On Monday, May 16th, I started having contractions but very few and not very strong. Over the next couple of days the contractions continued in the same way, very irregular until Wednesday evening when I was making dinner. I guess being on my feet really did the trick because all of a sudden they were 8 and 9 minutes apart. I told the timing and he joked he was putting me on bedrest for the rest of the evening which was actually quite nice, he cleaned the kitchen, got Jackson ready for bed and I relaxed in bed until I fell asleep around 9pm. I woke up a couple times and fell back asleep until 11:30pm. Then the contractions came back full force and although they were still only 9 or 10 minutes apart, they were definitely stronger.
At 2am, I had one that was only 6 minutes after the last and this continued for half and hour. I called the OB on call and he told me they like to wait until the contractions are 5 minutes apart for 1-2 hours!!! I was shocked since my scheduled c section was only a little more than 24 hours away but who was I to argue with the doctor. I did go ahead and call my mom just to give her the heads up that things may be happening sooner than later. She decided to go ahead and get on the road. I'm sure my being nervous and her being overly prepared had nothing to do with Lila making her debut a week early ;)
An hour and a half later, I had been having consistent contractions that were 5 minutes apart so I woke up Nick and called the doctor. This time he told me to go ahead and come to the hospital. We got ready, woke Jackson up, dropped him off at a friend's house and were on our way by 5am.
I was taken back immediately to a labor and delivery room and hooked up to monitors. By this time the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart but I was only 2 cm dilated. The nurse called the OB and confirmed he was going to do the c section that same day instead of waiting until my schedule time the following morning. Luckily, my labor didn't progress quickly at all because it wasn't until about 7:30 or so that I was taken to the OR to receive the spinal block. Nick was taken separately to get into his scrubs and cleaned up before entering the OR. One of the nurses was prepping him on the different smells, things he may see, how he may feel lightheaded, etc. when he politely interrupted and told her he was a prediatric resident that had been in on multiple c sections.
So I was wheeled in to the OR alone and that's when the anxiety and emotions took over. All of a sudden there were so many people doing so many things to me at the same time and it was very overwhelming. On top of that, they began the spinal block as a contraction started so it was very hard to stay completely still and try to make sense of what the nurses were saying. Luckily that part passed relatively quickly and before I knew it I was lying down with the sheet blocking my view and the OB had walked in to begin. I'm pretty sure he started before Nick had even come back but shortly after Nick was by side holding my hand and wiping my tears. At 8:07 we heard the first of MANY screams! Nick stood up to take a peak and announced we had another little BOY!!! He gave me a kiss and dashed off to be with our son. I got a quick peek at Bennett before they took him to the nursery to get weighed, washed, measured, etc. As the doctor was finishing up my surgery, he and the nurses started "betting" on Bennett's weight. I could tell from all their guesses he was a little peanut, even smaller than big brother Jackson who was 6 lbs. 11 oz. A few minutes later the nurses received a call with the birthweight, 5 lbs. 9 oz.
I was taken to the recovery area and about an hour later joined by Nick and Bennett. In the meantime my mom had arrived with Jackson so Nick went out to announce that he had a baby brother. Unfortunately, my temperature was pretty low so I wasn't released from the recovery room for a few hours but they did allow my visitors to trade off so my mom and Nick's mom were both able to come back and see me and meet Bennett.
The rest of the day went by in a very happy haze as my meds wore off and we were all enjoying the newest addition to our family, Bennett Alexander Kelly, born May 19th at 8:07am, 5 lbs. 9 oz. and 19.5 inches. And just as the meaning of his name, blessed one, we are so thankful and blessed to have him in our family. We love you!
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