I can’t believe it has already been a whole week with you 

Marc had his dental boards in Goodyear on  the 21st so we were really hoping you weren’t coming on Wednesday. (The boards is an 8 hour test and Goodyear is 45-60 minutes away depending on trafic). And gratefully,  there was no baby on Wednesday.

So Thursday came, and I went to work as usual. No contrsctions. Nothing. Marc spent the day with Ruby and by dinner time nothing had changed to we decided to go to dinner and then we would go walk the aisles of Costco and pick up a few things. Because Costco has air conditioning and it’s 115 degrees outside. And if no progress was made on the baby front my mom and I would go walk Chandler Mall while Marc went home to put Ruby to bed.

Cafe Rio for dinner is always a good idea. Mmm… sweet pork salad. On the way to Costco after dinner, around 6:15pm, I started having mild contractions in the car I timed them using an app on my phone. They were pretty consistent and continued to be so while we walked all the aisles and picked up samples along the way. The creamy Mexican popsicles were a a hit with Ruby and she would “more” every three seconds for another lick.

My contractions were about every two and half mintes for 30 seconds but not terribly painful, but we decicded it would be best to just put Ruby down at my Mom’s incase baby #2 was a go. We were just chit chatting in the kitchen and about 7:20pm when I felt a “pop” and then wet. And I just went to the bathroom so I didn’t pee my pants. I said, “Um, I think my water broke guys” and we got a towel, the hospital bag, I squeezed Ruby and told her I loved her a dozen times and we were off. We told my mom we will call her if we are admitted and give her an update for her to come to the hospital.
My contractions were definetly getting more intense and I could feel the turns and bumps on the road. But I remembered the horrible pain of labor with Ruby and I definetly was not at that point. So I am still tracking my contractions on my phone, more as a distraction at this point. And after I track each contraction I have to rate it from very mild, mild, medium, strong, very strong. And I’m now rating as strong but a few as medium.

When I am in pain I don’t go to the freak out mode that some women do like you see on the movies where they are screaming and demanding a room and pain killers, I stay really calm and cordial. Which is almost a problem because then the hospital staff dismiss me a little. However, we were quickly admitted to triage when I said the magic words, “my water broke”. The nurse nicely asked me to change into my gown. At this point my contrsctions were definitely rating “very strong” and “strong”, I calmly told marc while in the bathroom, “um I may pass out.”

The nurse came back in to check me, “oh. You are at a NINE and there is almost nothing left of your cervic.” Me- “Marc, call my mom and tell her.” The nurses jump into Go Go Power Rangers mode- trying to fit me for an IV, calling my doctor, setting up a make shift delivery room because this baby is coming. The pain is pretty real now but as long as I can have Marc right next to me and squeeze his hand I’m okay.

Im quickly rolled down the hall and nurses are running all over, prepping my bed for delivery, Dr. Beck arrives with a warm smile and quickly slips on his delivery garb, and tells me to let him know when I have my next contraction. Five seconds later, me- “I’m having a contraction.” Then I pushed through the contraction, Hazel started crying, and Dr. Beck placed her on my chest at 8:02 pm.

She is 6 pounds 12 ounces of straight from Heaven.

Two minutes later mom and Jo arrived. Hazel just came too quickly for them to make it for the official arrival, they made it to our delivery room right when she started crying.

It turns out June 22nd is a very popular day for birthdays for people we love: my Great Grandpa Clifford Dahl, my cousin Dallin Adams, Marc’s niece Emma, and my best friend Caitlin. I’m so glad Hazel gets to share her big day with so many fabulous people.