Lenny's Birth Story

Much to our surprise, you came two weeks and one day early. We thought we had plenty of time… especially because everyone says the first baby comes late. Here is your birth story:

On Tuesday night (April 12^th), Tim was at a work event, and he was planning to spend the night in Chicago. I decided to stay home because I was worried I wouldn’t sleep well in a hotel (thank goodness I decided that). At 12:45 Central Time, I woke up thinking that my water had broke… I was pretty sure that’s what was going on, but I googled it just to make sure because I wasn’t having any contractions yet. After I decided that was indeed what happened, I called Tim to let him know what was going on. At this point, I was very stressed because there were no trains running to get Tim back home to me, and I was alone. I called the Hospital to ask them what I should do, and they said I should come in. So I packed up some stuff, and left. I called Tim and he said he would take a cab from Chicago to Chesterton. At first I told him not to because I wasn’t sure you were actually coming… but he said he was definitely coming back and would get the rest of the hospital stuff at the apartment before setting out for the Hospital. I got in the car and started the one hour drive to Mishawaka. It helped to listen to my book on tape (The Help), while I drove to take my mind off of the contractions and the fact that I was driving myself to the hospital while in labor and it would be awhile before my husband arrived. 

Once I got to the Hospital and got all checked in, they put me in a triage room… I still wasn’t sure what was going on and if you were actually coming… but I waited for the doctor and tracked Tim on Find My Friends. He wasn’t as far along as I thought he would be, but that’s because he got pulled over for speeding and the police officer ran his plates. Luckily he didn’t get a ticket, but he did get a warning. The doctor arrived and checked to see how dilated I was… I could hardly believe it when he said four centimeters… I asked him if he thought you were coming today and he said yes… that’s when reality really set in, and I got even more excited to meet you! Tim arrived right after the doctor finished checking me -  around 5AM Eastern time. Because I was already so dilated, they moved me into a labor room. My contractions started getting closer together and more intense… it was at this point that I couldn’t hide the fact that things were painful, and I sort of went into a whole different world, just focused on breathing and getting through each contraction. After being in the labor room for just a little bit, the nurses thought we better check how dilated I was again because things were moving so quickly. I was already 8-9 cm dilated! I spent just a few more minutes having contractions and trying to breathe through them when they said I was 9.5 cm dilated… only a little bit more time, and I could start to push. Dr. Parker arrived right when I was 10 cm dilated, and I started pushing. About twenty minutes later, you arrived safe, sound, and so loved! The nurses gave you to me right away and we just lay there skin-to-skin for about an hour. It was a beautiful, exhausting, amazing experience.