Arianna's Birth

This is a birth story from the perspective of an adoptive parent. Still, it will have words like dilated and effaced, if that bothers you, read the next post.

Lindsey's mom called us on Wed. December 21st to tell us that Lindsey had fallen down the stairs. She was alright, but had some regular contractions. She said they would watch it and let us know if anything happened. Later that night they went to the hospital but Lindsey was only dilated to a 1 so they sent her home. She went to the doctor later that day and she said everything was fine and she didn't expect the baby until January.

(This was taken the morning before she went into labor)

Even after hearing the baby wasn't expected soon, the incident kind of gave me the "push" I needed to get everything ready. My sister-in-law came over Thursday afternoon and helped me to get the nursery organized and ready. Then Friday I concentrated on the house. I cleaned, organized, did laundry, and packed our luggage...I also went to the store and bought last minute items: onesies and snacks for the trip. Ben made a fabulous dinner while I finished things up around the house. After we did the dishes, so everything was clean, we decided to run some errands. I remember thinking that I must be crazy; the house didn't need to be that clean; it would just get messed up tomorrow, and the baby wasn't coming for weeks! But I felt ready, so it was worth it...Well I am so glad I did.
We were about finished with our errands when we drove past Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. The 'Hot Now' sign was on so we decided to stop and get a doughnut. Literally as the worker was handing us doughnuts, Lindsey's mom called to say her water broke...I think the doughnut is still in the car...I couldn't eat or think after that. We rushed home and got the car packed and were on the road in 15 minutes. (It was a good thing I had our bags packed and snacks already...)
The drive to St. Joesph normally takes about 4 hours. Ben and I decided that speeding was acceptable and we would pay whatever tickets we got...We started calling family and friends letting them know that Arianna was on her way.
At the same time Lindsey's mom was texting me updates on her progress. They checked into the hospital and Lindsey was dilated to a 4 at 8:39pm. Then at 9:02pm I got the text that Lindsey was at a 9 and pushing. Then we got this text at 9:17pm "7lbs 4oz 20 1/2 inches long." Arianna really wanted to get into this world! Lindsey's labor was about an hour and 45 minutes!

We made it to the hospital around 11:30 and got to hold our beautiful daughter.
Lindsey's mom keeps a blog and if you would like to read their version of the story you can read it here.