For starters, sorry this is so late as miss Abbi is now 9 weeks old, but things have been hectic with a new born and a 5 yr old and returning back to work full time.

To start with, I was really wanted to try a vaginal birth with my daughter because I had to have a cesarean with my son due to breech presentation. I was really nervous though because I was afraid things weren't going to go well and I didn't want a crash cesarean. At week 38 I was not dilated at all and my bishop score was still 0. I started to worry more, because planned cesareans are scheduled at 39 weeks usually. I Talked with my ob and she wanted to schedule me for exactly 39 weeks (8/2). The thing was I had only been at my current job just a year at that time. My year mark being 8/3. In order for me to get paid maturnity leave, I had to be there at or past my year mark, so I asked my ob if we could push the date to the 4th or 5th so we scheduled it for the 5th.

Well miss Abbigail had plans of her own.

On 8/2 at 3am I work up uncomfortable. Now at first I just thought it was because my bladder was really full because for at least a few weeks, I would wake up every night at about 3am to pee and go back to sleep. So at 3am on 8/2, I got up and went to the bathroom and tried to fall back to sleep. But I couldn't get the pain and discomfort to go away. At about 3:30am I woke my husband and told him, I think I might be having contractions, it hurts and it won't go away this time, they are every 5 minutes. He asks me what I want to do because I was trying to keep her in for at least another day and we both had to work in a few hours. I told him I was going to work so I would just try to go back to sleep for a little longer.

Well I succeeded and 530am comes and I get ready for work.

I get to work (I am a registered veterinary technician) at 7am and my contractions are 3 to 5 minutes apart by now. I tell everyone there what's going on. Of course they all freak out and tell me to go to the hospital because we treat animals not people and I was not to have my baby at work. (It was kind of a long time going joke since we had 2 of us pregnant together 5 weeks apart and we work at a vet hospital). I tell them all that I'm fine and get to work. Meanwhile, my contractions continue every 3-5 minutes. I got our patients ready for surgery and I finished for sure one possibly 2 dental cleanings and I then told them that I would probably have to leave soon. At 930am they made me leave and I called first my ob who told me to go into labor and delivery. I then tried to get a hold of my husband multiple times and failed each time. I freaked out and started crying meanwhile driving home to get my hospital stuff. I call my mom freaking out and crying and she tells me to try to calm down and she would get a hold of Matt (my husband). Probably about 5 minutes later, Matt calls me and asks where I am. I calm down some at this point...

Fast forward to labor and delivery. We check in at about 1030am at 1130 they check me and I am 1cm dilated. They come back a little later, same thing. They make me walk around for a while to get things moving along better and at about 1230 I am taken to my delivery room. At this point, I am about 3cm and the contractions are so bad that I kept forgetting to breath and they asked if I was planning on an epidural. Around 130-2pm I receive my epidural and the pain was gone. They started petocin at 1. I stalled at 3cm for a few hrs so they increased the petocin to 3. I went from 3cm to 8cm in about 2hrs so they decreased the petocin to 1 again because we were trying to wait until after midnight for delivery (for my year mark at work). They put the peanut ball between my legs turned me over after the first hr and within 30 minutes I was ready to push. 10 minutes and 3 good pushed later, Abbigail Carolelea Bourisaw was born. She was born on 8/2 at 1141pm weighing 7lb 6oz and measuring 19.75in. (19 minutes "too early"). Work was nice enough to give me paid maturnity leave :)

Abbigail was baptized at exactly 2 months old in the gown my sisters and I were baptized in. She is happy and healthy and we couldn't love her more, especially her big brother!