I can't believe Gabby is 4 years old. The time has flown by watching her grow. I thought I'd share her birth story in celebration of her birthday. She may be my only one and I'm glad her birth was such a special and memorable experience.
On September 1, 2004, I was finishing up my last day of work before my maternity leave began. I was scheduled to go in for an induction starting the night of September 2. I was so ready to have my little girl and was over being pregnant. Around 4 that afternoon, my back started hurting. I didn't think much of it, finished the day and went home. I started doing laundry and needed to do some serious cleaning to get ready for Gabby. I had planned on spending all day Thursday doing that.
The back pain turned into something more. I called my sister Pam who'd had her 1st 8 months earlier to see how her labor started. She thought it sounded like labor and I called my mom to confirm. Mom and Pam came over and helped me time the contractions. I was still trying to get things done, but soon had to stop as the contractions were getting so close together and very painful. Nick left to go play basketball up at the church while Mom and Pam stayed with me. At about 11, we thought it may be time to go to the hospital. I called for Nick to come home and we went into the hospital at around midnight.
Unfortunately, I was maybe at 1 cm and they sent me back home claiming I would be more comfortable there as I could eat at home. I threw up more during labor than I did my whole pregnancy and food was the last thing I wanted. We went home, Nick went to bed, and I spent an agonizing and lonely night of excruciating pain. At 7 am, I woke Nick up and said I thought it was time to go back to the hospital.
I get checked out and was already at 8 cm. The first thing I asked for was my epidural. They got going on that and it was pure bliss. My family started arriving. It was seriously a big party in my room. My parents, all 5 siblings and 3 spouses were in and out all day. Nick was a medical student so a lot of his friends were in and out as well. By 10 am they said I was ready to start pushing but all the doctors were busy then delivering other babies. I didn't care since I had my epi. I remember watching the RNC convention that was going on and taking a nap. I had 2 nurses who were great. One was new and "training" on me. At 2pm I finally started pushing.
I had it in my head that I would push for around an hour. That seemed to be the longest I'd heard about from my friends. I start pushing with every contraction. I have Nick and my mom by me. My dad and sisters were still in there. Dad was under strict instructions to stay behind me. An hour goes by, 2 hours go by and I am still pushing. Theres's a reason they call it labor and pushing. It is absolutely exhausting and one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
The new nurse was very perky and cheerful. She kept telling me how great I was doing after every single push. After 2 hours I decided she was a liar since I was still pushing. My epidural had come unhooked and the pain was intense. I remember begging the nurse to tell me what I needed to do and being absolutely certain she had it out for me and was keeping some great secret from me. Both nurses insisted I was pushing great and even showed me the little printout as proof that I really couldn't push any harder or better. I yelled at my mom and made her cry at one point. I still remember the terrified looks Marji and Jenny had. Marji was pregnant and Jenny was a newlywed. I'm sure they were having 2nd thoughts about giving birth at that point. The doctor was saying that Gabby was almost out and I knew she had blond hair. I pushed for another hour and just couldn't get her out. They called in the attending doctor (the chief resident had been with me to that point) and they decided to use the forceps.
They hooked my epidural back up and juiced me up really nicely. I remember just wanting to go to sleep, they could have done absolutely anything to me. I was too exhausted to care at that point. Dr. Kay got the forceps on her head, I pushed twice and Gabriella Ann was born at 6:03 pm weighing 7lbs 1oz and 21 inches long. She didn't cry right away and it seemed like the longest minute waiting to hear her sweet voice. They checked her out and brought her to me. Her eyes were wide open and seemed so enormous. She just seemed to be taking every thing in. What a miracle she was! She was this completely unique soul and I fell in love with her right away. She was worth every agonizing moment leading up to her birth.
My whole family soon was back in the room marveling at this precious little soul entrusted to my care. She was more beautiful and perfect than I had imagined her. It's amazing how everything else faded into the background as I set to getting to know Gabby. My exhaustion left me in the thrill of actually holding my baby. She still seems like such a little miracle of a person. I love her personality and every different quality that makes her Gabby. She is truly the joy of my life and I thank God for allowing me to be her mother.
Me absolutely loving the epidural with Jenny, David, and Marji
Me and my angel. I looked like I'd been in a fight after that delivery. My face and eyes were so swollen and a blood vessel had burst in my eye. Surprisingly enough, I felt fine afterwards and recovered quickly.
We couldn't believe how well the kids were getting along when we first got there. They sat and played a computer game without any fights. They took turns and were so nice. Yeah, so that lasted about 2 hours. The novelty wore off and we spent the next 24 hours refereeing their disputes.
Our cousin Marcie joined us. That's her son Blake playing play-dough with the kids. 
Kaylee
Gabby is sound asleep in this picture. I was asleep as well when it was taken by Pam. She thought it was hysterical that Gabby's eyes were so open. Madison kept talking to Gabby thinking she was awake. I think people who sleep with one or both eyes open are extraordinary myself.
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