Cora Penelope Bright

Being the end of pregnancy I woke up multiple times during the night to pee. Tuesday night was no exception. I was up at 2:18 to pee. I came back to bed and may or may not have fallen back asleep. I'm not sure but I probably did. At 2:46 I had a sharp pain in my lower belly. It didn't feel like a contraction and I have no idea what it was. I got out of bed to go lay with Buddy in the other room. A few minutes later I had a painful Braxton Hicks contraction but it didn't feel strong enough to be real labor. I had been having pains like that for days before hand so I wasn't sure what was going on yet. After another one came I decided to just get up and let Buddy sleep just in case it was labor. Plus the previous few days I would have more painful Braxton Hicks when laying as opposed to standing. I went downstairs and started a load of laundry. I was going to prepare lunches for the kids since we were going on the steamboat in the morning but I wasn't comfortable. The baby had moved really low the previous few days and the pressure on my bladder made it painful to stand. I gave up on the sandwich idea and went upstairs to take a bath. I brought a book and my phone so I could time the contractions. By this point I thought I might be in labor but still wasn't 100% certain. I didn't end up timing it but the contractions were coming every few minutes. They didn't last very long. Definitely less than a minute. I wasn't feeling very comfortable in the bath so I got out. I realized the bathtub was more comfortable than not being in the bathtub quickly. The baby was definitely coming. Buddy was up and getting things ready. Bohdin and Nyla were sleeping. Bohdin had said last week that if the baby came in the middle of the night he would rather stay home and sleep. Nyla said she would like to come. I wanted her to get as much sleep as possible. I laid down next to her. The contractions were getting really really painful by this point and I thought it was time to go. This was by far the most painful of the three labors and I wanted an epidural as soon as possible. I didn't even want to try to go natural this labor even though that had been the original intent. We woke Nyla up and Buddy loaded everything up in the car. The contractions were just so painful. I was doing my best but things weren't going like I thought they would. I went downstairs and saw there was 6 minutes left on the 59 minute washing machine cycle. I very briefly debated waiting for the cycle to finish so the clothes could go in the dryer before we left. It only took a moment to realize that was a dumb idea. By this time it was probably around 4am. On the way to car I had two contractions. Buddy had to hold me through them. The ride to the hospital was long. I had so many contractions. I had warned Nyla before hand that I might make noise and stuff. I should have warned Buddy also. I focused on low moans during contractions. It's not something I had done in prior labors and not something I would have guessed I would use this time around. It felt like the right thing to do. I tried my best to focus on the sound on my voice during each contraction. I don't know how many contractions I had in the car. By the time we arrived they were maybe a minute apart. I knew the baby was coming fast. Buddy parked near the ER entrance. I think he unbuckled Nyla and came to take me out. I had a hard time getting out of the car and once I was out it was impossible to move. I thought we would have the baby in the parking lot. Buddy didn't know what to do. Luckily an employee had brought somebody out in a wheelchair. He came over and with extreme difficulty I sort of reclined in it. I was wheeled in to the ER where they called labor and delivery. Just as we entered the hospital a deluge of rain came down. We barely missed getting soaked. At this point I was starting to push and those low moans had become high pitched yelling. We made it into the room and they told me to stop pushing so I could get in the bed. That was a ridiculous thing to ask. I told them to cut my underwear (luckily I was wearing a skirt). I had just been holding it to the side prior to that. The head was almost out. They cut the crotch and the baby came out shortly. Buddy said there was a doctor in the room but the nurse said she delivered the baby. I don't know or care. This was by far my most painful labor. It was a painful delivery also resulting in a second degree tear. She was born at 5:08am about two hours after labor started. As I'm holding her in my arm now smelling her sweet head and kissing her soft cheek how she arrived doesn't matter.
Everything went smoothly after that. No hemorrhage this time. The nurses were confused about when the water broke. I think they ended up charting unknown. It didn't break prior to me entering the room. There was no dramatic pop as I had with Nyla during delivery though. Buddy and Nyla left just after 6am. Nyla seemed to have handled the delivery quite well. She needed to go back to sleep though. We had tickets for the local steamboat the Belle of Louisville that morning. The kids had been looking forward to the cruise and I didn't want them to miss it. They came by afterward for a little while. Bohdin said she was cute and Nyla was just really excited.



The baby slept most of the day but night was rougher. She was congested and was unhappy with being unable to breathe. It was the first time she really fussed. She has a soft whiny cry. I was exhausted and was only able to get short naps with her. Now that we're home she seems completely better. Buddy came by today to pick us up. The only problem is we couldn't leave the hospital without a name. After several hours we just had to pick something. The kids were getting stir crazy, hungry, and tired. Welcome Cora Penelope. 7 pounds 5 ounces. 20 inches long. Born 5:08am July 20. One Tuesday later than expected.





Nyla is begging to hold the baby now. She tried playing ball with her earlier. She is completely infatuated for now.