Little Miss Caroline. Born July 28th. Willie and I were getting a bit nervous as to when she would arrive. We had so many things on our plate that we thought it would be nice if she came early. I tried getting our deep cleaning done in the apartment and getting items in the correct rooms for when our packers would be coming for our move. Anyway we have been busy. I will tell, hopefully, a quick version of Carolines birth. As a heads up if you don't like too much detail then just look at the pictures. It was a Saturday, the Dr. had said I was dilated to a 4 the previous Tuesday. I had also had the membranes stripped that day, hoping it would help her come early. That was about a week before her due date of July 30. When Henry was born he had really stopped moving around about 2-3 days before he came so I was thinking she would do the same. She did stop moving around more but not as much as Henry had done. I kept thinking that it would be Sunday night, but even then I wasn't sure. I knew I wouldn't get much time with the kids after Caroline was born so I asked who wanted to go to the pool with me. Lincoln and Henry we all up for going to the pool. We packed up a few toys and walked over to our pool at the apartment complex. Willie and Parker joined us after deciding they couldn't miss out on all the fun. I had planned not to get in the pool because I was dilated. I would only jump in if there was an emergency. It was nice to have Willie come in the end, he had fun swimming with the boys.
After the nice warm day we went back home. Willie had planned later that night to go with John to see 'The Dark Knight.' I thought that was fine, it would be perhaps the last time he and John would get hang out time together. My plan was to watch the movie 'Courageous' from the Red Box. Willie had seen it on the airplane once and I heard it was a good one. My only deal with Willie was that he had to put the kids to bed before he left and that he would be on call in case I went into labor. Willie's mom had called a few minutes before he was going to leave and about the same time I was using the bathroom. Now over the last few days when I used the bathroom I would get a contraction but it wasn't bad and it would only be one. John came and Willie left, while talking to his mom. I didn't get to tell him that the contraction I had felt 'real.' I put my movie in and felt another contraction. What convenient timing right? I didn't want to interrupt Willie's time out but I thought perhaps we could go to the hospital after the movie. After another contraction I knew going to the hospital after the movie was not going to happen. My phone wasn't close by and I thought I would try to time the contractions. I braved up and ran to get my phone and a paper, I only had time for the phone. Contractions were about six minutes apart. I tried to call Willie before the movie would start so he wouldn't have to pay. After not getting a hold of him I called Lindy to have her text John. Her prediction was that this baby would be born before 10:30. She hung up quick and by this point it was about 8:30. After a couple of other contractions I thought I had to use the bathroom again and I was getting really hot so I ran to the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet and my water broke! I couldn't believe it had broken. I have always had to have my water broken for me. This was around 8:45 and I was dying. I was sure of it. I turned on the tub for some cold water and jumped in, well more like crawled into the tub. I kept telling Willie he had better get home now because this baby was ready to come. By 8:55 he was home.
A wonderful blessing in all of this was that Willie was with John and we had a ready babysitter for the boys. Willie grabbed the bag and my purse and we said goodbye to John. He helped me slowly get the 10 feet to the stairs. More contractions. I literally crawled up the stairs to the hallway. Willie offered to run and get the car while I hobbled along. Good thinking. I heard the wheels come to a screech and he was back by my side. I ran through our little tunnel to get to the van. I asked Willie for the towel I had brought because I kept leaking and I didn't want a big mess in the van.
Driving down Ashford Dunwoody Road had never been so fast. The speed limit is 40 and most people drive it at 30 or 35 because of all the lights. Willie was going 60! We came up to our turn on Hammond Drive and a pizza delivery car was blocking our way. One car! Willie laid on the horn and the guy decided he needed to turn too, and slowly. After our turn we both came up to a red light and I rolled the window down to apologize for honking but that I was in labor. No other congestion which was nice. We quickly went over the speed bumps at the hospital and I was screaming. Willie had never heard me do such a thing. He opened the door for me to get out and said he would go get me a wheelchair. Two ladies walking by saw me and my state and asked if they should get a nurse. Willie and I replied YES!. At this point I really felt like this baby was coming out in our car. Luckily we did make it inside where they rushed me into a room. No admittance when you are ready to deliver; at least not until the baby is born. What I thought was the nurse kept telling me not to bear down in the wheelchair because she didn't want to deliver me right there. In one quick reaction I pulled my pants off and jumped in the bed. They put the straps around my belly. I wanted the camera but Willie hadn't grabbed it. oops. I closed my eyes and kept screaming. Then someone said don't scream just push. Wow what a difference! After about three or four pushes we had a baby girl. The nurse said it had been about three minutes from the time they put the straps around me. Caroline was born at 9:23. She was 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 1/2 " long. Willie cut the cord and I held this beautiful little girl. Turns out I had a midwife deliver me and she had been on call. My Dr. came in about 10-15 minutes later. So without further adieu here is our little Caroline.
