Lois Nalani Krueger: The Birth Story

On January 13th I woke up at 4:30a.m. after a rather restless night. It didn't take too long to figure out that all that restlessness was actually contractions. I popped in the shower and they didn't go away, so at around 5:00 I started timing them. They were coming at about 4-6 minutes apart. I didn't really know how consistent "real" contractions were supposed to be...I mean, do they come at exactly 4 minutes apart? Or does it count that they're between 4-6 minutes? I had no idea. But they were hurting and eventually started to get more intense and closer together. Of course, we hadn't packed, so David was busy packing, I was busy hurting, and at around 7:15ish I told David we needed to get the hospital asap.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:15. (We'd passed another hospital along the way and every bit of me wished that we were delivering there.) I'd kinda already decided that my decision to go all natural was crazy...gimme the drugs, baby. But when we checked in, who was at the desk? The same nurse who was our Lamaze instructor, Kirsten. Part of me thought it was great to see a familiar face. But my pride was kicking in too, and I thought, "Awe, crap. Now I have to go natural. She can't know that I'm such a wimp."

Kirsten suggested that I have an IV of a drug that "takes the edge off," so I decided to hold off on the epidural and go with that first. Meanwhile, I was already dilated to an 8. The IV helped me to rest between contractions...and feel sleepy and fuzzy around the edges. About half an hour or so later I was still at an 8, so they broke my water.

And then it just happened. At 9:44, Lois was here. All 6lbs14oz and 19.5 inches of her.

 Ok, I say it just happened. But I mean, this is the delivery of a baby I'm talking about. If you noticed, I didn't mention that epidural thing. Yeah, it didn't happen. And that "take the edge off" drug...I don't know what edge it possibly took off, because I think I felt every bit of edge that delivering a baby had to offer. I wanted that epidural, I really did. There were two things that got me through it. David is number one. And all we learned in the Lamaze class. I couldn't have done it otherwise.

Lois was incredibly alert as soon as she arrived. She had her little eyes open and was looking around. And all her hair! She took after me in that regard; I had tons of hair when I was born too. We thought at first that it could be reddish, because the edges around her ears looked strawberry blonde. But she's definitely got dark hair. Maybe she'll end up a little auburn, but for now she's got my dark brown. :)