kevin and jenna [dot] com

Close, but no cigar.

November 2nd, 2008

This phrase could not be more appropriate right now, and if you don’t get it, I’ll explain at the end.

Saturday night around 7 I started having very regular contractions.  Since I have faster labors than most other women, Kevin called Erin The Midwife at 7:45, just to let her know what was happening.  Erin said, “Um, I’m in Austin right now….  but I’ll jump in the car and head to your home.”  She had actually been helping a friend move to Austin but had everything ready for birthing because she was on call for another client of hers who was a week overdue but had slower labors than mine.  (Run-on sentence I don’t know how to shorten.)

Erin and the crew got to our house around 9:30.  They set up the birthing pool in the living room and then set up our bed in case I wanted to labor or deliver in our room, and all the while I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart, lasting about 45 seconds each.  I kept saying, “Wow, these are totally different from Colby and Kennedy.”  They weren’t overly heavy and I was so relaxed and calm and smiling, carrying on conversations with everyone.

I got in the birthing pool (with very hot water) around 10 pm and stayed there for almost 2 hours, and my contractions got to be nearly 2 minutes apart but still only 45 seconds in duration.  Then around midnight, I had to get out of the pool to go to the bathroom and the contractions stopped almost completely.  I told everyone I was tired and Erin told me to go rest in my bed; she thought I’d go back into labor once my body recuperated for a little while.  (She also gave me this great heating pad for my back that smelled like cinnamon and cloves.  I need to get one of those.)

At 2 am (which was 1 am because of the time change.. there was lots of debate about if the baby was born at 1:30 am old time, would she really be born when the time changed 30 minutes after, since it would be 1 am again?), I told Erin to go home, because there was Nothing happening anymore.  No contractions, nothing.  So she packed up all her stuff and left, and she told me to call me if anything happened.  Nothing has happened.  I’m now exhausted for laboring so hard and so long yesterday and my body is sore.  But I’m not having contractions.

I didn’t go to church this morning, but apparently I was the talk of the town.  We were supposed to ring handbells but the song was too difficult for anyone to step in and sub so we canceled it late last night.  (I mean, I know Alicia’s good but sight-reading this part would be a little like putting her into spontaneous labor.)  My mom made a few calls last night, mostly to family, and the word spread really quickly in such a large church… I should feel loved to know how many people care about us.

The funniest thing was when my mom sent a text to her niece (my cousin) who lives in Florida.  She wrote something like, “Jenna’s in labor!”  And so my cousin’s daughter, who’s almost 18, wrote back, “Who is this?”  ha!  As if she didn’t know who I was…  I know she had my mom’s cell phone number in her directory; how many Jenna’s would my mom know, and be telling people when these Jennas were in labor?  Funny girl.

We also had a few messages at home tonight while we were out grocery shopping of people were asking me how I was doing.  You know – “Hey Jenna!  I didn’t see you at church today so I was just wondering if you were in labor?  And so-and-so told me you thought you were in labor yesterday but it stopped so I didn’t know if it started again…”  I had lots of offers for help with my kids and just whatever I need, which I appreciate wholeheartedly.

I’m actually a little relieved that the baby isn’t here yet; I am excited to see her and hold her and everything, but I just had a long week with lots of things to do, and I’m looking forward to this week when I have almost nothing to do but spend time with Kevin and the kids.  And, I had just finished cleaning the windows on Saturday, so I figured it would only be par for the course that I would go into labor later that night. 

Really, I’ve been having heavier (yet incredibly sporadic) contractions since about Wednesday because I’ve been on my feet a little too much and not resting in between.  Yeah, yeah, the Nesting Complex has left the building and I’ve learned my lesson.  I’ll be moving at a much slower pace this week and enjoying being pregnant while I still can.

So, I know this was very long and thanks for reading.  Please pray that the Lord would bring this baby to this world in His timing, not anyone else’s.  I do feel a great peace about this, even though I don’t know when that will be.  I just keep praying that Verse from Psalms 138 over her – “Lord, I praise YOU, because she is fearfully and wonderfully made…  all the days of her life are written in His book.”  And, as for the cigars, we won’t be passing any out when the baby gets here, and I’m glad no one was smoking any last night, because they would have been a bit premature with their celebration. 

Entry Filed under: Carlee, Faith, Family