September 1st - The Delivery

Sunday night we had big storms in Ankeny.  The tornado sirens went off due to high winds so we spent some time in the basement.  I laid there thinking this would be a funny time for the baby to come, but laughed it off.  She kicked a ton that night and we all went to sleep to the sound of heavy rain & strong wind.  At 12:30am I woke up and felt "off".  I went to the bathroom and there was a small gush of fluid.  I wasn't sure what to think.  I thought maybe it was my water breaking but it was nothing like when they broke my water with Zach.  I woke Chris up and we decided to call my doctor.  They said to come in and get checked.  We were so convinced we would be having the scheduled C-Section on Thursday that we hadn't even packed a hospital bag yet.  I called my parents to come sit with Zach and frantically threw things into a suitcase.  Chris was sure we would be coming back home in a couple of hours so he only grabbed 1 t-shirt and his CPAP machine.

We got to the hospital around 1:30am and they quickly determined my water had broken and we would be having a baby soon.  Since I wasn't in active labor or having any pain, it was all so calm and relaxed.  We called both sets of parents and waited for everyone at the hospital to get ready.  My mom & Craig & Peggy got there in time to see us off to the operating room.  They wheeled us back and at 4:35am Bailey Marie Palmer was born crying.  It was the happiest sound I had ever heard.  They had determined that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid so the NICU was there just in case, but they quickly released her.  Chris was able to cut the umbilical cord & hold her right away.  It was a totally normal C-Section with no drama.  We were in shock and over the moon happy.  I hadn't realized how worried I was about the delivery until it was over and the stress instantly melted away.

Bailey was born on Monday, September 1st (Labor Day) weighing 7 lbs and 0.7 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long.