move fast.... I
just didn't realize how fast.
I woke Brian up with gentle
back rub and asked him if he'd had enough sleep because we would
be having to go to the hospital soon. He got right up and started
getting dressed. I told him we'd have time to shower thinking
it would be hours before hard labor started, but right about the
time I got shampoo in my hair, I realized I had made a mistake
because the contractions were now coming hard and fast. There
was no turning back though so we quickly got cleaned up, threw
on some clothes and called the doctor.
Dr. Rotolo was off that day
for some reason so we were referred to the on call doctor who
was really taking her time calling back so I had Brian call back,
twice, and the third time I told him just to leave his cell number
because we HAD TO leave IMMEDIATELY. Just when we were about to
run out the door, the doctor called back and wanted to talk to
me.
So here I am panting and leaning
on the kitchen counter, barely able to stand and Brian hands me
the phone and says "Sorry, babe, but she wants to talk to
you". I grasp the phone, holding it unsteadily to my ear
and grunt out a hello, while still panting heavily into the reciever.
The doctor starts asking me questions about how my labor is going
and my short, quick, nearly unintelligable replies finally get
the message across that I have to get to the hospital NOW. She
agrees to meet us there.
Brian grabs some blankets and
the baby car seat, just in case we don't make it, then quickly
helps me shuffle down the icy stairs and climb into the Astro.
He looks down at the gas guage and then, with the sorriest expression,
looks at me, as I lay fully reclined in the passenger seat gripping
the armrests with my feet braced against the wheelwell, and he
tells me it's completely empty so we had to stop for gas on the
way. We thought about taking the truck but there was no way I
could have sat up in the truck seat at this point.
After stopping for gas, dodging
a few whacky early-morning drivers and blowing off one redlight
that took just abit too long to change, we finally arrived at
the hospital and parked as close as we could to the entrance.
Brian hopped out and came around to help me out of the van. I
stood there breathing through contractions as Brian grabbed our
bag and the camera, then held onto him tightly so we could shuffle
across the icy wlkway to the door. I had lost all concept of time
and couldn't feel anything but the contractions, but Brian said
it took us a few minutes ot get to the door because we had to
stop for a couple contractions and it was five degrees out so
he was just as eager to get inside the hospital as I was. However,
when we got to the entrance, there stood a sandwichboard telling
us that the door was locked between 5pm and 8am so, since it was
4:40 in the morning, we would have to enter through the emergency
entrance. Brian swore to himself and said we'd need to get back
in the van. I wimpered to him that I couldn't walk back and stood
stiffly in the freezing parking lot as he urged me to move toward
the van.
Again we did the slow shuffle
across the ice stopping for contractions and losing precious minutes.
I rolled into the passenger seat again and gripped one armrest
with both hands. Brian eased me out of the van and helped me into
a wheelchair at the emergency entrance. He yelled to someone that
he was leaving the van out front, but I insisted that he park
it right then so he would not have to come back downstairs. He
would have missed everything if he'd had to go back and park the
Astro and I kind of needed his help. He was back in a flash and
rolled me as fast as he could to the elevator and then up to labor
and delivery.
The nurses let us in at 4:44am
and Brian updated them on my labor status as we wheeled into room
seven. I could barely sit and as soon as I stood up out of the
wheel chair I could feel the baby's head pressing hard in my pelvis.
The nurse pointed to the bathroom and instructed me to change
into a johnny, but I just took my pants off right there and rolled
into the bed. Brian helped me with my shoes and shirt and layed
the johnny over me while the nurse annouced that she was going
to check my dialation. She looked down at me and saw Cadence's
head crowning. "Whoa....kay, we need a doctor in here!"
she yelled to another nurse who in turn hollered to an adjacent
room where the doctor apparently was.
"Don't push yet, breathe
thorugh it" she told me. But there was no breathing through
it, she was coming out no matter how much I tried to hold back.
I apologized for not being able to hold back as the baby's head
came all the way out. Just then the doctor ran in as the nurses
eased the rest of her out. Cadence Emilia Bailey was officially
here at 4:48am. The doctor placed her on my chest and I smiled
at her as she was being wiped clean. "Wow, a four mintue
baby" the nurses exclaimed "that's the third one we've
had tonight"
The room emptied after all
the excitement was over and Brian and I sat admiring our little
girl for nearly two hours without interruption. It was one of
the the greatest moments of my life. Thank you Cadence. We love
you!
Mom and Dad with the new little
bundle
Cadence after we got home from
the hospital
Cadence being held by Grammy,
Charlotte and Mom
Charlotte holding her baby
sister for the first time
Grampy and Coleman holding
Cadence
Everyone is so excited to have
a new baby girl in the family
Even
earlier picures>
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