Watch Out, World!

K.J.

Mrs. Braden and I are pleased to announce the birth of our second child, Little Bradenette, yesterday morning at a few minutes to 6.  We went to the hospital the evening before after slowly increasing contractions all day.  I was actually in the middle of a staff meeting when Mrs. Braden called and said,  "you had better come home now."  I didn't need any more incentive than that.  I rushed back into the room, grabbed my papers, and literally ran out the door.  A short while later we were on the road to the hospital 20 minutes away (the hospital that I work at doesn't have labor and delivery - thanks, lawyers!).

At first, the doctor was threatening to have us sent home because, despite contractions 5 minutes apart and painful, they were not opening the cervix compared to a check earlier at the doctor's office.  This caused much distress in the pregnant one and a lot of concern for me and the expectant Grandma as well (Since the contractions are already close together and we can't tell if her cervix is changing, if we go home now, how will we know when to come back?)

Luckily, an hour of walking madly around the floor to the point of exhausting even me brought about more frequent contractions and a slight cervical change.  And a call to the midwife instead of the doctor brought about a decision to keep us, and eventually a visit from God himself the anesthesiologist.

Labor progressed slowly and without note until the baby decided to suddenly engage in the birth canal, setting off all kinds of alarms as her heart rate dropped into the 70s.  People came running in and repositioned Mrs. Braden and they determined that delivery was imminent.  Within 30 minutes she was pushing, and after just six contractions, out came a burst of emotion as our second baby was laid on Mommy's tummy.

Now we are just past the 24 hour mark and everything seems to be going fairly well.  Baby sounds alternately like a cat and like the baby velociraptor from Jurassic Park with all her little grunts and whines, but the doctor said multiple times while assessing her that she is "perfect", which I'm sure is a word that she does not say on every baby that she sees, but rather saves just for our baby.

So now we are hoping to be able to go home tonight, and if we are lucky, get some sleep some time in the next several years.  Wish us luck!