It was my 36 week appointment and the doctor checked me. I was 2 centimeters and 70% effaced. (Whatever that means... but everyone informed me including my doctor that I would not deliver over the weekend.) (I have to add something I forgot to mention... I lied when I said everyone told me I would not deliver over the weekend. Diane had a dream the week before we left that my water would break this weekend and told me to stay home and hang out with her.) So, on Friday Nate and I were on our way to Alexandria with his parents, sisters, and niece and nephew. (Don't worry I made sure that I knew where the hospital was when we drove through Alexandria.)
Saturday night while trying to fall asleep and waiting for Nate to get back from the bar, my back started to hurt. I started praying to just let me fall asleep and that I couldn't be in labor. After a few hours of trying to ignore my back pain... my water broke. By this time Nate was in bed sleeping and so were his parents. Of course, I had to wake up everyone to let them know that I was pretty confident that my water broke. I called my doctor and they informed me that driving 2 hours home was not in our best interest. So, off to the Dakota County Hospital at about 2 in the morning. Of course, I was nervous as my contractions were five minutes apart.
The Labor...
Before I was afraid that I wouldn't know when I was in Labor... to be honest when my back started to hurt I was questioning what was going on... It wasn't until my water broke that I realized that I was definitely in labor. Once we got to the hospital my contractions started getting stronger and every 2-3 minutes. (No time to rest in-between - so frustrating.) The most disappointing part was that I was still only dilated to a 2. (What?) They did give me some sort of pain medicine to take the edge off... so I could rest... what do you mean rest? Plus, what is the deal with the number scale for pain... Um... my pain level... is off the chart. Oh, the pain medicine to take the edge off did not help during the most active part of my labor. I asked for a epidural, but I needed to be dilated to a 4 before they give you that. By 8 am I could tell that things were changing. They checked me again and I was dilated to 7... I guess I won't be getting an epidural. Than at 9:03 she was born. Here are some wonderful Nikki quotes during labor...
"Can't you just go in and get her?"
"Get the doctor now... I mean NOW... I need to push."
Doctor - "Do you want to feel her head?"
Nikki - "NO! I just want her out.... NOW!!!!!" - I don't even want to see this happening. I can feel it and that is enough for me.
FYI - Don't get a pedicure on vacation and close to your due date... unless you want to deliver that day. 
Kaitlyn Jean McNeilly weighed 6 lbs. and was 18 1/2 inches long. I wonder what she would have been if she was full term... Some people tell me the last month of pregnancy is the worst, so I am happy I missed that.
About 24 hours after Kaitlyn was born she developed a mild case of Jaundice. We had to stay an extra day in the hospital so that her numbers were low enough to get home. On Wednesday night at 7pm Kaitlyn was discharged and we were on our way home. The next day we went into our clinic to have her Bilirubin checked and it had jumped from 11 points to 16.9. (Still not in the danger zone.) The doctor ordered us to keep her on a bili-bed. This special bed has UV lights that helped her process the bilirubin in her system. So, the past 3 weeks we have been taking Kaitlyn in to get blood drawn every other day. She is still Jaundice, but the doctor thinks she is starting to work through it. The doctor thinks the main reason she is Jaundice is because she was so early. This has really taught me patience.
Kaitlyn did not mind laying on the bed. I think it was harder for me to not be able to hold her unless she was eating. We did this for several days. For the past week we haven't had to use the bed. Plus, the doctor gave us a week break from the Lab. We don't go back until next Monday to check her levels. Oh, and she weigh 6 lbs. 6 oz. as of Friday.
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