We met Miss Caroline Elise Childress on July 24th at 6:43 am measuring 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. Not as big as her brother...but not as late as he was either! Our sweet girl made a COMPLETELY different entrance into this world than her brother (who was 2 weeks late and took almost 30 hours to arrive!). I had started having weekly ultrasounds in the final month of pregnancy due to excess amniotic fluid and the possibility (or certainty) of having another big baby that needed to be monitored. At my July 23rd appointment, my midwife began talking to me about scheduling an induction for early August, as I was showing absolutely no signs of going into labor on or before my due date of July 26th. So we went about our day as though we had another week or two as a family of three! Taylor's parents had come into town the Saturday before to help with Carter and be in town for Caroline's birth, but since I had been gone most of the morning at doctor's appointments, I gave them the afternoon off and took my little buddy out on what would end up being our last outing as the a twosome!
We went to Publix for a couple of things, and so he could drive the green race care shopping cart and get a free cookie...and then snuck over to Sweet CeCe's for ice cream (the advantage of having a preganant mom!!). We came home and played hide and seek and tag outside....where I definitely overdid it in the late summer heat! But then that night I decided to do bath/bedtime by myself since Taylor was out running errands, and his sweet parents had been working so hard, and I'm so glad I did!
He fell asleep at around 7:30, and soon after, Caroline decided it was time to start heading this way!
Gigi, GP, Taylor, and I were sitting in our living room, watching episodes of Chopped (a cooking show we love)...and at around 9:00, I started timing what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions on an iPhone app I had downloaded. And I clearly was not believing they were real- as documented in my contraction log below- because I didn't call the doctor until after 11:00 pm! (Toward the end of the log, I stopped tracking all the contractions because we were running around getting ready to leave for the hospital!)
| StartTime | EndTime | Duration
(mm:ss) | Freq.
(mm:ss) | Intensity |
|---|
Jul 23, 2013
8:59 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:01 PM | 01:38 | 00:00 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:02 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:03 PM | 01:13 | 02:34 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:04 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:05 PM | 01:30 | 02:01 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:06 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:07 PM | 01:18 | 02:01 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:09 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:11 PM | 01:45 | 03:00 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:11 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:13 PM | 01:21 | 02:21 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:14 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:15 PM | 01:00 | 02:35 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:15 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:17 PM | 02:05 | 01:25 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:19 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:20 PM | 01:07 | 03:55 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:23 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:24 PM | 01:10 | 03:40 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:25 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:26 PM | 01:16 | 01:48 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:28 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:30 PM | 02:19 | 02:52 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:31 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:32 PM | 01:10 | 03:11 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:33 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:34 PM | 00:37 | 02:19 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:34 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:34 PM | 00:47 | 00:38 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:35 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:36 PM | 01:07 | 01:16 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:36 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:37 PM | 00:49 | 01:32 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:38 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:39 PM | 00:57 | 01:55 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:42 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:43 PM | 00:59 | 03:11 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:44 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:45 PM | 00:45 | 02:33 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:46 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:47 PM | 00:48 | 01:46 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:49 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:50 PM | 01:09 | 03:01 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:51 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:52 PM | 00:56 | 02:04 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:53 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:55 PM | 01:12 | 02:24 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:56 PM | Jul 23, 2013
9:57 PM | 01:14 | 02:16 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
9:58 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:00 PM | 01:57 | 02:07 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:01 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:02 PM | 01:18 | 02:49 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:03 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:04 PM | 00:56 | 02:09 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:04 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:05 PM | 01:05 | 01:29 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:07 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:08 PM | 01:45 | 02:11 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:08 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:10 PM | 01:15 | 01:48 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:11 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:12 PM | 01:07 | 02:29 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:13 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:14 PM | 01:06 | 02:28 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:16 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:17 PM | 01:15 | 02:28 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:19 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:20 PM | 00:58 | 02:47 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:22 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:24 PM | 02:05 | 03:06 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:26 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:27 