She's Here!

Hooray! She's finally here!! Brinley Marie Jepson was born on Thursday, May 14 at 1:29 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. She was a LONG 3 days late, and we were starting to get nervous because Russ had National Boards on Friday and Saturday this last weekend, but she came Thursday just in time--so we didn't have to worry! And when she finally did decide to come she came quick and made for a good story. :) (told in detail below)

THE STORY
Quick Hollywood version-- Crazy couple almost has baby in car--they run into the hospital, wife in wheelchair, yelling "The baby's coming!" I was the "crazy lady in the next room" creating all sorts of commotion and drama--and gave birth to a baby girl 5 minutes later. (for those of you who don't want details--which I am sure is many.)

Long Detailed version--(caution--may be a bit TMI for some--but for those who want it--here it is!)
I woke up at around 8 Thursday morning with mild contractions spacing any where between 5 and 10 minutes apart. This was not unusual at all; I had had these several mornings throughout the week and they usually stopped by the time I ate breakfast... and so I just got up and started to go about the day. Russ was planning on studying at the school that morning with a friend and I told him to go--no big deal.
My mom was coming in around noon that day, and I knew I needed to get organized and clean my house a bit. My mom called at 9 and said she was boarding the plane, and I told her I was having some contractions--about every 5 minutes- but they still weren't that strong. I stayed busy cleaning my house, and by about 10:30 I got in the shower---thinking surely they would stop by the time I got out. They however got a little stronger by the time I got out , but I still wasn't convinced I was in "labor". So I got ready, and by the time I was done drying my hair, I was starting to get a little uncomfortable. ( I was turning off the hair dryer during contractions and pacing a little) So at that point.. it was about 11:40am I decided that maybe i shouldn't be the one to pick my mom up from the airport in 20 minutes. I was okay if I was walking around but wasn't sure I should drive. So I called Lisa(my sis-in-law) and kind of told her what was going on and asked if she would pick up my mom; she said she would and came and got Kenz as well. Right after my mom called and said that she had landed early---I told her I had decided to send Lisa, but I would see her soon. The contractions were still making me uncomfortable enough that I started timing them again, and they were still about 5 minutes apart--with an occasional one that would come at a 3 minute interval instead--but I thought they were still spaced pretty well. But at that point I decided to call Russ and told him I was still contracting and to maybe head home sometime soon. He got home 15 minutes later and by that point --the contractions were taking a lot of my concentration. I told him that we needed to head to the hospital, which was 15 minutes away. We were gathering some things, and my mom and Lisa got to our house, and we told them we were going and we left.
THE GOOD PART---
The ride to the hospital became quite interesting. I had another strong contraction and started feeling some pressure. About 5 minutes into the drive I told Russ I felt like I needed to poop. He blurted "NO POOPING!" We kept driving--hitting every red light possible; I was having contractions ever 3 minutes at this point and about 5 minutes away, I started panicking and told Russ the baby was coming soon! Russ started to speed up and become a bit more aggressive in his driving. We got to the hospital within a few minutes, we parked and Russ asked if I wanted a wheelchair. I started to say No-I could walk---but I got another really hard contraction and instead yelled the baby is coming!! Russ took off running to get a wheelchair and got back in record time--I got in and he quickly wheeled me up to Labor and delivery. He calmly told the nurses at the desk that his wife was having a baby. They looked at us like--no big deal--everyone is having a baby here--but I could feel the next contraction coming and I blurted "No---really the baby's coming now!" They all jumped up at that and showed a room across the hall to wheel into. My water broke as we got through the doorway, and they told me to get on the bed and they would check and see where I was at. I said, "Its coming, its coming!" And the nurse patiently replied,"Let me just check and see whats going on." She quickly checked me and said, "Yep, you're fully dilated and the baby's head is right there. " In my head I said "Told you so". Then I started another contraction and the nurses were trying to get the monitors and computer working in the room(which was hopeless), get a dr. in there, and one was wanting to put an IV in my arm which she quickly decided was worthless because another nurse called out that the head was crowning, which was SO INTENSE. They kept telling me to lay down and push, and I told them I couldn't lay down-- I had to sit. A doctor came in just as the head was coming out and he caught the baby. Within 5 minutes of getting to the hospital, we had our sweet Brinley!! It was CRAZY!!! Talk about an adrenaline rush. :)
Anyway...that's the story. It all happened SO FAST!! Brinley is so sweet, and we love her so much! We feel so blessed and lucky to have her with us now!! We are healthy and recovering from the ordeal, Russ got his Boards all done with. We really do feel so blessed and are so happy to have this all over with!

Kenz loves her so much and has asked a time or two if we would like "to pet her". :)

Russ getting in precious "study time" Friday night.