Welcome Baby Allison - Here's How it Happened...

SMALL WARNING: SOME NITTY GRITTY NOT SO PRETTY DETAILS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS POST. :)

It all started Wednesday, May 13th. I spent the afternoon watching Ethan, Evin, and Emmet at Mom and Dad's house for Jaimee. I remember mentioning to Mom that I felt unusually shaky that day and I couldn't quite figure out why. I wasn't having significant contractions and chocked it up to low blood sugar. The day carried on, the kids were fantastically well-behaved and at around 4pm Sarah and I headed back home to figure dinner out.

Joel had a meeting after work and stopped in a for a few minutes before leaving again. He and Sarah played for a while and then we said our goodbyes. Sarah went right to bed and was sleeping soundly within a half-hour. I sat on the couch and caught up on the latest Facebook updates. My contractions seemed stronger that night but they always seemed to get stronger around that time in the evening.

Around 7:30pm the missionaries stopped by to say hi and just as I greeted them on the porch Joel rolled up in the truck. I made mention that I was working hard on getting the baby out to no avail. We all chuckled. We visited for a couple hours through out which I had maybe 3 good contractions, none of which made me think anything was imminent. Joel made plans to meet with the missionaries the next night to pick up a riding lawn mower and deliver it to his buddy's house. I laughed and said, "Well, unless Joel is a new dad by that time tomorrow. We'll call and let you know if he can't make it!"

The missionaries left around 9:30pm and it was at that point my contractions started to become a little more frequent and strong. On average they were between 3 and 5 minutes apart, but some came almost 10 minutes after the previous one. Nothing consistent and I kept thinking, if they aren't consistent it isn't real. Joel kept saying, "Let's go now. Let's just go." I did not want to go to the hospital only to be sent home. Around 11pm they were definitely strong and I could no longer carry a conversation through them. They were about 3 minutes apart and we called my mom. She said, give it an hour if they get worse we should get on our way. She also suggested I take a shower. I hopped in the shower and they got significantly more painful.

I remember laying in bed with Joel and looking at his cell phone, it was 12:35am and I had a strong contraction, it didn't stop for at least a minute and the look on my face was enough to convince Joel we were leaving despite my being so stubborn. He called Mom and let her know we were on our way. By the time we were driving (I remember looking at the speedometer and seeing the needle hit 70 on the way to Mom and Dad's) my contractions were so strong I was having trouble keeping myself together. Poor Sarah was looking a little scared for her mama. She kept her blanket on her head and kept saying, "Mama, you okay?" It was heartbreaking!

We piled into Mom's fancy car with leather seats that goes fast and got on our way. As we were driving I kept asking mom, 'Do you think we'll make it?' The ferries were no longer running to the other side of the water and the drive around the sound to Edmonds would take at least an hour and a half. It was 1am and I was miserable. Mom pulled off in Silverdale so we could take a minute and talk about our options and my water broke in her car. Thankfully we came prepared and I'm pretty sure her fancy leather interior is still intact. :) At this point, Joel and Mom looked at each other and made the executive decision that Harrison Hospital was our only option.

We arrived at the hospital at about 1:20am. For a few minutes after my water broke I thought to myself, wow, that feels MUCH better. Unfortunately, that 'much better' feeling lasted a few minutes and then turned into MUCH worse!! The hospital quickly admitted us (even though to my surprise I had left my wallet at home and didn't have my insurance card, thank goodness for a prepared husband who had his!) I was wheeled into room 9 (I'm pretty sure it was room 9) and was instructed to put on my gown and hop in bed. I think I told them about 400 times that I was GBS positive and that I needed an IV started ASAP. They probably wanted to kill me! :) Within about 10 minutes of getting in bed that savior of the evening came in: the anaesthesiologist (I had to use spell check to figure the spelling on that one). He was ready to give me an epidural right away. I was thrilled! It ended up being a good 20-30 minutes before I was actually able to get one and quite frankly, they were some of the most painful minutes of my life. I remember being in pain with Sarah but this was going SO FAST!

After the epidural, during which I have to say was not my most glamorous moment, I was slowly getting some relief. During this time the nurses started asking me the basics on my health and whatnot to fill out their paperwork. Joel made mention to me last night that that was the first time I'd ever told him my weight. I laughed and thought, that was the LEAST of my concerns at that moment...but now that he knows...I guess I have to live with it.

When I arrived at the hospital at 1:20 I was 3cm dilated...by 3:30 or so, I was 10cm, complete and ready to go. I think the normal progression is about 1cm an hour...I did 7 in two hours. Go big or go home I guess!!

When the doctor came in and I was ready to push I pretty much looked at the reflection in his glasses so I could see all that was happening. A mirror would have probably grossed me out but his glasses distorted just enough that it didn't seem like it was happening to me so much as something I was watching on a REALLY tiny television screen! I think it was about six pushes and Allison made her great debut. Joel and I didn't really have any emotional tears. I think we were both so relieved and happy that all of us were safe and healthy that we were fairly composed.

I thought for sure Allison was smaller than Sarah. She seemed so delicate. She didn't cry a whole lot after she was born and it worried me, but then she let out a huge wail and all worry was relieved. The one thing I thought was, "Oh! She looks like me!!" Sarah had looked so much like Joel it was really fun to think she resembled me. Her dark hair stood out the most, straight and so much of it. She was 6lbs 11oz and 19 inches at birth.

I was only able to get one dose of anti-biotic in before she was born and hospital standard is that they keep the baby 48 hours to rule out any infection. While it is rare, it is often fatal if not caught within a very short period of time. I knew she'd be fine and was sad about having to stay but figured the hospital has their rules for a reason. It worked out okay because I ended up having difficulty getting my blood pressure down and the doctor told me I was "flirting" with post-partum pre-eclampsia. I'm on diuretics right now to see if that will help, I'm still at the same levels I was when I left the hospital. Joel and Mom both say it's all because of the crazy nurse visits and lack of sleep that was causing the high blood pressure and I know their both partly right.

Our hospital stay was not what we anticipated or wanted, chaotic and stressful to say the least. We missed our familiar Steven's Hospital environment and all the wonderful staff there. One thing is for certain, if by small chance there is a third Johnson baby, we will either stay at a hotel for a few weeks before the due date or insist upon an induction early on. I love my doctor and I love the staff and it's worth the extra drive to see them.

So far, Allison fits right in with our little family. Sarah is in love. Joel is totally smitten. I am still dealing with post-partum emotions but am totally enjoying having a brand new baby. Joel has really taken to Allison and I catch him staring at her all the time. He's on vacation until the 26th and we are so blessed to have this extra time together. Mom will be on vacation after tomorrow night, she's already been an amazing support also. Our ward has been bringing in meals which is more help than I could ever imagine. So that's the short version of our story - short because I can remember all those details but how many of you really care about which side of my body numbed more or how the shower floor in my bathroom was actually the bathroom floor and would flood out the door when I used it? That's what I thought.

More updates to come when I have more energy. :) Love to y'all!