As my due date approached, I was hoping to 1) make it through Christmas without going into labor and 2) make it to the hospital (one hour away without traffic) before delivering. Thankfully both goals were accomplished.
On Friday, 12/27, Laura, Jon, Dad, Frank, Frankie & I all went out for dinner. All day on Friday I felt rather 'blah'. I even texted my mom that evening telling her that I thought I was going to go into labor within the next few days. My Braxton Hicks contractions were getting more uncomfortable, I was even somewhat nauseous and just felt very, very pregnant. On Saturday morning I woke up around 6am feeling contractions which were about 10 minutes apart but very mild. Closer to 7am, I felt my water partially break. I woke Frank up and told him not to worry, but I was going to take a shower and we should get ready to go to the hospital. Around 8am, we were in the car on the way to Virginia Hospital Center. After being examined, the nurses concluded that even though my amniotic fluid was on the lower side, my water did not fully break (apparently only the outer layer ruptured), I was still only 2 cm dilated and my contractions weren't regular...so they sent me home. I was in disbelief. I was certain my water broke and I was in the early stages of labor. Ugh.
Frank & I decided to grab brunch in Arlington and run a few errands to buy time in case 'something happened'. A little before 1pm, we started driving back to my sister's. No point in sticking around if baby wasn't coming. And then...my contractions were back pretty regularly at 10 minutes apart but still mild. I told Frank it was nothing and we should continue home (I didn't want to cry wolf again!) - but he insisted on turning around - so we did. I talked him into walking around Clarendon, where my contractions were then about 6 minutes apart and getting more noticeable. We decided to hang out at a friend's house for a bit (thanks Carrie & James!) to see what, if anything, would transpire. After chatting with the Rice's for about 20 minutes, my contractions were 4 minutes apart and becoming really painful so I told Frank it was time to go back to the hospital. Thank goodness we did. As soon as we pulled into the car port area around 4:30pm, my water broke. By this time, each contraction had me doubled over in pain. The nurses checked me in quickly and got to work. I was 8 cm dilated and baby was coming. Throughout the afternoon, Frank kept suggesting that I may be down-playing my contractions and at one point said "you don't want to be so far along when we arrive at the hospital that you can't get an epidural". I could almost hear him saying "I told you so" but thankfully, I was in time and the anesthesiologist was there within about 30 minutes. After a good double dose of pain meds, my doctor had me rest for about an hour to allow my body to further progress and to minimize pushing. Around 6:30pm, I started pushing...
 |
| The drugs were kicking in and I was all smiles! |
...and at 6:52pm, our beautiful daughter, Julia Marie DeMarco was born, weighing 6 lbs 10 oz and measuring 19.5 inches. The doctor held her up for us to see and I gasped "It's a girl" with tears of joy streaming down my face. Looking back on my pregnancy, I - along with many other people - thought it very likely we were having another boy. However, there was a nagging part of me that wasn't fully convinced. With Frankie, I was quite certain that I was having a boy, but this time, I wasn't so sure. Almost everything about this pregnancy was the same - but then I had two dreams where I was holding a baby girl - which cast huge doubt in my head about us having another boy. Turns out - there was a reason I wasn't fully convinced! :) Welcome to the world, Julia Marie!
 |
| Frankie meeting his baby sister |
 |
| Family of 4! |
