The Adventures of the Johnson Clan: ~Adeline's Arrival! 11/2/17~

The Lord truly inspires....
Adeline's room had been covered in boxes and was a complete wreck until I had a dream one night that we needed to get it done, along with a few other things on our to do list. The very next morning we set out to Target and Hobby lobby, and by the end of the night we had a beautiful room to welcome Sister home into. The next day nesting hit full swing and I got the house cleaned from top to bottom, closets organized, groceries shopped, and other odds and ends accomplished within 48hrs of my prompting.
That very next late night/ early morning, as Travis ended his night shifts and prepared to transition to back to day shifts, my body began preparing for its own transition. At 2:30am Thurs the 2nd, I woke up with contractions; by 4:40am they were every 5-7mins apart, but I was determined not to wake Travis up, and that I wanted to get Maddix to school, so I hopped up to take a shower at which point the contractions slowed and became pretty irregular.
After dropping Maddix to school we went home to watch a morning of cartoons since I was tired and not feeling well, but Travis messaged that he'd forgotten his pager and badge and asked if we could bring it. As he saw me wince through a contraction as we were grabbing Aaron a treat from the hospital cafeteria he decided he wanted me to take Aaron to a friends and come back to be checked.
I was originally checked by a nurse and brand new intern who both felt like I was completely closed, but Travis was not happy with that diagnosis and called over to my Doctor, who happened to be having his call day (which meant if I was in labor he'd get to deliver me!). I was ordered to walk the halls for an hour and then he would personally come check me.
Walking the short hallway alone was super boring, so I began messaging my sister-in-law, who suggested lunging the halls or sneaking off to a stairwell, so I did. I ran stairs for 25 mins, found a private bathroom where I did lunges, squat jumps, and a silly "labor dance" that Trav had jokingly shared with me, then it was back to my room to let the contractions do their thing. By the time Dr. Thorn came he found I was dilated to a 4 and 60% effaced; Ha! And then I was scolded for doing stairs; I'd been caught by Travis and the nurses.
I had to do 4hrs of i.v. antibiotics before they could break my water, so at 6pm Dr. Thorn came in with my "support team," Travis was there at this point, and we got the ball rolling. Once my water broke... it BROKE! Travis said there was close to 3 gallons of fluid that just kept coming. It was quickly after this that the real contractions began:
Time for the epidural. The lady was terrible! She had to stick me so many times that Travis excused himself from the room because it was frustrating him. Not only did she repeatedly poke me, but I had to have an extra i.v. in my other arm so they could pump extra fluid into my body in case my blood pressure tanked again from the epidural. The nurse and trainee couldn't find my vain and said I had "tough skin" they repeatedly poked me as well. They administered the epidural slowly as a precaution to my past experiences and I don't feel like it fully worked all the way. I could always lift my left leg...
Numbed up and completely effaced, I felt it was time to start pushing. I had one nurse holding my leg, Travis holding the other, another nurse counting, Dr. Renfer was helping the baby down, and Dr. Thorn was even there the whole hour and a half I pushed.... So much for hoping she'd be out in 3 pushes like Mr. Aaron! Her head was up and back, with her chin to the sky... and my stupid tailbone was once again in the way!! With every contraction I pushed I was able to stay positive and keep joking, but once we heard that "crack" of my tailbone break and the pain set in, I seriously didn't know that I was going to be able to finish. Remember how I said I didn't feel like the epidural worked all the way? I think I felt too much of the pain from the tailbone break for it to have been done fully (not to mention I could get up and hobble right after she was born, with no numbness in my legs).
The hardest part was as she was coming I'd get stuck in between a contraction and she was just sitting there on my broken tailbone and I was so close to passing out that I just didn't know that I could keep pushing. But I did. And she came.
At 10:52pm my sweet baby girl was pushed free and placed on my chest and it wasn't until that moment that I really felt like I had a baby that was all mine.

I enjoyed my stay, all the nurses were so nice, the staff took such good care of us, and because everyone there LOVES Travis, we were given special treatment (like ignoring the hospital's new "baby friendly" rules in order to let me sleep! Ask me, I'll tell you how much I despise these new regulations hospitals are moving towards).
The first night Travis stayed with Adeline and I, sleeping/not sleeping on the little couch. In the morning he showered, walked out our room door, walked across the hall and was literally at work; shortest commute ever ;) ha ha. That next night he went home after work, brought the boys back, and then passed out on the little couch while the boys met their sister and watched cartoons all snuggled on my bed. And after a month of giving it everything he had, and finishing it off by staying up all night to have a baby with me, Travis's body has completely given out. He is SO sick.
Adeline and I came home Saturday afternoon to find the house I'd meticulously cleaned was now a giant disaster zone. And Travis spent the whole weekend in this terrible state of not awake/not asleep existence. He felt horrible that he couldn't take care of things, help me, or hold his new little girl. I am married to the world's greatest man.
We are so blessed with wonderful people in our lives who have gone above and beyond to help us since we're away from family. From generous neighbors and friends who took the boys, brought me stuff in the hospital, and are feeding us, to Doctor's and staff who've covered for Travis here and there so he could be around at pivotal moments. Our ward is amazing! They've given so much service from getting me to Adeline's follow-up apt., coming to clean my house, and everything else in between.
I have a heart full of gratitude and deep testimony of service. I'm so grateful for the "support teams" the Lord has blessed me with through the stages of my life. And then as a giant blessing... I slept some last night!! My baby is a champ! Such a tender mercy, and I love her so much.