Kaytlin tried coming on her due date, in fact, labor did start then, but she ended up being a little late... fashionably late. For the 4-5 days leading up to the 27th I kept on having false labor. Everyone kept saying, you will know when it is actually "labor" but to be honest, my false labor (even looking back now) was so intense that anyone of them could had been the real thing, had my contractions continued. Anyway, on the 26th I started the false labor pains around 2 p.m. that day (luckily Jeremy was home and there to help me out), I took a hot bath and it seemed to subside a little bit, so I laid down and took a nap for about 2 hours, however, I kept having the contractions about every 20-30 minutes. Around 5 my dad left our house to pick my sister, Ashley and Michael (my brother -in-law) up from the airport and Jeremy and I went to have Mexican food with the Hall's, his grandparents and aunt and uncle that had just arrived for Thanksgiving the next day. During dinner, I could tell the contractions were becoming more intense and within the time we were eating I had several, plus I just started to not feel well. We all left and Ashley, Michael and my dad met us back at our house after they were done with dinner. Jeremy, Ash, Michael and I stayed up chatting for a while and then around 10/10:30 we all decided to head to bed. At this point I was still having contractions just not that close together. Around 11, I was laying in bed and I told Jeremy I was almost positive I was in labor but I also said, because I have been told "you will know" I was not sure, because it was so similar to my false labor pains before, just now, I was timing the contractions and they were about 11 minutes apart. Jeremy told me to try and get some sleep, but I assured him there was no way I could sleep through these pains, so I told him to get sleep and I would wake him if/when I needed him. I laid in bed, and by 1 a.m. the contractions were about eight and a half minutes apart. I got up to go to the restroom (I had been drinking lots of water, I was really thirsty) and when I was in the restroom, I realized I could not walk without my contractions coming REALLY close together, so I called for Jeremy and he helped me back to bed. He did not even question if I was in labor, he knew right away. My brother (who is an OB) had given us a lot of advice, so Jeremy and I were trying to follow that as closely as possible and trying to stay home as long as possible. Jeremy was trying to get me up to walk around (because my brother told us that is the best thing to do, because it helps for you to dilate)... however, every time I would get up, my contractions would go from 8 or so minutes apart to about 2 minutes apart. Jeremy called the hospital and they told us to have me lay down and just try and stay as comfortable as possible, so that is what we did for an hour or two. Then around 3, Jeremy convinced me to walk for 15 minutes then lay down for 15 minutes to make sure I was dilating.. so I agreed, but before we got through the first 15 minutes of me laying down, my contractions went from about 6 minutes apart at that time to four and a half minutes apart. Then to four minutes apart then to three and half minutes apart all within about fifteen minutes. At this point, Jeremy loaded the car, my sister ran into our room to check on me and Jeremy helped me to the car. I wanted to walk and at this point when I walked the contractions were about 1 minute apart. I laid my seat back in the car and we were off to the hospital around 4 a.m. I had several contractions to the hospital, Jeremy ran and got me a wheelchair, the nurses rushed me up to the room, and at this point with me laying down the contractions were about two and half minutes apart. They hooked all the monitors up to monitor Kaytlin and I and all seemed good. They checked me and I was 5-6 centimeters dilated and asked me if I wanted some medicine for the pain while I waited for epidural (they had to take blood and sent it to the lab to make sure I could get an epidural)... I declined the pain medication because they said it would make me and Kaytlin tired and I was too scared it would slow things down... so for the next 2 hours Jeremy coached me through the contractions and then around 7 a.m. was able to get the epidural... and wow, that was amazing! I was able to sleep a little bit (about an hour and a half) and around 9 the doctor came him checked me told me I was 9 centimeters dilated and that she would be back in an hour for me to start pushing. For the next hour, the nurses got the room ready, I rested, Jeremy texted family to tell them to get to the hospital, and the doctor came back in just before ten and told me I was 10 centimeters dilated and that I could start pushing. She left and the labor nurse, and Jeremy then coached me through the next 45 minutes, until you could see about a quarter size of Kaytlin's head, the doctor then came in and at 10:52 (so 52 minutes of pushing) Miss Kaytlin Elizabeth was born. I have to say it was the most amazing and incredible experience I have ever had. Yes, the contractions were painful but that is why it is called "labor". It is not meant to be easy, but I have to say, it was incredible.. amazing... unbelievable... perfect... inspiring... something I would not think twice about doing again! I wish I could truly describe or have words to tell you how amazing the experience was, but really there are no words to describe. Jeremy and I were both just awe-struck... Anyway, our Thanksgivings will forever be changed. Even though her birthday will not always fall on Thanksgiving we will always have something a little extra to be Thankful for! Our precious baby girl. We love and adore her, more and more every day (and each day we wonder how that is possible because we feel like there is no way we could love her any more. It truly gives you a new perspective on how God loves us... OK, I could go on and on, but I am sure you are tired of reading this by now.. I will post pictures soon!
