Our big day

Here's how I hoped it would go.....

Stacey and I get a call at 2:30 in the morning. It's Katie calling and Darrin is still in Yuma working. Her water has broken she says and we have to leave now! Stacey and I dash over, in the suburban because I'm a smart woman, we pick up Katie and begin breathing with her. Stacey is in the back seat with her trying to soothe her and the contractions just keep getting stronger and stronger. "hurry up!" Stacey yells, "the baby is coming! hurry up!" then a scream from Katie. It's getting more and more scarey and I'm now driving like a crazy woman but obeying the traffic signals. Another scream from Stacey to forget the traffic signals and get us to the hospital. Sweat is dripping from my forehead as I'm listening to Stacey and Katie breathe. Oh dear! A detour! Out here in Queen Creek? That never happens. Oh my! More screams from Katie! Then another scream from Stacey-- "pull over! The baby is coming now!" We pull over. Remember, we're in the suburban-smart me. We put all the seats down in the back, put Katie in the back of the car and Stacey and I deliver a baby girl.

or it could have gone like this.....

I wake up early and get my bag packed because really, I'm going to be busy and it's always a good idea to prepare. I grab my favorite book but realize that I'm halfway through my book. I better grab another one. Oh throw in a few more just for fun. Yep, I'll need some snacks. A pear, some peanuts, chocolate teddy grahams and a water bottle. Oh! Can't forget about the lip balm. I will be asked to breathe with Katie. It's always cold in the hospitals so I wear a warmer shirt and close-toed shoes. I hate cold toes.

It's 10:00am and Stacey calls wondering where I am. "I'm on my way" I say and dash out the door. After picking up Stacey and calmly driving over to the hospital to meet Katie who has been there since 5:00am we, Stace and I, settle in to a nice cozy chair in the waiting room of the hospital. I've laid out all my snacks and books on the coffee table in front of me, put on the lip balm and grab my favorite book. After about an hour we go check in on Katie who laughs with us and visits for a while. She's dilated to 5. Then back out to the waiting room for more me and Stacey time and reading. "Oh" I think to myself, "this sure is nice to have an excuse to do nothing but hang out at the hospital and read a book and wait for that baby to come". After another hour we go back and check on Katie. She's dilated to 6. Stacey and I decide to run out and grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant. We're gone for 45 minutes and return to find that Katie has progressed another centimeter! Wow things are really moving now! We go back to our cozy chairs. Stacey and I decide to meander down to the cafe. She gets a diet coke and I order a nice hot herbal tea. We go back to our cozy chairs this time just visiting and laughing with each other when Darrin comes out to tell us it's time for Katie to start pushing. Stacey and I wait behind the curtain of her room waiting to hear a sweet baby cry.

BUT NO! THIS IS HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED.........

It's 8:30am. Katie has been at the hospital now since 5:00am. She will be given another bag of antibiotics at 11:00am before they give her stronger medicine to kick in the labor.

I pack my bag with my favorite book that I'm halfway through. It's going to be a long wait at the hospital so I bring another book to start. I pack enough snacks for the day, a pear, some peanuts, chocolate teddy grahams and a water bottle. I dress warm because hospitals are always cold. I definately wear close-toed shoes because I hate cold feet. Stacey calls at 10:00am and I say "I'm on my way". 15 minutes later I drove over to get Stacey and about 30 minutes later we arrive at the hospital.

We don't know which room she's in so we ask the receptionist where to find Katie Clarke. "Katherine Clarke is in room 2 but I'll have to call and see if she'll allow visitors" the receptionist says. Stacey and I look at each other and giggle. The receptionist gets off the phone and says "she's not taking visitors right now" to which Stacey and I reply, "what? we're her sisters". It didn't work. The sweet old lady wouldn't let us in. There's been a huge mistake-- it's Lezlie and Stacey! Katie wants us here. We go sit in a chair in the waiting room. Stacey and I call Katie's cell phone. No answer.

After Stacey breaks out in conversation with the hugely pregnant lady sitting across from us she comes up with a brilliant plan. We'll wait until a shift change and then just walk through the doors like we know where we're going. Lucky for us the receptionist is needed in a different room. After she walks away Stacey and I walk through the first set of doors to be greeted by a second set of doors. At these doors you have to use the intercom to state your name and your destination! Oh No! What will we do! But look! Just behind us walks in a couple going to visit their loved ones. We wait for them to be beeped in and we ride their heels through the doors to be greeted at the nurses station. Again, another stumbling block! We know Katie wants and needs us there! We just keep getting pushed out! Of course the nurses want to know who we are and where we're going. We have to tell them. Lucky for us we have batteries that Katie needs. We tell the nurse that Katie needs these batteries, "can we go give them to her?" we ask. But of course not! The nurse takes the batteries and heads to Katie's room. There's her room! Right there in front of us! Stacey and I feel like running through the barricade to get through everybody and to Katie-- because she needs us! But we don't. The nurse comes out and again says, "she's not taking visitors".

Stacey and I walk away, somewhat offended to tell you the truth! What could be going on in there? "Maybe she's getting an epidural right now", I say. How could she not want us here, we both wonder. After all, we're Stacey and Lezlie! We decide to go to lunch and come back later. As we get outside Darrin calls on our cell phone. "WHAT!" I hear Stacey shout. "She's already had the baby??!!!" We're both dumbfounded at the news. Darrin tells Stacey that the baby was born at 10:35am which was about 20 minutes before we arrived. No wonder she didn't want to see us! We run to lunch, grab a few things Katie requested and head back to the hospital. This time Stacey and I walk through all doors with all power and authority. This time nobody is going to stop us! We get to Katie's room, no problem and exchanged stories of the morning events. The baby was taken to the nursery and we didn't even get to see her. We left to go home about an hour later.

I didn't even crack open a book. No hot herbal tea. No teddy grahams. Only a short time to chat with Stacey. No running back and forth from Katie's room to the waiting room. No hourly updates on her progress. No helping her breathe. No trying to soothe her. No visiting the nursery to see all the babies. No sight of the baby. No pictures of the baby. No holding and snuggling with the baby. Not even time to get cold in the hospital!

Here are a couple of snapshot we WERE able to get.