Christmas came and went. New Year's came and went, and still
no baby! I was so confident that because Isabella was early, all my babies would be born early. This was not to be the case with Mallory. Bradley's mom arrived on January 2nd, in order to help us with Isabella and take care of all of us once the baby was born. Each day we would wait for that 'moment' when the contractions would intensify or my water would break. Finally, on Saturday, January 9, we went for a walk along the beach. I decided to push the stroller through the sand, uphill, in hopes that my labor would commence. Later that night we took another walk along Lover's Point, in Pacific Grove (one of our favorite spots to walk and sit along the shore here in Monterey). I went to bed that night praying that something would happen the next morning, so I declared that we would not be going to church.
Sunday morning, January 10, I woke around 7:30 (late for me) and felt fine. I stayed in bed, just enjoying listening to Bradley sleep, and then at 7:45 I had my first contraction. "Probably nothing," I told myself, just like all of the other contractions I'd had for the past few weeks. However, by 8:45, my contractions were about 3 minutes apart. I decided to take a shower, do my makeup, and fix my hair, hoping that if this was for real, at least I would look decent while in labor. By the time I was putting on my eyeliner, it was difficult to stand up through my contractions and I knew that this must be real. Bradley gathered his things for the hospital--books, movies, computer--preparing for another long labor and delivery, and we headed out for the hospital.
We finally reached the Family Life Center at CHOMP (Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula) and the nurses checked me in and took me to my room. I changed into the beautiful gown that all expectant mothers get to wear, and climbed into the hospital bed at 10:15, and waited for the Doctor to come and examine me. I'm thankful I took lamazze classes while pregnant with Isabella, because I certainly needed those breathing techniques at this point. My doctor was at church, so another doctor came in and examined me.
Dr. Alexander: "You are at 8-9 centimeters, so I'm going to break your water."
Me: "Are you serious? Because if you're kidding, that's really not funny."
Dr. Alexander: "Yes, I'm serious."
Well, I knew he must be serious about 2 minutes after he broke my water because my contractions really picked up and I was incredibly uncomfortable. Bradley coached me through the next 30 minutes or so, although I wouldn't let him touch me, so he kept his distance. Then, it was time to push. This was the part I was really dreading, because I pushed for 4 hours with Isabella. There was no need to worry. After 4 contractions worth of pushing, 'little' Mallory Daire entered our world at 11:10am, one hour after I had climbed into the hospital bed!
Mallory weighed in at 8lbs. 15oz. and was 201/2 inches long. So far she is a sweet baby and Isabella adores her.
I will try to keep this blog up to date with pictures and details of our life with two little girls. We are so thankful for God's blessings to us, and pray that we will be godly parents to these two sweet girls He has entrusted to our care.