Audrey's Arrival

As many people know, we were somewhat nervous about the birthing experience we would experience here in Holland. Luckily it turned out to be a very positive one and we are grateful that all went as well as it did.

Wednesday night I didn't get much sleep. I believe I finally fell asleep around 2 am and slept until about 5 am. Finally around 6 am I just got up because the contractions were coming more frequently. They still weren't 5 minutes apart, so I figured we'd just keep on waiting. Well, by 8:30 am I decided to call the midwife. Within 20 minutes she arrived at our home. It was determined that we needed to head to the hospital. The midwife got on her cell phone to call the hospital. I called my friend Merry Ann to come pick Rachel up. We were a bit nervous because the midwife stated that I might be too far dilated for an epidural. So, we wanted to get to the hospital as soon as possible!

The Amstelveen hospital didn't have any room, so she called the Amsterdam hospital. Luckily they had room and it's only a 15 minute drive away. The midwife informed them we were on our way. Merry Ann was at our house within 10 minutes and Rachel was more than happy to go with her. So, off we drove to the hospital. By 9:30, we were checked into the hospital room. Around 10 am the midwife broke my water and then a doctor came in to determine whether or not I could have an epidural. All looked well and he gave us the go ahead. They gave me an IV and hooked up tons of other stuff to me and the baby. They paged the anesthesiologist.

By 10:30 am my contractions were really uncomfortable. After each one I just kept on thinking, this is the last one and then I'll have the epidural. Well, that whole process didn't occur until around noon. I guess there's only one anesthesiologist for the whole hospital. Needless to say once he walked in the room I was relieved. After being poked 4 times it was a success. They kept on asking me if it was like this with Rachel. And I kept on telling them that it had only taken one poke with her. So, he'd poke me, it wouldn't work, I'd have a contraction and think this is the last one, and then he'd get ready for another one, and then another contraction would come, etc... But by 12:30 I was feeling great! The magic of epidurals! :)

Once the epidural took effect the midwife left. I was officially in the care of the doctor now. It was kind of weird having somebody I just barely met be the one to help with the delivery. But I guess that is just how they do things here.

Two hours later I started actually feeling some contractions. We paged the nurse and I informed her that it felt like it was time for Audrey to arrive. She paged the doctor and he showed up about 15 minutes later. I was getting a bit anxious, but it worked out. He then informed me that in fact it was time to start pushing. Thanks captain obvious! :) I will have to say that I am grateful I had an epidural. I definitely felt a lot more this time around than with Rachel, so it would have been quite interesting without one. I don't think the epidurals are as strong over here in Holland. :)

After about 30 minutes of pushing Audrey arrived. She came out screaming and that was a great sound to hear! They weighed Audrey, but they didn't measure her. They don't measure babies here because they don't want to hurt their hips. She didn't get a bath after she was born, but they wiped her off pretty good.

Now here's the amazing part to me. Thirty minutes after giving birth the doctor informed me that I was free and clear to go home that night. What??? Go home already? Well, we were still planning on me staying the night. However, by 5 pm the nurse sent me to the shower. While I was in the shower she informed Andy that there was no room for me in the hospital and there was no medical reason for me to stay. So, by 7:30 pm I was wheeled out to our car and sent home. We officially spent 10 hours in the hospital. Crazy I know, but luckily everything worked out.

Andy took us home and then he went to pick up Rachel. By 8:30 pm we were spending time together for the first time as a family of 4. Rachel was pretty curious about her new little sister. She had enjoyed the day with her friend Sophia and we hadn't worried about her a bit.

We feel so blessed to have Audrey a part of our family!