Isabella is finally here!

Bella, one week old



Big brother and lil sister

Ethan's first look at his sister

A few hours old

Isabella Ianna Bennett. Born September 23^rd 2009 6:38pm 7pounds 13 ounces 20in long

I am posting the story of Bella’s birth so I won’t ever forget the details of the day she was born. The two most exciting days of my life were this day and the day Ethan was born. So, my contractions had been coming a few days before I went to the hospital. They started off feeling like mild period cramps. On Sunday I had them all day then on Monday they subsided. On Tuesday the 22nd I had them again all day. I had an appointment that day and Dr, grooms checked to see if I was dilated. I was only a one!

I went home disappointed but continued to cramp pretty regularly. I couldn’t sleep at all because I was too uncomfortable. I knew I was having contractions but they didn’t hurt that bad. Around 11:30 pm, I called my brother Adam and his girlfriend Melissa to tell them that I might be in labor. I asked them if they could come over (if I was in labor) to stay here with Ethan since he was asleep for the night, I didn’t want to have to wake him up and drop him off anywhere. I told Melissa I would call her back in an hour to let her know if my contractions were getting closer or stronger. At 1:30 am I called her back and told her I was going to try to get some sleep and would call if I felt I really needed to go to the hospital. I slept for about an hour and a half. I went to the bathroom and saw some “show” and knew then that my cervix was definitely dilating. I just had a feeling that I should go to the hospital. I called Melissa back at 4am and told them to come over. Then I called my mother so she could come and drive me to the hospital. When she came to get me I wasn’t in too much pain. My mom was worried that they were going to send me home since my water hadn’t broke yet and on the way there my contractions were pretty much non existent. We checked into the hospital and the nurse put the monitors on me and checked me shortly after. I was only at 1 and a half dilated. The nurse said there was a very slim chance that

I would stay. After she checked me she said she would be back in an hour, my contractions started to get stronger. I was starving so my mom snuck me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when the nurse wasn’t around. When the nurse came back she checked me again and said I was dilated to a 2. She told me to go and walk the halls for an hour. So my mom and I went and walked. When we came back I had dilated to a 3 and a half. Yay! She told us that she hadn’t heard back from my doctor to ask him if he wanted to admit me or send me home. So she told me to get up and walk for another hour. Right when we walked down the hall I saw my doctor there. I told him hello, and he said, “Hey I just saw you yesterday.” I told him I was 3.5 dilated, He asked me when my due date was, I told him it was the 28^th, then he said, “Oh yeah, you are ready.” Boy was I happy!!

He said, “We will go ahead and admit you and I’m going to break your water for you.”

While my mom and I were walking the hall for the 2^nd hour Chad showed up. He walked the hall with us for a while. Then Debbie got there a little while later. But they wouldn’t let her back because they only allow two visitors at a time! I was pretty upset about that. I felt bad because she came down to the hospital for no reason. So she waited in the waiting room. When the hour was up they already had the room I was to deliver in ready for me. As soon as I laid down my contractions got stronger. I waited for Dr. Grooms for about an hour. Then he came in and broke my water. After that the contractions almost killed me. They were very intense. I think I did a pretty good job of focusing for a good while. Chad was there for me to squeeze and scream at. I didn’t want any pain meds before I got my epidural. So I labored for a few hours without any meds. My mom was starting to get impatient because I wasn’t progressing very much. Isabella was very stubborn. Hours had gone by and I was only a 4. The nurse said she was going to give me pectin to help me progress faster. Well, she tried giving it to me but for some reason the machine she was using wouldn’t work. She tried a few of them but none of them were registering. So I didn’t get the pectin drop. I am glad because I eventually started to dilate on my own. My nurse told me that the anesthesiologist was tied up with 3 cesarean sections so it would be a while until he got to me. I was pretty upset about that. With Ethan I was at an 8 before I got it. Now that I planned to get it early I wasn’t going to anyway. So I went through the worst pain imaginable. Good thing Chad was there for me to torture. I’m surprised his hand isn’t broken. Finally the anesthesiologist came when I was already almost 7 centimeters dilated. He took forever to give me the darn thing. It was so hard trying to stay still. I had about 4 major contractions while he was putting in the epidural. Let me tell you, whoever invented the epidural is worthy of all praise and is a gift from God. After that I felt hardly any pain. I got some much needed rest, and before I knew it I started to feel more and more pressure and had the nurse come to check me. She said it was time to start pushing. I pushed with everything I had and it turns out my Dr. had went home for the day, so this stranger I had never met was there to deliver Isabella. I don’t even know his name. I will find out someday I guess. Pushing Bella out was very intense. I could feel her head come out and then the rest of her came out fairly easy. I was crying with relief when she was finally out of me. It was the best feeling in the world. As soon as I saw her she looked just like Ethan. And she looked a lot like a boy. Good thing that was only temporary. I am so happy that she is finally here. She is a little angel. She sleeps most of the time and only wakes every 3 to 4 hours to eat. I hope she keeps that up. Now I have my boy and my girl. Sometimes I can’t believe I’m a mother, I feel so grown up and proud. I love my kids more than anything and am so blessed to have them in my life.