PM | 01:25 | 04:24 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:30 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:31 PM | 01:29 | 03:35 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:32 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:34 PM | 01:43 | 02:45 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:36 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:37 PM | 01:30 | 03:20 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:41 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:42 PM | 01:11 | 05:16 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:44 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:45 PM | 01:17 | 03:04 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:46 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:47 PM | 00:58 | 02:11 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:48 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:49 PM | 01:05 | 01:46 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:50 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:51 PM | 00:59 | 01:59 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:52 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:53 PM | 01:12 | 01:51 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:55 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:56 PM | 01:36 | 02:45 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
10:57 PM | Jul 23, 2013
10:59 PM | 01:47 | 02:07 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:00 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:00 PM | 00:00 | 03:07 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:00 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:01 PM | 00:53 | 00:02 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:05 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:06 PM | 01:00 | 05:10 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:07 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:08 PM | 00:45 | 01:55 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:09 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:09 PM | 00:19 | 01:51 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:11 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:12 PM | 01:14 | 02:09 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:17 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:18 PM | 01:00 | 06:08 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:22 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:22 PM | 00:00 | 05:04 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:24 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:25 PM | 00:58 | 01:15 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:25 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:26 PM | 00:45 | 01:51 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:42 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:43 PM | 01:00 | 16:31 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:47 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:48 PM | 01:00 | 04:55 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:52 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:53 PM | 01:01 | 05:02 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:53 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:55 PM | 01:26 | 01:32 | - |
|
Jul 23, 2013
11:55 PM | Jul 23, 2013
11:56 PM | 00:53 | 01:39 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:15 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:16 AM | 00:54 | 19:31 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:16 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:17 AM | 00:39 | 01:43 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:18 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:18 AM | 00:44 | 01:14 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:21 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:23 AM | 01:22 | 03:33 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:24 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:24 AM | 00:39 | 02:29 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:26 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:27 AM | 00:51 | 02:06 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:28 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:28 AM | 00:24 | 01:54 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:31 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:32 AM | 00:58 | 03:07 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
12:36 AM | Jul 24, 2013
12:37 AM | 00:54 | 05:26 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
1:06 AM | Jul 24, 2013
1:07 AM | 01:11 | 29:40 | - |
|
Jul 24, 2013
1:09 AM | Jul 24, 2013
1:10 AM | 00:41 | 03:26 | - |
At around 10 or so, I whispered to Taylor that he probably shouldn't have another glass of wine, just in case... but I didn't want to alarm his parents, so I made him promise not to react! He got all excited...but I told him it was probably a false alarm and not to worry. As we got ready for bed, Taylor assured me that it wasn't really happening if I was able to sleep through the contractions. And I told him I was exhausted and would definitely sleep through what was sure to be false labor. As he started snoring at my side, I was 100% awake, and the tightening in my belly that had been noticeable but very manageable was quickly becoming quite painful. I got up, walked around the house, tried to distract myself, and finally called the doctor... who urged me to get to the hospital as soon as possible just to be safe. I woke my sweet husband up, and he hopped out of bed so excited to put our hospital plan into action. We arrived at Vanderbilt's ER at around 1:30 am, and at that point, I was doubled over in pain with each contraction, and apologizing to the nurses between each one.
When they got me all hooked up to IV and contraction monitors a bit after 2:00 am, the triage nurses started scurrying around saying that I was having intense contractions, very close together, and was already 3-4 cm dilated (which, after showing no signs of impending labor at my doctor's appointment earlier that same day, had them worried it was progressing pretty quickly).
They sent me to a room and said the anesthesiologist would be in shortly with the epidural (yay!). However, it was a busy day for babies, and there were a number of emergency C-sections going on, so 2 hours went by with my contractions 1-2 minutes apart... and I was quickly unraveling by the time they sent this sweet young doctor in to start the epidural.
Once the meds kicked in though, all was well, and Taylor, my mom, and I started chatting and getting ready for a long night ahead. The doctor came in to check me, said it was almost time to push... and literally 3 pushes later, I had a crying baby girl on my chest! So absolutely surreal!
The next couple days were full of quiet snuggles and visitors, and thankfully, lots of healthy reports on our girl. And we headed home 2 days later to be met by THE most enthusiastic big brother. More on that in later posts! Welcome to our family, sweet girl. We could not possibly love you more!!!
