No joke.

This is mostly for me so that I don't forget any of this crazy day.

April 1, 2011, 3 AM: Contraction woke me up, then I had a few more. By 4 AM, they were about 7 minutes apart, so I called the doctor. Since I was already 3 cm 4 days prior to this, they told me to go to the hospital. So, we called Kevin's parents. I sat on the couch and the contractions just kept getting closer and closer together. When they arrived around 5:15 AM, the contractions were about 5 minutes apart. By the time we arrived at Reston Hospital, the contractions were 3 minutes apart. We parked at the ER entrance and after I had a contraction in the car we got out and walked into the ER. I sat down and had another contraction. Kevin checked me in and they asked if I wanted a wheelchair. Thankfully, Kevin said yes because I wasn't really listening. Funny thing about the wheelchair though is that it didn't have any foot pedals. So, each time I had a contraction we had to stop so that I could put my feet down...trying to have a contraction while holding your feet in the air doesn't work too well. We were checked in and taken to our delivery room around 5:50am. Before I was even in the hospital gown, I told a nurse that I wanted to epidural as soon as possible. The nurse hooked me up to everything and Dr. Chang came in to check me around 6am. I was 9cm. 9cm. She said there was no time for an epidural - are you kidding me? Apparently, (according to Kevin) I said "it's ok, I can hold it in." I was ready to push around 6:45am, but she wouldn't let me for a few minutes because of my c-section scar. When I was finally able to push it took about 6 contractions of pushing and Andrew was born at 7:10am! Thank God it was fast, because I felt everything. Kevin helped cut the cord, and she laid him on my chest. Then the doctor had to stitch me up, not the most comfortable thing after delivering the baby without meds (oh, wait, they did give me oxygen - I could smell the plastic mask for days after). I kept asking her if she was almost done. Meanwhile, I was talking to the nurse - in classic Genny fashion, I asked her "When can I eat?" She said I could order food right now. YES!! So much better than having a c-section! I ate french toast, bacon, a banana....it was one of the best meals ever! We called our parents, and we heard from Kevin's parents who were staying with Jake that he woke up at exactly 7:10am - the same time Drew was born. And he had woken up with a fever. Yippee! Around lunch time Sarah told me Jake's fever was going back up, so I called the doctor and Kevin took him in. Jake just couldn't let Drew have all the attention. Jake just had a virus and by that night he was fever free, but he wasn't allowed to come up to see Drew. They let me go down to the lobby to see Jake, but I couldn't hold him, because they didn't want the germs near Drew. Quite a day! Lots of people came to visit on April 1 - both sets of grandparents, Ashley, Sarah Jane, Tammy, Rebecca. And on the 2nd - Lisa and Matt, Mary Bartolini.

Lessons learned in all of this:

1. Leave earlier for the hospital.

2. Ask for a wheelchair with foot pedals.

3. A VBAC is totally worth it, even without the epidural. I do not like c-sections.

4. Thank God for my healthy kids!