We had Kailey's baby shower for Kaelyn at the beginning of April because her due date wasn't until May 5th. Well, all that changed at the end of April when Kailey got some bloodwork results back that showed she needed to be induced immediately. It wasn't anything life threatening but she tested positive for Fifth's Disease, which is not good for a pregnant woman, so her doctor recommended that they go ahead and induce. Her due date was only a week away so Kaelyn was fully cooked and ready to go :) Kailey sent out a text Wednesday letting everyone know what the plan was, so I immediately requested a sub for the next day at school, came home, packed my things, and left for my mom and dad's house. The next morning we were up bright and early and we headed to the hospital to see Kailey and Caleb.
Even though she was being induced Kailey wanted the birth to progress as naturally as possible. She really did a great job!
When Mom and I got to the hospital, there wasn't much activity. Kailey was having steady contractions, but they hadn't started her on pitocin yet, so she was in a great mood. Mom and I sat around and watched movies with them in their hospital room.
We grabbed some lunch at Chick-fil-a and when we came back, Kailey's labor had started to progress a little more. She needed some quiet time so we went to the waiting room and visited with everyone while the moms and dads took turns going back to Kailey's room. Andrea and the kids showed up and they really livened up the waiting room :) They were so excited about getting a new baby cousin, but they were mostly excited about the snacks Kailey's mom, Shelly, had with her. They were in hog heaven!
We gave the kids iPads and snacks and they never made a peep again, except to ask for another snack. They were quite content.
It was starting to get late in the day and I knew that I was going to have to leave baby or no baby. We had a field trip planned the next day and I didn't want to get a sub for that. I decided to stick around until about 7:30 or 8:00 that night because I'd still make it home at a decent time if I left around then. Kailey's brother and his girlfriend arrived so our waiting room group really grew. We all talked, visited, watched TV, worked (I was grading math tests), and snacked.
8:00 came and Kailey wasn't anywhere close to being ready to deliver. I knew I had to go say my good-byes. I hated that I wasn't going to be there to see Kaelyn when she was born. She just was taking her sweet and precious time about entering this world and reminding all of us that you can't plan everything ;)
I took one more picture with Kailey and Caleb, said goodbye to everyone, and drove home. Kailey had gotten her epidural at this point so she was feeling great :)
I made it home and checked in with everyone back at the hospital. Kailey had only progressed a little bit during my drive back and was still a long time away from delivering. I visited with Josh, kissed Eli goodnight and then got ready for bed myself. It had been a long day. I sat my phone on my nightstand and made sure it was not turned to silent. I didn't want to miss the text or pictures saying that Kaelyn had arrived while I was sleeping.
Sure enough, in the wee hours of Friday, April 29th, I got a text saying that Kaelyn Grace had arrived and she and Kailey were doing great. I immediately fell in love with this precious blue-eyed beautiful new niece of mine. I couldn't wait to meet her. What a wonderful gift from God!
