Is it a boy or a girl?!?!

The days and the weeks leading up to August 22 were filled with both excitement and nerves. Were we able to love a second baby as much as we loved our first? Were we going to be able to give Nece the time and attention that she needed along with providing for the needs of a second baby?

August 16 came and past. This was the original due date of baby #2. I was uncomfortable, but mentally prepared at this point because Nece was late. Then, August 18th rolled around. Ahh... this was it. There were contractions coming on a regular basis and I had a doctors appointment that morning... I went to the doctor and the contractions all but stopped. They told me to head over to the hospital because it was indeed time. We checked in, got monitored and nothing. Seriously, are you kidding me, I'm done and I'm ready to have this baby. Nothing... and we were sent home from the hospital, with a new DR appt for Thursday. It was a LONG week... and I was done and ready. Nothing on Tues, nothing on Wednesday and by Thursday I called into work... I just couldn't do it anymore. Hit the DR office on Thursday afternoon, and I vividly remember the doctor asking me, do you want to be induced tomorrow. YES... I'm done.

Friday morning rolled around, and we were told to call the hospital that morning to see if they had 'room' for me, or if Labor and Delivery was full. 6:30AM... we called and were told, yes, you can come in. THANK GOD was all I could think of at this point. We got Nece packed up and sent her to Auntie Mona's that morning. I gave hugs and kisses before daddy took Nece next door, and I was a bit sad... knowing that life was about to change tremendously for our little girl, but at the same time, I was excited knowing we were going to give her a sibling.

Off to the hospital we went. It was night and day from July 6, 2006. The drive to the hospital was remarkably calm. We parked the van and walked into Labor and Delivery to check in. Easy as pie... this was. We got checked into the room, changed, hooked up to monitors and waited for the doctor to arrive and begin the induction.

It was around 8:30AM and doctor arrived. She broke the water and started the pitocin. Okay... there is no turning back now, and we're going to have this baby. The waiting game begins, and it's time to pull the baby book out. You see, Marc and I hadn't come up with baby names yet. We went through the girls names, and it came fairly quickly. Kara seemed to be a good girls name and we knew the middle name was going to be Frances in honor of Marc's grandma, who was battling conjestive heart fairure. Boys names, ahhh... we couldn't come up with anything. To be honest, I don't remember what our boy name was going to be, but we did come up with something.

9AM rolled around, still no problems. Small contractions, but nothing uncomfortable. 9:15, 9:30AM still doing well, but a bit more pain. 9:45 doable, 10AM... okay- I'm done and ready for an epidural. Called the nurse, filled out appropriate paperwork and ready to call for the epi. Finally around 10:30 the doctor rolled in and began the epidural. At this time, I was 3 centimeters... He finished about 10:50 and I vaguely remember 11A hitting and telling Marc, I have to push. He called the nurse- I thought NO WAY is this happening this quickly.

She checked me just after 11A and said, you're ready to push. Holy crap, I went from 3 to 10 in a matter of 30 minutes. Mind you, the epidural has barely taken effect and it was time to call the doctor and push. The doctor arrived around 11:10 (I think) and it was go-time. Pushed for about 20 minutes and at 11:33 AM on August 22, our 2nd child had arrived.

I clearly remember saying 'what is it?'

You have a baby girl. Our Kara Frances had arrived. 3 hours from start to finish, and a VERY different, much more relaxed experience from when Nece arrived. And all those worries of being able to love a second child at the same time... no fear, there is more than enough love for those two babies.